Buzz Attack need feedback on my game!

[Blackharon]

A few things I saw:

The different flies all look very similar (though I noticed on the blitz video some had a different ability), you might want to change the flies a bit so you can tell them apart. Particularly the wings, eyes and expressions on the flies' faces look the same.

The comment about the menu (post above mine) is spot on. I would expect a dull word game or something with that color palette.

I'm going to question your choice of Portrait. iPad's are more comfortable to use landscape and you have tonnes of space at the top 3rd of the screen that isn't being used in either of your videos.

Lastly, the SMACK is satisfying, but perhaps you could add in more. Think Batman comics here.

Take this all as you wish. I'm by no means the author of the book 'How to Win the App Store'.

[DemonJim]

This is hilarious, great work I think the disjointed arms give it that extra charm so there's no need to change that IMO.

Longevity is always a concern with this sort of game (who would've thought anyone would like endlessly slicing fruit?) but as long as you have a Game Center Leaderboard for hi-scores people's competitive nature should sort out replay value.

Here's what I think the game really needs:

• Add PIGEONS. A rare big bonus for ones who mess on his shoulder. Everyone hates pigeons.
• Make him make the occasional karate 'hiYAAA!' noises for smacks on target
• Make it so you can smack two things at the same time with both arms. This would look even more hilarious and you could play it with just your two thumbs.
• Make it so it all gets insanely fast if you keep going to add to the excitement, and stop people that are really good just play indefinitely (which would ruin the game as it's all about hi-scores).
• Give the old man a name. I suggest Albert. Have this in a sub-title, e.g. "Buzz Attack: Albert in the Park". Sets it up for more sequels and gives it all more character.

I know exactly what it's like to be really eager to get your game out - but you need to make v1.0 the absolute best it can be. It's probably your only chance to impress Apple and TA into featuring it. I regret releasing mine at the stage it was at (I should've made what was v1.1 the first version).

[RebelBinary]

This is great feedback and I agree with most of it.

- I'm going to add more action words instead of using smack

- I definitely need to change that title screen, make it sky blue and maybe add fluffy clouds to the background

- I guess I need to differentiate the flies a bit more, I've tried making them all different and using different colours:

Green – expendable front line fly
Yellow – fast and cowardly, will attack you occasionally and run away
Red – aggressive, will eat other flies (green preferably) to grow bigger (gains more health and does more damage)
Purple – the mother fly, lays green fly eggs
Blue – spitter fly will suck up nearby flies with his tongue and spit them out at your face

-The characters name is Gus, he's actually a caricature of my Dad (his name is not Gus), lol, although I my Dad doesn't see the resemblance.

- Adding more noises to Gus would be awesome, going to see what I can do

- As far as using two thumbs, it's a possibility, but I have zoom using pinching/expanding motion with multitouch in the game and might interfere with that

- Landscape mode, When I first started I wanted to make the game for my iPhone and landscape mode was to tiny and too difficult to aim in on that device (hitting tiny pixels is hard), but it totally makes more sense on iPad. I'm going to see if I can work landscape mode in, but it might be too difficult at this stage. Didn't have the foresight.

update: got confused portrait landscape, doh!

[Blackharon]

Originally Posted by RebelBinary

This is great feedback and I agree with most of it.

- I'm going to add more action words instead of using smack

- I definitely need to change that title screen, make it sky blue and maybe add fluffy clouds to the background

- I guess I need to differentiate the flies a bit more, I've tried making them all different and using different colours:

Green – expendable front line fly
Yellow – fast and cowardly, will attack you occasionally and run away
Red – aggressive, will eat other flies (green preferably) to grow bigger (gains more health and does more damage)
Purple – the mother fly, lays green fly eggs
Blue – spitter fly will nearby flies with his tongue and spit them out at your face

-The characters name is Gus, he's actually a caricature of my Dad (his name is not Gus), lol, although I my Dad doesn't see the resemblance.

- Adding more noises to Gus would be awesome, going to see what I can do

- As far as using two thumbs, it's a possibility, but I have zoom using pinching/expanding motion with multitouch in the game and might interfere with that

- Portrait mode, When I first started I wanted to make the game for my iPhone and portrait mode was to tiny and too difficult to aim in on that device (hitting tiny pixels is hard), but it totally makes more sense on iPad. I'm going to see if I can work portrait mode in, but it might be too difficult at this stage. Didn't have the foresight.

Re: Flies
What it is (for me) is they are all the same basic shape. The little green guy and the spitter fly are great, but the yellow, red and purple flies are too similar. Try playing with the wings, legs and eye placements.

Re: Zoom
Is it really necessary? Do you have time to zoom in and out in your game? I'd rather use the 2 fingers to swat flies than play with the camera (unless its really useful/needed)

Re: Portrait
The videos both already had portrait in mind. IMO turning it landscape and adjusting the zoom so you get get a similar play area as you had in portrait would make the game more playable on the iPhone as well.

[randyo]

Has anyone commented that it looks like the score is tied to your health, the way you have them right next to each other? I would center the score on the screen and move the health all the way to the right corner.

[RebelBinary]

I'm going to be doing a lot of work over the next few days, I kindly appreciate all the feedback and hope to report back soon!

[RebelBinary]

So I've have totally replaced the main title screen, added more achievements and did a in game video using reflection app (still a bit sluggish) guess I'll have to go for a better solution.

The title screen is automated in-game with a fly coming out every so often to get smacked. I think it's a hundred times better to what I had before.

Also on display are all the weapons, bug spray, hyper juice, and the shocker

Gameplay lasts about 5 minutes

The best quality video is on vimeo, although I did change the original post embeded video to the youtube one

Vimeo Buzz Attack Video in HD : https://vimeo.com/46861370

Please let me know what you think

[DemonJim]

Oh I should point out that when I suggested giving the old man a name, I didn't mean just for your own benefit, I meant give him a name in the game.

A game like this needs the player to empathise with the main character so they really want to help him out, and I think giving him a name is vital for this. Otherwise he's just generic old man people might not care so much about.

So yes all nice changes you've made but I really think you should think about adding that sub-heading title to the main screen mentioning Gus (what I mean is below 'Buzz Attack' in smaller letters have, "Gus in the Park" or something similar to that).

[RebelBinary]

Originally Posted by DemonJim

Oh I should point out that when I suggested giving the old man a name, I didn't mean just for your own benefit, I meant give him a name in the game.

A game like this needs the player to empathise with the main character so they really want to help him out, and I think giving him a name is vital for this. Otherwise he's just generic old man people might not care so much about.

So yes all nice changes you've made but I really think you should think about adding that sub-heading title to the main screen mentioning Gus (what I mean is below 'Buzz Attack' in smaller letters have, "Gus in the Park" or something similar to that).

I think your right, to the point where I think maybe changing the game name would be a better solution. Perhaps Gus vs. the Flies, Buzz Attack seems less personal. It's a rather difficult decision to make

[DemonJim]

I agree totally, Buzz Attack could mean a lot of things, it's a little too generic perhaps.

Having Gus in the game's title really tells the player the game has character without even seeing the icon. Perhaps the title could just be, "Gus"?

Some other ideas:

• Gus: The Fly Swatter
• Swatting Gus
• Gus vs Fly
• Gus v Flies
• Gus of The Flies
• Gus Takes a Walk in the Park and Kicks Serious Fly Ass: Warning Insanely Addicting!!!111

Not all are serious suggestions (the first one)