FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD26 → simpLify

simpLify

By sonnybone

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Graphics84.49
Audio14.68
Mood194.10
Coolness1100
Overall533.91
Innovation1523.69
Humor3562.55
Fun3793.18
Theme7373.35

Comments

eteeski 2013-04-29 06:08

I loved the art style. So cool. The multilayers looked very awesome. the sprite animations were great. the presentation was fantastic. the world feels very alive. the music is fantastic. very very good music. i just wish there was a sprint button and i didn't understand the puzzle. I got lucky with it and didn't know why the door opened. i get that it was about the sound, but i didn't understand the wires. great great art. if this game had equally good gameplay it would be crazy good. probably steam quality good.

manabreak 2013-04-29 06:08

Wow. Just wow. This is incredible. I couldn't make it past the second music makers, but I will definitely come back to this game. :)

gertjohnny 2013-04-29 09:58

Awesome - loved it! I almost gave up on the second puzzle, but somehow stumbled into the solution.

caranha 2013-04-29 14:00

That was a wonderful game Sonnybone!

The songs, in all their different combinations are just beautiful :-) MORE please :-)

caranha 2013-04-29 14:02

I think people are getting stuck on the second puzzle because it is a bit hard to tell what are connecting wires, and what are wires jumping over each other. There is a logic, but it is not really that obvious.

my-milked-eek 2013-04-29 14:14

Cool game. Could use a hints system perhaps.

sonnybone 2013-04-29 16:20

I'm glad the second puzzle is turning out to be a challenge. I was worried that it would be way too simple. I wanted to approach the theme with minimal plot/story/instructions/tutorial with only one 'action' button and very basic character control. Having any sort of built-in hints would go against that minimalism. The second puzzle has visual AND audio clues built in, btw. ;)

alvaroh 2013-04-29 18:01

Great graphics!

wy477wh173 2013-04-29 18:11

Great art, best I've seen yet in this dare. Liked the individual take on the 'open the gate' gaming trope.

annynn 2013-04-29 18:11

Love it! The game feels amazing to play! :)

Jeremias 2013-04-29 18:14

A very great, short game. Just fantastic audio and nice graphics. And yeah, I solved the second puzzle!

vidar 2013-04-29 18:30

Wow! Simply amazing! I loved the second puzzle. It was challenging but quite rewarding.

HelkeGames 2013-04-29 20:05

Love this game! Well done! :)

goulding57 2013-04-29 20:08

Can't play, don't have windows :(

psychomonster 2013-04-29 20:13

Awesome pice of work. The artwork is ... simply awesome... the sound is minimalistic and supports the the sci-fi 8-Bit mood :D

papagrimbles 2013-04-29 20:15

Had an 'aw snap' moment after switching on the first machine. Sweet tunes, art, and great feel. Nice work.

chman 2013-04-29 20:30

Great aesthetics, awesome use of music !

jolle 2013-04-29 20:33

Great look, music and mood.

Second puzzle had me stumped though, was trying for a pretty long time, and now I feel sorta sad, because everything was so good.

Also, is it just me or does the first background layer parallax slightly wrong? It feels as if it moves like a foreground layer, but I might be confused.

vandriver 2013-04-29 22:32

haha that music is just amazing. after the second puzzle i chilled out enjoying it for awhile. also i have no idea if the wires help with solving the puzzles, i just clicked off any of the tracks that sounded 'off' until shit worked. (i also liked some of the dissonance from leaving the off parts on) did you use a tracker and silence/pitch shift various tracks of the songs for this? it was really slick

hgouveia 2013-04-29 22:35

amazing!! i was really surprise with this game

gaeel 2013-04-29 22:37

I have no idea what the second puzzle is about, I will come back and rate this later, because all this has managed to do is make me angry that : either there aren't enough clues as to how to open the gate, or that I'm so blindingly stupid that I'm going to feel really bad when I figure it out.

I feel like there's something wrong here. Difficult is good, but I have no feedback whatsoever, I even went through as many combinations as I could just ticking them off. There's supposed to be a visual clue, if you're talking about eh jumbled mess of wires, then either they're all connected, or i'm some are going over others, and I need to spend ages tracing the lines.

Good concept, great visuals, but the puzzle makes me angry. I will come back later and hope someone spoiled the puzzle in the comments so I can finish the game

thesambassador 2013-04-29 22:40

Great concept, confusing execution.

You have really nice art in general, both in graphics and music. The world you created is really cool.

That said, I have no idea what I supposed to do for the 2nd puzzle. Tracing that many lines feels like a chore, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to only turn on the lines that go off the screen, but either way it just felt annoying and un-fun.

