owc 2019-10-09 15:52
Ogon'
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD45 → You Broke the Game
By olegklishin and suvrik
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 71 | 4.10 | 70 | |
| Fun | 106 | 3.92 | 70 | |
| Innovation | 950 | 2.64 | 70 | |
| Theme | 949 | 2.73 | 71 | |
| Graphics | 33 | 4.48 | 71 | |
| Humor | 201 | 3.50 | 69 | |
| Mood | 290 | 3.70 | 67 |
Ogon'
Look like Mario!) But seriously, you make a really good and harmonious game. It's nice to play.
@mountday Thank you very much! Mario was one of our biggest inspirations.
Pretty looking game, tight controls as well. Some frustrating sections (like those accursed rats!) but satisfying once you beat them. Overall enjoyed it, quite well-polished.
@empty-set Thank you for your feedback! We're thinking of releasing a bit more polished and balanced version of the game soon. Do you think those rats need to be changed somehow? Maybe nerfed? Or maybe they need to be more predictable? I would be really happy to hear your thoughts about it. Thanks for playing!
Great well-rounded, polished platformer. It had a good amount of challenge. The pixel art and animations are top-notch. The bird poop was a funny mechanic - nicely done!
A very polished and fun platformer. One criticism I have is that I literally managed to break the game. In the transition level after placing back the potion (the level where the mouse is introduced), I fell into the bottomless pit but the level did not restart.
Tight controls, good art, amazing remix(Marceline), and good level design. It's very polished and there's really nothing much I can add. Gameplay wise, the parts that I had most difficulty with was - the pooping birds on the 2nd stage with the breaking staircase - the 2nd half of the final stage (starting from the pooping bird/spike platform) - the 3rd-4th stage transition with the breaking blocks
The breaking blocks in the transition area was challenging but fair, but the segments with the pooping birds were pretty frustrating. For example, in the 2nd stage, since you can't look up to study the birds, you can only jump to predict where the birds will be and just keep grinding until you make it.
Would be nice if the number of deaths was recorded as well, would be interesting to try a no death run.
Screenshot from 2019-10-12 03-57-36.png
@mharring Thank you very much! We really appreciate it. @phoenix-fireflower OMG! I gotta fix that! Thank you very much! You're the best! @jusw85 We wanted to make the "look up" mechanic similar to "look down" we managed to implement, but we ran out of time. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be in the final version of the game. Thank you for your feedback. The number of deaths is a really-really cool idea, we're definitely going to implement it!
This is one of those games that do not mind taking the time. Gameplay, graphics and sound components, immersed in the times of typical platformers, which on the contrary raises interest in the game. Good animations, a variety of enemies and platforms, storyline, what could be better than that. Great game.
@omickron I am really happy to hear that! Thank you for your time!
Incredible that you managed to make such a polished and solid game in a game jam, it honestly feels like I am playing a commercially released game. It feels very Nintendo (a great compliment), both visually with all the cute animations and fun humor. My favorite part was the leap of faith where you land on the hedgehog, on your second try you find the hedgehog being sad over killing you before. The game is filled with cute/funny moments like this. The movement is spot on, you feel like you are in control at all times and when you die you have no one but yourself to blame. Great job!
:slight_smile:
@simon-rahnasto Thank you very much, Simon! Many people I was watching playing the hedgehog level were very careful about that leap of faith and avoided the hedgehog. I'm really glad someone died and appreciated it, haha! 🦔
Really charming game! I love all the juice: the charms, particle effects, animations... you all did a great job with the time constraint. If I may suggest, space bar for platformers is bit awkward compared to Z :)
@suvrik I think the rats are good as a standalone challenge. It's fun to see a platformer enemy try to actively outwit you and avoid being jumped on, you don't usually see that. However, they sort of demand your full attention since they are difficult to predict, and it's tough to try and deal with them alongside other challenges and hazards, such as in the final level with the gauntlet of enemies guarded by birds. Perhaps you could adjust them to decrease their "reaction time" so to speak? I.e. they can only make decisions every so often, which could let a skilled player exploit their AI.
@drgrognak Thank you very much! We were very inspired by Super Meat Boy (kinda obvious), which has space bar for jump. But Z as an alternate jump key is a very cool suggestion. @empty-set I'm happy to hear you liked the rat (my favorite enemy in the game). There's a similar adjustment already: rat attacks you after a certain timeout (150ms I guess). So when you fail to jump at it you have some time to make another jump and not being killed immediately. I could also add some "outwit" timeout as well. And I have to agree with you about the gauntlet of enemies and pooping birds. Sadly, level design was a thing we did on the very last day in between other tasks. Thank you for your feedback!
