Zir0's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Path-o-Gen 1.1]

Cool Shooter

Hey.

Graphics, animation, sounds were done very well. Good job to you and your team.
The overall gameplay and design were also done well, there are just a two things I didn't agree with:

- Recording accuracy. If this were some sniping game or otherwise placed emphasis on skill in aiming with the mouse, then yeah, recording accuracy would be neat. However, this seems more like a shoot-em-up, bullets flyin' everywhere type of game (not that there's anything wrong with those, by the way), and I can't help but feel just a little punished for being a little trigger happy. I would have instead like to see some other type of performance-based stat, say how long you can go without getting hit, or how quickly you can kill the Fat Bacteria or something like that.

- Having to start from the very beginning each time. I know it's endurance and all, but I never liked having to do that unless I wanted to. Some checkpoint system would have been nice. Of course, you probably have to design a system that accommodates for this, so that it can't be abused.

Onto some other aspects I liked:
- Ability to adjust volume for music and sounds individually. I love this in games.
- Ability to pause. On top of that, since the game controls are keyboard-based, I can actually unpause the game using the keyboard as well, instead of having to take my hand off and use the mouse. (Although it sorta falls apart with the menu, though. This is a challenge to try and rectify in Flash games (: )

(Basically, game is quite user-friendly)

- Smooth controls and two sets of movement controls. While the spacebar was fine for me for shooting, maybe add another key for shooting as well.
- Going the extra mile to draw all the various effects and poses for different actions, such as moving N/S/E/W for the player, taking damage (player and bacteria), and nullified projectiles.

Again, great job, soldiers. Keep it up.

* salutes *

_____________________
- Ziro out.

WSquared responds:

Thanks a ton for the feedback! I dig your ideas for the different stat recording bonuses. As for starting at the beginning, if this were a game that consisted of different levels I'd be all for checkpoints. We're actually working on a different project that will incorporate this. We terminated development on Path-o-Gen prematurely to jump on some hot leads, else this would have been a much more robust experience. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Dino Extermination]

Nice Theme, but has some Errors

Hey.

Nice game; I like how you gave the player some defense instead of just another avoider game. You may want to consider allowing the player an easy way to skip the intro. Add a skip button, hit some key or something.

I receive several ActionScript run-time error messages throughout the game.

- When I click the Back button from the INstructions screen I get this:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at DinoExtermination_fla::MainTimeline/g oback()

- When I click the Play button on the title screen, I get this:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at DinoExtermination_fla::MainTimeline/s peel()

- During play, when destroy a comet, this message shows:
ArgumentError: Error #2025: The supplied DisplayObject must be a child of the caller.
at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer /removeChild()
at DinoExtermination_fla::MainTimeline/m oveChar()

- Lastly, when I click the retry button, I repeatedly get this message:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at DinoExtermination_fla::MainTimeline/c heckdood()

Using Firefox 4 and Flash Debug player 10.2.

I think the level is just a little too long, and perhaps consider allowing the player a way to regain shots, Maybe replenish one after some time interval, add an item.

Other than those, it looks fine.

_____________________
- Ziro out.

j-enom responds:

Yeah i thought about recharging the ammo and i also had a shield which was a half dinosaur egg shell on his head... these things made the game too easy though and i would've had comments about how short and easy the game was, this just adds up to the challenge.

About the errors.. Yeah they appear in my output pallet in flash too, but since the game worked i didn't really bother to fix it, i don't really know how actually.

Thanks for the review :)

[zOMGies 2]

Very Nice Game

Hey.

If you're into a side-scrollin', zombie-shootin', action and skill game, _this_ is the game you want to be playing.

- Graphics, animations and effects all look nice.
- The sounds and music fit nice too. The voice acting was good. I like when he says, "Get off me!". Would have liked something like "RAWR!" in there, especially when you're on a roll.
- I like how to took the extra time to actually draw a different pose for the player when he is aiming behind, instead of just rotating the arm and being done with it. (:

Weapons
- In the early levels, the "bullet-based" weapons are enough. In the later levels, they become pretty much obsolete, which is understandable.
- The aim radii are nice too and I like how they vary for each weapon, even changing size on the same weapon.
- For most of the game, I found the combo Machine/Chain Gun as primary weapon + Flame Thrower as secondary weapon easiest to beat most levels. In the end, Flame Launcher + Mine became my weapons of choice.
- In my opinion, weapons like the Ice and Telsa have cool effects, but are mostly for comic relief and didn't help too much.
- The Rocket Launcher is way powerful, and seems more like a Rail gun, balanced by it's slow rate of fire. I like the fact that the shot doesn't count if it wouldn't have hit anything.
- I like the Sniper Rifle. This one is obviously easiest to get headshots with. My only problem with it was its rate of fire is too slow. I'd rather have this weapon fire manually as you press the mouse button. When I use this weapon, I feel like I just want to target LOTS heads and blow them off as fast as I can, but this can't be done in the later levels, because you get swarmed.

