ghost story

picapica 2017-04-26 13:21

The mechanics with switching form works very well. I would easily keep playing if the game hade been longer. (Perhaps the ghost could possess bodies with other capabilities?) I appreciate the little pieces of story too, it gives the game personality.

I got some sort of bug while playing the web version: every now and then when i respawned the purple blocks where offset a bit vertically, getting partially submerged in the ground. This happened less than 1/10 times but I got it a few times (yes, I died a lot).

Some parts were harder than they looked, like landing on the platforms right after the gif above, you had to be at the precisely right hight to get through, otherwise my little ghost would just bang against the wall, frustrated.

Overall a nice game with good simple graphics!

ace17 2017-05-01 11:33

Bug? you can reach high places just by shapeshifting repeatedly at the right pace :-)

rnlf 2017-05-01 12:38

I wanted to quit at first because I thought "wow, it's impossible to make that jump". Until I realized I could just shapeshift back to the ghost, derp.

Sadly, the game gave me a bit of nausea, probably because of the general floatiness of the camera. So I had to stop after a while. What I have seen up to that point was pretty cool though. I like the music and the concept. The art fits the minimalist theme of the rest of the game.

I am not sure what the point of quoting the old LD themes was, but I assume it was explained later in the game.

automatonvx 2017-05-01 20:36

Hey that was pretty cool, The ending was a nice touch. The unresponsive controls when playing as the cat were sort of frustrating, but maybe that was intentional. I liked the shifting mechanic to give a bit of variation on the classic platformer. Visuals and music also pretty good. Was a bit thrown at the beginning why the ghost couldn't move up or jump or shapeshift. Overall Nice entry.

pedro-henrique-cesar 2017-05-01 22:06

I've tested more than 20 games so far and I can tell you this is the best I played so far, very fun, innovative and it has a good humor! Haven't found many bugs so far, only the player collider that sometimes collide with the obstacles without touching it.

gamepopper 2017-05-02 08:07

Neat little platformer, nice body switching mechanic. Dark opening though...

brainy-beard 2017-05-02 09:00

Fun innovative game mechcanic, would love to see even more characters to interact with. The internal monologue between the characters was witty and fun too.

fiery-squirrel 2017-05-02 15:02

I really like the mechanics, are interesting and fun. The implementation makes it a bit frustrating sometimes due to small details but it's understandable in a Jam. I believe you could turn this into a full game if you add more features and cool puzzles. More feedback when shape-shifting would be nice, like let the player know clearly that the character is changing. I like the sounds and music in general and the graphics are nice too. Very well done.

zondarg 2017-05-03 00:29

Fun platformer. I liked the shapeshift mechanic and all the LD quotes around. Controls were ok after realizing that only left and right do work (apart from jump, later). Dialogues were a nice toucht too. I Like :)

adhesion 2017-05-03 02:21

Awesome! Clever concept and really excellent use of the theme(s), I loved the ending :D The cat controls were a little sticky/floaty and the section with the splitting pairs of blocks was pretty hard but otherwise the platforming was solid. Great music too! Would love to see this fleshed out with more characters. Great work!

himeija 2017-05-05 15:18

Graphics are a little "nauseous" to me whith this physic but I realy like the concept ! It's fit good with the theme ! Great job !

loveapplegames 2017-05-05 21:20

Very cute platformer! I did find jumps a little frustrating because the character accelerates so slowly. I also found you can levitate by switching forms repeatedly. Would like to see more levels!

turncoda 2017-05-07 23:18

The hitboxes, the acceleration, the jump, the camera, and the collision: janky as hell, yet I love playing this game. This game feels very rough to play, but it is very *reliable*. For example, the ghosts hitbox extends deceptively lower than its sprite would suggest. Once I learned that however, I became much better at the game, almost like it was my reward for demystifying the quirks of this prototype. That being said, I really don't think something like that should be in a final game, but in this state, it's charming (rather than annoying, which it might be, for some).

I found a cool exploit: if you jump in the air, touch the wall near the ledge, and quickly turn around so that your back is facing it, you will clip onto the ledge. *This trick can be used to cross the first large gap using just cat form.* It's actually useful for getting on the second ledge much quicker than normal.

GIF of exploit: http://puu.sh/vIXVQ/7a79e9c45f.gif

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You're level design speaks to me. It tells me something I didn't know before. It gently guides me to discover how to use the cat and the ghost in conjunction. I love playing older games because they don't hold your hand, they throw you in the deep end so you can learn how to swim. Your game threw me in the deep end. Once I got the cat body, I tried jumping over that big gap more times than I'm willing to say. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, but once I did, I felt a wave a satisfaction. Good stuff.

This is an awesome game that deserves to be fleshed out. I'm rooting for you!

Some random thoughts:

* As easy as it is to make pixel art and scale it in-game, it looks very amateur to mix resolutions in pixel art. I'm talking about the candles (which were actually still awesome and charming) * Cool music! Together with the background, it created a very fitting mood. * I'm glad you have a real ending. I felt rewarded when I reached the end and it did something new.

cheesymoo 2017-05-08 21:30

Really cool! Nice creepy happy birthday music. Cool art, and I like the switching between :cat: and :ghost:.

Really impressive for a compo!

I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Other than some funky physics everything was beautifully polished!

erkberg 2017-05-11 21:06

Really a great game, I enjoyed it a lot! The graphics and music are very good, as are the gameplay mechanics. The LD theme mentions add a nice touch. There are a few things though that left me a bit frustrated: The hitbox for the ghost form is ridiculously big compared to the sprite size. I sometimes died to blocks miles away :) The cat movement is very draggy, for most jumps I just switched to the ghost form. And lastly: That gap on the right just before the end. I mean, you can't really fall down there by mistake, so I thought there might be a secret there. And I jumped in. And nothing happened. And I had to restart the whole game due to the lack of a reset button. I mean rushing through all of it again was fun, don't get me wrong, but I was sooo hoping for a reward for being a fool :) Despite all the critique: This was one of the finest games I played this LD, great job overall!

cosmic-adventure-squad 2017-05-15 00:16

Great mechanic with the body possession, I can see this game being expanded with new mechanics introduced at the beginning of each world. I liked the challenge the game presented, although the hitboxes feel a little large and the jumping could be a little more precise to reduce some of the frustration. Overall it was a fun Ludum Dare entry! (Happy 15th bithday Ludum Dare)

aggrathon 2017-05-15 23:04

Loved the LD theme references, but the controls seemed somehow very slow and sluggish.

2017-05-20 15:33

Love the mentioning of all of those different themes! 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=xNjIIPVrvYI