Build 0.4.8 is out! New stuff: - Control methods! Choose between normal, tilt and stick. Tilt controls use one thumb to yaw and two thumbs to yaw/flap. Stick uses one thumb (selectable left/right) for roll/pitch and the other for yaw/pitch. I actually thought the tilt-controls were pretty good, not so sure about the stick ones... - Fixed a bug in the flight aerodynamics that could cause excessive speeds. - FIxed the up/down motion of the bird, caused by the twist in the arms.. I can dial it a bit back if it's too little now... - Small terrain tweeks. - New bird: Seagull - More animation frames for the goat - Decreased the size of the birds a bit All in all a pretty boring update, but tomorrow I'll work on fishes, arches and trees. When that is done (will probably ot take more than a day), I will start on the mountain biome!
WOOO~~ stick controls!!! Dear God ~ and Dear Johan - this is PERFECT!!! - and with selectable options for the lef/right stick! How i play: Sensitivity 100%, Air resist 50%, left stick Yaw /right stick Roll. Basically i keep my right thumb on the screen almost all the time, and use my left thumb to flap, yaw or flap and yaw. Occasionally i reverse this (keep my left thumb on, use the right to flap and roll) And the auto roll when you let your thumbs off back to normal position is working great! Just 4 words from me : YOU DID IT, CONGRATULATIONS! I admit to not testing the tilt controls as i generally hate them. Bird indeed is now slower (usually i flap all the time to gain super speed) but i found it controls much much better than at higher speed, especially in drifting around corners and rocks. Keep on rockin!
I am a big flight sim fan (Aerofly 7, Aerofly FS, FS X, X-Plane, etc.) and I use inverted controls in all sorts of non-flight games --- but after trying inverted controls in Fugl, I went back to normal controls. It feels more natural that way, surprisingly. bp
I'm at 50%, but would actually prefer to try 0% air resistance - is that an empty bar or full bar? My guess is empty but I still feel like the "bird" is too heavy. When I watch birds soaring through the sky, if they were to stop flapping their wings, they will glide or coast for quite some time while losing altitude (assuming there was decent speed). Additionally if I "stall" and start nose diving, I don't feel like i can pull out of the dive (even with quite a bit of speed) without flapping my wings. the bird won't even level out - just drop like a rock. I may be misinterpreting the point of the game, but I would like to be able to flap for a bit and then glide through the canyons. Thank you for your awesome interaction with us!
I can increase the range of the sensitivity even more if you think it's needed. I tried to make it so that nobody in their right mind would play at either 0% or 100% sensitivity, but I failed? Thanks man, I'm happy your happy with the stick controls! I have another control option planned also, it's an idea I got long time ago when Melodive came out and I got this angry email from someone who said the controls were all wrong! You shouldn't have to do anything, just touch the screen to go in that direction and you can use your dragging to look around. Of course it takes the fun out the flying, but at least you get to see the sights... Like an autopilot.
I'm glad you agree. It's very strange though... I think it's got something to do with the drag-gesture on iOS but I'm not sure, like you're dragging the bird around...
Are you on the latest version? 0.4.8? Please download if you're not... 0 % is empty bar yes. I'm continously working on the flight aerodynamics, the problem being mostly that you loose too much momentum in the turns (like you experienced in the dive). That is part of the problem you are experiencing. But I think I have a solution for that, so next version will have an experiemntal flight model you can check out... I expect it to release it later today... Yes for sure, but there will always be a mix of flapping and gliding... The pleasure is all mine, I'm just happy someone cares about my game!
i tried 0.4.6 and didn't last more than 5 seconds… it's too hard atm. imo, a "novice" mode could widen the appeal.
0.4.6 was all messed up! Please download 0.4.8 and increase air resistance to 100 %, it will make the bird go much slower. Also: 0.4.8 has alternative controls that you might find better... But thanks for reporting in, I totally agree about a novice mode...
