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Posted By
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Message
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Chris Donovan
Registered
15/06/2003
Points
448
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25th March, 2013 at 25/03/2013 06:14:23 -
I released my game, The Dead Miles, last Summer, and it didn't do well. Since then, I took the feedback that I received, and modified the game accordingly. I would appreciate it if you would take one last look, and let me know if it's working as intended.
I did my best to make the game realistic. It is pretty hard though. If you want to give it a try, I suggest reading the full instructions included in the game.
You can download the beta on the first page of my site. It will be available until April 1st.
The link for the beta is on the first page of my site.
http://www.misterdonovan.com/
Thanks.
Send me feedback on my latest game, It Never Ends.
http://www.misterdonovan.com/it-never-ends/info/
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siven
I EAT ROCKS
Registered
03/11/2008
Points
604
 
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25th March, 2013 at 25/03/2013 22:47:24 -
Well im at the library and i didnt bring my flash drive or i would download it and play it. i must say the game looks good though, i like the graphics style a lot. next time i come to the library ill download it and give you better feedback ;D
If you'd like, check out my zombie mini game for my game celestia. its simple but pretty entertaining if you get bored. btw... its FULL of glitches lol. the games been remade since this version but if you get a wild hair here it is 
http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=8496
[Game design makes my brain feel like its gonna explode.]
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Chris Donovan
Registered
15/06/2003
Points
448
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26th March, 2013 at 26/03/2013 17:51:03 -
I tried your game, Siven. There are some nice elements here. I like the character styles and animations. The movement controls are smooth. I also like the aiming mechanism, but hope that the final game will take advantage of the upward firing arc.
The scrolling layer in the back seems off when you jump. It appears to be moving up, and I feel like it should move down to show the right perspective.
Except for firing rates and gun/ammo graphics, I didn't notice much of a difference with how ammo effected the zombies. One rocket launcher type weapon did one shot kills though. I suppose that you'll have different types of zombies to match all those weapons?
Also, I didn't notice any sound. Just throw in some generic MMF sound effects. It will bring it to life.
Send me feedback on my latest game, It Never Ends.
http://www.misterdonovan.com/it-never-ends/info/
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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30th March, 2013 at 30/03/2013 17:08:54 -
Hey Chris, here's some feedback for you:
- Zombies sometimes instantly appear next to you once you return to the travel map. This is even if your fear level is negligible and/or you just finished dealing with a group of zombies. By design?
- Hunger level seems inconsistently displayed across different screens. On the Planning screen it might read "peckish" while on the Eat screen it might read "Starving!" during the same visit. Also, two hours of searching can switch you from "Peckish" to "Starving!" even if you find no new inventory items. Maybe returning to the Planning screen is what does it...?
- On the training screen, allow players to see their current values in the different Ability Scores so they can make a more informed choice.
- Difficulty is still unforgiving. It might help if the player could make a more informed choice on the Travel screen. Maybe you can offer the player clues as to where to move to find the next safe haven? I become frustrated because I'm wandering around the map without a clue as to whether or not I'm doing something right. If I was in a dungeon, at least going down to the next level means I'll be making progress. In The Dead Miles, I have no frame of reference, except for "go all over the place."
- Because placement of the Safe Havens is so random, I can start the game and immediately earn 50 points without doing anything. Granted, this is rare, but unless you intend for that sort of thing to happen then it shouldn't.
I'll have a few more play-throughs this weekend and see if I can come up with a few more suggestions.
In terms of compliments, I think the artwork, photos, and so on is excellent! The game itself reminds me of the old-skool roguelikes but with a realtime gameplay mechanic that makes things more urgent (with the exception of going to the Planning screen, which I think is appropriate).
It seems to me that it's only some of the technical aspects that are stepping in the way of this game becoming truly excellent. I'll do my best to come up with some more feedback for you by the end of the weekend.
n/a
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Chris Donovan
Registered
15/06/2003
Points
448
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31st March, 2013 at 31/03/2013 18:47:18 -
S-m-r,
Thanks for the awesome feedback. E_mail me, and I will gladly return the favor sometime.
- Zombies sometimes instantly appear next to you once you return to the travel map. This is even if your fear level is negligible and/or you just finished dealing with a group of zombies. By design?
Did that happen often? Also, did that happen instantly? Zombies should spawn around 300 pixels away. I will take a look at this, and perhaps increase the distance.
- Hunger level seems inconsistently displayed across different screens. On the Planning screen it might read "peckish" while on the Eat screen it might read "Starving!" during the same visit. Also, two hours of searching can switch you from "Peckish" to "Starving!" even if you find no new inventory items. Maybe returning to the Planning screen is what does it...?
