Universal Cruise Control - Looking for beta testers.

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by dhw, Mar 25, 2016.

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  1. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    Ok. So let's get this rolling!

    I'll break down my feedback in sections.

    First. I'm using the iPhone 6 running iOS 9.3. I have not had one single crash. I have not had one single lag spike. I have not had one single issue with everyplay. The game is rock solid.

    What I really like:

    1) The art style. Hell yeah to that neon 80's art style. You nailed it. I love it!

    2) the gameplay tracks. They change every play through and are just great! The different levels and different tracks are fun. The artwork on the sides are great. The lava is actually really cool.

    3) the power ups and the intensity of the gameplay. When the cops and helicopters show up and start bombing you it's really intense. At the sametime you are weaving and trying to get the power ups and coins. It's just fantastic! When you pick up the electrify car power up and you are blowing up cars it's just like hell yea this is kick ass lol

    4) I love the slow down time and rewind buttons. They really do make a difference when playing.

    5) I like the entire presentation of the game. The menus are easy to navigate.

    6) I absolutely love the selection of cars. You took some of the most iconic cars from the 80's and you put them in there. Just awesome! You can't beat starting out with the A Team can! Lol and since you call them car pack 1 I assume you will be adding more. I can't wait.

    7) the prize claw. Who doesn't like a prize claw.

    Ok what I didn't like:

    1) The car is too loose on the road. It needs to be tighter. It's like it's on an ice rink. Please make it tighter. I feel like I'm constantly out of control and cannot properly control the vehicle. This really needs to be refined. It's like I'm on a giant slip and slide.

    2) the prize claw. I watched ads to get the coins I needed. My first pull I got the a team van. It was a huge disappointment. You shouldn't get the same car on your first pull.

    3) no tutorial. There needs to be one. I still don't even understand what that bar means next the the engine in the top left of the screen. You need to make a tutorial. Or atleast explain everything.

    Ok let's talk monetization:

    You are really underselling yourself. I'm telling you right now the day this is released I'm purchasing both deals for $.99 each that dump the ads and double coins and give all 18 cars. But you will only make $2 from me. You should break it up. Your asking for too little. Your game is worth more than $2. Also. Why not have it so that we can use coins to pre purchase time clocks and rewinds? This would make the double coin IAP even more important.

    One thing you also should add, atleast I didn't see it anywhere, is iCloud save backup support. People love universal support.

    All in all its a good game. Just need to work on tightening the movement of the car. It's all over the place. But you've got a great game here. Nicely done!

    Billy
     
  2. dhw

    dhw Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2016
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    Wow, thanks for that input. Makes me feel we are on the right track!

    Car Handling: I am not sure if you noticed when the car takes a turn it will steer some what on it's own towards the center of the road. Using this does help give you more control.

    Prize Claw: Random cars need to be defined a bit better. Since we only have 18 cars right now. Trying to find a way that's fair to the player. Yet something that does not result in them getting all the cars after one day.

    Tutorial: We have talked about adding one in, but thought since the steering was rather simple it would not be needed.

    Monetization: IAP are not currently setup. Those are just random pricing right now. We are not fans of nag screens or overwhelming amounts of ads. We will be playing around with a few different options as we move forward.


    iCloud back up support is on the to do list for sure.

    Again thanks for the input.
     
  3. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    Well what does that red gauge mean near the engine block?

    Billy

     
  4. dhw

    dhw Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2016
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    The cars health. At the menu screen after dying there is a '?' icon if you click that it will explain each thing on the screen and give you some tips.
     
  5. dhw

    dhw Well-Known Member

    Mar 25, 2016
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    iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are crashing... We are working to fix this.
     
  6. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    #26 LordShad0wz, Mar 29, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2016
    Ok,

    I played for about 1 and a half hours this afternoon. Here's more feedback

    Multiple times I've gotten stuck right at the start or during a play on the landscape. For instance when there's a side of a mountain. I got stuck and it just didn't move for a very long time. I almost quit out and restarted the game several times. I actually thought the game crashed that's how long it was stuck.

