I hate that all buildings are not rendered farther than few hundreds or sometimes tens of meters away and objects disappearing literally from next to me, which makes most of the map invisible. This makes navigation impossible because I can't see anything in the distance and I can't move to places unless I skate everywhere in their vicinity or I know them clearly by heart. I hope this will be solved in the future.
This game is awesome! Still in development, but for now, I love the aesthetic and the overall concept of the game! The controls are really good and it's a very fun game to play. I'm excited to see more of the game!
This seems like an amazing game that I would love to try. But sadly I have a mac... Is there any way you could get a mac version out? If not that's understandable. Have a good day.
I am a very picky player. I'll be honest, out of the hundreds of games I have, I still play like 5. This game is very chill and relaxing, a perfect way to spend couple hours winding down after being tilted. The movement while being the main component to the game and is really fun, I feel like it could be improved upon. Mostly, the jumping. At times I feel like the jumping is way too high and too inaccurate. I have no idea what it takes to create a video game, but I can tell whomever is reading this, the creators took time into this and 100% is a game to watch out for. With a little tweaking on movement in my opinion, I feel like this game could easily compete against some Triple A games.
I'm here to post a review, and a few other things.
I know it is only Early Access right now, but so far this game is pretty epic. If you are a fan of Jet Set Radio, this game is definitely a must get. It's got skating, colorful and cool locations/characters, and a really good song that constantly loops (I'm pretty sure more songs will come...). The controls are a bit weird and slippery which took me some time getting used to, and the camera is not automatic, but you have to adjust it every time you turn, but don't let that steer you away from the game. Once you get used to the controls doing tricks gets very satisfying, especially when you get a 6 trick combo. The world, even though its not finished, is really big and fun to explore. I've spent most of the time just skating around and exploring instead of trying to figure out what I am supposed to do next. As I mentioned earlier there is only one song that loops in the background and it is actually pretty epic for the first 10-20 minutes, then it gets annoying. I have a solution to that until more music is added, mute the song and listen to your own music (I recommend listening to jetsetradio.live since this game is inspired by Jet Set Radio, it only seems fitting). Other than the few annoying things (1 song, controls, and camera) this game is actually quite fun and I can't wait for more to come in the future, and to experience the finished product!
As a rollerblader who actually does tricks and grinds I have a few additional things that bother me (just because) feel free to ignore this part or read and feel either smarter with this new knowledge, or nothing new because I'm some random dude on the internet. First off, I have issues with the names of the tricks, such as the manual, riding backwards, and "reverse" spins. Starting with the manual, I noticed that there are two different types of manuals in the game. When doing a manual forward it is on the heel and one footed so that's what is called a heel roll. When going backwards (fakie, as it is actually called) its a manual on the toe, which is called a toe roll. These are manuals, but when most bladers think manual, they think of both feet rolling on either both back wheels, both on the front wheels, or one on the front wheel and one on the back wheel. I noticed while playing this, that some tricks were "reverse". I have no clue what that meant. Either it was referring to rewind spins which is when you spin off the obstacle the opposite way you spun onto it, or switch which is spinning your non-dominant way. Those few things with naming. I saw some images of blades in the game with brakes and I was like heck no, brakes make tricks more dangerous and they feel so weird and unsafe ironically lol. That and I don't see any hblock (the gap put between wheels on aggressive skates for grinds) or any gap in general between wheels making me bothered about why isn't there any wheel bite? I know its a video game and it doesn't really matter but as a blader, it really makes me anxious. I know everything I mentioned in this paragraph doesn't really matter and probably only I am bothered by this, but I am a blader and I feel the need to put it out there.
