Update on my D game

[Kenny Shields]

On Monday, 9 January 2023 at 00:57:08 UTC, Hipreme wrote:

> 1: Great installation experience, just unzip and boom it works. 
> For a finished game I would recommend a proper installer or 
> something that is as simple as double clicking.

Glad to hear that. An installer is definitely a possibility, 
should be easy enough on Windows at least.

> 2: The W button to move forward mechanic was an horrible 
> experience, I would like to recommend proper WASD with mouse to 
> aim, this way it makes the game more intuitive (like I pressed 
> other buttons before W anyway), easier to players to avoid 
> getting hit, and will allow people to rest their single finger.

Yeah this has been a contentious issue for others who have played 
the game as well. I actually at one point did implement WASD 
movement but it felt wrong to me so I ended up keeping the single 
movement key. There's really no reason though that I couldn't 
have multiple control schemes so maybe I'll look into that for a 
future release.

> 3: The interface could give more feedback, like, the colors are 
> blending a lot, like, flashing buttons with sound when you 
> click them. The minimap could get a stroke or a background to 
> make it blend less with the game.

Interface sounds are on the list for sure. As for the minimap, 
you can adjust it's opacity values in the settings menu.

> 4: Add a resize/scaler to your window. I got a 4K screen and I 
> had to almost close halfway my eyes to view better (yes 4K 
> screen has horrible usability, but I not being able to play 
> full screen bothers me)

Ah yes, sorry about that. I develop primarily on a QHD monitor, 
but 4k is something that I've never tested. I do plan on 
implementing scaling support in the future, though this will 
likely take a bit longer as I plan to do it at the engine level.

> 5: Change the weapon automatically when taking them, and 
> develop an interface for that, I took some times the weapon 
> from the ground but was confused because nothing changed for my 
> character, I needed to look into the game controllers.

I think it actually used to switch the weapon automatically in a 
previous version, though I didn't like that way it felt so I 
removed that functionality. You are definitely right about the 
not being able to see it immediately though, I think a possible 
solution to this could be to show the other non-equipped weapons 
above the active weapon panel. I'll look into that.

> 6: [-Pause: Escape]: Most people don't know what Escape is, use 
> ESC instead. Same applies to Control, changing it to CTRL.

Interesting, I hadn't really considered that to be honest. Makes 
sense though as those match the exact letters on the keys.

> 7: While writing that I found the Resize thing. It is not good 
> enough, the text didn't scale together. The game gives an 
> unfair advantage to people which has bigger screen, prefer 
> scaling the game instead of extending the world drawable size.

Yeah, this is another thing that I want to implement support for 
at the engine level. Not sure when I'll get to it but it's on the 
list.

> 8: Graphics options should contain a brief description on what 
> they do.

I agree, I'll see about adding description lines or tool tips for 
the next release.

> 9: Auto detect screen size is nice approach to do

For sure, looking into this as well.

> 10: ESC in title screen should prompt the user to quit the game

Good idea, I'll add that in.

> 11: I could not adjust the screen to use the entire space (the 
> screen moved a bit and then I could not center it).

Not sure I follow, are you referring to when it's in windowed 
mode?

> 12: Game is looking pretty darky, would be better to have other 
> source of lights

Yeah, Zombie Onslaught is pretty dark by default, though this was 
done intentionally to help build the feel/ambiance of the 
gamemode, but also to help show off some of the lighting effects 
that are present in the later phases. You can however work around 
this by using the map editor -- any map can be loaded and 
modified and static light sources can be added or removed as 
desired.

> Besides that refinements you could do for a complete game, It 
> is looking nice, I'm looking towards the finished project :)

Thank you for trying it out, I really appreciate all of the 
feedback! Not sure it will ever be truly finished but it's 
certainly getting better with each release!