Raining Stars is an shmup were you try to collect stars(collecting 3 pairs of the same color gives you an upgrade) while dodging the bullets from the xhaa.
You can only move horizontally, with left and right(clearly I picked "Two button controls"). The main idea that I tried to explore was using the stars as a mean to provide an incentive for riskier playing and, at the same time, a way to juggle your "resources"(hp, firepower and time). In its current incarnation it doesn't quite work, but I still think there's some merit to the idea.
I only had time for one enemy that works as a boss, I couldn't finish its art :(. That is probably at the core of why the game doesn't work as expected, I believe a couple of popcorn-ish enemies will give some space for the resource-juggling to take place. Comments on all the speculated above are welcomed. Have fun!!
-------------------- Controls -------------------- Left arrow - Move Left(normal speed) Right arrow - Move Right(normal speed) Z/Opposing arrow - Slow Speed(see first hotfix)
-------------------- Hotfixes -------------------- -In the spirit of "Two button controls", originally you could only move LEFT/RIGHT at a not-so-slow speed. If while moving you also press the opposing direction you then move at roughly half your speed(useful when you want to avoid a bullet, while catching a star and avoiding a different one). In general I like this kind of "contextualizations" where the same button can give you different results. I think, when done right, it can be really intuitive and elegant. Now, in this case I've been told it's a bit tricky execution-wise and I doubt many people will take the time to get use to it(I kind of did while working on the game :P), so I added an extra input(Z) to make more transparent how it works.
-Boss appears after 8 seconds instead of right away. Which gives you some preparation time, but also reduces the time you have fight it.
-------------------- Credits --------------------
Code, design and art orion_black Music visager
-------------------- Acknowledgments -------------------- I used the following libraries and software to create this game:
Fun game. I would recommend making it a little easier (maybe spread out all everything) just because there's so much for the player to manage (shoot bear, pick up certain colors, dodge bullets).
I loved the graphics, music and sound effects for the game. The atmosphere which the game created was fun. I liked your risk-based game idea. I died many times because of my risky strategy!
I don't think the main mechanic of collecting stars worked very well. Maybe it would be better if you just had to collect 6 or 3 power ups in a row, rather than in pairs, because if you wanted to try to get something of a certain colour you have to make sure both of the 'containers' were empty. I also found it better just to avoid bullets rather than try to collect them.
I also didn't find the slowing down time mechanic all that useful, I could move between the bullets without really using it.
Often games smooth the motion by making pressing a direction accelerate you in that direction, rather than just immediately moving at constant speed (for example, this happens in Mario games), which is actually easier to use rather than choosing between moving at a fast or slow speed, and would make the controls much simpler. Than maybe you could make pressing both buttons do something else
Gems were difficult to work with, but once I stopped caring about getting them as much I was able to survive much more easily. Loved the music, too. There was nice variety and it was all very enjoyable.
Comments11
I did notice you used haxeflixel, i tried it a while ago, how much better has it become?
I also didn't find the slowing down time mechanic all that useful, I could move between the bullets without really using it.
Often games smooth the motion by making pressing a direction accelerate you in that direction, rather than just immediately moving at constant speed (for example, this happens in Mario games), which is actually easier to use rather than choosing between moving at a fast or slow speed, and would make the controls much simpler. Than maybe you could make pressing both buttons do something else
The game looks and sounds nice very good though!