That being said I am going to make a few suggestions which I believe would be a great addition to the game: First off, the controls. I get that they are how they are for a reason, but at least let there be a way to stop quickly, like a power slide. Please, it will make things a lot easier and faster instead of struggling to stop by changing direction endlessly. Also please let there be some sort of follow cam, kind of like in JSR, where you can adjust it when you want but for the most part its behind you. Also there should be some sort of hint thing, somewhere you can go to when you have no clue as to what you are supposed to do, kind of like the bath house lady in Shantae 4, just a small hint on what you should do or check out. I am stuck right now (I just got my SFS license) and I have no clue whether there is nothing to do cause it is still early access or because I am just stupid. Also can there be a way to toggle flash when using the drone to take screenshots? It is a cool feature but the pics I take always end up terribly because the flash makes everything so bright in an already bright environment. Also please, please add more songs! The one gets annoying quickly.
Other than that I don't have much else to say besides check out the game, I highly recommend it, and don't let the camera and controls discourage and drive you away from the game. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this awesome game!
I played the game and it looks really good so far! Love the art style, the colours and overall design. The music also suits the game well! I think the game has a lot of potential. I'll be following this project.
Gameplay itself, however.. I could not enjoy it. At all. Maybe I missed something or it is just me, but I could barely control the character whilst moving. With the back slide boost, she'd go too fast and too far, I wish there was a brake option. This often made the camera getting 'stuck' behind the character and I had no idea where I was or what was going on.
I like the grinding part, looks really cool, but again, hard to control. Like the range for it to connect on the rails feels to small. She also often jumped too high or far to get on them and then ended up somewhere completely different.
Now at the arena (after getting the badges), the LMB + RMB did not seem to work, or it activated when not intended. Also the X button to break the ESpheres did nothing for me.
Lastly, I found out that once you enter the tutorial or the VR challenges and decided to leave them, the game reset itself. I had to talk to everyone again, get the quests activated etc.
So my conclusion: cool game, has potential and would make for a fun game to play imo. But at the current state, it feels unplayable, which is unfortunate. The controls really need a lot op optimizing.. I'll still be following the project, however, and come back to it when it's improved!
I have to say, just watching the screenshots and demo videos was more than enough for me to get engrossed. I absolutely loved the demo. This music is really great, and I hope we get a full soundtrack release when the game is completed.
The aesthetic choices you all made was really great, I enjoyed just racing up and down the bazaar/marketplace with the music blaring in my ears, it really felt like a slice of a much larger world!
There was some performance issues on my end , but I'm sure that will get sorted out as well. The pseudo-tank controls take a bit of geting used to, but with some practice I think it shouldn't be a problem for most.
This was a great game and I am looking forward to playing this on full release.
Also I enjoyed this game a lot and I spoke more about the level and world design and some additional thoughts of what it reminds me of as well.
I am IN LOVE with the ideas and the aesthetics of this game but I just can't enjoy it very much in it's current state. The controls are too difficult for me and I feel like the grinding especially does not lock on in a large enough radius for practical game play. I really hope these things are improved because I would be so so so so keen on playing this game in its entirely if the movement controls are improved. Thank you for making it and providing a free demo regardless! <3
The world and its characters that you have created are so interesting and fun! I really like the music as well in the game :D
I don't know if you've heard of Game Development World Championship before (gdwc2019) but it's a competition for indie game developers where they can submit their games and it's free! It's great if you want some more visibility for the game and it only takes a couple of minutes to join :)
is there maybe a chance you'll port this over to mac.
i really like this game but my pc can't handle and i use my mom's imac, so if you ever port it i would be forever grateful if not this game is still amazing and good job on it
Just completed the demo. It's pretty great, although my xbox one controller wasn't beeing detected for somewhat reason so I had to play using the mouse and keyboard. I dunno why but I started for feel queezy, might be because I'm using the mouse to move the camera and it's not in flow enough with the gameplay (I'm moving it too much I think). I love the style, sound, music, and gameplay. It feels simple enough to pick up and play but hard enough so when you do master it, it'll feel worth it rather than "oh i've mastered this game in 5 minutes". Looking forward to more from this. Hopefully my controller will work next time, and maybe even a console release would be cool if possible.
Oh? I'll try to debug that xbox one problem before release. Thank you for your kind words by the way! And yeah I'll try to get the project on consoles if I can! :D
This is a pretty neat demo/prototype! The momentum based controls are something to get used to, but they're not bad! It does have a very Jet Set Radio vibe to it. I did make a video about it!
