Ralix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Wizard's Scroll]

Quite enjoyable game, but not without problems.
I like the style – nice art, catchy music, the sounds are okay. It's an action game rather than a platformer because your movement is rather slow (in comparison with other platformers), so this is not a game which should require you to make complicated jumps or react quickly – which shows the most in the boss arena (trying to quickly jump between platforms, or jumping from the edge of one isn't exactly the simplest task).

Slowing down the player when you charge (or hold) a big fireball is the right decision, but in my opinion, shooting small fireballs shouldn't slow you down at all. That makes shooting while jumping more difficult than it has to be.

I feel like there's a slight problem with pacing – the beginning is okay, the end boss is hard, but the middle part starts getting boring after a while. Occasionally, a new enemy gets thrown in, but the difficulty doesn't really change. I remember thinking "how long will this keep going yet?" roughly in the middle.

I don't know about the crystals. First, if you right-click, you shoot all at once for the number of crystals you have – not just one per right-click (completely unnecessary for every enemy except the boss).
Obviously, you want to save the crystals for the boss battle, but during my three playthroughs, I always managed to die on my first attempt – which means all of the crystals are gone. Perhaps save the current amount of crystals when you pass the checkpoint, so when you die, you only lose the crystals in the current section? Otherwise, I don't see much point in collecting them.

As for the pixel art, I noticed the pixel size isn't consistent. Sparks from the crystals and the flames are smaller than the individual pixels in the walls. Then the "charging" panel and boss's health have round edges and the ball of fire returning you a safe location isn't pixelated either.
It's not *wrong* to have an art style like this, it's just not what some would call ‘true’ pixel art.
Also to me, the solid black tunnel at first looked like an entrance to another location because there was no door nor a portcullis to block it.

And after defeating the boss, the game promptly kicks you back to the menu as soon as you leave the area. That is the video game equivalent of "Fuck you". Add a final, 'reward' chamber, or at the very least show an ending screen. It took some effort to get to the end – but you don't celebrate the victory.
That's like meeting the person who won a race and being like, ‘Okay. See you next time.’

Uh, and you also got in one of the most common problems with Unity games on this site – if you use "Standard" WebGL template instead of "Minimal", you have to add 38 to the vertical resolution of your game in Project System for the footer, otherwise, your game gets cut off slightly.
And since this is Unity, you could potentially save the player's progress between playthroughs in PlayerPrefs if you wanted. I. e. adding a Continue button to the menu. Just for convenience sake, but this game isn't that long to make it a necessity.

But overall, I think it is a pretty good game.

IceDrumGames responds:

Thank you for this review. Yes, my game has all mentioned problems. I will try to fix them as soon as come to the computer. Thank you for critisizm.

EDIT:
-Fixed slowing down the player.
-Fixed immideatly fireball for crystals. Now it's just one per click.
-Added EndGame screen.
-It's still not "true" pixel art but now without round edges.

Again, Thank You for advices.

[Plane Fight (My first ever game)]

It's fine for a first game attempt.

– There needs to be a way to restart the game when you die – via a button or at least by pressing a key (e.g. 'R').
– The sprites should definitely use transparency in order to avoid the white boxes around.
– When the player shoots, he probably collides with the bullet which "pushes" him out of the way. He probably shouldn't be colliding with his own bullets in the first place.
– What about sounds or music?

As for health, you'd basically do it in the opposite way to the score. You'd start with "score" 5 and each time you're hit, subtract 1. If you get to "score" 0, the player dies.

AspiBoi responds:

Thanks for the help. I will add all of those things in my next game.

[Shadow Of Deception]

I think it's great, *incredible* for a first game. I have nothing negative to say about it.

Of course, as soon as you feel the game is starting to get interesting, it ends, so more levels (with possibly new gameplay elements gradually introduced) would be appreciated.

– In the last level, using the third fireball isn't necessary for completing the level (you can flip the lever by jumping and attacking mid-air) – that's probably not what you intended.
– The browser console spawns *a lot* of warnings you might want to check, mostly stuff like: **ERROR**: Error calling method from signal 'puzzleComplete'.
– After finishing the game and starting over, I was unable to enter the door to the second level.
– It's better for user experience when you do not force fullscreen – instead, offer it as an option in the menu.

