+Steve Jones Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Non programmers like me come in here too, to check out new games in development like yours. I dont always have time to play right away but others like DZ are a good and fast source of helpful feedback. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Even though I dont know enough to be a considered an Intellivision programmer... but hey, fake it until you make it, right? Hehehe ... we all have to start somewhere. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Finally had a chance to play the latest version, and read the instructions which was helpful, I never really used the teleports, things were happening too fast and I just moved around within the screen. So after a few games I made it to the first boss level, level 10 I guess, which just says Kill the bees, and has that giant green bee as well as a couple of other swarms I think. Not sure what I was supposed to do on the level, I tried stinging the big green one a few times but I died, not sure how. Any more details about these boss levels? Maybe if there is something special to do here you should give instructions on screen before that level begins? Otherwise quite fun so far. Stick with this one, it has a lot of potential I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 ok so I guess on the Boss levels you grab the power ups then use the laser to kill the bees? that seemed to be working though I still died. quite addictive this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Thanks Steve for giving it a try, and also for your comments. I was thinking about those old school games where finding the boss weakness was part of the fun, that's why I did not make things so explicit. Still, I tried to prod the player to use the ray by 1) making it respawn faster, 2) not spawning any other types of power ups (like those for health or speed) and 3) respawning it close to the player. I guess it ended up being confusing, so I just added a message before the boss fight to use the killer ray. Still experimenting with the whole boss fight idea. I'm really going on a limb, considering the original Odyssey 2 Killer Bees had nothing of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 Check out the latest update with a new 2 player coop mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 A two player coop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 13, 2019 Author Share Posted January 13, 2019 (edited) Gotcha... will add the - ... Edited January 13, 2019 by cmadruga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Gotcha... will add the - ... It was just a joke, sorry. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catsfolly Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 This is fun.. It reminds me a lot of the original game. The green robots give me trouble because I am in the habit of always chasing robots. Some suggestions: 1. It would be nice if the game screen would initially pause for a second or two to give the player a chance to find their position. 2. The tip about "different robot colors meaning different movement patterns" seems misleading since some robot colors are deadly. 3. The "How to play" section needs better key debouncing so the player can easily see each page. Wait for like one second of no key pressed before accepting a new keypress that advances the page. 4. If the power up icons were in the same order as their descriptions, it might be easier to follow. So far so good. I have seen the boss a few times,but haven't beat him yet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I will tweak the green ones a little more so they will be even easier to distinguish from other robots. Your #1 seems to form a pattern with other suggestions. Need something that will ease the player into each level a little more smoothly. #2 seems fair, even though greens ones DO move differently from all other colors. But I get your point. #3 ok, I thought it was working fine, but will tweak. #4 ok will adjust Thanks again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Open ended question to all: In your opinion, what could make this game more addictive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Maybe after you beat a boss level, your number of health/hearts goes up by one? Never played the Odyssey version so I dont know how faithful you are trying to be to it? Just to mix things up throw in some vertical lasers on some levels instead of always the horizontal ones, or some other powerups Ie one that temporarily slows all the opponents down, or one that explodes in a certain limited radius around you as opposed to the lasers. How about a Killer Bee powerup that lets you even kill zombies for a limited amount of time or number of kills. Maybe vary the gamefield a bit as you progress further, whether its changing colors or bg textures, or the layout of the field, something to give you a sense of progression rather than just the level counter. Not sure how difficult any of these are to implement, the gameplay is pretty solid already. If you do add music, have the option to turn it down or off, music often gets annoying after hearing the same thing repeatedly. Flight of the Bumblebee seems like the obvious (Too obvious??) choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) One recommendation I would make is to find a way to put a bit more emphasis on the "killer bee" aspect of the concept. Right now, although a pretty cool game, it feels more like "Attack of the (Zombie) Clones!" than "Killer Bees!" Perhaps add a few bee-related game mechanics, like sucking dew from flowers, or aligning towards the sun, or stinging to death a rather large spider, or something like that. In the video I saw of the original, it seemed clear to me that you were playing against the "killer bee" swarms around you. In yours, it seems I'm just randomly hunting down robots and avoiding their zombies. The swarms seem almost as an afterthought -- a secondary antagonist. It's fine, it's a slightly different change in focus, but it does make the title of the game a bit misleading, or at the very least, strangely orthogonal. -dZ. Edited January 17, 2019 by DZ-Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 For me Killer Bees is good enough given you control a swarm of bees. Maybe adding a related title screen with crazy looking bees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 I’m LOVING all the ideas and suggestions! That’s what I was looking for! Big thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Hows this coming along? Did you get a chance to try any of these ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 (edited) Hows this coming along? Did you get a chance to try any of these ideas? Thanks for checking, Steve. Its been hectic so unfortunately I havent advanced much. Still, I got to put new tiles around the arena and will make them change colors as levels progress. In line with your suggestion of providing players with a clearer sense of progression... Also in line with DZs suggestion of having more bee-like natural things happening in the game. I have added a bird that shows up and attacks you from time to time. However, Im not happy with how its working right now. Will keep working on it, but not sure when the next release will be. Edited February 8, 2019 by cmadruga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Sounds good, looking forward to trying your next version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 (edited) Implemented 2 new power ups today: time stop and invincibility... (Ahhhh, it feels good to mow down enemy bees and zombies Tiles around the arena now change color as you progress. Edited February 12, 2019 by cmadruga 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Cool, was just playing it on my LTO flash, until now was using jzintv on my laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 Thanks for the ongoing encouragement, Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmadruga Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 Finally released an update... Was planning on having more done, but it's been hard to find time to work on the game. Maybe on the next update there will be some music. So far I could not make music and sound effects work well together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Finally released an update... Was planning on having more done, but it's been hard to find time to work on the game. Maybe on the next update there will be some music. So far I could not make music and sound effects work well together. Use PLAY SIMPLE for your music And SOUND 2 for setting tones for your sound effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Steve Jones Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Just tried latest version, I like all the updates. The quick mention of what power you just got helps, the game gets pretty frantic at times and sometimes I don't remember what each one is. And the color change after a few levels, while simple, does give a sense of progression and variety. One thing I noticed (I think?), at the beginning of each new level, your swarm of bees, if it was depleted in the previous level, still seems to be depleted. In previous versions weren't you back to a full swarm at the beginning of each new level? Or am I mistaken? Just wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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