Yay I finished the game! Really polished fun game, The difficulty does ramp up quite a bit in the last two levels but overall this is a really solid platformer, Fantastic job!
@glaciereclipse Thank you! I'm really happy you liked the game! You're right, the difficulty curve needs to be fixed in the post-jam version of the game.
Awesome graphics! Game looks very polished! Levels are challenging but you can beat them after a bit of dying :) I like what creatures say, especially the poor porcupine at the bottom of the pit. Also I like the idea of birds making poo when you run underneath. My only suggestion is to make those birds pigeons :) Great submission!
@nikolay-zapolnov Thank you very much, Nikolay! You wouldn't believe, but Oleg actually drew them as pigeons initially.
What a charming game indeed :slight_smile: I love the chill atmosphere of the game and innocent jokes. Platforming itself feels nice and very polished. The only thing that annoyed me, were mice enemies, but that's probably just me.
Nice work! I was worried that there would be a bunch of comments complaining about the difficulty of the game (it's surprising how many game devs lack the skills to play games themselves!) but it looks like people are having fun with it, as they ought to be :)
There can always be fine-tuning, of course (something to inform the player of exactly when the green guys will launch their projectile, since it travels rather fast), but for a jam, this was plenty fine!
Great work on the spriting and animations, I think that's the standout part of this submission. Good music choice too.
Great game! It was a really good idea and I thought it was funny when the start kept moving. Those pooping birds are menaces though, I liked the difficulty, kept me engaged
Oof, that was really well polished. I appreciate a platformer with great controls - it's pretty hard to do in a jam, so big props for that. Everything felt very smooth - and I liked all the added bit of dialogue adding to the humor (sp. the clouds crying and saying stuff every time you jumped on them in that one level). Some parts became a bit frustrating, and everyone has already talked about it so you're aware. Great stuff!
Those are some crispy pixel art graphics! Really nice job there. Having the hold-jump also was very helpful and much appreciated. The enemy variety was also pretty great for a jam game!
As for my more critical feedback, I felt that the cutscene bars were a bit extreme in some cases as the gameplay was going on behind theme (particularly the part where you fall down onto the breaking blocks right after the mouse). Additionally, I completely didn't notice the start button "breaking" the first time around (whoops lol) so perhaps something else to put a bit more emphasis on that would be nice. Maybe a "broken" sound and/or some sparks or something coming out of the button?
All things considered though, this seemed like a pretty polished entry. Well done!
Wow, that game is awesome! Had a lot of fun playing! Congrats on that one! <3
Things I want to say that are already mentioned:
Awesome game (✔️) Great graphics (✔️) Fitting BG music and sound FX (✔️) Very accurate and snappy controls (✔️) Very well placed platforms and other level elements (✔️) Feels like playing a commercial game (✔️) 5/5 for each category (✔️)
I don't know what else to say that is not already been told. This is by far the best game I have played this jam.
During the community game jam I commented on a game called "Back and white" that this game is the best and that game went on to win the jam. I wish the same happens with this game as well. I'll be shocked to see if I don't see this game in top 3 overall and winning in atleast some categories.
Back and white comment.JPG
Back and white rank.JPG
@annie-owl Thank you, that means a lot! Mice enemies need to be balanced better, you're right. I really like the way they move, though. I intended to make player "dance" with those mice, but now if you're not super quick, you just die after a failed jump. @ddrkirbyisq Thank you very much for kind words! It's indeed surprising! I showed this game to my gamedev colleagues at work, and only one person was able to finish it. I never had a doubt about the indie community though! The green guys already have a "charging" animation. Should we make it even more obvious? I would really appreciate your feedback on this. @emiliabea Thank you, Emilia! I hope when we add the "look upwards" ability the pooping birds won't be frustrating anymore. @diptoman Thank you very much! The player's movement took an entire day, it's the thing that matters the most for me. If you fail that, player will blame the game for bad controls. I want player to blame himself for bad controlling, haha. @guitarbro You're right! We really need to change these cutscene bars into dialog clouds or something. This is a very valuable feedback, we didn't think of it yet. You're so right about the start button as well! I noticed that during playtesting. I think it should make some explosion sounds and emit explosion particles after click and fall down behind the player. Sparks coming out of the button is a great idea too, gonna use that! @danilo-freire Thank you, Danilo! I am really happy to hear that you had fun playing our game! @monish-vyas You're making me blush! Thank you very much! I already played a bunch of other extremely good jam games (extremely good, again), so I'm not so sure about getting top 3 or something, but we would be very happy to be noticed!
