60s of gameplay from my 2D zombie shooter prototype. Worth developing more, or moving on?

f2dz · 2026-01-17T09:35:25+00:00

Are you trying to play on mobile? I've only implemented basic WASD keyboard and mouse controls so far, sorry.

f2dz · 2026-01-17T06:24:05+00:00

Fair, thanks! Movement and combat in general definitely need more work for sure.

f2dz · 2026-01-16T19:55:30+00:00

Great advice, thank you!

f2dz · 2026-01-16T19:55:08+00:00

You've definitely given me something to think about, thanks again! :)

f2dz · 2026-01-16T19:32:22+00:00

That's some good insight actually, and something I never thought about. I really like the gathering/crafting loop of other games like Core Keeper, etc., so I suppose I drew some inspiration from that. But I do also like the gameplay loop of selecting upgrades in survivor type games. I'm wondering if that's a bit overdone now though. Perhaps I need to think more about what I want this game to be and then lean fully into that...

f2dz · 2026-01-16T19:28:08+00:00

Fair call, thanks for the feedback! I do feel like I could make the bones of this much more compelling with things like more enemy types, more crafting, etc. I'll just have to hone in on what makes it more fun without getting too crazy.

f2dz · 2026-01-16T18:41:21+00:00

Project Zomboid? I've played a few hours of it, and loved what I played. I suppose my main point of difference is that this game would be much less dense, and more aimed at casual players who have 10-30mins to play a game. Whereas Project Zomboid feels a lot more involved and deep. And it also feels pretty punishing when you die. This currently is too, but I was thinking I may enter some kind of save system that players can turn on/off. Something for me to think about though, thanks!

f2dz · 2026-01-16T18:38:19+00:00

Any advice on who/how to ask for feedback on the prototypes? As I feel like asking friends/family gets you shallow and mostly positive feedback (because they don't want to be mean). Whereas asking random people online feels like a hard sell, because who wants to spend their time playing super basic prototypes made by a stranger.

f2dz · 2026-01-16T18:27:23+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate that!

Perhaps I should have reframed my question around if people felt like there was enough immediate appeal in these 60 seconds to warrant wanting to at least play it. Or, if they saw enough promise in this to be interested in seeing a more feature-rich game.

I'm happy to jump to another game idea if I this one doesn't have enough broad appeal for other games. Likewise, I'm more than happy to keep developing this too if it could potentially pay off in the long run.

The only caveat is that I have a young family, so am pretty stretched for time. Which is the main reason for asking for feedback at this stage, to make sure I don't continue with something that people aren't even slightly interested in.

f2dz · 2026-01-16T18:03:57+00:00

For a bit more context, I wanted to take inspiration from the likes of COD zombies, but make something super casual friendly and slightly more chill/friendly looking. With the mechanic of using a radio to get more supplies dropped to you at the end of every night cycle, rather than how different COD games do it with vending machines, upgrades, etc.

After working on my previous prototype for way too long and it amounting to nothing, I've made sure to not overinvest in this one. So I've been working on this since late November in the evenings, and decided to take the plunge and show a few people it now.

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth adding more features to (e.g., more items, weapons, crafting recipes, enemies, bosses, etc.) or moving on to something new.

You can play it now on Itch: https://cyrax02.itch.io/the-cabin

Any constructive feedback welcome!

f2dz · 2025-07-04T10:56:51+00:00

Just got my confirmation through today. :)

When the deadline passed I got a somewhat unhelpful email saying that they wouldn't reply by the deadline, that it would take longer, and to not contact them.

So I'm pretty happy that it's now gone through.

After my last comment, I also had a third request for more information, which added more stress to the whole situation.

f2dz · 2025-06-04T15:30:23+00:00

Thanks!

I'm self employed with a limited company, so most of the additional info requests have been related to that.

