Hey what's up everyone? We're making a flash game for our class and I am in charge of QA testing and I want to get as much feedback as possible. I want you guys to be brutally honest and say every little thing you don't like about it and what we have to do to make it something that you would actually WANT to play.
This is build #48 of the game and a lot of work has gone in since the first time I posted this. A lot of the bugs have been fixed, audio and visuals rehauled, and we added power-ups/abilities to use. There is also now a 3-minute time limit and a scoreboard, so now you can try and get a high score! The instruction menu is bugged right now and we are going to fix it and expand it to make it better don't worry.
http://jason-gross.com/lasso = link to game
Once you're done please fill out:
http://jason-gross.com/lasso/survey.php (Please write as much as you can in these surveys but also copy and paste on to this thread if you want so I can read in case some surveys don't go through)
Anyways the object of the game is to circle or "lasso" the colored orbs and then deposit them in your base by clicking the base in the bottom left, while simultaneously making sure your base doesn't get hit with flying orbs. Your lasso can bounce the orbs around so you can deflect stuff coming at your base. Once you circle something click your base to deposit it and if you don't let your base get hit for a few seconds the orb will get processed and added to your score (you can check how much you've collected by holding space). Collect certain combos to unlock the abilities, too!
1. Longer lasso tail = circle 3 orbs in one lasso.
2. "Tardyburner" (any spirit orbs that hit your lasso then move very slowly) = collect 1 of every color.
3. Tick Tock = Collect 10 spirits without getting hit or letting your base get hit.
4. Juggernaut (smash into spirits with your cursor to explode the spirits and get points instead of lassoing them) = Circle the big black orb.
5. Base Shield = Collect the white orb.
Once you get them and the icon lights up, hit 1-5 on the keyboard or click the icon to use them.
Be brutally honest about every little thing you notice and please suggest what you think would make it better. I really appreciate it you guys it would mean a lot! Tell your friends and I will give you all cookies.
<3
HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE thanks to Joe for making a song especially for our game. It is awesome and fits the game really well!
Help test our flash game we're making for class
Moderator: Moderators
Help test our flash game we're making for class
Last edited by Riot on Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
-
Merk
- Lady Banned Son of Switzerland
- Posts: 8291
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:33 am
- Location: Bloomington / Ft. Wayne
- Contact:
lol you got me fired from work good sir lol
Copypasta of my survey------------------------------
First and foremost I did not play this game with sound, so if sound is a critical element to this game then my opinion is skewed.
It think it's actually a pretty good and original concept for a flash game and I see a lot of potential with this game. However there are a few things that really irk me. It may be that I just suck at the game, but the lasso length seems to vary in size as I play, making it almost impossible to lasso all but the smallest orbs. This may be intended, and that's fine, but it sucks when there are no small orbs on the screen and all I can do is deflect stuff.
I thought the cursor was a little bit too big and I would often find myself stunned and unable to lasso stuff-- I'd make the cursor the same thickness or perhaps a small margin larger than the lasso itself. When I played, I was mostly concentrating on the lasso, not the cursor. At the very least I would suggest making the hitbox of the cursor smaller.
Also, white orbs with a nearly white colored lasso is not a good idea, I think a purple orb would be pretty!
Lastly, you need to make the scoreboard visible at all times somewhere on the playing field, maybe inside the base? Holding down space just to see my score is a nuisance. I don't think recording the number of points earned from each orb color is particularly necessary, just a total score would suffice.
I'm not sure if these are bugs, but here are some observations:
- For some orbs I didn't need to click on the base in order to store them for extra points, I could just click anywhere and they'd get deposited. This generally happened when storing my first orb, the second and third orbs required me to actually click on the base although sometimes it worked for the second orb as well.
- For some orbs I would immediately get points for lassoing them.In general I found this to be true for the small orbs. Also I would get my points "double-counted" for these orbs. For example, I lasso a small yellow orb and immediately get +5 points, I hold onto the orb (ie don't deposit it into the base and my lasso color is yellow) and a few seconds later get +5 more points. I'm not sure if this was intended, but to me it seemed like a bug since it only happened occasionally with a few orbs.
