[Prototype] Operation Dragonfly :: Top-Down Arcade Helicopter missions in an open world

clive

Hi Everyone,

Very early stages but a playable prototype is downloadable from:

https://darkartsstudios.itch.io/operation-dragonfly



We're focusing on flight controls right now, those armoured trucks shooting at you are meant to just be sitting ducks right now and will likely not be in the game, certainly not in the way they are right now, they're just there to give you something to shoot at and to be something shooting back at you.

You can land and refuel/repair at bases (circles on your minimap) helicopter health(damage) and fuel are in the bottom-of-screen-hud.

Lives are (currently) infinite, this is more about getting feedback of the actual helicopter handling at the moment, which is meant to be less "simulatey" and more "arcadey fun" if you're looking at tone ;)

Clive

mattbenic

I was thinking just a few days ago about the classic Desert Strike and Jungle Strike games, so seeing this now really made me smile :) I'd love to play a modern take on those games, and this tech demo already looks like it could fill that niche. I also got a bit of a Comanche feel from using the terrain to approach enemies, which is great.

The flight looks and feels really good, I feel the heft of the chopper, there's a definite need to think ahead about my movement.

That said, I feel like either the player needs more precise control over altitude adjustments, or the game needs to do a better job of anticipating their movement. Early on I found myself crashing into mountains and found I had to creep up them for the flight assist to catch up. I can see the idea behind that, but it just isn't fun, it's a bit of a tedious break in what otherwise feels really natural. The feeling of speeding down a cliff sideways to drop in on and attack an enemy is just amazing :)

I know this is just a flight/tech demo, but some extra feedback outside of this anyway:
-Some basic on screen starting instructions would be good, particularly since it takes a while for the chopper to actually start up. I didn't immediately get the controls.
-Enemies can start firing on the player before they're in view, but the player has no way to anticipate which way they're facing. Using a directional indicator on the radar instead of an X would help here
-Landing seems to be really finicky, if possible make that trigger a bit bigger, and be a bit more generous about when you start refuelling, healing
-As above, having to slow down to climb mountains sucks. If the chopper needs to slow down, that's fine, but don't make that the player's job. If forward movement needs to slow even though the player is pushing full forward, do it automatically
It does really feel that the chopper should be an attack model instead of what is obviously a troop transport, but I'm guessing you're just using the store assets you have access to :)
-Give me MISSILES dammit! :D

I'm really looking forward to the next build of this :)

clive

mattbenic said:

I was thinking just a few days ago about the classic Desert Strike and Jungle Strike games, so seeing this now really made me smile :) I'd love to play a modern take on those games, and this tech demo already looks like it could fill that niche. I also got a bit of a Comanche feel from using the terrain to approach enemies, which is great.

This made my day, I loved those games and, as might be obvious to some, they heavily influence anything going in to Operation Dragonfly.

mattbenic said:

The flight looks and feels really good, I feel the heft of the chopper, there's a definite need to think ahead about my movement.

That said, I feel like either the player needs more precise control over altitude adjustments, or the game needs to do a better job of anticipating their movement. Early on I found myself crashing into mountains and found I had to creep up them for the flight assist to catch up. I can see the idea behind that, but it just isn't fun, it's a bit of a tedious break in what otherwise feels really natural. The feeling of speeding down a cliff sideways to drop in on and attack an enemy is just amazing :)

Speaking frankly the altitude is something i've battled, internally, with. On the one hand I don't want too many controls interfering with flight, on the other hand I do think right now it's too easy to hit a cliff side. I don't want that to be impossible. but I agree, right now, it happens too much. If you're going full speed ahead, directly at a cliff face, I think you should hit it. If you "slam brakes" however, it should be easier to avoid that than currently.

I have a few ways I could approach this including:
* Making scroll bar have an altitude adjuster
* Making height adjustment react to a wider radius (ie start climbing when further from a cliff face)

Possibly even a combination of both the above. I'll try it out in a build since you're not the first to chime in on this, a few of my friends that have tried this have said the same or similar.

I do definitely feel that it should be possible to hit a cliff face, you shouldn't be able to just hold down throttle without any consequence. However I also agree it's just not fun right now and too easy to do so.

mattbenic said:

I know this is just a flight/tech demo, but some extra feedback outside of this anyway:
-Some basic on screen starting instructions would be good, particularly since it takes a while for the chopper to actually start up. I didn't immediately get the controls.

