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phi

Feedback comments for LD40

Timestamp	Since previous	Game		phi's comment
Dec 4 19:50:51		The More You Make	♥ 0	Incredible! Really nice, consistent visual style, reminiscent to the original games yet modern, __very__ effective use of particle effects, all the games I've played so far are really well executed and balanced. Now all that's missing is 24 different music tracks ;) I'd love to have this as a mobile app, with online leaderboards in all the different games! For 48 hours, you did insanely well. PS: I liked the simplicity of "c what i mean" a lot, but please have mercy for QWERTZ keyboards... ;)
Dec 6 19:25:37	47h 34m	Vergers	♥ 0	Same here, it wouldn't let me play no matter how hard I tried... You might want to test it on another machine.
Dec 6 19:45:34	19m 57s	EYAM	♥ 2	Sounds like a cool, simple and effective concept, and it's not too difficult to keep track of the population with this map size. It took me some attempts until I finally managed to keep my population from dying out, but with the instructions, it was quite well comprehensible. Even though there aren't a lot of parameters (which I like, makes the game very easily understandable), I had a hard time estimating what the best moves were. Maybe some kind of visual/audible feedback when and where people are dying would be useful, so the player can react accordingly and learn from mistakes. The UI could be a bit prettier, that's true, and having to click the floor and not the houses feels a bit weird, but overall, it works really well and provides a great mood. I also like the interpretation of the theme with the population balancing aspect. Nicely done! Also, you hid that "game speed" setting really well... ;) But it's great that it's there! PS: If you didn't create any of the audio, you shouldn't take credit for it, which probably also means you shouldn't allow people to rate your game in that category. It's good that you mention it in your game description though. :)
Dec 6 20:00:00	14m 26s	Tiny Bullets	♥ 1	Woah, 400 MB? That's a lot of 1s and 0s you wrote in 72 hours... But it's understandable when you look at all the Pepes you fit in that game. Unfortunately, my crappy graphics card didn't really like the visuals as much as I did, but it was fun nontheless. Very nice interpretation of the theme too. (Didn't actually notice much of the effect though.)
Dec 6 20:38:55	38m 55s	The Speed of Greed	♥ 1	Hey! You seem to be new to Ludum Dare, so welcome to the family and congratulations on your game! :) If you run into problems during the jam with exporting/hosting/compatibility etc. (we all know this can the most frustrating obstacle before the deadline...), feel free to create a blog post and ask, we're happy to help! I managed to build your project fine and export a runnable JAR. I included all the dlls and the res and src folder in the same path as the JAR, and it runs fine. If you still run into problems, let me know, I'll send you my export. It's fine to add this after the deadline, since you're not changing any of the game elements. Also, some tips for next time: - Shader files usually count as resources, as they are not compiled and have to be loaded at runtime. (I had to include your src folder to the JAR path because of this, which is not optimal...) - If you can't make the window resizable, choose a size that works on most screens. I have a 1920x1080 screen, so your default window size doesn't really fit... Some people play on laptop screens with even lower resolutions. Especially with "pixely" games as yours, don't be afraid to lower the window size a little more, just in case.) - Test your game early! That includes testing on another machine, with another human playing it (you can ask the community if there's noone around in real life). Now about your game: At first I was a little confused why I suddenly moved so slowly, until I realized that's probably the point. :P I like your interpretation of the theme, and the level switching is nicely implemented! I had a hard time finding my way around the level -- maybe it would be better if the view was more zoomed out, or if there was a minimap or something. The lava level was already quite hard, especially since you have to start over completely if you die. Surely, the game has room for improvement, but it's a great start and even more awesome since you made it in 48 hours! I think you've done a great job, and it would be a real shame if nobody got to play it. :) If you need any more help, feel free to ask!
