Feedback Request: Starchon iteration 26!

2007.2.11 - Starchon i26 Released!
Iteration 26 of Starchon is available for download

Summary:

Starchon is a cross between a shooter and a real-time stategy. You can't directly decide where to place your units or which sectors to attack. However, you have a lot of indirect influence over the outcome of the game. The game is real-time, so if you take to long in a sector, you will probably be overrun by the enemy in the adjacent sectors.

Please give the game a try, and offer your input, because the game play is still being shaped!

Known Issues:

- Some memory issues still exist.
- High Score functionality is offline at this time.

Screenshots:



Download:

www.FreelanceGames.com/bin/Starchon_i26_Setup.exe

Please select input device from the Option Menu (default Mouse).

Mouse Controls:

-Fire "selected" Energy Weapons - Left Mouse Button
-Fire "selected" Missile - Middle Mouse Button or Left Control Key.
-Thrust - Right Mouse Button or "W" key
-Direction - Mouse to Payers Avatar Vector
-Select Ice Blaster - "1" key
-Select Particle Blaster - "2" key
-Select Laser Blaster - "3" key (auto locks and only fires at Starship when in range; not the Sentinel)
-Select Particle Rail Gun - "4" key
-Select Sonic Blaster - "5" key
-Select Trident Missile - "6" key
-Select Carrier Killer Missile "7"
-Select Cluster Missile - "8" key
-Select Heat-Seeker Missile - "9" key
-Select Tactical Nuke - "0" key
-Toggle between Sector and Galaxy Map - Spacebar
-Enter Slipstream - Click a valid destination from the Galaxy Map

Keyboard Controls:

-Fire - Right Control Key
-Rotate Counter Clockwise - A or Left Arrow Key
-Rotate Clockwise - D or Right Arrow Key
-Thrust - W or Up Arrow Key

I would love some feedback on how to make the game better!:)

Thanks Everyone

Looking good!

Anyone have any game play issues?

Had a play of it this morning before work -

Minor issue mentioned before - menu selecting mission I still keep trying to click the text rather than the arrow.

Gameplay - very easy to play, enjoyable, well presented and polished. Tutorial level - when the Commander speaks perhaps there should be like a little noise 'incoming message' as he is a little hard to notice in the corner, I spent a while flying around wondering why there were no ships in the opening round (no enemy ships - until I warped out after viewing the commander's messages)

Aiming is a little difficult I found, perhaps the laser bullets should aim to intersect the point the target reticle is at?


Something you probably would not want to change: The player ship - I kept thinking it should point the other way, the design of the ship while original also was rather counterintuitive as to which way it flies.

How do you do those nice streams of fire behind the players?

This is a really good game - anyone else given it a try?

@Matty,

Thanks! It has been sugested that the game should pause when the commander speaks and you should click a button to proceed. What do you think; do you think that would be a better flow?

@Buggy,

Particles...

Perhaps not pause, but simply play simple sound as if the 'communications interface is active' when it appears. Pausing may break the flow of the game - it may be distracting/annoying for the game to suddenly stop in the middle of something.