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Feedback comments for LD44
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| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | Solifuge's comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6 21:06:56 | Heart Sacrificer | ♥ 1 | Managed to finish, but this was a tough little platformer! The graphics were charming, and the western-sounding music was nice too. I've never seen a double jump mechanic where you spring off the corners of terrain like this, so nice innovation there! Timing your jump and catapulting yourself in the air like that felt really nice. I appreciated the cacti in the background too, for helping me gauge the distance of my jumps, when I couldn't see what I was landing on. I felt mixed on the stand-and-shoot mechanic; it was retro in a fun way, and made the act of aiming and shooting an enemy something you'd need to take time to do. But it also did feel a little clumsy, or like it broke the momentum of the game when time was of the essence. Death audio also stuttered or repeated sometimes when you died on the spikes, but it wasn't a big deal. One thing I might've changed is the way some of the later levels respawn you very close to the sandstorm/wall, and the way it moves nearly as fast as you. Unless platforms are perfectly spaced, you keep losing your lead every time you jump... and a lot of jumps are necessary! Also, it leaves you no time to stop and shoot enemies who were too tall to jump over. It felt a little unfair, that taking damage was mandatory in some of the later levels. Overall, nice job y'all! Especially for a first Ludum Dare. Congratulations on your entry! - Day | |
| May 6 22:06:57 | 1h 00m | Gacha | ♥ 1 | I adored this game. What a simple, beautiful meditation on life and the choices we make in it! A Gachapon and it's randomness-with-choices makes a pretty good vehicle to carry that metaphor too. Especially liked how certain outcomes unlock new paths, and create a little story of someone's life. I love this! Nice choice on letting the player influence outcomes by putting a capsule in the tray... that makes it a little easier to try to get certain outcomes. That definitely helps in a Game Jam setting, if you're like me and you want to read all the little story blurbs and see the cute art. Decision.png Mood. And you folks made the right call, I think. Congrats on your entry, and thanks for sharing it with us. :3 |
| May 6 22:40:39 | 33m 42s | Battery is here to stay | ♥ 1 | Short sweet little point and click adventure! The environmental and character art was nice, and the music felt appropriate for the setting. You definitely captured the classic Silly Adventure Game Logic with the water puzzle; it only starts to make sense what you were doing in hindsight, which is basically a trope for the genre. Made me smile. I liked the Mastermind-style puzzle toward the end. Distinguishing between the two kinds of indicators (the top row for inputs, and the green/red indicators below) might've helped some people figure out what was going on. Maybe if they were round lights, or had some header that said "# Correct?" or something, that might've helped guide people toward the answer. Seconding some of the other feedback too, regarding the mouse cursor; I closed the window on myself once, because it was hard to tell where the cursor's hotspot was. One thing that might help is drawing a cursor that's always there, and then also displaying an icon for the action or item being used next to the cursor. That way, the player always knows where the cursor is pointing, and it keeps things consistent! A point-and-click in a game jam is no small feat. Congrats on your entry! |
| May 7 09:48:02 | 11h 07m | With It Or On It | ♥ 1 | Very, very pretty pixely hack-and-slash. Gorgeous sprite work; really appreciated the bloody color scheme, parallax effects on the clouds, the looming sun, and that the bodies of the fallen stayed behind, as a reminder. The drum-heavy military tone of the music was nice too, as was the way the one-way loss of health ended up making this a tragic last stand. On the critical side, the connection to theme felt loose, and I'd second that the gameplay itself was a little unsatisfying (note: not typically one for hack-and-slashes!). Whether an attack hit or was deflected felt largely random. I might've been misunderstanding it, but if it was random, it might've been neat to do something a little like Prince of Persia 1, where scimitars deflect attacks that are high or low, based on how they're being held. The player would have to observe the enemy's stance, and attack in conjunction with the down key to slip under a high guard, or vice versa. Something in that vein could turn the enemy's blocking mechanic into a way to reward skilled play and observation! Congrats on your entry, and thanks for sharing it with us! |
