I almost had it right Right now I'm using a lot of boost in the low gravity settings, and shorter taps around 5 bars of gravity (and up) . . It's cool to be able to gradually increase gravity. No worries Melodive is colorblind friendly. I think most people could play it on a black and white tv. (Everybody is looking for those black holes to fly through ). I'm really colorblind (17/20 wrong on the colorblind test) and I can play no problem. The colors I see well stand out. No, it's good. The text is better, the gravity slider is a great addition. The "speed" setting wasn't really needed (everybody started at zero on their high score runs anyway), so it's cool that it got cut. That sounds good to me At one time (before I unlocked it) I was going to recommended 7,500 meters for the sequencer, 10,000 for Melodive Master. Just having it unlockable via code would be cool too.
That's great to hear! Of course people can play however they like, but like I said, the experience was designed with full gravity in mind, so I would like people to try to advance to this level. But don't get me wrong, light is a lot of fun! But for the record-breaking depths you would need full gravity. Light and zero get too lose when things speed up! That's fantastic. Melodive is a "dark"-game anyhow and you will get tricked by the terrain sometimes. Puh, more worried about some of the other guys in the top10! I might have gone a bit overboard on a new color-gene I wrote. It's will make "harmonnic" color-combos, but sometimes it makes thing a bit circus, othertimes it's perfect. Will tweek it further. I think it's ok if the versions vary a bit in the colors. Three options: 1) Lower the requirement to 10003000/5000 m. (unlink it from Melodive Master-screen). 2) just remove the lock altogether 3) easter egg unlock (like press the sequencer 3 times in a row) I like that the lure of the sequencer can make you good in this game, but I see a lot of people taking long breaks after achieving 10000 m so maybe it's no good. Achieving Melodive Master-status is just the start of the game in my view (I have made a pop-up about this in the new version).
Nice update! The info screens provide all the necessary information and should help newcomers. I'm fine with the removal of the speed setting. The start was a bit slow with speed at 0 before. Now everyone starts at the same faster setting and there is no reason to go lower. I guess some may complain about not being able to practice at 100% speed, but the start speed is pretty fast now so it is not an issue for me. The colors overall look nicer to me. Sure, sometimes something circus-like gets spit out, but that was also the case in the original version to a degree. What I like is the added diversity that you get. Sometimes you see a dominant blue color scheme with small bits of neutral ocher, which adds a degree of depth to the colors. It's not all bright simple colors anymore. In the long run I think these colors keep the game fresh, even if every once in a while you get some slightly ugly levels. That's life. I'm not sure if it's the higher start speed or increased boost efficiency, but I no longer drain my boost out of impatience at the start, which is very nice. I am enjoying the higher handling as well. I find it easier to automatically react in those life or death situations. I have been following the discussion on a possible cliff diving or wingsuit game. I basically agree with everything that has been said. A game with the same or similar controls with a nice far draw distance would be great. Melodive has its own feel that goes perfectly with the lower draw distance. You have a sense of mystery and fast reaction that is essential to the gameplay. However, I would be excited to play something with the same controls in a more visually open environment as well.
Thanks glad to hear you say that! It was download 600 times yesterday (in only 10 hours), so I think that's shows an continuing interest in the game. Now that the gc-reporting bug is fixed, we can begin to see how many people play the game daily. You need the ugly to see the beautiful, or not? It's just a question about tweeking. If it's too much circus, is possible to dial it down a notch, without reverting to the old color scheme. Melodive is starting to find it's identity as a racing-game (i never meant to make a racing game, but now it is), so I try tune the game more in that direction. The handling might even go higher up, but there is of course a limit in the hardware. Yes, it would be nice. I think it would be pretty easy to do. I don't have the time now to do it, but it wouldn't take many months to do, as most of the stuff is already there in the engine. Just needs a bit of reconfiguring. I even have code for fractal terrain that I doesn't use. As long as the feeling is there, the game it self can be very unfancy! The big advantage with a wingsuit is that there is a limit to how far you can go, so the scenery doesnt have to be endless. If you forget about the parachute (it's the boring part anyhow) and put out an inflatable target, i think it could work logic-wise.