@suvrik Oh, sure! So the green guys have an animation that signals to the player "I noticed you, I'm going to fire at you sometime soon!" but there's no indication of exactly WHEN the projectile is going to be launched, so you basically have to memorize the timing from experience. That's "OK", but it would be even better if there was a clear visual indication of the **timing** for the projectile as well, so that the player can predict more obviously (even if this is the first time they've ever encountered the enemy) that the projectile is going to happen at X time.
Basically you only have one "anticipation" state and it lasts for a relatively long time:
- "Noticed player" - plays as soon as the player comes within targeting radius. If the player jumps now, they'll land before the projectile is fired and get hit.
- Shoot -- the projectile is fired and starts traveling immediately. If the player tries to jump now, they might not react in time and they would get hit by the projectile.
Imagine instead that you have:
- "Noticed player" - plays as soon as the player comes within the targeting radius, for 1 second.
- "Rears back head" - plays for less than a second, right before the bullet is about to be shot. **this is the cue for the player to jump**
- Shoot -- the projectile is fired, but the player has already reacted to the previous visual cue, so they should successfully dodge the bullet!
This doesn't have to be 10 frames of extra animation, even just a single frame or even a particle effect or =anything= would help here. Reducing the speed of the projectile is also an option, so that the player can comfortably react even after the bullet has already spawned.
Hope that makes sense! Again, it's not a huge deal, you can learn the timing of the attack after a few tries (e.g. a few deaths), but I think you'll help your players execute this portion more skillfully with the appropriate signaling.
@ddrkirbyisq Thank you for extra feedback! I really appreciate that! I got your idea and I think we're gonna both add new animation and decrease bullet speed (just a bit).
Birds are maximum annoying... Good visuals and sound, level design is interesting and challenging! Good job!
really impressive how much you manged to get done during the Jam. Awesome platformer!
super fun! really challenging but its at that sweet spot of difficulty where you just want to keep trying. Great work!
Wow! It is simply THE BEST platformer I've played on this LD and one of the most polished games overal. It is amazing to see such level of quality from 72h jam! Congrats!
The game is really hardcore, but keeps you playing, which is a good thing.
On the design side: * the "wall jumping/sliding" mechanics is not obvious one and better be addressed more explicidly in the tutorial level after perfectly introduced 'Space to jump'. Most of the hardcore platformer players wouldn't be confused, but still better be sure the player knows how to hanlde the next challenge - or you can lose the player on the first level when they will get confused how to get on top. * The poisonous grass is too green from my perspective. Maybe would be better to make it all in 'hot' colors to distinctly separate it from 'safe' areas.
It's hard to find as polished game as this one. Graphics and physics in this platformer were both amazing. Kudos!
Its all been said above, but wow, what a fab, polished, engaging game. This could genuinely become a full release game. LOVE the graphics, music and themes. You're a very talented bunch.
Wow i am really amazed by this game. It's the first one where i really stick on it. I gave up and didn't reached the end (but i tried 20 times in the level where the cloud and the bird are which i struggled). This is really good and i love to play it.
As a platformer fan (and as i love making these games lol) its is really polished. You should really make more out of it and think about to extend it and make it a full game which you can release :)
I mean - you made this amazing platformer with really good controls and you have wall jump, wall slides, moving platforms, great level design and this in 72 hours ? Amazing work. Keep on man.
Wonderful graphics and music.
I had to call it quits at this point, as I just couldn't master the wall jump. :tired_face:
ld45_db-041.jpg
@saintheiser Thank you for your feedback! We will do our best to make them challenging, but not annoying. Do you maybe have any ideas on how we can do that?
@rams3160 Thank you very much! We really appreciate that!
@copper-aardvark-games Thank you! I'm really happy you liked the game!
@invader Thank you so much! We were running out of time and were not able to implement a proper tutorial. Even though I have a rough idea on how to teach player both wall jumping and variable length jumping mechanics, I'm not entirely sure about it and would appreciate if you share your ideas on this topic. Initially the poisonous grass was all green, the red pixels on it were added on the very last hour. That could have been even more confusing, haha.
