Games And a puzzle bobble (bubble shooter) game?

Sandman

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Yeah I'd love some feedback.
Sure thing. Please take all with a grain of salt. I'm just a single datapoint, I rarely represent the whole of humanity. :)

First of all if you find bugs and things like that. If it's smooth or it freezes somewhere. If everything is OK (I know it only runs ok at 60Hz)
No bugs found. And I did try to find them; I tried to select the bottom weapons as the bonus counted on the endlevel screen, and stuff like that. Seems rock solid, as far as I can tell. The only thing that wasn't expected was that I could scroll the level chooser up/down while it faded away. Not even remotely a bug, but unexpected behaviour.

Second: did you like it? Please be honest here. Gameplay, music, etc. (Translations, text, etc)
It was... fine? I mean, if you wanted me to pay $1 or suffer through many ads I wouldn't play it. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that I'm probably not your target audience.

As for the gameplay, I found it too simple. That said, I've played these kinds of games before and I don't know how to make them harder. I found the stones a fun addition. The weapons were unexpected, and the only one I really like was the rocket. The colorball seemed so very limited and the bomb was just ok. The rocket was fun, but I found it disappointing that it didn't at least blow away a couple of stones. Same for the bomb.

Because of reasons I played it with no sound, which worked fine for me. At some point I turned on sound on my mobile, and found that I disliked the music so much that I muted the phone again. First I tried to turn off the music and only have sound effects, but couldn't find that. That disappointed me a little.

The graphics are fine. They look professional and playful and like lots of other games. That's probably the correct way to go. Personally I find the look a bit boring, I've seen it so much. I prefer graphics that are more minimalistic in their base look. This doesn't mean they are dry, they can still be full of effects. Three games as examples:

As for the game animations, they are great. The balls push each other around slightly and it looks absolutely awesome.

As for the UI animations, I find them a bit tiresome. I tend to quickly get frustrated if I have to look at UI animations. But you did something great here: I can interact even though the animation happens - that is great! Two examples that come to mind: When the level selector arrow moves to next level I can still tap the new level before the arrow arrives. And at the endlevel dialog I can tap the arrow button instantly. I suppose I get in a flow and just want to get on with the playing, and waiting for animations is just like a forced break. Two things I thought about: The level selector tap target felt small. Often I found myself tapping rapidly a dozen times to hit it. And the endlevel three stars that falls, I'd like if they all fell at the same time, with something like 0,2 secs between them. So their fall animations overlapped a lot.

It took way too long for me to realize that it was no use to save the weapons between levels. I'm naturally inclined to thinking "this is simple, better save the weapons for a difficult level". One way to maybe solve that would be to give each unused weapon a bonus too, at end of level. And as part of that do something with the icon to even more clear (than the background) show that they are "empty".

I think the tap target for the pause might be a bit small. A couple of times when I tried to pause, I launched a ball instead.

And the text for level 61 isn't in English, but you probably already knew that. :)

I have a question for you: Is the color of the balls given to me completely random (picked from the colors in the playfield, obviously), or do you manipulate the order and selection somehow?

All in all: Very nice looking, very professional. Not my favorite genre, but clearly made me play 60 levels so it apparently hooked me just fine. :)

And it's also very apparent how skilled you are, very impressive!
 

melonZgz

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Thank you very much for taking the time to test the game and for the detailed feedback!
Regarding the concept of the game. After so many hours of development I wonder if this kind of game is... viable, so to speak. It's an extra saturated market, where there are hundreds of the same games, very well finished and with thousands of levels (I haven't checked, but I'm sure they are selling the code to make the whole game and just re-skin it, because there are some that are EXACT). Maybe I should extras, like diamonds, rescue animals, or meet some extra objectives (do this level in less than x runs, or do this level without powerups...), to get out of the monotony.
About the gameplay. I don't know if it's easy, hard... I've tried a lot of games at the store and I find them insultingly easy. But I don't want to frustrate the player and put too much difficulty, at least in the first levels.
One thing I hate is making levels, because I run out of ideas. We should make at least 100 to 120 for the official release, because if the player likes it, he can finish it in one go...
It took way too long for me to realize that it was no use to save the weapons between levels. I'm naturally inclined to thinking "this is simple, better save the weapons for a difficult level". One way to maybe solve that would be to give each unused weapon a bonus too, at end of level. And as part of that do something with the icon to even more clear (than the background) show that they are "empty".
I thought a lot about it. In the end I opted for an ‘intermediate’ solution. If I have the powerup filled less than 60% I keep it as is, while if it's bigger than 60% I lower it to 85% of its value (I multiply it by 0.85)


I have a question for you: Is the color of the balls given to me completely random (picked from the colors in the playfield, obviously), or do you manipulate the order and selection somehow?