Dec 6 21:06:27	27m 32s	Lux Portable	♥ 1	The ingame tutorial is simple but effective, exactly how it should be! The learning curve is a bit on the steep side, but the feeling of accomplishment is all the more satisfying. The level design is creative and ingenious, challenging but still fun. I love how you include the non-interactive levels behind menus, it makes the whole game appear coherent, not just the gameplay. The graphics are a little inconsistent (I personally find the font somewhat unfitting, and the tiles a little bland), but you make up for it with the really nice light and shadow effects. Music is a nice touch, and matches the mood quite well. Level 7 was the one I started to struggle, level 8 was my favorite. My brain isn't made for time-sensitive puzzle games... 😅 Not sure what the connection to the theme is -- the more lights there are, the harder? Anyway, as long as the game is fun, I don't think that should matter overall. I loved playing, thanks for making it, and congrats on finishing! :)
Dec 8 13:08:30	40h 02m	ParanoWeed	♥ 0	Great concept! :P We had a somewhat similar idea, but couldn't find a way to implement it into a fun game, and I think you've done it quite well. However, I ran into the same performance issues mentioned by others. It became barely playable after I took the weed, but I think I got the gist of the game anyway. Visuals work quite well, especially considering the theme of the game. At first I didn't notice the music because it was so quiet, but it fits the mood quite well. Overall, nice work and great interpretation of the theme!
Dec 8 17:16:26	4h 07m	Whatever Floats Your Boat	♥ 1	I really like this one! Simple and clean game design, and very beautifully presented. I liked that it started off as a kind of casual physics-based game and then some action-y elements were introduced. However, after some time, I found the only thing that changed was the rate at which enemies spawn, which made it somewhat more challenging (although it was always quite easy to defend using the bow), but the feeling of progress was lost pretty quickly. But for what you've accomplished in the jam, this is awesome, and I'd love to see an extended version of this! Visuals and audio are very nicely executed, nothing I'd change in any way. Now go add some overly happy music, put it on a mobile app store and get some ad revenue from it! :P
Dec 8 18:42:47	1h 26m	Alphabet Delivery Service	♥ 0	That's actually a great idea! Fits the theme well too. It took some time for me to understand the concept, but after that it's quite simple and fun. It looks and seems very abstract in the beginning though, even though it's a quite easily understandable and relatable concept. Maybe if you could make the visuals a little more self-explanatory, you wouldn't need to use so much text in the introduction, which would generally make the game more appealing. My rule of thumb is always: Every letter in a game is too many. If you can explain it using graphics/symbols/colors, it's much more user-friendly (or maybe I just don't like reading...). Considering you made this in half an afternoon, I'd love to see what you can do with this given more time!
Dec 8 18:55:06	12m 19s	somethin' Ducks!	♥ 0	Haha, it only took the music to make me crack up :D Snake with ducks, great idea, I love it! Simple, but effective graphics, the mechanics work flawlessly, very nicely done. The stats at the end are cool, but in order to motivate me to play again, there would have to be a little more. It's a good and proven concept, but you may need to implement another "twist" to make this appeal to a larger audience. For a compo game, great job! I enjoyed playing. :)
Dec 8 19:12:31	17m 25s	Gold Mania	♥ 1	I found the hold-and-release-to-shoot controls kind of tedious in the beginning, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I agree that the sprinting mechanic is pretty redundant at the moment, but maybe you can make it work by adding another gameplay element? Gameplay isn't too complex at the moment, so there's definitely room for expansion. Visually, it could be a little more polished, but the UI is really beautiful. And of course, realistically this would need some stereotypical laser sounds, and some overly intense music when the waves start ;) Overall, solid entry -- you kept it simple, and that's good. I'd rather play a simple but fun game than a half-finished complex one. Nice work!
Dec 8 19:27:47	15m 16s	Monolith	♥ 1	After a bit of tumbling around, the controls became intuitive quite quickly! Great implementation of a one-button concept. The graphics are great and create a certain "roomy" atmosphere, and I found that the sounds which feel rather flat and low-res sort of don't complement this very well. I love the general aesthetic though, especially the shockwave effect and the falling-over-like-a-brick. A problem I ran into pretty quickly was that I spent most of the time further up than the screen is high, and I had to rely on the shadow to get an idea of where I was (don't know if that's an intended feature, but I think it's actually pretty great). It's easy to stay up just by hitting space fast enough, but it's hard to control where to go. Was adaptive scrolling speed something you considered (especially because it's an infinitely high tower)? Overall, a great, solid entry! Great job!
