testing gravitii control styles

Hello, I am in need of some people to try out, and give me feedback my current choices for the control styles in my game, Gravitii. you can download the version made specificly for this task here
Here are my current control styles:
A button:
Start off by pressing and holding the A button somewhere near the middle of the screen. As you hold A, move the pointer, and as you do this the power and direction of your shot will change. Think of this style like a slingshot, where the starting position is where you pressed the A button, when you move the pointer after that it is like you are moving projectile relative to the starting position. This means that the farther the pointer is away from the starting position, the stronger the shot. The direction is harder to describe, but it fits in with the slingshot analogy.

B button:
This button is the same as A, but the direction is the opposite. This means that the angle abstraction in the A button, is turned into more of a drag, which may be easier to learn, and also to play with.

1 button:
This button is the same as B, but it uses the starting position of the ball instead of where you hit the button.


As you can probably tell, I'm not very good at describing these, but you should be able to figure it out, they aren't too hard. Anyways, I need help deciding on, and tweaking these current control styles. If you have any comments (One style is too hard, another is too easy, or you have a new idea) please comment. Also, if you have a better way to describe any of these styles please post them also.

EDIT: Fixed download link



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2011 11:52PM by g_man.

Upload a *.dol file too

1 button: is definitely the best option ( because the player does not need to drag or pull, the player only needs to pick a good spot ). Also it would be nice if the "start" position is bigger so that it is more obvious. Also put a marker at the last position that was used so that it can be remembered by the user. It may make the game more easier but player will learn the game control faster.

You can also look at this Lunar windows game; [playtechs.blogspot.com]

The control is still very imprecise when it get to the harder levels. Also put a marker for the last place that the B button was pressed. And make the starting point bigger, probably make it another small planet instead of a red dot. If you watch Cid2 play the game [www.youtube.com] you will see that he knows what to do but has no way of making small precise changes to his trajectory. I suggest having 2 control styles; the current one with the A button and a different one with the B button. If it is possible could you allow the B button to set a position that you want the use. This position will set the power and the angle at the same time without having to do the "click then drag" thing. Which is annoying to do over and over (but you can keep that on the A button). --Owen 15:40, 13 June 2011 (CEST)

Now that I think about it you could even use the arrow buttons on the wiimote to move the point around so that you can make slight changes to where it is located --Owen 18:00, 13 June 2011 (CEST)

Thanks for the reply. If you try out the latest version on wiibrew.org, I have the B button thing that I think you were talking about. You're right, It makes it much easier to play, and I myself can get sick of clicking and dragging a lot.
I also watched the video, and as for the new ball, I have tried various sizes larger, but all seem to be a bit too large, and take up too much of the screen. If you would like to try different sizes, I could send you a copy with different sizes, the code isn't too hard to change, but I have found the current size to be the most optimal.

you could make it 10% bigger (the starting position only), the particle that flies through space can stay the size that it is presently because it is easy to see. Or you could make it flash or twinkle in someway.

I think it maybe competing with the background stars but it could just be me, wait until you get a second opinion on that.

I was watching the video again and I think that for some of the later much harder stages you could make some planets that having moving moons, lol, for added challenge!

edit: I played and got stuck on one of the later levels, not sure which one. seems very tricky to hit a traget that is very close to a second planet after passing the first one successfully. May need to add more granuality to the arrow when moving it with the key pad.

Also you could show a image of the control pad "+" whenever the B button is held so that the player knows the it can be used.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2011 03:06AM by owen.

Agreed with Owen on making the start point more obvious. If you could make it throb or twinkle, or pulse out a couple of wave rings at the start of each level, this would be really useful.
The control scheme as I used it was pretty poor, for the reason mentioned above, but I was totally unaware of this B button thing, so will see if that's better tomorrow.

Thoughts of what to add which isn't so urgent:
Moons orbiting the planets.
Some sort of victory animation and tune when you hit the target. Helps the player feel rewarded :) Doesn't need to be fancy
Bigger, five pointed stars which can be collected, in a line of possible trajectory (though hitting the target still wins the level.)
Level designer.

Thanks for all the feedback, I know the curret control style isn't great, so if you have any specific suggestions they would be appriciated. Also, I have gotten most of the original features I wanted to add in, so I will start with some of the suggested features. I have thought about a level designer before, but i'm not sure how best to make one. Would you rather have one on the wii that would probably be harder to use, or one for the computer that you would have to transfer the save file from yoir SD. The computer version would be easier to use I think, but I also have little experience coding for pc's. Any other suggestions or improvements would be very helpful, and now that school is out I can probably get them implemented farily fast.

The fact that you are at school and can program this decent a game humiliates me :)

Anyway, I had a play through with the B button thing. It's brill, really helps the game a lot. The second to last stage is unbelievably hard, and the ending message says "congratulations you have completed all to the levels of this game" or something like that, and it doesn't make sense.
Looking forward to the next version. Good going man :)

The control styles that you have now work for the most part. As for the level editor, you might as well do it on the wii but a level editor is not really necessary since only a small percentage of people will utilize it. If you are still going to do a level editor on the wii then all you would need to do is allow the player to select different objects from a list then be able to point to where they should be placed on the map. After every thing is placed on the map then you may need some kinda a simulate button which allows the player to test of the stage is "beatable".

But as I said before its not really necessary, especially if the game comes with tons of stages. I suggest having a level select for easy, normal and hard stages. or probably a simple map so that the play can tell how far allong in the game they are; [media.strategywiki.org]

doodinthemood: Thanks for the support, it really helps motivate me and my friend. Also, that final screen is currently just a placeholder until I can think of something better.

owen: I started to develop a level select screen a while ago, and I still have the code for it, but I need to tweak it some. Maybe I'll work on that today.

And you could save the last level the player completed so that the player can continue from there the next time they start up the game. Doesn't really need a fancy menu though, just a "continue" option. The game is pretty solid with the features it has, eventually you could even make a iphone/android version, consider anything you add from this point on to be optional prettiness. Prettiness can include explosions when the object hits a planet, more sound effects, spinning planet animations and moving stars in the background.

I'm hoping to get an iPhone version out by the end of the summer, my friend is learning iPhone programming, and hopefully between the two of us we can figure everything out. As for making an android version, I'd have to learn java, so it may take a little longer.