Consolidated Request and Improvement List Thread - Fist Puncher

I'm starting this thread to have a place for people playing the Alpha to make requests for things they would like to see added or improved in Fist Puncher. I'll add to this post as more requests come in from people playing the Alpha release.

- Programmable keyboard input (bind the controls to user's choice of keyboard keys)

- Make the game fullscreen

- Character voices

- Music too quiet, subdued. Need to raise volume of music

- Cut scenes could be faster (possibly an audio cure when dialog text appears)

- First boss too hard

- Weapons break after certain number of uses

- More play modes including team survival, and versus survival

- Online co-op

Edited by: FistPuncherMattKain

I love the new update. Deeper fight sounds, in-game help, and the readable newspaper headlines in-game. I like the idea of having SOME weapons break after a certain number of uses, like chairs, for example. I like the other suggestions on your list, particularly online co-op. Fist Puncher was made for co-op

Too many non-standard GAME OVERs. It's great that there's a lot of variety in the game, but it's the sort of variety that breaks the game:
- Bike Chase. Getting a GAME OVER in two hits regardless of your stats is unfair. Hell, at least in Battletoads' bike level I have multiple lives! The ability to heal during it would at least make it somewhat fair (not sure if the inability to heal was intended or not, but the player losing Special for trying and not getting the health is an already reported bug).
- Purple Subway Line. If your stats aren't high enough, you are dead in 90 seconds. That's all there is to it. GAME OVER, and your only error was entering the level too early. Something like this that isn't balanced for the earliest a player could possibly get there is NEVER fair. And sanity forbid someone might put a point in a stat other than Strength!
- Anarchy Mall's arcade machine inside the batting cages. A survival challenge is great and all, but when it's over, it's GAME OVER, so what's the point? (Unless it has an ending I've yet to reach. But for a level reachable so early, it's awfully tough!)
- DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON FALLING OFF THE TRUCK. Not to mention the very first thing I tried to do in that level was hop onto the cab.
You may note that none of these are even that far into the game. I shudder to think of what game design evils may lie further in! I'm thinking that at this point, the whole GAME OVER situation should be reconsidered, as this is already a long list of WTFs. Multiple lives is one option, but then that would only seem necessary specifically to deal with these sorts of issues. Maybe a Nightshade-style "fight for your extra life" (putting that arcade machine design to good use)?

- Bike Chase: originally we had it 1 hit! We're trying to find that sweet spot for hits so it isn't too easy.

- Purple line: we definitely intended this to be the first really tough level. It's not easy, but it can be beat with lower level fighters if you use dash attacks cleverly (group cultists together > hit with dash > stomp > repeat). We're also hoping that if someone gets there too early and can't beat it, that they can go level up on levels they haven't played rather than grinding through one level over and over to power up their fighters.

- Horror arcade machine: meant more as a hidden, non-essential level. It's very, very hard. There is a reward for beating it.

- trucks: we went back and forth on this. There's code for a sort of balance perk that allows characters to not fall off when they walk close to a side. Might need to make this active. Thought was that even though it's easy to fall off, the levels are short so it's not like you lose a lot of progress.

There are definitely some other hard levels in the next half of the game. I'd say Greenline subway, Yellowline subway, Purpleline Subway, Dracogen lab (non-essential level), Chemical plant (there's a trick for the patient, non-violent player), Ostrich Farm, and the final fights are the hardest parts of the game. We definitely went old school hard, but some of these levels will probably be lightened (and other made a little tougher) during these final weeks of balancing.

It's one thing to have stupid-hard levels. It's another to tell the player "GAME OVER" upon failing them. You sure you don't want to simply say "TRY AGAIN?" or "WHAT NOW?" on the Replay Level/Back to Map screen? "GAME OVER" implies total failure (or total victory) and a need to start over, but that doesn't seem to be what you're going for at all.
About that Purple Line strategy: that actually sounds like it could work and make the level far more reasonable... IF dash attacks were actually consistent. About a third of the time in my experience, Dr. Karate never unleashes an attack; he stops tumbling right in front of the enemy I try to dash attack into and just stands there waiting to be hit. One time, upon contact with an enemy, not only did no attack come out, but Dr. Karate started flickering between two different frames of animation, making it look like he was trying to headbutt the enemy thirty times a second. Funny, but definitely glitch territory. I suppose the tactic would still work with specials instead (I'm thinking Dr. Karate's Flash Kick, natch), but I don't know if that's an option for every character. Frankly, I'm surprised dash attacks are something that don't come out right away, rather than this tumbling-until-you-find-an-enemy deal you've got going on... especially since Dr. Karate has a perk to increase their range.