Dec 8 20:36:51	1h 09m	Party Penguin	♥ 1	I love it! The visuals are extremely well adapted to the music, I'm impressed! However, I'm somewhat confused about why you didn't allow regular number keys and numpad keys... Or at least some meaningful circular configuration on the letter keyboard -- as it is, it's more confusing to play than fun, especially in the third level. I don't like when the only real difficulty is clumsy controls. Anyway, the game looks and sounds amazing, the mood is great, and the penguins are awesome! And kudos to your musician!
Dec 9 13:48:35	17h 11m	The explorer	♥ 1	Those mouse-controlled physics are awesome! Makes it challenging but not too frustrating. What's more frustrating is the level design. :P I would have liked to play the same level a couple of times to become better and see some progress. But I ended up just dying over and over again after the part in the beginning that stays the same. The repetitive music supports the frustrating mood, and I don't know whether that's good or not... 😅 Also, the behavior was sometimes quite unpredictable. I never managed to get over those circles with the red spikes on top, because I couldn't adjust my brain to the weird sticky-gravity-effect. I also sometimes managed to jump while in the air (don't know if that's intended...), and I was trapped under the platforms a couple of times, still being able to jump, but unable to get back on the platforms: temp.png Visually the game is appealing, just the right level of detail for it not to be boring to look at, and not too cluttered. I think your minimalistic interpretation of the theme is valid and well implemented. Nicely done!
Dec 9 13:58:27	9m 52s	Boiler Room Defense	♥ 1	Definitely one of my favorites so far! Simple, known concept, with a nice twist that fits the theme perfectly! I'm normally way overwhelmed with fast paced games like this, but the mood you create in combination with the music is awesome and I loved every second of it! The online leaderboard is amazing! I can't believe you did all this in 48 hours... Graphics style could be a little more consistent, but that's just nitpicking. I love the overall appearance of the game.
Dec 10 18:34:16	28h 35m	Coins Arena	♥ 1	Nice little shooting game, I would imagine this would work really well as a multiplayer game! I like the minimalistic graphics, but if you added some basic sounds, that would help the general appearance a lot. The hardest thing for me was the key layout... For my keyboard, it was set to something like QZSD instead of WASD, and the arrow keys didn't work. Also, I'm not sure how well this fits the theme, but as long as it's fun, I don't care :P
Dec 10 18:48:38	14m 22s	Crunch Time	♥ 2	At the beginning it was very puzzling (get it?), but it instantly made sense when I realized I had to pick up the UML elements and place them in the calendar. Maybe a drag-and-drop mechanic would be more intuitive? I love the sarcasm, and the game actually works really well (although the levels aren't very challenging, but I can imagine that's quite difficult given the design restrictions). The office background sounds are a nice touch, and the visuals are effective. Solid short entry, well done!
Dec 10 18:56:40	8m 02s	Keep Away	♥ 1	Haha, this is so stupid, I love it! It was really hard until I had just one vase left, and then I kind of lost motivation. Also, I didn't really understand the score at the end. What makes you get more stars? Maybe a little counter or something showing how long you have to persevere in order to get another cat/star would make it more fun. Make the cats even cuter and more annoying and put it on mobile! I'd play it. :P Nice job though, I especially like the visual design on the start and end screens.
Dec 10 19:14:11	17m 31s	Bunnyfication	♥ 2	Nice! Once I understood the UI and which ones the "right bunnies" were, I loved it! The elements are nicely put together, the types of bunnies and the graphics make sense, and it's quite well balanced. Maybe a more strategic aspect would be interesting, where you have to balance the types of bunnies in a certain way or something. The concept is good and simple, and it allows for some relaxing but still fun gameplay. The music is great, and I absolutely adore those bunnies. In the end, I was hoping for a sequel in space, with all the bunnies in a spaceship, but then I remembered this was made in 72 hours. Really well done, congratulations!
