matank 2019-04-30 07:27
I can't rate the game because I didn't submit a game this time, but I found this because I'm following you on itch.io and the game was awesome! :)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD44 → Signal
By hitchh1k3r, Solifuge and naali
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94 | 3.96 | 33 | |
| Fun | 81 | 3.93 | 33 | |
| Innovation | 474 | 3.21 | 33 | |
| Theme | 308 | 3.66 | 33 | |
| Graphics | 218 | 4.08 | 33 | |
| Audio | 106 | 3.87 | 33 | |
| Humor | 307 | 3.24 | 31 | |
| Mood | 273 | 3.65 | 32 |
I can't rate the game because I didn't submit a game this time, but I found this because I'm following you on itch.io and the game was awesome! :)
@matank Thank you for you comment, I'm glad you liked the game! I think we did a pretty good job for the scope of it.
Fun game, with a substantial amount of content, really impressive for the time constraint, my only complaint is if you get to a shop before you have enough currency for the next upgrade it can be frustrating to wait. great job tho :)
This is freaking superb! You clearly put a boat load of effort into this- great work and I'm excited to see more of your games in future jams! :)
I can't believe this doesn't have more ratings than this. This isn't exactly my genre of choice (I'm a sword boy for life), but the polish is great.
I will say the audio mix is a little harsh sometimes, and there was occasional Z-fighting between some of the sprites, like that little alligator guy occasionally goes behind the shop. probably an order-in-layer issue. Another thought is to perhaps make it so you only receive signal when near enemy robots, since otherwise you can just sit in front of the shop and just buy everything immediately without playing the game. Perhaps in story the shop area is shielded from the signal and thats why you didn't go crazy.
Either way, the music is great, the graphics are very nice, and I'm sure the gameplay is fun. Also, your dialog system is nice and solid.
This is a really solid effort! I'm impressed with the amount of content you were able to fit in. Great job!
This is a pretty cool game. It's fun in like a classical way. None of it is terribly hard (which is probably a good thing for an LD game) but the engagement is reasonable and the level of polish is high. Here's some feedback-vomit:
- Art and music are great of course, definitely give off the characteristic Cave Story Metroidvania *insert genre drop here* vibe while still being unique - Dialogue is cute and cheery and doesn't get in the way too much. I would have liked a tiny bit more motivation for running around and about, but I guess the gameplay itself serves that purpose. - The different powers and terrain type introductions are mostly well-paced, although it's definitely clear that jam time had started to run out after Air Dashing, which is unfortunate given that it seems like a pretty cool mechanic. I can't fault you though, by comparison the first third of the game has a rather incredible amount of content for an LD game, so it more than makes up for it. - I like how the enemies can chase you from screen to screen, adds a sense of connected-ness to the world rather than the typical screen-instanced setup of the genre - I kind of wish Spacebar was the dedicated jump, and that up arrow was just for interaction. I had a lot of trouble interacting with the interactables, often times jumping like six times before finally talking to the robot. - I'm seeing now that you have dedicated Select buttons in the form of Z and Enter. I think a little dialogue bubble in-game would help further illustrate that (and apologies if there was and I totally missed it) - I really like the attention-to-detail of having the second jump after slime ground being a normal height jump, I feel like that's something I would have personally messed up lol. - Ice took me a couple of tries to understand how it works, but once I got it, it felt very clever. I think an in game demonstration like you did for the bounce ground would be cool as well. - Agree with Knights in that the Signal mechanic could be workshopped a bit more. From a lore perspective it makes sense to always be getting it, but as a gameplay mechanic it's basically just waiting. - Similarly, while I like the idea of the Golden Gears, I think either the difficulty needs to be ramped up further so their healing powers are more rewarding, or they need to be positioned as some sort of collectible. A lot of them actually are placed like they're collectibles, but as the game doesn't really give you any feedback for getting them, I always wondered if I really should be focusing on them at all. - I won't spoil it, but the ending is great, and the re-opening is even better :joy:. Internet high-fives all around for that one.
Overall really enjoyed it, I've definitely not invested half an hour into most LD games. Great work!
Wow a lot of stuff for a Ludum Dare entry very impressive. I enjoyed this entry a lot!
