How to make my game more appealing and engaging?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by fluxist8070, May 18, 2014.

  1. fluxist8070

    fluxist8070 Member

    Jan 2, 2010
    6
    0
    0
    Hey Guys,

    I'm making a mobile 2.5D platformer in Unity and would like to get some objective feedback. I'm interested in knowing what you think would make te game more appealing. I'd also like to know what you think makes playing a mobile platformer on mobile engaging. Also, I'd like to know what the typical weaknesses are of mobile platforms. I am very interested in your opinions.

    Here is the trailer...
    http://vimeo.com/91893819

    Here is a link to my devblog-
    http://www.mattboard.com/?page_id=123

    Thanks in advance for the feedback and opinions.
    flux
     
  2. Red1

    Red1 Moderator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold Patreon Bronze

    Nov 26, 2010
    2,012
    6
    38
    Pre-occupied
    42.1
    I just watched the trailer and noticed the game-play isn't shown until about 45-seconds. Before that time, I had no idea what type of game was being promoted or what it looked like. That's basically 45 seconds during which potential customers can stop watching, without learning anything meaningful about your game. After 20 seconds I was already getting bored and you hadn't started selling me the game yet. The purpose of your trailer is to promote and sell your game and anything else is a distraction and lost opportunity. Get into it MUCH faster.

    The trailers opening scenes are currently quite weak. "Sometimes crime doesn't flush the first time" doesn't make much sense. "Sometimes they hurt your friends" with a hospital bed scene doesn't add anything informative or make me want to buy the game. Your actual game-play sequences later are far more enticing and you'd be better to remove the current initial scenes and focus on the game-play sequences. It feels like the current trailer doesn't match the quality of the gameplay. Your trailer actually puts me off. But, once you get into the varied gameplay footage, the game starts to become more appealing.

    I suggest you adjust your trailer, so the game name, type of game and an indication of the game type and quality are all shown within the first few seconds. Show that it's a 2.5d platformer earlier. And the game name could be shown throughout most of the trailer, to ensure it sticks in peoples minds (that's the 'engagement' factor that you're seeking). Currently you spend the opening seconds promoting your company name, Unity and background story... and that's not what you're selling.

    Is the guitar playing and "Rock" part of the game? If so, show the connection. If not, then you should spend your limited time promoting the game. Basically, if any part of the trailer doesn't directly contribute to selling the game, then delete it.

    I hope this feedback is useful. Good luck!
     
  3. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
    1,063
    0
    0
    weaknesses in what way?

    The 3D models seem very inconsistent.

    The video felt like you were going for a duke nukem vibe but came across a little try hard and not really of high quality. The guitar playing guy added nothing to the video. It also took too long to get to gameplay footage.


    Edit: I had this thread open and didn't see Red's reply before I did mine, but he summed up a lot of what I thought but said it in more words!
     
  4. fluxist8070

    fluxist8070 Member

    Jan 2, 2010
    6
    0
    0
    Thanks for the the feedback guys. Very helpful and much appreciated!
    I guess what I meant by weaknesses was just me searching for additional inputs and opinions, that's all.
    Thanks again for taking the time to check out the trailer.
     
  5. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
    978
    0
    16
    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    If I were you I'd look at pacing in general.

    3-4 seconds to have one word appear just made me scream at my monitor. If you look at action trailers, you're at most 3 seconds on one scene. Watch movie trailers or other games in the genre (I seem to remember FPS Russia being something along the lines of your game) and you'll see. Some ideas, if you were set on keeping the phrase appear as it does, would be to:
    1) begin the fade in the text
    2) cut to some game footage
    3) finish the fade and at the same time begin the next word.

    I saw the same issue with the actual gameplay: the bullets seemed to crawl out of the gun. It would be fine if this is slow motion, but the rest of the video seemed normal speed.

    Otherwise, Red1's suggestions are pretty spot on.
     
  6. tea

    tea Well-Known Member

    Jul 23, 2010
    142
    3
    18
    Just out of curiosity what had you switch back between Unreal and Unity?
     

Share This Page