Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD38 → A small world lost in a big universe
By siryakko
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 309 | 3.22 | 33 | |
| Fun | 397 | 2.80 | 32 | |
| Innovation | 384 | 2.80 | 32 | |
| Theme | 133 | 3.76 | 32 | |
| Graphics | 42 | 4.23 | 32 | |
| Audio | 173 | 3.20 | 31 | |
| Humor | 270 | 2.51 | 31 | |
| Mood | 279 | 3.06 | 31 |
I like your game. The art style and UI is very crisp and well put together. The gameplay is simple, but I liked swapping between the alien and the world. Managing fuel and hunger was kind of easy, but it was a nice idea to have a shared resource like that. It took me a bit of random walking to beat the second level - maybe if you'd had more time a bit more level structure would have improved that bit. All in all, a nice, short game. Thanks!
Hi @EndlessPlumber, Thanks for you review and the remarks. I've lost lots of time on making the random positioning of the stars, and also finding how to make the two character really codependent. The walking around and feeling lost was meant to be like that, but i've ideas to make it more like a survival game with and adventure and story or such. Like adding bigger planets that block your passage, or asteroid that can be dangerous.
I really liked the art style of this game!!! The simple strategy element also was neat. All in all a well polished experience.
Hey! Very cute. I love the flat art style. It took me some time to understand the controls, but after I got it, it was fine. I do think I should point out that the levels were too long. Once again, loved the art.
Great job!
Nice artstyle/UI, i really liked the way you made the two moves together although i had some difficulties to jump sometimes. I took me sometimes to remember that i had to use E and F to assign the stars but it was a nice experience.
I'm working on simplifying the controls or helping by the ui to remember how to do some stuff. For the jump, maybe a collision bug.
The mode switching was neat. Find a place close to some stars, park, and run around to get them all.
Very neat. The art and music really set a relaxing mood that was fun to just fly around and explore in, although sometimes having to stop to pick things up was a little tedious. The mode switching was cool and it was interesting having a shared resource making the game a lot more hard than it appeared on the surface.
I like the concept behind the controls, but the implementation was uncomfortable. For example, I thought it was jarring that the world would stop instantly if I switch to the alien. Also it would have been more fun if I could control both at once. Good entry though!
@Jones thanks for the feedback and that you liked the "music" and mood i've tried to create. I'm currently reworking the way the two character interact into a complete game with the same shared resource mechanics.
@Gato You may be right about being able to control both character without switching. I'll add the idea in my new Game design doc. Thanks for playing and giving feedbacks :)
The Idea behind this game and the movement of the planet and the character are very good, i have never played something like this. There is also a high level of polish in the UI. Very Good!
This is super-cute! I liked the character interaction, and how the alien jumps around on high speeds! Feels really good. I would have expected the alien to collect things even when it's not active. The "flat" art is very well done, and I love the colors!
Managing the resources felt too easy, but also I only played for a few minutes. I saw that you want to work more on this, you're very welcome to ping me when there's a new version! :)
(And btw, I love the considerate way you reply to your reviewers! <3)
Cool idea and what a cute world. It was in level 2 where I was more entertained because the first one has some lack of challenge. But yeah, you can polish it more, add some levels and have a funny game there. Good entry!
I really liked the mood of your game, the duo of the alien and planet is really cute. i used the keyboard and found the game enjoyable. a bit of inertia when switching characters would have make the controls perfects :p Thanks
@Legion Glad you like it thanks :D
@blinry Thanks for your Feedback. To be honest, at first the alien was able to collect without being active, but it felt more like something the planet was carrying arround and not really useful. Its presence wasn't adding anything to the experience. I made it a bit too easy to helpe people understand the mechanics at first.
The new version is on its way (Game design doc right now) to make something longer and a bit more complex.
(If people take time to play my game and write a review, i'll always try to give an answer or at least a thanks)
@DiegoCTorguet Yeah Level one was like a small abrupt tutorial, to help you understand that your main goal it's to get those blue stars to open a door. Thanks for the feedback
@dray Yeah that's the main goal of my current work on the game, the controls, trying to make theme easy and natural. Thanks ;)
Now, I'm gonna give you my honest opinion. I hope I'm not too harsh, 48 hours is certainly not a timeframe to do complicated & content-heavy games in, but I'm trying to offer a different perspective.
Whether it's the control scheme being a bit clunky in certain regards, resource managing being a bit tedious or the idea of mostly flying in a big vacuum of pitch-black darkness not really doing it for me, I didn't really enjoy it.
