BackNowhere's Profile

Ranked #18

6

2500 Points

Games
Untapped
9631
5

A casual RPG for those who like to relax...Untapped is a highly unfinished WIP and I am releasing it here essentially for Alpha testing.While lots of effort has gone into the art, music and narrative elements, they are essentially a wrapper for a 'tap simulator'.Save the world from evil one monster at a time as you travel around defeating your enemies by tapping the moving targets.The save game feature is fully implemented but using it canbe unintuitive. You can stand next to one of the beds in the starting house and tap the bed. This will also refill the players health fully. The game also saves upon quitting if you use the 'Save and Quit' button from the player inventory panel.Click or drag items from your inventory to the weapon and gear slots up top.  Weapons, amulets and armour will all be automatically assigned to their correct slot by double clicking on them.Click a consumable item to use/consume it.The player must tap or click the screen to move around the game world. Buttons will appear over doors allowing for interaction.The game was designed to be playable by young children as well as the elderly.There are probably about 2 hours of gameplay. Only really the critical path is fleshed out . Is this product viable? Is the main question I want to answer.  Would the finished product be something you would play? Your feed back is very valuable and I look forward to it :)


Heroes vs Skulls
7842
5

A cooperative FPS. No account necessary. Just download, and play!Battle the Skulls as they increase in speed and numbers.Your rate of fire increases every wave! It starts slowly, but gets insane.Up to 4 players per room. Max of 50 players on the matchmaking server :(Can also be played as a single player game.Standard controls, left mouse to shoot, shift to sprint, space to jump.All dead players are revived as long as one player can kill all the tictacs in the wave.Health spawns at fixed spots on the map. They are easy to find, just look for the giant green beacon.When tictacs die they drop ammunition. Share this with your freinds as you don't want to run out.The UI needs alot of work. You can see your health of the left side of the screen in very small writing. Ammo also. Not ideal I know.There is currently no sound... I have made all this in the last 2 weeks :)expect major bugs, especially with the networking. but it is stable enough to have good games as long as people dont leave and join like crazy. Still working on a title as well.Have fun playing and please let me know what you think :)RegardsDaniel Griffin


Moon Rover Run
2392
1

Hey guys, just released this title after 3 weeks dev time and I need some feedback :)Tap left or right on the screen to maneuver your rover as far as possible through the asteroid onslaught! Tap the middle of the screen to activate your shield.★ Earn upgrades and power-ups!★ Global Leaderboards for distance and score!★ Retro style, pixel art graphics!★ Sci-Fi soundtrack!Developed by Daniel Griffin.Published by Back of Nowhere Studios 2019.     COLLAPSE  


Outpost 9
2665
0

You have been teleported to Outpost 9. You must gather resources and manipulate the environment to survive. Protect the research in the planet below while gaining enough strength and technology to defeat the invaders that seek to destroy it.Outpost 9 is a sandbox-adventure game with lunar lander elements. The terrain is completely destructable. As the character, you can mine, build and create technology and vehicles. From the Ship you can get really destructive!This is a 2 week old project and is very much a work in progress. I would like to add level generation and chunking to allow for much larger maps. Save and load features. Alien ground troops. Player weapons and much more :)


TreeTrek Rogue
999
1

2D topdown minimalistic rogue-lite built to test generating dungeons from graphs (trees).Every level increases your gold multiplier, but if you die you lose what you have earned that run. If you choose to go back to your base the gold you earnt during the run is saved in your wallet.Gold can be spent at the base to increase your movement speed, buy healthpots to use during runs or to upgrade your weapon.At the start of each level a series of nodes will jiggle about for a couple of seconds, don't worry, this is all part of the fun :)Each level randomly generates with a locked passage and a key to that lock. It's the job of the tree to ensure that the key is placed in a location the player can reach from the start, as well as placing the goal behind the locked passage. Dead-ends contain treasure.WASD to move your warrior,  SPACEBAR to attack, E to fire arrows.This prototype was built in under a week so the jank is real :)