First off, this game looks amazing! Great job on the presentation and level design.
There is a reason that games rarely innovate on controls. Trying to reinvent what a lot of pro developers have refined over decades of games is only going to limit your audience. The players who want to pay for this are the same players who like other skating games. Player expectation is very important if you want to be succesful. If a lot of players are immediately turned off by your controlls, you are doing something wrong. Players are not going to say: "Wow, this game controlls really weird. Let me go find a video where the developer explains his philosophy about these controls... Now that I understand his vision, its all good." The more likely outcome is players will think it feels bad, play for a few min, then leave a negative review.
This is the same for any genre. The reason that 99% of every racing game, every FPS, every MMO, every fighting game, every 3D platformer all controls the same is based on player comfort and expectation. It is impossible for players to be immersed in a world where they are not comfortable with basic movement.
I think you have a lot of great ideas here and a potential hit on your hands. I hope it doesnt get overlooked by your desire to reinvent the wheel.
Thanks for your insight. I agree with what you say, and I don't intend for any player to watch my devlog before playing my game. I still have a long way to go and I intend to polish the game for the player to have a very pleasant experience, even with new control to learn. I know in general that controls have been refined to a point each genre has its own standardized control mapping. On the other hand, roller skating as a genre in the video game history, wasn't refined at all. Only 5 video games can be called roller skating games, without going to obscure flash games played by 10 people. And among those 5 games, 2 of them are good enough to remember, but they are also the same IP : Jet Set Radio 1 and 2. So we can't really talk about generations of AAA developers refining the controls. Especially when you know JSR was underestimated by Sega and had no budget and tiny team. I think my control mapping is an improvement, or a refinement to stay aligned with our discussion, but it needs both more polish and a little time to get used to as any new thing. I don't think it's that bad of a brand new control mapping, it's just a hybrid between a car game and JSR, so it's not completely alien, and I believe this can bring something fresh and cool. But I agree that as it is now, the game will get negative review and I'll even think it deserve it. I'll need to work on everything a lot more to get where I want, and those reviews are helpful to get me there.
I agree that specifically roller skating games are few and far between, but skating (skateboards) are similar enough to utilize the same general controls. Its the difference between a motorcycle racing game and a car racing game. They still control the same way.
I have been making games for a long time and I have seen multiple good games get no traction because of "unique" controls. I really dont want to see that happen to you. BTW, I dont think there is anything wrong with having unique mechanics that have non-standard controls. Its simply the primary control method of moving around should be what people have come to expect. If you are Nintendo or a very well known developer, you can get away with doing something really different. With the game industry as flooded with content as it is now, players have about 3 min of attention to be immersed into your world before they move on to any of the other 10,000 games that came out this year.
Can you think of successful indie games that heavily innovated on basic controls?
Hum I get your point of view, but even so I don't think I went that far into "something really different" nor "heavily innovating", I'm just mixing 2 genres... and oh yes I can think of a dozen indie games using crazier controls than what I plan... and ended up being awesome : Papers please, Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy, Road of the Dead, QWOP, Octodad, Surgeon Simulator, Snake Pass, Grow Home, Enviro Bear 2000, FTL, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Darkest Dungeon, Captain Forever Remix, Olli olli, Hammerfight, Insatia. Those titles have more or less heavily innovative control, but I think they all go equally or further than I do. I'm basically just mixing classic driving games and classic third person game's control mapping.
