Thanks For Playing The Demo!

I just want to say thanks to everyone that played the demo during Demo Day 44. I got a lot more feedback than I was expecting and I'm happy most people like the game.

That said, I did receive negative feedback about the game, and I've set about improving it in that regard.

Things That Have Changed

I have to make this video a link because Itch was having problems embedding it. Sorry about that.

• Wait time between shots has been halved when holding the fire button, additionally Players can now shoot as fast as they can click. (See video above)
• Added a wave enemy. (More details below)
• Fixed a bug where players were getting more health than was actually being displayed as their maximum.
• Adjusted hitboxes.
• Rotating enemy has been removed from the spawning pool.
• Added Z & X as inputs for shooting.
• Certain enemies should no longer collide with other enemies or each other.
• There is now a ripple when the player takes damage that destroys the enemies around them.
• The player is now temporarily invincible after getting hit.
• Slight adjustments to main menus.
• Added on screen text alerts for when the player loses and receives health.

So the big complaint from the demo was the fire rate. People felt that the delay between shots was too large and that it didn't feel responsive if you were clicking the fire button as opposed to holding it. I've shortened the delay for holding the button and have removed it entirely if you click to fire instead. This does however affect the difficulty of the game, so I might be making adjustments in the future.

There's now a new enemy type, the wave enemy. Basically a much larger ripple that you have to match the colour of otherwise it will damage you. Not much of a threat on its own, but when surrounded by enemies, it certainly adds a bit of tension.

Someone wanted to use Z & X for fire buttons, so I added it. Might add more control options in the future.

The two new things that are a real game changer in terms of difficulty are the temporary invincibility when hit, and the "Shield" that spreads out following getting hit and destroys the enemies around you. I knew it would make the game easier, but I think this possibly over-does it a little. I'll keep tinkering with it to see if it makes any sense in the game, but it honestly think it provides the player with an unfair advantage.

The last thing I've added, which isn't actually based on any feedback, are some on-screen text alerts. Currently they only appear when you gain or lose health, but I might find more of a use for them as I add and change things.

What's Still Broken?

• WebGL is still providing graphical problems with the UI when using certain browsers (Chrome specifically).
• Sounds and music are still placeholders.
• Credits are still missing details for fonts and music, they'll probably updated once assets are finalised.

What's Next?

Currently the next big task is reworking the enemy spawning code. At the present time, I'm not completely certain what I want to do with it. One comment from Demo Day suggested switching it to a more wave based spawning thing. After all the headaches I had with Bullet Hell Lane Shooter, I don't know if I want to go down that road again. However, I think more flexibility in terms of enemy spawning would be welcome, especially amounts at a time, and how frequently enemy types spawn. I'll be doing design work on it soon.

That's all for the time being, I'll post another one of these when I can.