    There needs to be more coins placed while actually playing the game. They are too few. I'm getting 0 to 2 coins per play. The most I got was 6. It's way too few. To be honest I don't know if it would be worth paying for doubling the coins at the current rate they appear. I'm just telling you my honest thoughts.

    The power up that calls in the F16 strike is very hard to see. I'm missing it a lot because I simply don't see it. It seems to blend in.

    The game absolutely has that one more time feel to it. Once you start you just have to keep going. I've unlocked 7 cars so far. I like that the cars are cosmetic and meant for fun and don't add anything. It keeps every player on an even plying field. This was really thought out well. You still want those cars. I'm trying so hard to get Kit. Hehe

    4 times the opt in ads hung half way through. The last one stuck at 24 seconds remaining. I had to wait for it to time out and it did give me the coins. But I thought you should know.

    Oh and on the next build can you please disable the interstitial ads. They are a distraction while testing.

    That's it for now. Everyone is going to love the hell out of this game when it's released. I'm calling it now. Lol

    Come on beta testers? Where is everyone's comments? Let's do this.

    Billy
     
  7. JoshW

    JoshW Well-Known Member

    Jun 15, 2010
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    This looks awesome!! Signed up for beta test. Excited about this one!
     
  8. hvianna

    hvianna Well-Known Member

    Jun 14, 2012
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    IT Analyst / Webmaster
    Brazil
    I agree with Billy about the car handling, it's too loose. Actually it performs surprisingly well on the turns, but it's on the straights that I struggle with the controls. I often find myself bumping from side to side of the track, and I don't feel at all in control. I didn't have this feeling with other games that use a similar control mechanism, like Road Rush Racer or Magic River, for example.

    The graphics look good, but I think the filtering could be tuned down a bit. Everything seems to kind of blend and makes it hard to spot the power ups and other cars. Sometimes I lose track of my own car! I don't know if it's the semi-transparent track, but the levels look too monochromatic. The lava level, for example, everything is sooo red. And the beach level would be really beautiful if wasn't for the weird filter that makes the sea look like molten metal.

    Two other things: the coin drop rate is way too low, and I think there should be a short invincibility time after a collision, so we don't insta-die when there's a lot of cars around.

    All that said, I really like the game and think it has a lot of potential. My biggest issue is really the car handling. I think the frame rate may be a little low too (I'm playing on an iPad mini 2), and that can have an impact on the controls. I'm gonna play a bit more and post more impressions later.
     
  9. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    I want to show an example of what I'm talking about with the controls. Unfortunately I can't find a way with the app to post a link so you will have to copy and paste the everyplay link. I'm sorry. The car even got caught up on one of the buildings during the run and the funny part at the end it was doing great it called in an f16 strike.

    I did not touch the screen at all during this recording. Not one single tap. This is why I say the controls need tightening.

    https://everyplay.com/videos/27614635

    Also even though I have 8 cars now it keeps defaulting to the tiger. Even after I've won other cars. Why is this happening?

    Billy
     
  10. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    I want to show an example of what I'm talking about with the controls. Unfortunately I can't find a way with the app to post a link so you will have to copy and paste the everyplay link. I'm sorry. The car even got caught up on one of the buildings during the run and the funny part at the end it was doing great it called in an f16 strike.

    I did not touch the screen at all during this recording. Not one single tap. This is why I say the controls need tightening.

    https://everyplay.com/videos/27614635

    Also even though I have 8 cars now it keeps defaulting to the tiger. Even after I've won other cars. Why is this happening?

    As you can see that f16 strike is pretty freaken awesome! That's the coolest power up in the game.

    Billy
     
  11. hvianna

    hvianna Well-Known Member

    Jun 14, 2012
    732
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    IT Analyst / Webmaster
    Brazil
    Wow, that was better than many of my runs! :D

    I didn't realize it would start auto playing even if we don't tap the screen.
     
  12. JoshW

    JoshW Well-Known Member

    Jun 15, 2010
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    #32 JoshW, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
    Okay, I only just started playing but here are my initial impressions:

    -LOVE the graphic style. I'm already insta-sold on that alone. Retro-80's I love (from my era of video games) yet these are still totally unique. Clearly a lot of craftmanship has gone into the design and I totally appreciate that.