Alright, let's suppose I make Neon Tail controls exactly like JSR, first I lose quite a lot of new features, and new game designs, as well as all my tricks and combo system. Then I also lose all the hooks / features that goes with it, that I can use to present or promote the project with (The classic question from bosses / investors being "What differentiate your games from XXX?") Right now, I already get comments saying I ripped off JSR, I got no creativity, etc... not that I really mind, it's the internet, but killing what's different in fear of adaptability is not an absolute win win situation. I would say it has its risks, but making a clone has its own too. 1 (big I concede) plus, many (risky I concede, but oh so much more interesting for both the players and the devs) minus, all not absolute in theire positive or negative feedback as for the same feature, some will love it or get intrigued or interested, others will hate it, get bored, already seen, or too much effort to get in. I'm thankful for your efforts to convince me otherwise out of a very supportive thought, but... I'm not really convinced rolling this back is the way... I'm more into polishing this until it's brought smoothly and gets intuitive to take in hand through game design. At most, our discussion might make me look for a way to go in between... I'll think about it. :o
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Wish I was smart enough to make a game this intense, great job!
and also those email things or whatever.
does anyone know how to earn money I don't know...I feel like a idiot.
I swear this is so stupid but I'm so confused what's the select key in this game? yup I know stupid.
I'm checking tomorrow
ive been trying for an hour i still dont kno
i found out...WHYYYYYYYY
I hate that all buildings are not rendered farther than few hundreds or sometimes tens of meters away and objects disappearing literally from next to me, which makes most of the map invisible. This makes navigation impossible because I can't see anything in the distance and I can't move to places unless I skate everywhere in their vicinity or I know them clearly by heart. I hope this will be solved in the future.
this game gives off yameii online / cyberpunk vibes
Apparently if you skip tutorial you get in a kind of hell where you have to train by yourself, and it has magic trees and mad dryads.
Yeah, if playing first time, please go through the tutorial, the control system is fun if you master it!
JET SET RADIOOOOOO
Coolest roller skating game :D
Where is Lero's workshop?
Damn bro she thicc
i did a video on this game demo, absolutely love the feeling of skating in neon tail
Me: Yeah... looks hella cool
My potato: Dude, this is si-💥💥
this game looks like fire make more games
Gameplay is very kind and dynamic! Very good game 9.2/10
This game looks interesting
too bad it runs like crap on my potato which is surprising for a game on itch.io
Edit: Although that was like a year ago so It might be fine now
Thank you :D
So please try it ~~
Looks like it might be pretty fun to play sometime.
Thank you :D
Try it please ~~
Not sure when though. :)
:D
Sorry, I don't talk through comments, that's why I have a Twitter for people to direct message me on or they can add me on Discord if they ask.
This game is awesome! Still in development, but for now, I love the aesthetic and the overall concept of the game! The controls are really good and it's a very fun game to play. I'm excited to see more of the game!
Thank you, we'll finish chapter 1 before 2021 Apr. and start to polish game!
This seems like an amazing game that I would love to try. But sadly I have a mac... Is there any way you could get a mac version out? If not that's understandable. Have a good day.
Hi Electropop1
Sorry , now we don't have mac, so we can't build and no time to test it, thank you for liking our working :D
I can point you towards a software call Wine that runs windows apps on MacOS and Linux
I recommend to download PlayOnMac
Thank you Tea_Baggins!
i want to try this game and i like it...
Thank you:D
Thank you, we'll considered it!!!!
I am here to post a review.
I am a very picky player. I'll be honest, out of the hundreds of games I have, I still play like 5. This game is very chill and relaxing, a perfect way to spend couple hours winding down after being tilted. The movement while being the main component to the game and is really fun, I feel like it could be improved upon. Mostly, the jumping. At times I feel like the jumping is way too high and too inaccurate. I have no idea what it takes to create a video game, but I can tell whomever is reading this, the creators took time into this and 100% is a game to watch out for. With a little tweaking on movement in my opinion, I feel like this game could easily compete against some Triple A games.
I'm here to post a review, and a few other things.
I know it is only Early Access right now, but so far this game is pretty epic. If you are a fan of Jet Set Radio, this game is definitely a must get. It's got skating, colorful and cool locations/characters, and a really good song that constantly loops (I'm pretty sure more songs will come...). The controls are a bit weird and slippery which took me some time getting used to, and the camera is not automatic, but you have to adjust it every time you turn, but don't let that steer you away from the game. Once you get used to the controls doing tricks gets very satisfying, especially when you get a 6 trick combo. The world, even though its not finished, is really big and fun to explore. I've spent most of the time just skating around and exploring instead of trying to figure out what I am supposed to do next. As I mentioned earlier there is only one song that loops in the background and it is actually pretty epic for the first 10-20 minutes, then it gets annoying. I have a solution to that until more music is added, mute the song and listen to your own music (I recommend listening to jetsetradio.live since this game is inspired by Jet Set Radio, it only seems fitting). Other than the few annoying things (1 song, controls, and camera) this game is actually quite fun and I can't wait for more to come in the future, and to experience the finished product!
