soulpixel 2017-04-27 21:13
Well its a platformer... Movement works okay and its quite fun but you dont really do much except jumping. Also a game without checkpoints is really frustrating...
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD38 → The Cookie Knight
By aaranos
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 463 | 2.80 | 43 | |
| Fun | 384 | 2.85 | 42 | |
| Innovation | 531 | 1.92 | 42 | |
| Theme | 530 | 2.17 | 42 | |
| Graphics | 398 | 2.85 | 43 | |
| Audio | 1 | |||
| Humor | 262 | 2.54 | 33 | |
| Mood | 450 | 2.55 | 38 |
Well its a platformer... Movement works okay and its quite fun but you dont really do much except jumping. Also a game without checkpoints is really frustrating...
Yeah, I quite enjoyed the game. The musics are really good and punchy but I don't know there is something I can't explain that didn't catch me.
Graphics are quite simple and I don't blame it as it is consistent all over the game but I don't know if it's about the level design or something I didn't get to go though all the levels.
I enjoyed playing it but I was a bit frustrated. Good work though for a Compo game !! Hope to see more !
OK here comes a long one, first of all, this game has quite a lot of content, props on doing all of this for the compo, second this game is very cute, third I think music even if it's not yours is not allowed for compo entries, so you mgiht have to take that off.
Ill start with the negatives, because there are a lot of things you can improve, first and foremost, sadistic level design, I will try to go over every level:
•Basketball: Fine for a first level, but completely out of character as every other level is very difficult.
•Flour: This level starts alright, jumps are a bit too precise for me liking, then we get to the first problem, platforms that dont carry you they just slide under you, this is very inconsistent, and if you fall you will have to start again because you dont have checkpoints. Then we get to some tiny falling platforms, without any indicator they will do so, also since the yare small one is led to believe that will be enough of a challenge but they also fall... once you know this you have to repeat all the level and get past this, then: a leap of faith... given that if you fall you have to repeat the whole level I jump and there is solid ground underneath, good. After this mostly smooth sailing.
•Clothes: This was one of the better levels, it's mostly good platforming and you establish that small clouds fall fairly quickly, only complaint is that you have some sections with moving platforms right after falling ones, and if you dont time the cycles your platform will fall before the other one arrives.
•Cat: This one was ok, not much to complain about, mostly pleasant, and I liked the theming!
•Ribbon: This had some cool idea, showing you the end goal first was cool, and the maze like design was sorta cool, also I liked this ones looks, tough the cobwebs produce something called a moire pattern which is pretty anoying, so you should do something about it. Also I came upon a dead end with no way to get out of, having to die to restart.
Having said all that I will reiterate, I think the theming is super cute, and levels themselves aren't half bad, you're just too focused on making a challenging level and not a fun one partially you succeeded, I had fun once I got into the mindset of challenging games like boshy and super meat boy, but to go for that kind of game you probably want smaller levels, and very consistent and clear rules, well not if youre doing a boshy like, but doing one for a Jam is preeeeetty weird.
Anyways cool game I actually enjoyed the challenge, and looking for the ways you were trying to screw me over :P
Your "controls" menu lists "UP ARROW" for jump, but it seems it is actually the space bar.
I liked your pixels and the music. Though, I would suggest removing the music or changing to a jam entry since you didn't actually create it. There is a lot of content here for 48 hours. Designing levels takes time and these are a decent size and not just thrown together - good job.
Some platformer engine suggestions. Try adding a forgiveness timer to your ground check. It allows for the player to jump as close to the edge as possible. Also include an above check. If the player jumps and there is a block above, he wont "float" for a moment while the jump is still trying to push him up.
@firewill, Thank you for the very well thought out critique. My level design improved a bit as I went and I tried to teach the player what was coming before it occurred. I wanted it to have some difficulty so I measured how far I needed to jump and used variations of the distance to try to keep the player on their toes.
I definitely appreciate you finishing it. I'll make a music-less version to keep in compliance.
@anarbitrarymustache my controls menu is likely borked and I didn't have time to test it. I'll make sure to add the default controls to the summary. I've reuploaded the core game without the music assets to stay compliant. I've left the original as a "post LD".
Thanks for the suggestions, the above check is definitely one I noticed but didn't want to waste time on it since it wasn't a critical bug. My ground check is a circle collider that isn't quite the width of the character, I'll take more notice of making it forgiving if I do a platformer again.
