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QXD-me

Feedback comments for LD22

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game	QXD-me's comment
Dec 19 13:07:00		3 Missing, 4am	Something about the atmosphere didn't quite grab me, maybe it could have done with some ambient background music or something? Also, searching for batteries and to a lesser extent turning on the generators felt a little arbitrary and forced rather than being part of the game world since they actually didn't provide that much benefit (well, the batteries did, but why would they be scattered around like that?). <br/> <br/>On the other hand, nice animation, good lighting - I especially liked seeing the glow of the generators a little way off and being drawn to them like a moth - and I think that the overall concept was pretty good too. <br/> <br/>Overall a pretty nice game (especially considering the time limit).
Dec 19 17:36:00	4h 29m	Trapped	Godd work so far, here are some impressions I had while playing. <br/> <br/>Could do with some sound. <br/> <br/>You can walk through pillars. <br/> <br/>Due to the scene layout I actually felt more claustrophobic than lonely. In fact, I was too busy feeling claustraphobic to feel at all lonely, even if I was technically anlone. I think it would probably have worked better if the scene were more sparse to emphasise the aloneness, rather than loads of really small rooms where I spent most of my time. Looking at the screenshots it seems there may be some areas that I didn't reach which did a better job of this. <br/> <br/>Also, is there an end? I just got stuck after a while. <br/> <br/>http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/ScriptReference/Screen-lockCursor.html <br/>^^For next time. <br/> <br/> <br/>Nice job on the graphics though and I think the concept could work quite well.
Dec 19 18:02:00	26m 00s	The Break	Feedback: <br/> <br/>The platforming is very buggy. Flying up into the air occasinally, hanging on walls (I assume that wasn't intentional since it holds no utility), maybe some other stuff. <br/> <br/>The theme seems to have very little to do with your game other than minor aesthetic choices such as some backgrounds and the music. The backstory seems completely irrelevant to the game itself, you may as well have said here's two people going on a break, here's a seperate 2d platformer. Picking up the portraits doesn't count since these may as well have been keys. The jumping around as a whole didn't seem to be explained anywhere (I didn't reach the end because I got bored - I've played enough 2d platformers in my life - so maybe it gets explained later). <br/> <br/>The frustrating trial and error platforming also clashes quite a bit with the atmosphere. <br/> <br/> <br/>The platforming (apart from the bugginess) was pretty good, I quite liked the backgrounds and the music was really nice so this isn't too bad, but no innovation or real theme fitting and clashing aesthetics and interaction.
Dec 19 22:13:00	4h 11m	The Sheep & The Peach	Probably my favourite of the, admittedly few, entries I've tried so far. I'm impressed that you managed to get me to care about the sheep at all in such a short amount of time. <br/> <br/>My only criticisms would be invisible walls are bad and Unity's default gui buttons look kinda out of place, otherwise very nice.
Dec 20 15:18:00	17h 05m	Quiet City	It's the enemies from that episode of Dr. Who! <br/> <br/>It's a fun games, but the graphics aren't great and it would have been a lot more effective with some sound. <br/> <br/>I also don't think it fits the theme too well since, by the nature of the gameplay, you're always very aware that you're not alone and something else is there. Admittedly, they're hostile and presumably alien, but their presence is always felt (which is actually what makes the game so intense).
Dec 20 15:46:00	28m 00s	Welcome to TheCity	Pretty good idea, good presentation and fits the theme well. <br/> <br/>The only real problem is that it didn't keep me interested enough to stick with it after being told to find more terminals/stars.
Dec 20 16:07:00	21m 00s	Present Continious	Interesting. I think our interpretations of the theme were perhaps somewhat similar (though there are some key differences), but our attempts to express it were quite different. <br/> <br/>I like the idea of the podcast, but I'm not sure how it was supposed to fit in. Was the player character supposed to be saying it? Listening to it? Was it supposed to be more abstract and a commentary on the game itself? It was also pretty hard to understand. <br/> <br/>I'm interested to see what you do in future.
Dec 20 18:22:00	2h 15m	ForeverAloneKitten	Interesting idea, but perhaps a bit ambitious for 48hrs. It seems like you could have done with more time to work on making it more coherent.
Dec 20 18:25:00	3m 00s	Extreme Outdoor Survival	Has potential, but isn't really anything in and of itself.
Dec 21 01:34:00	7h 09m	A Gravekeeper	Slick platforming, nice graphics, but the lack of music/sound brought it down a bit and I didn't really feel very alone while playing it.
Dec 21 10:41:00	9h 07m	Abandon	Decent idea, very nice looking (I didn't even really mind the untextured stuff, except the friend at the end), good level design, I felt fairly alone (I think the background helped a fair bit with that) but movement speed and mouse sensitivity were too high and the ending was pretty unsatisfying. Also, I don't think it's wise to lock the mouse cursor on right click, let me full screen it properly since playing framed by a webpage removes a fair bit of immersion.
Dec 21 10:56:00	15m 00s	The Chosen	Music and visuals really help create an interesting atmosphere that stands out but, I think because I'm really tired right now, it took me quite a while to figure out what I was supposed to be doing and when I did I didn't feel compelled to finish. <br/> <br/>I think I might come back and play this later though.
Dec 21 12:22:00	1h 26m	The Wizard Apprentice	"I feel so alone and amnesiac..." Erm what? Judging from the rest of the game I assume that was supposed to be funny, but it just seems like poor writing, especially when it's the first impression of the game. <br/> <br/>Some of the later bits were more amusing though and this is a pretty nice puzzle game prototype. <br/> <br/>One suggestion for the gameplay is to make it more obvious when you pick up a key because I picked up the second key without realising it and spent ages trying to find it before I realised I had it.
