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I'm guessing the visual cue is that slight blue aura? It tends to get lost in the background; plus, while you're navigating platforms and dodging projectiles, you may not notice a blue outline.
Love the idea of this mechanic though, how it rewards the player for maintaining high speed. Definitely going to watch this project!
The shield goes from green to blue to purple, depending on how fast you're moving. Great point, though, about it getting lost in the BG. I'm thinking of just switching the main color for the background to green for this world. Maybe desaturate it more, and saturate the shield effect to make it pop more.
Maybe make the shield larger, more like a bubble? Mostly because I love the color scheme, and I'd hate to see that sacrificed to make the shield pop more!
Hmm, I was thinking of doing that, too... I might need to do a bunch of workshopping on this one. Turning it from an outline to a bubble would save a bunch of performance, because the outlining is a shader function
This looks promising, but some feedback:
- for a speed game it feels slow. Could be animations or backgrounds to better this.
- the mechanic, I didn't understand it.
- your PC is wwaayy too far to the right of the screen, even you as the dev still got hung up on jumps and walls
Thank you for feedback!!
-Yes, this recording doesn't quite show off the speedy stuff just yet. That said, I do want to make the game feel as fast as I can, so I will keep that in mind.
-The mechanic is that you gain a better shield the faster you go. Blue shields reflect bullets.
-I am still working on the camera stuff, for sure. She is normally close to center, it's just that the boss character pulls the camera towards her as well. Still tweaking how much she does that. Also, the vertical aspect ratio worsens this.
So to me that blue aura just felt like it was part of the design of the PC. I just assumed they were bulletproof.
Either the shield could better indicate on/off (thru partial effects or something). Like in Mario kart when a player earns a drift boost, there is a visual key to knowing it can be used. Small shake of the PC and a small blast effect (to me) would indicate it's active now.
BTW the game is called Project Cradle, and you can play this demo on [itch](http://shazysoft.net) or [steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2757950/Project_Cradle/)!!
Cool idea. I'd probably give the shield a highlight flare effect when it activates. Like when they get enough speed to get the shield, it surges. Draw the eye to it.
I think the mechanic is good, and I could easily tell the difference in the shield when your speed fell. I liked the color scheme it felt like My Teenage Robot. I also think the character is too far to the right. The boss looked really cool, and I feel like they should be on the screen more and maybe be a more overwhelming presence. Overall, your video caught my attention, and it looks like a fun game that I would definitely play.
Thanks so much, Big Bake!! Yeah, the vertical aspect ratio really didn't help the character positioning on this one @.@ that's definitely my bad, though I am also working on the camera stuff too
Visual and audio effects between each speed, have a shine or highlight on the character with a sound effect to indicate a change. Kinda depends how important it is to know how fast your character is moving. Most racing games don't really need a speedometer you know? You just feel it through gameplay
Thank you!! I'm going to try to introduce this mechanic as lightly as possible; so, I want it to be as obvious as I can make it how it works just at a glance.
That meter needs to be at the bottom center of the screen or close to the playable character and it needs more speed and more cue on the pc to indicate the shield is up
Yeahhh, the speedometer is something I'm definitely trying to figure out. I was thinking of making it just directly under the PC, but I don't want to risk losing vertical visibility... Though, I might just throw together a version of the HUD with the speedo at the bottom, because a lot of people haven't noticed it even exists.
Cool mechanic, undersold. I think that, seeing this is one of your core mechanics it just needs more juice! It's visible it's just very subtle when everything else is rather in your face and telegraphed.
Get some VFX pop when it appears and some crackling break when it dissipates, or something similar of your choice. Use some sound cues to let players know when it appears and when it's not present.
Think about shields in other games for reference. Shields in Halo give you the nightmare boops when depleted and a satisfying recharging noise when you're going back to full.
Also think about that subtle difference you have between not being damaged (light shield) and reflecting (hard shield). The subtle nature of the light shield seems to fit because it doesn't do much but protect you but reflecting is your BOOM moment, so I'd make it pop.
I definitely see what you mean!! There isn't a whole lot of visual or audio feedback on when you get it, or in particular when you lose it. I'm going to work on adding those bits of polish to make it pop a bunch more. The visual crackling and nightmare boop when you lose shield is a really great idea. Thanks so much!!
Thanks for posting to r/IndieGames! Please take a look at the rules in our sidebar to ensure that your post abides by them! If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Findiegames). Also, make sure to check out our [Discord](https://discord.gg/indie-games-788388123734048798)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/indiegames) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm guessing the visual cue is that slight blue aura? It tends to get lost in the background; plus, while you're navigating platforms and dodging projectiles, you may not notice a blue outline. Love the idea of this mechanic though, how it rewards the player for maintaining high speed. Definitely going to watch this project!
