Suggestions for 1.0.1

My point exactly on Super Pellets, on narrow corridors (especially with little stuff like mines, little flickers or even jumping spiders) you can fire in a spree and the bounce will ensure you do hit everything, with unlimited range. Even (super) homing is less efficient in this case as its shots don't change target in mid-flight, i.e. when the previous target dies the shots currently flying won't hit anything (except by sheer luck).

I don't think a points system could work. If it did, it would have to take time into account as well. Otherwise you could just go back and forth between two areas and kill the same creatures over and over.

There seems to be a schism on whether the game is too easy or too hard. I'm finding it difficult, because (a) my reflexes aren't that good, (b) it's hard to turn just slightly to get the right angle, and Β© often it's not clear where I should go next. That last one is the most frustrating, I think.

It would be nice to have in-game menus for toggling between fullscreen and windowed play. I did not see a way to do that, short of quitting the current game and getting back to the main menu. Something in the standard menu bar, maybe with a shortcut like Shift-Cmd-F to toggle the mode, would be nice.

@student-of-trinity, on Dec 3 2006, 12:49 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

Ha! See, this is something else I like about this game. The boss fights are actually puzzles, not just tests of reflexes. It will be interesting to see how well one can use the editor to invent new boss challenges. There seem to be only the seven built-in boss scripts, but with different sprites and different room layout, maybe some new effects can be created.

You don't have to use a boss script to make an enemy a boss, as I said before, even a rock could be one and with the ability of connecting several sprites to each other it's not that hard to create new interesting challenges.

@merle, on Dec 3 2006, 05:03 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

It would be nice to have in-game menus for toggling between fullscreen and windowed play. I did not see a way to do that, short of quitting the current game and getting back to the main menu. Something in the standard menu bar, maybe with a shortcut like Shift-Cmd-F to toggle the mode, would be nice.

I think the shift-command-f feature was added some betas before the release, but seems to have disappeared. I'll report it right now.

@freq245, on Dec 3 2006, 08:09 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

You don't have to use a boss script to make an enemy a boss, as I said before, even a rock could be one and with the ability of connecting several sprites to each other it's not that hard to create new interesting challenges.

I understand this now. But although finding and killing the one magic rock might make a good level, normally you want a boss to fight. The 7 built in boss scripts make things do the stuff the seven bosses do, launching missiles or dropping mines or flinging their shields around or whatever. Other than these, you seem to be stuck with simple scripts like 'fire' or 'pursue' Β— unless I'm not appreciating some possibilities involving linking sprites with different scripts, or something. So the obvious thing to try is to wrap the seven old boss scripts in new sprites, but somehow arrange it that the resulting fight seems quite different.

@student-of-trinity, on Dec 3 2006, 09:53 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

I understand this now. But although finding and killing the one magic rock might make a good level, normally you want a boss to fight. The 7 built in boss scripts make things do the stuff the seven bosses do, launching missiles or dropping mines or flinging their shields around or whatever. Other than these, you seem to be stuck with simple scripts like 'fire' or 'pursue' Β— unless I'm not appreciating some possibilities involving linking sprites with different scripts, or something. So the obvious thing to try is to wrap the seven old boss scripts in new sprites, but somehow arrange it that the resulting fight seems quite different.

Yeah, but you can always try to use a very plain script for the 'core' of the boss and build some interesting enemies around it. Or having some skull turrets in the corners of the boss room, I think there're many possiblities with this.

I'd really like a basic tutorial on the editor. I can lay things out easily enough, but making doors work etc.. escapes me.

@picquilarius, on Dec 3 2006, 11:19 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

I'd really like a basic tutorial on the editor. I can lay things out easily enough, but making doors work etc.. escapes me.

You already have the Sketchfighter editor manual, it's all in it! πŸ˜‰

So, I've noticed that the forest boss is particularly annoying in that it drops some of the powerups in the wall to which it's attached, so that you can't actually get the powerups. This is both important in single player (where you might want the shields), and in multiplayer, where the forest boss drops stars in the wall where you can't get to them. 😞

Can this be fixed in 1.0.1? And not in a just-remove-powerups-that-get-dropped-behind-the-wall way, but a force-all-powerups-to-actually-be-obtainable way?