Also, thank you for the feedback c:
Really like the graphics, and the gameplay is fun as well. The platforming feels fair and there aren't too many difficult obstacles. Though it can be frustrating having to redo the entire stage every time you die. Also I have to give you some points for knowing about Ozzed. :wink:
First of all, really nice game for a jam! Honestly, when I first started I was like "eh there's a lot of jumping" as the other guy mentioned. However that was mostly due to the first level being a lot of brown and kind of repetitive in scenery and gameplay. The moment I did the next level I saw the colors and was immediately excited to see what will come next. I didn't finish every level (although I plan to after I've gotten around to other games on here), and that's due to the game being so challenging. Frustrating at times, but otherwise fun. What I really like about this game is the variation in levels, from the way they're completed to the way they look aesthetically. Good job! :grin:
Really cool game! I liked the idea of having some objective to reach for each level. Picking up the objects made the levels more satisfying. Having to completely redo the levels got a little annoying but other wise a fun game!
@baconinvader, I think I'll have to consider checkpoints if I do a platformer again since I underestimated the difficulty. Unfortunately I had to remove the music, but left it in a POSTLD version.
@oxlander, thanks for playing. I know people rush through games since there are literally over a thousand of them to play. I'm glad I made each level accessible without needing to do them in order, at least that way you can try others if you can't get past one. Glad you enjoyed some of it haha.
@rmershon, I think I underestimated the difficulty. I play tested each level to make sure they were beatable and didn't have much difficulty with them. I think level 2 and level 4 cause the most frustration.
A fun little Platformer. I feel like the falling platforms take too long to regenerate. Another thing that bothered me was that some of the things I had to jump to were off screen. The levels were a bit long for lack checkpoints. I wish I could have got to more of the levels, but I have to play some other games.
I think this entry has nice positive aspects, but also a couple of pain points that hurt my play experience.
The graphical style was cool, and my favorite small touch was the look on the guy's face when using the trampoline! Overall a consistent theme and feel; simple in the good way.
The amount of content you got in with all of the levels was great, and it was a nice touch to have the menu that let me skip around to see all the content without necessarily beating it. Great call for an LD game!
Hope some feedback on the pain points is helpful:
The game is all about jumping, but the game feel of the jump needed a more love.
I would have traded a level or two in exchange for a somewhat better feel. I felt your game had the "ghost jump" described in this article: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkVenturelli/20140810/223001/Game_Feel_Tips_I_The_Ghost_Jump.php
It was especially painful in the wood-themed level with the trampoline. Those first few disappearing sticks where you have to jump exactly and quickly, I fell off many, many times by trying to max my jump, thinking I hit it, but then not jumping.
A few others: penalty for death too disheartening; re-jump from holding space rather than pressing each time felt weird; several blind jumps including one that killed me in fire; restart used mouse but game used keyboard; trampoline got weird when I hit my head on moving platforms.
You have a solid entry here but maybe try just running and jumping over and over in an empty level and being really critical of the feel, you'll get less time for content but it might be a good trade.
Nice work tho - having a few pain points doesn't make it a bad entry, just trying to leave helpful feedback!
It's a buggy messed but I really liked it! You surprised me with those dropping platforms.
@pkenney, Thank you for the solid feedback. Level two was probably my worst level, I improved on the design aspect after that one, at least a bit. I might go back and improve the postLD version just to get rid of some of those bugs for my own experience. Maybe checkpoints too.
A nice platformer, but I'm not totally satisfied with the movement. I think the player should stop a little faster, so it's easier to control.
It has a lot of content for a compo entry and is a nice platformer. But the jump sound is realy annoying :(
Game feeling is good although it's a simple platformer! Parkour time!
Finally a platformer!!! ☺ Retro and great, worked fine for me. Like the story... ah, cookies
Collision detection seemed to be very unforgiving. Not bad and lots of content to explore.
Can't go too wrong with a platformer, and the levels are good, but difficult. I feel the difficulty is inflated a lot by the slippery movement though, as it seems easy to just slide off platforms even if you stop moving. The collision is a bit funky too. I kept finding myself trying to jump and instead just falling right to my doom where I felt like I was clearly still on the edge of a platform. That's probably what caused the most frustration. If those are fixed, then the difficulty wouldn't be so bad!