Except the first two balls of the second level (they have to be those colors to force te player to do a bubble swap) the colors are absolutelly random. And only the colors of active balls are available, of course

And the text for level 61 isn't in English, but you probably already knew that. :)

Nope. Totally forgot about that😬


BTW, I think all the bugs are allready solved. I'll test it a little more, add new levels (maybe new worlds) and maybe launch another beta
 

Sandman

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Thank you very much for taking the time to test the game and for the detailed feedback!
My pleasure. I had one idea for how you can make it more difficult. Let's say you keep the current difficulty as "Normal" and then you add a "Hard" where there's a time limit per level. Like 45 seconds? 60? (WIth bonus for time left, obviously.) It's even possible to also make an "Insane", where each level only have 30 seconds. And perhaps it's only possible to unlock the last one after you finished the "Hard". Just a thought, do with it what you want. :)

I'm sure they are selling the code to make the whole game and just re-skin it
That sounds very reasonable. For whatever it's worth, you could do the same. You could have all of these, with only different graphics and sounds:
  • Bubble Shooter (the one you currently have)
  • Bubble Shooter [8bit edition] or perhaps these:
    • Bubble Shooter [C64 edition] 💕
    • Bubble Shooter [Spectrum edition]
    • Bubble Shooter [Vectrex edition]
  • Bubble Shooter [Minimal edition]
  • Bubble Shooter [Candy edition]
...and so on. As long as you're clear it's the same game, just different look and feel, I can't see a problem with it. (And the only reason would be if it wasn't a free game.)
 

melonZgz

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And I'm also planning to do that... (I allready have all the graphics to do a halloween version :) ).
 

Sandman

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I had a second look at the game today. I didn't notice the snow in the level picker - such a nice touch, lovely!

Also, have you verified that it's possible to get three stars on all levels? I'm asking because I can't manage to get it on level 56. I've cleared it using only 6 balls, it something like that. Two stars. I've cleared it with two rockets and two balls: two stars.

I also discover I don't keep the same balls after I use a rocket. That's a bit annoying as it created situations like "I'll rocket my way to there and then I'll win the level with my blue ball. Swoosh. Oh, now they're both red."
 

melonZgz

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I had a second look at the game today. I didn't notice the snow in the level picker - such a nice touch, lovely!
Yep. I thing those little details make the difference. I mean, during the last months of development a lot of people that see the progress of the game may see exactly the same game, but there are A LOT of little details added here and there...

Also, have you verified that it's possible to get three stars on all levels? I'm asking because I can't manage to get it on level 56. I've cleared it using only 6 balls, it something like that. Two stars. I've cleared it with two rockets and two balls: two stars.

Nope. Thats a thing I still have to do, adjust the difficulty and the stars of each level...

I also discover I don't keep the same balls after I use a rocket. That's a bit annoying as it created situations like "I'll rocket my way to there and then I'll win the level with my blue ball. Swoosh. Oh, now they're both red."

Yep. It was a known issue I absolutelly forgot about. Allready fixed for the next update. Now lets see if there are more bugs or strange behaviours to fix...
 

melonZgz

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Hello guys.
Finally updated second beta:):):)!

