A Tiny Place by grahhhhhhhhh

In a big world of face paced drama, find A Tiny Place. A small reprieve to relax and shoot robots.
It's a tiny, tiny place.
*Please consider what you DIDN'T like about the game and leave that as constructive criticism in your response, since that's the only way I'll improve as a designer. *My review of your game will in no way be retribution for an upsetting or disappointing review of my game, I promise. **Please be honest, and help be become better at the thing we all love, thanks!
Links
- SITE: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/692452?updated=1493078657
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/a-tiny-place |
Ratings
| Overall | 776th | 1.947⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 773th | 1.737⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 756th | 2⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 768th | 1.895⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 720th | 2.105⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 469th | 2.4⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 631th | 1.824⭐ | 19🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 738th | 2.111⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 11🗳️ | 16🗨️ |
I think you might need to try playtesting it because I think the game is currently broken. I can't shoot and I just die straight away. Also whenever I click, a giant white box appears over my ship (probably an issue with transparency in your image), so I have no idea what's happening.
The music is cool, I think it should be on by default (although it might be copyright because it's based on the Disney 'It's a Small World' song). Also, I think the firework sounds are a bit too loud and annoying on repeat on the mainscreen - maybe make them softer?
If you fix up the bugs let me know and I'll try again!
Feel free to try my game too if you get the time: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/no-minor-task-party-of-a-lifetime
It's strange I'm getting reports of a lot of bugs including the ones you mentioned, but game works fine with my system. Not sure what's up with the white box glitch, the asset was designed the same way and made into the same file type as everything else... :(
Despite those issues, the menu looks really nice, and the in-game graphics are pretty decent too. The music and sound effects are also good, though I'm not sure why they seem to be off by default. It's a shame about the bugs that make the game unplayable.
I had the same bugs commented before, but I know how to "fix" it temporarily:
I just clicked on "Clear Data" and "Confirm" and tried again, and now I can play!!
Maybe is hard to see the theme here, but I like the 'feedback' when hit an enemy and when I use the 'space' skill.
Good job!
In addition here is some constructive criticism:
- It wasn't initially obvious that robots reaching the other side of the screen kill you. An extra line in the help screen. Likewise it wasn't obvious what finished a level. Have a countdown on the level or again information in help would have reduced the confusion.
- The Polynesian (?) robots introduced in level 4 can be impossible to hit. At times they can start running at the bottom side of the screen and the time it takes to turn and shoot them is too slow until you are completely powered up. At level 4 that felt a little unfair.
I like the graphics and the sound, the music fits the game well.
I like your progression system and the upgrades felt powerful or handy.
It's hard to aim at the robots because of the way they walk.
Closing the leaderboards turns of the music because of the placement of the buttons.
Now for feedback:
The animations and sound effects make the game feel really responsive but the gameplay feels a bit lacking. The bullets feels too slow and inconsistent. Nice entry though, keep up the good work!
– The bullets are very slow, thus it is very hard to aim.
– The controls are inconsistent and confusing: I have to aim with keyboard, shoot with mouse click, then collect the coins with the mouse cursor. Too many controls to keep in mind. Full mouse control would have been better.
– If I turn off the sound on the title screen, I still hear the fireworks.
– I couldn't get through even the first level. Because of this, I couldn't experience many of the announced cool features of the game, like upgrades, auto-fire and laser sight – I see them in the „How to Play”, but I never got a chance to unlock and try them.
– It is very subjective, but I don't really see the theme worked into the game.
– I like the graphics (especially the robots, assuming it is your work), and I also think the audio is pretty decent (assuming it is your work).
Keep it up, make more games, practice, stay determined! You will get better. :)
If you have time, have a look at my game https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/atomic-clicker