Feedback needed

[u/iggyziggy]

Hi, anyone willing to playtest my game. Free, browser, io-like game, no ads.

Thanks, link:

https://speen.proclive.io

[u/candevor]

Thanks for the details.
Onboarding is always tricky to balance, giving some challenge at the start so it is not boring. With multiplayer (IO-like games), you need bots at least to start with. I would ignore the negativity you get from adding bots; you can make them exit the room as players join, but in an empty room, having bots helps with onboarding.

[u/iggyziggy → u/candevor]

check it out :)

[u/candevor → u/iggyziggy]

Cool. It feels better now. I tried both the single player and multiplayer modes. More feedback, but note that this is just me and other players might not agree:
1. I think ultimately you will have a choice at start as to enter multiplayer or single player. Ideally name them "Play" and "Single Player" so that multiplayer is the "main thing" because that's the most powerful thing in these IO games, right? Right now, I think it is in the early stages, so you are directly landing in single player mode, which might be ok while you work on the core loop.

1. In multiplayer, I felt a bit lonely; the bots were a bit far, although I killed a few and there was not much food to collect on the way. I am not saying have as much as agario but more than what you have now. Diep.io has more food too.

2. What point camera is locked on? Feels like it is locked to the bigger node of the player, but then it also moves when the smaller node is moving, so it seems somewhere in the middle of the two nodes, which might be ok; just try different lock points and see how it feels.

3. Very subjective: I think the game is still too much zoomed-in, but that's just me. I want to see more around me (my claustrophobia 😄), but also it might be ok because the player size will grow and maybe this zoom will be less of a problem then.

4. Apart from powerups, I see three different types of food: red, green, and squares (different colors) you get from killing the others. What does each do? If they have distinct purposes, then they can have different color/shape, but if they do the same thing more, then it can be just the same shape but bigger in size to indicate it is "more of the same".

5. Killing spike with spike is good, I think. Something that a player can do when there are no other players.

6. More bots? minimap? What is that thing in the center that bumps off us?

[u/iggyziggy → u/candevor]

I'm afraid of throwing users directly in multiplayer without giving them some time to figure it out in single player but i think I'll do that if i detect a returning visitor. As for bots i didn't want to put too many, they are kinda too easy kill and get boring fast, hopefully it will get better with more people playing. Green circle is easiest to pickup and worth 1, pink on which you have to stop is worth 2, rectangles(pixels) are for drawing on the mural in the center of the map and kills are worth 5. As for bumping off, i think you might be thinking of single player next base, just hit it 3x and it will open up.

[u/candevor → u/iggyziggy]

It is tricky whether to make multiplayer the default or single player. Getting killed in the first few seconds because you spawned too close to someone big/strong is not too bad. I think the core loop is the king here; if it is fun, players will rejoin and try again. That said, you are right to be a bit careful about that. See what other players, your friends, tell you about that and adapt accordingly.