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jordantanner

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game		jordantanner's comment
Apr 25 22:25:47		Ziggy Zapper and the Robot Factory	♥ 1	@rogual Amazing entry! Perfect retro vibes mixed with really thoughtfully-designed puzzle layouts. This is something I've struggled with in the past -- creating the art, audio, and gameplay mechanics AND dedicating proper time to creating the level design and content to a quality level. It's hard to juggle in such a short amount of time, and you did it exceedingly well here. Hats off sir!
Apr 25 22:59:45	33m 58s	Last Frequency	♥ 2	Excellent use of the theme! The vibe, mood, aesthetic were minimal and enjoyable. Audio design subtle and non-intrusive while still playing in to the theme. Gameplay was intuitive immediately -- an important detail for a jam entry. The "mini-games" kept things from being too monotonous, though I couldn't tell if there was a pattern to them -- they felt a bit random. But you did a great job of communicating to the player what they were intended to do without any instruction in all three gameplay modes, so again, excellent job. Great entry, congrats!!
Apr 25 23:16:32	16m 47s	A Short Flight	♥ 4	As others have said, vibes are on point on this one. Lovely retro graphics-- did you use a pixelated shader to achieve this effect? Very cool. The decision to make the airborne camera have a different FOV and also play different music was a great design choice. Character art was great, funny dialogue. The idea to not animate the characters but instead use a squash/stretch on the sprite was clever way to save time but still add life. I didn't really get a strong sense of the use of the theme "Signal" in this project, but this entry is definitely an accomplishment you should all be proud of. Congrats!!
Apr 26 15:41:08	16h 24m	New London 3D Turbo 2000	♥ 2	LOVE the retro vibes and aesthetic, the fun jump + trick mechanics, and the hilarious dropping of hordes of cop cars from the sky was a clever (and fun) way to have the police intervene without having to code that logic. Also really admire the use of actual store facades in London for the set dressing -- great idea! For me, I found the road layouts hard to navigate, maybe this was intentional, but with so many dead ends it was hard to for my to keep speed above 40 KPH for example. Perhaps the streets could be more interconnected. Communication with the player regarding the rules was decent, but perhaps a persistent UI label on one side of the screen reminding the player of what rules they are currently subject to might help. Also, perhaps an overhead map view (similar to the screenshot you posted above) in-game could be very useful. The rearview mirror is clever and sells the car vibe, but perhaps replacing that rear cam view with the top-down map view in one corner of the screen would provide more utility. Super fun and creative entry. With some slight map tweaks and extra communication with the player, could be even better in my opinion. Thanks and huge congrats on a great entry!!
Apr 26 16:01:27	20m 19s	The Hunt for Red April	♥ 1	Saw a screenshot of this on the blog and definitely had to try it! Love the minimal, arcade-y aesthetic which you really nailed. The sonar and depth charges vfx and sounds are great too. Just enough to sell the idea. Also, the title is a great reference to the classic Sean Connery film -- love it. Game design is very solid in my opinion! However as others have noted, the game is quite difficult. Here are some possible improvements one could make to make it a bit more smooth for the player and give them a fighting chance: - Perhaps make the depth charges from enemy ships less accurate, at least at first. Maybe their accuracy increases slowly over number of sonar pings the player produces? - Could increase the armor / health of the player sub a bit, to allow them to take several hits before mission failed. - Similarly, could allow bumping off of terrain and taking damage rather than instant death, similar to above. Overall, the retro vibe is really great and you have a solid design here. In my opinion, with a little bit more "grace" toward the player, the user experience could be taken to the next level. Congrats on a great entry!
Apr 26 16:19:39	18m 12s	Last Resort	♥ 1	Really fun entry! As others have said, the hand-drawn visual style certainly stands out. I really dig the music track, and the sound effect design is good too. Gameplay-wise, I think separating the two bots, one for damage, one for health collection, was a clever design. Being able to merge them but penalized by slower movement also very good! A couple small critiques: - I found myself accidentally clicking a bot and it would become selected, but I preferred to use the mousewheel to select. Perhaps remove the 'click to select' aspect and have player only use mousewheel? Would prevent accidental bot selection in the heat of the moment. - Is there not way to exit the application built in? I had to ctrl+alt+delete and kill the task to exit the program. Either add an easy 'Quit' feature, and if one does exist, perhaps make it more obvious. Overall lovely aesthetic and feel, and the 'survivors'-esque gameplay is spot on. Well done, congrats!!
Apr 26 16:44:48	25m 09s	RESCUE	♥ 2	As others have said, the visual aesthetic and vibe are top notch here! Really love the vibe. Music and audio are also very nice. Gameplay mechanics-wise, the jump feels very good, and I enjoy the subtle FOV cam shift when sprinting. As far as level design and difficulty, I'll echo what some others have said in that the early platforming is very punishing. Easing the player in and introducing the mechanics in a "starter" way may make for a smoother user onboarding experience in the future. Regarding objectives and "what to do", perhaps a UI label on one side of the screen that indicates current objectives would be a quick and easy way to help guide players on where to go and what the game is currently asking of them at any given time-- sometimes that wasn't as clear as it could be. Overall a lovely feast for the eyes and ears. In my opinion, with a little more 'soft introduction' for the player the game mechanics and content as well as enhanced communication with the player in various ways, this game could really be taken to the next level. Congrats to all team members who worked on this-- amazing job!!
