We need you to rant our game Thread

Hey you! You there! We want you to do us a favor: mock, rant and comment our game! We want you to be a total brick and give us your worst. Do it like they do in Roast! Leave no rock unturned!

The game: Galactic Conquerors
Indiedb.com

Please go a head. Do your worst!

(The reason we're doing this: We're getting sick and tired of "looks nice" -comments and thought we give it a go this way)

Juha, project lead

1. The menu image looks like crap because it has so low resolution.

2. Intro video looks like crap because it has been compressed too much (+ it's probably low resolution too)

3. Tutorial was way too short, I lost the tutorial fight and after that I had no idea what to do. I also lost my second fight and didn't see any point in those fights, you just click the enemy and wait until you win or lose. I think one of my ships could have shot some kind of bubbless but didn't try that.

Edited by: FINDarkside

OK, how about some constructive criticism. ha ha

This genre of games have always fascinated me. Growing up as a console gamer, I really didn't get into PC games deeply until about 10 years ago (Just never had the money for a nice computer.) There isn't anything like this on a console, at least not one that I've come across. So I'm always amazed by what these games contain. I went into yours with a sense of wide-eyed wonderment.

First and foremost, running the game was a snap. Just download, extract, and double click. You'd be surprised how difficult some devs make it to run their game. Being a console gamer at heart, I'm looking for the shortest distance before point A and B. Just plug the cartridge in, press power, and play. So thank you for that.

I liked the intro video. As the previous poster stated, 2. Intro video looks like crap because it has been compressed too much (+ it's probably low resolution too), but I got the sense of nostalgia of the early 90s PC space games. Most people think that if it's not 1080p, 60FPSs then it's trash. What they don't realize is that the majority of PC users don't have a rig to run these types of specs, meaning the game will just crash on them. If the purpose was to keep the requirements low enough to maximize the pool of players, then well done. I liked it very much.

At the start of the game, I'm ready for a tutorial. As I've said, I have zero experience with this genre of game. So imagine the first time you played Super Mario Bros. Your first entry into the platforming genre. You have no idea what's about to happen. I need my hand held until I can get my feet wet. The initial text box was promising, but it soon fell from there. I clicked aimlessly about the screen looking for what ever I'm suppose to do. Much like the poster above, I also lost the first fight. I was also put off by the chat box in the corner. If I'm playing a single player game (which I'm assuming I am), then an entire corner of the screen is taken up by something I never plan on using. I did, however, find the button to minimize it. Which was nice.

So, now I'm dead, the Battle Phase is over and I'm in Roaming Phase. Again, I have no idea what I'm doing. I understand that it's turned based. I get that if I want to move about the screen from one planet to another, I click on my ships and click where I want to go. I don't understand what Sector 2 is unless that's where the main battlegrounds take place.

I finally get to a planet and the "building" screen pops up to allow me to research and build fighters and other ship types. I appreciate the max currency allowing me to build and create basically any ship I want. It gives me the chance to test out all of the different options so that when I'm playing the main story, I'll have a grasp as to what I want my command to be. Very cool. But again, I have no idea what anything means. Clicking on a unit, I get the stats, but there's no unit of measure. I get that some attack ranges are farther than others, but do they only shoot 40? Meaning, if the enemy is closer than 40, do I overshoot? Damage type is an icon? I just don't get it. But, I soldier on.

After about an hour in or so, I give up. I'm confused, I'm uneducated in the mechanics, I'm looking for something else to play. I'm pretty sure I didn't "finish" the tutorial or if, after a while, you just get kicked out to the main game. Either way, I quit.

I believe that you made the game that you wanted to make. It contains all the things that you sought after and it's deemed as completed so there must have been alpha builds, testing, etc. If you wanted to create a game that fans of the genre and similar titles would enjoy, then boom! Done. Again, since I have no knowledge of the style of game, I just felt lost and became bored.

I will say that the mouse control is innovative. I picked that up very quickly and felt like a badass moving the camera around. And yes, the game is pretty. Both the sprites and 3D models alike. It's very pleasing to the eyes. Props to the modelers.

I know people say they don't like tutorial levels. And usually I'm in agreement, but you have to catered to the lowest common denominator, which is me. Someone with zero experience that just wants to play. If the tutorial level is fun, informative, and can be quickly passed by season players, then it's a win. It becomes something less of a burden and more of a walk through the park to show newcomers the ropes. An easy way to start on easing the player in would be a more simplified UI. Initially it is fine, but the second you step into the building screens, I'm lost.

I hope this helps more than just a simple "Rant about our game." You know you have a nice game here. That's easy to see. But when it comes to the basics, you may lose many first time players. If that's what you're looking for, then it's done. But for me, although I really want to play, I'm going to find something else.

Good luck on your endeavors and thanks for the open forum on your title.

Most people think that if it's not 1080p, 60FPSs then it's trash. What they don't realize is that the majority of PC users don't have a rig to run these types of specs, meaning the game will just crash on them. If the purpose was to keep the requirements low enough to maximize the pool of players, then well done. I liked it very much.

But in reality if someone's computer can't handle 1080p intro video, it 100% sure can't handle the game at any resolution. Quality can be changed so poor quality in game (fps, resolution, models etc) can not be explained with "maximizing player pool". But that was a little off topic, the game looks fine, I just had no idea what I was doing.

Hey everyone thanks for your rants! The intro video is something we look forward updating but just don't have the time yet as there are things on the table that are top priority. One of those important things is the tutorial and we're adressing the tutorial issue as I'm writing this message, @ericmhunter @findarkside what would you like to see?

Thanks once again, any kind of a written feedback feels good, don't hesitate to throw more dirt!

(Also sorry for the late reply, we're not in Greenlight anymore but preparing the full release. Has pretty much taken all our time when we're not a sleep...)

Seeing that request made me chuckle.

Have you considered giving Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw from Zero Punctuation a call?

Yup as he's a star! Not just quite yet but when the game's more to the finish line