That's all that comes to my mind. The game is short… but very well done.
Good luck with your future projects!

VivAZ responds:

Welcome Rallyx,

Regards to the console warnings it is due to the way i coded the game in an unusual way. I went with if it works i don't care approach which was wrong. I felt after creating the "last level" that I learned so much and that I feel if people liked the game I wouldn't mind redoing everything especially the code since I know I can do it better! I am quite interested in adding new levels, enemies and make it a bit more story driven! I would also want thank you for letting me know about the 3rd fireball I will fix that as soon as I can asap!

Thank you once again for the feedback!

[Save Yourself!]

Well, the first question has to be – do you even use the built-in Physics engine for movement?

It's a bit hard to tell because the movement is very laggy, even gravity. Without seeing your code, I can only guess. If you "AddForce" to a Rigidbody2D component or set its velocity; that's physics which will result in more fluent movement.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Rigidbody2D-velocity.html
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Rigidbody2D.AddForce.html

Please don't move the character by adding small increments to transform.position. You'd have to Slerp the value to make it smooth and that's not what you want to be dealing with.
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/Vector3.Slerp.html

Also, all movement and physics should be handled inside "FixedUpdate", not "Update".
For camera stuff, it's best to use "LateUpdate" with some script for smooth following (don't add it as a child of the player if that's what you're doing).

You should also flip the character's sprite when moving left (or set the "x" scale to -1).
https://docs.unity3d.com/ScriptReference/SpriteRenderer-flipX.html
Then you might consider adding animations.

For some reason, my hearts keep disappearing even when I do nothing at all. If it's meant to be a timer, then I probably wouldn't use heart icons to represent it because when you lose a heart, it usually means you made some sort of mistake.

There's something wrong with the resolution of images because it skittles around while you're moving.

And so on. All in all, I'd suggest you to find a good tutorial series and try to follow it. I think almost everything I mentioned will be covered in any decent platfomer tutorial in more detail.
https://youtu.be/UbPiCgCkHTE?list=PLPV2KyIb3jR42oVBU6K2DIL6Y22Ry9J1c
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=unity+platformer+tutorial

In conclusion, I don't think the game is particularly playable in this state just yet, but don't worry, you'll get there after some practice.
Good luck!

SolIgnis responds:

wow, thank you very much! I didn't expect this much feedback at all! It makes me happy. I will try to improve, I hope to post more and better games. Again, thank you very much :D

[Fear]

I'll say what everyone is saying – the controls are unresponsive.

The main problem, which you might want to consider fixing, is not being able to change your mind once you start moving. You press A – that's it, now you have to wait until you fully slide to the left before you can move again. What about interrupting the current movement if you press the opposite direction? And perhaps making it slightly faster?
You basically have three fixed "1 2 3" points on the screen where the player can be, so hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to swap the current movement target e.g. from 1 to 2 mid-way.

As for loading times, I suggest you try the free add-on "Scene Streamer". It should be perfect for your game since you essentially have a single long corridor which you can load in parts.
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/utilities/scene-streamer-38168

Then I think the game doesn't exactly invoke "Fear". If it wasn't for the music, then there would be nothing scary at all. I also like the colour scheme shown in the thumbnail much more.

If you wanted to add another gameplay element, you could consider jumping (e.g. over a hole or a small obstacle).

Some bugs/other things I found:
– Go from left to right and right to left very quickly. Quite often "D" will get stuck and you'll be unable to move right for a while.
– Die on the upwards slope. Now if you restart the game, the slope modifier will still be applied and the player will fly up.
– In the console, the game complains about a missing MonoBehaviour on game object 'GM'. Are you restarting the game correctly?
– Graphical bugs – the ground seems to flicker. There's either a problem with the material/texture or it's two objects overlapping each other at the same height (so the engine doesn't know which one to render)
– It doesn't look (or sound) like the sphere is rolling but perhaps it is
– 'Level Failed' message looks exactly like a button but it isn't interactable. And perhaps wait a short while before showing it – sometimes you don't even realise what hit you.

It works, there's some gameplay, but I wouldn't exactly consider it finished or enjoyable.

