Love this genre of game (TurboRaketti!) and the steering feels right to me. Love the art style, and having a choice of racing vs. combat. And there appears to be lots of maps/content in there! However, some problems have kept from playing it much, although I look forward to seeing it evolve and trying it again later: 1. The menu organization isn't intuitive--it feels sprawling and complex, probably making more sense to someone close to the project, but as an outsider, I don't exactly know what questions I should ask, I just know I don't "get" everything yet. (A tutorial isn't a fix I'd recommend--better to have it be intuitive without that.) As an example, I recall there was something (a map maybe?) I could only unlock in a certain mode, but there was no indication of that. 2. The free-to-play mechanics are pushed really hard. Even if it's watching video ads rather than IAP, it puts me off. I think it offered to let me reload my weapon mid-game by watching a video ad? I'd prefer the game play not to depend on any factors outside the game play. It's possible the F2P elements aren't as offensive as they seem so far, but I can say the first impression is not good. 3. It's easy to lose positioning of the steering controls, at least in iPad Pro 12.9, because the buttons are so big. What about a swipe-back-and-forth ("invisible joystick") kind of control, where it doesn't matter exactly where your finger is, just which way it moved? I'm just thinking out loud. Maybe 12.9-optimized buttons would be sufficient. 4. The thrust button is messed up. Engines engage instantly when you press, but they don't always shut off instantly when you lift your finger. The engines get stuck on for randomly-varied lengths of time before shutting off. This ruins the precision control a game like this depends on. (As a result, I do best if I leave thrust on full-time, which is at least predictable--but isn't sufficient to maneuver fully.) #2 and #4 are big deals for me. #1 and #3 are lesser issues. (#5 could be "the game is too hard"--my piloting skills feel OK but I can't seem to progress. However, with some other issues fixed, I might not feel that way. So I won't suggest dumbing anything down.) Anyway, thanks for the game! Happy to pay premium price, especially if it gets polished up and less F2P-like.
Rarely do I have buyer's remorse when supporting a small dev. I hope this isn't one of those cases. There's always hope that the F2P stuff (which was there all along even when a paid app) will actually be tuned to be less aggressive. Fingers crossed!
