So, I just played through the game, and I loved it! Here are my initial thoughts, and I'll probably add another comment at some point once I've tried it a few more times. Also, I know this game is very early in development, all of this is meant as constructive criticism because I am already having a blast with this game.
-The podracers hitting on the second turn feels kind of unfair, since you are relying entirely on getting lucky and hitting energy on your first click to armor up in time. Forced damage in and of itself is not the worst, but when it's forced damage that can be avoided based on luck it feels kind of bad.
-The scanner that shows all the 1s is waaaay too strong. Once I got my hands on it I would almost never miss a click. I don't know that I have any good recommendations for how to rebalance it though, and I think that kind of mechanic does add a lot to the game. Also on the topic of the scanner, the 1s are extremelt hard to see on the ice maps because the blues are really similar in color.
-The energy economy is thrown way off because of the energy amplifier and the mining drill. My first run I had three drills and an energy amplifier, so I could usually get my scanner up turn 2 or 3 and then get about 8 energy each turn. At the same time, those items are some of the things that made the gameplay feel best. I firmly believe that those should be some sort of upgrade rather than random item drops, either in an ftl-style ship upgrade screen or as post-boss upgrades like in monster train. I also think you should probably start with two clicks, rather than just one, because it makes the game feel so much better.
-As mentioned by Retromation in his video, there is definitely an issue where stalling and healing to full every fight is the optimal play. You also are heavily incentivised to stall to full energy before starting the next wave. I don't know if the correct answer is having the enemies scale over time, or simply limiting the number of heals you can do per combat, but I do think that this should be addressed somehow.
This game is already great, and has so much potential. I look forward to playing more of it and seeing where it goes from here. Congrats on the amazing work!
During my second run I ran into the batteries that keep charge between runs, and while it's a fun mechanic it feeds into the whole stalling the fight problem. I am a few hops away from the boss and I am starting every fight with 25 energy, making everything quite trivial.
Edit: also, it leads to the scanner always being on turn 1.
Thanks for the great suggestions! I'm planning on changing how the battery works, instead of keeping the charge, it will give x (5?) amount of energy at the beginning of each battle. I also want the enemies to "run away" if they can't hit the player. I don't want people to feel like they need to grind.
Also... did you really get those items in the screenshot or is that edited? That is a very strong inventory.
Not sure if this would be too far from your plan for this game, but I like the idea of opening cells being your energy source, and mines are possible self-damage?
That way, energy is more consistent (maybe directly related to the numbers on clues you find, and inflate energy values on everything to balance?), and also opens up possible self-damage builds. Sorry if this is a lot of ideas at once!
I'll keep it how it is for now. It would be to much of a change. But I does make me think... I'm looking for way to interact with the mining board in different ways and there could be items that change things.
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Space Order Mine Gameplay
I keep getting this error when trying to play the game. Does anyone know how to solve this?
Which browser are you using?
I'm not sure as I'm using the Itch app
I never tried the app. I did some change, it should work now. You might have to update/re-install the game.
It works now, Thank you :)
I watched the game on Retromation and it looks very promising.
Here are my tips to fix the current issues:
gl
You gave me some pretty good ideas, thanks!
So, I just played through the game, and I loved it! Here are my initial thoughts, and I'll probably add another comment at some point once I've tried it a few more times. Also, I know this game is very early in development, all of this is meant as constructive criticism because I am already having a blast with this game.
-The podracers hitting on the second turn feels kind of unfair, since you are relying entirely on getting lucky and hitting energy on your first click to armor up in time. Forced damage in and of itself is not the worst, but when it's forced damage that can be avoided based on luck it feels kind of bad.
-The scanner that shows all the 1s is waaaay too strong. Once I got my hands on it I would almost never miss a click. I don't know that I have any good recommendations for how to rebalance it though, and I think that kind of mechanic does add a lot to the game. Also on the topic of the scanner, the 1s are extremelt hard to see on the ice maps because the blues are really similar in color.
-The energy economy is thrown way off because of the energy amplifier and the mining drill. My first run I had three drills and an energy amplifier, so I could usually get my scanner up turn 2 or 3 and then get about 8 energy each turn. At the same time, those items are some of the things that made the gameplay feel best. I firmly believe that those should be some sort of upgrade rather than random item drops, either in an ftl-style ship upgrade screen or as post-boss upgrades like in monster train. I also think you should probably start with two clicks, rather than just one, because it makes the game feel so much better.
-As mentioned by Retromation in his video, there is definitely an issue where stalling and healing to full every fight is the optimal play. You also are heavily incentivised to stall to full energy before starting the next wave. I don't know if the correct answer is having the enemies scale over time, or simply limiting the number of heals you can do per combat, but I do think that this should be addressed somehow.
This game is already great, and has so much potential. I look forward to playing more of it and seeing where it goes from here. Congrats on the amazing work!
During my second run I ran into the batteries that keep charge between runs, and while it's a fun mechanic it feeds into the whole stalling the fight problem. I am a few hops away from the boss and I am starting every fight with 25 energy, making everything quite trivial.
Edit: also, it leads to the scanner always being on turn 1.
Edit 2:
Thanks for the great suggestions! I'm planning on changing how the battery works, instead of keeping the charge, it will give x (5?) amount of energy at the beginning of each battle. I also want the enemies to "run away" if they can't hit the player. I don't want people to feel like they need to grind.
Also... did you really get those items in the screenshot or is that edited? That is a very strong inventory.
Sorry for the late reply, that was indeed the inventory I had after the boss (I got a drill from the last fight iirc).
Unfourtunately I can use only 5 components max, even if I have 6 or more components in the "backpack".
There should be a scrollbar maybe it's not visible enough.
reminds me a bit of Backpack Hero
You are right, I really like Backpack Hero and Peglin.
Very fun, wish it was longer/infinite
Thanks! I have more content in the work but I didn't think of an infinite mode, maybe that could be a good option.
very nice concept indeed :D keep up the good work ! there should be a hard mode where the enemies plays at their own pace
Hey, this is a cool prototype, are you still working on it?
Yes I am :) I'm currently working on adding content (bigger map, more enemies, more items).
Cool! Please keep me posted :D
Took me a while to realize I was supposed to find the bombs, not isolate them, but I got the hang of it.
I just took a note of this, I'll try to make it more obvious. I can understand people are used to isolate the bombs.
Not sure if this would be too far from your plan for this game, but I like the idea of opening cells being your energy source, and mines are possible self-damage?
That way, energy is more consistent (maybe directly related to the numbers on clues you find, and inflate energy values on everything to balance?), and also opens up possible self-damage builds. Sorry if this is a lot of ideas at once!
I like the idea of a self-damage build.
I'll keep it how it is for now. It would be to much of a change. But I does make me think... I'm looking for way to interact with the mining board in different ways and there could be items that change things.
Yup, me too! :P
I'll probably have to put some sort of tutorial.
or simply flash on screen at the start of the first stages: Capture the bombs!!!
That would be clear :)