And the movement speed is extremely frustrating.

ddionisio 2013-04-29 22:41

Great game! The audio really brings it to life!

sonnybone 2013-04-29 22:43

For those that are stuck... vandriver has it figured out. There are visual clues if you trace the wires, but if you tick ON the parts that SOUND correct together and left the others off, then you'll notice a change and can continue on from there. You CAN trace the wires to see which units link up, but you can also go by the sounds.

tijmentio 2013-04-29 23:01

There is so much I like about this game, I wouldn't know where to start. I guess to put it simple it all fits so well together! Great job!

And btw, cool you remembered me from the previous Ludum Dare ;)
I'm glad you also liked my second LD entry :D

tijmentio 2013-04-29 23:03

There is so much I like about this game, I wouldn't know where to start. I guess to put it simple it all fits so well together! Great job!
Unfortunately, even after trying for about 15 minutes, both me and my girlfriend couldn't figure out the (2nd) puzzle :(

And btw, cool you remembered me from the previous Ludum Dare ;)
I'm glad you also liked my second LD entry :D

cmayhem 2013-04-29 23:15

I'm stuck in the second puzzle. I just can't see any hints and just guessing randomly is way too time consuming. :(

gaeel 2013-04-30 00:16

I went through it again, you got my vote now ;)

bender 2013-04-30 00:20

Pretty impressive graphics... my god, this game is beautiful. And so is the music and sounds effects, once again, pretty impressive for one person, you have a hell of a talent sir ! Well done.

ilo 2013-04-30 00:56

Short but utterly charming. Wonderful visuals and audio. I solved the second puzzle through trial and error, but it mattered not a jot. Bravo. :)

alexrose 2013-04-30 02:23

This is absolutely awesome. Looks beautiful, Sounds beautiful. I was one of the many who got stuck on the second puzzle at first (I identified the music correctly but I didn't realise what the spare machine was for). But yeah, really enjoyed it. Well done.

sonnybone 2013-04-30 04:34

OK, there are enough comments so this will be buried pretty deep, but for those that are still stuck, the second and final puzzle solution: Turn on the 3 machines that are making beautiful music together without any excess noise or obvious detuning. This will cause the machine without a wire to turn on. Flip it from - to + then turn the others back on. They are now tuned properly!

dr_soda 2013-04-30 08:12

Ack! I realize that for the first time I can't play a game of yours because I'm on a mac now!

Sorry, man :(

proch 2013-04-30 14:26

wow... just amazing

pinkerator 2013-04-30 14:26

Sad I couldn't pass second puzzle, but game design and graphics and audio work is incredible here!!! Very good word ^_^

jimmylord 2013-04-30 14:36

Loved the visuals and music, I can't say I would have solved the 2nd puzzle without the comments, but then I barely solved the 1st one, I was waiting for the left door to open. Cool game.

kbm0 2013-04-30 15:30

The music and visuals were absolutely stunning. Great job, can't believe you did it in 48 hours! <3

martijn 2013-04-30 15:39

Wow, the music is awesome

ithildin 2013-04-30 16:01

So beautiful...

babek 2013-04-30 16:39

This is awesome, probably my favorite ! Everything is great, good job guy !

bytegrove 2013-04-30 17:22

(Warning, possible spoilers) Really nice atmosphere in this game, with the another world/out of this world-like background, the cool little alien dude and the harmonic humming and singing of the machines, beautiful. Sadly, I also had a lot of trouble with the second puzzle. I really didn't get the wiring and I couldn't figure out what machines made the "right" sounds; I thought they all sounded pretty good. :P After having read some comments here, I went back and tried some more combinations and finally got it right. Well the machines sounded a lot better after that, I'll admit. Really great music in this game, I'm a little sad that I didn't get the second puzzle, but great ending! Awesome work! :D

puzzlem00n 2013-04-30 21:54

I think the problem with the sound puzzle is that the idea of what sounds right together just isn't intuitive for everyone. I half picked what sounded right, half just guessed, but I got it after a few minutes.

That said, I could really feel the minimalism in this- well done on that note.

lpghatguy 2013-05-01 02:39

Holy wow. That audio is the best, the graphics style is amazing, and the gameplay is fun, though I find it rather difficult to figure out. A hint system as a couple others suggested would make the game the best!

meep 2013-05-01 04:09

Extremely aesthetically pleasing game! Just amazing. :)

ilovepixel 2013-05-01 04:17

Great game, excelent music and graphics. The puzzle was very tricky.

crazi456 2013-05-01 04:20

Was very amusing, loved the graphics!

nimblegorilla 2013-05-01 04:24

Great graphics, sound, and style. Wish it was longer!

goodlookinguy 2013-05-01 06:04

MadMichaelofMetal (on my brother's account)
I did make it past the second part. I sort of understood the puzzle. Adorable ending. Review on my stream.