It supports the idea of "lost in space", but I personally lose the sense of exploration when there's really nothing to explore, see and experience. Having to "find a needle in a haystack" with the blue stars sparsely distributed inside a vast, empty space is just frustrating to me. I do think that having a more structured level design, or indicators to your objectives, would really improve the experience by a long shot.
I liked how the alien and the planet interacted with each other, when you're going fast the alien is almost detaching but still managing to keep up. The switching mechanic introduced some aforementioned clunkyness though, and _**not necessarily the switching itself:**_ It's how the alien did not collect anything when not active, forcing the player to stop in it's track, switch, maneuver the alien into position just to do a little jump, switch back and then continue... which makes it feel even less like exploration and more like busy work.
Changing the collecting thing could alleviate a lot, to be frank. I definitely respect the amount of work you've put into it in such a short time, all by yourself even! The flat art was nice, there's certainly potential here and I do hope you polish it and take it further.
@Devastus Thanks for that complete feedback and you're totally right. I made the choice of forcing the player to switch between the two character just because i thought that the alien wasn't useful and the game could work without him. I should have (maybe) let it like it was in the beginning, to help the free roaming feeling.
I'm working on finding a more clear and simple use of those two characters, apart from the shared resources.
The big emptiness was a bit too empty. I should have try to find a bit of time to add some graphical hint, obstacles or such, and it's in the new GD doc. Like a new feature that helps you detecting the blue stars by consuming yellow stars as well.
I wanted to try a random generation for the level, that was my first, and yes it needs improvement you're right.
Thanks for that complete useful feedback :)
Just FYI, your file descriptions for the small window version are being cut off by Itch's template on my browser.
There's no doubting you chops for nice aesthetics. The music and graphics are both spectacular.
Not super thrilled with the game, honestly. Just kinda fly around and collect enough stars to hit the next level. The character switching mechanic that I loved at first quickly becomes a chore, especially the second, mostly empty level. Never actually had a problem with the hunger/fuel mechanic, either.
Love the story and setting and AV fluff, I just think they need a new game to call home.
I liked the character switching mechanic, and I think it could really shine in a more complicated game with some more interesting geometry.
The second level was soooo empty and I eventually got bored not knowing where to go. It might help to have a background that helps differentiate where you are, or possibly even a minimap.
The graphics were very cute, and I liked playing a nonviolent game. I'd like to see what you could do if you took this further.
@ryte2byte Thanks for your feedback. I've a lot of work balancing the new goal for the game. I've now my 3 Cs and just need to focus on core gameplay mechanics. I'm working on knowing if i want a more survival type of game or just a nice story to tell. It'll take me longer but as i see that the characters are being liked i'm not going to let them down.
@Davidthelazar I've lost a lot of time trying to know why my export wasn't working, and yeah i've some graphic assets to help creating more complex level. I've just decided to let my game as it was during the vote, even if it's giving me bad ratings. The game will remain nonviolent in it's more advanced form. Hope i'll be able to show a new level prototype soon. Thanks for playing the game and giving me your feedback.
A well polished game! I love the graphics and whole theme. The gameplay felt really tight too. Good job overall :)
The art is my favourite thing about this, the smiley faces on the planet and the alien are great, as is the "reading" pose for the alien. I got a bit confused at first and just roamed around collecting stars without realising that they could be used, and I ended up running out of fuel just by the second portal. I figured it out though and finished it, and thought it was quite satisfying. I very much liked the lack of combat
Rather short, but super good. Lovely art, groovy music and super fun core gameplay. Neat idea to have the player manage two resource bars wih the the same type of resource and the sort of single player coop is also very cool! Superb entry :)
Great entry, cute and well done graphics, I absolutely loved the amazing music.
Not much to add, I agree with basically anything positive said by commenters before me :)
A very cute game :)
@yyam @tompudding @palemachine @lorenzos @skywilly thanks for playing and your commentaries.
@tompudding Yeah i've still a lot of work to do on making everything clear for the first time player. I'm a bit in a struggle right now on how will i keep the alien and making its presence important.
@Palemachine I was planning to do more content, but the export bug took me the last hours i had. The single player coop is something i really want to try to male as my real first game, i like that idea, and it seems peoples here like it too
Fantastic game. Simple core mechanic that works really well. I really liked the visuals as they gave the planet and the alien so much character from so little. The music was pleasant also.
Such a well polished game given that you did it for the compo!
Other little notes, I liked the font used and how information pre game was provided. I must admit I skimmed it, and thankfully the controls were intuitive enough that I got it after pushing a few buttons.
Nice little game! Well done and thanks for creating and sharing.
@binaryferret Thanks for you comments, it's so helpful to me for the continuation of the game.
good game........great mechanics.......well polished and a pretty decent graphic........great entry....loved it <3
Cute game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOMZ5szx64