split82 2017-12-04 22:36
Great idea and nice execution. I died several times because I didn't wait for a new part of the level to pop up :)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD40 → A Platformer for Ants
By elendow
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 61 | 4.05 | 140 | |
| Fun | 50 | 4.03 | 140 | |
| Innovation | 30 | 4.09 | 140 | |
| Theme | 113 | 4.09 | 139 | |
| Graphics | 346 | 3.85 | 137 | |
| Humor | 551 | 2.95 | 108 | |
| Mood | 219 | 3.72 | 128 |
Great idea and nice execution. I died several times because I didn't wait for a new part of the level to pop up :)
THIS is a great game ! Animation is fluid, satsifying, and pretty ! Game is not too hard too, but not easy either :)
;O Im jelly of your art! the sounds were cute too! I really loved the idea and I think it fits the theme, thumbs up from me!
2:59 =D
Well, no matter what you say, I do think that's some very good art and music! Gameplay was on point too, very confortable movements (is the ability to jump after falling of a platform a feature or a "feature"?). Clever idea for the "more visibility, worse it is" :heart:
So, awesome entry. Loved it!
Interesting game :) I had few difficulties with the controls at the beginning because the physics is strange, but I like the way the map is displayed gradually !
A good idea and great execution! Give it a bit more dungeons and add a tiny bit of story and you've got a pretty good game on your hands (not the jam kind, the regular kind) Also, I swear I heard that backing track somewhere before... what is it?
It is a well-polished platformer. I like the expanding level. The graphics and sound are pretty good too.
I'm not sure how I feel about having the checkpoints in rooms filled with traps. My feeling is that checkpoints should be in safe places to avoid players failing immediately after spawning. However, having them in dangerous places forces the player to decide whether or not to go for that checkpoint.
Wow, just wow ! Wonderful game here sir. But I hated you when I wanted to get the first reset flag...
Very nice graphics and mechanics. Clever level design. I nearly fell on spikes a couple of times for rushing into a new room before it was revealed :P
8.03! :D awesome game! thank you
Wow! I love the idea and how well it fits the theme! Pretty fun to play too. Congrats!
I'm not good with platformers but this kept me entertained for a few minutes while I died a lot. Nice controls and ok graphics but the dying sound effect was annoying.
This game was fun to play and the graphics created a nice atmosphere. The concept is a pretty interesting take on the theme too. Good job!
Woo, managed to get under two minutes!
I liked the game. Platforming generally felt fine, save for the somewhat floaty jump (although I feel the majority of platformers suffer from that so it's hard to fault it). Music and sound effects are cool, and I really like the lighting on my character's face as I pass through the candles.
Good usage of the theme, especially with how checkpoints reset the camera on activation.
interesting game. though when the screen got bigger, for some reason i couldnt make the jump in the bottom right corner map to get up again.
Thanks everyone for the comments, I'm really happy to see that you all liked the game and my approach of the theme. Really, thanks :)
@corny the music is from Incompetech, I forgot to write the credits on the description ;)
@colisan it's made on purpose! I wanted to do some room that required it, but in the end I felt that it was too hard to abuse of that...
@move127 the idea of placing the checkpoitns on hard rooms was exactly that, the player must decide if its worth or not. If they were on easy rooms, everyone will go to them.
@jcmonkey that's weird, the camera size doesn't affect have to affect the gameplay, I'll look at that :(
Glad I got a chance to play the finished prototype! Ever since I saw it on twitter I was in love with the idea. Great work! totally delievered on the experience I was expecting! Congratulations!
Nice executed idea, it fits so well to the theme of this LD. It was so fun to play and well polished. I love the music you choose! It looks a truly MASIBON!
Simple, fun, and the mechanic is clear from the very first zoom out, was nice to play. One of the best looks at this LD theme i've seen for now!
One of the best ideas I've seen so far. This could be a total real winner if more polished, specially the controls could get some more love.
This could be totally expanded to a full game, think about it!
PS: This game should have been called Queen Lucas.
