ionAXXIA - classic top down design-your-own-ship space shooter. [Steam, Android, XBox, Win 10]

[Shifty Geezer]

I have a Dell venue pro 7 with win 10 , surface pro 1 , fire 7 hdx and a galaxy note 5 (sprint) I'd be happy to test for you if you'd like . Just let me know what devices

Great! I'll add a big notification in case some are missing it...

If you want into the Beta, just PM me your Google address.

I've got one address so far. I need to make a couple of tweaks as the first experience with the new controls is a bit crap and sees you speeding off the map to your death...

 

[goonergaz]

Where's the PlayStation love shifty!? Seriously tho, looks nice - kind of a cross between Asteroids and Sinistar on the gameplay front.

You're in luck, I have kids with android phones (Will it play on a Xperia Z3?) and I have a Linx Vision 8, if you want us all to try (and our tech is able) I'm sure they will be willing

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Please do. PM me the GMail addresses.

As for no Sony love, it's simply because of cost as I understand it at the moment. I haven't fully investigated, but can't say with any confidence that PS anything is on the cards. UWP is free, Steam is $100, Switch is reportedly $500. Should there be enough money coming in and enough interest, PS would be awesome, if just for the experience of publishing for all the parties. I could do a nice ranking (so far Google are way out there in number 1 spot). I can guarantee iOS, Android, Steam, and UWP releases, and be confident of a Switch release. Although I'd say if Switch happens, PS probably will too. I'd guess PS4 and PSV cross-buy.

 

[zed]

You're aware I offer 5 schemes, right?

I watched your control video, I can test your game, just email me, contact details on my website, I have a nexus 6p, and ipad

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Just updated Unity on my SP4, ran the project, and touch controls worked perfectly. So Windows 10 touch present and accounted for and I'll see about enabling that for beta testing too. Don't know what platform to use. Just a download link?

 

[iroboto]

Just updated Unity on my SP4, ran the project, and touch controls worked perfectly. So Windows 10 touch present and accounted for and I'll see about enabling that for beta testing too. Don't know what platform to use. Just a download link?

I only have ios =( no windows 10 touch either. Do you have standard controller support? Maybe I can focus less on the controls and just the game itself?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

No worries - I have controller support with custom mapping (I've been doing almost nothing but interfaces for months!). Hopefully controller-like touch controls will encourage dedicated controller adoption. Currently my USP is the control options and focus on mobile rather than the game, but testing the game would be awesome as I want the game to be awesome. If I throw an executable out there, anyone can have a nose. Plenty of opportunities to slag off my creation after all the criticisms of other games I've thrown out there!

iOS testing is trickier as you have limited room for beta testers. Crowdfunding comes up against it, making it difficult to support large numbers of funding testers. Also I need a new iPad as only have an iPad Mini.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

iOS testing is trickier as you have limited room for beta testers. Crowdfunding comes up against it, making it difficult to support large numbers of funding testers. Also I need a new iPad as only have an iPad Mini.

I have the new iPad Pro 10.5 - my first iPad upgrade in about 4 years.

Happy to test on that if/when you make it to iOS.

 

[goonergaz]

Hi Shifty, thanks for the invite - I'm a bit of a newbie at this sort of thing...I clicked the link and have it added to my account, but I can't figure out how to get it onto my Win10 tablet? It says I have no Android devices but not sure what to do!?

Sorry to be a pain!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The link sent is Android, via Google Play. Click it on any Android Phone and the app will download. I'll post a link to Windows version here when it's ready.

 

[goonergaz]

ah, sorry - will give it a try on the Mrs phone tonight

 

[zed]

OK played it a bit, all the touch control versions, its very difficult to control on a 5.7" phone, I suspect it will be a lot easier on a larger device eg tablet.
Of the touch controls the easiest I found was quasi-joystick one 'directional' though even with that its hard enuf to concentrate just on the movement let alone using the other buttons to shoot

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I'm curious how you found the Advanced controls. What didn't work with them? One thing that came up was people using the advanced controls with the phone held at the centre, whereas I was using it held at the top had limited functionality to the top half of the screen. Reports came back of touches getting lost and buttons not working as thumbs played around the centre line. The latest update fixed that, if that was your problem.

The directional one is quite intuitive but needs practice. A friend finds that one the easiest and with auto-shoot enabled, very playable. Did you tweak the settings at all?

Windows 10 version should be going out today so long as no more RL junk gets in the way.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Also, did you try changing the spaceship design to one with a simpler stop-go engine?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Windows version!

zip - unzip wherever you want (edit: replace 7-zip with actual zip )
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g03prwftanqjm9l/novaWARS_0627.zip?dl=0

installer - you need to give permission as it's an unsigned, untrustworthy app. THIS ONE MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA!

