I changed the title of the topic because the Gamougg review was done and at the time it seemed like this was an intermission period between the last review and the next review.
3 Likes
Halo: Flowlab Evolved by @John_Shrekinson
reviewed on windows 10
-
Art 6/10
unlike gamougg 3, most of HFE is made with hand drawn sprites (pretty decent ones btw) with the exception of some of the backgrounds. I especially like the banshee and ghost sprites
the background objects are a nice touch as well, although I would suggest making the visible part of the ring stretch straight up into the sky, as opposed to the awkward bending it doing right now. one issue i have - the grey blocks you can fall through look way too similar to the solid blocks, I suggest making them 50% alpha and/or darkening the colour. -
sound 5/10
sounds are pretty well chosen and I respect your commitment to getting all the halo sounds and music, (even though I’m not sure it’s entirely legal) -
Gameplay 3/10
the idea for a 2d halo-type of game is a great one. but most of halo’s fun comes from the fairness and simplicity of the gameplay, and this game is just way too complicated with things that could be simple. the controls are in the description as a HUGE list and every control just doesn’t feel natural. moving up and down in the banshee is = and ;
and each weapon is a different button. a lot of these issues could be fixed with a weapon swap system where you use a key to cycle between your arsenal. this goes for grenades as well. vehicles would be a ton more fun if they stayed stationary until the player touched them, then had a key to get out. (ex. when player touches the ghost , the player would destroy, and the ghost’s controls would switch on. then when you press E, the controls would switch off, and the ghost would emit the player object.)
vehicles in general need a lot of additions IMO, like rotation, momentum, boost, turning, etc. I have ideas for the banshee in particular: instead of controlling up and down, have the left and right arrow keys move the banshee forwards and backwards, with up and down keys rotating the banshee either direction. as for the enemies, they need to be independent of the player. controlling the enemies movement makes them super frustrating to fight, and i would rather if they didn’t move at all. ON THE PLUS SIDE, i really enjoyed the inclusion of all the halo modes, (firefight, campaign, multiplayer, and forge.) and the ability to play as different versions of chief (i mostly played as infinite chief) and the arbiter. -
game feel 6/10
pretty nice. the different coloured blood and shield visuals along with the death animations make it fun to kill enemies. -
story 5/10
I don’t think the story is directly ripped from any halo game? so points for making an original story!Final score 5/10overall, good game. but it has a lot of issues that need to be addressed to make it
as great as I’m sure it can be. sorry for the late review, and have a great day!
6 Likes
I haven’t got my regular status back yet, so if someone would be kind enough to change the title to “HuckleBerry’s Reviews - Halo: Flowlab Evolved” it would be amazingly cool.
5 Likes
No problem 
Great to see you reviewing again 
5 Likes
I see. I’ll try fixing the gameplay now. Thank you for the review, and I don’t mind that it’s late! You have a great day too.
I read the official Microsoft rules for making a halo fangame
2 Likes
hello hi can you review this?
1 Like
Hey are you still doing this?
2 Likes
I’ll probably start it up again in a week or so once my exams are done
4 Likes
Understandable, have a great time of day and exam period(s).
1 Like
Pyramid Egg Computer Promotional Game by @117JOJO
reviewed on windows 10
-
Art 4/10
for gamemode 1, original sprites are included, but none of them look that great. solid default coloured blocks with ugly colour combinations and inconsistent pixel size. gamemode 2 looks much nicer though, with a pretty cool looking player sprite and decent complementary colours (orange and blue) throughout objects in the mode, despite still having pixel size inconsistencies. I really think gamemode 1 is the one that needs the most work though. try one of the 4-8 colour palettes in the new sprite editor, it makes a big difference! -
sound 2/10
ZERO sound effects. the only sound was from the menu music, which sounds creepy, like the portal 1 menu. tell me if you made this music and I could bump you up to a 3. -
gameplay 2/10
both gamemodes are just not fun. gamemode 1 is almost unplayable with how much a simple jump will send you flying off screen, and the only thing I’ve found to do in gamemode 2 is jump in place. both gamemodes control terribly, and the gimmick of gamemode 1, (shrinking and growing) is just frustrating. mainly, the game just feels unfinished, or more like it’s barely been started. -
game feel 1/10
where’s the juice!?!? nothing has been added to improve how actions in the game feel. no animations, particles, or sound effects. -
story 3/10
there seems to be some lore pertaining to this chungus corporation and a pyramid egg, which I think is what you play as. is an animal gonna hatch from the egg? is someone trying to boil it? I don’t know what’s going on in the game but it’s weird and funny so I like it.
Final Score: 2.4/10
it needs a lot of work, not sure if I have much else to say.
if these issues are due to you being in the middle of updating the game, and it’s my fault for being over 3 months late, let me know, and don’t take this score to heart. improving your skills and games takes a while, keep at it!