DARKBLUESHADOWPRODUC responds:

I am working on them, will soon update.

[Jump Pads]

You know what? It's fine. Very good for a first game. I'm sure I couldn't have pulled off an endless game when I started, so big props for that. You even save/reload the high score between page reloads which is a nice touch.

It still looks a bit placeholder-ish (simple geometrical shapes, solid-coloured) which is probably fine for this game but could be further improved. The menu background is also quite close to the default Unity blue and the sliders in options are as default as they get. Try changing the font and use a different image in your future games, so it is "less recognizable".

And having a Quit button is pointless in a WebGL game, since it does nothing at all. Some developers circumvent this "flaw" by freezing the game or by loading a full-black screen. *Don't* do this either, please – if people want to close a WebGL game, they just close the tab. You can just delete the button or disable it in WebGL only, with something like:
if (Application.platform == RuntimePlatform.WebGLPlayer) gameObject.SetActive(false);

As for the gameplay, I would love to be able to control the ball with the mouse. Arrow keys and WASD are fine, but this game requires precision and "Mouse X" axis would allow you to slow down/speed up as much as you wanted. Or you could simplify your controls by simply making the ball's "x" position equal to mouse's "x" position at all times.

Also, if you had slightly more time before landing (= if the jump arch was higher), you could have more elaborate obstacles. Now all you have time for is avoiding a spike and the best strategy is to limit your movement to a minimum and stay close to the center (at least that's what I found out). You could also add collectables and alternative paths if you want (e.g. a simple path to the left, or a "difficult detour" with a collectable +10 points to the right).
But that's probably making the game more complex than it has to be. I'm just looking for ways to motivate players to press further, as that becomes a problem in endless games once you stop introducing new elements.

As for motivation, did you know Newgrounds has a public scoreboard? Competing with other players for the highest score is much more fun than trying to beat your own high score.
https://bitbucket.org/newgrounds/newgrounds.io-for-unity-c/
http://www.newgrounds.io/help/components/#scoreboard
You can shoot me a PM if you need help setting it up if you decide to use it in this or a future game.

Two bugs I encountered, the latter occasionally froze the game on (re)start.
– Falling pad (missing script):
The referenced script on this Behaviour (Game Object 'falling Pad (2)') is missing!
– Restart bug:
"A script behaviour (probably UnityEngine.Audio.AudioSpatializerMicrosoft?) has a different serialization layout when loading. (Read 32 bytes but expected 36 bytes)
Did you #ifdef UNITY_EDITOR a section of your serialized properties in any of your scripts?"
Welcome to Newgrounds and good luck with your future projects! :)

JaafarRammal responds:

Thanks a lot for your help, you're very kind.
I will try to fix the bugs

[Zig Zag 2]

It's alright. The core concept is pretty good, although the main flaw here is that it gets boring after a while (let's say around 20-30 score mark). The problem is, the game doesn't change (i.e. doesn't gradually get harder or more challenging), therefore there's not much of an incentive to play further. You could keep going indefinitely, but eventually, you make a mistake out of sheer boredom.

Consider these ideas/game modes for improvement:
– Speed up: Your speed gradually increases. The crystals now only take 1/3 of the path's width, so you have to make a turn at a precise point in order to collect them. Collecting a crystal resets your speed back to normal.
– Obstacles: Apart from the red "Turn" button, "Jump" and "Crouch" has been added. There are now obstacles which appear sometimes, forcing you to pick the appropriate option (e.g. jump over a gap). The road sometimes also gets wider/narrower.

Either of these (or a mixture of them) would probably help players feel a bit more in control and make the game test your skills, not your patience.

As for minor things:
– You're using the Standard WebGL template which has the footer, which means you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution you set in NG Project System, otherwise the game window is cut off.
– I believe this free texture (if I'm not mistaken and it is "Hand Painted Stone Texture" from Asset Store) also had a normal map included. Please use it or generate one otherwise. It's supposed to be stone, but the reflected light makes it look like it's flat. A normal map would make it appear more three-dimensional.
– 'Press to start' – press what? It's Enter, but it's not written onscreen and I had to figure it out via trial and error. How about pressing the red button to start the game?
– If you walk very close to the edge, the game plays 'fall state animation' even though you're not really falling yet.
– The 'Score' font doesn't match the font of the rest of the game.
– It'd be cool to see some sort of background underneath you instead of the plain orange

Nevertheless, it a good game; I'd try to think about more ways to keep players engaged, though. Good luck with your future projects.

