Not actually released yet. Under Apple & Steam review.Does the trailer scream:>Good job, anon! or >Please lay down in a woodchipper, anonI can go into the details of it. Basically I was trying to recapture the spirit of the turn-based 4x games that were available in the second half of the 90s (ie, Civ 2, CtP, and Alpha Centauri). This was my first outing making a game.
it looks like you told ChatGPT to make a rip off of Civilization 3 and it partially succeeded
>>2478427Seeing Rome but also Atlantis, a fantasy+steampunk theme and title that evokes fantasy genre but the subtitle says "history is yours"Kinda cheeses me off a little bit nglUnfortunately ugly as shit on two fronts, one because im not sure how you can unify an art style, making things consistent, using AI tools. Two because the game itself seems to have been made to look like fucking Evony or one of those other old browser games about building cities and fighting PVP from almost twenty years ago... Im trying not to pass judgement on AI tools itself, because i did enjoy a game like Machinefall that heavily leveraged AI for a one-man dev jobAnd for all i know the coding for this game was solidly built, i would have no idea, unless that too was vibe coded..
>>2478458>Seeing Rome but also Atlantis, a fantasy+steampunk theme and title that evokes fantasy genre Here's how it works:>Meta-narrative where the campaign is to play 6 full matches. >You can lose any (or all) of the first 5 matches. >Just historical civs>You accumulate bonuses during the 5 matches that carry over to the much more difficult 6th match>The number of matches you win determines which overpowered mythical civ you face off againstEach civ has a era-appropriate unique unit, as well as a future-era unit. Hence some of the funky units you might have seen in the game. The game's website https://playembersong.com explains it more fully.>Two because the game itself seems to have been made to look like fucking Evony or one of those other old browser games about building cities and fighting PVP from almost twenty years ago...The game is 100% an homage to the 4x strategy game of the mid-late 90s.
woodchipper
>>2478467Yes but Civ 3 and SMAC was all pixelated with some 2.5D type stuff here and thereEven if the game's structure is all Civ3 the graphics here dont evoke 90's civ but more a specific type of moblie game genre >4chan tried to convert a .webp into a .png, then it became too large, and then converted the .png into a .jpgffs
>>2478475
>>2478475Well to be fair, I was going for sprites (updated CtP style). You're the one that keeps sticking Civ 3 (an October 2001 release) in my mouth when I cite inspiration of from the '90s.>7th EvonyNever heard of it, but after a quick online search I'm glad I had better UI sense than them.
Congratulations. Just by releasing a complete game you're ahead of 99.99% of idea guys. Doesn't even matter if it's good or not.
>>2478427Trailer begins with water, that's bad. You have roughly 1.8 seconds to catch the attention of the viewer, you're wasting it on water. The performance of your trailer in the wild will be absolutely awful.ACTION, action action action, things happening, hook the viewer in, 2-3 second shots, they're too slow and drawn out now>Stack your units just like the old daysThis is something that appeals to you, nobody else even understands what the fuck do you mean by thatWhy don't you go with something like build your empire from antiquity to future cyborg warfare, or some shit like thatAlso try to find a font that doesn't look quite as generic and uninteresting while remaining easy to read
>>2478490I appreciate this feedback, and I adjusted my trailer based on it. >>2478486It's like the old saying about how no matter how slow you run, you're still lapping everyone that's sitting on their couch.
>>2478490Listen to him, he knows his shit.Opening with a water shot is a shit move and only works for RPGs where they're trying to establish a 'mood' for the setting or in other genres as a technology demonstration "look how good we render waves". This doesn't appear to be a story focused game so your opening needs to establish either an aesthetic direction or world building, ideally both.>Stack your units just like the old daysPeople don't like this shit in trailers, your trailer is a 2min story, and like with any good story, show don't tell. If it's a selling point put it in the trailer and if it appeals to the target audience they'll talk about it for you and simultaneously raise awareness. It will also encourage repeat viewings to spot any other features that were missed the first time around.Open with the title card and and some generic rome vs eqypt or someshit and play through your key mechanics then introduce the more absurd elements (i.e. Posiden) towards the end. Make it a suprise so the viewer builds intrigue. Finish with the title card and fade in the tagline:>Great, another generic civ builder >Those mechanics are interesting >WTF Caeser is taking on Posiden! With nukes!
>>2478427I think it might be cool anon but the trailer you posted screams "Mobile Game Slop!" to me. Hopefully you have some screenshots showing the actual UI/gameplay.
everything is ai sloppy and inconsistent as fuck. including shit like text. if i saw this trailer with no context i'd think you're trying to scam autistic chinamen
>>2478556Tons of screenshots on the website, https://playembersong.com
>>2478561>inconsistent as fuckCan you elaborate regarding inconsistent? I'm legit trying to make changes to account for that.Are you just talking about unit sizes vs cities/terrain? Because that's a staple of strategy games. Or do you mean the trailer is jumping all over the place? I'm on a 30s time limit after all for video length (Apple-imposed)
>>2478490Great advice. I clicked away from the video after 2 seconds and I hadn't even clocked why.>>2478525It's an improvement.Personally I think the paris/orleans shot is what tells me most about what the game is like. It's both the most interesting and most-off putting for me. Minus the text, which is like from the back of a box in 1998, it's the best shot in the trailer.I personally don't like the combination of strange units, visually identical cities, and the ways cities, units and trees relate to each other.The cities seem kind of plastered on top, like they're copy pasted with MS paint.I never finished any of my games, so I wish you the best of luck.This game is just below the bar for me to even try it.The biggest issue is that there's nothing about it that uniquely makes me curious as something to explore. Try and figure out better what's unique and special about the game (probably the strange units) and find a way to compellingly show (not tell) why it's interesting.Godspeed.
