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Devastus

Feedback comments for LD38

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		Devastus's comment
May 1 11:09:17		eiland	♥ 0	Nice graphics, polish and overall a very nice atmosphere. The lack of instructions in this manner is a fine thing in itself, but I feel it kinda worked a bit against it in this occasion as it didn't give you much freedom in solving the puzzles your way. Or maybe I was just too stupid to understand what I was supposed to do, I just woke up after all :P All in all, a very solid entry!
May 1 12:06:04	56m 47s	One Giant Leap	♥ 1	A nice rhythm game, I liked how things were syncing up nicely on my end so nice work on that! I had some trouble adjusting to the control scheme, solely because I felt off-put by the need to actually _hold Left or Right Arrow to be on a different lane_ instead of just having basic "move to left or right lane by pressing corresponding direction". The spherical nature of the level makes it harder to see what's coming at you when it gets faster rather quickly too. So maybe the assets could be a little bit smaller compared to the Earth to allow a bit more headroom? Maybe, whether that's a noteworthy issue or I'm just too slow remains to be seen depending if others feel the same way. Overall a very good effort, and a good entry. Well done!
May 1 17:14:29	5h 08m	A Small Earth	♥ 1	Well, it was exactly what it was said to be. Whether or not you were _seriously_ set out to bring forward a message here I wouldn't know, but in the off-chance that it is so, in my humble opinion the little mini-game lacks relevance to the actual ending. I mean, you could have just put the ending there alone and it would have had the same effect in essence. In any case, it's a funny little thing, well done.
May 1 17:45:05	30m 36s	Bumble Jumble	♥ 0	Lots of atmosphere on this one, pretty lighting and a cool ambient music go a long way. A soothing, relaxing experience, well done! As said before though, there's too much bloom used here, especially at the bee nest where it's downright blinding when you're trying to bring a honeycomb back. The controls also threw me off, it seemed often times the ascend/descend happens in fixed steps instead of how lightly/long I press the buttons. How the character does not follow the camera direction automatically with a rather slow turning speed paired with the auto-correction makes for a surprisingly clunky movement. Both of these points have been already said, just opting in to emphasize where some potential fixes could be made. Very good work!
May 1 18:07:35	22m 30s	Globe Trot	♥ 4	A nice arcade shooter with great potential here. I gotta say though, the camera at first really threw me over. I reckon a fixed camera would make controlling the ship much easier, and would have required less work from you at the same time :P (Since you can practically parent the camera to a dolly object or the like and get the rotation from there) Also, while the music is nice and sets the fast-paced mood, I'd really wish for you to tone down the sound effects volume. The further you get and the more enemies you face, it honestly gets pretty horrid pretty quickly. Other than that, I like the visuals and the gameplay. Very well done!
May 1 18:22:26	14m 51s	This World Of Mine	♥ 2	It was actually a pretty fun mini-game, and I have a cat that looks just like her so you're automatically getting an unfair advantage point there :P A little bit of twitchy behaviour in the pathfinding at some points but mainly I was able to play the game without any problems. At first I didn't really know where to bring the "treasure" or how to hide, but I quickly understood the second run. It was nice that you went your way to make a jump animation to ascending, that was a nice touch. With sound this would definitely be even better. A very nice first time entry, good work!
May 1 19:18:37	56m 11s	Pod2000	♥ 5	The atmosphere is amazing! I really love the old-school look and feel with the detailed atmospheric audio work, and the gameplay of typing in commands fits spot on. It is... pretty much all there is to it though. The superb atmosphere is enough to pull its weight, but there would certainly be room for additional gameplay (probably simply means more actions to do with commands) which would only make it even better. This could be something to think about Post-Jam. All in all, I played it through a couple times with different endings and can simply say that this is a great entry! Great work!
May 1 19:43:35	24m 58s	Colorfly	♥ 1	Got a lot going for a 48h game here. While it might lack a little bit in gameplay (being a little bit too slow or easy for my liking, and how the amount of trees you've grown doesn't really mean much), I can certainly respect the extensive amount of soundtrack work put into it, which is the driving force of this entry. That's... all I gotta say really. Very nice work!
May 2 00:26:20	4h 42m	Skylets	♥ 4	Well done, I found the gameplay rather entertaining. I especially liked how you had different themes and actual different visuals and takes on the theme song for each planet. Overall this felt packed with content for a Ludum Dare game, which is a big achievement and something that makes it stand out. Not dying when plunging into the planet core struck me as a bit odd. There's some minor floatiness to the jump trajectory, little collision bugs at times, without a drop-shadow sometimes it was hard to estimate where you land. This kind of little polishing stuff you could consider if you decide to take it further, in which there is great potential to do so. Got nothing that hasn't already been said before really. Nice visuals, good music, entertaining gameplay; it's a very solid entry, that's for sure. Great job!
