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tjm

Feedback comments for LD47

Timestamp	Since previous	Game		tjm's comment
Oct 5 11:52:48		Sushi for Robots	♥ 1	This is excellent! I can totally imagine playing a version of this with more levels on Apple Arcade. Everything feels very smooth and stylish, the mechanics are intuitive, and the puzzles are interesting. The little animations give it a lot of charm.
Oct 5 12:29:43	36m 55s	Loop Deleter	♥ 1	Very interesting mechanic! I've only made it to level 8 so far, but the puzzles feel like they require genuine insights to solve, which is usually the mark of a good puzzle game. Also it's neat to see UI in a puzzlescript game! That's a clever way of doing it.
Oct 5 12:51:01	21m 18s	Looping Dancefloors	♥ 1	Great music! Visuals are very clean, UI is clear but could possibly stand to be "bedded in" a little more? I could certainly see this being fleshed out into something interesting.
Oct 5 15:47:01	2h 56m	Rail	♥ 2	Neat! The audio works very well, and combining the simple puzzle gameplay with enemy avoidance gives it a unique feel. The one thing I would suggest is that it might be a cleaner design without shooting, instead balancing the enemy waves for pure avoidance? I think that would make the feel even sharper and the gameplay more skill-based without taking anything away from the core pairing of mechanics. (I actually found myself playing that way automatically and it felt really good, but that might just be a personal dislike of mixed kb+m controls in 2D games.)
Oct 5 16:09:51	22m 50s	ShortRails	♥ 1	I really like the tilt-shift style, all the animations and models feel very charming! I was unclear on some of the mechanics? I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be directing the train through the ladies (which seems like it would be very bad for them!) or alongside them (then what counts as "alongside" in that case?). Similarly I wasn't sure why I sometimes couldn't change a piece of track after placing it down. Do you need to have an extra piece of track in stock to change an existing piece? It also took me a while to recognize the bandits as such (I assumed they were passengers, though in retrospect I can get a slight Snidely Whiplash feel from them). Still, it's a fun little casual game and I could imagine myself wasting away a lot of time on it, especially if the placement controls were a little more streamlined (maybe something with gestures?). Thanks for making it!
Oct 5 16:35:12	25m 21s	Loopertary	♥ 2	WebGL build unfortunately doesn't work for me; it just displays the Unity logo with an empty progress bar. Same results on Chrome and Firefox, running on Win10 64-bit. No obvious error messages in the console (except for a complaint that UnityCache can't open indexedDB, which doesn't seem like it should be fatal).
Oct 5 17:31:49	56m 37s	Tomb of the Mummy RL	♥ 1	Solid design! First few levels are very easy, but it seems to turn into a pure resource management roguelike, which is interesting and something I feel like you don't see very often. The wind spell feels like poor value to me early on, considering you're giving up one of your two casts of exterminate to get it, but maybe it's more vital later on for crowd control? High score upload didn't work for me either; network panel says "(failed) net::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID".
Oct 5 18:23:53	52m 04s	Snaketroidvania	♥ 1	Very smart idea, very stylish and plays well! It sounds like I had a bug that was similar but not identical to other people; after a while the performance cratered and I started getting the death effect (without dying) every couple of seconds. Possibly it was spawning multiple copies of the player character or something? With a few iterations on the feel of the controls and a larger map this would totally be a game I would buy on Steam!
Oct 5 18:55:31	31m 38s	Anne's Topological Adventure	♥ 1	Very cleanly presented, and some of the advanced topologies are very interesting to think about! I've probably been spoiled by modern puzzle games; I was constantly wishing for an undo button. I beat it twice without, though, so no complaints! (I did notice that for Cylinder-3 you can just go through the portal and walk right, which didn't seem to be intended since it ignores most of the puzzle elements?)
Oct 5 19:28:32	33m 01s	Loop Cultist	♥ 1	Nice graphics, and the puzzles were interesting! Eta stumped me for a while, as it was hard to find anything that it reacted to, but once I did the rest was relatively smooth sailing. The last couple of layers didn't seem very challenging? Perhaps if I had needed to use the swapping layers to get the symbol somewhere specific it would have been more difficult, but as it was there was already a layer in the right place. Maybe a more specific requirement like that would make it too easy to accidentally softlock, though? Great work overall, extremely solid for a compo game!
Oct 6 17:45:05	22h 16m	Stuck in a loop	♥ 1	Neat game; the idea of programmable agents pushing each other around is an interesting one, I suspect it would be possible to make a lot of good puzzles out of it. As it is you've got enough here to demonstrate all the mechanics very clearly, so 👍! I did have some minor issues with the web build (unrelated to full screen); the first two times I tried it (Chrome on Windows) it didn't register keyboard input even after clicking on it. On the third refresh it was fine, though? No idea.