Cool concept, and nice execution. During the fall I was hoping that I become a two pixels hero... There are things to do with this concept...
Nice job with the game, it was really fun to play and the graphics were pretty good, the idea of the map expanding while you go throw it was well implemented. Congrats for the work :D
This is the best application of the theme I've seen so far. Great job!
The idea is really grate. I love this game <3 :) bit to hard. Good entry
Wow i like the concept! All the best!
Nice entry! fits the theme very well. good job!
Solid entry ! You should make a full game out of it ! (Adding different sorts of enemies with different pattern...). Congratulation !
Really like the game. It has a great feeling to it.
Really good idea! I've faced a strange bug, though: On my second play through, the char's jump became smaller, so I couldn't pass this area:Captura de tela de 2017-12-06 09-20-58.png
Very strange as in the first run I had no trouble at all to go through it.
@pcmxms it's something its happening to some people and I really don't know why. It's solved on the postmortem version thanks to the change on the jump itself. Give it a try if you want.
Thanks to everyone for the good feedback, I'm improving some things and I'll keep the postmortem version updated :)
I never thought that camera scale could be used as a game design value. Really interesting approach of design,
Beautiful art! I laughed a lot with the title! xD
Very fun game!
Perfect score from me, I completely loved it! Please, make it a full game. Everything is on spot.
Nice job, clever concept. My best time was about 3 minutes.
Wow, this is such an amazing innovative entry, excellent (better than great) use of the theme! The levels are very well designed as well. Music and sound effects fit the game too. Although, It's kinda annoying how you have to be extremely precise on some of the jumps. Overall great game!
Impressive game. Nice controls response and level design. And I like the Post Mortem version too.
Here is another playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSHsPT1yBGE
Excellent game! You nailed the platforming, it feels *really* good just to jump around. I really like the mechanic too, very inventive interpretation of the theme. I wanted to see if you can explore every area and beat the game without ever resetting the camera and you totally can :) ants.png
Very creative approach, and very very well implemented! Great work!!!
What is this, a platformer for ants? (somebody HAD to say this, I'm surprised nobody did it before me)
Excellent idea and great realization, good job! Also perfectly tuned controls, you should receive special prize for this, it happens too often that devs forget about the importance of the good tuned controls.
Wow, I really liked this! Something about the zooming out really reinforces the task of what you have to repeat, which in turn increases that delicious anxiety you feel when you're jumping over a pit of spikes.
Very polished platforming!! I really loved it. I fell on the long shaft and because of the speed my character skipped the collision with the ground and fell out of the gameplay area. A "press R to respawn" mechanic should fix this. Very innovative use of the camera also! (and perfect for the theme) Congrats!!
Woah @javicepa thats a new bug, first time lol, I'll try to make that collision a little bigger to avoid that.
Thanks again to everybody for the good feedback, I'm trying to improve the game to make a better experience for everyone. Also, I'm already thinking about new rooms, enemies and mechanics that could fit on a bigger version of the game :)
Loved playing this on stream! Great level of difficulty, combined with a great implementation of the theme. Loved the humour of the title, zoolander <3 You've done well and I hope others appreciate the game also.
I think I told you already, but I LOVE the concept and how well it fits the theme. I like how "roguelike" it feels as well. Congrats, this is a really nice entry :clap:
Incredibly smart implementation of the theme, one of my favs so far! Visually pleasing and super original. Congrats on delivering this :) Enhorabuena por el juego, me ha encantado la idea.
The game was pretty fun and interestingly challenging, but one big concern I have is the camera's mechanic and how it should affect the level design. As the camera changes drastically, instead of a slow and smooth zooming out, it's pretty easy to die to nearly placed traps, so I suggest not placing traps directly near points where the camera will zoom out.
Other than that, great submission!
Well done! Very nicely executed idea and a good interpretation of the theme.
One of my favorites so far!
Great concept! I really liked your interpretation of the theme and the way you applied it, congratulations to the game. I think it would be interesting to add a wall jump to improve the dynamics of vertical movement, but nothing that gets in the way. Congratulations!