>>2478563Holy shit that video of different guys leaning over a map is better than anything in the trailer.If that kind of thing was creatively used in the game or part of the trailer it would help draw someone like me in.Also you have roguelike progression and aren't showing it in the trailer?The site is a much better advert for the game than the trailer.The two most interesting features is the roguelike element of 6 matches where losses factor in, and the secret archenemy.To be honest, I'd try and build a bit of lore behind that archenemy idea. That's the kind of thing if you can communicate it interestingly that would be a real draw. Ancestral blood feud, or cromagnon only pretending to be humans, or something like that. Something that plays into people's fear of the stranger.Like I think of trying to make a trailer about a kind of positive diplomacy. Exchanging resources, trading technology, defensive pacts, royal weddings, whatever is in the game. And then do a kind of red wedding/ Glencoe Massacre/Black Dinner. Or even a kind of Carthage delende est.So you have a 1 minute trailer that starts with some questions."Should you pay for peace?" (diplomatic screen)"Or risk a war?" (fighting resolution animation, first going well, then being surrounded by new units)"Unite your nations with a royal marriage." (some menu with a choice like what size of gift to send)Then without any words, just images, tell the story of a red wedding. Blood. Betrayal. A taken city.Then don't explain the nemesis AI system but hint at it.Maybe show that AI video of different guys leaning over a board. But place one in the center, making it look like the player and another that is just suspicious enough to suggest it's a judas or assassin. Or maybe a cryptic: "One your opponents is not like the others".
>>2478427Well good on you for making something.Looks less like slop than the homm3 remake at least.
ok I just woke up. A lot of you guys are giving me pure gold. And I don't have the pride/arrogance to dismiss it. I'll incorporate a lot of what you're saying into a revamp of the trailer. Like I said it's tough:>Apple only allows 30s max trailers>Steam will let me do 1min trailersBut the apple mac version is getting submitted in the next day or two. Steam literally forces a 30 day waiting period beforehand. So I need to finalize that "attention-grabbing" trailer that's only 30 seconds. It sucks because there's a lot of detail I want to communicate that I can't in that amount of time.>>2478817A lot of your feedback is going straight into the next iteration. Yeah I had several weeks to make that website and fine-tune it. The entire app submission is waiting on this trailer which I've only worked on recently. I'll try to see what I can squeeze into the 30 second trailer. At least most of what you said will end up in the 1 minute Steam trailer.>>2478809Thanks, I'll factor some of this in. For the cities, the game enforces "front-row visual supremacy", so if a forest or mountains are in a tile to the south, southeast or southwest of a city/unit, then that city/unit will be obscured partially by whatever is sticking out. For cities in forested areas it creates a really nice 3D effect.
I think at this point I need to move on to other work, like finalizing the windows & iphone versions. This trailer has to be the final one.Thank you to all the anons that gave feedback. No matter how harsh, I tried to account for it with my edits/updates
>>2478946Honestly 1000x better than your first attempt with the water. Good job anon, wish you luck
>>2478946This trailer made me pause and rewind. The timing isn't perfect, but it's the first one that made me curious and drew me in.
OP demonstrates a big issue with slop use. He has a tool that does a lot of the work for him, but he has little to no esthetic sense and can't even discern why this looks bad. Reminds me of my dad who got into web dev as a hobby and I had to tell him to stop overusing saturated colors because it's visual cancer.
>>2479035Can you elaborate on how the aesthetics don’t work? Specifically what about the game looks bad?
>>2479035>OP demonstrates a big issue with slop use. He has a tool that does a lot of the work for him, but he has little to no esthetic sense and can't even discern why this looks bad.Yeah was thinking the same thing
>>2479164Looks like obvious slop for starters. I thought it was a placeholder, or a scam, or a trolling attempt, or underage. I still think you might be trolling, having a giggle for wasting anons' time with engagement bait.You have these excessively detailed units and buildings (that still look blurry when zoomed in) with hideous, choppy animation, especially idle. And visual clarity is shit, especially the visually impaired will suffer just looking at it.
>>2479212>especially the visually impaired will suffer just looking at it.the weak must fear the strong
>>2479035>>2479212It's okay to have low effort games made by amateur beginner solo devs. I wouldn't hold OP to the same standards as Firaxis
>>2479385It's the opposite, no one would expect Firaxis to make anything worth playing, only solo devs can potentially be worthwhile
>>2479035OP demonstrates the big issue with the Gun. He has a tool that does a lot of the work for him, but he has no experience with combat tactic and archery and can't even discern good angles of attack. Reminds me of my dad who got into hunting and I had to tell him to aim at the animals because he kept hitting me in the balls.
OP is apparently a Redditor who is now telling people to come spam 4chan.https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1wbht70/protip_ask_4chan_to_review_your_game_trailer/
>>2484909Nigger you on reddit too, right now
>>2484926True, someone on /agdg/ linked the thread so I saw it.
>>2484909>>2484926kekd
>>2478427Henlo non-fren, why are you sharing our website with /reddit/ go back.
>>2484909Reddit is equal to, and possibly even worse than 4chan nowadays.
>>2478458>have been made to look like fucking EvonyThat was exactly what I was thinking when I saw this screenshot. >>2478467It SCREAMS Evony. In a great way. God I miss flash. If you haven't played Evony anon you need to and then steal a little bit of aesthetic influence from them.
>>2478946This looks wonderful.
