Stunt Pilot - our first flash game
rocksolidarcade.com
rocksolidarcade.com
Edit: Wanted to add that I like it. Good job. It could be more addictive though: eg: I never ever want to restart from level 1.
Quick idea for taking or leaving: Add some different bail-out animations. Parachute, rocket-pack, umbrella, anvil (Think Wile E. Coyote), etc.
Nice work.
Hi guys,
We've just put up an initial version of our site, Rock Solid Arcade, along with our first flash game, Stunt Pilot. It's in semi-beta right now - the site itself is just one page, I'm working on the dynamic site in django to integrate high scores, comments etc. But the game itself is fully playable and pretty much done (we'll probably add features as time goes on). I'd really appreciate it if you could check it out and let me know what you think!
I played the game for five minutes -- I think I'm better than average at playing new games and I found it challenging. You want more of a learning curve. I would recommend making the loops bigger. I hit the sides of them too much. Maybe you can make them smaller again on later stages. Is the game too easy if you add a continue button, or passwords?
Also, do you get bonus points for doing loops? I'm not sure how the chain concept works. Is there a limit on boosts? These things aren't really clear. A tutorial might help, though I know it's better to put the player right in the game. When I initially started, I crashed into the ground twice. You should detect for this on first run and pop up telling the player that up is down and down is up, just like a real stunt plane.
Technically, you guys did a good job, the game seems to work flawlessly. One tiny thing I notice is that when you end the level while still flying vertically, the plane corrects itself pretty harshly. I think it would look better if you slowed that animation down, or maybe made it always finish in an extra loop... or don't take control away from the player and let him crash the plane if he wants.
The screen kept scrolling to the left without starting the next life.
I think the flow was die and have time run out while you are dead but before you restarted.
only comment is i dont like going back to restart after dying...should at least be a few continues
If you have no use for left and right, I'd suggest that left goes up and right goes down, as well as the normal controls.
Seconded. This seems like a more natural control scheme considering the plane's orientation.
The problem with having up + down instead of left + right is that (like most people?) I alternate pressing up and down with only the middle finger, while I have 1 finger on each key in the left + right scheme.
Considering that it doesn't take away anything for anyone to enable this additional, arguably superior control scheme, I think this is the crucial next feature to implement.
One comment is that it's not obvious that you can go through the rings in any order, so the first level where you might want to do this seems extremely hard at first and is jarring compared to the previous couple of levels which were cakewalks. Maybe a little flashing info at the beginning of that level that tells you that you can go in any order at all.
Also, the first two levels were just way too easy, maybe, and a little boring.
It would be more fun if there were more reason to boost. A time bar at the bottom or top of the screen that starts full and ticks down to zero as an indication of how much bonus you will get when you finish would be a great indicator of where you are for time and I can totally see the user trying to boost at the end or throughout trying to finish the level while the time bar is at a more full state.
Just an aesthetic note, but the yellow smoke trail is a bit unappealing. A red color might show up better against the background, and the color does add a hint more excitement.
Or perhaps some simple customization where you choose your smoke color at the start (also functioning as the start button).
Other than that... very fun. Definitely could get popular on facebook with challenges and best scores/times for each level and overall, or just as a fun way to pass time.
The restarting of the engine would have to be perfectly timed with the release of the key though, unlike the boost.
Oh yeah, and the "time left" label in the bonus rounds is truncated.
I am not sure how you are going to do this but here are a couple of my thoughts. Each user to your sight starts with say 10 credits and can earn more for completing a game, inviting friends, highscores and {INSERT OTHER}
You could also add fruit machines so people could gamble the credits and earn more to play on the games.
Here's my idea: Sky write with their trails and get uber bonuses for making certain shapes.
Make a star out of smoke, it flashes solid and you get invulnerability for a few moments. That kind of thing.
-Ian
> Better instructions
> Option to reverse the controls
> Remember high score on main menu
> Continue from within the game
Anyways, I like the game, and echo the request for level unlocking.
The first multiplayer games we do will probably be something far less twitchy, because lag between countries won't be so much of a problem (we simply can't afford to go and rent servers in many different countries, which we'd have to do for a twitch game).
But something like a multiplayer strategy game, we could just use EC2 to spawn instances to handle it. I'm not sure whether we'd make a profit on the traffic at the time that they're actually playing the multiplayer games (it depends how many people per server can be hosted), but I'm willing to be that it would still be worth it all round.
I do like the casual flash gaming market a lot though.
Creating a multiplayer game with a click of a button giving you a url you can give someone through instant messenger and join you instantly.
other things i think that would add more fun:
new levels with thunders, moving obstacles, warfare trying to shoot you down,
missions like delivering parcels.
and maybe in the hall of fame you could show the most risky pilots (i guess you could measure speed and angle entering/avoiding the obstacles)
As a pilot, I'd like to see you add airspeed and stalling -- you just can't fly a plane anywhere you point the stick at -- but other than that, looks like a fun little game.