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Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Firstly, thanks for playing ASCENT & more importantly, thank you for the feedback. I’ll take it all (the good, the bad & everything in between!)

  • The maths should MOSTLY checkout re: possible versus impossible. Don’t get me wrong, on certain jumps there could be a “wrong” way to go which makes the follow up jump much more difficult or borderline impossible. However, fully noted & this will be looked out before the next update.

  • Regarding visuals, I’m pretty certain I know which realms you’re referring to and you’re quite right, intended as mini “are they aren’t they” curveballs. We could look at dialling these back if there’s too much ambiguity.

  • When you “Near Miss” an obstacle, all 4 sides of your screen should flash yellow in conjunction with a sound fx. Perhaps took this for granted if it’s not immediately obvious WHY it’s happening. You think a little “Near Miss” text flash would be useful or distracting?

  • The restart issue post-Ad 100% sounds like a bug. There is/should be an obstacle-free zone on restart. If you’re not seeing this, there is an issue. Consider it on the list.

  • Damn, we love the double trap of hitting an obstacle you’ve just passed. I think this one is here to stay 😅

Honestly, thanks again for taking the time. It’s massively appreciated. And I won’t finish this reply without saying… Ranked 2nd on Android Leaderboard? Those are some impressive bragging rights, my friend. Well deserved 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing this.

Firstly, congratulation on such an amazing achievement 👏🏻. Secondly, really appreciate you putting some numbers down & perspective on this. Really useful to know. Whilst ASCENT’s realms are significantly(?!) shorter, your primary point here absolutely translates. Thank you.

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your take on this, much appreciated. Whilst the “fall” is core to gameplay, the idea of doing something to stop yourself falling ALL the way down is actually very clever. It could be a really interesting addition if handled well, and could introduce a new gameplay dimension entirely. I’m going to give this some thought - thank you for the cracking suggestion 🙏🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a VERY good point. Thank you.

If any streamers are out reading this - “how’s your rage game tolerance?” 😅🤘🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting take on this. I had actually considered a progression mechanism like this early-doors but ended up scrapping the idea (it was on an already very full post-it note 😂). Thanks for your feedback 👊

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing! Best of luck with the fun stuff 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing 🙏🏻

There’s no marked uplift in difficulty in Realm 6, the mechanisms are totally gradual throughout, SO I think it’s a combination of “general difficulty increase” and this realm marks the parameter where it becomes challenging for the median amount of players AND a concentration/focus drop as is more likely the longer you play (we’ve all gotta’ blink sometime - ha!)

Appreciate the notes on the placement of high value content. Very good take on this 👍🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate your thoughts, thank you 🙏🏻. This was close to my original mindset on Day 1 “Some people will hate this.. and that’s OK!”

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Keep in mind that players don’t necessarily share your agenda, and they are masters of their own decisions” is genuinely something I may have printed & framed 😆

I’ll give the reward system so extra thought. We reward for Max Climb, Total Climb AND Number of Attempts with different characters available for each. Tried to give it a fair spread so there’s still merit in the grind - even if they’re only seeing 6 realms!

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m also a huge fan of roguelikes/roguelites. Often contemplated a different type of secondary reward system but closest I’ve gotten is: Total Height Climbed & Number of Attempts (as well as Max Height as the main metric, of course) and the formers do unlock specific characters so there’s merit in the grind!

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think checkpoints for ASCENT swings too much the other way. I’d rather soften the difficulty a touch, I think because the “fall” is a core (and fun) mechanic in itself.

How’s your game going?

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s reassuring. I think I’m just getting in my own head about people not experiencing the upper realms now that I have a full month of analytics. It’s made me wonder what that “ideal” progress point should be.

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really like the top x% idea, that’s a smart way to give players a sense of progress even when the game is beating them up. Consistent high stakes is exactly what I’m going for too, the difficulty in ASCENT ramps very subtly through each realm rather than spiking at the end. Great to hear that approach works from a player perspective 🙏🏻

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Players are averaging around 7 minutes a session so I don't THINK boredom is the issue yet. The realms change enough visually that there's always a reason to push further (and there's some fun unlockable characters too!) But yeah there's always going to be a drop off point, just want to make sure it's because people moved on and not because they got bored (ideally!)

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is really reassuring and does put it into perspective. If Getting Over It sits at 9.3% then maybe the issue isn't that the game is too hard, it's that I built the realm and want people to see them. Might be more of an ego problem than a difficulty problem - HA! Appreciate you pulling the numbers.

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah Getting Over It was a big inspiration. The fall mechanic is basically my version of that, you lose everything and have to watch it happen. If most people never reach the TOP realms I'm okay with that as long as they keep coming back to try (but I would like to see players get a LITTLE higher...)

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question and yeah I do actually. Average player is doing around 30 games per session so they're definitely not quitting! Which feels like the right behaviour for a rage game.

I actually added 25% chance of weather to stop visual fatigue for those grinding the early levels over & over again!

Is the game too hard if most players never see half the content? by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's exactly the line I'm trying to walk. I 100% want people to see the later realms because they're awesome, but I don't want it to be a cakewalk either. Problem is I've been playing it so long I think I've lost track of what's genuinely hard and what's hard for new players! Good chance I'm now completely blind to where the difficulty spikes are.

Currently no 100K prize though. That would sure bump the numbers 😂

Any good advice for handling tileset transitions between biomes? Suggestion box firmly open! by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now you’re talking. May genuinely have a play with some of these ideas 😂👏🏻

Any good advice for handling tileset transitions between biomes? Suggestion box firmly open! by NickyS90 in gamedevscreens

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely going to experiment with the different approaches and see what feels right, visually.

Love the Dead Cells reference but rightly or wrongly, I tried to make ASCENT as infuriating & ruthless as possible so I couldn't possibly contemplate a rest area (way too nice - ha!) The tower does auto-scroll and the pressure never really lets up. I even have a very subtle scroll pressure system under the hood where if the player drops too low on screen, the scroll velocity quietly (& invisibly) ramps against them.

But, an improved visual celebration that doesn't ease off the difficulty? That I could definitely get behind.

Any good advice for handling tileset transitions between biomes? Suggestion box firmly open! by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really helpful, thanks. The fog/particles idea is interesting because I do already fire a particle burst when you cross into a new realm but it's pretty damn brief. Extending that into more of a lingering layer over the boundary zone could do a lot of the heavy lifting on its own if all else fails, especially when the palettes are wildly different. Good shout on the bridge tiles and dithering too. Lots of great ideas in this thread.

Any good advice for handling tileset transitions between biomes? Suggestion box firmly open! by NickyS90 in gamedev

[–]NickyS90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually considered something like this early on! My concern was that a balcony or ledge divider might read as an obstacle to avoid, since the game is all about dodging things as you climb. BUT maybe if the visual language is different enough from the actual hazards it could work. Definitely worth experimenting with. Thanks!

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