Oct 6 18:04:43	19m 38s	The Power Loop	♥ 1	Very clean mechanic! Manipulating the loops, especially from inside, felt just awkward enough to be taxing and challenging without being annoying. I would have liked it if the failure states (dead person/broken stabilizer) were more clearly highlighted; I was a little unsure for a while whether a stabilizer in the path of a laser counted as being in the loop or not. I think a little audio feedback would go a long way there, just to give an immediate warning of "that's wrong!"? But otherwise, clearly communicated/tutorialized and a good set of levels. Great work!
Oct 6 18:51:51	47m 08s	...a loop is a loop is...	♥ 1	This is great! Reminds me a tiny bit of Camera Obscura, but (with all due respect to that game) the core mechanic here feels tighter and the jumping puzzles more interesting. The jumping itself does feel a little unforgiving; even some of the first jumps took me a couple of tries until I got used to it. Possibly the timing could stand to be slightly more generous, assuming the primary challenge is intended to be figuring out where to put the loop? Unfortunately I also encountered the hardlock pictured above (but later on, with one of the first crates); it's hard to say what led up to it, but I do have a screenshot I can put up if it would be useful. That aside, the overall presentation is excellent and with more content there are definitely the makings of a professional exploration/puzzle platformer here. Good work!
Oct 6 21:14:10	2h 22m	A Certain Particle Chamber	♥ 1	Neat idea! The scoring seems to round a little unintuitively; on Nailed, for example, I've seen it show 800/800 as objective not met and as objective met, which is a little annoying when some of the positions are very precise. But it's fun to play around with, especially on the levels with targeting goals.
Oct 6 21:56:55	42m 45s	The Loop	♥ 1	Very nice sense of dynamic music! The aesthetic is clear and fits the gameplay well. A very good entry overall!
Oct 6 22:32:47	35m 52s	Skinner Dungeon	♥ 1	Solid skinner box, felt well balanced and the graphics and animation generally communicated what you were doing pretty well! My only complaint is that the perspective makes it a little hard to tell what your weapon arc is in some directions?
Oct 7 21:31:06	22h 58m	File 47: An Incident in the Exclusion Zone	♥ 0	Very slick presentation, and you've got an impressive amount going on here for a Jam game! The early stages felt a bit directionless, but that improved once the loops started; perhaps it would have worked better with some form of "fake" goal for the player in the early stages to give them some sense of what they might be trying to achieve? It was also sometimes a little tricky to tell which cards were "move to" and which were "interact with". In the absence of some kind of map it would be helpful to get some hint of which cards are "go in deeper" and which are "back out" (insofar as those concepts make sense). Still, the whole thing definitely has potential; good work!
Oct 8 01:57:42	4h 26m	Loopity	♥ 0	The art and music styles suit the game well, I feel? It's simple, but it does what it sets out to do. I did find it a little confusing that (assuming I understood the mechanics correctly) the moving the top slider left makes the game harder, but moving the bottom slider right makes the game harder? I think it would be more intuitive to the player if they changed in the same direction.
Oct 10 18:45:02	64h 47m	Chronometry	♥ 1	Smart puzzles, and I really like the aesthetic in the puzzles themselves; it communicates the mechanics very clearly! Very impressive use of the Pico's abilities. Minor bug that if you start again after escaping it doesn't reset properly, but obviously most players will never encounter that so it's not a big deal for the competition.
Oct 10 19:01:40	16m 38s	NightmESCHER	♥ 1	Traversing the different surfaces was interesting! I would have liked to see some more quality-of-life tools for the player; some indication of which levers change which doors would have made it easier to focus on the puzzle element, and it would be nice if the zoom-out function was on a toggle rather than returning after a fixed time. I think the levels would have been more interesting if the doors and levers allowed for different area of the level to be accessed; as it is the first level takes you on a tour of every area, so the later levels end up feeling the same. If the shortest path for the first level only went to a small portion of it the later levels could have been more interesting? Otherwise it feels nicely polished; the isometric style and flat colours give it a distinctive look; good work!
Oct 10 21:35:07	2h 33m	Stuck in the Clock	♥ 1	The mechanics are a little confusing, but they feel nice and very innovative! If the physics were a bit more tutorialised and some of the floatier aspects were fixed (maybe prevent the player from getting too close to gear centres?) this could be the basis of a very tight and unique platformer. Great work!
Oct 10 21:59:48	24m 41s	Skycrawler	♥ 2	Very unique take on Mario Galaxy-esque gravity changing, I like it! It allows for a lot of interesting traversal routes that aren't immediately obvious, and I feel like I solved a few levels in ways that weren't the intended default (or at least didn't use all the platforms/obstacles). The controls did feel a little awkward to me; I would often find myself changing direction as I landed from a jump, which felt uncomfortable. I think I would probably like them better if they were screen-relative rather than character relative, but perhaps other people would feel differently? Death also felt a little unforgiving; the levels are moderately large relative to the character's move speed, and I didn't generally feel like the gems in each one felt like part of a unified "whole" puzzle; it often felt like missing a jump required me to re-solve the previous one or two "puzzles" (gems) rather than just the one I was on. Perhaps if there were fewer gems on each level, and where there are multiple gems they should be part of the same jumping puzzle? When I return to the central island after getting a gem I feel like I should be "done" with that gem, and I shouldn't have to collect it again because I failed to collect a different one. Though in many ways that speaks to the slickness of the presentation; the way the levels flow into each other is excellent, and it does a wonderful job of making the game experience feel like a unified whole. With a bit more time and art variety I think this could be the basis of a really great full game, so I look forward to seeing what you do with it!