As a rollerblader who actually does tricks and grinds I have a few additional things that bother me (just because) feel free to ignore this part or read and feel either smarter with this new knowledge, or nothing new because I'm some random dude on the internet. First off, I have issues with the names of the tricks, such as the manual, riding backwards, and "reverse" spins. Starting with the manual, I noticed that there are two different types of manuals in the game. When doing a manual forward it is on the heel and one footed so that's what is called a heel roll. When going backwards (fakie, as it is actually called) its a manual on the toe, which is called a toe roll. These are manuals, but when most bladers think manual, they think of both feet rolling on either both back wheels, both on the front wheels, or one on the front wheel and one on the back wheel. I noticed while playing this, that some tricks were "reverse". I have no clue what that meant. Either it was referring to rewind spins which is when you spin off the obstacle the opposite way you spun onto it, or switch which is spinning your non-dominant way. Those few things with naming. I saw some images of blades in the game with brakes and I was like heck no, brakes make tricks more dangerous and they feel so weird and unsafe ironically lol. That and I don't see any hblock (the gap put between wheels on aggressive skates for grinds) or any gap in general between wheels making me bothered about why isn't there any wheel bite? I know its a video game and it doesn't really matter but as a blader, it really makes me anxious. I know everything I mentioned in this paragraph doesn't really matter and probably only I am bothered by this, but I am a blader and I feel the need to put it out there.
That being said I am going to make a few suggestions which I believe would be a great addition to the game: First off, the controls. I get that they are how they are for a reason, but at least let there be a way to stop quickly, like a power slide. Please, it will make things a lot easier and faster instead of struggling to stop by changing direction endlessly. Also please let there be some sort of follow cam, kind of like in JSR, where you can adjust it when you want but for the most part its behind you. Also there should be some sort of hint thing, somewhere you can go to when you have no clue as to what you are supposed to do, kind of like the bath house lady in Shantae 4, just a small hint on what you should do or check out. I am stuck right now (I just got my SFS license) and I have no clue whether there is nothing to do cause it is still early access or because I am just stupid. Also can there be a way to toggle flash when using the drone to take screenshots? It is a cool feature but the pics I take always end up terribly because the flash makes everything so bright in an already bright environment. Also please, please add more songs! The one gets annoying quickly.
Other than that I don't have much else to say besides check out the game, I highly recommend it, and don't let the camera and controls discourage and drive you away from the game. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this awesome game!
https://youtu.be/mf0DsR5gzSw
great game loved it
Thank you!!!! We love to get this feedback :D
I played the game and it looks really good so far!
Love the art style, the colours and overall design. The music also suits the game well! I think the game has a lot of potential. I'll be following this project.
Gameplay itself, however.. I could not enjoy it. At all.
Maybe I missed something or it is just me, but I could barely control the character whilst moving. With the back slide boost, she'd go too fast and too far, I wish there was a brake option. This often made the camera getting 'stuck' behind the character and I had no idea where I was or what was going on.
I like the grinding part, looks really cool, but again, hard to control. Like the range for it to connect on the rails feels to small. She also often jumped too high or far to get on them and then ended up somewhere completely different.
Now at the arena (after getting the badges), the LMB + RMB did not seem to work, or it activated when not intended. Also the X button to break the ESpheres did nothing for me.
Lastly, I found out that once you enter the tutorial or the VR challenges and decided to leave them, the game reset itself. I had to talk to everyone again, get the quests activated etc.