I will take a look. Off the top of my head, I can see two possibilities. Either the values which determine the displayed text are off from frame to frame, or it may not be clear when you're using energy and how fast it goes. Every activity costs energy... even sleeping. Letting time go by on the travel screen costs energy. The heavier you are, and the more weight you're carrying during certain activities uses more energy. I *think* there might be an issue with the game registering you as spending energy for eating before you actually eat--that may seem strange, but I calculated for some energy loss for finding a place to eat and prepping the food. Still, it should not be going from peckish to starving.
- On the training screen, allow players to see their current values in the different Ability Scores so they can make a more informed choice.
That's a great idea. It will be done.
- Difficulty is still unforgiving. It might help if the player could make a more informed choice on the Travel screen. Maybe you can offer the player clues as to where to move to find the next safe haven? I become frustrated because I'm wandering around the map without a clue as to whether or not I'm doing something right. If I was in a dungeon, at least going down to the next level means I'll be making progress. In The Dead Miles, I have no frame of reference, except for "go all over the place."
I'm going to assume that you're speaking of the Travel screen and not the combat screens. I have received complaints that people didn't know how to escape from combat (just run in a straight line unless you hit barbed wire). On the Travel screen, I have thought about having an arrow quickly point to another random safe haven, but I thought this was too easy. How about this? After leaving the 4th safe haven, and for every one thereafter, an oscillating arrow will point in the general direction of a random safe haven.
- Because placement of the Safe Havens is so random, I can start the game and immediately earn 50 points without doing anything. Granted, this is rare, but unless you intend for that sort of thing to happen then it shouldn't.
I noticed that too. I think I'm going to let that slide for two reasons: It happens a little less than 10% of the time. Also, finding safe havens actually increases the game's difficulty since more zombies are present as days go by. So, that balances out a bit.
- In terms of compliments, I think the artwork, photos, and so on is excellent! The game itself reminds me of the old-skool roguelikes but with a realtime gameplay mechanic that makes things more urgent (with the exception of going to the Planning screen, which I think is appropriate).
Thanks. I'm 43 years old, so I grew up with old-skool games. For my older games, I used True Space to make all of the graphics. It took a lot of time, but the end results were very sharp, and it rendered perfect frames that could be imported with no additional editing. This time around, I took short cuts, but I don't think I saved any effort! I created avatars in Second Life to make the top down graphics for zombies and the player. I then created, or modified bvh animations and imported them into Second Life. I then had to shoot video of each character performing the various animations in SL. After that, I had to select freeze frames from the video, and clean each of them up, removing the blurry background, one at a time. That was a nightmare. The cut scene photos were actually fun to do. The sleeping screen is me in my backyard. I did that shot during the summer... wearing a hoodie and carrying an ax. What did my neighbors think? The eating screen was just a still life that I arranged and enhanced. The zombie combat screen is me dressed up as the main player, and as zombies. That took around 5 hours to shoot and edit.
I originally was going to digitally create all top down graphics by strapping a camera to the ceiling and shooting the animations. Unfortunately, the ceiling wasn't high enough, and the perspective was distorted.
Did you like the sound tracking system? Did LOS make sense?
Once again, thanks for the feedback. I didn't receive feedback from a lot of people, but what I did receive made up for it.
Thanks,
Chris
Send me feedback on my latest game, It Never Ends.
http://www.misterdonovan.com/it-never-ends/info/
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siven
I EAT ROCKS
Registered
03/11/2008
Points
604
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1st April, 2013 at 01/04/2013 21:26:18 -
That is actually a very outdated version of the game, the new engine is much better, instead of 36 direction aiming you have a full 360 and the movement engine is far better. there actually is sound, its odd you didnt have any. and yea as you level up from killing zombies others will begin to show up, but none of the elemental ones. the zombie game was simply a test for the real game, which has nothing to do with zombies lol. yeah the scrolling is way off, and some of the more advanced weapons cause streaks in the background, not entirely sure why lol. and yeah in the full game the elements will do more damage to certain types of enemies and less to others etc. but its weird you didnt have any sound, theres a song and all kinds of sound effects, gun shot sounds etc. idk why you didnt get any sound from the game. im not to worried about it though the games currently being rebuilt, and another zombie mini game will be released in a little while. i just figured you might enjoy it  thanks for the feedback. ill download your game while im here at the library and ill test it when i get home, ill let you know what i think of it 
[Game design makes my brain feel like its gonna explode.]
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Chris Donovan
Registered
15/06/2003
Points
448
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1st April, 2013 at 01/04/2013 22:24:09 -
Sorry, Siven. The beta period is over, and the download is no longer working. I have to cut it off at some point, or I'll never be finished. The final version will be released in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the interest and let me know when you need someone to test your game.
Chris
Send me feedback on my latest game, It Never Ends.
http://www.misterdonovan.com/it-never-ends/info/
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