Fun
A great game. It is pretty fun, and is at times challenging. 8/10
Reviews for "Slingy"
triqui responds:
thank you
i rather liked the game
i tought it added a nice new twist to the puzzle genre
triqui responds:
thankx!
very well
thought and very nice game! it is abt weri but i suppose it is nice.
triqui responds:
thank you!!
Well..
First, I didn't think the game was crap. But I also didn't have a great deal of fun with it either.I think it is a good concept, but it is flawed. These flaws overwhelm the fun of the game. Here are some problems I had with the game.
1. The slinging mechanism. Although I can get the ball to sling about the circle rather well, and was even quite good at directing it where I wanted it to go, I had problems getting it to release correctly. The slinging caused by a mouse capture in the circle followed by a release cued by a click makes it easy to have the mouse somewhere that it doesn't register the release as you are attempting your shot. I do not know if this is related to "walls" as Crawldragon had suggested or simply that wild movement of the mouse such as the action of slinging can result in the mouse not being in the game screen when you wish to release. Easy fix? Capture the mouse in the circle on click and have the ball released when the button is released. And by capture the mouse I mean capture it. allowing you to move it as wildly as you want without loosing the ability to release the ball.
2. The first level where you should be getting 'trained' in the use of the sling, lacks direction/focus on the skills you need to complete the task at hand. The goal of 50 balls coupled with the poor release mechanism made the first level the most difficult in my opinion. The only reason I bothered playing beyond the first level was curiosity. Consider revising this.
3. On the same note I found that levels did not have any discernible pattern of difficulty. If you make a puzzle game with levels having a learning curve is just as important as a story is to most other games. Consider reorganizing your levels to provide that curve.
4. Consider changing things up with different types of balls.
Though I did not have problems with the physics of the blocks, I also can't say it was anything new. Indeed, just as with Crawldragon I did not see anything overly new or interesting in the game save the firing mechanism. This, as I pointed out earlier, needs some work. I think with some reorganization and some work on the 'slinging' mechanism this game could be pretty fun. I think some extra thought on level design and ball types could make this game stand out.
However as the game currently stands I feel I am being quite generous in giving it a 3/5 and a 6/10.
Keep working on it.
triqui responds:
thank you very much for this constructive feedback. I have to say I mostly agree
Just not fun to play
Well, I will admit that I've never seen a game where you "sling" a ball at things. My first thought was "Peggle ripoff," but it's not.
Look, here's the thing about this game: nothing about it makes me want to play. The first level, where it teaches you how the slinging mechanic works, is nothing but balls, balls, balls all lined up tantalizingly and mocking the fact that I can't swing the ball. Not a good way to start the game, lads.
And no, the swinging mechanic doesn't work, and I'll tell you how to fix it: if when the ball is inside a wall when I click it won't launch, you shouldn't put the ball-launching circle RIGHT NEXT TO A WALL, or in the case of level 2, TWO walls.
And level 2 also demonstrated features of the game that just don't work. "the blue blocks can be knocked down, and collect circles" it says. I can't vouch for that, because four of my five balls sailed straight over the blocks and didn't budge them an inch. I won the level by collecting circles with my balls BY ACCIDENT.
The game isn't fun. There's no joy in collecting balls, no joy in slinging balls, and absolutely no motivation to move on to the next level. I don't care what's beyond level 4. I really, honestly don't care how you mixed up this formula anymore. Even the screenshot used for a thumbnail is only from level 2, and it shows an action that I couldn't get to work.
I shouldn't be expected to stick with a game through level 20 to wait for it to get good just because it uses a unique ball-slinging mechanic, which by the way is the game's ONLY unique feature. Other than that, it's entirely generic. The level select screen, the game mechanic of collecting orbs while traversing obstacles with nothing but the laws of physics to guide you, knocking over blocks, it's ALL been done before.
Still, it probably would have sold well on the iPad market.
triqui responds:
iPad you say? hmmmm...