Spixel Inv8ders - Infinite 8-bit Shoot 'em up

cook1eegames

Spixel Inv8ders will be an endless shoot 'em up with an infinite amount of waves, firepower and focused on Highscore hunting. Use 5 different weapons to battle against the evil! Fly around in a Solar System, play and unlock multiple infinite Levels. Some Levels have special effects that make the game colorful and more dynamic.

The game will be released on browser game platforms, so it can be played from anywhere [as long as you have a PC or Laptop :)]

320x240

Want to see the Game in action? Check out the teaser:

cook1eegames

The Game has been released! You can play it here: https://www.kongregate.com/games/cook1eegames/spixel-inv8ders

It might have some small issues, but it should be okay. Have fun playing and tell me if you liked it :)

Sosasees

Summary of the next paragraphs: Game needs special Pause Menu Options I'd like to see: Volume, Fullscreen, Background Visibility I'd like to play an Adventure Mode Coins need to look less similar to Enemy Missiles Game needs better Player Damage Feedback Level Select controls should be the same as the level controls

I really like this game! But it has some issues:

On the Main Menu, there's a ,,Start Muted" option so that I could play at work. But I can't find the pause menu, which is important before a game could actually be played at work. This pause menu needs 3 options: Continue, Options, and Quit. But this game can't just have a normal pause menu. Instead, the Continue button should be triggered by clicking on the Player Spaceship. The options I'd like to see, are: Volume Controls (Player Missile Sounds, Other Sounds, Music), Fullscreen Mode, and Background Visibility (10 is Full Visibility, 0 is Full Black). And I think all the coins should have the same silver color reguardless of their value, so that they don't look similar to the enemy missiles.

Also, I'm not the kind of person who plays for Highscores, but instead the kind of person who plays to see all the levels, so I'd like to play a Gamemode where Points are disabled, but in exchange there's a Checkpoint after every Boss. Maybe then I'd play the Highscore Mode after I finished that Adventure Mode, if the game reminds me of the Highscore Mode after the End Credits.

And finally, this game needs better feedback for when the Player Spaceship gets hit, and the player controls for the Level Select should be the same as in the actual levels, so that the players don't get a false first impression.

Megalomaniak

Some solid feedback.

Sosasees

Last time I sent Feedback, it was very badly formatted and excessively destructive, so now I try to keep it broken up much better, with improved constructiveness and my updated views compared to last time. But first, I must clarify that these are opinions and not hard facts. Maybe the game could also be improved in ways I didn't think of.

---

Here's the things that NEED to be changed, in order of importance:

The game needs a Pause Menu where you unpause by clicking on your own Spaceship
* I have discovered that, when you close the tab and later open it again, the game continues on a checkpoint just before the current wave. However, this is counter-intuitive, since closing the tab normally deletes all unsaved progress. I'm not the only person who assumes that closing the tab deletes all unsaved progress. I'm just one of many.
The Background needs to gradually dim. This would not only keep the chaos of the bullethell visuals at the later waves in control, but also adds a feeling of progression with epicness
* I'd achieve this effect by putting a (close to) Black ColorRect between the Background and Play Area, which starts out with the Alpha Channel at 0, and gains 2 alpha points after every finished wave. This way, the Background is fully visible at Wave 0 and Completely Blacked-Out at Wave 128.
Particularly in the later waves, it can easily happen that the Player Spaceship gets hit without the Player noticing.
* I'd fix this by playing a destinct Sound Effect when the Player Spaceship gets hit, and making the Sprite Flash Red for a moment. Maybe also slightly scale-up the Sprite for that moment, since it'd fit the style of the game.
The controls of the Level Select need to be the same as the actual gameplay controls
* This could be achieved by making the Spaceship the Cursor for a themed menu. It'd fit really well since in the actual levels, the player Spaceship also moves like a cursor
* The current level select needs a higher amount of handiness than the actual game. This stops people who have enough handiness to play the game but not enough handiness to navigate this menu from playing the game for no real reason (This is called a failure in Accessibility)

Here are the things I find really good about the game:

I really like the music and the gameplay and the fun graphics. I'm only at level 1 so far, but it's really good so far. Maybe I can say more later.