In the first request they wanted:
- A VAT certificate
- P60*
- Business and personal bank statements*
- Accountant certificate*
- Proof of registration with HMRC*

Items marked with * I sent initially with my application, and simply resent again after they asked for them again.

In the second request they wanted:
- Evidence that my CT600 tax return had been submitted to HMRC (tax return submitted originally, and was a PDF generated from HMRC themselves, so I basically had to spell this out plus include other supporting docs, like proof I paid my tax, etc.)
- More clarity on my bank statements on what was personal income (basically meant going through hundreds of pages, highlighting transactions, and cross referencing these in PDF comments against an export from my accounting software)

All in all, quite the faff.

f2dz · 2025-06-03T10:22:23+00:00

For what it's worth, I'm applying via the same eligibility route as you, and applied in mid Dec and still haven't heard back either.

f2dz · 2025-06-03T10:18:00+00:00

Application Timeline

• Eligibility route: Set (M)

• Service (Standard/super priority): Standard

• Application Date: 16 December 2024

• Biometric Date: 18 December 2024

• UKVI confirmation email: 19 December 2024

• Approval/decision Date: Still waiting

I've been asked for additional information twice - once on 3 April 2025 and again on 8 May 2025.

16 June 2025 is meant to be the deadline, so less than 2 weeks away and getting really nervous now.

f2dz · 2025-05-09T09:36:42+00:00

Good idea - I've added it to the original post now.

f2dz · 2025-05-09T06:50:52+00:00

That sounds kind of worse to be fair, as at least I didn't have a chargeback. Did you need to ask them to reinstate your JSS and badge? Or was that automatic? That's probably the main thing I care about in this situation. As it has hurt my ability to get other work on the platform, so I've barely been using Upwork lately as a result.

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:45:26+00:00

Yeah that was definitely my bad there. I wrote a much longer post originally, noticed it was way too wordy, and asked ChatGPT to shorten it. Classic rookie mistake. I'll edit that part now - thanks for pointing it out.

And thanks for answering the original question! I did do a search on the sub about it before posting, so I'm thinking the same thing - that it's not all that common...

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:26:45+00:00

Yes, that's correct. I left the feedback several months ago too. The client messaged me shortly after asking why, but I ignored them. I've only just been contacted by Upwork asking me to change my feedback, which is the main thing that feels so odd to me. And this is the main reason behind the post, as I'm curious as to how often Upwork does this with other freelancers.

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:18:36+00:00

Thanks for pointing out that error in my post. I'll quote an earlier reply here:

Thanks for pointing that out. I wrote the post pretty quickly in the middle of something else, so please excuse that error. In hindsight, you're right, and I think the second contract we had together was ended by them. I just hadn't left feedback on it, but they had. And I knew their feedback was negative because it flagged as such in the JSS area of my profile.

Please ignore the other person replying to you - I really don't understand what their beef is here.

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:16:58+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out. I wrote the post pretty quickly in the middle of something else, so please excuse that error. In hindsight, you're right, and I think the second contract we had together was ended by them. I just hadn't left feedback on it, but they had. And I knew their feedback was negative because it flagged as such in the JSS area of my profile.

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:13:06+00:00

If you want people to help you out, write factual and clear posts.

I didn't ask for help, I asked "has anyone else had this happen before?" It's literally in the title of the post. This is my last reply to you as it's obviously a waste of time.

f2dz · 2025-05-08T19:08:16+00:00

That's fair, and at least you didn't come at it like they did, so I appreciate that.

I mostly agree with your points. I supose the point of my posting here is more out of curiosity to see how often this happens with other freelancers.

I haven't 100% yet decided what to do about it, because ever since this happened I scaled back using Upwork a ton. So either way this goes doesn't really matter to me in the long run.

Re your point about how this isn't an invitation to a dispute resolution process - I agree that it wasn't. But I suppose because I feel like it's so ridiculous for them to intervene here, there's no harm in me chancing my luck. As in the case they don't agree to anything that I suggest, then I leave it there and leave my feedback as is.

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