SyntaxBomb - Indie Coders

Joke....except it's real.....

"I've never been one to follow the recommendations...."

I'm thankful for the praise, excitement and constructive criticisms I've received from various folks during the development of this project but there's three words I'd value far more from anyone who tries than any of what I've received so far, and those three words are simply: "that was fun"

In its most basic form, my game design for this game is basically just the old carnival arcade game of "whack a mole" except instead of a hammer you have units of space soldiers, and instead of moles poking their head up through holes you have squads of enemy soldiers advancing on your base.

Link: https://matty77.itch.io/conflict-3049
How to play: 

Short note: these alien animals won't "peacefully strive around in your base" ... let them "move away" from "action" (units moving/fighting near). Let them "clump together" (hoarding, ...). And use an less exaggerated animation (the back-swaying is too exaggerated and thus is binding too much eye attraction -> you recognize too fast, that the movement repeats and is the same for all of them - most of the time even "at the same time").

You still do not show what building you currently have selected (you hear the sound and also the text becomes "a bit brighter") ... simply giving it a "unit circle" might already do.

plant movement: just eg check the plants at 0:52 ff. (left of the left center red soldier). I understand you want to make "environment" look a bit alive yeah? But why do only 2 plants swing around but all the others next to it not  ...  .oO("is there something hidden?")
Maybe make the movement even more subtle (I suggested to animate the billboard itself by using 1-2 more quads ... so to say: only move the tree head a bit, not the trunk). All in all you could consider moving only if there was a force - and else stay "calm" (because player wants to focus on the "gameplay", not the "environment distracting them constantly").
What I mean with force is: you already added these craters ... maybe have some simple "bomb + radius"-effect thing which adds a bit of a "swing" to the plants (and their swinging strength gets lower until "0" again). So a bit like the basic boob bounce logic some years ago.


PS: I like the start of your "unit organization" at the bottom (with the unit-wireframe-stuff etc). Maybe move the "building interaction buttons" to there too ... so depending on "what you select" different interaction options are there - and it also leads to a more focused "interface". Dunno how to properly move everything "to the right" as people have widescreen resolutions and thus more horizontal space is available than vertical ... so _maybe_ it would also work if all are "on the side" (but of course it requires more mouse movement / longer paths then).


bye
Ron

Thanks those are good ideas

Something to observe....

I have an art book from an old video game made by Bungie and Activision. The UI credits alone are 10 people working full time for the company to design and test and approve the User Interface.

OK so you now stop programming because the same book will also mention a lot more people for all the other stuff?

Also there is no mention that these people worked simultaneously on things. Also you know how reputation and "name spread" happens? How much a professor mentioned as "author" in published papers has really worked on the paper (in most cases: ~0%). They are mentioned to get an attribution. What I mean is: not all who get mentioned have put much work into something.
Not all of the credited people will have experienced crunch times etc etc.


So: yes, again ... you as solo developer have the option to pay others for doing things, to find others doing things aka building a team (but then you are no solo developer anymore) -- or to invest your time (time is money ... money is (spare) time).
And this is why I propsed you to "inspire" yourself from existing HUDs/GUIs, have a play with tools and try to recreate things. Forget your first revisions ... they WILL not be the ones you use, they are just the first step to a useful HUD/GUI. Use it to learn how to achieve certain effects (inner shadow for more depth, slight gradients or noise textures to break the "artificial" look ...).
Maybe use this thread (or a second to not "derail" this one) and collect interesting HUD/GUI designs ... During your "research" you might use a tool like "PureRef" in which you can nicely layout references you find on the internet. You know best what you "want" to have as game, you are the designer - so you decide if it is hard sci-fi, if things need to be exaggerated (big weapons, skulls on armory, ...). You know what you can do with your engine ...

Just check what you have already achieved ... take this as a chance to learn something "new" for some days. Collect things, maybe I (or others) could chime in with ideas, assistance, ... when it comes to do something with your references once you fiddled out what you actually want.


bye
Ron

Yep you're doing well as a one man band Matty - good work. 

Thanks Steve and Derron...

I've updated the itch page with new screenshots and a few other bits and pieces.....

Link is here: (game download is unchanged from 16 hours ago) (but there are unreleased changes at home...waiting for enough changes before I reupload a new version)

https://matty77.itch.io/conflict-3049

Just for example check out this SC2 screenshot there:

source: https://www.gamersglobal.de/cheats-guide/25034/starcraft-2-mehrspieler-guide?page=0,1

- there is some "scifi interface" (yes, it has a bit too much "black there" and looks a bit "techy clean" to me ... but it has these classic "diagonal corner cuts" you know from "scifi panels" + neon glow )
- but also have a look at the "game area" ... it has a less "grainy" look than in your current visuals. Sometimes "less" is more (when it comes to allow having a cleaner "view" on things). Yes, you want "cover", "hiding" and other advanced technics in the game, but you will need to find a way to make things still look "cleaner".  Maybe others have an opinion on it too.


I just looked for a SC2 screenshot being a bit more similar to your "planet":

source: https://superior-realities.com/2013/03/24/review-sc2-heart-of-the-swarm-multiplayer/


I assume one thing is: their textures are "bigger" in scale (so grass lumps are "bigger"). This avoids the "1 pixel is grass, 1 is stone, another is grass" look. As usual game key is "simplification" and "exaggeration" (eg big guns to allow easier distinguish between units, or soldiers being not just a 1/20th of a tank -- you already do exaggerate there, so well done).
Their buildings and units are hand painted textures (or "digitally painted" I guess), yes, this makes things look more "toyish" or "plastics" ... we play a game, so that is OK I guess. Your models are bought (at least you mentioned most of them being "3rd party"). They have a lot of details in the textures, they might even have a lot in the model itself. Depending on the "renderer" this can lead to the same "pixel effect" as described before (1 pixel window, inbetween one px, another pixel window, a border, a window...).
This results in a "twitchy" look.

Your units (ship, tank, soldier) are less heavy affected by it.


Question: Are you allowed to edit the textures of the buildings / units? From complete "retexturing" to "changing colors" ... is editing possible? As suggested before, colours might need to be "unified" a bit here and there ("so they belong to the same team"). Regarding smoothing out a texture - this is something you need to think about (as it is your game, you are the one with a "plan where to head to").


bye
Ron

I am allowed to edit the textures, that's fine, and the models as well - which I've already done somewhat a little.

I've added fog at the edge of the map, so that the boundary is clearer, and put more vegetation around the edge...now it looks like the enemies walk in from out of the fog rather than just appearing at the edge of the map.

Download link is updated: https://matty77.itch.io/conflict-3049

I actually prefer my landscape to the one in your screenshot above - the graininess works in my opinion.

Sometimes scenes can look 'too busy' Matty.  It's best to find a good compromise.

Hello again......

I've updated the gui - it does look better now and is laid out better.

There's also some bug fixes and other cosmetic improvements.

Game link: https://matty77.itch.io/conflict-3049

Images: