Salvagers (In Development)
A downloadable game
This is an escort game where you have to find survivors and bring them back to safety while keeping them safe from enemies and hazards.
this is a vertical slice to test the gameplay style to other players, please give leave a comment and give me all the feedback you can such as what i did right and what i did wrong. this is a gameplay style that I've seen few games do right whilst making it the main point of the game.
Credits
Artendy Malik = Programming and game design.
Aimee McManus = environment models
Jeffery Domi = Player Animations
Beatrice Bara = Writer
Tom Stanton = Musician
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Development log
- New Update: January 2020Jan 19, 2021
- Menu UpdateSep 09, 2020
- Fixed missing wallsSep 06, 2020
Comments
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Hello!
I liked the concept, it reminded me of like a 3d abes odyssey style mechanic.
I really like the art style too, I couldn't put my finger on the inspiration but it definitely felt familiar and fun.
The player controls were pretty straightforward! I'd kill for a mouse sensitivity option and mouse locking but otherwise it all operated as i expected for the most part.
Personally, i felt the enemies weren't really impactful enough, i was able to collect all the civilians in the first and second levels without actually needing to use the shield/reflect mechanic. This resulted in the gameplay essentially being an explore/collectathon, rather than a combat/protect challenge, but if that's what you're going for that's cool too, but in that case i think there's definitely room for environmental puzzles :)
Also, I appreciated the fact that it was possible to change resolutions and volume of the game in the options, these are often neglected but nice features.
Thank you for your feedback.
I want this game to be combat and protect with exploration to add challenge. I plan to make the enemies more impactful.
I will also work on the options menu to add mouse sensitivity and make sure other options work as intended.
aside from Enemies and options were there any other problems you like to point out?
Sure! Note that i think on a technical level, there's a lot on display here and it's definitely looking good! (So don't mind my feedback, it's just observation)
Off the top of my head, there was a bug on the second level whereby i returned all but one civilian and everything despawned, all the enemys and the last civilian which meant i couldn't complete the level.
The instruction menu thing could use some proofreading if you have time :)
and, although it's cool all the civilians have names, the healthbar displaying rolling around the screen alongside all the names took up a lot of screen real estate that could otherwise be used to focus on the task in front of the player.
I think some of the 2D assets (the health bar markers especially) didn't seem to have their alpha transparency colour set, so they had white backgrounds, which would be cool to sort.
The screen resolution selector had multiple instances of each resolution, it may be worth sorting the list to ensure there are only unique entries in that list.
Additionally in that area, you could get the game to come out of fullscreen, but then it would not return to fullscreen when the checkbox was re-ticked.
Hey there! Got the chance to play through this version of the game and I have some feedback for ya.
I think the gameplay needs some “umph” to it, so to add some more spice to the game, I drafted some ideas on characters/mechanics you can try adding to the game!
Having 2 or 3 spots on each map where the player can take the civilians will instantly fix issues where the player has to go back through the same areas over and over if they don’t want to escort everyone at the same time. I personally tried to take back about 5 civilians at a time so i can better protect them, but found myself having to go through the same few sections again and again, since there wasn’t another choice. The maps also seem to be built where it’s not completely free roam, but more like a bunch of paths that don’t connect with one another. They all lead back to the same point, but you can’t go from one area to another, so building a strategy to pick up civilians ends up feeling very one-note.
I talked to some friends who played escort missions in games before and they said that harsh time limits nearly always ruined the experience, creating unwanted stress. It’s okay to have a limit, but for sure in the early levels it should be much more forgiving. You can always have a Hardcore mode that has harsh time limits too!
If you can find them, police characters could follow the player and help fend off enemies with their own attacks, but they still can die too, so the player can’t 100% rely on them, but this can easily add more depth to the gameplay. It’ll also give players a reason to explore the map a bit.
A more complicated idea, I had a concept where you can find/earn currency (we’ll call them Credits) after completing levels and you can hire a mercenary to help fight off enemies. They’re stronger than the police and have more health, but they still cost credits, so the player has a choice: save their credits and fight off the enemies themselves, or spend a little money for some extra help.
Another character type you could find is a healer type that can restore some health in the civilians. Another problem my friends noted in escort missions was if whoever/whatever you were escorting took too much damage at a certain point, it becomes nearly impossible to beat because there wasn’t a single way to give them any of their health back
I think you have a great start to something that honestly could be great, I dunno your limitations but I’d love to see you try to expand the gameplay and mechanics so the gameplay feels more fleshed out and exciting! ;D
thank you for your feedback.
I'll definitely take your ideas into consideration.
just a few questions.
1) are the enemies that hard?
cause I was thinking of making enemy attacks more varied.
2) is there anything else difficult about the timer?
I'd say the enemies aren't too hard usually but something kinda weird happens at times if you get too close they just stop attacking, so then you have to back up and the civilians don't back up with you, so then they're not in the shield anymore and by the time the enemy gets triggered again to fire the civilians are in the way. I had a thing happen where an enemy started shooting at me from like 50 yards away and so i had to very carefully aim the deflected bullets back at him. I think the enemies aren't tough but they feel more inconsistent, which makes them tricky. They also don't move around so you can just catch at least 3 bullets, walk up to them, and the bullets caught will instantly kill them, so if they moved around (even just a little bit) that'll make it more interesting to fight them.
And for the timer, what could make it easier is adding some time whenever you deliver a civilian maybe? Or you could find clock pickups hidden away that can add time too.
Excited to see what happens next with the project!! :D
if the case with the enemies i will have to improve their AI so they are constant.
as for the timer, I will test that and see how that affects the game.
It's a fun game to play, I particularly like the recruitment mechanics and using the shield to protect your friends and sending the bullets back to the enemies is very fun. The camera does feel too sensitive and the movement isn't always pointing in you're camera's direction. Also add setting to adjust the volume of the music. Besides that it's great job
thank you for the feedback.
I will add a proper volume setting in the options menu.
can I ask did you use a controller or a keyboard to control the game?
I used a keyboard
thank you, i'll see what i can do
Looks good already, like the catch mechanism!
Mouse feels to sensitive and movement doesnt feel snappy enough.
But a great start!
thank you for your feedback.
can i ask what was it about the movement that didn't feel snappy to you?
were you playing with a controller or keyboard and mouse?
With a mouse and keyboard. I felt somewhat disconnected from the world, maybe its the missing shadow.
I'll look into that. thank you for the feedbac