Well, I have to say that IÂ’m really disappointed with this update. It basically removed what I like most about this game. IÂ’ll explain exactly what I mean. When I play games, generally, I find that what motivates me to keep playing over any period of time isnÂ’t leaderboards, gimmicks, or even continued support, but a feeling of progress. I love the feeling of starting off terrible at something and slowly working my way to competence. When I played this game, I probably spent about 90% of the time at 100% speed, only lowering it when going for highscores or when I felt like just coasting around. I didnÂ’t think going for highscores was very fun in version 1 since you started out so slow, so I always played as fast as possible. I will admit that this was outside my comfort zone. I had a hard time playing this fast, and my average probably wasnÂ’t much more than 5000m or so, but I felt like I had a lot of room for improvement. IÂ’m sure all of you have heard at some point that to truly master something, you need to put 10,000 hours into it, but 80% of the benefit can be had for 20% of the effort. This is a very general rule and doesnÂ’t necessarily apply to everything, but what I take out of this is the amount of progress one experiences when trying to improve at something is exponential, which is to say that much more progress will be experienced when starting than over the long run. So, the amount of progress experienced becomes very marginal over time, or it takes a great amount of effort to get better once you get so good at something. Relating this concept to games, I usually play games until I feel IÂ’ve hit this point that improving takes a large amount of effort since, as I said above, what draws me to play games is this feeling of progress. This amount of time can range from a day to several years depending on what game IÂ’m playing and the variety of the gameplay, but I usually go for games that take longer, since that gives me more value for my money. When I played Melodive at max speed, I felt like I was constantly getting better at flying and improving my reflexes. When I play version 1.1, I sort of feel the max speed is just too slow for me to experience that same feeling of progression. IÂ’ve already had several games over 30,000m, and I kind of feel with the current settings, there isnÂ’t a whole lot more I can do to improve at a rate that would compel me to keep playing. So basically, with the settings the way they are now, I feel like I've made it, and getting any better on the current max speed will take a very long time with very little progression. I truly felt Melodive had the potential to keep me busy from several months to possibly over a year, but now I may stop after I get what I consider to be a decent score. I really donÂ’t understand what youÂ’re trying to say here. How does flying too fast making the flying feeling disappear? Why would you not want to start an arms race for speed? IÂ’ve always felt giving the player as many options as possible is whatÂ’s best for a game, not choosing what you think is fun and forcing that on all your players. I understand why you made all the choices you made and all of them were probably good choices for most all of your players, but I still canÂ’t help but feel I bit let down. And about this concept of a more expensive Melodive Pro, is it just the same game but more expensive just to keep the leaderboards pure? That seems really stupid to me. The only person you should feel the need to compete against is yourself. Whether you can achieve the same score as someone else shouldnÂ’t matter if you ask me. ThereÂ’s always someone out there better than you, so even if you do happen to get the number one slot, it really only means the people out there who would do better than you arenÂ’t playing. So any satisfaction you get from being on the leaderboard comes from a feeling of superiority that youÂ’re better than most people, and if thatÂ’s what motivates you to play, I would advise you to get some modesty and understand you probably arenÂ’t that special. I suppose you could say that competition drives you to improve yourself, and this would be fine, but I feel that what most people should strive for is the ability (yes I consider this an ability) to motivate yourself to improve without relying on what other people have accomplished to push you. So unless you added some content, I probably wouldnÂ’t feel very compelled to get a Melodive Pro. I donÂ’t know writing this was at all necessary since I doubt itÂ’s going to really change anything and most people probably wonÂ’t relate at all to what IÂ’m saying, but I just wanted to get my opinion out there. By the way, the colors do look nice and the additional handling is nice, but could probably be higher.
