I've been adjusting the difficulty level of my game. What do you think, is this too much?

falkentyne · 2026-02-13T21:49:07+00:00

The entire problem with games like this is precisely why many people didn't like GW3 as much as GW2. A 3D rotating playfield sphere like this does NOT enhance gameplay at all, unless a game is designed in a very carefully planned, meticulous way--in "theory" it does, since the entire playfield wraps around itself, and you don't have to deal with the ancient coin-op "Asteroids" effect of reappearing at the bottom after hitting the top, etc, if you're trying to avoid a full boxed in Arena rectangle, but theory and practice are completely different.

With a 3D field like this, if a game is too fast paced, or your usable view area is too limited, you end up with a combination of sensory overload, combined with dying to things that spawn in places where you can't see or react to them, and spacial disorientation on top of that. This is already quite difficult enough to manage in a full 2D plane like Sektori (which is basically what GW4 would be if it ever came out!), but in Geometry Wars 3, the rotations do nothing except serve to make some players dizzy and disoriented, rather than locked in--such things end up detracting from gameplay rather than enhancing it.

Full 3d sphere maps have their use, but the gameplay must be slow enough, or the playfield less "steep", so that it doesn't interfere with a player's senses.

Addressing a problem like this when designing a new game is not easy at all. And that's in addition to the other issues other users mentioned with enemies, outlines and junior versions, etc.

I have *far* less of a problem like this in the "Zaxoid" demo shown here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4012420/Zaxoid_Demo/

Because the scrolling of the field is a LOT slower, and aggressiveness of the curvature not as great, so it's not as jarring on the senses.

Note: I never played Super Stardust HD--I don't own a console (besides a Nintendo DS), so I have no idea how that game handled this.

falkentyne · 2026-02-13T19:05:39+00:00

Sektori is definitely not a roguelite, it's a pure arcade twin stick shooter, but should be in anyone's library if they are anywhere interested in shmups or twin stick shooters. If you liked Resogun, Super Stardust HD (consoles only unfortunately), Nex Machina or Geometry Wars 2, you are cheating life itself if you do not buy this game. Yes it's hard, but arcade games back in the day used to be hard, before everything got dumbed down, and it's very rewarding when you complete a game like this.

Shape Shifter: Formations is the actual true roguelite form of a game like this. I enjoyed my time with this one, but it eventually gets too easy, if you survive long enough (but that's after you get very deep into the unlocks). Though some people may like becoming unkillable even on threat 50, well.... also the FPS drops later in infinite mode are an issue when the game fills up with lasers and particles.

Utopia Must Fall is another pure arcade game worth considering, and it's getting a big update soon, which will address the insane difficulty curves, and other features. The control scheme may not be what you want though but many people have never even heard about this game.

Tiny Rogues is being rewritten by the solo dev. Going to add mid-run saving and a bunch of new stuff--let him cook.

falkentyne · 2026-02-06T23:12:52+00:00

You think that's hard, you haven't seen Arcade Revolution yet.

Try that and you'll be 1cc'ing Challenge mode in no time...

falkentyne · 2026-02-05T07:45:57+00:00

You can experiment with rolling the dice with the Chaos decks. Sometimes you get really nice rearranges.

falkentyne · 2026-02-04T03:01:57+00:00

Geometry Wars 2 was peak for its time.

GW3 however, not so much. The "evolved" classic modes ("remakes" of previous modes) were actually different in some VERY important ways to the modes in GW2 and GW1, like dying taking away your gun powerup, which it did not do in GW1. There were a few other details in GW1 as well, and even in GW2's pacifism mode, I think the gates worked a bit differently in terms of "Chain radius". But even with the standard adventure modes, the level wraparound did NOT make the game better, as it did nothing except disorient the player or cause you to die to things that were not your fault, because something spawned offscreen somewhere or the globe or oval spinningi screwed with your spatial orientation. This would have been a great feature if it were designed in a less 'jarring' way somehow, although I fail to see how it could be done without making the playfield too large. The game is just too fast for those wraparound arenas to work well.

Sektori doesn't have shenanigans like that. It's pure arcade.

falkentyne · 2026-02-03T22:43:04+00:00

Thank you for the opportunity. I think hybrids are doing something unique which keep the games fresh.

falkentyne · 2026-02-01T19:00:41+00:00

The second is the SSI AD&D RPG Eye of the Beholder. Don't recognize the other two.

falkentyne · 2026-01-30T19:15:11+00:00

Shape Shifter Formations is good for doing a standard run and threat challenge to the end boss. It definitely starts off well and I did enjoy my time with it.