Spoiler

My SP4 was consuming 30% CPU and 20 GB/s SSD access running "Antimalware Service Executable". Even rebooting, it's running this. Might be unrelated (anyone know?). Okay, it's stopped now. May just be normal background activity. I just noticed the fan was running while doing nothing.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gomggqj12mck8i/novaWARS_Setup.exe?dl=0

Enabling the glow post effect affects framerate even on a Surface Pro 4. I recommend disabling this - it's on by default. Importantly there are options for resolution and post effects.

Also remember you can change your ship design. You have limited energy (blue bar) so if the fire/special buttons don't respond, check whether you've run out or if it's a control glitch. May want to try a simpler engine when starting out. However, a ten year old was playing and enjoying it on my 5" phone today with no problems so any difficulty controlling may speak more of your (lack of) skills as a gamer.

 

[goonergaz]

OK, had a quick play - default settings on the Mrs S5 Neo. Plays quite nice actually, love the Sinistar vibe. My only complaint is that it's really hard to pick up the gems (or whatever they are) before they disappear and that the play area is a little small...other than that I think this has the potential to be a great little game.

Going to download the Win10 tomorrow and give more detailed feedback.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Great! Yeah, I need the gems to have an attract towards the ship. I can adjust that by Hull as a ship design consideration. Arena can be much larger too.

If anyone has suggestions for a better demo level, please volunteer them and I'll put together a better level. Not sure if level 2's scenery is too close together for first-time players, or if it's a worthwhile challenge for leet flying skills. I have got a central planet option just like Star Control going on but need to rework the enemy AI so they don't just fly into the thing!

 

[AlNom]

installer - you need to give permission as it's an unsigned, untrustworthy app. THIS ONE MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA!

Shifty app is shifty.

 

[zed]

Shifty - the advanced controls were the worst of the 3 options to control the ship, I think theres a bug eg for left/right. you press the screen it centers the left/right line on this touch point, now if I want to turn right I touch to the right but this will recenter the left/right line on this new point, thus creating a feedback runaway loop
Its just too complicated to play on a small screen, unfortunately thats the problem with touch stuff on a small screen, you have to make compromises in gameplay, eg look at the masters of gameplay nintendo released a touchscreen phone game mario and it just used a single button, yes perhaps it was too much of a simplification.
IMO A better method of controlling is what I suggested before use the delta finger movement vector, yes you will have to simpify the gameplay but at least then the spaceship is easier to control ATM how it is most ppl will give up after 30seconds and uninstall the game

Tried the windows game, much easier to control with the mouse, though you havent yet added keyboard (or proper mouse button) usage which would make it even easier to control

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Shifty - the advanced controls were the worst of the 3 options to control the ship, I think theres a bug eg for left/right. you press the screen it centers the left/right line on this touch point, now if I want to turn right I touch to the right but this will recenter the left/right line on this new point, thus creating a feedback runaway loop.

It recenters the right button on the new on the new touch, meaning the left button remains the same distance away. If there are issues, it's with the settings. Try reducing the sensitivity (increase LFT/RGT). I updated the app with better defaults for different screen sizes, halfway on my 5" phone, if you're still using the first version. Should be on 0.2.39. Although the old settings would be there so better to uninstall and reinstall. Or just up the LFT/RGT setting for now.

Its just too complicated to play on a small screen, unfortunately thats the problem with touch stuff on a small screen, you have to make compromises in gameplay, eg look at the masters of gameplay nintendo released a touchscreen phone game mario and it just used a single button, yes perhaps it was too much of a simplification.

That would be true if everyone else was having problems. But most of us are gaming fine and it does work. Which I'm proud of, because I've got console-like control on a touchscreen just as my vids show despite everyone saying it can't be done - even the great Nintendo . The big question is how to refine it so users get the right experience off the bat and not encounter the issues you have. The page of settings is too much for typical users which is why at the moment I'm targeting gamers. I'm thinking of a problem-solving interface to settings though, so a player can select what's not working and the corresponding settings will be adjusted. eg. "It doesn't always change direction when I want to." >> increase sensitivity

Tried the windows game, much easier to control with the mouse, though you havent yet added keyboard (or proper mouse button) usage which would make it even easier to control

You can use mouse just like touch control but it's not actual mouse support so no buttons. It also supports controller which is the way I imagine it'd be played. I'll need to add proper KB+M support.

Loads of thanks for yours and everyone else's time on this!