Ótimo conceito! Gostei muito da tua interpretação do tema e da forma como aplicou, parabéns pelo jogo. Acredito que seria interessante adicionar um pulo na parede para melhorar a dinâmica da movimentação vertical, mas nada que atrapalhe muito. Parabéns! :flag_br:
Awesome game. Great pixelart graphics. I really like this atmospheric lighting. And of course nice interpretation of the theme.
I really like the graphic,and the control is smooth.It's really become harder and harder while you playing it.Nice work.
Nice concept, really liked it, controls were very smooth, you choose cathcy tune, liked it. Shame it was short, but gameplay was fun and solid.
This is a very interesting interpretation of the theme and a fun game! How about a second level?
This is super cool! I like the music the art and the very interesting gameplay. I did notice something that might be of help. You're able to jump without standing on the ground. If you walk off a platform, without jumping, you then have the ability to jump without touching the ground. Anyway, I really enjoyed this!
Thank you very much for the nice words!! I'm overwhelmed for the great feedback and support :)
@goplite @staircase27 I'm already working on new levels and mechanics to make the game bigger, I think it deserves it!
@erlatronics that's made on purpose, I like that kind of mechanic on platforming games so I reproduced it. I wanted to use as a requirement on some rooms, but in the end I prefered not to.
I liked your game but ran into issue here - https://i.gyazo.com/8f830a12cd5656dbab96138d2993e34f.png I fell from a height and my fella disappeared through colliders I think : )
It's very competitive, I like the idea, reminds me lightweight versions of metroid )
@pixeye that happened also to @javicepa D: yeah, it's probably what you say, I have it on my TODO list. Thanks for you feedback and sorry, because you were having a good run :(
Really cool game!
I loved the camera mechanic, altough I would have liked if it triggered a bit before I fell into the spikes on the first checkpoint. I played the jam entry, so you might have fixed it in your post-mortem version already...
The art was good, simple and clean, no bs! :) Considering the camera mechanic, more detailed art would probably become unreadable.
I do have on question though, are the torches a part of your tilemap? If so, do you know of any tutorials on how to animate the tilemap? I did find Unity's tutorial on "rules" for tiles, but couldn't seem to figure out how to properly use it.
Best regards!
@R33an1 the torches aren't part of the tilemap. I used my [Spritedow Animator](https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/#!/content/82525?aid=1101lIr6) plugin to animate the sprites, and as you said, the tilemaps don't give you acces to single tiles, so I simply used a object aligned to the same grid as the tiles.
The camera thing you said... well, I'm an evil mind and some of those are made in purpose, but I understand that it can be a little bit frustrating. I'll improve that with new room designs :)
@Elendow, haha aight. :P
Thanks for the quick answer!
Wow! One of the coolest ideas I have seen for now. Some thought: -It's awkward not seeing parts of the level that are already on the screen. This could be easily justified with some light switch or something. -I loved the checkpoint idea of rescaling the screen. Most of all, the checkpoint before the pit, that was awesome. -The slime monsters where a bit useless as they just break the pace of the game, I feel like traps (arrow, or intermittent spikes) could fit much better. -I felt for some spikes just after a portion of the map appeared. I think that there can be juice in here, making the player decide where to just with a bit of uncertainty but, of course, not being unfair.
Congratulations! One of the best and original games I played so far.
I like the idea and the way it zooms out when you jump down the final shaft is very funny, but the platforming physics leave something to be desired: You can slip off a block after you already stand on it, as if your feet were smooth and round.
I really like like this. It is a very novel idea and fits the theme very well. The controls felt good, the music was nice, and it looked good. Definitely one of my favorites so far. One of the checkpoints seemed kind of pointless, like there would be no reason for me ever to activate it. Overall, this is one of the greats, and I could definitely see paying a few bucks to get an expanded version on Steam, with more levels, maybe more puzzle elements, etc. Good job!
Very clever. Little things I would've tweaked:
character behaves strangely on platform corners. Did you use 2d rigidbody for the movement?
Slimes are very slow, so sometimes you have to just sit and wait until he will move and give you enough space on the platform
Other than that - the game is very cool.
