Player Feedback & Updates
Z-Exemplar has now been released on all its intended platforms - PC, Mac, Android and iOS.
The reaction to it has been positive across the board but one thing that has been mentioned more than once is the touch control for mobile versions. It's fair to say I may have underestimated the range of types of controls players prefer when it comes to playing games on their mobile devices. My intention had always been that the game would be played purely using a form of drag-controller.
I was wrong. In a number of ways.
Firstly the drag-controller I implemented initially was fairly hard-coded and there was little the player could do to tailor it to their own needs. Additionally on certain devices the drag-controls simply didn't function they way I had intended them to. This didn't make a great first impression and I think the game may have suffered because of it.
As a result of these controls not being up to the task I received a lot of feedback from people who loved the game but were struggling to play it! I hastily implemented an on-screen D-Pad and dynamic joystick in an effort to assuage some of the more negative comments but, as I’ve said in previous posts, I don't have much love for either of these control methods.
I knew the game played best with the drag-controls I’d had in mind initially so I went back to the drawing board and revamped them, allowing for various settings to be changed so the player could tailor them to suit their needs.
Z-Exemplar plays much improved with the updated drag-controls.
The player is now able to define the size of the drag area to suit their need.
A smaller drag area means larger ship movements but less accuracy -
a larger drag area gives finer control over the ship.
The final update with these controls was released this week and so far everyone that has used them has found the game a lot easier to play. I just wish I’d taken the time to get them right the first time around - important lesson learned!
A Dream Fulfilled
When you start developing a game you have certain goals in mind that you hope to achieve and one of those, for me, was to get a review on TouchArcade.com, the site I probably visit more than any other to get my fix of mobile gaming news (outside of IndieDB of course). Any rating would have done - even a lowly 1 star would have sufficed so I was super excited when I read their review of Z-Exemplar...
The full review is available here
That's all for now.Thanks for reading.