Dec 21 14:37:00	2h 15m	Below	Nice, it's like the cube bits of portal just without the portals. <br/> <br/>The lack of music and sterility of the visuals also work very much in it's favour and help set the mood appropriately. <br/> <br/>Good job!
Dec 21 15:16:00	39m 00s	I Need Someone	It looks very nice and the "plot" seems to fit the theme reasonably well. I especially like certain aspects such as the voice which is atypical for videogames, the fact that you fight with a stick and that the enemies look somewhat like spirits, all of which add a lot of subtext and make it more interesting. <br/> <br/>I don't really get why you're smashing graves though, or why they break into the shape of body parts. I think there's also too much emphasis on fighting the black spirit things towards the end. Otherwise very good.
Dec 21 15:34:00	18m 00s	Circle	It's a shame you didn't get to finish as this seems pretty interesting. The atmosphere kind of worked, but kind of didn't - I think I could have done with a little more context or backstory to draw me in (the lack of which is understandable given the time constraints).
Dec 21 15:58:00	24m 00s	Soliloquy	Interesting idea, but the splitting hurts my eyes, am I supposed to always be seeing both views even when I control only one? Seems pretty fun, but I don't think it's that strongly relevant to the theme. I like the visual style.
Dec 21 18:20:00	2h 22m	5 DAYS	Very well done. I'm not sure what else to say about it.
Dec 22 14:42:00	20h 22m	Slot Machine	Starts out very well, the mood and atmosphere are excellent and it was a very interesting world to explore. <br/> <br/>On the negatives: the sign with a cat's head on it took away from the atmosphere a bit - not hugely, but it certainly didn't benefit your game to have it. It could also have done without the platforming, I actually didn't get past that part since I gave up after a couple of attempts. In your post-mortem you list not being able to implement lots of gameplay as "what went wrong" but really that should be in "what went right" since the ideas you propose would almost certainly have destroyed the atmosphere and mood you created with this game.
Dec 23 18:21:00	27h 39m	Garbage Hero	Has basically nothing to do with the theme, but it's quite a nice little game. I especially like the way the ship moves in a slightly unusual way (as far as I could tell). In terms of balancing it takes a bit too long to get interesting - at the start most of the time is spent waiting for stuff to appear so you can collect it. Good start to a game, but not much in its current state.
Dec 23 20:43:00	2h 22m	Leave Me Alone	Probably the most fun game from this LD I've played so far (at least of those I can remember). It looks reasonably nice, though I think that I kept dying without realising because there were some objects that I thought were in the background that actually weren't. Good music/sound. Fits the theme, not in a particularly interesting way, but better than most that I've played.
Dec 24 16:34:00	19h 51m	Nihil	I think this is the first rougelike I've played (if you don't count desktop dungeons). I found the atmosphere and mood pretty powerful, I'm surprised you managed to achieve that with such primitive graphics. I also liked the audio. I found the game pretty confusing (maybe that's part of being a rougelike? or due to my lack of experience with them?) and I think I'd have enjoyed it more with a bit more direction, though that would probably have detracted from the confused, abandoned atmosphere you created here. <br/> <br/>Overall - good.
Dec 24 16:49:00	15m 00s	2011 : TDWIWEEHF	A good start. It looks great and plays nicely as well. I even felt a little bit of atmosphere showing through despite the short length. I found the music a little bit too abrasive and it started to give me a headache - it probably wasn't entirely the fault of the game though since I've been spending a lot of time over the past few days at my computer.
Dec 29 12:59:00	116h 10m	Frostbite	Very good. I'm not sure why you say it might be too pretentious though, it's not at all pretentious.
Dec 29 14:42:00	1h 43m	A dark dream	I played on windows and I suspect the controls seem better on a phone. <br/>So saying, I don't think you should reduce the confusion, or make it easier, I don't even think you should have explained in the introduction how to progress (luckily I didn't read them closely enough to realise that you did). I think the confusion really adds to the mood. <br/> <br/>I really liked the absoluteness of the darkness combined with the minimality of light you could produce and the sense of hopelessness that produced. I think that was an excellent mechanic and I found the game quite fun overall. <br/> <br/>I also found the ending quite humorous/ironic, well maybe not ironic I can't quite think of the word I'm trying to say. It was certainly a nice use of reflexivity that made me laugh. <br/> <br/>Perhaps I'm just sadistic though?
Jan 7 17:35:00	218h 53m	Sanity	The controls are really bad and I don't really understand why I'm walking around shooting things - it's not very representative of an internal mental struggle (well, maybe the bad controls are). <br/> <br/>On the other hand it doesn't look too bad, though the lack of a player walking animation was off-putting (players will spend most of the time looking at their avatar in a 3rd person game so make sure that looks good). The music and sounds were also pretty good, but the random loud noises in the music seemed a bit... amateur perhaps??? Overall I thought the sound was fairly good though.
Jan 7 17:47:00	12m 00s	Leaf me Alone	Most amusing entry I've played. It was reasonably fun, the sound (in the post-compo version) fit the mood quite well, graphics were more representative than good and I can't really see how it fit the theme. <br/> <br/>A good attempt for 48 hrs. <br/> <br/>Oh yeah, also there was a bit of information overload at the start of the game and I couldn't really remember it all. It would have been better to have introduced the information gradually (if possible).