Need brutal feedback on teaser/game

Everything about this is super generic. You might as well call it Indie Games: The Game. Zombies, level art "inspired" by Mario, tons of blood, slow mo mechanic(?) and the dumb name that has nothing to do with the game. The only way you can get away with such a truly uninspired game is if the gameplay is nigh perfect.

I would make a different trailer, if you want people to see the gameplay. It was nearly impossible to keep watching through the intro.

Even assuming people will like that part, it just goes on for way too long.

Also I said this before, but Mario stuff is so over. When you're making the same retro game references as t-shirts from the Gap, it's time to reconsider some things.

Yeah the into animation is not very good and the singing is tolerable to grating and the gameplay looks weird/bad at what I'm assuming is a fraction of the actual speed. If you want to get me, a gamer, interested, don't get cute/clever. Show me how crazy your game can get. Show me gameplay depth or a skill ceiling that will hold my interest for more than 15 minutes.

@saturdaynightspecials: @corruptedevil: Thank you for being candid, it shows how bad things are communicated on our part. Yes, it must seem generic, doesn't explain why the world feels like Mario (it's because this world is a parody of it, evil Dario and stuff), doesn't explain the name and the animation goes on for too long. I see it now.

That is actually so simple and right that it hurts. Yeah, gameplay is at a fraction of the speed to go with the music and this kind of killed it because it is a really fast game.

Thanks to the three of you (and those who voted of course) - hope to see more. The feedback is super valuable and will really help with the next trailer. I just love this forum, don't get why not every developer does this.

Probably because most people can't handle such brutal feedback, even when they ask for it, with as much grace as you. Kudos for that.

@monstersarehere: Oh, I watched this earlier and intended to write some feedback, but I must've forgot.

I think the whole quirky approach to the trailer is gonna be a hit or miss kind of thing that depends on the person, so it wouldn't be a good idea to rely on that sort of trailer on its own. I think having another trailer or two that center around what you'll be getting if you buy the game would render most of the issues with this one forgivable. As for this one, I can see where you're going with the animation and song, but even still, I felt like it didn't quite get there. Or maybe it was that I felt like it got there and I understood that it got there, but it still kept going. Wasn't sure what to think when the actual gameplay showed, because there wasn't much and it was all slowed to the point where they could have been screenshots and conveyed a clearer message.

The way I see it, shortening it would be smart, because somebody who'd be into the sorta-cutesy teaser trailer will pick up on it pretty fast, and those that aren't might say, "what the hell did I just watch?" and potentially check out a gameplay-focused video. But because of its current length (as I'm sure you noticed) people that are turned off by that stuff just found it grating.

I'd also like to mention that I'm absolutely sick of zombies, but I'm not above playing "yet another zombie game" if it's good.

And while video was very well done, it didn't make a lot of sense. It wasn't even something I took the wrong way. One minute she's saying he's cute and her one true love, the next she's cutting his head off. It's attention getting, but unless it makes sense given the context of the game, I'd just include it as a bonus video or an Easter egg.

The voice acting was really damn good, though. That's especially true for the girl. Far better than I was expecting.

Lastly, I'll also include myself in the group of people who get excited by trailers that explain the features of the game, and make it look fun and worth playing.

For example, this trailer does a pretty good job of explaining the game, but I personally would have also mentioned the loot focus and skill unlocks that are a big part of the game:

I found it amusing when she cut off the zombie's head at the end of the song (although I feel that intro went on for too long; I'm not sure I would've stuck around long enough to see the punchline under normal circumstances). The super-violent gameplay backed with melodramatic music was also pretty funny, so I say the trailer works in conveying the game's tone (if that's indeed the tone you're going for). But I don't feel I have a good grasp about how your game plays, which is the primary reason I, or anyone, would want to play it. I can appreciate the humour you're going for, and I do think it's a good idea to convey tone in a trailer, but I'd suggest doing so while utilizing raw unedited gameplay footage that showcases the game's depth and features.

The actual game part looks terrible in slow motion. I think it's because of the limited animation of the enemies which really stick out when the game is slowed down. It was especially jarring when you transitioned from the smooth "cutscene" animation to the, because of the slowmo, choppy looking gameplay. I would have liked to get a better idea of how the game was going to play like, even if it was just very brief.

On the bright side I thought the colors and the style of the "animation part" looked good.

It wasn't very funny. The zombie's design is cool, I guess, for a zombie, but the girl's face grosses me out. Why are there ? blocks in you game? That's lame; you're not Mario. I can't see any gameplay through the slow-mo. Why does just another fucking zombie massacre game exist? Please stop.

Okay, so here is my feedback: Problem #1 is, as other said, that the name makes no sense, at least when you only watch the teaser. Looking at the name I expected something like a post apocalyptic action game with cows, it looks like a zombie game with a little anime girl. The gameplay itself looks interesting, but the slow-mo is overdone and a bit annoying while also making the gore look too excessive. I don't mind the lenght of the animation at the beginning though the music doesn't fit the gameplay later AT ALL. It would be a better idea (in my opinion) to let the animation finish then cut to some fast, rocking music and fast action packed gameplay. It's an old but effective method.

As I said the long animation at the beginning doesn't bother me, however I can see how it might turn off people watching this for the first time same with the Mario design. The whole teaser would be a better fit for a second teaser/trailer, have the first one explain the world/gameplay/name, get people interested in the game first and then you can show this one. Just some ideas though, I'm neither a developer nor a business man so keep that in mind.

Okay well here we go....

1: Opening animation was boring and weak. Looked like budget RPG maker stuff. Also not actual game graphics so an immediate turn off for no reason.

2: Zombies. Seriously, can we move on? Plants Vs Zombies I can still tolerate it, or as one enemy type in a game with 1000 other enemy types fine. But if your game is about nothing but killing zombies then yeah over it, and if it isn't just zombies you shouldn't have headlined the zombies.

3: The singing was cringe worthy and if I weren't sticking with it to give a full legit opinion I would have stopped your trailer way before the gameplay part.

4: Needs more gameplay, need to show something about the gameplay that makes it stand out. All scenes being slow mo don't make sense because surely the game doesn't always play that slow?

5: And yeah... if you are going to name your game Apocolypse Cow then you need to include some cow related joke in there and maybe end it with a Cow chewing cud only to have a grenade land in front of it then look at the camera and moo so it can explode into a huge gory mess. Or something like that.

Advice, other than exploding cow bit.... speed up animation in begining. Remove singing, leave cutesy bgm. Let it just be girl sees zombie, zombie smiles, she winks, they charge, go to decap. Remove slow moe from gameplay. Play something like rock or whatever during the gameplay. Make lots of fast cuts, something to make it look more exciting. Try to show more than zombie enemies.... there are more than zombies right?

I thought the trailer was fine. It's just an announcement trailer - it introduced me to the world and the general gameplay. The animation wasn't fantastic, but that doesn't matter, it's clearly a well made video. I do think the gameplay should be sped up and go crazy at the end though, the whole thing is too one note. You should change the music to some fast paced thing at the end and really build excitement and pace.

Focus on spreading that video around through social media, ect. It's not the kind of thing that will go viral so you need to work a lot to gain exposure for the game. Start releasing lots of videos focusing on a single element; gameplay, story, art, ect.

Huh... sorry, but that was pretty bad, didn't get me interested in any of it :(

The reasons I think everyone stated, slow motion with so few animation frames does not work, the animation goes for too long on a joke you catch on the first second, it needed to show more of the game itself or not show it at all.

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Thanks, x