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Feedback comments for LD28
Gabriel's games and stats for all events →
| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | Gabriel's comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17 18:37:00 | Creator Story Saga Tycoon | LOVED IT! :D | |
| Dec 17 19:04:00 | 27m 00s | "a sword game" | Fantastic, very clever mechanics! The idea of having to chose to which side to point the blade and how that fits with the level design really creates some interesting emergent gameplay. Also the idea of frequently losing your sword really creates emergent situations all the time! <br/> <br/>At one playthrough, I lost my sword as it got stuck in a door - I couldn't get it back, but the door didn't open either, so I had to restart. Also, when you lose your sword at a certain part of the screen that makes you need to manouver through other screens to get it back, it feels a little oppressive that the enemies in both screens respawn. But of course, I understand it is probably a limitation caused by the short time available for development. <br/> <br/>Anyway, one of the most interesting usages of the theme so far! I really loved how it was really embeded into the mechanics, and the game is entirely built around that mechanic. Congratulations, man! |
| Jan 2 20:38:00 | 385h 34m | TITAN SOULS | Congratulations, this is surely one of the best entries I have played in any LD! I didn't find the controls sluggish, as I understand the game balancing is made for you to shoot only when you're almost sure to find your target, and you usually die if you go for it before the exact right time. I know that action balancing is very difficult to make in such a small timeframe, and your game surely is remarkably well balanced. Basically, if you know what you're doing and have a decent amount of skill, you can keep dodging and manipulating the boss position until the opportunity to a killing blow arises. Wonderful! As for the backtrack, I did hope I would reappear at the temple's doors when I died, but I do understand the approach of forcing the player to lose time in order to raise the stakes. I don't know, It just *started* to bother me after a couple times in each boss, which I think is a reasonable amount of backtrack, but since it didn't take me more than 3 attempts at any boss, I found it ok! To other commenters here who have complained about backtracking, here's an opinion: people here do play a game every 10 minutes, but if we start developing our games to such a short attention spam just for the sake of Ludum Dare's quick evaluation mindset (to which I don't necessarily agree), we lose one of the most valuable aspects of participating altogether, which is learning the craft through feedback. A 15 seconds backtrack may *sound* like a huge one if you expect to rate a game every 10 minutes, but many designs simply don't work in that 'instant gratification / skip everything but the main challenge' frame. A 15 seconds backtrack is TOTALLY OK as a punishment for losing a boss battle IMO, and I find it unfair to penalize the ratings due to this LD quick evaluation mindset. <br/> <br/>Anyway, back to a last piece of compliment, graphics and music (and the mood, almost as a consequence) are absolutely fantastic. The music was particularly awesome for me. This game is amazingly polished and well rounded, with no obvious flaws IMO. I will surely keep an eye on your entries in next events! :) <br/> <br/>BTW, I have probably run into a bug at the end, cause from what I read on comments, apparently I got the wrong ending (or maybe I didn't understand it?). Basically, the north temple was empty and I couldn't find any way of summoning a boss there. Eventually I gave up a puzzle approach and started shooting arrows in all props to see if something worked, and finally got something when I was in the brown strip close to the door, between the two skulls. When my arrow hit the left skull, the screen went totally black and, after a while, the game credits appeared. Maybe I accidentally insta-killed the last boss on the very moment I summoned it? Or was it supposed to show a little cutscene or text instead of the final black screen? <br/> <br/>Anyway, I'm ignoring that problem, I bet it is something on my end. You are getting a ridiculously high rating from me! :D <br/> <br/>Congratulations, man! |
| Jan 3 13:40:00 | 17h 02m | Blue Harpoon | Hey, Fred! Congrats, your game is quite fun! <br/> <br/>I really really like the concept of having to retrieve the spear, and also, for some reason (maybe the bullet speed), shooting it is very gratifying, and even more when you hit the monsters. <br/> <br/>Agreeing to some darers' feedback, I think the spawn time between monsters is a little too long (see how frantic Super Crate Box gets, I think it might be a good reference in that regard), and also it really is essencial to somehow protect the player from having a monster spawning overlapping to him when he's getting the spear. Maybe you could make that the spawn point closest to the spear becomes inactive until the player gets the spear back, and then add more spawn points to avoid losing the surprise element of having a monster spawning just beside you (but not over you)? <br/> <br/>Other than that, I'd definitely suggest a huge decrease in game resolution! Not that pixel art is necessarily the only way to go, but because of the lower resolution, the same level of production (time invested in making graphics) results in a more balanced sense of polish. Basically, if you have to rush to put anything graphical on the game (impact splashes, particles, new props, etc), even if you can't spend too much time on it, it will end up blending naturally better with the rest! It might also save you some time to code particles and sound feedback, which always help giving a greater sense of control. <br/> <br/>Anyway, congratulations once again, your game is really stylish and fun to play! High rates! :D |
| Jan 5 05:26:00 | 39h 46m | Dream forever, live once | Congrats! I really like the metaphor! And as simple as the game may be, the sum of all mechanics really do manage to get the message through in an impressively intuitive / emotional manner. You get to train, but the menu tells you that there's only one chance when it's for real, and only when you actually start playing for real that you get to know about the stages of the life thing. <br/> <br/>Maybe I'm super sensitive to the sad, linear nature of our lives, and how it sometimes indeed feels like an inevitable run to our end... And I feel even more for people I see around me, having to deal with getting old and coping with the fact that they didn't manage to do all they wanted in their lives... As Ray Kurzweil says, to me death indeed is the greatest of all tragedies. Or as Tyrion Lannister says, the problem with death is that it is so definitive! hahaha <br/> <br/>Anyways, what I mean is that I could really relate to your game. It's subtle, evokative and obviously has a very honest and personal message. I love it! |
| Jan 6 15:15:00 | 33h 49m | Christmas Cookies | I liked it! It is strange how such a simple mechanic can in fact evoke some of the sensation of trying to focus on work while permanently being tempted to do something else, and as the compulsion unconsciously grows, it becomes increasingly more difficult to work. Not sure if that is what you meant, but it really reminds me of the god damned Twitter and Facebook tabs tempting me as I try to focus on coding or something. <br/> <br/>Also, this is one of the most 'cost-effective' designs I've seen in this LD! With a very small amount of technology and assets, you managed to conjure a rather unique theme. I've rated you better than several system-heavy games! This game is almost a manifesto against the feature creep. haha <br/> <br/>Great job! |