Jupiter Melon
344
1

Welcome to the pixelated planets of 'Jupiter Melon,' an 8-bit-inspired roguelite deckbuilding game that takes you on an interstellar journey to save the galaxy. Strap on your jetpack and dive into procedurally generated caves across various planets, each holding valuable artefacts. Gameplay Highlights: Jetpack Maneuvers: Fly through alien caverns using your trusty jetpack, avoiding the walls to maintain the cavern's stability. Artefact Collection: Follow your radar through the caverns to find the Artefact, unlocking powerful cards that will shape your strategy. Card-Based Chaos: Trade collected artefacts for a variety of cards, each with unique effects that can aid your journey. Cards are drawn randomly to keep each run fresh and unpredictable. Beware, once you have drawn all your cards you had better get out fast! Fuel Management: Gather fuel to jump between star systems and explore further planets, each with its own set of artefacts. Boss Showdown: Face off against a formidable cosmic boss in an intense 8-bit showdown. Success demands not only strategic deckbuilding but also a well-timed gun card to conquer the final challenge. Features: Strategic Deckbuilding: Build and refine your deck with each run, adapting to challenges and optimizing for the ultimate boss encounter. Immersive 8-Bit Aesthetics: Retro-inspired visuals create a nostalgic atmosphere that complements the cosmic adventure. Chiptune OST: Audio was made using the TIC-80 tracker. This is the largest project to date where I have managed to create the music and SFX myself :) Procedural Generation: Endless replayability with dynamically generated galaxy for a unique experience in every playthrough. This is a prototype put together in 6 weeks. I am trying to find funding to develop this game further based on feedback I receive here so if you have any suggestions or criticism please roast away :)


Roasts
Mechanics Controls

Hey great idea with this one, I can definitely see the value in this game.

I did however find the difficulty curve at the beginning to be just slightly too steep. I enjoyed earning the popcorn gun, only to be frustrated out of continuing by my inability to earn the next upgrade in the next few tries (I got to 28 before buying the popcorn gun but just didn't get the 30).

It may be beneficial to tweak the game play to allow for a faster progression in the beginning, in order to draw more players into becoming invested long term. Making the second upgrade cheaper, lowering the hp of the seagulls, or increasing the damage of the popcorn gun could all be possible solutions in this regard.

I also found myself stumbling over the controls more often than I would like to admit. For me at least the space bar would be a more appropriate Jump and Left Ctrl a better shoot.

This is however all completely subjective and should be taken as just the opinion of one person.

Variety in the music would also be a benefit.

All in all great product and I look forward to the improvements :)

6 years ago
Mechanics Game Graphics

Hey Cardboardbox,

Great puzzle you have made! I have played to Easy 3-4 and it was both challenging and enjoyable.

The puzzles are intuitive and rewarding and I feel like the tutorial and difficulty curve are good at teaching.

My only thought is that it wasn't very apparent how far I had progressed while playing. I would have liked to know how far I got overall, or just to be able to see which level I am currently on.

Good work and look forward to the improvements.

Regards

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago

Thank you monster finger!
Yes I did everything except the music.

And yes the dialogue needs alot of work. I wrote pretty much all of it while scripting :)

I will look at the button issue thanks for pointing that out.

Hmm text boxes shouldn't be on the screen during a battle, im not sure what happened :/

Thanks for playing, and I will give your game another crack tonight :)

6 years ago
Game Graphics Level Design

Hey great game!

I love the art style and the atmosphere. You have really nailed it.
I'm not sure how far I got though, which made me reluctant to play again after dying.

Keep up the good work

6 years ago

Hi James,

Yeah sorry about that, I only had time last night for a brief look.
I gave it another play today and uploaded the test to YouTube.

https://youtu.be/5Iu3gWTaMfE

My comment was in regard to having no idea at the time whether there where levels, or just one long challenge. I did in fact get super close to the exit on the first play but never saw it :(

Maybe a sign on the wall with 'Level 1' or something at the start just to hint at the structure. How many levels are there btw?

Got a lot further this time. But I would definitely like the option to re spawn at the most recent level. But I'm a content tourist who isn't particularly good at games :)

The enemy warning alarm (very well executed mechanic btw) took a few plays to understand, maybe something in the tutorial about that.

As you can see in the youtube clip I accidentally quit at one point. Maybe put a yes/no check on the quit option.

I don't understand how to combat the rats. Do you shoot them? Try to shake them off? Or just avoid them?

It would be cool if your shots would push the enemies slightly, so you can halt their approach with firepower.

Love the secrets and the score system. Is the final version going to have online leader boards? I would also like an in-game time at the end of the levels/game. I feel like this game could be speedrun quite well.

Anyway I'm going to keep playing and will post any further thoughts that I have.

The vocal SFX (and sound in general) are excellent, did you create them yourself?

Overall great game so far! I look forward to the improvements :)

Regards Daniel

6 years ago
Controls Level Design

Hey good job on your first game :)

I played about 10 times and every time my score was close to 1000.
It seems that with the speed increasing and the obstacles becoming more frequent, a ceiling is created.

I would suggest just increasing the speed until much further into the run. Also you might want to look at increasing the speed incrementally rather than constantly. Small pauses in the acceleration would give the player a break and probably make the engagement curve more interesting.