| May 7 21:41:17 | 11h 53m | Sacrifice | ♥ 1 | Man, I love these gangly monster designs! The masks gave the player and enemy interesting silhouettes from above, which definitely helps differentiate them too. Killed myself by over-harvesting. Interesting choice there, making Harvesting something that the player has to ration as a way to recover health and fight better, but that they shouldn't overdo. It was simple and elegant design, and it made whether or not to harvest a meaningful choice! Excellent stuff. I'll second that it was tough to know where the enemies were attacking, to know how to dodge or strafe effectively. Same for knowing when my attacks hit, so I could keep track and strategize how many hits the remaining enemies needed. Getting hit several times all at once by a swarm was harsh too! That might be intended design, but I've always been a fan of using a tiny window of invulnerability after a hit, to let the player recover, without getting instantly wrecked. Congrats on your entry! Thanks for sharing it with us. |
| May 7 22:37:53 | 56m 36s | Sword of Hearts | ♥ 1 | Really enjoyed this puzzle-platformer. I'll definitely be following your future projects here, and on itch.io! Nice clean art with good animation, snappy movement, and tricky platforming. The rhyming text in the levels was cute, and everything was tutorialized Very Well. Really enjoyed the core mechanic... you got a lot of mileage out of a few mechanics, and simply creating a block where you die! That's a sign of good efficient puzzle design! You made an excellent progression of challenges to introduce new game concepts too. I especially liked the twist at the end, where you backtrack to the start and realize you're intended to beat the levels without dying. I love how it opens up new ways of thinking about the existing levels, and encouraging you to investigate more! The platforming was tough on the second part, but I managed to complete it, and it felt really good. The death sound effects were evocative, and I would've loved some simple royalty-free music or something in the background to go with them, and set the tone. Other than that, I don't have much to critique, other than the difficulty curve of some of the platforming on the second time through. Particularly this room: Tough.png It felt like you had to walk well off the edge before you actually had to jump, to just barely land on the upper platforms. It was very precise! The ability to quickly reset helped, though. Other than that, the second playthrough went pretty smoothly for me. I did run into that bug, where a block could push you through the floor, but that's not a big deal: https://i.imgur.com/xdBXquW.gif Anyway, this has been one of my favorites from the jam so far. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, and congratulations on completing this! Looking forward to whatever you make in the future! |
| May 8 01:15:28 | 2h 37m | Lousy Life Lessons - [LLL] | ♥ 4 | This was a really well-polished platformer/infinite runner! Enjoyed the story and tone quite a bit. The physics were tight, and movement and platforming felt good. I can't stand how floaty and imprecise Unity's defaults are either, so props on making your own raycast physics system for this! Curious about the disclaimer at the start: "This work was (...) produced by a monocultural team of no religious faiths and beliefs." I've never encountered one like it before. What was it's intent? I don't have much critique to offer about the execution of the game; it was all very well done, and extremely impressive for a jam! I'd echo that the gameplay was a familiar formula, but I liked that it was changed up between levels. The stylish cutscene art, voice acting, comedy, and noir aesthetic were all really well executed too. Loved the driving sort of ambiance created by the background music, and the lighting and set detailing in the earlier levels; really moody! Played through twice to get both endings (no clue if there was a 3rd for making no choice, though), and enjoyed the story quite a bit. One abstract critique I could offer is that I like when games unify the gameplay actions that the player is taking with the story itself. In this, the story of someone choosing between their career as a stunt actor, and their crush on a cute actress, felt sorta separate from what the player was actually doing (feats of acrobatics, followed by a comical death). Good old "Ludonarrative Dissonance," and all that. In a world where there was more time, it might've been neat to see gameplay that reflected Pawel's choice between career and love; perhaps the player had goals to accomplish in the level, as a stunt actor being filmed in a scene. A countdown timer to reach the end of the level, and a checklist of optional goals like "[x] Get lit on fire" or "[x] Jump dramatically over the spike-filled pit", ending with a final necessary goal like "[x] Fling flaming body into the fuel stockpile" or whatever. Something that made the player a participant in Pawel's