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@VTK:
Laser…
I already nerfed lasers quite a bit since first implementation.Thoughts:
Current “laser”:
It can be gotton “early” in game if you collect a complete “EXTRA” in the correct order.
Would it be a “solution” if that were to change? To some other goody? (if so, what could that be?)Also:
Once you finished level 100, a laser can be bought in the shop (always). Should I remove that? So laser can only ever be gotten thru upgrades?Also:
In higher difficulties – laser does comparable less damage – unless you have more POWER.
Should I change the Power mechanic?Thoughts?
my thoughts are, to solve all of the concerns you have written above;
the weapons as you get them in order – from single shot, double, triple, quad, blaster .. for each of those jumps in weapon grade there is a good, consistent, even increase in weapon grade, but then when you get the laser weapon, the increase in destructive power from the blaster to the laser is too big. i can only keep coming back to the conclusion that if the laser was tamed down from the current implementation (for example: have it fire in bursts rather than a ‘solid line’) so that the laser is now just a step up from the blaster and not a giant leap, then you dont need to worry about anything else.(if you really dont like the idea of losing the ‘solid line’ laser (it’s certainly a very impressive technical feat, seeing the vectrex be capable of doing that), perhaps you can have a regular ‘burst’ laser but then have a further upgrade possible (super laser) .. possible on eg. later skill levels such as HARD difficulty onwards)
Vectorblade_Beta28.bin – 10th July 2019
No changes – just the “cheat mode” disabled. If you want to earn you way thru the game!
🙂
Thank you for beta 28. Beta 27 and its free equipment was a bit irritating for me.
Some thoughts on the laser:
With laser the game is really much simpler. But, if I understood right, once you die you loose everything (=greatest loss). And I do die during playing the first 50 levels -even with laser. A new laser could be bought for just 1000 bucks which is not much compared to the other stuff. So you can gather money (using the known technique) and when buying things in the store you always keep a bit of money for powering up the player ship and even buy a laser, again. This worked out for me several times.
Suggestion:
The laser could be more expensive (e.g. 2500 bucks or even 5000 bucks). This way its hard to get a laser and the laser remains something special – from the bonus side and from the money side.Na… you don’t lose everything.
Greatest Loss is:
- you have a laser – and THAN collect a 1 shot… than you “jump” from the best shot (laser) to the worst shot (single shot) – if you do that you get the achievement “Greatest loss” 🙂
If you “normally” die having a laser – your weapon is degraded by one – so you have the blaster again.
@Olli (mainly):
You know I like the laser as it is.
I think you “main” problem is, that if you know how, it is very easy to get the laser – and too soon.What about this:
Laser in the shop becomes more expensive (and as it is now, lasers can only be bought after finishing 100 levels once – did anyone except Olli every do that?).
a)
The EXTRA in the right order does not award the laser anymore – but something else, which I have to think about (any suggestions?)If we do that, than the only way to obtain a laser is to go thru ALL collecting stages.
I->II -> III -> IV -> Blaster -> Laser
(more or less without dying) – that means you have at least to collect the EXTRA 4 times. Which – without dying is quiet a lot
harder.b)
Right now the collecting EXTRA in order is not influenced by collecting other bonus items.
I could easily change that, that you must collect EXTRA in order to EXACTLY in order (like: not allowed to collect anything else) – that would make the Laser reward through EXTRA collecting tremendously more difficult.…
i’m still quite fixed on the idea of having the laser reduced in power (eg. ‘burst mode’ operation) but then with further effort the laser can be upgraded to a ‘super laser’ (i would describe how the laser currently performs as a ‘super laser’) 🙂
however if you dont want to do that then perhaps yes make it a little harder to obtain the laser then (it’s nice to be able to get it on the EASY level as it is useful later on around stages 75-100), i suppose you could not allow it for the EASY level at all, i guess (to be honest i dont think my opinion will change about the laser (my opinion being it is a little too powerful so makes the game feel too easy if you are at EASY or NORMAL, however having the laser that powerful for later levels like HARD etc would be ok)
it’s only my opinion so no need to stress about it of course, everyone has their own opinion and it will be impossible to please everyone 🙂
ps. i play a little different from how i used to: now, to obtain the laser quickly i tend to just start getting E,X,T,R,A in the correct order as soon as i start the game. i suppose this could be tweaked so it is not so easy to do (currently i would say yes it is is fairly easy to get the laser this way, often quickly after beginning a game i have the laser — eg. 10 or 15 rounds in…)
With all this discussion about the laser we should keep in mind that getting the laser by collecting “EXTRA” in the correct order is a secret and not described in the manual. I for one would never have found out this secret. Getting some reward for finding out about a secret is fair, I think.
