Duality ZF (by Xona Games)

[Ivo]

I routinely use a spread/laser hybrid especially during multidirectional mode to ease the need of aiming. Sometimes the spread is so wide that I compress some of it into a laser, since I don't need to shoot things directly to the side, and those bullets are better used shooting forward, and killing those enemies faster.

That and the "guidelines" seem a fair counterpoint to the controls I thought about. I had seen the "guidelines" and the extremely wide powered-up spread in the youtube video, but without playing the game I just presumed that you would most often want either max focused beam or max spread beam, which is why I thought about the toggle on the trigger. The analog to get access to the hybrids I imagined just as a bit of icing on top as most of the times I presumed I would want max spread, and then for tougher ships just fully press the trigger to have max focus.

From playing Warning Forever where you have the spread controlled by the movement of the ship I just kept maximum focus all the time (the game is all boss fights though). Speaking of warning forever, you may want to offer a button that you can keep pressed and movement of the ship adjusts spread (in WF, you can press a button and the guidelines very similar to the ones you use show up, and moving away from the direction tightens the "cone" and toward opens the "cone").

You have more experience and some testers with hands-on testing so obviously if you think the hybrid modes are more important than I'm giving them credit you should trust your experience over my impressions

[Jason]

You are right that most often you desire full spread or full laser. I bet most people will use only these. However, I think the experts will make use of the addition hybrid modes. I've found myself using them often, and perhaps this is because I programmed it, so maybe I'm satisfying my own ego. At the very least, they exist, and can be used, if so desired. Normally spread is used when you don't know what's coming out, so you hit everything, and compress to laser when you know you want to kill a single enemy quickly. But once you know the levels, you can leave a smaller spread to cover the general area where enemies will emerge, and the rest of it compressed into laser take out the ones you're actually aiming at. This is optimization of firepower -- all bullets could and should be hitting enemies otherwise you're wasting time -- something that becomes crucial in higher levels and higher difficulties. The Normal level of difficulty can get hard if you are not killing things "on time". This isn't a game where you dilly dally around and kill things as you please. The score system reflects domination skill, so the faster you kill, the higher the score. And the enemies don't wait around to litter the screen with bullets if you let them live. This weapon system puts the power into your hands, if you choose to use it, to give the greatest control possible to the player. I am a firm believing in giving absolute control to the player, and making games harder by increasing enemy difficulty, and NOT by decreasing player ability. What follows is the multidirectional mode which allows you to continuously aim at enemies while dodging bullets for the greatest optimization possible -- players may actually find they can get further in this mode than with double firepower of Dual Play due to this ability.

P.S. The triggers and shoulder buttons negate the need for a "hold button and adjust spread through motion", since that was only required in games like Sol-Deace where the game controller had no extra triggers that could be used. Further, you almost never stop moving in Duality: ZF, so this would be a difficult thing to use anyway. I wouldn't want someone getting used to this, and then in higher levels being unable to switch weapons due to lack of time for adjusting due to intense game play.

[Matthew Doucette]

In some parts of our game, a less skilled player will want a hybrid: In the multi-directional mode of our game, which you have not witnessed yet (so take no offense by not thinking of this), mostly demands a full laser. When you can choose the direction of shot, you do not need a spread so much. However, the accuracy of your shot may demand a mostly-laser / slight-spread hybrid. I bolded that just because it took me a while to get to the point. As you get better, you might stick with pure laser, but at first when you cannot aim great, you might want a slight spread sticking out of your laser.

Just another thought.

These are the perils of video game design, you never know what the gamer will want even if you are the one making and testing the game. And, if you really respect the gamer (I would like to think we do), you never want to cut them off. You want to give them want they want to kick ass.

EDIT: Of course, as you get better at the multi-directional mode, and can obtain a huge spread or laser, you may find yourself wanting a different hybrid, a spread only as wide as you need it, with the rest of the bullets in a laser form. But the point of this post was that even an amateur player may also find themselves wanting it. I say "may" because I don't really know.

[Matthew Doucette]

New HD trailer:

Duality ZF April 2009 Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TkG6J2CWvU

[dlmvii]

Is there any idea for a new release date, Matthew? Trailer looks awesome, I'm very much looking forward to the game!

[jfrost]

I liked the trailer, but the titles (of the modes) stayed on the screen for far too long. They got in the way of the action.

[Matthew Doucette]

Thanks for the feedback. The point of the trailer was to indicate the amount of content it has. I should have reduced the titles in the longer clips to be as short as the titles in the shorter clips which were already as short as possible. I was going to do "intro titles", where the title is on it's own, fades out, and then the gameplay shows, but the trailer was way too long. At least this trailer leaves you wanting more. The titles did obscure the action, though. When I made them smaller, they were mostly ignored and it was hard to tell one clip was showing something unique from the other clips. Thanks for the feedback!

The release day is now May 2009. Apologies for delays, but just trust that it's for the good of the game.

[Ivo]

Good job with the trailer IMO. The trailer might not be perfect but I think it clearly illustrates the "versatility" that is the main selling point of your game. I'm really hoping you guys do really well with it!
I hope you eventually port it to PC (I understand the problems with pads and concerns with piracy and so on but I don't have a 360 so I got to hope ...).

Ivo.

[ubelaffe]

this looks awesome.

[Matthew Doucette]

Check out our first Duality ZF advertisement, on XNA Roundup:

XNA Roundup #16 Tank Strike, A Great Easter Egg Hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9Bd0qWSjac

I think Nick did a great job with it. He mentions Duality ZF four times, the fourth being the trailer at the end. Our Xona Games trailer, the April 2009 one, was composed using the same footage we sent to Nick to produce his version of the trailer. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to capture all the footage. We spent so much time on it, we figured we should make the most of it by making our own trailer, too. Anyway, I think our ads actually helped the show, instead of getting in the way. I also think our game outclassed the two games in review, which were the best XNA games out that week as the show always concentrates on the best XNA games which is what makes the show so great to begin with. A lot of you may not be aware of Xbox LIVE Community Games (all created in XNA), but the biggest problem is finding the great games, as there's only about 10 to 20 good games out of 250 in total. This show was a solution to that problem.