[UPCOMING] Snack Tick Teaser Trailer

VMASTER

Hello There!
I have been working and expanding on one of my projects from the #PROTOSHI Game Jam, and will be releasing this version later this year on Steam, with plans for more expansion afterwards.

Here is the first trailer:


Here is the original Game Jam Discussion:
https://makegamessa.com/discussion/5900/protoshi-1-advanced-snack-hunter#latest

Let me know what you think!

Elyaradine

There's a bunch I can suggest with improving the trailer, but probably the most important one is that I don't really understand your game's "hook". If you had to reduce it down to a sentence or two, what would you say your game is about that makes it worthy of attention over the thousands of games that are released every day? When you have an answer to that, then imo you can build a trailer that makes it clear what you're trying to sell.

watman

I have to agree with @Elyaradine. All I see is things getting smashed. I don't know that they're aliens (or why), I don't know that it's multiplayer (you say so in a line of text but I missed it the first time I watched the trailer as I was looking at the game, not the text), and I don't really know what's going on. I thought the player was the hand and I didn't see the player-colour ellipse around the alien characters at all.

It reminds of the Insectonator game(s) by Fly Anvil, simply because of the top-down smashing, and I was distracted by the fact that if I were to buy this as a theoretical customer (I don't use Steam, among other reasons), I would want the graphics to be better. As an MGSA user I know you make interesting, fun games but as a theoretical paying layman customer I don't.

Your pre-teaser gameplay video from 8 June is actually better - it immediately indicates that it's multiplayer and you are the aliens and you're trying to pick up certain things and avoid certain things. Obviously it's far too long but it does a much better job of explaining what this game is about.

(As an aside, if you're going to do that dark flickering level stuff you need to put an epilepsy/strobing warning on your game.)

VMASTER

Elyaradine said:

There's a bunch I can suggest with improving the trailer, but probably the most important one is that I don't really understand your game's "hook". If you had to reduce it down to a sentence or two, what would you say your game is about that makes it worthy of attention over the thousands of games that are released every day? When you have an answer to that, then imo you can build a trailer that makes it clear what you're trying to sell.

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it. When I do the next trailer, it'll be longer and give more time to explain what it is as opposed to what it comes with.

VMASTER

watman said:

I have to agree with @Elyaradine. All I see is things getting smashed. I don't know that they're aliens (or why), I don't know that it's multiplayer (you say so in a line of text but I missed it the first time I watched the trailer as I was looking at the game, not the text), and I don't really know what's going on. I thought the player was the hand and I didn't see the player-colour ellipse around the alien characters at all.

It reminds of the Insectonator game(s) by Fly Anvil, simply because of the top-down smashing, and I was distracted by the fact that if I were to buy this as a theoretical customer (I don't use Steam, among other reasons), I would want the graphics to be better. As an MGSA user I know you make interesting, fun games but as a theoretical paying layman customer I don't.

Your pre-teaser gameplay video from 8 June is actually better - it immediately indicates that it's multiplayer and you are the aliens and you're trying to pick up certain things and avoid certain things. Obviously it's far too long but it does a much better job of explaining what this game is about.

(As an aside, if you're going to do that dark flickering level stuff you need to put an epilepsy/strobing warning on your game.)

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it. I'll admit, the teaser is very short and doesn't give enough time to let everything sink in. There are few things I left out of the Teaser as I don't want give away everything just yet or that certain aspects still need to be polished and aren't ready to show yet.

I'll keep that game in mind, I'll look into it for inspiration. If I may ask, what elements and aspects of the graphics/visuals would you like to be improved on? I'll focus more on gameplay in the next trailer I make.

The pre-teaser gameplay was just an early showcase of what the game is, some elements have been changed since then but I understand what you are referring to when you say it is better.

In the current build the game does have a warning for the flashing lights if you pick the Night time mode, but I'll have to check where I can mention that in the Steam Page once I have that up.

Tuism

The length really isn't the problem. Don't make it longer. Make it communicate the hook. The point. Why would I want to play this game? It is definitely not something to be solved with "more words" or "more time".

Super Hexagon is thumping cool music and doing cool moves really quickly with two fingers and AGAIN, die go AGAIN etc.
Triple Town has a really simple puzzle of putting 3 of the same things together to make the next level thing. How long can you go on for? And cute bears.

What is your hook? What is the thing that makes me want to play?

Fengol

This guide has always been useful when it comes to explaining your game

https://www.pentadact.com/2012-03-17-gdc-talk-how-to-explain-your-game-to-an-asshole/

watman

VMASTER said:

I'll keep that game in mind, I'll look into it for inspiration. If I may ask, what elements and aspects of the graphics/visuals would you like to be improved on? I'll focus more on gameplay in the next trailer I make.

This is going to sound harsh and therefore I'm sorry but it looks like homebrew beginner 3D modeller experimentation. (Also the fonts are terrible.) There's no design aesthetic or finesse.