I know the game is in early stages of development, but I think a good idea for the future would be to add power-ups that randomly appear that you can click on (or lasso) that would benefit the player. Some example power-ups:
-Clear all orbs currently on the screen.
-Stops all orbs on the screen.
-Doubles/Triples all points you get from the orbs for a limited time.
-Creates a barrier around the base so everything that touches it gets deflected so the player doesn't have to worry about defending the base.
The graphics are decent and passable. The trippy background could maybe change once you hit certain point values (a la Tetris) to add some variety. I didn't have any sound playing so I can't comment on the audio.
Overall I'd say it's a game with solid fundamentals but a few bugs here and there that make it too hard for it to be a good time waster. I would play it more in the future to see where you guys take this game, you have a good idea, you just need to flesh it out more.
Copypasta of my survey------------------------------
First and foremost I did not play this game with sound, so if sound is a critical element to this game then my opinion is skewed.
It think it's actually a pretty good and original concept for a flash game and I see a lot of potential with this game. However there are a few things that really irk me. It may be that I just suck at the game, but the lasso length seems to vary in size as I play, making it almost impossible to lasso all but the smallest orbs. This may be intended, and that's fine, but it sucks when there are no small orbs on the screen and all I can do is deflect stuff.
I thought the cursor was a little bit too big and I would often find myself stunned and unable to lasso stuff-- I'd make the cursor the same thickness or perhaps a small margin larger than the lasso itself. When I played, I was mostly concentrating on the lasso, not the cursor. At the very least I would suggest making the hitbox of the cursor smaller.
Also, white orbs with a nearly white colored lasso is not a good idea, I think a purple orb would be pretty!
Lastly, you need to make the scoreboard visible at all times somewhere on the playing field, maybe inside the base? Holding down space just to see my score is a nuisance. I don't think recording the number of points earned from each orb color is particularly necessary, just a total score would suffice.
I'm not sure if these are bugs, but here are some observations:
- For some orbs I didn't need to click on the base in order to store them for extra points, I could just click anywhere and they'd get deposited. This generally happened when storing my first orb, the second and third orbs required me to actually click on the base although sometimes it worked for the second orb as well.
- For some orbs I would immediately get points for lassoing them.In general I found this to be true for the small orbs. Also I would get my points "double-counted" for these orbs. For example, I lasso a small yellow orb and immediately get +5 points, I hold onto the orb (ie don't deposit it into the base and my lasso color is yellow) and a few seconds later get +5 more points. I'm not sure if this was intended, but to me it seemed like a bug since it only happened occasionally with a few orbs.
I know the game is in early stages of development, but I think a good idea for the future would be to add power-ups that randomly appear that you can click on (or lasso) that would benefit the player. Some example power-ups:
-Clear all orbs currently on the screen.
-Stops all orbs on the screen.
-Doubles/Triples all points you get from the orbs for a limited time.
-Creates a barrier around the base so everything that touches it gets deflected so the player doesn't have to worry about defending the base.
The graphics are decent and passable. The trippy background could maybe change once you hit certain point values (a la Tetris) to add some variety. I didn't have any sound playing so I can't comment on the audio.
Overall I'd say it's a game with solid fundamentals but a few bugs here and there that make it too hard for it to be a good time waster. I would play it more in the future to see where you guys take this game, you have a good idea, you just need to flesh it out more.
-
letshavetea
- Standard
- Posts: 726
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:41 am
- Location: The internet.
- Contact:
yar, I did the survey thing and posted this in it.
Figured I'd post it here too, to let other kids see it... see if they feel the same.
That's when I decided to stop playing... which reminds me... in the score table there... the right side stays cyan till the end... the left has a gray before the red.... and the word Total is just a bitch to read. You have the word there twice... it kinda looks like a drop shadow but... they're the same color... and... it just.. it's confusing to look at.
