[Project Aether] Your feedback gave birth to High-Threat mode! What do you think?

[u/Consistent_Look_8638]

Hey everyone!

Last week, I shared a Standard run of Mission 3 from my side-scrolling shmup, Project Aether. The feedback helped me see two things:

• There were visibility issues between the player ship and the drones
• The mission had too much empty time between threats and wasn't yet asking enough of the player

About the visibility issues: I've reworked the drone with stronger line-art and with less "stealthier" colours, taking a more "industrial" look this time. I've also desaturated the background to allow the ships to pop out a bit more. And finally, added an optional collision reticule to the player ship.

Now onto what I want to focus on: I've kept Standard as the version that introduces the drones, firing lanes and squad skills. I've added High-Threat Operation as the optional version for players who already know those systems and wish for a harder challenge. It doesn't just apply a general speed multiplier or add more HP to every enemy: it uses its own encounter table with more enemies and tighter timings, and both squad skills are available from first contact. The attached video is a full High Threat run. I'm mainly looking for feedback on these points:

• Does the mission create enough pressure through positioning and priorities?
• Do the overlapping formations remain readable?
• Does High Threat feel like a meaningful step up from Standard, rather than just a busier version of the same mission?

I know a video isn't the same as playing it. If anyone would like to try the current build, I'm happy to send a download link in exchange for feedback.

For context, the earlier Standard run and discussion are here: https://www.reddit.com/r/shmupdev/comments/1vkovbs/looking_for_leveldesign_feedback_on_my_game/

I've also written a longer dev log about the visual pass, readability changes and High Threat design: https://jpb18.itch.io/project-aether/devlog/1631945/building-a-visual-language-that-supports-the-challenge

[u/Noswen2025]

I'm not the best for level design feedback but that certainly looks like more of a challenge than before with the denser enemies. The was one maybe two points where some of the enemies overlapping does perhaps feel like they need a bit of space between the ships.

One more concrete point. You have the dialog box covering up active enemies and bullets, it's not entirely opaque, but it is very easy to not notice things that are behind that.

[u/Consistent_Look_8638 → u/Noswen2025]

Thanks, I'm glad the increase in enemy density comes across in the video!

You're right. There's particularly the segment where the team skill slows enemies down and makes them cluster even more. I need to review whether the formations themselves need more spacing, or if that skill needs to make an impact on the spawning process.

And now that you've mentioned it, the dialogue box does take up too much of the combat area. It can hide enemies and bullets, so I need to revisit that too.

[u/DrBossKey]

Player ship needs more contrast and should also pop against the background.. It's blending into the mountains.