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Piscythe

Feedback comments for LD31

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game	Piscythe's comment
Dec 22 00:18:00		Zombie Armageddon	Could not run. Received "invalid or corrupt jarfile" error. I'm running Windows 7 with Java 1.7_71
Dec 22 00:21:00	3m 00s	Centipede	This felt more like an exercise in button mashing than a shooter. The engine's solid, though.
Dec 22 00:25:00	4m 00s	Pixie's Minimap Adventure	I really like the minimap idea, but I feel like something could be done to make it seem more like a minimap and less like just playing a regular game with a different aesthetic. I'm not sure what that would constitute, though. I really like the movement and flying mechanics.
Dec 22 00:39:00	14m 00s	SnowSwarm	This is pretty solid, especially for a first RTS. I liked the mechanics and the rain of exploding snowballs when an enemy dies. However, I eventually got bored, feeling constrained by the lack of options and not really getting the sense the the difficulty was increasing over time. Still, this is the best traditional RTS implementation I've seen in an LD compo entry.
Dec 22 00:59:00	20m 00s	The Unexpected Adventures Of Doctor Supertronic Flying Machine.	I like the idea, and the graphics are well-done, but I found the gameplay to be a mixture of random and buggy to a point of nigh-unplayability. My troubles started with inaccurate help (my jump was up and not space as said in the description), then progressed to random objects falling on me and deaths on collision with objects that had already landed. The buzzing sounds when the fly jumps are amazing though.
Dec 22 01:09:00	10m 00s	Teeny Tiny Little Ball	Excellent. Nice core mechanic, a good variety of challenges, and text that kept me wanting more. The challenge trying to stay within a square for 5 seconds with danmaku blocks was difficult, but the forgiving nature of the game made it workable. Good job!
Dec 22 01:28:00	19m 00s	Towering Perspective	There was an impressive quantity of content, which would have enamored me a lot more if I could use any of the items, heal myself in any fashion, or not find myself stuck with a "musket of rubber" with a melee-equivalent range (the cause of my first death.) It's a good start, and I'm currently downloading the post-jam to see something closer to what you wanted this to be.
Dec 22 01:45:00	17m 00s	Ninja Rain	I couldn't run the web version because my browser spat a bunch of java errors, so I had to download. The game had a fun premise, but the controls felt really slippery, the UI was understated, and there was very little feedback when I was hit. It's a good idea though, and I'd like to see it developed further.
Dec 22 01:54:00	9m 00s	Flashlight	Excellent game! The graphics felt really smooth, the atmosphere was good, the controls were solid, the gameplay was interesting, and it all fit together into a nicely cohesive and challenging experience. It took me 3 tries to beat - one death from standing too close to spawn and another getting cornered during the final boss fight. The final boss seemed hard the first time but the second fight I just circled-strafed it to death.
Dec 22 02:03:00	9m 00s	SnowCard	Interesting. I liked the sounds, and it was fun once I figured out what I needed to be doing. I only ever figured out half the logic though, I never quite got a handle on how the clues related to the clicking order. Maybe it was the orbiting distance or the order left-to-right across the screen, but I couldn't say for certain. Also, I found the choice of graphics a bit odd. It's a cool concept though.
Dec 22 02:13:00	10m 00s	Vanishing Point	This was fun and challenging once I got the hang of it. That took a long time, because I really found that my own expectations and muscle memory were working against me here - I kept expecting more traditional controls and either releasing a button I shouldn't have or pressing the opposite directional button to go from the side to the middle.
Dec 22 02:28:00	15m 00s	Windows Cleaner Simulator	This was pretty solid from a graphical and dialogue standpoint. I liked the multiple pathways and diversity of character reactions. The 1/2 choices had me wishing for keyboard input and better buttons.
Dec 25 04:18:00	73h 50m	Pushy Blockbuster	This game was really interesting, kind of disorienting, and a bit overwhelming. The reverse gravity took some getting used to, and the fast pace made it difficult to assess the situation and convert the blob of bright colors into something I could plan around. I really felt like the situation was too overwhelming to do much more than press buttons and hope something works. Still, it's a fun idea, well-executed, and the music is good. My score was 281271.