Wow, thanks a lot to everyone for the feedback, I'm taking notes of everything you say in order to improve the game and make something better than this prototype.
@vlandemart yes, I'm using a 2D rigidbody for the movement, and the character has a capsule collider, that's the reason of the slippy corners. I'll probably change that to a box to improve the collisions.
Very nice game!! The jump is so good its really fun just keep jumping around like crazy. The camera trick really ads to the experience and could make a very good mechanic for a complete game if you want to keep on it some more. Overall pretty good game, more like this please :)
Very interesting idea! A lot of people have made platformers (we also did one lol) but you came out with a unique mechanic, congratulations. By the way, i found a bug in the last screen. I jumped from the checkpoint and got stuck under ground :(
apfa_error.PNG
Yeah @jaimuepe I'm working on that, sorry :( and thanks for the kind word, I'm glad you liked the idea!
nice entry! fits the theme. though you can jump mid air, not sureif that is intended.
Short and sweet game, with nice level design! The camera zooming out to fit the level actually makes the game easier for me ^^
Yeah! this is the best idea IIve come across so far. And so perfeclty executed! Loved everything, pixel art, the music and of course the level design. The reset flag is a great idea also. My time 3:24. Great job!!
Damn, thats a good game
1. Good game. 2. Surprisingly fit the theme, the more the worse. 3. Solid level design.
Great Game! was loads of fun! I love a game that doesn't make you feel bad about dying! You got all the checkpoints in the right spot!
fantastic idea! music was great.
Awesome game, great idea, cute graphics and as I said before: speedrunner candy! I'd like to see this idea implemented in a longer game for sure.
A Platformer for Ants
Now that was a really nice and clever gimmick! It was definitely a very familiar platformer in terms of controls, but the whole camera reducing size as it went made it mush fresher and fun to play. The idea of the checkpoint flags being used as both checkpoints and as a way to reset your camera view was also really spot-on, and I loved the touch how they were always in extra challenging rooms to make you question if you wanted to risk getting to the flag or not.
Overall, I really liked it and the only thing that made me feel kind of sad was due to how short it was. :disappointed:
I'd love to see this idea further expanded and improved upon on (which, given from your comments above is something you already have in mind)! I can definitely see several ways that this mechanic could be used for all sorts of different puzzles and perspectives, and would really like to see it take off.
[In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I must congratulate you for the really cleaver gimmick (and fellow _Newgrounds_ feature too!). I will definitely look forward for the future version of this game if you decide to push it forward, which I think you definitely should! :whale:
Amazing entry, one of the best I've seen so far!
The level design is great, and quite big for the amount of time, graphics are cute and the take on the theme is brilliant and original (although it is pretty late here and now my eyes hurt a bit from squinting). Gameplay felt solid at all times, I don't really have any complaints about it :)
Congrats, this was great!
Cool platformer, clever use of the theme!
Loved the zoom out mechanic and the movement felt good enough to keep me playing all the way to the end. Would love to play more.
Fun, mildly difficult game. There were a few jumping and room loading bugs, but the PM version fixed that. Great game, otherwise!
Very interesting concept! Everything about this game feels really good and meshes well with one another.
I don't think I agree with the checkpoint placements, though. I think that making the player work for them is okay (though maybe not for the first one), I just wish they weren't so far away from the main path, especially the one to the left. By the time you retrace your steps, you've already lost whatever benefit you would have gotten for shrinking the screen size down.
It's a good and unexpected take on the theme and makes a great twist to the platformer type of game.
The controlls are smooth and let you play correctly, being an important thing for a platformer : good game.^^ The un-zomm is well "measured" (for lack of a better term).
I tried the web build and the exe, I didn't encounter any bug and completed the game in 2:58. o/ Thanks for the checkpoints, the bad player that I am likes this touch. The "rezoom" when you activate a checkpoint is well thought.