2 Likes
Can you review this? I will be updating a lot of things so feel free to mention as much as you want
4 Likes
Ooh yes! If you’re starting reviewing again and have the time after CodeAlpaca’s game, would you mind reviewing Shattering Steel? I really like to hear everyone’s thoughts, and collecting these reviews has given me a better sense of what needs improving. If you do want to review it, feel free to go as hard as you want/can on it!
3 Likes
hey, I don’t want to disturb you if you’re busy or something, but may you please review Gamougg 3 again? I have made countless updates to this game since your last review and I want to know if I did better. The free DLC and Death Gauntlet gamemodes are not finished yet (each of them only have their first level completed) though but the whole rest of the game is finished. I recently changed the entire soundtrack to make it more energetic and epic.
3 Likes
-
Art 6/10
Art doesn’t really impress, but it’s decent. I see a lot of default colours, and a bit of inconsistent pixel size.
another issue the art runs into is clarity. there’s a few puzzle-type objects (that I’ll get to in the gameplay section) that just don’t do a very good job of conveying their purpose.
this purple wheel implies something to do with steering, but not that you lose all control over steering. I think it should be made into a turned wheel with a cross through it. as for the red engine looking thing that slows you down, I think a better choice would be some red arrows pointing backwards to better imply the loss of speed, a bit like this:
-
Sound 4/10
the music is good, but sound effects are below average. they’re there at least, but nothing really fits all too well. I don’t know if you’re an indie user or not, but if you are, I recommend zapsplat.com for sound effects. here comes a long list of sound suggestions:
better sounds for the engine, checkpoints, speed boosts, and finish line would be my priorites, as well as maybe a wind sound that gets louder the faster you drive. I would also love if you could get some really tactile sound effects for the map editor and customization menu. sounds of gravel/rocks when placing down roads, a little * click * when rotating objects, maybe the sound of a finish line, checkpoint, etc. when those are placed, a sort of discarded paper sound for deleting objects, and a spraypaint sound effect when changing the overall look of your car.
I know that’s a lot, but I just love stuff like that. My sincerest apologies for all those words you have to read. -
Gameplay 5/10
I really wanted to like the gameplay, but there’s just a lot of things holding it back. I’ll start with the positives first. some of the levels being sort of “momentum puzzles” is pretty fun, and figuring out the angle to drive unto the purple wheels is really interesting. The map editor is amazing, and I love that it saves, and you can share them! the car customization and the community map browser also just top this game off and make it a very complete package.
now, onto the negatives. First of all, the car controls. this game just feels kinda bad to control, and honestly I’m not sure what the solution is here. cars are just hard to code. a bit faster acceleration, some acceleration on the turning maybe. Not much else I can think of, except maybe look at Agent Y’s car game? I remember that having good car controls.
Next, the speed boosts are completely useless from what I can tell. everytime I use them they just rocket me into the nearest wall, and I have no control over my car until I hit it. I think this could be more of a “double my forward speed and slowly tick back down to normal” type thing, and I can send over an expression for that if you like.
quickfire round! level design is sometimes frustrating, roads are a bit too narrow (in my unskilled opinion), and the car colour changing needs presets on 0, 50, and 100 on each colour, and/or have the buttons reacts to holding the mouse down on them. -
JUICE 3/10 (game feel)
just a few drops. there are sounds for most things in the game, but there’s no particle effects. put some dust and tire marks behind that car! most stuff just doesn’t feel that great in general besides the map editor, which is just satisfying to snap roads together cleany. -
Story 0/0
No story, will not count towards your final score. -
+1 bonus point for the inclusion of functioning social features not found in any other flowlab game I’ve seen.
Final Score: 4.5 +1 → 5.5/10
bugs/other issues:
- uncompleted levels in the campaign sometimes show as cleared in the menu
- solid road edges in unintended places in campaign, making some levels impossible
Overall, Alpaca Raceway is a very promising game full of interesting concepts and features, that really just needs polish and refinement. the foundation of a great game has already been built, and I can’t wait to see what you do next with it. good job CodeAlpaca!
7 Likes
Could a regular change the topic title to “HuckleBerry’s Reviews - Alpaca Raceway” ?
6 Likes
talking
thanks you!!! upgraded now 
Also the pixel size inconsistemcy is becuae the pixel sizes are different numbers. I used these differing numbers as a secret reference to this:
TMNT (2003) Full Opening Theme Song [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 TV Intro] - YouTube
ok i added more and changed the music
This was created as a very small school project. That is part of the challenge of gamemode 1, to stay onscreen. gamemode 2 requires button combo(s) to play.
I’m sorry to say this, but unfortunately there is no lore or story. The Chungus Corporation and the Pyramid Egg Computer don’t exist and I only created them fictionally for the school project.