Here are the things could be improved AFTER you implemented the ,,Essentail Improvements" from 2 Lists above:

I like the Bloom Effect as it makes the game look more fun. But it outblows especially Bright-Colored Sprites at times. I still want the effect to stay, but maybe:
* tone it down until the Whitest Sprites are discernable
* or change the Colors of the Outblown Sprites to make them discernable without decreasing the Bloom
the game could be more fun by encouraging the player to change their Weapons
* I eventually found the best weapon in the entire game, so I didn't really have a reason to change the weapon after that again. This makes the game less interesting, so I had to make ,,Pick up every weapon" a self-imposed challenge.
* Limited Ammo could solve this as the player would have to collect every weapon, which gives 50 ammo every time. This would make it so that the player is forced to collect every Weapons ze can find, which means that ze can't always use their favourite weapon. It could be even more interesting when the Player can store multiple types of Ammo and switch between them with the Mousewheel, as this opens up more choices whilst also making the best choice non-obvious. This could also be paired with enemies who are more vulnerable to some weapons and less vulnerable to others (but no cirtical-to-defeat enemies should be immune to anything, and I think there shouldn't be more than 3 enemies with immunities on screen at once, unless you feel like you know what you're doing).

Sosasees

Thanks very much for listening to my Feedback! This is my now-adjusted Feedback, which I hope helps you further improving the game: The game finally has a pause menu, although I can't open it when the music stopped for an unknown reason. It's well-implemented since you have to hover over the Spaceship to continue, which avoids the possibility of an easy teleportation exploit. But the Options Button from the Main Menu should also be in the Pause Menu. Maybe I want to enable Glow at the Beginning, but later disable it when things get crazy. Or maybe I want to change the Volume of individual Audio Buses in the middle of the game. This would only be possible if the Options Menu is accessible from the Pause Menu. The Damage Indicator Option addressed my complaints about the Player Spaceship taking Damage not being very noticable at all. While it is now implemented, the Feedback is still not very clear. But it's easy to correct as the functionality is now implemented and it's pretty much only a matter of changing the animation and Adding a Sound: The Player Spaceship taking damage should look similar to an Enemy being destroyed and exploding, Not one taking damage but still surviving. Also, the visual should be accompanied by a unique sound effect (The ,,Enemy Explodes" sound, but noticably pitched down in the Inspector of the AudioStreamPlayer itself, should be sufficient) I think it's also a great idea to have this option On by default, or even permanently (because many players don't look into the options menu, so they assume that it's not implemented. Because in every other game, it's either implemented or not implemented, with no option to turn it On or Off. This being a togglable option is unique to Spixel Inv8ders) * I don't know if the Bloom Effect still outblows some Sprites, since this time, I haven't come as far I had last time. But I hope it's now addressed.

Now comes the parts of my earlier Feedback, by which I still stand after the Update:

Here's the things that NEED to be changed, in order of importance: The Background needs to gradually dim. This would not only keep the chaos of the bullethell visuals at the later waves in control, but also adds a feeling of progression with epicness I'd achieve this effect by putting a Close to Black ColorRect between the Background and Play Area, which starts out with the Alpha Channel at 0, and gains 2 alpha points after every finished wave. This way, the Background is fully visible at Wave 0 and Completely Blacked-Out at Wave 128. The controls of the Level Select need to be the same as the actual gameplay controls This could be achieved by making the Spaceship the Cursor for a themed menu. It'd fit really well since in the actual levels, the player Spaceship also moves like a cursor The level select as it is right now, needs a higher amount of handiness than the actual game. This stops people who have enough handiness to play the game but not enough handiness to navigate this menu from playing the game for no real reason (This is called a failure in Accessibility)

Here are the things I find really good about the game: * I really like the music and the gameplay and the fun graphics. I'm only at level 2 so far, but it's really good so far. Maybe I can say more later.

Here are the things could be improved AFTER you implemented the ,,Essentail Improvements" from 2 Lists above: the game could be more fun by encouraging the player to change their Weapons I eventually found the best weapon (for me personally. Every weapon is viable and balanced), so I didn't really have a reason to change the weapon after that again. This makes the game less interesting, so I had to make ,,Pick up every weapon" a self-imposed challenge. * Limited Ammo could solve this as the player would have to collect every weapon, which gives 50 ammo every time. This would make it so that the player is forced to collect every Weapons ze can find, which means that ze can't always use their favourite weapon. It could be even more interesting when the Player can store multiple types of Ammo and switch between them with the Mousewheel, as this opens up more choices whilst also making the best choice non-obvious. This could also be paired with enemies who are more vulnerable to some weapons and less vulnerable to others (but no cirtical-to-defeat enemies should be immune to anything, and I think there shouldn't be more than 3 enemies with immunities on screen at once, unless you feel like you know what you're doing).