The music is fun and goes well with the game just as the sounds. :) I didn't find the graphics ugly (as you said in the post mortem) but simple and nice and clean-enough and everything goes well together. I'm no graphic artist either, but I always hear my artist friends say things like "what really matters is the consistency of your art", even if it's not some king of graphic art masterpiece and is quite simple / light, it can still be pretty if everything goes well together.
I came here after stumbling upon your post-mortem blogpost, I like this kind of posts, it's always interesting to see how people managed their jams.
Great job, fellow 3am-er! o/
Finish time: 2:14!
I think this was one of the coolest takes on the theme, and the execution was really great. Levels didn't get annoying either - can't think of anything I didn't like!
Very interesting idea, and a nice length for a jam game too. It's a shame you didn't do the character art - I really enjoyed the rest of the art and now I'm not sure if I should give a graphics rating or not. The double-jump from the post-mortem version does feel better than the original. Good game overall, very clever.
I like the game and it's a good idea. Well done!
Cool idea and great game but a bit too few features.
Great idea. Had a lot of fun playing it. Keep it up! :clap:
Oh wow, was not expecting something like this from the theme, I absolutely adore this game, one of my favorites that I've played this jam. Went through the first time using checkpoints and finished it in 4 minutes, since i kept dying towards the end in that last room. Then realised that the whole game could be completed without triggering a single checkpoint. So liked that aspect, where you could determine your own difficulty kind of. Great game! :ok_hand:
love the idea, very well made, and as always I appreciate pixelart :D
Simple but very well executed game! The idea it's great. The jumps feels a little "floaty" but I think is neccesary to play it without complications. Maybe later try the double-jump version. Congratulations, and hope you make a extended version :D
I like the idea that the player's actions affect the camera, but the camera didn't affect the gameplay much. What if enemies were following you from screen to screen, and you could de-spawn them by getting them outside the camera?
Really cool game. The animations and sprites are amazing. You should probably implement a side scrolling camera.
Very nice game! Great way of dealing with the theme, original and funny!
Really fantastic submission. Such an interesting concept that was well executed. Nice graphics too!
I really loved this game! It's so cool! I loved the concept as well... Overall it deserves 5 stars
This is a very good entry, I liked how in one of the segments of the level, just jumping straight through the dark without looking would mean inevitable death if you weren't careful :D, a clever (maybe intended) side-effect of the camera (when jumping up through the shaft, from block to block sideways).
I think what I enjoyed most was the sense of accomplishment you got from visually seeing the progression in the overview you got of the particular segment of the level you'd completed!
If theres anything to think about, its that sometimes it felt like you got more out of *not* going for a checkpoint, than actually going for one (as the overview you got was actually helpful)
Great work guys :)
Innovative ideas are not a lot for this session (in my opinion) - and it's a shame. I'm very happy to find this one just in time to rate it, and it was very fun to try it and go to the end (in 4:45, I'm not so good on plateformers :P) So, very well done!
A classic genre with an unusual feature. I liked it, it's a clever interpretation of the theme from a platformer point of view :) My time: 4.12
I really liked the original concept, even though I am not sure how it fits with the theme. The game was enjoyable and I thought the retro graphics were cool. The jumps would sometimes be a bit frustrating, like the character slipping off the border of a platform, but in the end I could make it through. Also, the game sometimes had "hiccups" (on the Web version) but it might be from my laptop.
All in all I say good job, it's a fun game and I'm looking forward a more polished project based on that gameplay idea :slight_smile:
This is great and an enjoyable game ! I will use it as an example for my students about simple yet efficient mecanism.
Wow this is a really innovative platformer. And its challenging too :) Keep on.
Very unique take on the theme! I had a lot of fun with it and trying to speed run it without going for any of the reset flags adds an extra layer of challenge! Also I quite liked the music but, this just a tiny thing, I did find the jumping sound a bit annoying.
I really like the concept, and would like to see more. Nice graphics too!
Not for the ants, but for the men with glasses! Challenging and very... eye-driven. Mostly fun with interesting twists and constant fearing that it's going to be smaller. I wonder, if the game continues, if it ever shrinks, what would become with the gameplay... Cool, thanks for the jam!