@derakon, on Dec 2 2006, 10:39 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

The only thing that seriously aggravated me about the game was that the stars are required. When I first found them, I thought I was picking up some kind of medal that could be used to unlock secrets or something. It felt like a reward for thoroughness and creativity, and made exploring the nooks and crannies of the levels more fun. Discovering that I was, in fact, required to find every star if I wanted to win the game took away some of that fun, simply by changing an option into an obligation.

Of course, I rather doubt that anything about that is going to change. Still, something to keep in mind for those of you planning your alternate singleplayer maps. πŸ™‚

I whole-heartedly agree with this. I thought the stars were going to be a reward not a requirement. Perhaps in any future single-player maps, some easy-to-get stars would be required to finish the level, but then you could make some hidden-hard-to-get stars unlock a secret at the end.

This post has been edited by simX : 03 December 2006 - 07:42 PM

My single concern (that I've come across) is that I feel the shield recharges recharge too much. I started out carefully shooting everything, except some high powered mines, but when I realized shield power-ups were plenty and powerful, I stopped. I like that they are spaced out all over, but I feel that 25% (or 50% with the race power up) is a superhigh recharge.

@simx, on Dec 3 2006, 08:45 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

Can this be fixed in 1.0.1? And not in a just-remove-powerups-that-get-dropped-behind-the-wall way, but a force-all-powerups-to-actually-be-obtainable way?

I've never had any problems getting those powerups once I get to him again I'll see what happens and if my experience matches yours.

@freq245, on Dec 3 2006, 09:23 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

You already have the Sketchfighter editor manual, it's all in it! πŸ˜‰

I know theres a lot of info, but theres really no explanation on practical application of the editor. It would be nice to have a walkthrough of how to build a simple level.

@picquilarius, on Dec 4 2006, 06:45 AM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

I know theres a lot of info, but theres really no explanation on practical application of the editor. It would be nice to have a walkthrough of how to build a simple level.

Have you already tried out the editor levels in the "Sample Levels" folder? The most important things, like doors and bosses, are showed there. They're very helpful.

You can also download some of the maps submitted to the addons page. The one I've uploaded there contains an example of pretty much everything I could figure out how to do in the editor. (Quite a lot)

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about the editor, as I spent a lot of time fiddling with it during the beta.

@merle, on Dec 3 2006, 10:03 AM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

There seems to be a schism on whether the game is too easy or too hard.

Yep. It's a fine balance but for me the game is more punishing than fun.

This post has been edited by rhywun : 04 December 2006 - 04:37 PM

In the spirit of the topic, I will post my wish list for 1.0.1:

1. Functioning save points in custom games
2. Two control shortcuts- command+f for fullscreen/window toggle, and a checkbox in preferences to mute or unmute the game music, bypassing the volume controls.

@veritus-dartarion, on Dec 4 2006, 09:44 PM, said in Suggestions for 1.0.1:

In the spirit of the topic, I will post my wish list for 1.0.1:

1. Functioning save points in custom games
2. Two control shortcuts- command+f for fullscreen/window toggle, and a checkbox in preferences to mute or unmute the game music, bypassing the volume controls.

1. As far as I know that's being worked on.
2. I think command-f functionality is being added, and there is already and option to mute the music, as noted by the picture below:

Techinically yes, it's not a box, but hey, it works.

My point is that it would be nice to be able to quickly mute the music when you wanted to listen to something else, like so:

Posted Image
as opposed to clicking the volume up and down all the time.

(extra credit if you know what game that menu is from)

On the other hand, I'm not sure how many people care about muting the volume only in the menus, and unless there is a large population of such people out there that I'm unaware of, I would recommend replacing that checkbox with a general 'mute music' option.

This post has been edited by Veritus Dartarion : 04 December 2006 - 09:43 PM

Point taken. So, being a beta tester, why not post it to the beta list? πŸ˜›

touchΓ©

Flip the saved game list so the newest one is on top or add a way to get to the end of the list without clicking the scroll button N times.