Thank you for the kind words and review!
4 Likes
Reponse, great review
Yeah, my art kinda sucks, I’ll definitely improve it in the update
Also really like this idea
I’m not an indie user, but I can still add some sound effects, these are great points.
I really like your sound suggestions, it seems like this can make the game a lot more lively
Yeah, I don’t like the feel of the car either, I’ll try experimenting with some things.
Do you have a link to this? I’d love to take a look
Yeah, I tried to make it give you a speed boost in the direction you’re facing, but it wasn’t working so I just made it push you in the direction (A lazy fix). If you have a bit of code for it I’ll see if that works, otherwise, I’ll use your other idea and double (or whatever feels good) the car’s speed. I thought about that idea before but it also increases your speed when you go in the opposite direction, I’ll try to fix this.
I wanted a button to increase the size of the roads, but then Mouse Click acts weird on objects that increased with the size behavior. If grazer ever fixes this issue I’ll definitely add that as an option. Maybe I’ll just make a different road object that is bigger, idk.
I do plan on improving this feature.
I have some new ones I plan to add, so I’ll do the best I can with it.
ty
Overall 10/10 review!
Thank you for this review it was very useful, maybe when I finish a larger portion of the update I can get a private review so I know what to change before I post the updated game?
5 Likes
i think it’s this, not exactly what you’d need but taking a look at the code could give you some ideas.
5 Likes
Shattering Steel by @Recryptech
-
Art 8/10
pretty cool. it has pleasant colours, minimal but good animation, particles, and environmental effects. I especially like how the arena floor and the fire pit looks. here comes the obsessive nitpicking, aka suggestions. The new factory/hub feels a lot more lifeless than the old one from what I remember. I think part of this could be solved by putting a wall in the background (I tried a 50% darker version of the arena background) and adding something moving in the background. maybe some conveyor belts with freshly manufactured enemies? might be a bit too much work.
next, I think the crowd in the arena could use more movement. I’m thinking an animation with their heads bobbing up and down at different times. if you had a crowd member as a separate object, it could be something like this behaviour screenshot, with a looping two frame animation. (the same delay randomization could be used for turning too) Maybe they could throw jump up and cheer when you clear a wave too (like hollow knight’s colosseum)
a glow from the door would be cool, current inside of the door is a bit boring imo. either that or making the inside completely black. something about the light grey/blue bothers me a bit.
also, the hearts you can collect to replenish your health should look like the hearts they are replenishing. the current sprites don’t really look like hearts and I had no idea what they did until about 3 rounds in.(mostly due to my own stupidity, but still) -
Sound 7/10
Music is great. it fits the vibe of the game really well and both songs are just bangers in general. my only issue in terms of music is that there isn’t more of it. I understand if that isn’t possible with Mhx Air being the composer. sounds are chosen decently well out of flowlab’s sound library, but I will always recommend finding or creating more unique sound effects. hearing all the same sounds in different games gets old after a while, you know?I have one main negative! the sound for the CONNECTION LOST screen being typed out is loud and annoying, please make it silent
-
Gameplay 9/10
what really makes this game so good is the loop. you go into the arena weak, and die. but you’ve got some cash now, so you can buy an upgrade. you do a bit better, getting more money, to buy more upgrades, to get to later waves, to get more money to buy more upgrades. you just keep getting more powerful until enemies that caused you trouble early on become nothing more than dirt beneath your boots. some other things I really liked were the inclusion of a hub area and the challenges. the challenges remind me of the bindings in hollow knight, or scoring skulls in halo. enemy variety was also a lot better than what was in the original release. negatives! clicking on stores, elevators, etc. is really unintuitive, (E + proximity would be a better option), the BOOM BOOTS would be way more fun if the explosion activated from jumping instead of landing, and there’s nothing fun to do with your money after buying all the upgrades. hats maybe? or some kind of ridiculously expensive gold skin, just something to put all that cash towards. since those challenges have multipliers, maybe it could be an incentive for more experienced players to try them? -
JUICE 7/10
everything is decently satisfying to do, killing enemies, jumping around, buying stuff, etc. just nothing quite phenomenal. I think some better sounds could improve it quite a bit, since all the visual stuff already looks pretty good, but really it’s fine just the way it is. -
Story 0/0
no story, will not count towards or against your final score.
Final Score: 7.75/10
everytime I go in to get a screenshot for the review I end up playing for way too long, that’s how good it is, really.
5 Likes
Thank you for such an in depth review, these suggestions help a lot! And yeah, I forgot to mention it (I did in the shattering steel topic but I don’t expect everyone to read that), but I am currently redoing the art and the lobby of the game, so if the lobby feels blander than it used to, that’s cause it is lol. I agree with a lot of these observations, and most of them are relatively small, so expect them to be coming, thank you very much!
5 Likes