Had a lot of fun playing CubeRun and hope to see it improve.

P.s. Love the music setting, makes this highly playable IMO :)

6 years ago

Thank you very much jestPRO :)

And thanks for taking the time to play the game.

6 years ago
Mechanics Controls

Hey FEDRON, how are you?

Nice work on Tank Attack by the way :)

I streamed my test to YouTube, If you want you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/7rl0w4NSQ10

As you can see I was not the best haha, but I did improve a little :)

I would have loved a small boost, like a dodge :) maybe even with some invincibility frames so I can stay alive longer and feel more awesome.

I would also have liked to drive my tank straight through everything haha. Well at least the trees and small stuff.

A loading and reloaded sound effect would be nice. And you should try to layer in some heavier 'crash' 'boom' sfx on top of the shoot you already have.

I'm not sure without testing again but maybe increasing the speed of the turret rotation and reloading would make for a more engaging experience?

I would love to test again if you make changes. Or perhaps you could add a config file with all the values so we can play around and see what we like :)

Anyway thanks for the fun and keep up the good work.

6 years ago
Story/Writing/Dialogue

Nice work! I very much like the third level with the boss :)

Overall I think the game is well balanced and developed. Though additions would probably enrich it.

I really like the narrative intro.

Looking forward to improvements :)

6 years ago
Tutorial/Learning Curve

Hey guys,

I gave the game a few goes and still can't log in. The hint displayed on the first play, but then I couldn't get it to appear again.

I look forward to improvements and will play again soon :)

6 years ago
Mechanics Game Graphics

Hello AUGUSTOAD,

I have uploaded my play test to YouTube in case it helps :)
https://youtu.be/3T2_4ubsl1M

I think you have done really well with Spook Troop, it seems to run as expected and bug free :)

As usual I sucked at the game... I would definitely play longer if I wasn't dying so frequently. Not sure what your plans for the game are but probably tweaking it so the average run is around 2-5 mins would be a benefit for the mobile market.

I think the graphics are appropriate but also probably the weakest point of a strong production.

Good work and look forward to improvements. I will gladly play any updates you post :)

Regards,

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago
Mechanics

Hey JC, Great game!

I very much enjoyed my play through, despite not understanding the power ups properly.

I streamed my test to YouTube in case you want to check it out.
https://youtu.be/IksjZfOeFLc

I like where your going with the music but it probably could use a couple more iterations.

For me the jump felt floaty. I would definitely increase the gravity after the peak of the jump just so he comes down a bit faster. But this is subjective.

I felt some of the stalagmites on the floor in the caves looked a lot like they would damage me :)

I really like the enemy movement and the way they can be weaponised against other enemies. Coupled with the power ups (which again I didn't realise existed) makes for a very engaging platformer.

Really good work man, I can't wait to see how it improves :)

Regards,

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago

Knowing all that I will stream another play through tomorrow :)

6 years ago
Mechanics Level Design

Hello WARPZONE,

From what you have presented here I think your mechanics are solid. Although you have presented quite little so it is hard to give a lot of feedback :)

I uploaded my play test to YouTube in case you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwjurVCg_6Hf6ng2Ey5PiJg/live

I think the camera needs work. You can't see much in front while underway.

The first level of the campaign seems unbeatable? You can check the game play footage but I tried twice and couldn't seem to progress.

All in all it seems to work as intended and bug free but as for the viability of the product I cannot say. There is nothing currently that would make me want to play this more than any of the other bullet hell style shooters on the market.

I guess what I'm saying is that it's not clear from this demo what the core mechanic is that makes your game interesting, and makes me want to play.

Hope the feed back is useful, and I look forward to updates :)

Regards,

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago
Level Design

Hey Warpzone,

Good work with this update :) I found the game a lot more enjoyable and challenging with the campaign working.

As you can see from the video I have no idea how to combat the second and third bosses effectively. The first boss is great, he slow enough I feel like I can avoid most of his attacks.

The generated boss mechanic is very cool.

I'm interested to see what you add next.

Regards,

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago

I forgot to add the link to the stream.
https://youtu.be/L9gVgECmb2s

6 years ago

Thank you NightZard :)

Yes I know what you mean, the main character was the first pixel character I ever made XD. She will definitely become an NPC.

Good suggestion on the controls. I will implement it for sure.

Thanks again for taking the time to play and roast :)

6 years ago

Thank you Ryan for your feedback :)

Your right about object placement. The maps are basically advanced prototypes at this point. But there is not yet a consistent use of objects.

