orbitalblueprint 2019-04-30 16:08
I would absolutely love to play a longer version of this! Could do with some audio, but the graphics definitely make up for it. The colour palette gives it a super eery and cool atmosphere.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD44 → Forgotten Keep
By burst
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 190 | 3.80 | 22 | |
| Fun | 211 | 3.67 | 22 | |
| Innovation | 654 | 3.00 | 22 | |
| Theme | 176 | 3.82 | 22 | |
| Graphics | 53 | 4.47 | 22 | |
| Mood | 53 | 4.12 | 22 |
I would absolutely love to play a longer version of this! Could do with some audio, but the graphics definitely make up for it. The colour palette gives it a super eery and cool atmosphere.
I love this game. It's small, simple and has adoreble visuals.
Loving the art
Really cool! The graphics and feel of the game are great.
One thing I would change is to somehow make it so you can't keep farming life off of one enemy spawnpoint. I sat at the first respawn point, killed a bunch of frogs, and then had enough life to casually walk to the end without killing or dodging any enemies.
Really nice graphics!
Short but nice. Only - why is the window soooooooo small? :D
The controls are really intuitive and feel flawless. I like that unlocked regions stay unlocked. Nice job.
I like lots of details in the art, like the vine platforms, the toads and door that move upwards in steps.
I also like the XP bubble that float out of enemies and when I return with them to the crystal balls.
Maybe the enemies was a little on the easy side? One idea of an enemy that might fit is a creature that dash towards the player so you have to jump over it?
Love the graphics and feel. Very snappy and smooth.
This game is pretty cool. I really like the red and black aesthetic with highlights of white. It's certainly a bold color scheme. I also like the sprite art and the way the sword is animated is great. The gameplay was solid, although not very fleshed out. The enemies didn't pose any particular challenge, so more enemy and obstacle types would be appreciated in a future version. But, overall, this is definitely a promising start. Nice work!
(Also, please post a link to the LDJAM submission page on your itch.io page. LDJAM has no search functionality, so it took me forever to find this.)
Thank you all for your comments. <3
Yes, it's a very short game. If I had more time I would have definitely made it longer and more polished. More levels, music and sound effects, and better balanced combat were all planned, but I simply ran out of time. There were plans for unlockable abilities and attacks (which you pay for with your health), more enemy variations (including a boss), and a dynamic soundtrack, but they all turned out to be out of my scope for such limited time. This was my first Ludum Dare and unfortunately I was only able to work on the game for maybe 24 hours out of 72, because of other responsibilities. Nevertheless I am very proud of what I made in such short time. Thank you once again for your criticisms and support. When I have the time I would definitely love to add all the things I planned and more, to make a complete version of the game.
Really nice game too bad you hadn't more time to polish it, the mood is really good and your game made me think to the vampire wich i didn't though of. blood as curency is a very cool idea.
This was a nice experience.
I really encourage you to make a full-fledged version of this someday if you have the time and motivation.
The art is cool and the connection with the theme is definitely there!
I did have some major gripes with the game though. The screen size is absolutely tiny on my monitor and can't be scaled in any way, the horizontal movement during jumping is very strange, and some audio would go a long way in making the game more immersive. I'd really like the game to be longer as well, but the scale isn't bad for a game jam.
Regardless of all this, it's a fine entry! Good job!
What a gorgeous game!
Love the minimalism, the monochrome low-fi tiles, and the way you used them... especially the contrast between the organic thorny vines/trees, and the boxy bricks and chandeliers in the upper section. The use of brightness to draw attention is really great too! platforms are easy to distinguish from background, and white draws attention to your character, and other hazards like spikes or enemies. The particle effects on the orb, as they orbited around it, were really good too! I get the sense there was a lot of intention put into the design, which I appreciate!
The combat felt fair; a little wind up, followed by a brief hit window, and little bit of vulnerability during the recoil. The enemies had similar behavior, so you could act and react in combat... and if you mess up, you feel responsible for it, instead of randomness or unpredictability. The AI was predictable, but I think that was fine; they definitely caught me a few times!
It's hard to come up with a constructive critique for what's here... it's all really good stuff! I suppose I could say the life/blood/particles sometimes spawned outside the playable area, which could be frustrating. Also, there was a moment when a goblin-type fella decided to park his butt right on the initial platform over the spikes. I was holding onto about 100 points at the time, and this was the only way forward... and the enemy wouldn't leave the platform. So I had to leap out over the spikes, hit them with an air attack, then to an air jump and return to the left, and do that perfectly several times. I did it, but on the last swing, I fumbled my air jump, and landed in the spikes, losing all my saved up points. A really nice emergent moment, but needless to say, it felt harsh! I would've liked to have had a little celebration, or at least been able to scramble back to recollect some of my spilled bits. But alas...
Anyway, congrats on your solo entry... that's not easy! And thanks so much for sharing it with us.
- Day
Huhhh, my computer decided your game contained a virus.
I'm not sure what it is, but my computer also said this contained a virus. I did a scan using VirusTotal and here are the results.
https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/1d920e87c4c1af4e22fd16119b3bb8c5edc62a7d1c2e23d1d9cf43a3d4707c7e/detection
I won't give a rating as I didn't play it, but it might be worth figuring out what is going on here.
In regards to the virus warning that some of you are getting. I can assure you that it is a false positive. Some browsers don't like downloading raw exe files, and can be suspicious, so they mark it as such.
The game was compiled with an older version of Game Maker Studio (before Windows 10), so that's why the executable might lack some file information that Windows look for when deciding if the file is trustworthy. Hence the warning. It's okay if you refuse to play the game because of this, I won't hold it against you. I know how paranoid I can be with downloading suspicious files.
In other news, in the coming months I plan on finishing the complete version of the game with all of the features I initially planned. When that is done I'll probably release the source code too. So If you don't want to download a random executable, which is completely understandable, you will be able to build the game yourself and run it straight from source.
Hey, awesome game, would have been awesomer with music and sound effect but hey you were alone.
As you were not Compo but Jam I would suggest you had taken a good free score from the internet, there are plenty (this channel for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZfbROgnN4&list=PLobY7vO0pgVKn4FRDgwXk5FUSiGS8_jA8&index=41 ).
Also, if you want a musicmaker for your next LD, if I'm not teamed up already or by myself, don't hesite in contacting me a few days/weeks before the event...