So my conclusion: cool game, has potential and would make for a fun game to play imo. But at the current state, it feels unplayable, which is unfortunate. The controls really need a lot op optimizing.. I'll still be following the project, however, and come back to it when it's improved!
Thank you!! We've got your feedback, now the tutorial build is available, please give it a try :D
My Full Thoughts:
A summary of my thoughts:
I have to say, just watching the screenshots and demo videos was more than enough for me to get engrossed. I absolutely loved the demo. This music is really great, and I hope we get a full soundtrack release when the game is completed.
The aesthetic choices you all made was really great, I enjoyed just racing up and down the bazaar/marketplace with the music blaring in my ears, it really felt like a slice of a much larger world!
There was some performance issues on my end , but I'm sure that will get sorted out as well. The pseudo-tank controls take a bit of geting used to, but with some practice I think it shouldn't be a problem for most.
This was a great game and I am looking forward to playing this on full release.
Also I enjoyed this game a lot and I spoke more about the level and world design and some additional thoughts of what it reminds me of as well.
Good job, and thanks for your video! A lot has been done since then, and a lot more will be done until release. The game is about 25% done.
The game has been optimized a lot, although the city above is quite a huge one.
Have my sub, and good luck with your channel. ;)
I am IN LOVE with the ideas and the aesthetics of this game but I just can't enjoy it very much in it's current state. The controls are too difficult for me and I feel like the grinding especially does not lock on in a large enough radius for practical game play. I really hope these things are improved because I would be so so so so keen on playing this game in its entirely if the movement controls are improved. Thank you for making it and providing a free demo regardless! <3
The jet set radio future influence in this is really awesome. it was a superb game back then and we need recent games with that style. nice work
The world and its characters that you have created are so interesting and fun! I really like the music as well in the game :D
I don't know if you've heard of Game Development World Championship before (gdwc2019) but it's a competition for indie game developers where they can submit their games and it's free! It's great if you want some more visibility for the game and it only takes a couple of minutes to join :)
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll take a look and maybe give it a try! ;)
That's great! :D
is there maybe a chance you'll port this over to mac.
i really like this game but my pc can't handle and i use my mom's imac, so if you ever port it i would be forever grateful if not this game is still amazing and good job on it
Sorry I don't have a mac to port a mac version. Maybe if I get enough money I'll port it. ;)
you're game is still absolutely amazing
thank you! :3
Just completed the demo. It's pretty great, although my xbox one controller wasn't beeing detected for somewhat reason so I had to play using the mouse and keyboard. I dunno why but I started for feel queezy, might be because I'm using the mouse to move the camera and it's not in flow enough with the gameplay (I'm moving it too much I think). I love the style, sound, music, and gameplay. It feels simple enough to pick up and play but hard enough so when you do master it, it'll feel worth it rather than "oh i've mastered this game in 5 minutes". Looking forward to more from this. Hopefully my controller will work next time, and maybe even a console release would be cool if possible.
Oh? I'll try to debug that xbox one problem before release. Thank you for your kind words by the way! And yeah I'll try to get the project on consoles if I can! :D
This is a pretty neat demo/prototype! The momentum based controls are something to get used to, but they're not bad! It does have a very Jet Set Radio vibe to it. I did make a video about it!
Thanks! That makes my day! :D
Hooray! Any plans for a full fledged release or was this just a mere proof of concept? Not many games try to be like Jet Set Radio, after all!
will the full release be free ?
Nope, life without income is hard enough... But I don't lose hope ;)
Definitely one of the best itch.io prototypes I've played in a LONG time! Absolutely stoked to have a new promising skating game on PC :)
Thanks man, awesome video and really nice voice! :D
First off, this game looks amazing! Great job on the presentation and level design.
There is a reason that games rarely innovate on controls. Trying to reinvent what a lot of pro developers have refined over decades of games is only going to limit your audience. The players who want to pay for this are the same players who like other skating games. Player expectation is very important if you want to be succesful. If a lot of players are immediately turned off by your controlls, you are doing something wrong. Players are not going to say: "Wow, this game controlls really weird. Let me go find a video where the developer explains his philosophy about these controls... Now that I understand his vision, its all good." The more likely outcome is players will think it feels bad, play for a few min, then leave a negative review.