Madhurchugh responds:

Thanks for the ideas.Really appreciated
I'll be releasing updated version soon

[Block Run 3D]

A fine, simple project but perhaps too simple to be enjoyable to play. I think you should add all the obstacles in a single scene, not switch between several to maintain the feel of continuous motion. Splitting the game into levels usually means a crash only sends you to the beginning of the current level, which is (unfortunately) not the case here – even a single collision means game over. And perhaps increase the left/right speed and decrease inertia.

Also, the waiting period, before you reach the obstacles, is too long. Even half (third?) of the time is more than enough to acclimatise and the long wait makes every game over more painful. Not to mention being instantly kicked back to the main menu can be pretty annoying.
Finally, the 'Quit' button isn't needed in WebGL and you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution of your game if you're using the footer (alternatively you can build the game with 'Minimal' template).

This can be created in Unity in approximately an hour. It works, but I don't think there will be many people 'impressed' by the gameplay.

MoonZoneStudios responds:

Thanks this is super helpful

[Geometrical Apocalypse]

For a first game, pretty good! It's a simple, but well-made project. I like the fact that the background changes colour every now and then and the little shake whenever you kill an enemy which makes it more enjoyable.

Although it's a bit pity the gameplay doesn't change much. The enemies get faster and appear more often – great!, but there's no new gameplay element introduced as the game progresses. Another weapon, temporary power-up, new kinds of enemies, a boss – you name it.
Anything which would make me believe game at score 2000 would play differently than a game at score 1000 or 500.

As for the details:
– I think the animated title in menu scene looks a bit wrong (jaggy movement with a sudden skip at the end, plus the outer glow is cut off at sides
– Since you have a fullscreen switch in the options, you don't really need the footer (which is cut off in half because in the Project System, you need to add 38 to the vertical resolution of your game). In Unity, you can build the game with a Minimal template to get rid of it.
– "Quit" is pointless in a WebGL game since all it does is freezing the game (it can't close your browser or anything)
– The black background (1000+ score) makes it hard to see the crosshair

But I'll repeat – for a first game, this is actually quite good. Welcome to Newgrounds!

ShayaanAmir responds:

Thanks! I'm working on an update which will fix all these issues. I'm also adding more enemies. Appreciate the feedback!

[Diamondstep_DEMO]

Wow. The game is amazing. I have nothing negative to say about it.
There are loads and loads of game mechanics which get gradually introduced, the difficulty slowly increases (easy in the beginning, pretty hard in the later levels), I absolutely adore the art style, and since it's a bit dark, the colours nicely stand out. There are also collectables which reward those who take risks, controller support etc. I even accidentally noticed you can change the colour of the main character! Cool! The level design is superb, too.
It would take *long* to list everything I enjoyed about the game.

I didn't finish it, though, because despite reaching multiple checkpoints, the continue button didn't work after Game Over. If that's what is supposed to happen, then what is the point of the flags anyway? Only to load the game if you quit mid-way through?
This is perhaps my only true complaint.

As for the minor stuff:
– The keyboard is set up for the French layout – ZQSD, correct? I'd perhaps add an option to switch to the much more common WASD. Luckily, you can use arrow keys, too.
– Level names look like they've been pulled straight out of the game files ("wood_11", "night_4" etc.). Does the underscore make it look better? I'd say it'd be better without it, but that's up to you.
– Sometimes the art style is inconsistent, as in some objects' pixels are larger than others. The breakable platform seems slightly out of place to me (in comparison with the rest of the environment)
– The game over screen shows the base blue colour, not your actual one (e.g. if you change your colour to red, the game over screen probably ought to reflect that and show a red face)
– You could also try adding medals to make the game even more popular:
http://www.newgrounds.io/get-started/

Once more – great job! Well done and welcome to Newgrounds.

Andostress responds:

thank you so much^^