I’ve been working on my game Lyricon, a fast-paced aerial combat game where players pilot drones in skill-based dogfights. The project is about a week into development, and I’d love to get your thoughts on the movement and shooting systems to make sure I’m on the right track I guess.
Heres where things stand at the moment:
My goal is to have fluid, satisfying movement paired with responsive shooting mechanics that reward precision. I want the game to be accessible but with depth for mastery.
Okay then, what’s the issue?
While the core systems are functional, I’m unsure if the mechanics feel right.
Movement: The drone’s physics (acceleration, drift, and boost) might be too floaty or rigid.
Shooting: Projectiles lack impact, and hit feedback feels underwhelming.
Balance: The boost system risks being either too punishing or too lenient.
Missile Lock-On: The current lock-on mechanic could feel unresponsive or unfair.
Here are my biggest concerns and what I would like you to focus on if you’re kindly providing feedback:
Does the movement feel controllable but exciting? Or is it too slippery?
Is the shooting feedback satisfying enough?
Does the boost system encourage strategic play?
Expanding on the above, I’d love your thoughts on:
How the controls “feel” (responsiveness, weight, etc.)
Whether the risk/reward balance works (boost overheat, missile lock vulnerability)
Any polish ideas for hit/missile feedback
If you’re interested in deeper discussions or want to share detailed feedback, DM me on Discord: evxly.n!
Demo Notes: The public build as it stands may be incredibly buggy, incomplete, and unpolished. Do keep in mind I am NOT a UI Designer, sooo cut me some slack for that abhorrent main menu… You could try and play this with a few friends, as the shooting is done on the client and server, but I would recommend mostly playing to test the movement. If you’re here for the FPS action, just imagine an arena with drones zipping around as you play
P.S. If you’ve worked on similar mechanics, I’d love to hear what to avoid when developing this project.
I agree with @EvilTony99; I don’t think the game could succeed on Roblox. Maybe if you had a better UI— I know this is just Early Access, but I really don’t think there is a demographic for this. Mobile players, (if there is mobile support) will have a very hard time, like Tony said. The lighting is just not there; it’s not very exciting to play, in general, to be honest.
i was super disoriented i first joined but then i flipped myself upright and yeah its definitely a unique experience, but I know were supposed to be drones but it feels like were in freecam shooting things if that makes sense, good idea but just questionable execution?
As of right now, mobile support is not planned. Again, if you could share your insight on why there may not be a demographic for this game maybe I’d understand a bit better, but I feel like when you break it down into its core components its just a movement shooter. Theres an audience there, no? Also, I have to say again that this build is VERY early and underdeveloped, and maybe doesnt properly showcases the vision of the game.
I’d like to hear back from you whenever! Thanks for replying.
It would really sell that the player is a drone, and right now it’s missing that key component it doesnt even have to be complex or anything just a few bars here and there showing altitude and maybe some other horizontal bars showing other stats with text could go a long way
also dont listen to @EvilTony99, its not about the idea its about the execution keep going, the first person who needs to think their game will succeed is the creator… dont lsiten to the naysayers
Seriously thank you for this input! I woke up this morning and read the other replies and was honestly a little discouraged. I started this project because I find it fun and I do think it has some potential, and I’ll take your feedback and improve it as much as possible with what you suggested! Thanks alot.
I honestly think your mechanics are pretty good for only being a week into development, it was pretty fun flying around going around those hoops and other map stuff.
Now onto my attempt at trying to give my personal uneducated take on some of what you wanted feedback on.
While I don’t think the movement is difficult to control, I could see some complications porting it into mobile because of the combined focus on movement and shooting at the same time. If you already have mobile controls in mind and know what you’re going to do, ignore what I said as I’ve only played on PC.
Additionally to the movement, it definitely pretty slippery. I’m not familiar with flying drones in real life so maybe it’s meant to replicate I’d probably make it a bit more rigid just for the combat aspect of the game alone, it would make movement less frustrating I would imagine if you’re in a tight map with tons of obstacles. I can see it being exiting if you add some additional camera shake if you could figure that out, especially for the boost.
As for the shooting when I first played, I wasn’t even sure if it was working or if I was doing it right because there aren’t any appearant visual indicators when you shoot, I think there is a small effect but it’s barely visible. Whatever you do, making it clear where the bullet originated from would already be a massive improvement and would be the first step I would take if I were thinking of making the shooting more satisfying as you said so yourself. Obviously some recoil from the drone when shooting will be nice but that’s for you to decide.
I’ve also noticed that it’s easy to clip through the edges of the parts in the pipe. Not a big deal for now but I could see people complaining or abusing that system. I have a few clipping issues that I’ve been slowly making more bearable for my mario kart inspired racing game and I could see this problem becoming very tiring if not fixed. Anyways, I don’t have an exact fix for what you have as each system is different but I just wanted to let you know if you haven’t come accross it already.