This is the same for any genre. The reason that 99% of every racing game, every FPS, every MMO, every fighting game, every 3D platformer all controls the same is based on player comfort and expectation. It is impossible for players to be immersed in a world where they are not comfortable with basic movement.
I think you have a lot of great ideas here and a potential hit on your hands. I hope it doesnt get overlooked by your desire to reinvent the wheel.
Thanks for your insight. I agree with what you say, and I don't intend for any player to watch my devlog before playing my game. I still have a long way to go and I intend to polish the game for the player to have a very pleasant experience, even with new control to learn.
I know in general that controls have been refined to a point each genre has its own standardized control mapping.
On the other hand, roller skating as a genre in the video game history, wasn't refined at all. Only 5 video games can be called roller skating games, without going to obscure flash games played by 10 people. And among those 5 games, 2 of them are good enough to remember, but they are also the same IP : Jet Set Radio 1 and 2. So we can't really talk about generations of AAA developers refining the controls. Especially when you know JSR was underestimated by Sega and had no budget and tiny team.
I think my control mapping is an improvement, or a refinement to stay aligned with our discussion, but it needs both more polish and a little time to get used to as any new thing.
I don't think it's that bad of a brand new control mapping, it's just a hybrid between a car game and JSR, so it's not completely alien, and I believe this can bring something fresh and cool.
But I agree that as it is now, the game will get negative review and I'll even think it deserve it. I'll need to work on everything a lot more to get where I want, and those reviews are helpful to get me there.
I agree that specifically roller skating games are few and far between, but skating (skateboards) are similar enough to utilize the same general controls. Its the difference between a motorcycle racing game and a car racing game. They still control the same way.
I have been making games for a long time and I have seen multiple good games get no traction because of "unique" controls. I really dont want to see that happen to you. BTW, I dont think there is anything wrong with having unique mechanics that have non-standard controls. Its simply the primary control method of moving around should be what people have come to expect. If you are Nintendo or a very well known developer, you can get away with doing something really different. With the game industry as flooded with content as it is now, players have about 3 min of attention to be immersed into your world before they move on to any of the other 10,000 games that came out this year.
Can you think of successful indie games that heavily innovated on basic controls?
Hum I get your point of view, but even so I don't think I went that far into "something really different" nor "heavily innovating", I'm just mixing 2 genres... and oh yes I can think of a dozen indie games using crazier controls than what I plan... and ended up being awesome : Papers please, Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy, Road of the Dead, QWOP, Octodad, Surgeon Simulator, Snake Pass, Grow Home, Enviro Bear 2000, FTL, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Darkest Dungeon, Captain Forever Remix, Olli olli, Hammerfight, Insatia.
Those titles have more or less heavily innovative control, but I think they all go equally or further than I do.
I'm basically just mixing classic driving games and classic third person game's control mapping.
Alright, let's suppose I make Neon Tail controls exactly like JSR, first I lose quite a lot of new features, and new game designs, as well as all my tricks and combo system. Then I also lose all the hooks / features that goes with it, that I can use to present or promote the project with (The classic question from bosses / investors being "What differentiate your games from XXX?")
Right now, I already get comments saying I ripped off JSR, I got no creativity, etc... not that I really mind, it's the internet, but killing what's different in fear of adaptability is not an absolute win win situation. I would say it has its risks, but making a clone has its own too.
1 (big I concede) plus, many (risky I concede, but oh so much more interesting for both the players and the devs) minus, all not absolute in theire positive or negative feedback as for the same feature, some will love it or get intrigued or interested, others will hate it, get bored, already seen, or too much effort to get in.
I'm thankful for your efforts to convince me otherwise out of a very supportive thought, but... I'm not really convinced rolling this back is the way... I'm more into polishing this until it's brought smoothly and gets intuitive to take in hand through game design. At most, our discussion might make me look for a way to go in between... I'll think about it. :o