EDIT: I broke the game! Trying to test out the collision detection on the blocks, if I just inched off the edge of the first block on level two (flour?) and tried to jump a couple times I fell though the world. oops. Thought you might want to know though!
I do look forward to the simple 2D platformers every Ludum Dare! We're yet to have a go at that genre. I had a lot of fun playing this. Apart from the character being a bit slidey it was a lovely little challenge. I liked the themes of the individual levels. Nice work!
Also, thanks for checking out our game! I hope you'll get a chance to revisit us at some point now that ratings have been implemented!
Cheers!
Rob
@brotherst, already got you covered. I had a list made of ones I'd played and I went back and reviewed last night when it went live.
To all the people that commented, thank you. In the spirit of productivity I will no longer be replying to all comments, but I will make sure I add you to the list of games I plan to play. So look forward to a comment on your game page if I haven't been there already.
I really like the controls, graphics and sounds to this. great level design too, a couple were quite challenging. Great job :slight_smile:
Audiovisually consistent and retro-styled as hell :)
Good call with allowing to browse through content you created even without complete playthrough. The base mechanic - jumping - could use some tweaks though, in which I agree with @pkenney - to be fully enjoyable, it would need to be a bit more forgiving. In its heartless fairness in regard to hit detection, it kinda feels unfair to player (which is of course a bias on the player side, but a game is for players, not the other way around ;) )
And just a small tweak to allow full keyboard control (without mouse-menu) would be awesome.
That said, a lot of hard work went into making this one and it shows. I like it, and how much you managed to do in such short time that compo allows. Great job, leaving my rating.
Cheers!
Great job creating so many expansive levels. The game works well overall. The art is okay for an LD, and it works well for its purposes.
The lack of checkpoints is the biggest problem. When I've climbed all the way up really high and miss one jump only to fall back to the beginning of the level, I lose the motivation to climb back up.
Good job here: you've done so much!
The physic is a bit weird to my taste: jumping feels like you're on the moon, and there is too mouch gliding. It made the game more frustrating than challenging.
Still, I love the theming of every level. Too bad there is no music. Again: well done.
Overall, it felt pretty good to play. Got a little annoyed by a few things like blocks that look the same not all acting the same, but It feels like a fine solid platformer.
A good challanging platformer game, sometimes a little bit frustrating because of the controls witch I think could be improved : making the game more responsive. Simple but effective pixels graphics, a bunch of levels wich are all greats! An overall good game for me!
Cute little platformer. I think the timing on the spacebar is a bit sensitive - it double jumps often when I don't intend to if I hold it for too long.
It is too difficult! No checkpoint means frustraction. The movement controls is not so smooth either. However I love your pixel art and level design
I'd definitely recommend to read this article: http://higherorderfun.com/blog/2012/05/20/the-guide-to-implementing-2d-platformers/ and comment section as well.
Making a platformer - is a good thing and experience. Making a platformer that everyone will to play - is a huge technical and creative challenge.
Check out this one, for instance: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/super-tiny-adventure-game by @sinclairstrange
The Cookie Knight has nice work on level desing and art consistency. And it is hard enough.
Also try to duplicate all required controls on keyboard. Player's both hands on a keyboard while playing, than he needs to use mouse to press "Back to Menu" and select next level - there is no need in this. R - for restart, Enter/Space - for button press and it will be perfect. You can keep mouse as well anyway.
I think you did a good job for a compo entry. There is quite a bit of content to go through. For some reason I didn't have any music btw, I turned it up compeletely in the options and the sound down, but couldn't hear anything. The game could benefit from shorter and easier levels that ramp up later. As somebody pointed out checkpoints could also help. The character is also a bit too floaty, having more ground friction would be good to aid control. I also noticed that the spiders are quite unforgiving. Make their hitboxes smaller than their actual (square) graphics, so that a player feels less cheated when he dies to a spider.
Game is cool and art is pretty but it's very hard for me.
Cool game, but pretty hard, would be nice if there were some kind of checkpoints or similar stuff. Also the character kind of slides on the material which makes it really hard to control. Good job though.
Nice game with cute graphics and sound effects. My main complaint is the controls, which felt a bit floaty and imprecise. Other than that, pretty good entry, especially for compo!
The jumping sound is quite annoying xD I think it's a too much hight-pitched sound. For the platforming part I agree with the other commentary, It would be nice to have checkpoints. Having to climb again is frustrating.
Ps: I like that the character is having this small smile animation !