Dec 25 04:32:00	14m 00s	BoxCollecter	I like the idea, and I see how this is supposed to work, but it just doesn't. I can make the spawning houses (using an interface that is the opposite of what the instructions say, with a hud that clashes with the playing field because it's sitting right in the middle of fullscreen mode, the only mode where right-clicks work), and I can make money, but it's pretty much luck-based. No matter what I tried, I could not make the explosions work. I'd like to see a post-compo update of this so people can see what you were really going for here.
Dec 25 04:57:00	25m 00s	Zombie City	This was really interesting. As far as LD strategy game implementations go, this was pretty solid, aside from, as others have mentioned, a lack of feedback about which player picked which cards. The random speed debuffs were really annoying - I found myself with two characters that could be anywhere they wanted and two that couldn't do anything because they were moving 1 space per turn. Still, it did a really good job of feeling like a zombie apocalypse, with the swarms growing overwhelming over time.
Dec 25 05:16:00	19m 00s	Flowerpots and Tables	Um. What. My first try, I hopped around a bit then got stuck on top of the screen. My second try, I hopped around, got a rocket launcher, then got stuck on top of the screen and could just rain rockets down on the hapless flowerpots. I'm not quite sure what to make of this so I just gave you 5/5 mood.
Dec 25 05:34:00	18m 00s	Musing About	This is really good. It's interesting and has some cool depth to it - it took me two tries to figure out how to win. The different types of gauges threw me off a little, but at the same time I don't think it would have made more sense if you arranged it differently. Right now I think it's pretty intuitive e.g. you want more creativity and less stress. My strategy was: use absinthe to buff creativity, coffee to jog the productivity, socialize when the social needs bar was filled up, sleep enough every night to cap out stamina and get health up to 85-100%, and when all the gauges are looking good, just work. I almost never used nicotine or alcohol because I couldn't see much positive effect from them.
Dec 29 05:27:00	95h 53m	Kiwi	This was interesting and inventive, if somewhat disorienting. The mechanics were fun once I figured out what was going on. I found the jump noise to be a bit too powerful compared to the rest of the audio, and it really felt as though I should have been able to switch walls by jumping. The cannons in the corners - right in the player's movement path - made me want to be able to jump over them and made me worry about them generating bullets inside me. I think those should have been embedded in the walls somehow. It's quite entertaining though. <br/> <br/>(I played three rounds, scoring 7, 8, 8.)
Dec 29 05:38:00	11m 00s	Dragon Wars	Huh. Note that the "source" link is actually the windows version. I liked the idea, but the execution left something to be desired. I only found out about the shooting mechanic from reading the comments, and the walking controls feel sticky. Also, when you walk into a wall, your control direction is reversed - e.g, if you hold right and slam into the right wall, you will begin walking left. I'd recommend evaluating the way you handle player movement, because it looks to me like you're using speed variables where just incrementing the x and y values would be more appropriate. (Though I haven't seen the source and can't say for sure.)
Dec 29 06:04:00	26m 00s	Beast Master	I like the idea behind this - basically a resource management puzzle. I don't like watching my beast try to chase down ducks that could dodge for far too long, and I simply could not figure out the second puzzle. I got my beast up as high as I could off ducks while keeping the gold for a goat, charged my stamina all the way up, and the beast still lost the fight. I really don't know what else to try.
Dec 29 21:03:00	14h 59m	The Mosquito Effect (mosquito simulator)	Cool. I liked the audio environment and the concept, but the PC controls felt limited and the camera easily lost sight of the mosquito. It was quite fun chasing around screaming guys though.
Dec 29 21:12:00	9m 00s	El Dictador	Interesting and unique. The interface layout needs work. Eventually I found myself stranded with no more calls to make.
Dec 29 21:24:00	12m 00s	Heroes in Tray	Could not run (program ceases functioning immediately on startup). Using Win7 and OpenGL 4.0.0.