0.4.9 is out! I got a bit distracted, so no fish yet, but there is some fun stuff here: - 2 new control schemes: Virtual reality (or augumented is maybe the proper word). Just point your screen to where you want the bird to go! It's fun, but very unpractical. The other scheme is something I'm calling scenic VR, it's with no bird, just a floating eye with the same augumented reality setup. It's nice if you want to use it as a screensaver, or just check something out (I use it for debugging). - New experimental flight model, it's the same as the default one, but the momentum is better conserved though turns, coming out of dives etc... Would love some feedback on it! - Tweaks to the Fugl-animation - Tweaks to bird-sizes and creature animations Ok, back to fishes, arches and trees!
0.49 The feeling of the bird is odd, if air resistance is up birdie's highly manoeuvrable which is nice, but as soon as I stop flapping those wings it drops, if air resistance is low birdie glides but can't bank. Is an aerodynamic model the right approach? If you stick with that, maybe give sus more sliders to find the right tuning. Since I know nothing about the subject I can't help.
OK, I was lucky enough to have Johan add me to the beta test, thanks! First off, I'll give the disclaimer that I've only had about 10 minutes with the game so far (I'm at work and couldn't play long, but had to give it a shot). So far, I can tell you without a doubt, that this game is going to be AMAZING! Obviously, it's something that cannot be appreciated with just the videos alone, seeing it in action is completely different. I've only tried the default flight controls so far, I really didn't see a need to try anything else. It took me all of about 60 seconds to truly grasp the controls (inverting pitch was also necessary for me), once I did, it feels completely natural and intuitive. Swooping and soaring through canyons is almost a liberating feeling. Sometimes you come upon some very small spaces to squeeze through, and it's a very satisfying feeling when you can thread the needle just right and pull off a pass through one of them. Look, I'll sit down with this one more throughout the day, and when I get home from work I'll give a full write-up of my impressions both good and bad. Thanks again, Johan, for letting me help test this beautiful game of yours!
my impression is that the new flight model is extremely better for gliding after flapping, and conserving the speed around turns (at air resistance 50%), which was something that would happen at near zero air resistance with the established model. however, it needs a bit more "lift" and momentum when coming out of a dive without flapping. I fly high up, i dive down flapping, and It doesn't glide when you turn level to the ground after the dive (i think it should from the speed of the dive) and it doesn't lift if you turn the bird upwards, like the bird is too heavy for its wings.
What do you mean, you can't bank, i don't understand? 100 % air resistance is only meant for complete beginners, it's not very playable, but I might increase the thrust. I'm sure that a aerodynamic model is the right approach, as it is a big part of the feeling of flight. Having a seperate screen for all things regarding the flight model might be a good idea, at least when before it hits beta. Maybe afterwards also... I just don't want to make it too confusing with a lot of options, but other than that, I'm all for it!
Thank you for your kind words, I'm very happy that you have enjoyed your first ten minutes, and that you could grasp the controls so easily... Looking forward to more impressions when you get the chance to play it some more!
To complete my previous post after more tweaking, for me the new experimental model at 20% air resistance is perfect. At 50% it's too much but 20% gives the lift and push.
Good! I was just trying to rewrite the code, but I'm getting problems if I push the conservation to high... Currently it is at 50 %. At 100 % strange things start to happen...
I have only spent an hour going between experimental and normal flight models using the default touch controls and, whereas I was using 75% sensitivity for normal flight model and feeling very good, I think the new flight model at 50% or ~55% sensitivity feels better than the normal model I was playing before. I think this is where I stand, but I need to play it more. I've not tried adjusting the air resistance at all, ever. I will adjust that as well and see what it does to me. I feel like the experimental model gives the bird more momentum but also allows for more nimble moves in navigating caves. Not sure that makes sense, but that's the feeling I get. Stay tuned. bp
Yes, yes, yes - I love the experimental flight system! I am going at 60% sensitivity and 45% air resistance and it's great. bp
