Ikari Warriors III: The Rescue

Ouch, this game gave me a headache. I just HAD to pick this as my first ZZT game to play in a long time. Eh let me just get into this.

The game's repetitive as hell. You have to fight off the same random guy that follows and shoots at you about 200 times, which is one of those dumb mistakes. Graphics are around average, which is a plus for this game.

The map design is really bad though. It needs a lot of work. You may want to outline how you want the world to go on paper some time, and ask yourself, "If someone plays this, will they get annoyed at how bad the layout is?"

You've got potential and all, just work off an original idea, kick the graphics up a notch, learn some more advanced programming methods, and design the levels better.

The progression of skill SKC Soft has showcase in the Ikari games is quite visible in the third. The detail has improved, with identifible backgrounds and far more semblance of a plot. There are some gameplay issues, but it is satisfying(and humourous) to see a 100 or so "super-soldiers" whitle their numbers down to 5 within seconds. Also one thing that should be know by anyone programming an enemy is that you can't shoot it when it's touching you, which makes the stair case scene a little annoying. There are artboards and cutscenes here, which help drive the plot. And there's a little more freedom. It's not difficult at all, you start with about 4000 health and 32000 bullets, making the shops and vending machines you encounter pointless.

FOr SKC Soft I'd suggest learning to program enemies better, using perpendicular movement, random movement, and learning when to use "?" instead of "/". There are times when the enemies get hung up in their flailing deaths. Learning what makes a good enemy in zzt can really only only come from playing others games, and doing a lot of experimentation.

Graphically I think it's time for SKC Soft to start experimenting with either ZZTAE's fade tool, or kededit's gradient tool, even if his choice is to use the built-in editor, this will give him some idea about what a good fade looks like.

Also he needs to work on his symmety.

I saw the improvements in this one I suggested to him previously, so I hope this encourages him more. Good luck.