Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD42 → Bolted Explorer
By zelif and Dark Prince Zen
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1173 | 2.71 | 34 | |
| Fun | 1215 | 2.39 | 34 | |
| Innovation | 1262 | 2.01 | 33 | |
| Theme | 1275 | 1.83 | 33 | |
| Graphics | 1073 | 2.57 | 34 | |
| Audio | 722 | 2.43 | 33 | |
| Humor | 880 | 1.86 | 31 | |
| Mood | 935 | 2.66 | 33 |
I don't really understand what this has to do with the theme but other than that, i think that it is fun and the graphics look fitting to the concept but i also think that there needs to be a little bit more of a "twist" to it. i mean that now people don't want to play over and over again because the only thing that happens is that you run out of bullets and die (every time). This could be solved by a win condition of some sort (but it's your game, idk).
Interesting concept, could use a bit more work to balance out the game-play. I do like the feel of the controls though, makes for a good platforming experience!
@mutskun Thank you for the comment. We had a much grander scope to begin with where we were wanted to add more story elements linked to claustrophobia ("Running out of space") and anxiety but in the end we changed it to a survival where the room gets filled with more and more enemies just to get a game out of it hence it being a bit underwhelming as far as the theme goes.
@incinious Thanks incinious. Was a lot to achieve but we enjoyed the experience. We are looking to continue developing this and balance out the mechanics.
@dark-prince-zen oh well, you finished in time and that's all us participants can hope for, good job ;)
I liked the controls and the ammo mechanics! I'm very interested to hear more about the story as well!
You have a bunch of things in place and that's good that you got content down, but the core mechanics are missing a whole bunch of things. This feedback hopefully might help you understand what improvements you might have made or what you should have focused on rather than building out more content - the core design and feel is so much more important.
- Foreground (platforms) are the same texture as the backgrounds. Often it looks like you're just floating in the air. Can't really tell where you can stand and where not. Even the torch didn't help that that much. - There are no ammo pick ups are there? That's a problem, of course. - Reloading automatically should happen when you try to fire without bullets. - The movement is super fast and that makes it difficult to feel like you're in control. Enemies appear into view too fast. Well, if you can see them: - The enemies are too dark. In fact everything seems to be too dark. I know the torch is a mechanic but it seems superfluous. And waiting for it to charge back up literally means to stand around and do nothing, which is not interesting. - The glowing light things... I presume they were meant to do something in the first place? In any case they don't do anything now and that feels weird. - I only read after playing that it's now a "survival arena". But then the text that comes up that makes the game feel like there's a goal shouldn't be there anymore. Either change the text (shouldn't take long) or remove the system altogether... It's confusing.
Good luck to further game making endeavours! I hope you focus whatever you make next more on exploring and refining core mechanics!
I really like the mood this game induces. Fitting music for fitting scenery and game :) . Unfortunately (like others already mentioned), the theme does not completely fit and you can only play the same again and again :(
@tuism Thanks for the constructive feedback. I think our direction got a bit out of sorts when we decided to change it up. There are ammo pickups but the wraiths didn't drop them enough for our liking. The darker elements were based off our original idea to incorporate the flashlight. The glowing lights were visuals but we never got to implement them properly. But being a jam and all we didn't really have the time to look at things as we were rushing to have something ready.
In the long run of things though this Ludum Dare has been a major learning experience for us. This is only my second and third for Zelif. We really welcome and appreciate the feedback as it does confirm we need to manage our time and how large our scope is for these events and even every day development so we can actually focus on those core mechanics.
@scottyseus Thanks for playing! Hopefully we get the time to continue development on it and work on making better mechanics and story for it. Keen to see how it evolves :)
@timothy-spit Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the mood and scenery too. :D
I enjoyed the mouse-based shooting and the use of lighting to build atmosphere. Movement mechanics were a little too floaty, but it added to the challenge. I think the level art could have used a little more contrast to help separate it a bit, but it felt cramped and spooky, for sure!
Nice game! Great gameplay but a little difficult to jump on surface. I liked the ammo mechanic. Maybe add a little sound when the character are hurt :) ? Good job!
@thought-reactor @batlordz Thank you for playing. Feedback is appreciated.
The graphics could use a tiny bit of work and there are a couple little flaws in there, but the gameplay is solid and that's is awesome for a jam game! Great work!!
@bungalow Thanks for the comment Bungalow.
Definitely a seedling of much bigger plans. Congratulations on still submitting something! In future scope management is something i hope you will look back at this project and use. For reference! The movement felty a little wonky, however it was easy enough to get used too. I dont feel sound was used to its full potential. Sound is a pretty critical part of video games and can really improve the way a game feels. You ammo mechanic was fantastic! Greay work! Thank you for sharing your project with us! :D
Smoked me some grims! The lighting established a strong mood. I loved the character animation. I didn't enjoy running around and getting mauled by grims. If you do a post-jam version @netguy204 me and I'd love to check it out.
Very interesting ambiance and atmosphere. You could improve a bit animation when walking, jumping, shooting and add more feedback (screen shaking or blinking when player shoots or get hurted). Overall solid entry, I like the game play and ambiance, great job :clap: :clap:
The concept is not that bad but there is so much in the way of understanding the way to play... Flashlight is useless and if i run out of ammo i can't refill because i need ammo to get ammo... There are some little features that seems cool though.
@draperdanman @netguy204 @nidup Thanks for playing and the constructive feedback guys. It is rewarding to know there are some likes. :)
You'be managed to make really atmospheric BGM and i like it. But the gameplay was kinda frustrating for me. I haven't figurd out why you need the flashlight and it's sad that you can't do anything to defend yourself when you run out of bullets.
This has some really nice touches. I love the UI and when you die the chain snaps! Torch is a nice touch and I appreciate the narrative content. Good effort!
It was hard to play on a touchpad, but the character controls felt good. Even though this is a horror-like game, I wish there were more bullets.