Solid gameplay and a nice variety of zones/mechanics! I like how some rooms are designed so that if you end up revisiting them later, you can use your upgrades to traverse them faster, so that you don't get bored repeating that content.
I think the arboretum could use more contrast between the background and the rock walls. I tried to jump at one point but didn't realize there were rocks in the way. It didn't trip me up in any significant way so it was just a minor thing, but I think that visual clarity is important for a game about navigating through a level.
I actually don't like enemies crossing screens only because they can pop out just as you're reaching the edge, and then you take damage that you had no idea was coming.
Following the common thread from other comments, I have to say I'm not sold on the signal mechanic either. Like others have said, it just amounts to waiting -- it might work better if the player had to earn it somehow. I think it also detracts from the theme a bit, since now there's something other than life acting as currency, too.
I like how blaster shots (and even menu sounds?) don't just make the exact same sound repeatedly, and instead there's a bit of variety in the pitch. It's subtle, but I like it (or I'm crazy).
Overall, good stuff! It kept me playing until the end. I thought the credits "screen" was a nice touch too.
Really fun. Looks great and the level of polish overall is quite impressive. SFX are quite good. I find aiming with the mouse to be challenging, especially when I get towards a room boundary and the camera stops tracking with me suddenly (meaning, my position is now also effecting my aim).
I especially like the bits of world-building, like the friendly dog at the shop.
Hey everybody. Thanks so much for the feedback! Rough edges and all, pretty happy with the game, and glad to know people enjoy it!
@jofersgames / @knightshousegames / @jjjjason / @adafheyesh
RE: The fact that Signal goes up every second, even when you're standing still... that was *definitely* intentional, and as far as we're concerned a perfectly valid choice you can make. Design-wise, the upgrades bought with Signal are all unnecessary, and meant as optional handicaps to make the game easier the longer it takes you to win. You don't *need* to waste time waiting around to buy things... you could just as soon go do other things in the game, or even leave the game running while you made a snack or something! That choice was part of the point... and an important part of the theme and meta-story we were going for!
The way we interpreted "Your Life is Currency" comes in 2 parts. First, the obvious part where Switch's Max Health is spent to equip mobility upgrades that unlock new areas. Typical Metroidvania progression stuff. It was also meant to make the game a *smidge* more difficult as the game progresses, since you have less health.
**Spoilers Below!** !> Signal, on the other hand, represents the seconds of *your* lifetime. In the Meta-Story sense, it's the time you as a player have chosen to play this game, and keep this little robot-filled world running on your computer. A broadcast from us to you, that you're choosing to spend your time receiving. In your day to day, you're always picking which Signals you tune into. This is just one of your options. One of the ways you can spend the moments of your life.
It wasn't really meant to be obvious or in anyone's face... but that might also go a little way toward giving some context for the ending? :3
@solifuge I guess you could say
!> a sort of meta layer on top is how in the latest version you’ve included analytics. while we receive the broadcast you’ve created, we’re simultaneously broadcasting our play signal back to y’all
Hohoho! The thick plottens...
@jjjjason
!>RE: Analytics, mostly we just want to know if players seem to be stuck in places, whether or not they die and how, or whether they quit before they see what we think of as **The Good Stuff**(tm). So we can adjust how we make Ludum Dare games in future. But yes, I am absolutely convinced that secretly it is also part of the plot now. Thank you for reminding me of something we definitely intended the whole time!
Anyway, other feedback!
- **Graphics:** I agree that the backgrounds can be a little same-y and noisy. In hindsight, I'd like to have taken another approach, or omitted them entirely! There's lots of rough edges around the gfx I'd have liked to smooth out. Same for the Z-fighting with the initial shop, or a known UI bug with the 4th item in the shop sometimes not showing. There were things we'd have liked to sort out, but decided to put time into other things, as the final hours were upon us. ><;
- **Sound:** Same goes for the music. I was working down to the wire to make sure audio would get *into* the game, and be balanced with itself. Tools like LabChirp are a big help as always, but it's hard to predict how the audio and music will interact... what might be too repetitive or grating. I'm glad the pitch randomization made it a little more fun!