Gameplay
- My biggest issue was the player's running speed. Just a little too slow. It's pretty much impossible to tey and catch an item if it's already passed you.
- I like how you award headshots, and unlike other shooting games, your shot doesn't have to be pixel perfect in order to get a headshot.
- Various zombies with different strengths and abilities. Those little ones look like miniature Homer Simpson zombies, and they remind me of the Toms from Kung Fu. (:
- The vehicles are cool too. You ramped up the zombie rate when in a vehicle, which makes sense, and I also like how you handled what happens when your vehicles is gone: those zombies that were part of the "vehicle-raid" will just drop off the screen to the left and you don't even have to worry about them.
- Seems that most side scrollers go from left to right. A right-to-left direction on some of the levels might have been interesting. (:
- Ending left a little to be desired, although I never used the Nuke. I'm guessing you get better endings with better progress throughout the game?

From the art, to voice responses for various events, to weapons and combat, and overall gameplay this is a very nice game. Keep it up, soldiers.
5/5
* salutes *

_____________________
- Ziro out.

Jimp responds:

Thanks for the fantastic review! Glad someone appreciated drawing the guns at each angle, it was a pain :)

[Flash Game Tutorial 101 2]

A Few Things are Off

Hey.

The collision code is a little unstable. For example, when I move up-right or down-right, and touch the right wall, it will block me sooner than when I move right and touch the wall.

The code that handles the response for the collision should take into account the position of the wall that the player is colliding with. For example, in the Right Wall block of code, there is this:

if(this.hitTest(_root.guy)){
_root.guy._x -= 5;
}

should be something like this:

if(this.hitTest(_root.guy)){
_root.guy._x = wall.x - _root.guy.width;
}

Assuming the point of origin for the wall and the player are their upper-left corners, this should place the player directly on the left side of the right wall.

This will prevent the player from "bouncing back", which I am experiencing sometimes after I release the keys.

The collisions code has the most bugs in it. Everything else seems fine, although an AS3 tutorial would be more helpful, considering AS3 way >>> AS2. (:

_________________________
- Ziro out.

[Cretaceous Reserve]

Not too Shabby for a First Game

Hey.

So, I'll get straight to it (long list) - you may want to get a coffee (:

1) In your comments:
"... sometimes you fall through platforms, this issue is purely caused by lag and can be fixed by turning the quality to low... "

Are you using vector or raster graphics? Also, what is your rendering method? I presume you are adding the entire level to the display list. If you're having performance issues, I recommend checking out 8bitrocket.com. These guys wrote the book (literally) on optimizing rendering. (:

I could see if this were a network game, some performance issues might be expected. However, for what you're describing, you shouldn't be passing the "solution" off tho players. That's ultimately the responsibility of the developer/programmer.

2) Consider allowing the player to move with the WASD keys. Since most people are right-handed, the arrow keys and mouse are both on the right side of their keyboards, and this makes control awkward.

3). I notice that this game allows you to play before it has finished loading. When I do this, no music plays, and when I click on the dinos, they won't talk to me.

4). The dino dialog is a bit hard to read. Consider adding more of a contrast between the text and dialog window colors.

5). When you talk to lore-osaur, he says this:
"Whenever a dinosaur has children, they eat most of it's young..."
There is a subject/verb disagreement. Either change dinosaur to "dinosaurs", OR change they to "its". Also, "it's" should be spelled "its".

6). When you talk to the dino that tells you about the ladders, that word is misspelled. It should be "ladder", not "latter".

7). The dino that says this:
"... when you level up, you get can increase..."
I'm guessing "get" was put in by accident. (:

8). On the attributes HUD, get rid of the generic font used for the TextField objects that show the attribute values. Use the same font used for the "Jump height", label.

9). The player dino climbs ladders way to fast.