EDIT: Merk posted while I was posting
I noticed those scoring issues you were talkin about... and I was toying with it...
What it seemed like is that if you keep a ball in your possession after a few seconds you'll get the points for the ball... however you don't get as many points for holding onto it as you would for returning it.... Also, if you get one while you still have one in your possession you'll get the points for the first one when you... obtain the second...
example... circle yellow orb... wait five seconds... get five points for orb and lasso turns gray
circle yellow orb wait two seconds... circle blue orb... get five points for yellow orb... lasso turns blue... wait five seconds.. get five points for blue orb... lasso turns gray
circle yellow orb... return it to base... get seven points.
that's all with the smallest orb possible.... at least that's what I thought happened.
EDIT:2
I also forgot about when a ball hits the END of your lasso... like hits it dead on.
the ball doesn't just deflect.. it gets stuck to the end of the lasso wherever it was... when the lasso moves from that spot the ball shoots out of there with crazy speed.
Figured I'd post it here too, to let other kids see it... see if they feel the same.
I just noticed that it doesn't matter if you put a name in the front page or not... also, make a REAL scoreboard hahaIt got me entertained for a while.. just.. fix up the instructions page by adding (of course) a back button... and.. make the text not selectable. Also, I'm sure you know the quit button doesn't work in the menu while playing.
The sound got annoying after a few minutes...
Make the score bar a permanent part of the screen, or just have your total score show up on your base somewhere.
If you circle two balls at the same time, you don't get any reward for it, in fact.. you're penalized. If you click on your base after circling two balls you only return one, and the other just disappears.
However, if you hold on to both balls without returning them you'll get some points... more points than if you were to click on the base.
The hitboxes on the base are atrocious... so many times it came close to the base... wouldn't possibly hit it but it counted anyhow.
Something that I found annoying was that... you can't move your mouse past the edge of the screen. I know that's a problem with flash, and not your game, but if you were to make a boarder around it... and have that boarder be part of the applet, then it'd let you get up to the edge of the board. You could also use that boarder as a place to display your score permanently.
Make there be a point to the game, as it stands it's just... the person who plays the longest has the high score... add a real penalty to letting the balls hit your base... (5 balls hit your base... game over)
That's when I decided to stop playing... which reminds me... in the score table there... the right side stays cyan till the end... the left has a gray before the red.... and the word Total is just a bitch to read. You have the word there twice... it kinda looks like a drop shadow but... they're the same color... and... it just.. it's confusing to look at.
EDIT: Merk posted while I was posting
I noticed those scoring issues you were talkin about... and I was toying with it...
What it seemed like is that if you keep a ball in your possession after a few seconds you'll get the points for the ball... however you don't get as many points for holding onto it as you would for returning it.... Also, if you get one while you still have one in your possession you'll get the points for the first one when you... obtain the second...
example... circle yellow orb... wait five seconds... get five points for orb and lasso turns gray
circle yellow orb wait two seconds... circle blue orb... get five points for yellow orb... lasso turns blue... wait five seconds.. get five points for blue orb... lasso turns gray
circle yellow orb... return it to base... get seven points.
that's all with the smallest orb possible.... at least that's what I thought happened.
EDIT:2
I also forgot about when a ball hits the END of your lasso... like hits it dead on.
the ball doesn't just deflect.. it gets stuck to the end of the lasso wherever it was... when the lasso moves from that spot the ball shoots out of there with crazy speed.
-
chocobojoe
- Heavy
- Posts: 2455
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 1:43 pm
- Location: Fort Wayne
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
I heard this game is going to have a hawt soundtrack.
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
I'm gonna call this MORE SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTIONchocobojoe wrote:I heard this game is going to have a hawt soundtrack.
