FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD32 → Crystal Chords

Crystal Chords

By monkfallsinsnow

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness278
Theme2443.74
Innovation2613.49
Overall6153.10
Fun7432.72

Comments

lordkawaii 2015-04-21 20:32

I could not figure out how to place the crystals on the keyboard. I tried every button/combo I could think of but all I was able to do was walk around.

monkfallsinsnow 2015-04-22 01:04

You gotta use the numpad.

chuigum 2015-04-22 02:51

Really original, would've been even more fun if I had a gamepad too. Good job, especially for your first LD!

rectangular-tim 2015-04-22 02:58

Having to press three different buttons instead of a single one in order to do stuff doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Memorizing the arbitrary mapping between button triplets and actions makes it difficult to get into the game and it really doesn't add anything to it.

mykaelos 2015-04-22 03:17

Cool idea for a weapon. Took me quite a bit to figure out how to play. It's kind of unwieldy on the keyboard.

monkfallsinsnow 2015-04-22 04:43

Ya, the control scheme is certainly not ideal. I wanted to implement some sort of radial menu, but just didn't have time. Thanks for playing :)

2015-04-22 04:59

Initially tough with the chord memorization, but a lot of fun with another player (disclosure: I used the gamepad and haven't tried the keyboard) -- it gets more fun on a second play when you actually remember a few of the chords. I actually liked that this game isn't conducive to mindless button-mashing to win. Neat concept too. Keep up the Ludum Dare-ing!

mandolin 2015-04-22 05:18

This was a really cool concept done really well. Like you said, a radial menu (like secret of mana) would be really cool, but as an education tool I see the current layout as very beneficial. It would be great if there were a game that I could play with my Kawasaki keyboard and duel keyboard someone!

Keep developing this please, there's some really good stuff here.

pvwradtke 2015-04-23 02:05

That's an interesting concept, music theory applied to a game. I found it a bit difficult to remember all combinations, but it works well besides that. good choice on letting the player use the crystal notes anytime, it'd be hard to do it if we had to collect them :).

nihilaleph 2015-04-23 02:12

Really original! Loved the concept! Too bad I don't have a second player >.<

monkfallsinsnow 2015-04-23 02:52

Thanks for playing! Originally, the game was going to be one player, but on the second day, I realized I wasn't going to have enough time to program decent AI, so I opted for a two player solution :)

davikin92 2015-04-26 05:24

Pretty interesting idea. As playing the piano is one of my hobbies, I would prefer to use the upper number keys rather than the numpad because of the way they are aligned. I feel the numpad is much finger twisting.

ironleonem 2015-04-26 23:41

You have a very original concept here, and I actually really like the idea! I don't think it was executed particularly well, but I definitely think it's an idea worth pursuing.

Pros:
Your idea is sound, if poorly constructed, but there are ways to make it work.
The game is pretty fun, once the concept becomes apparent.

Cons:
Your gameplay is a little hard to understand. It took me rereading the instructions twice to finally figure out that only certain combinations of abilities worked.

Your gameplay is completely based on memorization without any real flexibility. If I were you, I would limit yourself to four notes, and make every combination of three do something. For an example of what this would look like, check out Magicka. Then, you could just button mash any combination of buttons and get SOME kind of effect, but players would naturally memorize their favorites or the more effective ones. It's the same kind of theory behind fighting games!

Your projectiles still hit the player who cast them. This may be a style choice, but if it is, it's one I disagree with.

Otherwise, I think you have a really solid start here. If you were to tighten up this gameplay and put out a more fully fleshed out title, I would buy it and play it with my friends. I'm not just saying that, I mean it. Keep working on this! It's obvious you have a very creative idea here. Thank you for your time! Have a good day, and thanks for sharing your entry with us.

monkfallsinsnow 2015-04-26 23:54

Thanks for such a thoughtful comment. I agree with pretty much everything you said. This being my first game jam, and only my second ever game creation, I found it really difficult to properly design something in such a short period of time. Actually, my original design for the game was quite different, but after running up against time constraints, I found myself having to redesign core elements of the game on the fly. Thanks again for the encouragement!

bossmojoman 2015-04-27 00:36

Hard to figure out at first. Controls might be simplified a bit. that being said, very cool concept, good job

paperblurt 2015-04-28 09:12

Nice little retro game. Cool stuff!

chris-mondok 2015-05-02 00:30

As a non-musician, I found this highly confusing until I realized that it boiled down to a "combo" mechanic. But the musical interaction could use some work.

tmpxyz 2015-05-02 07:12

@ironleonem has said all. The mechanics has potential, you might need to decide some good effects for each combination.

nintendo-master 2015-05-11 17:00

Great job on your game! I really enjoyed discussing your progress with you. I had a lot of fun playing it.