:) the plan here is to have the first couple of missions contain helpful tutorial style information, with the actual objective being bold and in a different colour so that those playing another game don't need to re-read the tutorial "fluff" around the first one, maybe two, missions.

mattbenic said:

-Enemies can start firing on the player before they're in view, but the player has no way to anticipate which way they're facing. Using a directional indicator on the radar instead of an X would help here

Yea those enemies won't ever be in the game at all in the way they are currently, but I like the idea of directional indicator for those with fixed angle turrets. I was pondering about indicating this and your idea is simple and great, like the best of ideas usually are.

mattbenic said:

-Landing seems to be really finicky, if possible make that trigger a bit bigger, and be a bit more generous about when you start refuelling, healing

Noted about the landing, I agree and have thought this myself, unsure why I had not yet created an action item around this though. I've adjusted fueling and healing a few times, this too i feel comes around to balance. A hint from the future is that you might get chased back to a base if you stir a hornets nest. I feel it'll be too easy if it insta-heals or insta-refuels, but the timing of it all can be adjusted, I'll make it snappier pending later it feeling "too easy".

mattbenic said:

-As above, having to slow down to climb mountains sucks. If the chopper needs to slow down, that's fine, but don't make that the player's job. If forward movement needs to slow even though the player is pushing full forward, do it automatically
It does really feel that the chopper should be an attack model instead of what is obviously a troop transport, but I'm guessing you're just using the store assets you have access to :)

I started this game with the idea of missions often being "rescue our guy from enemy territory" and a copter that could load people made sense. I agree it needs revisiting, yes, i'm using assets I have access to :)

mattbenic said:

-Give me MISSILES dammit! :D

They're definitely coming, will be right click, but will be limited and you will need to either find ammo or earn missiles through mission completion.

mattbenic said:

I'm really looking forward to the next build of this :)

This made my day :)

Thank you for the detailed feedback, much appreciated.

mattbenic

With all that talk on input, it occurred to me that I (and probably many others) would likely end up playing this with a controller rather than mouse and keyboard, be sure to take that into account when designing input. There's no reason this shouldn't be fantastic on console :)

clive

mattbenic said:

With all that talk on input, it occurred to me that I (and probably many others) would likely end up playing this with a controller rather than mouse and keyboard, be sure to take that into account when designing input. There's no reason this shouldn't be fantastic on console :)

Oddly enough I had a lunch time chat with the one other person helping me with this and discussed just that, exactly how it would work. It's not a far stretch from what exists for keyboard, you'd just need the analogue stick moving the targeting reticule around. Some care would need to be taken to make sure that it's smooth, but I suspect it'll translate well.

mattbenic

That's one option, preferably with some kind of target stickiness.

Alternatively, a classic twin-stick shooter approach where the aim is purely directional, but given that you're higher than your targets you should really be able to be more selective than that allows.

clive

I have uploaded a new drop.

@mattbenic : Aside from the other planned additions I worked in the vast majority of your feedback as well. It's too early in dev and I'm making far too many changes daily to list everything that's changed since I first announced the previous drop here, suffice to say it's a metric butt load (that's the technical term) of changes that have gone in.

This will be the last drop to have those strange "lost" and isolated armoured trucks in it. I've not spent any time reworking them because they're coming out in favour of actual enemy bases in the next drop with turret towers and other defense mechanisms giving us targets for working on the beginnings of actual game missions and rewards. We're still quite a way off from adding AI that moves around the field of play so the trucks ... just enjoy a last session of sitting (d|tr)ucks. ;)

mattbenic

Nice, I didn't crash into a mountain once.. and I tried :P
I get the feeling you addressed that by raising the altitude the chopper generally flies at and by speeding up the reaction to upcoming obstacles. The raised altitude is unfortunate, it doesn't feel quite as intense.

The instructions (and beginnings of UI in general) are a good start. I'd suggest you allow the player to explicitly dismiss the instructions though.

The magnet feel to the base helps. I did have a glitch once where the "refuelling" indicator didn't go away. It may have been when I landed too soon after taking off (because I wanted to test the bases).

clive

mattbenic said:

Nice, I didn't crash into a mountain once.. and I tried :P
I get the feeling you addressed that by raising the altitude the chopper generally flies at and by speeding up the reaction to upcoming obstacles. The raised altitude is unfortunate, it doesn't feel quite as intense.