Things updated:
  • Fixed the 60/90/120Hz issue
  • Corrected aspect ratio for all devices
  • Fixed the touch special ball issue
  • After using a powerup you keep the same balls
  • Pause button issue fixed
  • level buttons bigger
  • Added sound and music on/off controls
  • New levels
  • More worlds (Egypt)
  • The stones are different depending on wich world you are now
  • Using now KVS for the data, I hope the transition is OK if you had the first beta installed...
  • Many internal upgrades

otromas.png

(Click on the image to download ☝️ )

The roadmap now is simple:
make more levels (reach minimum 100)
finish bugfixing and launch the 1.0 version in one month or so
At the same time, I'll upload the Hill Racing game with new levels and cars, and with some cross promotion
Once everything is launched, keep upgrading and promoting it while I focus again on the multi arcade game, wich colud be released as a beta in a few months
 
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Sandman

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Finally updated second beta:):):)!
I'm getting my first crashes with this version. When I'm in the level picker and tap 85, the game crashes. I've repeated it several times and never managed to get into the level.
 

melonZgz

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I'm getting my first crashes with this version. When I'm in the level picker and tap 85, the game crashes. I've repeated it several times and never managed to get into the level.
Well, that's strange, as there are only 84 levels in this beta. As there is no level 85, there should be a message with the text "LEVEL NOT AVAILABLE" when you click on that level..(or whatever, depending on your language, as it's translated to english, spanish, italian, french, portuguese and deutsch)
 

Sandman

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Well, that's strange, as there are only 84 levels in this beta. As there is no level 85, there should be a message with the text "LEVEL NOT AVAILABLE" when you click on that level..(or whatever, depending on your language, as it's translated to english, spanish, italian, french, portuguese and deutsch)
Well, I don't get a message, just a crash when I tap 85:

1741595397183.png


1741595897582.png



I also noticed something else. I can't say whether this is new for this version or not, and it might even be by design, but I saw something I found unexpected. If I use a weapon to remove the the last bubble of a color, that color isn't changed in my shooter. Instead I'm forced to use it (which means adding the color back to the playfield). After doing so, any colors are swapped per usual.

Example 1

Here I used a weapon to get rid of the last red bubble, but I still have a red ball in my shooter. This isn't a huge problem, I can swap with the green and get rid of the green cluster up top. When doing that, the red ball will change to another color.

1741595652676.png



Example 2

Here I don't have the option to swap balls to solve the problem, instead I am really forced to add green or blue back to the playfield.

1741595695445.png
 

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melonZgz

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Oh, I see now. My fault :confused: . Just before uploading the aab file I added a test level (a fake level used to make the screenshots) and I didn't remove it, so it fails when you reach level 85...
About the other issue, I really didn't notice it. I've been able to reproduce it, so I will solve it ASAP.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I appreciate it a lot...
Add a video (on GP) ;)
Yep, I'll start working on the trailer this week, so when I release the 1.0 version everything will be ready :)
 

Sandman

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I've gone back and try to three-star all the levels that I didn't get the first way through. A number of them worked out fine and resulted in the three stars, but there are some that I believe are impossible to get better than two stars on. On several of these I have solved them without using a single ball, and only used weapons. Still only two stars.

4, 13, 14, 22, 26, 56, 74, 83.
 

melonZgz

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I have corrected the level 85 bug, the color ball issue after the powerup, and adjusted the difficulty of all those levels.
Also added a few levels.
DONWLOAD
It's still a Beta, I'll release the 1.0 version in a few days or so, once everything is OK
 

Sandman

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A couple of more notes, after installing latest beta.

1. The game never remembers me disabling sound/music. Perhaps by design, but still a bit unexpected.

2. I've managed three stars on all levels (including the new ones) except level 74. I suspect some levels require solving mostly by weapons, but I haven't verified if this is correct after you adjusting the difficulty. I should note that I have never, ever received a single star for a level. Not sure if this is because of a bug or by design (or I simply missed it).

3. The number of ads is perfect. :)

4. When on a level I sometimes want to show the phone top bar, so I swipe from top down to make it show. The game interprets this as a shoot, which is a bit annoying. The only way to avoid this at the moment is to pause the level first, but I imagine it would be possible to make it not shoot if it's a swipe from up top.

5. I found a bug. This is difficult to reproduce, but I managed to do it twice in a row. When entering a level, leave the game and go to phone "desktop". This needs to happen either before the balls are visible or when they still are high up on screen. If they reach their playfield position the bug doesn't show. After being on the desktop for a couple of seconds, go back to the game. All of the balls fall off-screen, together with a message about failing the level. Here's a screenshot. Note that I have many balls still to shoot (all of them, actually). I brightened the number of balls, to better show the issue.

1742304790805.png
 
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