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PROJECT FIREFLY

Keys

Space = Boost
A = Rotate left
D = Rotate right

Advanced Keys

Space + W = Afterburner
Space + S = Reverse Thrust

Aim

Fly to green launch pad. Avoid obstacles.

Cheats

Press R at the start of a level to instantly retry that level if you die
Press 1-5 to jump to levels 1-5 respectively

1 Like

Hey Jabari,

Really nice work and thanks for sharing :slight_smile:

I was relieved that you added those cheats as I needed to jump to specific levels as I was returned to the beginning of the game whenever I crashed - this happened a lot!

Your game is quite difficult, even the first level, I think this stems from two reasons;

  • the spaceship feels very heavy - the afterburner is required, a lot
  • level design - there is lots going on in every level

One of the things I found challenging, as a player, was getting used to the controls. For example, I’m used to Space for the main engines that make the ship move, but in effect, that behaves like a smaller thruster in your game, and I am required to press two keys for what feels like the default behaviour. It would be interesting to play your game with those controls reversed, e.g. Space is always the afterburner, but if I want to use more refined/gentle controls I would activated the thrusters, I think requiring the additional keys for the additional behaviour may feel more comfortable but again, would have to test.

On a related note, I didn’t find myself using the Reverse Thrust control at all, but I suppose you could create levels where there was a reversed gravity or a wind effect to create story-based reasons for using it which could be good fun.

Until level 4 I didn’t really feel that the levels progressed in difficulty, they were just difficult all the way to level 4 which was then really difficult. As a player I found it frustrating to be returned to the beginning of the entire game after making progress passed any of these levels, you effectively stole my sense of achievement :wink: A mechanic that I think your game cries out for would be lives, perhaps give the player 3 rockets and automatically restart them on each level until they run out of rockets, then its game over. You could potentially enhance this later by adding a few collectables which perhaps enable the player to earn/build another rocket so they have another life to use etc.

Level 1 I found challenging just after the first vertical obstacle because I couldn’t see the floor very clearly behind it, so most of my crashes weren’t into the moving obstacles but actually into the floor dodging them. Some additional and perhaps subtle lighting may help with areas like this, you already have some in the level, but interestingly not at that location;
image

Level 2 I actually found easier than level one, because of the heavy ship, once I’d taken off and got the ship on the correct any I could hold down space and just use the thrusters to keep me at the same height and get through the tunnel.

Level 3 felt more about timing. I was intrigued by the sphere which was moving around but this didn’t seem to cause me any difficulties, e.g. it didn’t seem to get in the way or behave as a hazard.

Level 4 was just too hard and after a couple of attempts I just gave up.

Level 5, much like level 4, I gave it a couple of attempts and gave up.

I think with levels 4 and 5 there’s just a little too much going on, so many things moving at once, no spaces for the player to take a break in before trying the next hurdle.

I didn’t find the R key cheat to work? I tried it at the start of levels 4 and 5 and in both cases got returned to the beginning of the game when I crashed.

I really like that you’ve taken the time to create 5 levels for your game and made them very interesting with different obstacles and obstacles moving in different directions. You’ve given thought to the feel of the levels through the use of lighting and the background music. I also like that your game comes with extra controls, again, you have extended the course version of this game very well.

Regarding difficulty, if you do consider tweaking anything, you don’t necessarily need to remove any obstacles, you could, for example, consider changing some of the oscillation speeds on them instead. Perhaps after taking on a fast-moving obstacle you then give the player a slightly slower one, which is a bit easier to manage, before giving them another faster moving one - this approach may give the player those spaces I mentioned above, where they get a few seconds to just take stock and think about how they progress through the next part of the level.

I hope the above is of some use and I look forward to seeing any further updates you make on this - well done :slight_smile:

1 Like

Hey Rob thanks for the feedback! I likely won’t make any updates on this game, as I was just using it to learn unity and coding. The added features were a way of me testing my knowledge of what I’d learned. I will definitely keep your feedback in mind as I progress through the course. And I as I use the knowledge to work on my own game already in development.

Thanks again!

1 Like

You’re very welcome, no worries with regards to updates on this game, I will look forward to seeing what you make next :slight_smile:

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