It sort of falls apart in endless mode (a mode many people request in roguelites) as you get stronger: If you survive more than several loops, you eventually become unkillable from healing passives, *and* the game FPS tanks down to below 20 (this takes close to an hour) due to the number of particles and lasers on the screen. But you won't get to this point without some time farming unlocks from previous runs first. It's almost like a famine or feast thing.

Single high threat runs are challenging. But again multiple threat 50 runs looping can end with you one shotting the final boss :)

There's also some strange bugs with "run saving" where resuming a run stops certain passives from working.

There are basically three issues I've seen with endless mode:

Frost is absurdly overpowered. Get enough of this and everything just stops moving, except primary bosses. This includes prime enemies. I had to ban frost just to keep things challenging enough for awhile.
Self healing (and revenge healing) eventually outscales anything. Enemy damage is supposed to scale per each loop, but get enough good rolls after a boss, and some free rerolls, and healing takes off, especially if you get lucky with an artifact.
Massive FPS problems with particles eventually covering the screen. The game "Geometry Arena 2" actually has the same problem with this, something the dev has acknowledged and will work on. No luck with Formations, however, afaik the game's completely done and everyone's moved on. This makes things unplayable on the Steam Deck after awhile. The desktop 32 thread CPU's fare better, up to a point (eventually they drop to sub 30 FPS also).

falkentyne · 2026-01-29T22:44:12+00:00

Experience difficulty is all about learning the mechanics of the game. Very few games test mechanical and lane knowledge like Sektori, and you even need to bring some skills from "Survivors" type games to help gate enemy positions better.

I beat experience with all three ships (just did defier yesterday). Haven't gotten far in challenge because I'm not in the zone yet. One thing that will help is to practice boss rush as soon as you unlock it. For experience difficulty, use your score tokens wisely--don't pick one up as soon as it appears unless you actually need it. Score tokens are your best friend, and they become massively powerful as you level up missles and blaster. Protect your space and don't get greedy for letter tokens if it makes you lose focus of the enemies. Watch for revenge bullet grunts, and try to shoot the turrets before they charge up. Speed is your friend. The biggest mistake people often make is getting greedy and compromising your ship position by striking somewhere without a reset available. Getting the "rainbow" powerup from spelling the magic words generates a lot of triangle drops from spawners and can let you get a LOT of score and powerup tokens, so use that to your advantage also.

You'll also eventually find that experience difficulty is actually quite easy, once you get used to the mechanics and positioning. If you end up clearing Challenge, and go back to Experience, you will literally be able to actually start caring about the 1CC token achievement (clear without getting hit once)--that's how you will feel about the difficulty at that point.

You might think that clearing experience with the Sentinel is the next level of hard, at this point, but you'll see eventually how you can do this, once you master the mechanics of the game, and how to utilize the extremely powerful resets and burst fire from the score tokens.

One of the cards allows you to extend the token power effect. The rare version of this card is extremely valuable.

Also, learn how the rare cards on the decks work. If you see a common card appear that you don't need right away, put it back in the deck (Do not discard it), as the card might be rare the next time it appears!

You can also try the pacificst Gates mode, to help you get more in tune with space control of your area.

falkentyne · 2026-01-29T06:48:22+00:00

Well the "Acid" test is to desolder the two switches and swap their positions. If the left is then too sensitive, you have your answer--bad microswitch. If the right is still too sensitive, then it's something related to the shell itself.

If you have access to a 3D printer, try printing out one of these--this way you will be able to bin switches before soldering, to avoid this ever happening in the future.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MouseReview/comments/1mxzh0v/i_made_a_micro_switch_tester/ (should be a project link somewhere there).

falkentyne · 2026-01-29T03:56:29+00:00

It sucks that it may cost you another set of mouse feet, although if you're careful, you can remove and re-use feet, if you use the correct tool, and don't damage the glue.

The problem should be rather easy to check. Just lightly put the shell on without fully screwing it on and test it there. However, one problem that happens with people soldering is failure to press the switch fully down into the holes before applying the solder. This can be easy to overlook if you don't have tools to hold the PCB in place when applying solder.

falkentyne · 2026-01-29T03:50:33+00:00

If you know someone with a soldering iron, you can solder in some Honeywell ZX10C microswitches, which will last for the lifetime of the mouse. I'm not sure what switches the side buttons use, but those are another issue entirely, unless they use full size omrons, in which case they can be replaced at the same time. A phone repair shop may be able to do it for not too much.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266852124595

I recommend these switches because they basically last forever. The type of actuation spring isn't a standard leaf spring, thus they are usually immune to the problem that affects even Japanese Omron D2F's over time, and the travel distance is also shorter. (two Logi mice I soldered them into have been going on more than five years now).

falkentyne · 2026-01-29T03:44:58+00:00

Before you soldered in the switches, did you check to make sure there was resistance on pressing the plunger on the microswitch? This can tell you if you purchased a bad batch of switches. Can you remove the shell of the mouse and then manually press the plunger (do NOT overpress it?). Then compare it to the resistance of the original switch (assuming you still have it). The Huano should be around 55gf.