Oct 10 23:36:42	1h 36m	Cycloop	♥ 3	Excellent pixel art; the movement is a little slow. It's quite hard to hold the entire logic of the level in memory at once, so perhaps some form of map (or an easy way to quickly scroll the camera) would be helpful? There's enough in the puzzle mechanics to make them interesting, and I'm sure I would enjoy them as part of a larger game. ~~How exactly is the player's character activating these hand scanners?~~
Oct 12 02:25:35	26h 48m	Splines 'n Shapes	♥ 1	Wonderful aesthetic, and the best audio I've heard this LD! This definitely seems like a concept that could really blow up on something like Apple Arcade.
Oct 13 02:47:23	24h 21m	Pre Call	♥ 2	Excellent style and mood, fully deserves high ratings across the board! I think the tactile nature of the gameplay and the way you have to juggle information would make this work really well as a VR game.
Oct 19 20:51:49	162h 04m	VintageTime	♥ 0	+1 for an instant restart button here. If you have a choice between adhering to the letter of the theme or making your game better, always choose making the game better. Otherwise, it's good! The puzzle design is interesting, and obviously the aesthetic is really strong (and impressively put together for a jam game); good work all round!
Oct 25 21:42:22	144h 50m	The Toroidal Tower	♥ 1	Very nice! The initial lead-in was a little disorienting, but once I started to get a sense of the world it was fun to explore; having a preview of the next area was immensely helpful. I didn't feel I had any hints for the first code so I brute-forced it. The second code made a lot more sense, but I would suggest that it should have been able to start from any value (it is a loop, after all); I feel that would be more intuitive without making the puzzle any more brute-forceable. Overall it felt very stylish and polished, with a strong aesthetic and attractive colour palette. Excellent work for a compo game!
Oct 25 23:32:43	1h 50m	Seasoned Wizards	♥ 0	The matching of music to seasons worked really nicely, and the movement felt pretty good. The cycling abilities was interesting, but it often felt like only one ability was relevant at any time and 24 seconds was a long time to wait for it to come back around again, so the game felt quite stop-start. Overall still fun, though, and the art style is cute!
Oct 25 23:44:19	11m 36s	Infinity - 1	♥ 1	Solid Sokoban clone, with a twist that plays well! Not having an "undo" button was quite painful, but understandable given the limitations of the platform. Fortunately the controls were responsive enough to prevent any input mistakes, so with careful thought it was fine. Thanks for making the game!
Oct 27 04:58:28	29h 14m	Purgatory is a Music Store	♥ 3	Wow; obviously this is beautiful both aurally and visually; I'm actually finding it hard to find anything specific to comment on. Playing multiple keys felt a little wrong? I think my input was registering correctly because multiple buttons appeared held down, but it didn't sound like they were played at equal volume. Also it would have been nice if you could continue to play with the number keys while the dialog windows were open, since the controls wouldn't conflict. But these are very minor points; overall you've put together a wonderful little demo here. Amazing job!
Oct 27 05:35:39	37m 11s	Too Many Phases	♥ 1	Strong Warning Forever vibes here! Excellently put together, doubly so given that it was made under compo constraints. The movement felt very smooth and the player's weapon was very satisfying to use. For specific feedback: There didn't seem to be any downside to just holding down the fire button at all times? I know to some extent that's a philosophy thing for shooters, but personally I think it's better to either have some trade-off (e.g. faster movement when not firing) or just remove the button and auto-fire. It would also have been nice to have more escalation between phases? I didn't really feel like the phases were getting harder as I beat them, though I only made it to phase 6 so perhaps I just didn't notice yet. Anyway, it's a great compo entry; I hope you're able to get enough ratings to place, the game definitely deserves it!
Oct 27 14:30:10	8h 54m	St. Exton's Night	♥ 1	Perhaps you should consider at least making the original build available as well? I think a lot of people will be uneasy rating a game that no-one has seen until an updated release three weeks later; it's just not fair to the other Jam participants. Even though your changes may be within the rules I think making available the build you originally uploaded would go a long way towards reassuring people that you're being as straight as you can be. Good luck, and don't forget to be satisfied with your work even if you're not able to get enough ratings in time!
Oct 27 20:16:12	5h 46m	Sasha	♥ 0	This is incredibly stylish! As others have said it uses audio expertly. Definitely worth taking the time to expand it to something a little longer post-jam!