The instructions (and beginnings of UI in general) are a good start. I'd suggest you allow the player to explicitly dismiss the instructions though.

The magnet feel to the base helps. I did have a glitch once where the "refuelling" indicator didn't go away. It may have been when I landed too soon after taking off (because I wanted to test the bases).

The raised altitude is a thing, however mouse scroll wheel now alters altitude. I have a backlog item to add an Altimeter to the UI (next to the minimap and map coordinates) so that you can get a better sense of where your altitude is if you're zipping along rough terrain it can be difficult to get that sense. You can definitely scroll fast to hide behind a mountain and avoid fire now though which is, to my mind, an awesome accidentally-added strategy.

The beginning instructions in the load screen are just something to look at while it loads - for now. Proper instructions will come later in tutorial format. This is a "best quick fit for prototype" as per your previous suggestion -- until this can be addressed properly.

Cool, thanks again for all the feedback! :D truly appreciated

mattbenic

I have a backlog item to add an Altimeter to the UI

Even without actual altitude input, this'll be great for visual effect :)

clive

Much has been updated, several drops have passed since I think I last updated here.

Highlights: missions (not yet in the demo version, but will be there too, in a limited fashion soon), you can pickup oil barrels, destructible scenery and also a Jungle biome if you travel far enough. Day/Night and weather cycles. Several UI changes, leaderboards and scoring.

mattbenic

Very very nice :) Bought and bleeding edge downloaded.

+The new chopper makes a lot more sense, and it feels a little lighter to control as well (in a good way). I don't know if that's an actual change or just my mind playing tricks on me because it expects that given the visuals.
+Nice to see missions coming in
-The text scroll shouldn't really appear or allow scrolling when all the text is already visible ;)
-Need an indicator of the mission targets on the map, or at least the ability to view the mission text again, so you can re-check the coordinates. The intersection of people that are old enough to have played the strike games, and those that can't remember a pair of coordinates, is significant ;)
+The scroll wheel control over the auto-altitude limit is nice: not something you have to worry about all the time, but there when you want it. That feels like a nice balance.
-Scrolling the mission text with the mouse wheel also changes the altitude limit
+Yay for object pickup. I picked up some barrels (then managed to crash into a structure, doh! It brought memories of stealing enemy fuel supplies flooding back :)
-Barrels need to be a bit more visible, more obviously differentiated from general scenery. I actually picked my first one up by mistake :P
+The directional indicators on the map make a big difference, it's possible to be much more strategic now.
-A North indicator on the map would be helpful, particularly since missions make use of coordinates
+The day/night is cool, and the splotlight as well
-The darkest level of the day/night cycle should probably be a bit less dark. The spotlight also needs to come on sooner, I found myself in pitch black darkness with no spotlight and unable to even make out outlines.
-I'm sure the day/night cycle length is just to test at the moment, but ultimately I'd think it should be much longer.

I haven't had a chance to get to the jungle biome yet.

clive

Thanks for the great feedback @mattbenic !!
I agree with pretty much everything you've said, and many of the things there are already plans in place to address. Some deferred until new "cool things"(tm) come in play first because ... reasons ;)

Couple of notes:
The new chopper: I have tweaked controls and there will be more tweaking because there will be unlockable alternates with different handling (some fast, some more tanky).

There already is a north indicator on the map as it stands, it's a very subtle rotating white line, perhaps too subtle, but the entire direction and coordinate system is in flux at the moment. We're even experimenting with a holographic / helo style UI surrounding the chopper itself.

Jungle biome: it's empty, sorry this is an in-dev game and I like rolling out a lot and fast (especially in bleeding edge) so there's bound to be unfinished items (like missions & jungle right now).

That's about it, thank you *very* much for taking the time to give me all this feedback, it's truly appreciated and it all makes it back into backlog and (as you've seen) into solid changes to the game itself :)

Also, most importantly, thank you for your support and buying the game! :)

Clive

mattbenic

NP, I'm just stoked someone is making this :)

If you don't mind talking about planned stuff rather than just direct comments and feedback, how do you see the larger game progressing? Do you see something story driven, or rather randomly generated missions? Are you considering wrapping it in some kind of roguelike progression?