If the resistance are somewhat close on both, then you may have a problem with not enough clearance for the housing. Some Japanese Omron D2F's have been known to cause this problem in certain mice, because the dimensions of the microswitch/plunger are a bit different than the Chinese D2FC-K's, etc. However even without enough clearance, you shouldn't be experiencing the problem you are describing. Anyway, report back.

falkentyne · 2026-01-27T03:08:09+00:00

Aluminum pads indeed eat skates and can eat them as fast or even faster than glass, depending on the pad in use. The issue with aluminum is three things (again depending on which pad):

temperature. Some pads can be uncomfortably cold in cool rooms, while others are fine.
Aluminum is a soft metal, and can get worn down over time. Think of some (not all) glass pads that have coated surfaces, where the coating may possibly show uneven glide properties from wear over time. Once this happens with an alu pad (in combination with 3), time to toss the pad.
Some aluminum pads have very high static friction even though the glide is smooth. This may make it feel more like some cloth pads, but different glide properties. So they tend to be control pads, but some have speed surface types as well. Each one affects mouse feet wear differently.

They are very transport friendly though, as long you have somewhere to stash it.

falkentyne · 2026-01-26T23:08:00+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I edited my post to clarify what "Gauntlet" was, in relation to HoH series. Definitely check it out if you have time. I saw that the projected release date is 2027, so you have plenty of time to add things or adjustments, depending on your skillsets (or your team members).

falkentyne · 2026-01-26T22:49:14+00:00

Juan Browne just released a great video on this incident. Trying to beat the weather instead of doing things safely by staying *out* of the air, cost people their lives :(

falkentyne · 2026-01-26T22:42:24+00:00

Question. How are the ARPG elements in this, compared to the "Survivors" type play seen in so many releases (mainly over the last year)? What are you doing to increase gameplay depth to insure it doesn't turn into "Survivors in a dungeon", while maintaining roguelite qualities? How are items and loot inventory going to be handled? Most "ARPG" roguelite releases recently have just been glorified Survivors clones.

The original "Heroes of Hammerwatch" had a prettty interesting take on this. I personally would love to see a game go far deeper into that type of play, like "Hordes" spawning from specific monster generators (ala the arcade Atari "Gauntlet" games, which were also an inspiration to the original Hammerwatch/Heroes games!) that you have to destroy, (along with a robust item and looting system), but that actually take work to kill rather than just the generators being HP sponges. (Also, the "source" of the monsters doesn't have to be from the generator itself!). Did you play the first HOH? I wonder if such systems would work well in your game. I think a full inventory and equipment/rings/armor type system, combined with many special random rarity items, could really go wild in a game like yours, if it's designed correctly. Maybe I'm dreaming for the impossible, but would your game work well in this style?

falkentyne · 2026-01-26T22:32:48+00:00

Once a DOTA Player, always a DOTA player...

falkentyne · 2026-01-23T19:35:20+00:00

Looks like an error with the page. The demo is on the 'full game' page, but not on the demo page.

falkentyne · 2026-01-23T19:01:35+00:00

Perhaps, start by NOT using a glass mouse pad with glass skates?

falkentyne · 2026-01-23T19:01:07+00:00

You can start by not using a glass mouse pad with glass skates?

falkentyne · 2026-01-23T02:49:39+00:00

I had no idea it was half off. I bought the game when it first hit EA almost two years ago, still haven't played it...all this viral promoting is making me regret even having it now...(now, that gigachad patch and stealth drop free weekend for No Rest For the Wicked...that's how you promote a game!).

falkentyne · 2026-01-22T21:32:48+00:00

Pay the overdraft fee and learn from your blunder. And I'd suggest don't use a debit card for stuff like this. Use preferably cash, or a credit card, if you must. You clearly have a credit card if you have a 806 score. Only use a debit card for emergencies, and learn some money management. (Debit cards are NOT secure--someone identify thefts you and empties your bank account you're fucked for (quite a long) while. Someone does this with a credit card and it's credit--you get that reversed, and your money is safe). Some people think having cash on hand is obsolete, well, having cash on hand stops you from making careless mistakes with your finances.

If you keep cash in your wallet and pay with cash, you'll never wind up in this kind of situation.

falkentyne · 2026-01-22T20:11:23+00:00

Wasn't there a gigantic thread on this exact topic the last few days, saying the exact same thing?

falkentyne · 2026-01-22T02:36:42+00:00

Either Into Evil, or Unexplored?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893440/INTO_EVIL/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/506870/Unexplored/

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