I was afraid you were! Ok, i get the point with the 100 % speed setting. But the max speed is still the same! Before with your settings (heavy gravity, full speed): 70%->100%, now 50%->100%. If you decrease gravity to zero it will go from 50%->200% to prevent hi-score exploit, so zero g is actually a lot more difficult to implement. I think the solution would be to have an hardcore-button and that button changed the gravity-slider into speed-slider again, then you could have most of both worlds. I could also increase the max speed to 110 % or something like that. No no, just that more than heavy makes the game a bit unwieldy, it stops being fun in my view. People like to max out their stats and if they do with gravity it's gonna make the game unplayable my most. I was thinking of increasing it, and can still do if people want it. It has nothing to do with the speed, just the handling, how it feels. I didn't want people ending up there and thinking that's what it's supposed to be. The speed-race is still on, more than ever, as I have increased the speed-bonus. I cannot touch the melodium though, because I cannot reset the leaderboard. Should have tought things better through before releasing.... BUT: I am NOT against speed, but there is a limit to how the device can cough up the geometry. Have you hit the invisibile wall yet? You should have. No, no, it has nothing to do with the leaderboards, that was a joke, or the idea started as a joke, but I think it have some merit. It's not supposed to be more expensive! It's just hard for me to make one game to fit all preferences. Also: Since the scoring is already established (how to get hi-score), I cannot change that. What I propose is a game that has setting that are harcore from a-z. So gravity could go up 5 x heavy. Or the terrain could be denser. I mean whatever you think is challanging. It would also have new leaderboard more geared towards speed and not so much melodium (big mistake now I see). I ment it when I said I'll make a game for you. You're the trailblazer, so you have the best knowledge of what would be challanging at this level. This update wasn't for you, but for all the people who couldn't find their entry into the game. So I can understand your anger, as it doesnt add any challanges at your level. But, just tell me how you want it! I'm serious. I can send out promos to everybody that wants. It's not about money, but keeping interest in a game, like you said. Well, I was anxious to hear your thoughts, and I appreaciate your honesty.I am absolutely ready to listen to you because you're the one that has progressed the most. How many km do you how now? I want to make Melodive a game even you can keep playing for a year. At least that's my ambition, so give me a little slack ok? Remember, I'm no pro, and I've never done this before so the road gets made while we walk. I think this is fixable, I'm planning a 1.1.1 release anyhow (plan to open up the sequencer a bit). Hope to post it today, but might delay it a few days if I get a lot of input. The only thing I changed that you might be reacting to is the slower ramp-up of speed? Is it that, because the max speed is the same! Please tell me more!
I did get the help popup and also the tuning popup; I think both are excellence additions. I think the changes are a good thing, actually. More options for customization. I was just basically looking for opinions/info to get the new settings as close to where I had the previous ones, so that I could start from there and adjust accordingly. Keep up the great work!
What I think made version one hard to play was it's fast coasting speed, and not necessarily it's max speed. When I said max speed, I only meant having the speed bar at max, and not how fast I go when fully using the boost like I think you're describing. You described the game as being unwieldy when the coasting speed is too high (this is what I'm assuming a higher gravity would do, correct me if I'm wrong), and I can understand why you might feel that way, but I disagree. It's really hard to play, and requires a great deal of persistence, but I think it's playable. I've gotten about 14,000m on my best run on version one with max speed, max handling and max boost. This was my very best run and most runs aren't anywhere close to this. Also, I don't really understand how speed effects the game. You said something about how speed effects time and max speed is almost real time? You also described this as effecting starting difficulty right? I took that to mean the coasting speed. Is that right? Well, a high top speed makes the game fun, but to me the coasting speed is what makes it challenging. I was actually playing version one when the update came out with max speed and was struggling to get to 5000m before updating and after the update got 30,000m first try with max gravity, and it seemed to me that the coasting speed was reduced. I know I can't be the only one who thinks max speed with heavy gravity in version one is harder than max gravity in 1.1. If it's not the top speed or coasting speed, I can't say I know what it is, but I can say 1.1 just seems easier to me, and I would rather it be harder. I've gone just under 10,000km in total.
Yes, we are talking about the same thing. There might be a bug, I will have to compare the versions. Will do it this weekend and resubmit if what you say is true. I haven't changed the max coasting speed my will, but maybe by accident, or there might be something else in the mix. It's the gravity that makes the game unwieldy, not the speed! This is modes I'm looking for in an hardcore-version. Instead of making a seperate version, i can make a hardcore flip, and the game turns into the hardcore version of itself with special hardcore-leaderbaords. Please help me make the game better, by suggesting modes/leaderboards! Yes and no, it's confusing! The way the game works is that it speeds up time from 50 % to 100 %, so this will influence the coasting speed, but also the gravity of course. Ok, I am pretty certain this is a bug. This is not meant to be this way, I agree completely! Please send answer my pm and we can sort it out this weekend. It would be great to have you as an beta-tester on this, so we can get it just right. Then you're a quick advancer in this game, but that is good. If I can keep you occupied for a few months with this game, I think we can declare mission accomplished! Hopefully I will have something new out by then!
