"Thats strange. What happens exactly. The race finishes and the screen goes blank?"
No, I just hear new music and menu sounds. Everyhting else remains the same. I still see the course, and rider. I'm not sure but I might see a thin line appear at the top of the screen too. Unless that's always there.
"thats what the trails are there for. They show the actual direction you are moving in."
That's not good enough. Obviously the trail shows you where you've been, but it does not instantaneously provide feedback that you have pressed the turn button. You should get a visual, and a change in sound. Play F-Zero for the N64 or SNES. You'll see the rudder move, and the noise the ship makes change.
Speaking of the noise the ship makes, do your hoverboards even make noise? I don't recall hearing any now that I think about it.
"-- Where did you read that? There are 4 grandprixs each with 16 tracks in the full game."
Well obviously I didn't read it in your game! :-)
I saw the first screen showed five levels, and I couldn't finish the first race, and I didn't get to see that "you didn't do well enough to advance to the next level" screen.
As a shareware game you need to have screens and stuff which say "get all this when you register!" And you should show that there are more circuits on the level selection screen. Of course maybe you DO have a screen when you quit the game that shows this stuff but I never got to that point.
"Although I would have thought the four screenshots of vastly different tracks on each of the four grandprixs would have given you a small hint."
Were there four screenshots on that first screen? I thought there were five. Anyhow, I thought those were LEVELS, not whole circuits. I don't remember seeing anyhting which indicated to me those screenshots represented groups of levels. In Mario Kart, you have a circuit selection screen, and then you have a screen where you select the actual track to race on. Though there is a game mode you can play where you go through a whole circuit so you don't get the individual level secreen.
"That is there. The further behind you get the slower your opponents go."
Well it wasn't enough to let me catch up. :-)
"Buy the full game. There are a couple of tracks that involve jumping off of cliffs/ down the side of steep hills."
I (the consumer) will not buy the full game unless the demo shows me that the full game will be fun. Of course you are supposed to hold some stuff back, but not major gameplay elements.
Your shareware version makes me think that the game lacks any weapons, has no jumps, and no way to gain additional nitros. The only thing to do is drive around the track with some racing physics which while fun, are somewhat lacking. Play F-Zero and see how they make the game fun even though there are no weapons. You take damage when you hit the sides of the track, and can go over glowing track segments to gain back life. Each lap you get another nitro. The ships accelerate over time to get moving very fast, and can go over jumps and explode when you fly off the track. You can turn, but you can also strafe side to side which gives you more control and makes turning more fun. There are also differences in how fast you go over certain sections of track which makes it a challenge to stay on the fastest terrain.
I am not trying to detract from your game, I'm trying to help you by offering suggestions on things which would improve it and make it sell more. Obviously each game is different, and you should not make a game exactly like wipeout, or exaclty like fzero, but you have to have more to the game besides simply driving around the track. This is clearly not a simulation of real racing.
No, I just hear new music and menu sounds. Everyhting else remains the same. I still see the course, and rider. I'm not sure but I might see a thin line appear at the top of the screen too. Unless that's always there.
"thats what the trails are there for. They show the actual direction you are moving in."
That's not good enough. Obviously the trail shows you where you've been, but it does not instantaneously provide feedback that you have pressed the turn button. You should get a visual, and a change in sound. Play F-Zero for the N64 or SNES. You'll see the rudder move, and the noise the ship makes change.
Speaking of the noise the ship makes, do your hoverboards even make noise? I don't recall hearing any now that I think about it.
"-- Where did you read that? There are 4 grandprixs each with 16 tracks in the full game."
Well obviously I didn't read it in your game! :-)
I saw the first screen showed five levels, and I couldn't finish the first race, and I didn't get to see that "you didn't do well enough to advance to the next level" screen.
As a shareware game you need to have screens and stuff which say "get all this when you register!" And you should show that there are more circuits on the level selection screen. Of course maybe you DO have a screen when you quit the game that shows this stuff but I never got to that point.
"Although I would have thought the four screenshots of vastly different tracks on each of the four grandprixs would have given you a small hint."
Were there four screenshots on that first screen? I thought there were five. Anyhow, I thought those were LEVELS, not whole circuits. I don't remember seeing anyhting which indicated to me those screenshots represented groups of levels. In Mario Kart, you have a circuit selection screen, and then you have a screen where you select the actual track to race on. Though there is a game mode you can play where you go through a whole circuit so you don't get the individual level secreen.
"That is there. The further behind you get the slower your opponents go."
Well it wasn't enough to let me catch up. :-)
"Buy the full game. There are a couple of tracks that involve jumping off of cliffs/ down the side of steep hills."
I (the consumer) will not buy the full game unless the demo shows me that the full game will be fun. Of course you are supposed to hold some stuff back, but not major gameplay elements.
Your shareware version makes me think that the game lacks any weapons, has no jumps, and no way to gain additional nitros. The only thing to do is drive around the track with some racing physics which while fun, are somewhat lacking. Play F-Zero and see how they make the game fun even though there are no weapons. You take damage when you hit the sides of the track, and can go over glowing track segments to gain back life. Each lap you get another nitro. The ships accelerate over time to get moving very fast, and can go over jumps and explode when you fly off the track. You can turn, but you can also strafe side to side which gives you more control and makes turning more fun. There are also differences in how fast you go over certain sections of track which makes it a challenge to stay on the fastest terrain.
I am not trying to detract from your game, I'm trying to help you by offering suggestions on things which would improve it and make it sell more. Obviously each game is different, and you should not make a game exactly like wipeout, or exaclty like fzero, but you have to have more to the game besides simply driving around the track. This is clearly not a simulation of real racing.