The shield goes from green to blue to purple, depending on how fast you're moving. Great point, though, about it getting lost in the BG. I'm thinking of just switching the main color for the background to green for this world. Maybe desaturate it more, and saturate the shield effect to make it pop more.
Maybe make the shield larger, more like a bubble? Mostly because I love the color scheme, and I'd hate to see that sacrificed to make the shield pop more!
Hmm, I was thinking of doing that, too... I might need to do a bunch of workshopping on this one. Turning it from an outline to a bubble would save a bunch of performance, because the outlining is a shader function
This looks promising, but some feedback: - for a speed game it feels slow. Could be animations or backgrounds to better this. - the mechanic, I didn't understand it. - your PC is wwaayy too far to the right of the screen, even you as the dev still got hung up on jumps and walls
Thank you for feedback!! -Yes, this recording doesn't quite show off the speedy stuff just yet. That said, I do want to make the game feel as fast as I can, so I will keep that in mind. -The mechanic is that you gain a better shield the faster you go. Blue shields reflect bullets. -I am still working on the camera stuff, for sure. She is normally close to center, it's just that the boss character pulls the camera towards her as well. Still tweaking how much she does that. Also, the vertical aspect ratio worsens this.
So to me that blue aura just felt like it was part of the design of the PC. I just assumed they were bulletproof. Either the shield could better indicate on/off (thru partial effects or something). Like in Mario kart when a player earns a drift boost, there is a visual key to knowing it can be used. Small shake of the PC and a small blast effect (to me) would indicate it's active now.
BTW the game is called Project Cradle, and you can play this demo on [itch](http://shazysoft.net) or [steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2757950/Project_Cradle/)!!
Cool idea. I'd probably give the shield a highlight flare effect when it activates. Like when they get enough speed to get the shield, it surges. Draw the eye to it.
OOOOH that's a fantastic idea!! I'm noting that down for sure.
I think the mechanic is good, and I could easily tell the difference in the shield when your speed fell. I liked the color scheme it felt like My Teenage Robot. I also think the character is too far to the right. The boss looked really cool, and I feel like they should be on the screen more and maybe be a more overwhelming presence. Overall, your video caught my attention, and it looks like a fun game that I would definitely play.
Thanks so much, Big Bake!! Yeah, the vertical aspect ratio really didn't help the character positioning on this one @.@ that's definitely my bad, though I am also working on the camera stuff too
It does not look obvious
Fair! Any suggestions to make it more obvious?
Visual and audio effects between each speed, have a shine or highlight on the character with a sound effect to indicate a change. Kinda depends how important it is to know how fast your character is moving. Most racing games don't really need a speedometer you know? You just feel it through gameplay
It looks good. I reckon so long as you introduce the mechanic to the player, you should be fine.
Thank you!! I'm going to try to introduce this mechanic as lightly as possible; so, I want it to be as obvious as I can make it how it works just at a glance.
Your game looks cool. Bolster on.
Thanks a bunch ron!!
That meter needs to be at the bottom center of the screen or close to the playable character and it needs more speed and more cue on the pc to indicate the shield is up
Yeahhh, the speedometer is something I'm definitely trying to figure out. I was thinking of making it just directly under the PC, but I don't want to risk losing vertical visibility... Though, I might just throw together a version of the HUD with the speedo at the bottom, because a lot of people haven't noticed it even exists.
Cool mechanic, undersold. I think that, seeing this is one of your core mechanics it just needs more juice! It's visible it's just very subtle when everything else is rather in your face and telegraphed. Get some VFX pop when it appears and some crackling break when it dissipates, or something similar of your choice. Use some sound cues to let players know when it appears and when it's not present. Think about shields in other games for reference. Shields in Halo give you the nightmare boops when depleted and a satisfying recharging noise when you're going back to full. Also think about that subtle difference you have between not being damaged (light shield) and reflecting (hard shield). The subtle nature of the light shield seems to fit because it doesn't do much but protect you but reflecting is your BOOM moment, so I'd make it pop.
I definitely see what you mean!! There isn't a whole lot of visual or audio feedback on when you get it, or in particular when you lose it. I'm going to work on adding those bits of polish to make it pop a bunch more. The visual crackling and nightmare boop when you lose shield is a really great idea. Thanks so much!!
This game looks really cool
Thanks so much! I've been working on it for like a year and a half, and I'm starting to get the core mechanics figured out