One more thing: To celebrate the coming 100th Melodive Master and the 1.1 update, Melodive is FREE for a limited time! Please tell all your friends!
Wow, you all sure do right alot, gotta come back to reading this after I play it. Someone told me I have to try this with hdmi tv, so that is something to look forward to with my sound bar pumping. Thanks for letting us try it.
It's my pleasure. I have a promotion backing me, so it's not completely altruistic. BUT, it feels real nice to give it out for free. Please spread the joy!
Oh wow. I purchased this around 16 hours ago. Now it's free. No worries. Still happy to support you & looking forward to the continued support & updates. #
Thanks man! I can promise you both. I elove to get mail at my mail: melodivemaster (at) gmail.com! Please update if you have the 1.0 version. 1.1 is much better for beginners.
Hmm...after playing more something does feel easier. At first I thought it was just the added sensitivity that was working for me, but now I'm not sure. I just got 172,806,960 and 40,196m. This was with full gravity, full boost and full handling. The score didn't submit which I guess is a good thing if something is off. It feels like it takes longer for the speed to ramp up. This in turn makes the coasting speed feel slower. It also feels like terrain generation is a bit different. The chunk clusters feel like they are arranging differently. At first it was messing with me, but now that I have a feel for it I run into less dead ends than 1.0. Am I imagining things? I only have 2,185km total so lukepolo would know better.
YES, you've got it! Since the speed starts at 50 % and not 30 %, I adjusted the rampup slightly down. This might have been a mistake. I think I know the problem, will have to debug it tomorrow though. It's 2:40 am here. It's to do with the implementation of the "slding" gravity. Anyhow I think it's a easy fix and is only affecting the best of the best. I want to redo the reward system anyhow. I hope to make an hardcore mode where no melodium will be measured, only speed and depth. I can make the terrain harder also, because now it's more open with heavy gravity (has always been like that). Hopefully the next update will satisfy everybody! It's scary now that the game isn't just mine anymore!
I will try it. I'm not as negative about the changes as lukepolo, I'm just confirming his observations. The only issue would be if scores start inflating like crazy and then things get changed back and those scores become unreachable. Taking time to dial these things in and please as many people as possible is fine. I am not personally that concerned with the leaderboards but I could see some issues with the scoring bouncing around. My score did not submit so it's not a problem so far.
Yeah, but it's only like 4-5 people who could exploit this at the moment, and nobody wants that I think. Also I am still dreaming of a leaderboard where melodium has no place. It was a mistake to include it in the firstplace, I just didn't think it through. I never played for high-scores before, just wanted people to get melodium so they could unlock. Now it's my curse and also the lack of space in score, or else I could just have inflated the scoring. But when I made the system I thought 1 million was a really good score! haha. So I will make a fix this weekend and atleast add another leaderboard, but because of the limited gui, the best is a seperate hardcore-game within the game that you unlock at 10000 m. Then you could have seperate scoring and time for best 10,000 m stretch. Could make the game even more racing.
I tried FREE mode for a while. Honestly it is hard to say if I can tell a difference. Maybe. In arcade mode my initial impression was that the terrain frequency felt higher overall but the density felt lower. So there seemed to be more chunks constantly appearing in smaller intervals, but not as tightly packed. In 1.0 you would get more of a feel of distinct 'levels' now it feels more like a continuous stream of chunks. It feels easier to find the gaps now. There is a possibility that this is just in my head. It looks like my score did finally submit. I did not change positions on the score leaderboard but I did go up on the depth board. I'm sure I have gotten better but I'm not sure I would have achieved that depth on 1.0. I guess it makes sense to achieve a greater depth since the speed ramps up slower. I guess I should stop serious play until it is decided what to do.
