I had a good time with it. It feels like a real game as soon as you hit Deploy: controls are simple, the squad setup is fun, and there are loads of classes, gadgets, and weapons to experiment with. The class flavour text and clean game-over screen are great too.
My main issue was that the first matches felt pretty punishing. I got 0 tags in two runs, and never got to use Super/Hyper or most of the interesting kit. Maybe have an easier default "Recruit" mode with softer bots, fewer required tags, and perhaps a partially charged gadget so new players get to try the fun stuff quickly. Also there are a bit too many buttons to keep track of — maybe trim controls down to around 6, or use right-click/shift-click combos for powers instead of separate keys.
The menus also feel a bit overloaded. It's cool that there are so many options, but seeing every mode, class, gun, rarity, perk, and locked item at once makes the screen feel crowded. Dropdowns, tabs, icons, tooltips, and collapsible sections could keep all the depth while making it much easier to scan — and ideally cut out the constant scrolling too.
I'd also love a more RPG-like gear screen: equipment slots for primary, sidearm, gadget, grenade, super, pet, etc., plus a small backpack/inventory. Choosing Juggernaut could automatically place an LMG in the primary slot, for example. That would make loadout prep feel more tactile and fun than browsing a huge catalogue.
During matches, consider hiding the full control guide after the first deployment or moving it behind a small help icon. Between the controls, squad panel, hotbar, minimap, and status bars, the actual action can feel a little small.
Down the line, multiplayer via WebSockets would be really fun — even simple 1v1 or small squad matches — but no rush at all, the game is already enjoyable for casual players as-is.
Overall: the core is fun and the game already has lots of personality. If new players can survive long enough to try the interesting gear, and the UI gives everything a bit more breathing room, I think people will stick around.
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Hey whoopa — quick thoughts on Skirmish
I had a good time with it. It feels like a real game as soon as you hit Deploy: controls are simple, the squad setup is fun, and there are loads of classes, gadgets, and weapons to experiment with. The class flavour text and clean game-over screen are great too.
My main issue was that the first matches felt pretty punishing. I got 0 tags in two runs, and never got to use Super/Hyper or most of the interesting kit. Maybe have an easier default "Recruit" mode with softer bots, fewer required tags, and perhaps a partially charged gadget so new players get to try the fun stuff quickly. Also there are a bit too many buttons to keep track of — maybe trim controls down to around 6, or use right-click/shift-click combos for powers instead of separate keys.
The menus also feel a bit overloaded. It's cool that there are so many options, but seeing every mode, class, gun, rarity, perk, and locked item at once makes the screen feel crowded. Dropdowns, tabs, icons, tooltips, and collapsible sections could keep all the depth while making it much easier to scan — and ideally cut out the constant scrolling too.
I'd also love a more RPG-like gear screen: equipment slots for primary, sidearm, gadget, grenade, super, pet, etc., plus a small backpack/inventory. Choosing Juggernaut could automatically place an LMG in the primary slot, for example. That would make loadout prep feel more tactile and fun than browsing a huge catalogue.
During matches, consider hiding the full control guide after the first deployment or moving it behind a small help icon. Between the controls, squad panel, hotbar, minimap, and status bars, the actual action can feel a little small.
Down the line, multiplayer via WebSockets would be really fun — even simple 1v1 or small squad matches — but no rush at all, the game is already enjoyable for casual players as-is.
Overall: the core is fun and the game already has lots of personality. If new players can survive long enough to try the interesting gear, and the UI gives everything a bit more breathing room, I think people will stick around.