Getting EXTRA without any other power-ups in between is almost impossible, I think. And this would makes this secret even more secret – in other words: Very unlikely, I’d say almost impossible that anyone finds out unless he/she’s really out for riddles.
I did not post much in the past weeks, but I actually played quite a lot. I also showed VectorBlade to my students and let them play at three occasions. I did not tell them any insider stuff, just watched them. They all figured out to collect the EXTRA letters pretty quickly, but none of them ever came up with the idea of collecting them in the correct order. So in that sense I agree with Helmut and I think that it should not be made even more unlikely to achieve this.
Cheers,
Peer@Peer: Cool that you let your students play Vectorblade. Always interesting to see how people go with a game when they play it for the first time. Do you happen to remember how far they got (level)?
They all figured out to collect the EXTRA letters pretty quickly, but none of them ever came up with the idea of collecting them in the correct order. So in that sense I agree with Helmut and I think that it should not be made even more unlikely to achieve this.
Looks like the “EXTRA” in correct order could be become another secret. Unlike other secrets this secret rewards you with a laser and not with 10.000 points.
@vtk: How did you find out about “EXTRA” in correct order?// vtk: How did you find out about “EXTRA” in correct order?
i can’t remember but i would say it was either malban told me or it was from the documentation here:
i can’t remember but i would say it was either malban told me or it was from the documentation here:
Thank you for this info, vtk. Looks like one is pretty safe to say that getting the laser via E-X-T-R-A in correct order is a well hidden feature/secret.
A sort of “Wheel of fortune” which gives you one of say eight… different very good bonus.
Hmm. In Vectorblade both player’s skill and luck plays a role. A wheen of fortune make Vectorblade even more of a lucky game. ATM, I’m not sure whether this a good or bad thing.
Personally I’d like to see a bit more of consistency in Vectorblade. There are all kinds of fonts and animations that you see once and never again (e.g. READY PLAYER 1). It’s amazing to see these animations but from my point of view this makes Vectorblade a bit cluttered.
I prefer to think of these things as “playfulness” and “diversity” instead of inconsistency or clutteredness.
Right now you testers see these different things very soon after another.
But the thought behind the wheel of fortune (besides not granting the laser every time) is – that it is fun and exciting to discover new things in a game even after playing many hours. I like that thought.
In order to play Vectorblade well there are mainly these things:
– concentration
– ability to react fast and catch or avoid “drops”
– knowledge of some levels (patterns, and enemy behaviour)
– knowledge of which bonus does what
– perhaps knowledge of what secret does whatThe bonus drop rate is a “fixed” game (level) constant. The percentage of probability for each bonus drop is also a fixed constant.
The levels, the ships and the patterns they enter the game in are “fixed”.
The number of shots in air, the number of concurrent attackers are fixed (per level). The timing parameters of the UFO is fixed.Random is: When they shoot and when they attack and with what pattern. Also random is when a “big enemey” appears.
IMHO there is not really soo much randomness in the game.
I doubt, that any (but one) secret can be found by pure luck. Certainly not the “EXTRA”.
So in my judgement there is not too much luck.The “random” EXTRA will not be a game changer.
a) if you do not play at a certain skill level – you will not achieve it
b) all things you can get, you can achieve otherwise – this is just a “shortcut”
c) it will not be THAT random – like a wheel of fortune, the plan is, that the player can press a button and the wheel
will stop – more or less predictable (well – not TOO predictable – I hope). So perhaps with a little bit of
practice you can “choose” the bonus you want the have.
But the goal would also be – if you have that much practive in spinning the wheel – than you probably
play the game very well anyways…Malban
PS
Game Over uses the same FONT as READY PLAYER ONE! 🙂
For information…
This is my current todo list… have I listed everything you guys are concerned about – or did I miss anything?
done - Boss levels are not displayed as Level + number anymore Helmut Level 25 twice?! Currently, there are two level 25: There is level 25 Boss allowed by level 25 normal. This is a bit confusing. Suggestion: From my point of viewer boss levels should mark the end of a larger unit. The first unit is levels 1-24 and level 25 should be the boss level. After that the levels 26 with new enemies should follow. In beta 28 it says: “LEVEL 25 BOSS”. Changing this to just “BOSS” or “BOSS LEVEL” would be a simple and effective solution. done: messages spellings wrong done: to Test Helmut: Blaster: Achievement achieved but not displayed as achieved (Bug) In this game I’ve achieved the blaster and could buy the quadro shot. When looking in the list of achievements, the “Blaster” achievement isn’t hooked and the trophee graphic isn’t displayed. done: Helmut Year of copyright Currently, when starting Vectorblade it says (c) 2018. Suggestion: (c) 2019 not done: (no space left) Helmut Inner animation when attacking Currently, enemies have some inner animation when displayed at the top. When flying and attacking, the enemies have no inner animation. Suggestion: Add a minor inner animation to attacking enemies. This will make enemies and game look even more lifely. not changed - no time (in game time)! Helmut Number of highscores Currently, four highscores are displayed, only. Suggestion: Display five or even 10 highscores. Notes: - 1, 3, 5, or 10 highscore entries feel 'natural' to me. Four entries is somehow odd. - Displaying ten highscores would make the screen look too cramped and would require a complete redesign. So five highscores would be best, I think. not changed: awards are only given when shotcount >1000 Helmut No Sniper > 100% Currently, with double or triple shots you can get a hit rate > 100%. My impression is that once you die and you have a hit rate > 100 % you don't get any sniper rewards.Sugestions: Sniper rewards should be rewarded even with a percentage higher than 100%.