mase 2013-05-01 15:17

The graphics for the various instruments seemed very appropriate, in relation to the sound. Really nice detail on the animations.
I had to read the comments to figure out the puzzle... I was sure the second to last terminal was one of the broken ones.

multitude 2013-05-01 22:45

Would love to see the rest of the story. make this into a full game! :D

phocker 2013-05-02 01:30

brilliant! best game i have played so far in ld26! great job!

jellycakes 2013-05-02 02:10

Really well done. I liked the puzzle and the visuals. made for a really interesting gameplay experience. Nice one!

dalbinblue 2013-05-02 05:03

Put a smile on my face playing, and really got into the music. I saw a few people get frustrated at trying to understand the rules of the puzzle and gave it some thought. A simple second puzzle where the detuned computer is obviously broken, and provides negative visual feedback (like sparking) when turned on would help clue the user that not all terminals will be good. I'm still thinking about how one would introduce the computer that fixes the music in a simple fashion.

sonnybone 2013-05-02 05:07

Yeah, it's tough with just 48 hours. What you see here is basically the 2nd and 6th 'puzzle' that you'd see in a natural progression of the game. These audio puzzles can't just be whipped up with programming, because I had to actually write the songs and split the instruments out. To do that 6 times in 48 hours along with the art and coding? No way, haha! So yeah, I will have to find ways to introduce the player to the different aspects of the way the system works.

Thanks for playing and commenting!

enzo 2013-05-02 05:50

I could listen to this all day! Also I am in love with the art, holy shit

sonnybone 2013-05-02 06:53

I AM IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMMENT, HOLY SHIT

lioneljitro 2013-05-02 23:38

Awesome, awesome game.

Love the graphics and music. Its all so pretty. Great entry, well done.

rafaelsales 2013-05-03 20:41

Amazing game!!! Beautiful art, intelligent puzzles and a simple but deep story. The concept of minimalist music is perfect too. Congratulations a lot!!!

pierrec 2013-05-04 08:24

I love the game so far, especially the music (what software did you use ?) but I'm sorry, I'm stuck at this second puzzle, I really don't know what to do and I don't want to brute force it :(
I might come back later with a fresh mind to solve this...

minionstudios 2013-05-04 14:49

Great work! love the lil tunes

prelucid 2013-05-04 19:28

Very nice graphics. Reminds me of Another World.

covenant 2013-05-05 12:23

Amazing graphics and sound... the puzzles are a bit convolutetd without any kind of instructions, in my opinion... I see a difference between minimalism and obscurity, but I guess that line is different for everyone... :)
But amazing job for 48 hours!

justinmullin 2013-05-07 00:45

Spectacular. I wish there was a bit more gameplay here, but the music was awesome, and I like the concept.

imagnity 2013-05-07 18:38

This game is very very (put some more very's) charming. I really enjoyed and if you complete it and sell it in a market, I will definitely buy it. because I am impressed!!!

SirDavies 2013-05-11 16:11

The visual style and the music were pretty amazing. I didn't understand the puzzle tough, and I ended up opening the second gate playing around with the music, which was pretty fun. Good job!

lightnarcissus 2013-05-13 16:18

Excellent aesthetic style and the game itself is pretty fun to play.

dannycalleri 2013-05-15 07:35

I really like your pixel art, congratulations! :)

ryusui 2013-05-16 05:48

Brilliant. My only issue is, I think the game needed a third puzzle - an "intermediate-level" one, both as a matter of helping the player understand the mechanics of the final puzzle better and to improve the pacing (the game feels rather abrupt with only two puzzles to solve).

sonnybone 2013-05-16 16:28

I agree. But with the limited time, I just couldn't compose an entirely new set of tracks to create another song. I see this as more of a prototype than a full experience. It's certainly an abrupt jump from the first puzzle to the next, and then it just kind of ends. Thanks for the comments!

pacifistgames 2013-05-20 18:51

Beautiful!

udrian 2013-05-20 22:11

Very sweet looking game with awesome music and a cute ending =)

sonnybone 2013-05-21 02:12

Thanks everyone for the awesome ratings! The full game will take the basics of what I formed during the compo and will blow it wide open into a much more 'fun' experience. More info will be posted at phantomgreen.com for those that want to follow along. Also twitter @Phantom_Green

dalbinblue 2013-05-22 03:39

Congratulations on the audio gold! You game definitely deserved it. Hope to see the full version sometime in the future.

ahm99 2013-05-28 19:10

The competition is over and I finally am playing your game. It took me a while to figure out the wiring logic. I must say that it is hard to make music that doesn't sound like a 2 year old banging on a piano. This music was actually pretty good. Definitely one of my favorites. Looking forward to post compo.

ahm99 2013-05-29 04:14

GLITCH! If you open the last door, turn off the last machine, then quickly run under the door while it closes, you get stuck.