Stunts, more than just the narrative backdrop the game was set against. Then, include some harder to reach behind-the-scenes area, where you could spend precious time from your countdown timer schmoozing with Kitty, trying to get her to notice you. Or some other way of trying to win her heart, but that might cost time, and make it hard to do those optional objectives for that level. Basically, find some way where the player is making a choice between Pawel's career as a stunt actor, and his pursuit of his heartthrob, in the levels/gameplay itself. Then, rather than a either-or dialogue choice at the end, you can make their gameplay throughout influence the outcome of the story. If you don't get all the optional Stunt Acting goals by the end, Pawel gets a bad end as an actor. If you don't schmooze with Kitty, you never get the chance at the smooch scene, or have a reason to try to save her and risk your own life. And if the player finds some way to do both, then they might have the athletic skills (or have saved one of their Nine Lives at some point) that they might save Kitty, and live. Even if, in keeping with the noir theme, the outcome of them both surviving is just that Kitty gives you a perfunctory peck on the cheek, and still barely notices Pawel. Of course, that's just one way to do it... but games always hit hardest when the story is unified with the actual things the player is doing during gameplay. I think this story would be well served, if the player was making some decisions, or doing some things throughout the levels, that might reflect Pawel's choice between his own career and his crush on Kitty... some way the player's actions influence the outcome, rather than a binary dialogue choice right at the end. Anyway, it's hard to find some constructive criticism to give, since this was such a well-polished game. I hope some of that is of use. Thanks so much for all your effort in putting this together, and sharing it with us! - Day |
| May 8 01:35:01 | 19m 33s | The Walking Sim | ♥ 6 | Haha... props to you for submitting this despite it maybe not being all you wanted. I can unironically say, nice pathfinding! I tried to break it, but it navigated terrain really well. Especially good for something with procedural generation! Nice job on generating the environment and it's details too; it made some nice mazes, with a good blend of trees and rocks, and the occasional patch of light. I think if there were some silly reward stringing me along, like a few lines of dialogue or poetry, some collectibles or goals, or even like... places with colors to see other than red, I'd have happily loped around in this weird forest for a bit, appreciating the trees and mazes of rocks and whatever. My one unironic critique would be that it'd have been nice to hold the left mouse down, and treat the direction of the mouse from the character as a movement vector. Some way of more directly controlling the avatar, with less clicking. Whatever your goals here, this was a nice little hellscape walking sim featuring a nightmare beast. Congrats on your first LD entry, and thanks for sharing it with us!! - Day |
| May 9 00:37:20 | 23h 02m | Forgotten Keep | ♥ 1 | What a gorgeous game! Love the minimalism, the monochrome low-fi tiles, and the way you used them... especially the contrast between the organic thorny vines/trees, and the boxy bricks and chandeliers in the upper section. The use of brightness to draw attention is really great too! platforms are easy to distinguish from background, and white draws attention to your character, and other hazards like spikes or enemies. The particle effects on the orb, as they orbited around it, were really good too! I get the sense there was a lot of intention put into the design, which I appreciate! The combat felt fair; a little wind up, followed by a brief hit window, and little bit of vulnerability during the recoil. The enemies had similar behavior, so you could act and react in combat... and if you mess up, you feel responsible for it, instead of randomness or unpredictability. The AI was predictable, but I think that was fine; they definitely caught me a few times! It's hard to come up with a constructive critique for what's here... it's all really good stuff! I suppose I could say the life/blood/particles sometimes spawned outside the playable area, which could be frustrating. Also, there was a moment when a goblin-type fella decided to park his butt right on the initial platform over the spikes. I was holding onto about 100 points at the time, and this was the only way forward... and the enemy wouldn't leave the platform. So I had to leap out over the spikes, hit them with an air attack, then to an air jump and return to the left, and do that perfectly several times. I did it, but on the last swing, I fumbled my air jump, and landed in the spikes, losing all my saved up points. A really nice emergent moment, but needless to say, it felt harsh! I would've liked to have had a little celebration, or at least been able to scramble back to recollect some of my spilled bits. But alas... Anyway, congrats on your solo entry... that's not easy! And thanks so much for sharing it with us. - Day |