I do have some question and one day I will take you up on your offer.

Thanks again for taking the time to play, and I would love it if you had time to play the next release :)

Regards,

Daniel Griffin

6 years ago

Thank you NetprogsGames for taking the time to play and give such quality feedback :)

Sorry I have not been very active on the site, in a few weeks I will be resuming work on the project and implementing\fixing all the issues raised here on RoastMyGame.com.

I will be releasing the update here and I would love if you had the time to give it another go :)

Anyway thanks again,

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago
Controls Level Design

Hey YOSHIZZLE,

I streamed my play test to youtube in case your interested in wathching :)

https://youtu.be/QCFLo8E-p_k

At first I was impressed by the quality of the production, higher that average on this site IMO.

The game play and graphics were instantly engaging, and there seemed to be a bit more there with the text on the map (I really like this idea btw) and so on.

But it wore off quickly as the levels became repetitious and the obstacles and settings don't seem to impact heavily.

I feel that this is a marketable product, that would be helped by further development to add variety and polish.

Looking forward to the next release :)

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago

P.S. The riots were really cool :)

5 years ago
Game Graphics

Hey RPGNAIRO,

Looks good man, but how can I play it? :)

5 years ago

Thanks Yoshizzle for taking the time to play! And sorry for the late response... A lot of features have been added but it still has a long way to go.

Almost all the issues you raised have been fixed if you want to try again :)

Anyway thanks again for playing.

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago


Hello AMastryukov, thanks for taking the time to play, and for providing such useful feedback :)

The collision on the enemies has been completely reworked. It is now much more accurate.

The player is now always sprinting, but that is also crap...

The in-game options are being developed now.

Gameplay is still mediocre. I'm going to add an 'aggro' system but that will only affect multiplayer. If anyone has ideas for simple and effective novel mechanics then I am all ears :)

Thanks again for playing and reviewing.

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago


Hello AMastryukov, thanks for taking the time to play, and for providing such useful feedback :)

The collision on the enemies has been completely reworked. It is now much more accurate.

The player is now always sprinting, but that is also crap...

The in-game options are being developed now.

Gameplay is still mediocre. I'm going to add an 'aggro' system but that will only affect multiplayer. If anyone has ideas for simple and effective novel mechanics then I am all ears :)

Thanks again for playing and reviewing.

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago

Hey Nanuk, thanks for playing and taking the time to write the roast :)

Ok, the motion blur. I added it mainly to add some interpolation to the projectiles, which tend to move too quickly to look nice (IMO). But now I'm definitely going to add an option to disable it. Maybe adding FOV options? And do you mean the head bobbing while running is too intense? I will assume you do as I feel the same :)

And you are spot on about the gameplay. The project is as much a market experiment as anything else and the goal was simplicity. Having said that I feel very strongly about trying to make my products unique and engaging. This one still falls short of the mark and I am very open to suggestions :)

I am adding an 'aggro' mechanic but that will only affect gameplay when there are multiple players.

Controls are out of the box unity systems with some modifications. It is the plan to rebuild them from scratch.

I'm doing another release this week. There is new cover art, new player character and much more. I would love it if you managed to have another crack at some point :)

Thanks again for taking the time to play and review.

Daniel Griffin

5 years ago
Controls

Hey DUKEBOT;

Nice game mate. I only played through the first level but it was fun once I got the hang of it.

I played it in the browser and my laptops aspect ratio hid the cannon from me in the beginning. At first I could hear the shot but not see any as I spammed shoot. A little confusing but I figured it out :)

Also I'm not sure if the frame rate is a result of a design choice, technical limitation or the browser player, but it felt like about 20 FPS. Not a deal breaker by any means, but these days I notice it immediately.

Anyway good work and I'm looking forward to seeing updates to Cannon Ball :)

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago
Game Graphics Story/Writing/Dialogue

Hey MIDGARDIANDEV,

Wow! Great work! I don't usually play this sort of game so I really sucked and had to use cheat engine to get through the first and second level. Then the first level repeats but harder? Is that correct?

I really like the level of polish Gardas has. Had some problem where switching to full screen would give me a black screen, then switching back to windowed mode, and then back to full screen fixed it.

What environment was this made in? if you don't mind me asking?

Great effort, great game, keep up the good work :)

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago

Hey DUKEBOT;

First of all thanks for playing, I really appreciate it :)

As for having such a broken experience, that really sucks. I wish I could have seen your playthrough. I would guess that either your hardware is different enough from mine to cause issues (I really hope not, as I have very limited avenues for testing) or that you simply played the game in a way that I had not forseen, and encountered the bugs as a result (unfortunately common).