This project has potential to be something great if worked upon.
Although its chances of hitting high player counts are lower compared to if you made a game that appeals to a younger demographic, if a community pops out of this game, it will definitely be more passsionate and substancial.
I hope you do take my opinions with a grain of salt because I may not understand your vision exactly. Don’t let what I’ve said here rush you to do anything please. Not saying that you will but I don’t want to be responsible for somebody burning out .
I typically don’t send messages on the devforum or any of this length but I felt I had to say something because I felt like some of the comments you received were not helpful in getting feedback on the areas you were asking about. (the guy who commented before me was pretty good with feedback dont kill me)
Thanks for the great feedback! These are all very valid and constructive criticisms that I will definitely work to improve on, especially in regards to the shooting. The main issue with camera recoil that I’ve considered in this game is that your movement direction is directly affect by your cameras LookVector, meaning if I were to add any form of significant camera recoil it would impact the movement aspect of the drones. That being said, I will look into some kind of visual indication of your weapon being fired that maybe does not involvement moving the camera (at least not too much.) As for the clipping, that is a bug in my custom physics engine that I will fix at a later time; I’m 99% sure on the cause, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ll experiment with making the drones more rigid, if I remember correctly the live version of the game has drones with much looser restrictions, making the movement feel less controlled.
Again, I really appreciate the feedback! I’d like to restate that mobile is not in the picture as of right now, which is okay in my mind! If mobile ever does come, mobile players will be sent to their own servers to ensure fair matchmaking.
Would it be possible to make the movement not be dependant on the camera, like have the camera just match the CFrame to the drone and have the drone itself be the one to handle all the movement? If not, then it’s fine, there wasn’t really too much wrong with the camera anyways.
If it could be implemented however, in the camera department, specifically, there would be alot more freedom in what could be done as “extra” for lack of a better term.
Mm… yes and no? The problem is that moving upwards and being able to do flips is entirely dependent on camera CFrame logic. Unless I added hotkeys for moving up and down, aswell as flipping, this solution would unfortunately not be feasible.
That being said… I’ve been experimenting with turning recoil into a tool for movement. Instead of recoiling the camera, It applies an impulse to your character equal to the negative LookVector * RecoilPower. This has mixed results in play testing but it allows for a LOT of cool movement tech. I’m gonna reply to this thread with a changelog soon enough, including an experimental build with the recoil change described.
You’re right that movement shooters have a dedicated audience, and I agree that the core concept has potential. My concern about the demographic isn’t about the genre itself but more about how it fits into the current Roblox ecosystem.
Roblox’s 17+ audience is still growing, and while there’s definitely interest in more mature and complex games, it’s a bit of a niche compared to the platform’s broader user base. That audience is either smaller or more difficult to find on Roblox, at least for the time being.
I get that this build is early and doesn’t reflect your vision or what you would like us to see. If you’re passionate about the project, I’d say keep pushing forward. Maybe focus on making the movement mechanics and combat feel better first, as those are the core mechanics for a game like this. Once those are solid and you like it, it’ll be easier to showcase the vision and attract players.
For clarity, I’d like to say this game is going to be a little more cartoony in the end and less tech-demo-ey, I’m trying to target 13-17+ players primarily. As of the last publish, I think I’ve improved the movement and combat mechanics a marginal amount, and I’ve played a few sample rounds with a mix of in-house AI and friends which went really well. The game in the current state is buggy, but I believe when I provide an update there will be a clearer direction for the game that will address your demographic concerns.
I’ve had way too much fun with just the movement. Feels so arcade-like.
i still have no idea how to use the missiles. Also i can spam shoot and hold the guns which shoots way too many bullets, and you can clip through the pipes sometimes. I don’t see this as a pvp shooter though. It gets too complicated to move around by itself, especially with shooting.
What if you used the movement system for a chase game like need for speed or something? I think it’d not be too hard to implement. The music boosting really fits such, and not for pvp.
1 thing i would change is when you’re upside down, the camera doesn’t invert? I don’t know if it’s possible
Regarding your last sentiment about the camera inverting when upside down, Im working on it. I’m not very good at math, and the CFrame math involved in this is quite frankly above my level but im learning! It will be done at some point.
I think you’d have tons of fun playing with the new recoil system which propels you backwards. Lots of fun new movement tech.
As stated up in the thread, I am working on the clipping, but I will need some time to implement fully custom collision so please try and be patient with the system!
I really like your idea of using the movement for a race like game, and its already in the works as a gamemode in the game. However, at the games core, it is intended to be a movement shooter and will need some smoothing. The latest published version does not represent the fps values properly, but the latest build does. I will likely update the game tommorow sometime.
Thank you so much for your criticisms, I’ll be sure to take them into account while I continue development!!
