On level 10 my puck got permanently stuck on the right side between the wall and the first brick. Took 2 minutes to get unstuck just to get stuck 3 moves later again in the same place. Also the puck goes everywhere but where i actually aim it at. It bouced 5 times once between walls going up and down for no reason.
Also, not a fan of the jokes.
If it got unstuck, then it wasn't permanently stuck. But thanks for letting me know, I'll adjust the level design and implement a thing that detects it. I suppose I could make the default drill gravity stronger, but in testing that resulted in the drill never really reaching the paddle.
Rip I’ll get better material for the future
I want to start off my review by saying this is a very unique Breakout clone with its own style and mechanics. The music is fun, the art style is great, and it is quite an achievement.
Now for the yucky stuff. To me, it feels impossible to tell where the drill will go once it bounces off of the paddle. I've had it hit the left side of the paddle and it will go the complete opposite direction perfectly horizontal and bounce off of the wall. Similarly, I've had the drill hit the wall at a normal angle then go completely straight to the other wall then hit 1 block then go horizontal again and it kills the momentum of what should otherwise be fast-paced gameplay.
The speed of the drill is another issue that leaves me wanting for a faster pace. It goes from a normal speed to painfully slow and has no opposite extreme. I think making the drill move faster would not only solve the speed issue but make the issue of the drill direction less noticeable.
These two issues, lack of control and a slow speed, make it difficult to stay for long. The drill keeps bouncing between walls and unbreakable blocks at such a low speed that the player, at least for me, isn't even playing the game for long stretches of time.
Either way, it looks like a lot of people are enjoying this game, and rightfully so as it is evident a lot of time and care was put into it! Congrats on the front page and good luck with anything else you whip up!
Thanks! Are you playing on the latest 1.0.1 build? I changed the paddle collider to provide better control over the drill. The drill speed varies between 400 and 600 after every hit, I should probably up the floor to 450 or 500 to keep things moving, I totally agree that near the end of a level the game's pace screeches to a halt.
Thanks for the review! I plan on tweaking things until we get it just right! Your feedback is very useful and appreciated!
mechanics are kinda bad, the ''ball'' (or drill, in this game) sometimes just goes to random directions. everything else that i can remember is great tho, really good game overall
Are you trying the 1.0.1 build that just went up? I adjusted the paddle collider so it's easier to direct where the drill goes :)
Thanks for the review!
I very much liked this game! It's unique, has very nice effects, art, animation, and sound, and it's obvious a lot of great effort was put into it. However, it may be just me, but I felt that this was very challenging and everything was introduced too fast. I understand that difficulty can be a very good thing, but as a completely new player to this sort of genre I was struggling all throughout with very little to try and slowly introduce difficulty and new concepts.
By the second level I was constantly being thrown blinds, erratic drills, and earthquakes, all while I was still learning how to even play the game and trying to comprehend how all of the positive and negative effects boxes work. Some of the level design for the earlier levels could have been a little more merciful if you asked me, on the second level I failed twice when there was only the bottom left purple ore left, which was very frustrating for me. Levels don't move quickly either, they tend to take a little while for the unskilled player
The reason I was failing so hard was unquestionably my skill level, but I felt as if the difficulty curve was very high starting from the second level. Again, this is because I'm terrible at the game, but it should be assumed that most newcomers will be terrible when they first start. I'm not saying water down the entire experience to appeal to a more casual audience, I just feel like the harder levels should be saved for later, and much easier levels introduced at the start to smoothly push the player into skillful play. More experienced players would theoretically be able to breeze through those early levels and get to the more difficult stuff, while newer players would be presented with something equal to their skill level at the start.
Maybe I'm in the minority on the difficulty, and that's perfectly possible and valid, I'm just speaking from my personal experience.
I'm certain this game is probably a blast with some more practice and experience, but in my opinion there could have been a little bit more room at the start to foster that skill, instead of having beginners bash their heads at some really hard levels to start, because I don't find that to be all that fun.
From the other reviews I read I'm probably in the minority about the difficulty like I said before, but overall it seems like there's sooo much content for such a little game. 10 levels which seem to be on the longer side, multiplayer, AND a frickin level creator, all available here on Newgrounds for free. Amazing effort and incredible work, you guys deserve plenty of praise, great job!!!
I think levels 2 and 3 should probably be switched around, because there are 2 hazards in level 2 and only 1 in level 3. The drill is somewhat difficult to control with the paddle, and the hazards are pretty unforgiving, and that's my fault. But without that difficulty, I don't think anyone would be interested in playing. I'm pushing an update today that will hopefully fix some of these problems.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving such a detailed review :)
I don't understand the logic behind how exactly drill bounces
The drill collider is pretty close to the sprite shape, and it bounces pretty predictably I thought.