This is looking really good! My only suggestion is that I think you should add some pilots that drive the tanks (or at least are associated with the tanks). If you look at a game like "CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars" from ZeptoLab you can see how much character they added to an otherwise sterile "junk heap" setting simply by putting some emotive creatures in the tanks that smile or cry when they win or lose. They initially didn't have these cats, but they realized in early gameplay testing that it's hard for people to latch onto inanimate machines. Even their other physics-based puzzle game hit "Cut the Rope" has a cute little guy who eats candy. The game doesn't need him, it could just be "get the orb into the trash bin". But having a cute little guy to interact with is far better. Even if you added eyes to your tanks ala Pixar's "Cars" (or "Super Mario Odyssey's" Cappy), would go a long way for players to grow some attachment to their tanks. This isn't even a game design thing, this is a human thing. We love anthropomorphizing everything... People like birds in their mobile games (Angry Birds, Flappy Birds, Tiny Wings). Maybe have a Commander Bluejay and Captain Sparrow? Little tank commander hat on a bird... I dunno. Just spit balling.
We really appreciate the feedback RedDeluxe and love all your ideas! *hugs* We totally agree, if we had more resources we would love to have a lot more character elements in Pico Tanks, but character development is time consuming. It's actually one of the reasons why we chose to do tanks over characters. However we're going to try and stretch our budget and get a mascot to help Pico Tanks feel less sterile We're in the process of writing up the position requirements. We're are also trying to add character to the tanks with different accessories that the player can customize. It's basic stuff but it's amazing what a pair of glasses or a hat does to a lifeless object
I like idea of adding more charater, maybe small dudes that wink into the camera in the beginning of the match before closing the hatch and pop out after it ends being happy/sad depending on your results. This can also be a good transition to score screen. They can have some perks or whatever to add even more customization. It can be a part of some kind of “commanders” update down the line when you cash-in a bit. They are.
Thanks and yes Thanks TomNovak Great ideas! Yeah would be sweet seeing your character next to your tank in the team line-up. I'm wondering how we could tie it into the gameplay. Do you guys have any ideas? I have some... They have voice lines they call out at appropriate times like when your health is low, you need to pay more attention to an objective or your about to win/lose. When players give commands they are in the chosen characters voice. During gameplay and in the lobby players have the ability to briefly show an emoji to everyone on command, maybe we could replace this with little animated versions of the head of the character you've chosen. Let me know what you think. I'd love to hear anymore ideas you peeps have!
I made a tool to spawn random tanks load-outs, today I added the ability to also spawn random toppers #toilet
Oh my gosh looks awesome! So many different choices. I can’t wait to play it any guesses when the beta will be?
I know this is pretty late for a comment now but I just wanted to say I really like the style of this game and I love how the physics engine looks from some of the gifs