The game really needs some good polishing

[kalnon]

Hello, to the developer:

I find your game interesting to play sometimes and I really like the lovely graphics but the game definitely still needs work. I think it really needs a lot of good polishing, things that need fixing like animal animations are sometimes glitchy or broken, when you crouch in first person view, the camera just jumps down instantly which I find annoying and a bit disorienting, there should be a crouching animation or movement there, the gunplay is not great, it feels pretty bland.

Driving physics need improvement, a bit more realistic driving physics makes driving more fun. Once I shot a rabbit that was just standing there, looking around and twitching it's nose, I shot it right in the head, blood splattered but the rabbit still just sat there alive, looking around. I think the game has enough of the major content for now...

It just really needs a lot of the fixing of little things like this that could greatly improve the enjoyment of the gameplay. I realize the developer has put a lot of effort into this game so far but I would love to see all these types of things fixed.

I know fixing the "little things" is something that developers tend to put off for a long time, but the more major content and other large changes are added as updates, those little things start piling up which greatly diminishes how immersive and fun the game play is.

You have a good base of a survival game here and I really like the graphics, it just greatly needs some attention to the details. This is where you can really make your game shine, it needs a lot of bug fixing and other smaller improvements to make the gameplay feel more unique and special and engaging.

For some reason, your graphics style sort of reminds me of Far Cry 5 (my favorite Far Cry game of all), the attention to details. I know it's not exactly a survival game like this but It was well polished and the attention to details was outstanding.

Story: For example a unique detail that really stood out to me in FC5, After many hours of playing, I was running across a beautiful open field, it was quite, for once, no bad guys or animals trying to kill me, the light was just turning to dusk and I noticed a campfire off in the distance. I walked up to to investigate and as I got closer I could here music and I suddenly realized the song was Nirvana's unplugged version of Pennyroyal Tea was hearing being played, then I could just make out in the distance, two men, sitting in chairs at the campfire, drinking beer, one of the playing the guitar and playing and singing the song, in the middle of a big open field in the middle of all the chaos.

Just something unique that really makes you stop and just think for a moment,"Wow, this game really is amazing!"

[Ares-X]

Hello Kalnon,

Thank you very much for your feedback and your review.

Yes, you are right, often it’s the little things that make a game special. Developers often postpone these for various reasons, whether it’s because current problems need to be resolved or because the pressure on the developer is very high, caused by issues that need to be solved. The team size also plays a role and has a significant impact on development.

As a developer, I always pursue three main goals to provide updates that include bug fixes, new features, and changes. Smaller details are often inserted in between or integrated over a longer period; it always depends on the current situation. However, for this game, I had to focus on fixing problems for a longer time. The transition I made from UE4 to UE5 brought numerous unexpected problems to light, which became apparent through player feedback and significantly delayed the development of the game. In the meantime, many of these problems have been fixed and should no longer negatively impact the gaming experience.

It is important to note that this survival (sandbox) game is heavily focused on base building and simple survival, without complex mechanics. It is mainly intended for beginners or players who like to build in a relaxed way without much stress.

Yes, the driving physics could be improved a bit. At the moment, they fulfill their purpose, but I understand what you mean.

Regarding the problems you mentioned, are they more things that could be improved or actual issues? If you know specific problems, I would be happy to hear about them so I can take a closer look at them.

[kalnon]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It's good to know you are still working on all aspects of the game for improvement. I'm sure being a small indie developer (probably just yourself) creates more pressure to fix things and will mean it will take longer to fix everything.

I'm no developer but I'm sure switching to a different game engine version I know can sometimes have a lot of unexpected impacts as I've seen it happen with plenty of other games too.

The mechanics don't necessarily need to be complex for a game to be great, just needs to be a bit more unique and interesting enough to give the player enough enjoyment to keep going and going. The gunplay for this style of game, I believe however, should have some kind of complexity to it, or just try to make it a little more natural "feeling" since guns are an important thing in this type of game and will likely be used a lot.

I realize it will likely just take a lot of time for a single man development team to make the type of game you are making and make it well.

I do not have anything else to report yet as I don't have a lot of time in the game yet but if I find other issues, I will certainly bring them up here when I can.

Thank you and please KeepUp the good work :)

[Ares-X]

Hello kalnon, I often take the time to reply to users. It's not always easy to reply promptly, but I do my best.

Yes, I am a solo developer, but I have a nice community that always stands by my side, that makes a lot of difference. I have also developed other small games, but KeepUp Survival is my problem child in development, which always needs a lot of attention here and there.

You can also reach me on Discord if you have any questions. https://discord.gg/8zyKXj9SDr

Here you can find my Steam franchise: https://store.steampowered.com/franchise/witte-studio

[kalnon]

Originally posted by Ares-X:

Hello kalnon, I often take the time to reply to users. It's not always easy to reply promptly, but I do my best.

Yes, I am a solo developer, but I have a nice community that always stands by my side, that makes a lot of difference. I have also developed other small games, but KeepUp Survival is my problem child in development, which always needs a lot of attention here and there.

You can also reach me on Discord if you have any questions. https://discord.gg/8zyKXj9SDr

Here you can find my Steam franchise: https://store.steampowered.com/franchise/witte-studio

Yes I know most developers love their children dearly even though they cause you a ton of headaches lol

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out.