- ** Offscreen Enemies/Stuff:** I was torn on enemies staying active and coming in from other screens too. I like persistent worlds and all that... but there were a few times in testing that it felt unfair when an obstacle from offscreen might shoot at you, or charge you. Same goes for the Modular Factory, and the blueprint that was a little tricky to find, until you were at least on your second loop. The minimap was made to mitigate some of this, but I agree that these are definitely areas for improvement!
- **Controls:** We wanted to keep the control scheme as minimal as possible. I agree that a redesign could help it be more playable. Especially with Jump and Interact both being bound to Space/Up!
- **Collectables:** The Golden Gears were a late-game addition, because we thought some sort of hard-to-reach collectible could be nice. At one point, we thought we might make them all necessary to reaching the end, but that got cut due to time. As it is, the abundance of health pickups meant that them healing you wasn't all that helpful. In hindsight, I think it might be more fun if they just added to an optional score or something, to reward folks who like exploring!
- **The End:** Glad folks enjoyed that! We tried to make it worth it. :3
Loved the play, music, characters. Great job on a LD time frame!! :)
This game is a solid, all-around entry. I got a little tired playing, but it's not your fault, it's just been a long day. But with that aside, here's my op.
Solid game all around, music, grafx, mood, love how you implemented the theme into the core mechanic and loop. Great Cave Story/Metroidvania atmosphere as someone mentioned above. I'm impressed by the amount of content you managed to squeeze into the game, so much to explore and so much shopping to do. This is one of those few LD games that you can actually spend a good, long while playing. I'll certainly be revisiting. The 'W' to jump and interact was a little frustrating at times, but it doesn't take away from the awesomeness that is this game. 4.5 overall! Great work!
A metrovania with a large world and a number of interesting mechanics like the ice skating.
I really like how it sounds like all your upgrades are done with some kind of a hack job.
Just read the comments. That second interpretation of the theme is awesome. I completely missed that and was thinking like the other players while playing but didn't find it as much of a problem.
I'm very impressed by the amount of content in this and the level of audiovisual polish (great music!)
I got pretty far before I had to put it down. Loved the Metroidvania backtracking to discover new areas, but sometimes it was hard to tell different areas apart since a lot of rooms look almost exactly the same. And I agree with the comment about taking damage from off-screen enemies. The same goes for walking into a room and face-first into an enemy whose walk cycle has them right up against the entrance at the moment I walk in. That was definitely a bit frustrating.
just wow, the level of polish in this game is insane, I think i spend like an hour playing the game it was fun XD got all the upgrades and enjoyed trying them.combat was entertaining, the narrative was well written, pixel art was awesome, animation and VFX were great. overall an amazing entry. keep it up <3. the only thing that annoyed me a little bit is that you can't go down when you on the platform and that sometime you find the wall dialogue box where you want to jump.
Great game! The graphics were really cute. At first I was frustrated that it takes so long to gain height when bouncing on the jelly, but then I realized that's not the intended route and you're supposed to go around.
I really liked the art and unique gameplay alot! My only gripe is the very annoying lag spikes and the fact that jump isn't space. Overall very fun besides the lag
Really great all around, no part of it was lacking. I also found the technique to bounce arbitrarily high on the purple jelly, letting me skip a section of the game.
adorable bots
Wow. Impressively large. Maybe too large, the grey level just goes on and on and the map isn't adequate to find my way around it (since you only see a few sections around you). Eventually I gave up on it. Had a lot of fun while it was going.
Super impressed with just how much content there is. Found myself spending a lot of time in this game just because it was fun to explore and try to get upgrades, nice job!
Wow, this game felt like it was made over a couple of weeks not days. It's amazing, you did a great job. The world needs some tweaking as some of the places seemed a bit unfair to reach (like the double jump upgrade). It neat to see the ability of aiming on a metroidvania game. A really solid entry, congrats on making this awesome game!
Nice entry to the Jam. Good job! Although I like the graphics, i suggest you had better used and pixelart font and same style for the buttons. Other than that this is really fun and nicely implemented mechanics. GJ!
Really good entry for a fun platform game. This is loooong game - there is many contents inside. I like the pixelart aesthetic and all animations - especially this angry robot dog. You did a great work on the music. Polished and cute. I had more fun watching the walkthough video than playing. Well done ++