After the blue crystal scene, Father appears and gives you a key. The key is used to open the small house to the left. Inside is a powerful weapon that you are meant to use to defeat the first battle. Currently I believe it is very possible to break the beginning by doing anything other than just attacking the first enemy.

Again thanks for playing, and I'm sorry you didn't get to experience much of the 3-4 hours of content I have built :/

*heart sinks at the thought of debugging it all*

4 years ago

Hey NANATEAM,

I had a go at your game, but it seems to run quite slowly. Jumping in particular seems very slow. And the horizontal movement seems to increment as if it is grid based. Is that correct?

I really like the idea of the game and would love to play multiplayer, contact me on twitter @BackNowhere if you would like to set it up :)

Art style seems great as well. Just felt very slow and clunky to move. If you can get faster, more fluid movement, that will definitely make it more enjoyable IMO.

Great work and look forward to hearing from you :)

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago

Hey DjinnAlexio,

I had the same problem with a product a few years ago. I had a MusicController object in each scene. Not really the way forward.

The solution was to use a Singleton-esque style pattern. If you put the line: "DontDestroyOnLoad(gameObject);" into Start(), then your MusicController object will hang around betwenn scenes :)

Getting a static reference to the object itself and removing any other instances is usually a good idea too.

class MusicManager: Monobehaviour
public static MusicManager musicSingleton; // static reference to our music manager

void Awake()
{
if(musicSingleton == null)
{
musicSingleton = this;
}
else
{
Destroy(gameObject);//if a music manager already exists then delete self.
}
}

4 years ago
Story/Writing/Dialogue

Hey BMETA,

This is not a roast exactly, i don't have any constructive criticism. Simply put I think what your offering here is amazing. Definitely the most complete product I have tested on RoastMyGame to date :)

As a solo game dev working from home, I probably don't represent the masses when I say that this game really spoke to me in a way that I was not expecting or prepared for. You hit the nail on the head with the writing (something I think I struggle with), and I really can't wait to see where the second chapter takes things :)

Great job keep it up!

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago

Hey LEAFO,

Great game you have made. I enjoyed playing it and I think I got to the end? It started again.

I felt the control I had over the character was spot on. Felt great, not too light, not too heavy. I found it very easy to pick up and play, and I felt proficient very quickly :)

I think the art style works well with the simplicity of the concept.

The core mechanic of using intentionally deceptive design is great. I would like to see it expanded on. Maybe some deadly coins, or 'enemies' that are the solution etc. I enjoyed the early 'ending'.

I even felt trolled when I saw the .html XD

Great work!

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago
Physics Animation

Hey Ed,

Just checked your game out on steam, looks like you have made a boatload of improvements since you posted here.

I have seen some game-play footage on YouTube and there still seems to be frequent bugs with the player movement. I think it would pay off to iron out the kinks in the player movement before adding peripheral content.

Personally I also believe your pricing is far too high. Especially for 'Early Access'. With one break, and not much else to do, I would put the fair price at <$3USD.

At least with a lower price you might be able to get more testers/reviewers. And then put the price where you want it once people start responding more positively to your product.

Anyway, this is obviously an *extremely* ambitious project for one person to undertake, and I wish you the best of luck during the rest of the development cycle.

Daniel Griffin

4 years ago
UI Graphics UI Graphics

Hey OSG,

You seem to have only screenshots of your UI? And what is with the rant in the description?

I know you posted over a year ago, but if the project still exists then get some relevant shots up and I will COMPETE!

4 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to play :)

7 months ago

Great suggestions, cheers :)

7 months ago

I'm hearing that the UI might need some work haha. Thanks for taking the time to play :)

7 months ago
Game Graphics Game Graphics

Cool looking game :) From that last screenshot it seems like the red light is on and the others are off? It is pretty clear but personally I would make it much clearer as some people just cant see that well.

4 months ago
Game Graphics Level Design

Hey the presentation here looks pretty good! I find some of the scenes to be a bit eclectic/cluttered but it definitely looks appealing :)

4 months ago
Animation Story/Writing/Dialogue

Holy crap this concept is wild to me haha. I have never been into ASMR or watching people eat so I don't know how valuable my feedback is but this game seems hilarious! I would say you probably need to put a bunch of work into normalizing the audio clip volumes. Good work :)

4 months ago
Liked

Alien Scumbags

Super Frog's Quest

Dungeon of dawn Alpha

Gardas (working title not final)

B Meta

Trolled

Jupiter Melon

Dungeon Girl

Electronic Memory Games!

Punch Hero