May 2 00:37:34	11m 14s	StopWatch	♥ 1	Man, this was a simple yet elegant mechanic! I agree, you should consider taking this concept and bringing it to mobile. I died once to an enemy hiding behind a tree, so an enemy highlighting effect could be a nice addition there. Other than that, nice art and music. Very nice job!
May 2 10:02:18	9h 24m	E.(a)T.	♥ 1	Simple but satisfying gameplay. It was fun how you could still manage for a surprisingly long while in a vastly overcrowded planet before your unavoidable demise :P I would definitely recommend to focus on variety if you decide to take this further, there's room for more enemies, food types, maybe powerups? All in all, a tight, nice little package and a solid entry. Well done!
May 2 11:03:48	1h 01m	A Growing Adventure	♥ 1	I really liked the sense of exploration you get when you're uncovering the map tile by tile. The graphics also were very nice, this is a very stellar entry overall especially for a Compo game. I spent way more time on this than I expected, so I was quite entertained! I'm not too fond of how you lose health for uncovering a tile, it didn't take long for it to be the main source of damage you get and the main reason to backtrack, which I would label as busy work and takes away from the sense of exploration which I felt is the main gist of the game. Also, it felt kinda pointless in most cases to have the uncovering timer, although I didn't mind that too much. What I really, really disliked was the temporary one-use attack & defense powerups mechanic. They felt borderline meaningless and totally unrewarding, to the point where balancing the game around it brought down a lot of the feel of progression with it. Considering that money was an issue in the beginning, it felt baffling to me that I would ever pay exponentially increasing sums for +1 defense/attack that lasts for _one hit_. For a game based on leveling and progression, I felt this mechanic to be a big, disappointing detriment to the game. But as I said, I spent a lot of time on this game that you made alone, in 48 hours, and enjoyed it quite much. I do hope to see you take this further. Great job!
May 2 11:43:37	39m 49s	Apophis	♥ 1	Graphics and audio are top notch here, really liking that! As people have said, there's little replay value once you succeed once so maybe a little variety on scenarios would go a long way here. A really visually pleasing game, very well done!
May 2 12:17:58	34m 21s	The Space Explorer	♥ 1	Some glitchyness here and there, like the first lever animation, but it's a nice little story with good visuals. Well done!
May 2 12:52:06	34m 08s	Your Planet: Too Big	♥ 1	It's certainly a fun puzzle game. The not-deterministic physics do make the game a little bit harder since a slight change in timing can screw you over big time, but I didn't mind that much. I got a super difficult random level right after I finished the regular ones :P It's a solid entry. Nice work!
May 3 11:29:06	22h 37m	Snowed In	♥ 2	This was pretty damn good, I thoroughly enjoyed this. We we're toying around with a snowglobe idea at first too, I'm glad someone did that with so much style! Very short, but very sweet. There were a couple times when I think the character was colliding in invisible walls that appeared next to the little cottage. A minor bug that didn't bother much, but thought I'd note it's existance. A really good entry, all things considered. Incredible job!
May 3 12:47:29	1h 18m	A small world lost in a big universe	♥ 1	Now, I'm gonna give you my honest opinion. I hope I'm not too harsh, 48 hours is certainly not a timeframe to do complicated & content-heavy games in, but I'm trying to offer a different perspective. Whether it's the control scheme being a bit clunky in certain regards, resource managing being a bit tedious or the idea of mostly flying in a big vacuum of pitch-black darkness not really doing it for me, I didn't really enjoy it. It supports the idea of "lost in space", but I personally lose the sense of exploration when there's really nothing to explore, see and experience. Having to "find a needle in a haystack" with the blue stars sparsely distributed inside a vast, empty space is just frustrating to me. I do think that having a more structured level design, or indicators to your objectives, would really improve the experience by a long shot. I liked how the alien and the planet interacted with each other, when you're going fast the alien is almost detaching but still managing to keep up. The switching mechanic introduced some aforementioned clunkyness though, and _not necessarily the switching itself:_ It's how the alien did not collect anything when not active, forcing the player to stop in it's track, switch, maneuver the alien into position just to do a little jump, switch back and then continue... which makes it feel even less like exploration and more like busy work. Changing the collecting thing could alleviate a lot, to be frank. I definitely respect the amount of work you've put into it in such a short time, all by yourself even! The flat art was nice, there's certainly potential here and I do hope you polish it and take it further.