Dec 29 21:48:00	24m 00s	Snowmen VS Snowbots	Huh. This was an interesting game, and not too shabby a TBS implementation, but it could have used a bit more transparency. I often found that the move highlighting would highlight squares I could not actually move to. The armies start way too far apart - it was turn nine before any combat happened. At first, I thought the combat was going to be 1 snowman = 1 snowbot, but seeing the first two 'bots slaughter eight snowmen with no casualties ended that idea. Then I thought outnumbering was key, and that worked a bit better, but felt downright random. Sometimes three snowmen could easily dispatch a snowbot, other times the snowbot would totally cream all three of them, and on one heroic occasion a snowman managed to kill an undamaged snowbot in single combat. Seeing my numbers depleted, I rushed for the base, but the win condition couldn't trigger. Match ended with 3 robots alive (one completely walled off by corpses) and all snowmen dead.
Dec 29 21:56:00	8m 00s	Screen invader	Cool idea, but this really should have had an option for arrows/WASD. This is why games should really have an arrows option or customizable controls. (Says the guy who hasn't ever actually implemented the latter.) At least QWERTY users get a taste of what everyone else has to deal with.
Dec 29 22:01:00	5m 00s	Goblin Crown Fever	Cool idea and really nice graphics. I found the attack system a bit disorienting - I wanted full projectiles and not the suddenly-appearing bombs.
Dec 29 22:10:00	9m 00s	Apocalypse Screen	Interesting idea and well-executed. It took me a while to realize the degree of precision needed. I didn't really see a reason to ever zoom in. The mouse controls were super twitchy.
Dec 29 22:17:00	7m 00s	Snow Invasion	This was really fun. The frozen ground seemed more intimidating than it really was, and I almost felt relieved seeing the big enemies because, even though their shots did way more damage, they were easier to dodge and didn't freeze ground. Enemy health bars would have been nice, as would knowing beforehand that the healing powerup was a full heal. Overall, one of the better entries I've seen.
Dec 29 22:25:00	8m 00s	Dual Assault	This was fast-paced and fun, with a decent graphical environment. I found the controls to be way too twitchy, making it really hard to hit individual targets. Maybe the game should start slower, too.
Dec 30 01:14:00	2h 49m	Underwater Fortress	Really cool! I like the idea and the implementation, though it leaves a lot to be explained. It was hard at first, but once I read your tips, I was able to survive the first wave, and it was easy after that - at least, until the game glitched out and hit me with an unstoppable waterfall of doom. The winning strategy is: immediately build a gold mine, farm, and iron mine in the first row and an army camp in the second row, then buy one gun. That should leave you with no iron. Put all civilian workers on food, then buy as many soldiers as possible and have them work gun/resource. With a little practice, I can get 3 soldiers on the gun before the enemy is halfway to the base. I noticed that it's possible to drag people off the field. Also, I didn't see the use of the birthing center, because you don't need civilians to make soldiers, soldiers are better, and once you have civvies you can't turn them into soldiers so you aren't getting the most out of your population cap, and the birthing center even costs extra to build. Still a cool game, even if in the end I'm still not really sure what Rl'yeh actually does.
Dec 30 01:20:00	6m 00s	DontSurrender	Nice, fun and inventive. It was way too easy too place blocks a few pixels off from the lasers and fail to block them.
Dec 30 01:29:00	9m 00s	Faction Master	Huh. I liked the style, and it was refreshing to play as the raiders instead of having them be cannon fodder villans. I had to zoom out to view to full interface. I quickly accumulated more money than I could really spend, and found myself wanting to be able to upgrade storage. It was cool hearing the sounds of battle.
Dec 30 01:45:00	16m 00s	Space Dwarves	Cool. It's a fun concept, but finding enough 02 felt random. I got 1 block away on my first run and didn't even get close on the others. It's tricky splitting your attention between three hard-to-control dwarves. It's a really solid concept and execution, in any case.