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
First post is updated! PLEASE PLAY OUR GAME AND WRITE OPINIONS! I need your reports! Help us out. If possible, try and answer these questions:
-Did you encounter any bugs (graphical glitches, sound errors, things not working, etc.)? If so, do you have any idea what you did to cause it?
-Was this game confusing to learn? If so, what parts confused you?
-Were the power-ups easy to figure out? Which power-up did you think was the most helpful? The least helpful?
-How was the difficulty of the game?
-Did you read the How To Play section? If so, what would you like to see added or explained further?
-Is this a game you would consider playing again? If not, what keeps it from making you play in the future?
-Did the game run smoothly? If not, what Operating System, Browser, and type of Processor do you have?
-Any additional comments / suggestions?
Thanks all.
-Did you encounter any bugs (graphical glitches, sound errors, things not working, etc.)? If so, do you have any idea what you did to cause it?
-Was this game confusing to learn? If so, what parts confused you?
-Were the power-ups easy to figure out? Which power-up did you think was the most helpful? The least helpful?
-How was the difficulty of the game?
-Did you read the How To Play section? If so, what would you like to see added or explained further?
-Is this a game you would consider playing again? If not, what keeps it from making you play in the future?
-Did the game run smoothly? If not, what Operating System, Browser, and type of Processor do you have?
-Any additional comments / suggestions?
Thanks all.
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
Bump. The game is in a late beta stage now, we need you guys to play and comment. We want to polish it up quickly and need a lot of comments on everything negative you guys can find. The game is completely updated from the original thing I posted, so please play it especially if you had played it before and commented to see all the progress we made. Everyone play! Fill out the survey! Help help help!
http://www.jason-gross.com/lasso
http://www.jason-gross.com/lasso
-
chocobojoe
- Heavy
- Posts: 2455
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 1:43 pm
- Location: Fort Wayne
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
I really need to make you a title theme lol
game is really looking nice now, juggernaut powerup is pretty sweet
only thing I didn't really care about was how it said "click" on the base every time you lassoed an orb, i thought that was kinda redundant. the little line that swirls around it is neat though
game is really looking nice now, juggernaut powerup is pretty sweet
only thing I didn't really care about was how it said "click" on the base every time you lassoed an orb, i thought that was kinda redundant. the little line that swirls around it is neat thoughRe: Help test our flash game we're making for class
Okay since nobody really tested it last time, and the game is due for class Thursday (though we have bigger plans for it after that...) I really would like some final playtest surveys. If you guys can take 5 minutes and help me out, I would appreciate it. Play through the Tutorial and then check out the Main Game. I want to hear as much as everyone has to say, the more the better. We have improved a lot of stuff since when I first posted a month or two ago. Fill out the survey or post here! Let me know what's confusing, annoying, could be improved, etc.
-
chocobojoe
- Heavy
- Posts: 2455
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 1:43 pm
- Location: Fort Wayne
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
Since the first version you posted here, this game has grown on so many levels. It's a lot of fun, and I like the bit of a faster pace now.
something wierd when I played it, idk if the #2 powerup (the clock) stops your timer I didn't realy notice, but the song ended like 20 seconds early lol
something wierd when I played it, idk if the #2 powerup (the clock) stops your timer I didn't realy notice, but the song ended like 20 seconds early lol
Re: Help test our flash game we're making for class
Yo, check out the game now it's done:
cannedessence.com/lasso
Also, can you guys please please help us out, we entered a Indie Game Contest, and if you can spend 1 minute and rate our game it would help our chances of doing well:
http://www.indiegameshowcase.com/index. ... DEFA&igc=1
Just be honest, don't really want perfect 10's it might look too obvious to them lol, but feel free to be generous =)
cannedessence.com/lasso
Also, can you guys please please help us out, we entered a Indie Game Contest, and if you can spend 1 minute and rate our game it would help our chances of doing well:
http://www.indiegameshowcase.com/index. ... DEFA&igc=1
Just be honest, don't really want perfect 10's it might look too obvious to them lol, but feel free to be generous =)