    -LOVE the music. I hope there's some variety in tunes (like I said I just started so there may be.)

    -LOVE when the cops start chasing me. That gave me a genuine surprise and I hope there are more surprises literally down the road. Any sort of unpredictability in a game like this is a really fun surprise (as long as it makes sense, like cops going after a speeder.)

    -My one criticism so far echoes what others have said: the steering mechanism feels very loose. I'd love something with tighter control of the car's steering. I do appreciate the uniqueness of this mechanism but I'd love to have other options. Right now, it's still a little frustrating.

    I'll of course report more but so far, with some tweeks and adjustments, this is an awesome new game and a real winner in the racing genre.
     
  13. setomoto

    setomoto Well-Known Member

    Feb 14, 2015
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    Thanks for the beta link! I think it's going to be a hit.

    I like the 80s aesthetics and music, really nice touch. However, is there someway to tone down the VHS-looking filter? When things get busy, I think crisper details would really help.

    Anyone experiencing battery issue or cpu heating? On 6s plus my battery dropped 5-6% from playing a few minutes and phone got really warm.
     
  14. rick12

    rick12 New Member

    Mar 29, 2016
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    Seems like good!
     
  15. zeca1234

    zeca1234 Active Member

    Dec 6, 2015
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    Thanks for the link of beta
     
  16. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    Yea and when it got the f16 call at the end I actually loled. Give it a try.

    Also I figured out a neat trick thismorning. If you rapidly tap the screen you can get the vehicle to do full 360 loops. Just rapidly tap! It's pretty cool.

    What's your highest score? You always slay me in every game. Lol. So far I've gotten 188,450.

    If I know you it will be in the millions lol

    Look out everyone. Once Hvianna arrives don't bother with the leaderboard. You have no chance lol

    Billy

     
  17. hvianna

    hvianna Well-Known Member

    Jun 14, 2012
    732
    7
    18
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    IT Analyst / Webmaster
    Brazil
    #37 hvianna, Mar 30, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2016
    Nice find with the 360s!

    I gave it a try at some "auto-play" sessions and in one of them I got 165k points! My previous best was just a little over 100k (yeah, that's how bad I suck at this). So anyway, I think the scoring system needs some revision.

    Most of the time I'm simply trying not to die too soon, so I'm not sure how to make more points or what exactly increases the multiplier (besides the multiplier power ups) - it would be nice to have that cleared up in a brief tutorial or info screen.

    I also noticed that the game keeps running after the game over screen. In one run I died with 65k points and watched the score increasing in the background after I died, up to about 150k.

    Oh! And did you find the Bonus Stage? I'm not sure what I've done to trigger it, but it was a cool surprise!


     
  18. LordShad0wz

    LordShad0wz Well-Known Member

    Nov 19, 2014
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    No! No bonus stage here and I've played the crap out of this game. Hmmm. Now I have to play some more until I figure it out lol

    My biggest aggravation isn't with trying not to die early it's with the vehicle just sliding everywhere. Slapping the sides of the roads. It's annoying. It's like an ice rink lol. Ping ping ping ping.

    But that's what a beta is about! I can't wait for adjustments.

    Billy

     
  19. apeape

    apeape Member

    Mar 31, 2016
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    Hey everyone. I'm working on this game with dhw. Thanks for all the feedback, it's been invaluable! I'm glad you all like the game. We are currently working on fixing the crashes people have been having on the 6s. Dhw just went and bought one for testing.

    We'll try and work out a way to offer variations on the controls, either through changing the handling of each car or by adding in easy/medium/hard difficulties with varying control responsiveness. It's gotten rather hard for us to judge the difficulty after playing for so long! We will be increasing the coin drop rate in the levels as well.

    If you click the ? button on the death screen, it will show some tips and explain the HUD and menus. We might make this show automatically on the first play.
     
  20. yearoftherat

    yearoftherat Well-Known Member

    Jan 16, 2013
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    Have to agree with you on this one. Too much sliding around has somewhat made me not want to play the game :( .
     

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