Dec 10 19:30:01	15m 50s	Endless, Nameless	♥ 2	That's a great idea, letting the player influence the level design and thus the difficulty curve. However, there's almost always one terrible that's clearly the most annoying/challenging one, and allowing the player to eliminate it so easily makes it somewhat less interesting (if I'm not actively encouraged to keep the game difficult, I'll make my life both easier and boring). The graphics are charming (although a simple 2- or 3-frame walking animation would have been nice) but could be a little more consistent with the UI to create a better general appearance. The music works quite well -- I expected it to become terrible as well. Like I said, awesome comcept, I had fun playing, thanks for making it!
Dec 18 19:52:34	192h 22m	Jump Plus	♥ 1	Unfortunately, the controls were very unresponsive and the graphics slow. I don't have a very good machine, but it usually works for games that are not very graphics-intensive. The mechanics are nice simple and the visuals and mood are great. I don't know what the jump velocity adds to the gameplay (mostly because I didn't really notice it since the movement was quite uncontrollable for me anyway), and it's certainly unclear how it fits the theme, but that doesn't really matter. The music was very soothing, it did a great job at counteracting my frustration :P All in all, a very clean, simple, polished looking game. 👍
Dec 18 20:43:31	50m 57s	Eatly	♥ 1	Gameplay feels really nice and smooth. I found the food-makes-you-fat mechanic somewhat counter-intuitive. My brain was confused whether it was good or bad to eat the fruit, because fruit is healthy and also restores your health but makes you obese? Anyway, I made it after about 4 tries. I sometimes seemed to get stuck (vertically) when I got too close to a wall and the spike hitbox was pretty large, but otherwise, I felt the physics worked quite well! Level design and graphics are lovely, the overall appearance is great. Nicely done! PS: I really think you should opt out of the audio category since you obviously didn't create the music yourself (which is totally fine for a Jam game, but the point of the ratings is that people get scores based on what they create themselves, not what they download from the internet).
Dec 18 21:00:22	16m 51s	Honey Empire	♥ 1	Love the programmer art. 👍 The game actually seems to be quite well balanced -- until all the upgrades have been acquired, then it's just spam clicking the two remaining buttons. I decided to stop when I was at about 200 bees and I couldn't keep up with selling the honey they produced: Unbenannt.png Maybe it would be interesting if you had to look after the flowers/plants where they collect the nectar as well. Also, you could introduce natural phenomena such as bad weather or drought. In turn, you could slow down the whole gameplay a lot and make all the information a bit easier to keep track of. There may bee a lot of potential in this...
Dec 19 19:27:04	22h 26m	Bike taxi service	♥ 1	This is amazing, I loved it! Just the right amount of silliness, challenge and fun. I imagine you could do a lot more with the concept though. I'd love to see an extended version with a story, quests and more difficult levels. Also, I don't know if I just didn't get the game but whenever I drove the last passenger home and went to the next circle, nothing happened anymore, the guy just kept sitting on his bike and the time continued to count down. Anyway, I enjoyed this short ride! :)
Dec 19 19:39:26	12m 22s	Conthrow	♥ 1	Great idea! I didn't actually have another human handy to test the multiplayer aspect, but the controls seemed nice and smooth both with the controller and the keyboard (but please have mercy on QWERTZ keyboard users... X and Z feels like I'm doing gymnastics with my fingers). I don't know whether that's intentional or not, but the music kept fading out whenever more than two players were throwing their swords (lightsabers?) at once. The graphics are somewhat weird, with the different pixel sizes and awkward color palette, but the animations are nicely done, the grass-cutting effect is really neat! Overall great job! I'm sure this would be a lot of fun if I had friends :P
Dec 19 20:12:11	32m 45s	Friendzy	♥ 1	Interesting idea! At first I thought I was calling the friends, since I had to make a call everytime I added a friend. After I got it, I thought I also had to click the right answers on the texts in order to keep the friends, but as far as I understand, it doesn't make a difference(?) I thought the concept was quite good and nicely implemented in the interface. The sounds provide some good feedback, and the music fits nicely. In my first attempt I got 19 friends.