10). This dialog:
".. the rumors of a revoltution..."
Revolution is misspelled. Also, in the same dialog, insert a space between "of" and "the", at "... one of the winged...".

"...beeting up some dinosaurs..."
lol

11). I like the BGMs you used. They really fit. Just fix up the loops a bit. I also like how you can mute the music. (:

12). Add some sound effects, especially when battling. Also, when battling, I would implement a less punishing battle system when taking damage, instead of making enemy dinos simply drain your health when you collide with them. A more elaborate system would be nice, like maybe biting or ramming. Perhaps some dinos are vulnerable to ramming, some to jumping on, and some to biting. (:

13). Level design - Eliminate those giant "leaps of faith", where the player can't see where they are going, unless you _always_ put some kind of indicator (like the first arrow you did).

14). When the player dies, don't just instantly restart the game. Add some kind of effect and a short delay. It's disorienting and feels punishing.

15). The collision detection needs a bit of work. I could be _behind_ a dino, barely touching him, and his attack still hurts me. You'll need to do more that mere hit tests.

16) When in the carnival, fix the bouncing logic. It seems to instantly put the player in hte air, and he falls from there, instead of actually performing a "bounce".

17) When you die in the carnival, I think it should put you back at the carnival start point.

18) If I die when the music is muted, it's set back on on the next life. It should stay off.

I'm sure there's probably many more issues I could find, but I think you have your work cut out for you, Again, not too shabby, just rough around the edges.

Good skill.

* salutes *

_____________________

- Ziro out.

Aarlon responds:

Thanks, many of the things you covered (such as all the combat stuff) will be included if I make a second game. I was was aware of both the trampoline and music problems, but I can't really help that. For sure I'll fix any and all typos you mentioned. As to those "leaps of faith" you mentioned, I'd love it if you pointed the ones I missed out. As the developer of the game, the game, it's a lot harder to spot them since I know where everything is. Anyway, I really appreciate the in depth review. The best I got on kongregate was "this game suks i hav no faith in humanity" .

[AIR Act 0]

Good Start - Keep at it

Hey.

Game itself is ok. I'll bet you probably have some good game ideas, but they surpass what you can do programmatically. (: Once you improve on your coding skills, I'll bet you could make something cool. Your cartoon-like art looks nice, too.

On to your game:
- Remove the blue area that appears when you move the mouse over the play object.
- The player character can move off the screen to the right. Looks like you have it correct on the left side, as the player is prevented from moving off the screen to the left.
- When I start a new game, the player starts off-screen, to the right.
- I like how the sky changes. Give a nice change of scenery. Just one thing: when it's dark, the score text is hard to see, since it's basically blue on blue. You may want to consider one of three things:
1- Change the color of the font to something that's easily visible on any sky;
2 - Change the color of the text as the sky changes; or
3 - Add a background graphic to the text.

- Since your game is keyboard based, I think it's better to have the player use the keyboard to restart the game, instead of having to click, especially since the mouse isn't used at all during game play.

- Sometimes, when I get hit by a piggie, I get this error:
TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at Enemy/eFrame()

- Other things like animations for getting the piggies, and when player gets hit, maybe even a few power-ups, and different piggie types, might come later down the line, after you get the basics worked out first. ;-)

Regarding CS3/4. Yeah, working with Adobe's tools is a pain sometimes. Also, you can't open an FLA file saved as CS4 in Adobe CS3; you have to save it as CS3. Not usually a pain, but you have to keep doing "Save As", when you're in CS4. For some reason, doing a regular save always updates the format back to CS4. And don't even get me started on CS5, which you can't even save as CS3 at all (each version of CS only goes back one version).

There is also a tool called FlashDevelop, which is free. You may want to check that out, too. (:

Good skill on your game and future learning, soldier.

* salutes *

___________________
- Ziro out.

[GW Game Update #8]

Engine Needs Work

Hey.

Other than the obvious improvements such as graphics, music, and lack of sounds, the engine code itself needs some work.

- When I open a door, I can keep re-opening it to prevent the game from proceeding.

- Level transitioning is glitchy, especially when going to the last level in the game.

- Collision detection and response system needs lots of work. I can jump through walls, and "jump-skip" up walls (see next note).

