[Development] Valley of Decay: Standalone

[TD_PRO_2006]

Hello dear hive people!

I am the creator of Valley of Decay Rpg. In case you don't know it yet, here is the link:
Valley of Decay Rpg v1416d

I am developing a java game for about 3 years now.
Its multiplayer, it's Java standalone, it's without any limits.
Main features are an ingame auction house and crafting items,
which are then uploaded to dropable item database.

I am asking and hoping for some feedback
Here is the official website:
Valley of Decay

I am also on indiedb:
Valley of Decay Windows, Mac, Linux game

It's pretty much done, only the sounds and a bit more content are missing.
Here is a first trailer, to get you in the mood:

Here some build showcases, but there are many more than those three:

Looking forward to hearing from a few
The things i really need to know are these:

• At what point of the process of hearing of the game until really playing it have you had problems and stopped trying to play it, in case you haven't made it until trying out the game?
• At what point of the game, once successfully playing it, have you lost interest in it, and why?
• Where are you having problems with the control and understanding the game overall and why and what could maybe have helped you to understand better?

Thx very much in advance!

 

[old]

Just didnt understand why graphics are these. Why not make something lime wc3 or even 3d?
Att.

 

[TD_PRO_2006]

Just didnt understand why graphics are these. Why not make something lime wc3 or even 3d?
Att.

Thank you for your feedback
I just like 2D graphics.

 

[TD_PRO_2006]

Hey folks,
I am still desperately hoping for feedback. Especially critical feedback
Yours,
Mario

 

[Dr Super Good]

One thing I notice from the videos is that the screen becomes easily very cluttered.

For example take the "Showcase: Bone Build" video. The screen becomes a giant mess of solid numbers to the point all the numbers cannot be read and one cannot see what is happening. Instead of the numbers being informative to the player, telling them what their damage is, they become a blindfold preventing the player from seeing anything including how much damage they are dealing.

There are two possible solutions to this.

• Reduce the tick rate from damage source. This is why many games like heroes of the storm have tick rates in the 0.25 to 1 second range for damage over time.
• Abilities that are prone to causing number spam instead use a damage accumulator. The accumulator flys off every second rather than producing a number every time damage is dealt. I think this is how Diablo III does damage over time abilities like Disintegrate.

 

[TD_PRO_2006]

Hey Dr. Super Good!
I am really happy and thankful for your feedback. And you are totally right. This has to be improved and I agree on your second solution.
Sadly the server is down at the moment, sorry in case you wanted to test. I am having problems with dns server. Soon!
Thx again and take care!

EDIT: the site and the game is up again!

 

[Dr Super Good]

From what I can tell you need to create an account to play? When pressing on "create account" it asks for an email. The problem is I do not see a privacy policy. I think this is a violation of data protection in most countries, especially Europe, as an email address can be considered sensitive personal information.

To be honest I am unsure at what scale it is required. You are not the only site I see not having such a policy. The 0AD (an open source RTS game) message boards also asks for an email without providing a privacy policy during registration. On the other hand the Dolphin emulator (open source GC/Wii emulator) forums does provide a privacy policy during registering and makes sure you accept it before even allowing you to enter an email address.

 

[TD_PRO_2006]

Hey Dr. Super Good.
You are totally right, I am still working on that. Just to make it clear here: The email address is the only personal information that is stored in the database and it is not shared with other parties. At this very stage it even has no purpose but to be able to login on the website

EDIT: I have added a privacy policy on the account creation page. Could you take a look at it and tell me, what you think? Thank you in advance

Yours;
Mario

 

[Dr Super Good]

Could you take a look at it and tell me, what you think?

I am not sure it has perfect legal jargon but it is at least better than nothing so I doubt there will be issues, at least for a long time.

You should probably add to the site a description of how to download, install and play the game. Normally one would expect a section labelled "download" or "play" and if registration is required it is asked for then. However the site mentions none of that which is kind of counter intuitive, in fact I am still not even sure how to download and play the game.

 

[TD_PRO_2006]

"I am not sure it has perfect legal jargon but it is at least better than nothing so I doubt there will be issues, at least for a long time." - My thoughts exactly It will serve the purpose well enough

I think you are right again. Well, once you registered, you will get an email with the activasion link of your acount. when you press that link, you will be forwarded to download the game.