Fused Finale

by ACWraith
Fused Finale
Guide travellers to the warp gate with procedurally generated rhythm.

Fused Finale version 4

ID:105917
 
Dec 19 2010, 1:26 am
I just uploaded a new version of my procedurally generated rhythm action game, Fused Finale. I've made quite a few adjustments for better pacing. I found myself really enjoying a session that began on the first workday and ended on the eleventh diagnostic. I was worried that it might be too easy, but that might be just right for the 2nd place winner of BYOND Casual's Imagination Competition.



  • Pressing the space bar will now spend excess meters on streak score multipliers that disappear after misses. Players can still have extended periods of casual button tapping, but the more hardcore can risk losses for more points. It's better to burn out than to fade away!
  • Subscribers can now start on any level they have experienced and their high scores will be saved. This applies for both Fused Finale subscribers and subscribers to my multipass, Fooldom Come. It also gives something to reference in case medals are added later.
  • Song duration has been cut in half. This also makes songs sound more uniform as what was cut often contained more time signatures.
  • Song duration no longer increases every level. Instead, it waits until there is no more room to add a certain number of notes. The intensity increases and then slowly ramps back up from roughly square one.
  • Instruments are now more varied with two more voices and random hybrids.
  • Larger scores are now supported.
  • Score displays look less like spreadsheets. Hits and streaks are now displayed with graphically-labeled meters.
  • The non-diagnostic levels are now referred to as "workdays" for consistency.
  • Paths on the third map are now slightly shorter to match those on other maps.
  • The fourth map has been redesigned to straighten paths next to the scanners.
  • Global scores can now be accessed from the title menu.
  • The menu has been redesigned to use the space bar to confirm so those still tapping won't skip past their scores.
  • The scores of guests are no longer uploaded to the hub.
  • Some miscellaneous bugs were fixed.


Go play.
Dec 19 2010, 8:54 am
I tryed this, and I completely failed at it. But not to worry, I've always been a dummy at rhythm games.
Dec 19 2010, 9:51 am
Very cool game. I could almost play Rise Of The Valkyries on the menu alone, which was a nice touch. ;)

It is, I concur, very hard though. I wonder if you could increase the level of tolerance for a successful activation just slightly.

Also, I'm not quite sure how to handle it when I get hit on two sides simultaneously. The keyboard has a tendency to ignore inputs if you mash certain keys simultaneously.
Dec 19 2010, 10:17 am
Of course, it was a lot easier after I took the time to play the introduction and figured out that it wasn't the timing that was screwing up my activations but rather that I didn't know to click *away* from the blue and also that some of them were hints that tell me which was the proper way when they hit me simultaneously (as all the rest were fakes).

Yeah, that stuff shouldn't be an optional read. Best to assume the user is a lazy bugger who will never bother to read the instruction page, because they will be the greater majority of the time. When those different symbols appear for the first time, educate the user how they work, in game.
Dec 19 2010, 10:47 am
@Geldonyetich Dude, it already makes players click through a brief summary before the first level.
Dec 19 2010, 10:55 am
Is that functionality concrete? It either didn't do it for me, or completely went over my head somehow.

The thing is, I just played the game an hour ago, and I don't remember that happening at all.
Dec 19 2010, 11:02 am
@Geldonyetich: Did you hit the space bar too many times during the ad?

(One thing not concrete is the up and down arrows to get to the subscription though. I think I forgot to update that part so only the side arrows work.)
Dec 19 2010, 11:36 am
Ah, I think that might be what happened - the thing is, I was hitting all the cursors at the time trying to get a feeling for what I was doing. Then, something weird happened: it popped open the subscription page. I figured some strange happened and re-opened the browser somehow, shrugged it off, and clicked back into the game window.