different kind of game

[buckingham_green]

Just wanted to say I have many, many PC games, and there is nothing else that I have played that is quite like Dyson.

I play Supreme Commander online, get worked up, swear at the computer... this is the first RTS I've ever been able to play where I really do not feel frustrated at loosing, because the actual game itself was so enjoyable. The atmospheric design is incredibly good.

I am very interested to see how you can extend this to a commercial title -  I've played through the six levels and still enjoy it, but I am not yet sure about long term replayability. I think it will be a fine line between increasing the st/skrategic depthill, and keeping the game's atmosphere and vibe.

I would love to see many more cosmetic variations added, such as
- angle of branch splits of each teams trees is randomized (thus some teams have almost right angle branches, some have very thin brushy trees)
- shape of asteroids randomized, so that some are oval or possibly non-round
- texture of asteroid given more variation
- tree root's path to center of asteroid given more variation such as splitting into two, recombining, etc.

some possible gameplay extensions
-an idea for another 'tree' that could be built - an underground root that acts like a decoy asteroid core. It diverts some of the kamikaze enemy seeds from the core, effectively giving the tree more energy to withstand attacks.
-give some asteroids special aesthetic and gameplay significance, such as stat boosts for seeds on adjacent asteroids
-group asteroids and give some significance to controlling an entire group. Although now that I think about it, that is the premise of the game RISK.
-ability to reduce the amount of trees, turning the trees back into 1/2 the amount of seeds. This would be very simple + not increase gameplay complexity, but will allow more competitive and 'tight' games with less micromanagement where players can sweep through the asteroid belt, bringing their army with them while 'selling' their old production trees.

And finally let me just say,
I think the commercial version of this game has huge potential for modding.

[Rudolf]

Good feedback and some very good insights.
You are spot in when it comes to balancing the longevity, replayability aspects of the game with that which makes Dyson's atmosphere what it is. It is a tightrope act, and we are very conscious of the dangers involved. Make it too complicated (like many other RTSs) and it loses it ambient/contemplative appeal. Make it too simple and the game becomes too samey. As it stands we are on the right track we think, but we will need to test the additions for the final version at one point in some kind of honest closed-beta environment, it is impossible to stay partial when you are as close to it as we are :-)

I think we will start inviting testers soonish, and hopefully it will give us the feedback we need.