Greetings! I'm in the middle of developing the iOS arcade shooter It's a Space Thing. It's an endless high score chaser, with boss battles after every 10 victories against the normal enemy. Also, I'm building a Boss Mode where you can replay the battles after beating them in the regular game. Double also, there will be local, same device multiplayer. Release date: Who the heck knows? Probably some time this summer. I'll post more progress as I go. See below for some tweeted vids using the sweet iOS ReplayKit: Basic Game Play https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/730884377069158401 Bosses so far, building 2 more https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/729095694607384576 https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/735074693661626368 https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/732539858305077248 Multiplayer https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/727496509634174976 Misc https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/721304621378093058 https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/725308465556512772 Finally, a quick trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fksKAgLrSlU It's kind of ridiculous, but I've been enjoying making it. I've been concentrating on game feel more than anything and making sure shooting 'feels' fun and powerful. Any thoughts would be welcome!
Sure! If anyone wants to DM me their email, I can add them to Test Flight. I'm in the process of adding in Game Canter right now, as well as some other tweaks to iron out so anyone interested could expect something in a day or so!
TestFlight invites sent! Itunes Connect was taking forever processing builds, just eating them and storing them in processing purgatory.
Please add me to the beta testing I'll send lots of feedback! *email removed* Thanks for the invite! I got the email. I'll send feedback over the TestFlight application in a couple of days.
I just tried it and I can immediately send some feedback. 1. Left and right Controls are too small and too close together. There should be an option to customise the layout and size. 2. When you die, you should be able to tap anywhere on the screen to retry. The retry button is annoying to click every time as its in the middle of the screen However it's Great so far! I'll send a full review in a couple of days.
Thanks for the feedback! I'll look into the retry. The directional buttons actually have a much larger touch area than is on screen, like you can miss pretty badly and still register a touch. That said, I could move them further apart. Thanks again!
Isn't really a huge game to explore, so I don't need to play it for a crazy amount of time in order to review it. My review is 8/10 so far. It's a great little game you can pull out of your pocket and play. And it also has a huge potential to be a multiplayer online game. I've reached 20 points in single player. It's really fun! Bosses however are pretty easy. Would be nice if they did bullet hell patterns that you need to avoid? IDEAS Controls are great but it would be nice if you could move them. However they're very responsive. The whole screen should act like retry button. It's kinda annoying having to click retry every time Weapons and charactersystem. Would be amazing if a weapons system would be added. Make it so you unlock characters by earning coins and each character has a special ability For example. (These are ideas) Single shot (what it is currently) Multi shot (shoots in 3 directions in a wave shape like that powerup) Rockets (slow fire rate and aren't that fast but they one hit shields) Flame thrower (lasts 3 seconds then you need to reload) Deals loads of damage but takes a while to reach the target and can be countered easily) Laser (takes a second to shoot and you can't move when charging the laser) Those are just some ideas. Oh and make online multiplayer so you can face players using different weapons and abilities. Would be a great pvp game. Overall it's a fun unique game which I'm enjoying very much!
Thanks a lot for the idears, and I'm glad you're enjoying it! You're the first person to think the bosses were pretty easy. So it's all about finding that balance. I have two more boss ideas, one of which will use some bullet hell action. Anyway, thanks again!
testflight notes Thanks for the testflight invite! I tested one-player mode only. Here are my notes: Overall: Great fun challenging fast game! Love the pixel art and sound design. Gameplay feels familiar, yet still unique and novel. Controls: To me, the buttons are too close to the bottom and side edges of the screen. It hurts my thumbs to play for an extended period of time. (I use an iPhone 6s plus with no case). Difficulty: As a beginner, I found the difficulty level to be perfect! However, in 15 minutes of play, I never got past level 5 or so. So I never saw a boss fight. Sucky players like me might get frustrated if they can't even get to the first boss. UI: I wish there was some audio queue when my shooting energy recharges (or maybe my volume was too low). I also wish there was a visual queue telling me how soon my shooting energy will recharge. Hope this helps, good luck on the release!
Thanks a lot! I like the idea of the visual/audio cues when dealing with reloading. I'll also try tweaking where the buttons are positioned from the sides. The touch area is much larger than the buttons, so you can tap much higher on the screen. I can move them in from the sides though. I'll have to get a general consensus and test some more. I can lighten up on the AI a tad over the first 10 points too. Still trying to find that sweet spot. I've also started on some more boss sprites. I'll post something more when ready! I've got an idea for at least one more power up, and I'd like to come up with at least one more. The more ways to win, the better. Thanks again!
New Boss I've started the next boss - a robo mech dude. It's going to fire a volley of projectiles in random patterns at you. Its head will retract into its body and fire a secondary weapon at you as well. Original WIP https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/742667279020789760 Fixed walk cycle, but still WIP (There seems to be a pause in the gif on phones for some reason) https://twitter.com/braderkkila/status/743019130362712064