May 3 16:08:32	3h 21m	Merhygen	♥ 1	It's certainly what the description says, and _small_. A very simplistic yet fun idea. I'm struggling to think of ways for you to improve on it, with the 3x3 grid in my opinion not giving that much new options to take things further, so sorry for lacking feedback. It took me a little while to understand that the enemies "detect" you diagonally as well, which resulted in perceivably sudden deaths. The moment you understand that though, the game gets very straightforward. Fitting graphics. It ends abruptly, but as a proof of concept is a solid entry. Good job!
May 3 19:18:00	3h 09m	Too Big For This WorLD38	♥ 1	I am puzzled. So there are dinosaurs indeed. It had a nice, moody set-up with the cinematic, but beyond that I don't know what to say really. I accidentally possessed a T-Rex and ate something but couldn't really fathom whether that had any relevant effect on anything, or what I was supposed or even able to do beyond that. Walking to the right brings you back to the same place you were in. Scanning didn't seem to do anything helpful. As confusing as it was, I assume the possession and dinosaur eating action is currently the meat of the game? No doubt there's a lot you could do with this considering the art and functionality, but as it is now I simply don't get it.
May 3 20:14:51	56m 51s	Little Remains	♥ 3	I was really pleasantly surprised. The game sports very stylish visuals and a fitting ambient soundtrack to it. Built a really strong atmosphere around the storyline. You certainly didn't pull any punches with the PlayStation 1-esque aesthetics, though I thank you for not doing tank controls :P Now, it's a short story that is actually missing its ending which is a shame. How you don't get to make the important choice and see the results is a letdown, but you were able to create a thick enough atmosphere to make the ending actually feel important, so props to that! It's also missing a bit in the gameplay category which you could remedy with some puzzles. Also, having a part of a puzzle solution be in a virtually unseeable place is _bad_, please don't do that again :P Something to think about if you decide to take this story to its end, which I certainly wouldn't mind seeing. Overall an impressive feat. Very well done!
May 3 21:07:55	53m 04s	What Remains.	♥ 2	This is a pretty well balanced little survival game, I liked it! I was able to get things into a stable condition pretty quickly though which left me without much of a challenge, but with more building options that could quickly be alleviated. A solid entry, well done!
May 3 21:28:05	20m 10s	Chuck and Bull	♥ 3	It's a shame there's not much else to do in Chuck's life than to drink booze and watch the crops grow. Oh well. Atleast it's a realistic depiction.
May 3 21:46:28	18m 23s	Submerged	♥ 3	A fun little game, I like the idea! It might need some more variety in buildings and difficulty adjustment though, I was able to keep going without any worries. The moment I had to go do something else I needed to stop for not having a pause button though. And keeping a track of progression so that I know how far I've got would be nice too. And sound effects. So yeah, I essentially just repeated everything that was said before me, but they're good points! In any case, it was pretty entertaining, so good job!
May 3 23:30:23	1h 43m	Set Sails	♥ 2	It's actually a rather enjoyable game! The control scheme is rather awkward and goes against you more than a few times, but the core idea is certainly a relaxing yet interesting experience. I like your take on the theme, it's certainly much more creative than ours, and the hands-on representation with the coins dropping on the table is really satisfying. There are many ways how to improve upon this, like being able to visit multiple ports in one route, an objective, a story, but first and foremost, this game needs an Undo- and Reroute-buttons. Badly. Once you have something going you can never change, which will most likely screw you over later on. Or right away, if you happen to misclick. The game's randomization affects how well you'll fare in the beginning quite a lot, which is really emphasized without any ways to correct possible mistakes. In any case it's a fun game, and a solid entry indeed. Very good job!
May 4 00:03:51	33m 28s	Classical Conditioning Cooperation - [CCC]	♥ 1	Not bad at all, there's a very nice visual style and some fun puzzle design to this that I enjoyed! I was disappointed by the finicky way the controls are designed though, turning while paused seems to work only in a very certain character state which lasts only for a short period to which a buffer for orders would really do wonders, and you can only turn in one direction (why not use the second mouse button for the opposite direction?). Other than that it's a well made entry. Very good work!
