Hello everyone!

I was wondering if you would kindly give me your brutal opinions on an upcoming WWII sniper game. You can download it from www.fusionapple.com/mercenarydemo.zip. It's only 2.5 megabites.

You see, Matt and Searn (the guys developing it) are wondering weather they should go on with the project, and weather to put it forth as freeware or shareware. I'm just not quite sure. The finished game will basically have gameplay like the demo, but with a few changes (faster reload times, etc. and about 30-40 missions). The graphics of the game are an obvious downfall, but I think the gameplay is actually pretty decent: its kind of a mindless, but rather satisfying "find and shoot" experience. I'm thinking it might just pull off a 0.1%-0.5% conversion rate; but maybe I'm way out in left field. Anyway, please tell me what you think about it (graphics, gameplay, sellability, etc.). And be brutally honest please.

Jordan

well, here's my thoughts on the subject:

1. why put it in a zip? the installation file is almost
of the same size... dont let people use zip programs,
save them the hassle (some dont know how to use em).

2. it kinda reminded me of the "duck hunt" kind of games.
why isnt there a killing score? medals of some sort? cool
animation of people dying? AFAIK these effects are the
ones that make the game more fun.

3. Add more weapons of different characteristics and let
the user choose or buy as he's advancing through levels.

4. when reloading, let the user see the entire picture,
since he's not bound to the scope, and to let him see
where he should rush to next.

5. add phisiques? wind and stuff to make the sniping more
challanging and interesting.

6. camoflage?

just my thoughts...

Number 4 would help me alot because I cant get past the first level lol. Its fun though

The game is fun, things i noticed:

-impossible to adjust the sound volume
-impossible to play in a window


pat.

Great game, I'm not completely addicted, but I keep firing it up and playing the demo level a couple of times. The game badly needs more content (more soldier animations, more levels, more weapon types, more difficulty levels). The first level is very (too) hard, but also very easy once you learn the movement patterns of the enemies and you figure when you must shoot the final bullet to reload. The challenge is not as much in aiming fast but in learning the best strategy.

I don't like how the windows mouse cursor appears if you move the target out of the playing area.

If you slowly move the mouse very close to the left edge of the playing area you'll see a line appear on the right side of the screen.

Two more things. I really like the music but everytime you click on a button in the main menu it restarts the track. Also I dont think you should lose when the right side of the soldier hits the end of the screen but when he is completely off the screen so that way you have a half second more to kill him, which would have helped me at least a few times.

Also I dont think you should lose when the right side of the soldier hits the end of the screen but when he is completely off the screen so that way you have a half second more to kill him, which would have helped me at least a few times.


I second that.

Thanks a lot for downloading the game and giving it a try... the comments have been very helpful and inciteful... I'll pass them on to Sean and Matt (i.e. give them the thread link).

I value all the specific ideas (especially from Gilzu, and Diodor), but my concern is this: Matt and Sean are kind of (make that *really*) getting tired of working on the game, and I'm not sure if it's a very realistic option at this point to try and redo the whole thing (with more weapons, better graphics, etc.), which would require a LOT of MAJOR changes. Don't get me wrong... I think a "redo" is in order, but I'm just not sure if it will happen right now. Sean and Matt are just not as seriously into game developement as we are. :(

So that said, I was kind of aiming my questions at what you think of the game as it is, right now. Some smaller changes can obviously take place (soldier hitting the edge of the screen, faster reload times, etc.), so I'd definitely like to hear those... but what do you think of the game generally being what it is? Do you think it can sell? Do you think its an embarassment as shareware?



Jordan
www.fusionapple.com

P.S. The first level of the game will be much easier than the demo level: it will be the kind of game that you spend two or three tries on a level, and advance fairly quickly (with later levels obviously being harder).

since youre so worn off from making the game,
i believe that after youll launch your game,
youll be worn off from publishing it, and quit very
quickly.

If you're going to do something, finish it.

I think the game is fun, and I like the graphics. To make me buy it though there would have to be a lot of variety in the missions and of course show that there is in the demo with like 4 different kinds of missions. Maybe something like holding a turret position while swarms of soldiers rush at you. Without having to put in scrolling which probably would be pretty major, you could do a mission where you have to infiltrate a building. Maybe you could have it to where when your done killing the enemies you could pick a door to go through until you get to the end. That would give a better sense of depth without really having to add much except for building graphics. One minor thing you should add is accuracy. You could give medals based on accuracy and other things like time. Maybe the enemies could even shoot back.

since youre so worn off from making the game,
i believe that after youll launch your game,
youll be worn off from publishing it, and quit very
quickly.

If you're going to do something, finish it.
I agree completely :) . You see we're (FAE) not the ones developing the game. If you check out my webpage (www.fusionapple.com) you'll see that my company has already finished and published games, and we are working furiously on our current project. Kodex (Sean and Matt) came to us with the project, and we liked the idea so we said we'd publish/distribute it for them. But then they upped and pretty much quit on us.

Jordan
www.fusionapple.com

This is just my opinion, but I don't think the game would sell. And from what you've said about the developer, I think publishing the game would be more trouble than its worth.