- Sometimes, I can "jump-skip" the walls. Especially on the first level, where I could keep running and jumping to the right, jump-skipping over all the walls, reaching the presumably inaccessible outside portion of the level (I'm on top of the outside of the level, standing on the ceiling). When I fall off, I eventually I fell off the screen.

______________________
- Ziro out.

[The Abusive Review Quiz]

Not Bad

Hey.

Having a quiz like this is alright. The first time, I scored 16/20, then eventually moved up to 19/20. Can't seem to find that last one.

As for the Flash itself:
- On the intro screen - I get the "Loading..." text, but it seems to stay in this mode indefinitely... the loading never seems to finish.
- The backwards Flash logo doesn't look right.
- The music is an ok choice. I really only like the opening melody. Mute is a good option.
- Graphics look ok, but apparently you were going after the NG look, which is fine. The circular buttons look like they have square backgrounds, as you can see that around the corners, and makes them look a little awkward.

On the the content:
- Probably should show more info about each question, such as whether or not it's a game or movie, and probably the rating the reviewer gave as well. Try to make it emulate the actual environment a little more.
- As others have suggested, if we get one wrong, you should show us the correct answer, and why you feel that answer is correct. Apparently, there is one (maybe more) whose correct answer I don't agree with.

Nonetheless, nice Flash, soldier.

______________________
- Ziro out.

[Hungry Fish - Touch]

Interesting Game

Hey.

I get this Actionscript run-time several times throughout the course of play:

TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at Events::CEventProgram/handle_Event()
at Objects::CExtension/generateEvent()
at MethodInfo-3902()

It happens when:
- I adjust the audio controls
- the game is over
- restarting the game

Using Flash Debug Player 10.2, and Firefox 4.

Music didn't seem to fit, but I like how you can turn music off and just have the sounds.

There are times, when I can't seem to outswim a bigger fish, thus I wouldn't stand a chance, no matter what I did.

Other than that, the game is fine. (:

_______________________
- Ziro out.

SoftWarewolf responds:

thank you :) i am using a runtime and don't really have control over those bugs, i hope they are not making the game unjoyable in any way.

to avoid the big green: keep to the bottom left, outsmart him
to avoid the huge one: play faster so you can go to the next level before he eats you!

[Silentium Universi]

Cool Game

Hey.

I had fun playing this old-school game. (:

Graphics:
- The graphics overall looked pretty good.
- I thought the explosions should have been a more ominous.

Controls:
- Nice, solid controls. It's great that you provided both mouse and keyboard. However, for me, it was keyboard for the win! >-)

Audio:
- I think this area of the game needed the most improvement. There are enough sound effects, and the player shooting and explosion sound gets a bit monotonous. Also, sometimes, I notice that the player shooting sound tens to "double up" if that makes any sense. After a short while, it returns to normal. Not sure if that's intentional or not.
- While I though the music loops sounded awesome, I thought they were a bit short, even for loops. Nonetheless, I really liked the boss song. (I had to look up bebeto, and find that track [loop018.wav, lol]).

Polish / Other:
- Needs more sounds. Things like:
-- collecting power-ups (different power-ups would have different sounds)
-- perhaps changing the player shooting sound as your weapon gets stronger
-- taking damage
-- bad guy deaths - try not to give just one explosion sound to each bad guy
-- boss death should be much more engaging
-- damage effect when you damage bad guys
Just a few ideas.

- I REALLY like how, not only can you remap the controls, but you can also assign more than one key for most actions.

- Would have like to see a better weapon system. Strengthening the existing weapon system is good, but I'd like more types of weapons, and maybe some super weapon you can charge up or something, and maybe a special shield that can reflect projectiles back.

- I like how you can adjust the volume of the music and sound individually.

- I might suggest removing the countdown timer for resuming play for "advanced" players. Maybe have that as an option, too, but perhaps enable it by default.

- Stages were a bit short, and I would have liked to see a few more bad guy types. (:

You and your team did a good job here, soldier.
* salutes *
|-:

(That boss music gonna be in my head all night. Dangit!! lol)

_____________________
- Ziro out.

redjag responds:

Thanks for the well-thought out review, I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I agree with most/all of your points, too. Sounds are something that I have absolutely no skill with.. when I hear a sound effect I can tell you whether or not it fits but not much else. I found the majority of the sound effects on freesound.org and then played with them in Audacity but again, I have no skillz :P Anyway, thanks again for all the feedback/suggestions - if we do a sequel or level pack I will definitely keep it in mind.