ideas to get more people to join the game
I love absolver and would like to make some suggestions that would hopefully add more players to the community, i.e. money in the developers pockets so they continue to develop the game.
1)-The first suggestion would be to make it easier for new people to jump in without feeling too overwhelm. Absolver, like most fighting games can feel daunting to new players because the amount of time you have to invest just to stand a chance. It can take lots of practice to dodge or block because you have to play long enough to recognize move sets. It gets harder with each new fighting style that comes out. New players feel daunted by how long it will take to master this, get destroyed by experienced players and quit out of frustration. I know because I am one of them. I would create a separate "new players" lobby. In this lobby when a player is fighting they will get a quick flashing prompt on their screen that tells them where the attack will come from, thus dodging or blocking appropriately. For example, if an opponent is doing a left to right sweeping kick, there will be a white faded flash across the top of the screen so the player knows to duck( if they have the dodge ability). The flash will also indicate if the attack is coming from the left by making the flash get more opaque to the right. This makes it able to parry. If it is an attack that comes down the middle like an axe kick then have the flash prompt appear straight down the middle of the screen so player know to dodge that direction (or parry). These screen prompts should happen just before the attack to make it challenging enough to dodge and will take an hour to practice. It becomes more of a game of reflexes instead of spending hours memorizing movesets. The benefit of this would be that new people can jump in and start playing. Some of the most popular games are popular just because how easy it can be to jump in and play with your friends (Smash Brothers, mario kart, minecraft, Halo . . .). Also I think that this will increase the dodging and blocking so the fighting will be more entertaining to watch. A lot of times its feels like just two people hitting eachother until the other person drops first. Once people get bored and want a challenge, they can join the "Master's Lobby" where there are no on screen prompts that help the player.
2)-My next suggestion is if possible, have split screen so I can fight my friends. First of all this is a great(if not the best) way to advertise your game to people who have never heard of it. For example, I invite my brother to come play with me, he plays it, enjoys it, and decides he wants the game. That is why I strongly encourage implementing the first suggestion. I have 4 brothers and whenever I ask them to play a fighting game with me they don't want to because they know I would win because fighting games take hours of practice to stand a chance. They love playing Smash brothers with me because its a game that is not that hard to jump into and they know they have a chance to win. Also, the social interaction of rubbing a win in your friends face is what make fighting games so fun. If you can make this a 4 player split screen game that would be amazing. Make it a 2 vs 2 player duel thing like "For Honor".
3)Have in game voice chat. After a while, it feels like I am just playing NPCs and it feels pointless.
4)Have a training room where plays can have an NPC opponent attack them with specified move sets so the player can practice recognizing them and dodging/parrying them.
I love the game, but I think these things would really help it take off.
1)-The first suggestion would be to make it easier for new people to jump in without feeling too overwhelm. Absolver, like most fighting games can feel daunting to new players because the amount of time you have to invest just to stand a chance. It can take lots of practice to dodge or block because you have to play long enough to recognize move sets. It gets harder with each new fighting style that comes out. New players feel daunted by how long it will take to master this, get destroyed by experienced players and quit out of frustration. I know because I am one of them. I would create a separate "new players" lobby. In this lobby when a player is fighting they will get a quick flashing prompt on their screen that tells them where the attack will come from, thus dodging or blocking appropriately. For example, if an opponent is doing a left to right sweeping kick, there will be a white faded flash across the top of the screen so the player knows to duck( if they have the dodge ability). The flash will also indicate if the attack is coming from the left by making the flash get more opaque to the right. This makes it able to parry. If it is an attack that comes down the middle like an axe kick then have the flash prompt appear straight down the middle of the screen so player know to dodge that direction (or parry). These screen prompts should happen just before the attack to make it challenging enough to dodge and will take an hour to practice. It becomes more of a game of reflexes instead of spending hours memorizing movesets. The benefit of this would be that new people can jump in and start playing. Some of the most popular games are popular just because how easy it can be to jump in and play with your friends (Smash Brothers, mario kart, minecraft, Halo . . .). Also I think that this will increase the dodging and blocking so the fighting will be more entertaining to watch. A lot of times its feels like just two people hitting eachother until the other person drops first. Once people get bored and want a challenge, they can join the "Master's Lobby" where there are no on screen prompts that help the player.
2)-My next suggestion is if possible, have split screen so I can fight my friends. First of all this is a great(if not the best) way to advertise your game to people who have never heard of it. For example, I invite my brother to come play with me, he plays it, enjoys it, and decides he wants the game. That is why I strongly encourage implementing the first suggestion. I have 4 brothers and whenever I ask them to play a fighting game with me they don't want to because they know I would win because fighting games take hours of practice to stand a chance. They love playing Smash brothers with me because its a game that is not that hard to jump into and they know they have a chance to win. Also, the social interaction of rubbing a win in your friends face is what make fighting games so fun. If you can make this a 4 player split screen game that would be amazing. Make it a 2 vs 2 player duel thing like "For Honor".
3)Have in game voice chat. After a while, it feels like I am just playing NPCs and it feels pointless.
4)Have a training room where plays can have an NPC opponent attack them with specified move sets so the player can practice recognizing them and dodging/parrying them.
I love the game, but I think these things would really help it take off.
Comments
Thanks for saying kind words about the game and your suggestions. Though we can't promise to add them to the game, it is so important for us to see that you care about the game and interested in further development of Absolver. Thank you so much and feel free to continue sharing your ideas.
As for Voice Chat option, we do not have plans to add it to the game. Emotes are currently the only way to communicate in-game. Players are encouraged to add each other on Steam or to use the official Discord channels to communicate directly. Thanks for understanding!