| May 9 01:42:16 | 1h 04m | Paynplayne | ♥ 1 | Aww dang, I loved this! Dig this quirky witch, and all the charm you worked into this little world. Friendly cactus included. Really impressed by the visuals, music, and gameplay you managed solo in 48 hours! I tried the Compo once, and it just about destroyed me. I was the stone head on the right, who forgot the importance of sleep and self care, staring into the abyss and wondering where the days had gone. This one knows what's up, though. I like the cut of their jib. Image17.png The exploration music was fun and driving, and had a bit of a Wild West feel. Fit the desert pretty well! Loved how bouncy and mysterious M's theme was too. I always struggle with making tunes during a Jam, even in a team setting, so I was really impressed! M's visual design is great too. And hey, if the letter counts as a conversation, this might be the first game I've played this jam that passes the Bechdel Test? Good stuff! Trying to find constructive criticism that hasn't been given so far. I suppose I could say, the rate at which you get life back from fighting imps kinda negates the challenge of damage, a lot of the time. It might be nice if the game played up Health Management as a challenge... expecting the player to stay at middling health for stretches of the game, on the way to something to heal them. Alternatively, you could nix the steel boots, and create life-management challenges in the spike maze; deplete your health to cross sections of the maze, and reach safe islands where enemies/imps flew around, where you could recover your health. Something like that, to get some more mileage out of health as a currency! Lastly, just gotta say... this might be my favorite moment all jam. Image18.png Witchy Capitalism. Harsh. Anyway, thanks so much for your entry. I really had a good time with this. Definitely gonna follow your future projects! - Day |
| May 9 02:52:10 | 1h 09m | Xochipilli's Trade | ♥ 1 | Pretty cool roguelike, with an interesting central mechanic; sacrifice extra lives to extend the dungeon and give you more upgrades before a pretty tough boss-fight. You present the players with a pretty interesting and meaningful choice right up front (once they figure that out), which is very cool! The procedural dungeon-chunks felt pretty good, and connected well. The pixels were excellent, the animations good, and the sick guitar riff when you get stripped from your bones and leave a little conquistador skeleton behind was excellent. You managed to put together a really nice, compact roguelike experience, and I'm really impressed! I love challenging games, and I try to play every game through to the finish before rating, but I had to quit after about 8 runs from a mix of frustration and minor bugs. In a game that centers around split-second reactions, precision, and making no wrong moves, it's really frustrating when the game drops inputs. I'd carefully time attacks to cut down arrows or enemies, or a jump to avoid them, but the buttons wouldn't register. And if it was a one-off bug, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But it just *kept happening* to me... really soured my experience. There's a chance it was some form of latency with the WebGL build, but judging by the way it feels, I'm assuming the attack input checks were done in Unity's FixedUpdate function? This creates a problem I've run into before. FixedUpdate doesn't run every frame, so if input checks are done there, some frames just don't check for inputs. Other critiques for things that felt unfair... clipping through the bottom of a platform and into an enemy, the fiddly platforming with low ceilings, the long runs of skeleton archers that are near impossible to pass unless you have a few lives to throw at it, the hitbox in the boss' fire hitting you while below the top platform... and finally, the jump down into the boss pit itself. On my first run, with full upgrades, I jumped right down, and landed in the lava I had no idea was there. Which cost the whole run. In later runs, there'd be moments when the boss would already be in the middle of the fight as I fell, landing me directly into firebreath I couldn't see. Or directly onto a skeleton I couldn't see. Or onto a platform where I couldn't possibly outrun or avoid the attack. In a nutshell, it's important to give the player the information they need, so they could at least *try* to avoid a death... especially in a game where so much can be lost by something that's completely out of their control! I mostly cite these frustrations because of how much I otherwise enjoyed the game! Really nice work here... solid music and visuals all around. Thanks so much for sharing this! - Day |