Apr 26 17:05:20	20m 32s	Fading Echo 余音轨迹	♥ 1	Love the Castlevania-inspired aesthetic and gameplay. Contrary to what some others have said, I actually liked the 'slipperiness' of the player-- it adds to the fluid feel of the gameplay. The abilities to 'see' blocks and also to temporarily enable them was a really clever concept that I had fun playing around with. I do wish we could customize the controls a bit-- us westerners are used to spacebar being jump, and I kept finding myself pressing it (which evidently puts the game in slow motion?). Also I did notice a bug where sometimes upon entering a room you're not able to shoot the directional ray downwards, even though you're required to do so to progress. Overall a very fun entry with some interesting mechanics. Love the retro vibe and great use of the theme too. Congrats!!
May 3 03:57:47	154h 52m	Melting Sun	♥ 1	Amazing vibe! Enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the punch card mechanic -- was fun to do a few of them at once. Atmosphere was giving abandoned bunker vibes and I thoroughly enjoyed. Well done and congrats!
May 3 04:33:29	35m 42s	Delayon	♥ 0	Nailed the aesthetic on this one! Gameplay was fun-- could have used some more communication with the player at times maybe, something to help sell/instruct the core mechanics more. Great job, love the mood on this one!
May 4 03:23:28	22h 49m	Sigma	♥ 2	You guys really captured a moment with this game! You created an immersive and unique atmosphere that was calming and matches the relaxed nature of the gameplay perfectly. The audio and music were superb also -- hats off to the composer on the team. Game design was clever use of the theme and a nice relaxed difficulty that worked great for a jam game I thought. A quick, polished, complete experience. Very very nice, congrats!!~
May 4 03:33:21	9m 53s	Cableman [a rhythm game]	♥ 2	Yes we definitely need a Cableman album now, or at least a single on Spotfiy!! Game was great, very polished and fun. Beatmatch was a nice gameplay touch and is a differentiator in the jam for sure! Excellent entry, really enjoyed -- congrats!
May 4 03:47:03	13m 42s	Aurora 4: Prelude	♥ 2	Absolutely loved this one -- ive spent a lot of time playing shmups over the years so def got a kick out of this one. Sprites looked awesome, gameplay was fun as well, guns were great, and the audio was spectacular. Tiny nitpicky thing -- the stars on the sidebars I found distracting. I think black might be better! Enjoyed the bombastic energy and the retro vibes which you both totally nailed in your own way. Congrats!!
May 4 03:59:11	12m 08s	Warden of the Depths	♥ 1	Hey Alex! As a massive fan of classic platformers, this one hits close to home. Great feeling character and the combat felt simple enough to get right away but still be challenging. Use of the signal to telgraph the enemy attack was a good use of theme and made for fun gameplay. Really loved the character sprites and animations as well. It was giving Celeste vibes as I would plummet into fire on a jump repeatedly in rapdid succession. Only nitpick might be that combat timing and overall dificulty could be polished a bit more. Overall, a fantastic and super fun entry, congrats man!
May 4 04:15:08	15m 57s	Signal Loop	♥ 0	Clever game design and use of the theme! Planning moves ahead, then plotting them out was a simple but fun hook. As some others have said, watching the actual robot make its moves every time is a bit slow. Speeding it up a lot would be fun I think -- you have a slow beat while you plan and make the moves, then you click "Start" (or could even give player a controller/keyboard trigger for this, might feel good) -- a super fast chain reaction gets set off as the robot whirrrs through the level at lightning speed, almost like unlocking a big lock. Anyway I'm rambling -- great game, congrats!
May 4 04:26:19	11m 11s	Semaphoria	♥ 1	Innovative and original idea! Great use of theme. Maybe more communication with the player in various ways, more feedback, could be helpful while the signals change -- audio 'signals' could help with this? Very cool!
May 7 03:53:19	71h 27m	Sneaky Signals	♥ 1	Great atmosphere, 3d models and animations, fun vibes. Meow sfx were puurrrrfect (sorry). Light jass music set the relaxed tone very well. Card game was simple although I had trouble determining how to use the signal system properly. Definitely had a blast gesturing like crazy though. Perhaps a more clear way of communicating to the player when a signal was effective, a cue when one is needed, etc could help. Awesome entry, congrats!
May 8 03:52:37	23h 59m	Making Megahertz	♥ 1	I really enjoyed this one-- super minimimalist and simple, easy to figure out in just a few seconds, and fun to play through. Nice calm game/puzzle design that lets the player decide when to end the round and 'call it' was clever. Definitely got a kick out of the old school modem sounds in the background! Nice touch. The gameplay was simple in a very elegant way. For juiciness, maybe some additional polish and animations would help spruce up the miminimalistc environment and gameplay while still keeping your original vibe. Also, I couldn't find a way to exit, I had to Ctrl+Alt+Del my way out. So maybe a menu/esc to exit. Great job, I hope you get more ratings and more people get to play this.
May 9 00:58:50	21h 06m	Signal Survival	♥ 0	Game was a bit difficult and didn't know quite what to do at first. Biggest thing for me was knowing which bird was mine at first. Also making it obvious that the dark bird is the enemy. Cool idea and solid use of the theme, music was cute. I think with a little more player communication it could be taken to the next level!
May 9 01:08:59	10m 09s	Cignal Space Operations	♥ 0	The old retro device was super fun to play around with -- enjoyed the clunky device sound effects, and the bg track is killer! Love the major/minor modulation going on there. Cool idea but I think the gameplay could be slightly more intuitive -- maybe less 'modes'? Maybe they could be consoliated/streamlined somehow. Overall very cool entry!! Device design and soundtrack were my 2 top fave things.
May 9 01:28:35	19m 36s	Windward	♥ 0	The vibe and visual look on this one I really love. The hand-drawn looks charming, and i really dig the dark lighting and super cool flame particles. The camera motion made me fairly dizzy at times, and I found myself wanting to use to mouse to look around, like FPS controls. I think smoothing out controls + camera motion would make this an even more enjoyable experience than it already is. Cool entry!!