Wanted to add that I was initially a little hesitant to get this because so many games wheree you get to build your own ship or car end up putting too much effort into making it fun to make your own creation, but often the gameplay portion of the game suffers and ends up being bland. But this really does offer the best of both worlds - a chance to try different combinations AND really fun gameplay.
If there is going to be a change in the size of the control radius I would like to see the option to change the size because it currently works perfectly on the iPad mini.
Welcome to TA! I got to ask, where you inspired by games such as Kaiser Earth and Ring Runner? Having played those on PC, I noticed some parallels such as the mace melee weapon and the ship blueprints/module-based building
I can see what you're saying on the iphone version where the screen is so small... a touchpad-radius slider would be quite useful. Added to my list of TODOs for future releases.
I find the controls perfect on my iPhone, only real issue is the placement of the drop down menu. Two features that I think would improve the building is 1) being able to select a part and keep placing it. What I mean by that is right now, you select a part, say a hull piece, place it, then if you want to place another hull, you have to select it again, place it, etc. It would be much easier to have the part stay selected And 2) a Reset Ship/New Ship button. This would make it a lot faster to stay a fresh build rather than erasing each part. --- What ideas do you have for future updates?
I hadn't heard of those games before (I have to admit to being a bit sheltered), but I played a lot of the early Star Control games as a kid and I think that probably influenced the gameplay in many areas. Also took a couple UI ideas from FTL as well. During development we had a couple of University of Waterloo students work with us for a term, and they brought along ideas of their own... but not sure of their exact gaming pedigree.
Funny that you mention those 2 points. We used to have a 'Clear' button in the garage to reset your design, but after many heated arguments over the crowded garage UI, we replaced it with the 'Undo' button. But I haven't received so much feedback about any other feature, so expect to see it in back in the Garage in the future. Same goes with continuously placing the same part. Lots of arguments over whether it was likely a person would want to immediately interact with the part they just placed (i.e. tap to rotate) or whether they'd be placing multiples of the same part. Again, expect to see this change in future releases, and thanks for your ideas.
Here are some features we're thinking of adding. Let me know what you'd all most like to see: - Custom challenge missions -- each would give a specific pre-built ship (possibly larger than 7x7) and a challenge to accomplish with it - shake-to-clear in garage - aura ship-parts -- would give your ship an aura to inhibit enemies' speed/damage/shields/fire-rate/etc - More interesting engine-type blocks -- for example to allow occasional hairpin turns, but with a cooldown - Health-based weapons -- weapons that do more damage when you have very little life left - Multi-player -- we'd love to do this one -- it would be a great way to show off what you've unlocked so far and a great incentive to unlock more parts so you'd have a better ship to fight your friends -- but the game will have to be reasonably popular first before we could invest the required time - Many more ship parts / bonuses -- feel free to suggest ideas you'd like to see
One idea that could be good is ship design sharing. Upload your design and have people rate it and download to try it. The required parts might be an issue, but there could always be a pop-up saying you don't have all the required parts. Some people, myself probably included and one reason I shy away from most building games, are better than others at ship design. It is still fun to see how different combinations work in practice, which really makes your design choice to have inertia affect flight based on ship builds important.
Responsive and super simple. Left stick to move, right stick to shoot. --- As for ideas (could already be in the game, I haven't unlocked everything yet): - Drones (release tiny drones that assist you, could repair you or provide extra firepower or shielding, or act as flak and distract missiles) - Some kind of EMP module that has a chance to convert enemies into temporary allies - Health draining modules (draws health from nearby enemies) - Chain lightning gun - Mines - Singularity cannon (creates mini black holes)
3 of those are in the game already: - drones - mines (fuel cannon doubles as a mine dropper when placed on back of ship) - singularity cannon (we called it 'gravity gun' for UI brevity, but I like your name better!) I also like the EMP, chain lightning, and vamp ideas. Keep em coming!
I want to get to the drones, I love drones in shmups, so they would seem to be fun too in a dual stick.
Javelin. Not sure how you'd do it but it'd be cool if your ship could do a mini warp forward and pierce everything in your path. Thinking maybe charge it up or add a button for it. Drains shields? Point blank AOE. Either charged or explodes on collision. Or maybe even with an overcharge. Laser whip! Works a bit like the ball and chain but is stiffer, does not stretch and cuts through objects. Scrap shield. Pulls in scrap to form another layer of protection but greatly slows you down the more scrap you collect. Kinda like the way you can use the ball as a meat shield against everything but can be destroyed.
Javelin -- like the concept, but we're avoiding on-screen buttons like the plague. Could be event-triggered though. Point blank AOE - we're looking at adding a short-range flame thrower Laser whip -- i like the idea of more melee weapons, just tough to keep them balanced Scrap shield - love it! Fits the theme/style of the game extremely well
Like these ideas too. For the charge attack/javelin, how about this: staying still (not thrusting) charges the attack, and then you boost forward in the direction you move. The longer you stay still, the more powerful the javelin attack becomes As for melee weapons, a buzzsaw/chainsaw attachment would be cool Also, some kind of exhaust trail weapon, causing you to leave damaging plasma/energy in your wake. Could work as a new engine type
That method of "javelin" fits the game-style much better, that would be a great ship part. Really like the trailing plasma idea... we were toying with having a similar miasma-esque trail on the spike ball that would deal damage, so don't be surprised to see something along these lines in the future
Love this game. It has the accessibility of a simple arcade game, but the depth of a much newer RPG. Hope you guys can make some updates for it!
Good method there. High risk (stationary) charge up that leads to a great maneuver, both offensive and defensive. The javelin idea came from the "Needle" blueprint. I thought it could do that lol That's more akin to what I had envisioned. I just couldn't describe it well! XD I'd love to mess with that.
