It's playtest time!
I need input from more people. What do we need? Playtesters! When do we need 'em? Now!
I've decided, it's vital to get other people to test the core game mechanics. It's playtest time!
Maybe I'm jumping the gun here but - hey, fortune favours the bold.
HOOP PLAYTEST
We need to answer the question: does the gameplay feel right? Do we need to change the core mechanics?
I've put in a lot of work already into the game physics and concepts:
- a hoop that moves sluggishly, it corners and angles with a slight delay on purpose;
- it grows and shrinks, over time and with rewards
- the camera deliberately moves with the hoop, exposing parts but not all of the arena giving you a sense of what's coming while being real stingy like with giving you a total overview;
- bots that lob balls (well, yellow spheres really) at random intervals, with random aim types (watch where you are! watch where you were! watch where you're going!), with random velocities;
- bots that can be disabled for a while if the hoop can stay close for long enough (unless it's the last bot standing) - shout out to @Rorror and @paaseivreter for your early playtest feedback!;
- progress indicators that flow up (quickly) and down (slowly, tempting you to return) when you try to disable a bot;
- balls that have arced trajectories, bounce trajectories and of course different velocities every time they're lobbed;
- balls that bounce remain dangerous as long as they're in the arena;
- balls that can bounce off each other, off the rim of your hoop (reward!), off bots...;
- message flashing when you've earned or picked up a reward;
- high score system - simple for now - top 10 high scores are ranked with name
WHAT FEEDBACK AM I NOT LOOKING FOR?
Yes, I know the way it looks sucks. Donkey balls. What am I, Van Gogh? I already built a whole font and typeface hoopline for this game you know.
Also, this build launches like a stand-alone, non-signed executable without even an icon. It's very rough around the edges.
I also have a lot of ideas already. Like multiplayer / multiple hoops. Permanent bot disabling. Better look and feel (make pretty!). Customizable designs like different types of hoops, arenas, balls, bots. The list goes on.
More ideas are always welcome, but at this point 99% of them will end up going into a backlog.
Why? Because I'm well aware that I'm just a guy, not a big game studio. I need to limit the scope, get something out there.
If the game takes off, who knows? The sky is the limit. One of the biggest dangers for now is to get over-excited and want to do too much, and then not finish anything.
So, ideas and general feedback on things like platforms, UIs et cetera are welcome but not what I'm looking for just yet.
WHAT FEEDBACK AM I LOOKING FOR?
I need the basic principle of the game mechanics playtested. I want answers to questions like:
- is it fun to play?
- does it stay fun to play after a while?
- how's the balance between time, number of bots, ball speeds, rewards?
- is any bot / ball throw too predictable?
- is the constantly-moving camera showing you just enough to anticipate what's going on, not too much or too little?
- are balls too fast? too slow?
- are there any bugs or crashes?
- how's performance, which should sit consistently around 120FPS? Any (reproducable) lag or freezes?
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?
My eternal gratitude.
Also, if the game ships 🤞, all playtesters that have been involved (as in: more than just looked at it for 10 minutes once) should receive a free copy of the game, that would only be fair I guess.
Also, remind me to at some point pre-launch create a credits screen and stick your name or handle right up there where it belongs.
That's another reason I want to know who's playtesting. I need to get the opportunity to properly thank you, so I will need to keep a list.
WANNA GET INVOLVED?
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