May 4 10:34:46	10h 30m	Bamboo Life	♥ 1	This was actually a very enjoyable game, and it's an amazing feat to have done something so entertaining in 48 hours! I mean, balancing and the feel of progression are things that LD games are usually lacking due to understandable reasons regarding time, but somehow you've managed to hit quite a sweet spot. If I have something to criticize, it would be the camera and how it sometimes doesn't seem to zoom out enough for you to do your expanding without pressing other buttons, which is a bit irritating. Other than that though, it's a very good game. I'm impressed!
May 4 12:27:20	1h 52m	Glass Houses	♥ 1	I do like the graphics, audio and the combined atmosphere very much. I liked the fact that there was no dialogue, and things we're purely conveyed by imagery. You've certainly done a good work on the overall presentation and aesthetics of the game throughout. There were 3 things you could interact with, and only one of them had any point whatsoever. You could take away all control and it would not change the experience. My existance as a player of the game felt completely, utterly meaningless, and I'd expect that's the sort of indifference you don't want to intentionally convey. Nevertheless, the superb atmosphere alone is worthy of praise. Well done! PS. I would recommend you to change (or remove) the first screenshot as I was able to practically predict the whole story from that one picture, it's a bit too spoil-ey.
May 4 12:46:20	19m 00s	Small World Farming Game	♥ 3	Considering the amount of work a 3D farming game can inherently have, I'm not surprised. We were toying with the idea as well but decided to drop it, deeming it needs too much content. The graphics were pretty nice, and the most important thing is that you participated and tried something challenging. You have the grounds to continue upon if you choose to do so!
May 4 15:03:23	2h 17m	AS Mall World	♥ 1	Man, if only I had a magic wallet spouting endless streams of money that I could just aim at things. Yeah, the ghosting screen-effect is pretty obnoxious, I never solved the mystery and it's missing shopping carts. How can you make a mall game _without shopping carts_?! That's blasphemy. In any case, it was a fun little thing, although it could use some more weird stuff to do. Well done!
May 5 10:23:10	19h 19m	Skylands	♥ 3	It's a pretty fun game! There's certainly a lot of polish here, you took one mechanic and made it well. Combined with a nice art style, it makes for a really solid entry. The fact that you can only move to directly adjacent tiles felt really, really clunky though and something I simply could not adjust to. As aforementioned, I would consider a pathfinding solution or moving the controls to arrow keys etc.
May 7 13:16:40	50h 53m	A Mind Is A Small Place	♥ 3	It's an arduous task to create a game about deep subjects such as depression and actually deliver, especially for 72 hours. The art was fitting and the instability effect of the whole scenery did bring a nice touch to the mood, further enhanced by the heavy atmospheric audio. The painting bit was nice! And as aforementioned, having other tasks than just answering the phone was a nice addition that kept me feeling involved in the game. The alternate ending was very subtle, both how to get it and the ending itself. I would say too subtle even, because it literally boils down to one little choice, choice that didn't feel to me as coherently presented as I would've liked. All in all it's a well done entry, great job!
May 7 13:40:03	23m 23s	High Society Poking Enthusiasts	♥ 1	Some wonky looking fishes (nicely modelled!), I wonder what kind of a radioactive puddle is the protagonist swimming in. It's a 48 hour game so cannot expect loads of content, but well, it still felt a bit empty-handed. With more silly stuff to do and explore the game could be quite fun, but as it is right now, personally it falls a bit short. I found the King Fish though! Another problem is that the game had a really low performance compared to the actual graphical quality, the few dozen fish don't really justify constant framerate spikes and the resulting unresponsiveness with controls. In any case, it was an exquisite poking experience. Well done!
May 8 19:47:04	30h 07m	Ant Detective	♥ 0	A very entertaining game and story, I like how you were able to even voice-act all characters under the 72 hours. The gameplay has maybe a little bit of clunkyness to it, but it didn't really distract much. A very impressive feat, well done!
May 8 22:50:48	3h 03m	Until Tomorrow	♥ 1	Ha, a pretty clever little story. It's very meta in many intriguing ways, and it's to me personally also one of the most fitting and interesting takes on the theme "A Small World" that I've come across. I don't necessarily like how the interaction only works sideways, it feels clumsy, but since it is also part of the lore itself it has its purpose. The graphics and audio were fitting, but the mainstay was certainly the story. Very well done!
May 8 23:53:57	1h 03m	planetary billiards	♥ 0	So, it's pretty clear that as you say it's very far from finished but there is a fun core idea behind it. Fleshing out the game mechanics and building levels around them could yield you a rather entertaining little physics game!