Saucer Invasion - pod catching/retro shooting

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jph_wacheski
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Saucer Invasion - pod catching/retro shooting

Post by jph_wacheski »

I will do a proper PC release as well as the Android experiment for this game. They play a little differently,. although I may add control options for each, I do currently like the Button style play on the Android, and the Mouse Control on the PC.

Just a simple little game that rewards repeat/extended play. The action evolves as the timing changes on the auto shooting,. this changes what you are trying to do at various points in the play sequence, and stuff.

Google Play; https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... erInvasion
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Last edited by jph_wacheski on Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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y offs et
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Post by y offs et »

On the phone -
1) For a first timer, placing your thumbs where they are indicated on the screen puts you too close to the back button. Also, your ship disappears under your thumbs. Indicators should be centered, with perhaps a tiny arrow low showing exact center during play, so your thumbs don't wander. Then your ship stays in view.

2) I found myself eventually pressing both at same time, and the ship would freeze. You should have an either/or code, instead of two commands cancelling each other.

3) I found having the current score top left, and score to beat top center, backwards.

It's better now that the shooting stars are a different colour. I like the way the invaders get evasive the more their numbers get depleted. Still tough to get those last few invaders while dodging rockets.
EDIT - Actually, I have yet to get past wave 1 - it's awful busy.
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jph_wacheski
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Post by jph_wacheski »

Thanks for the feedback;

Yes, I changed the look of those "shards" based on your comment about seeing them through the din.

The indicators are just to show the controls quickly, the actual input is anywhere on that half of the screen though. I expect people will all play with different hand positions anyway. I think the 'button style' input is better than the direct finger-drag stuff, as you can see the ship better this way, and it is more accurate IMHO. You can actually play it quite well upside-down if you find you are hitting the home/back buttons. (there should be a lock for those I think)

Most every classic arcade game I can think of, put the high score center and the 1up to the left,. I put the high score higher on the screen too!
Image

As far as difficulty, like most of my games it is quite difficult! Just what I like, I guess. For a simple single-screen game, with no rooms, or locations to speak of, or no way to save progress data currently,. that players will only play for a few minuets and don't need a slow build up to the challenging bits. Also as my description say; Saucer Invasion- it is not about shooting everything, it is more about strategically shooting everything, eventually. the game is not a simple shooter it has some strategic intentions as well,. just mindless blasting makes the game harder! This is a dynamic I have been working with for some years now. I like the idea that shooting stuff too quickly only increases your difficulty.
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