-> TODO
Change sniper rewards to be more difficult (needed percentage > 100%)not changed: Helmut Sniper achievements: One at a time? Currently, if you have a hit rate of 90% or more you get all three sniper achievements at a time once the game ends. This way you can play one game with precise shots and your are done with all sniper achievements. Suggestion: Sniper achievements could be rewarded one by one, i.e. in one game you can get one achievement (the lowest), only. (not sure...) Helmut perhaps: COLLECTING RANK MARKERS IN ASCENDING ORDER WILL GIVE YOU GREAT BENEFITS! and COLLECTING E-X-T-R-A IN CORRECT ORDER WILL MAX YOUR WEAPON! Splitting the secret message has two benefits: 1. Messages are easier to understand. 2. The EXTRA can be last secret that you can buy. This helps us in the laser discussion, I think, because the laser secret will be revealed last. Helmut / VTK First boss: Shot gets stuck (very minor issue) Currently, when destroying the boss one of the shots remains in the air. It looks as if this shot is frozen. If you keep on shooting you can do so but not in normal frequency. Suggestion: Shots should dissappear and not freeze in the air. Helmut (probably not changing) Shop: Size of symbols In the shop, in the top left the symbol of the selected power-up is displayed. Currently, the symbol is displayed in normal size, i.e. the size that is used within the game. The top left area looks pretty empty. Suggestion: The symbol could be displayed a bit larger. This way, one can recognize the symbol more easily and the empty area is filled. Helmut (pending?) Single and double arrows Currently, there are single and double arrows used as indicators for the list: - Status info uses double arrows - Achievement list uses single arrows Both lists use paging for displaying the various items. In Status info the item at the very bottom is displayed again on the next page at the very top. This means that some items are displayed on two pages. Suggestions: - Use single arrows for both lists (the double arrow is not helpful for the user I think). - When paging in status info the item at the very bottom should not displayed on the next page at the top, again. Note: The list in the shop scrolls item by item and doesn't display items pagewise. So the list in the shop is different to the list of achievements and the status info. Helmut Some thoughts on the laser: With laser the game is really much simpler. But, if I understood right, once you die you loose everything (=greatest loss). And I do die during playing the first 50 levels -even with laser. A new laser could be bought for just 1000 bucks which is not much compared to the other stuff. So you can gather money (using the known technique) and when buying things in the store you always keep a bit of money for powering up the player ship and even buy a laser, again. This worked out for me several times. Suggestion: The laser could be more expensive (e.g. 2500 bucks or even 5000 bucks). This way its hard to get a laser and the laser remains something special from the bonus side and from the money side. Jacek new boss animations Helmut Shop sound <> shot sound Currently, in the shop when selecting a different item, a short sound is played. The sound ressembles very much the sound when you shot (shop sound = shot sound). Suggestion: During the game you hear the shot sound very often. It would be good if in the shop one heard a different sound. Helmut (still relevant?) Currently, there is line-wise vertical scrolling in the shop and paging (Achievements screen, Status screen) use joystick up/down. Suggestion: For paging use joystick left/right instead of up/down. Appropriate arrows indicate this. This will help the user to understand the concept of scrolling and paging better and usage gets more intuitive. George In shop "bullet" counter (bar) can go negative Nico When returning to the beginning after a game, you get directly to the desktop. As I really like the title screen It would be nice to get there first. Nico On the desktop screen you begin with greetings, which is kind, but it would be more informative to show the different bonus items first. I'd love to see a really short introduction text, like "Captain V. Tiberius Rex - you are the last hope to rescue the galaxy from the Alien invasion...." on this screen. VTK Scroll text not always centered Unclear!: Crash: Star wars boss, player on the complete right, destroyed by laser, 4 shot Unclear!: VecFever? crash after "achievment officer rank 2"? - do level select -> and hide it again - scrolling smoother (y) in intro text? - money - no speech (gets on ones nerves) - laser?? - VecFever support - triangles on desktopn top/bottom not equal? - minestorm success also print about 500 credits? - in demo mode also do a high score table? - Hardcore mode - add beta tester credits - MH
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