Design aesthetic is hard to explain - maybe the art people on the board can point you to some resources - but it's things like, in pixel art, the result that comes from using a restricted palette and restricted character/object heights. In our game Midnight Auto Supply from last year we referenced Mid-Century Modern, and by "we" I mean everyone - the art people, of course (and it was reflected in everything: in the 3D art, the 2D art, and the fonts, as well as the overall graphic design), as well as the sound people and myself as the writer (there is terminology and slang that comes from that era). We put together an entire visual design library that we all referenced as we made the game.

VMASTER

Tuism said:

The length really isn't the problem. Don't make it longer. Make it communicate the hook. The point. Why would I want to play this game? It is definitely not something to be solved with "more words" or "more time".

Super Hexagon is thumping cool music and doing cool moves really quickly with two fingers and AGAIN, die go AGAIN etc.
Triple Town has a really simple puzzle of putting 3 of the same things together to make the next level thing. How long can you go on for? And cute bears.

What is your hook? What is the thing that makes me want to play?

I'll keep this mind, it honestly is one of the things I have to get right and be able to convey the message across properly.

VMASTER

Fengol said:

This guide has always been useful when it comes to explaining your game

https://www.pentadact.com/2012-03-17-gdc-talk-how-to-explain-your-game-to-an-asshole/

I'll look into it in depth. Thank you.

VMASTER

watman said:

VMASTER said:

I'll keep that game in mind, I'll look into it for inspiration. If I may ask, what elements and aspects of the graphics/visuals would you like to be improved on? I'll focus more on gameplay in the next trailer I make.

This is going to sound harsh and therefore I'm sorry but it looks like homebrew beginner 3D modeller experimentation. (Also the fonts are terrible.) There's no design aesthetic or finesse.

Design aesthetic is hard to explain - maybe the art people on the board can point you to some resources - but it's things like, in pixel art, the result that comes from using a restricted palette and restricted character/object heights. In our game Midnight Auto Supply from last year we referenced Mid-Century Modern, and by "we" I mean everyone - the art people, of course (and it was reflected in everything: in the 3D art, the 2D art, and the fonts, as well as the overall graphic design), as well as the sound people and myself as the writer (there is terminology and slang that comes from that era). We put together an entire visual design library that we all referenced as we made the game.

I appreciate the honesty, no need to be sorry. There is still a lot I need to change... at this moment, I currently doing everything in the project. The music however I got permission from Tobu to use his tracks, still gonna look out for other stuff too. In terms of fonts, this is the 3rd Set that I've gone through, doubt it'll be my final. I'll take a look at your game as well, the thumbnail alone shows a lot of good chemistry between the art, font and style.

Lesedi_Mosadi

Game Makers toolkit has a video on trailers that you might find useful. Maybe it might help.

watman

Excuse the fact that the game has bugs (even the fixed build). We were supposed to finish it to a polish and then that didn't happen. (I'm still holding out hope because I really love what we did and I want people to see it.)

Determine your design aesthetic first, then worry about fonts. Scrolling through legal-font libraries is exhausting and it's even worse if you don't know what you're looking for.

VMASTER

Lesedi_Mosadi said:

Game Makers toolkit has a video on trailers that you might find useful. Maybe it might help.


https://youtube.com/watch?v=4CSYA9R70R8

Thank you, I'll take a look at it.

VMASTER

watman said:

Excuse the fact that the game has bugs (even the fixed build). We were supposed to finish it to a polish and then that didn't happen. (I'm still holding out hope because I really love what we did and I want people to see it.)

Determine your design aesthetic first, then worry about fonts. Scrolling through legal-font libraries is exhausting and it's even worse if you don't know what you're looking for.

Took me a while to understand the objective, but I got the hang of it. I like the concept and I understand what you mean by aesthetic. I'll see how things look with the final designs of the last few characters and environments and that should determine it.

watman

Yeah, forgive it, it was a 48-hour jam game! That's something we have on the polish list to tackle - a better introduction and explanation of the objective.

Good luck with the rest of the developing.

Oh, this list of unofficial architectural and interior-design design aesthetics from the Eighties and Nineties came up on Twitter for me a few days ago. I'm not saying you should use any of it directly, and some of it might be a bit confusing because I can't say I could see a good connection between some of the images grouped in some of the categories, but it might give you even more inspiration for what design aesthetics are (since I don't know of a good video game version to point you to). I guess basically it always comes down to shapes, colours, and placements.

Kulu

Looks like a fun concept. Smashing pests with your hands and feet.

Might I suggest a fast paced horde mode. ;)

VMASTER

Kulu said:

Looks like a fun concept. Smashing pests with your hands and feet.

Might I suggest a fast paced horde mode. ;)

Thanks. However, you are playing as the "pests". I'll make sure that is more clear in the next trailer.

VMASTER

Steam page for Snack Tick is live! You can add it to your Wishlist now!

<iframe src="https://store.steampowered.com/widget/1356260/" frameborder="0" width="646" height="190"></iframe>

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1356260/Snack_Tick/

I am still working on the game and will release a new trailer soon.