@sztobar Thank you, that means a lot! I'm really happy you mentioned physics actually! I spent quite a while implementing it properly.
@bazld Thank you very much! We're slowly working on a post-jam version, but nothing very big.
@neowhoru Thank you so much for kind words! Level design was done on the very last day, and just like with our previous Ludum Dare submission, it's far from perfect.
@johnnysix Thank you, Johnny! I suppose you missed the "hold space bar for far jump" mechanic? Or is something else prevented you from beating this level?
As a Sega kid I have to admit that this game looks and feels perfect for its genre. And here the same the classic hardcore on Bloodborne-like level x) Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish, stuck on level where ypu need to locate the goblet. My hands were really sweating! And I faced a problem when using arrows it's impossible to jump on the left surface upwards. But everything works with WASD, but then the whole load goes to one hand (I don't whine, I state haha). But all the mechanics work perfectly, everything looks gorgeous and nostalgic. Great entry!
@daria-toni Hey, thank you for your feedback! Do you think the arrow keys problem is on our side? Could that be a problem with your keyboard? Do you experience anything like that in other games?
You reminded me of the golden age of dos games. Amazing graphics and gameplay. Last level became more frustrating than challenging tho. Great job overall!
This game feels incredibly polished. You totally nailed the jumping mechanic so many jammers struggle to implement in a satisfying way. Your game is really challenging, but, except for the birds in level 2 that have been adressed others already, always fair. And that's why I gladly spent my 18 minutes to finish the game with all 134 coins. I became fully absorbed. Seriously, you did so many things right, I don't even know where to start. Well, I guess everything has been said above by others ^^ The rat behaviour is something I actually never saw in a platformer before. It's ingenious! Platformers can still be fresh and surprising! And adding to that amazing gameplay, you also have super good pixelart! And so many little touches that bring the world to life! Like those tiny pin wheels that don't even serve a purpose except than to please me! I also loved the dialogs in the transitional levels, the hedgehog you land on gave me a good laugh! Ahhhhh! Your game is just too good! I could propably go on and on about it! Have a bucket full of love :heart: :heart: :heart:
I loved it!!! Platform games are my favorites! Everything is very well polished! Tell me everything is made for LDjam and nothing is Free Assets! Please! Just add more levels and the game is ready to launch. I just didn't understand the link to the theme. Congratulations!
This is our game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/soundscapes
@the-osk Thanks for playing!
@purrseus Thank you so much for kind words! :heart: :heart: :heart:
@euler-moises Thank you! Everything besides music was made during the jam. The plot behind the game is theme based.
* graphics look wonderful * movement is fairly good * red/green vines that are harmful do not stand out well from the rest of the terrain * difficulty curve is a bit high given a jam game (lots of retrying because stuff is off screen until you hit it - so it takes playing a level multiple times to figure it out) * not sure on the story/how it fits with the 'start with nothing' given it sounds like you start with everything and are putting it all back. * audio hits the spot for the style of game.
This is a really good game. Incredibly polished for a jam game, with a complete story and a complete set of levels.
I certainly had trouble with the stages involving the birds. One thing I thought might help is if their projectile was *faster*, as once I walked sideways into a bird dropping that was just a few frames from despawning, and I really wasn't expecting to die. Eventually the way I beat the last level was by carefully waiting for every single bird dropping to fall before going past enemies on the top row, and just getting lucky on the middle row with all the breaking platforms.
One note on polish: With the moving platforms it could be nice to have better cycles. In particular, one of the levels, the first time I got to a moving platform, I was not on cycle, and I had to wait. If the platforms picked their cycle as you got to them, not when you loaded in the room, they could feel slightly better. Of course this might not be feasible when combined with the look up/down mechanics but I think it's something to think about.
This is especially egregious when the unpredictability of playing through a level with enemies means that, unlike in a game like Celeste, there can't be a level designed with a pattern where you usually get to the moving platform at the same time.
That is of course a minor nitpick but in a game that's so well polished I think it makes sense to ask how it could be even more polished. :smile:
Incredibly smooth controls for a jam game, and amazing pixel art
@adroitconceptions @honey-pony @nikos Artist here. Everything is on point, we will take your suggestions into account. Thank you for taking time to play and leaving a lot of valuable feedback! Wish we had more time, but that's just how jams are :D
Really difficult game. But well polished....(I rage quitted in the end #sore_loser)
Music is well done, graphics is amazing. Mechanics...for the elite gamers.
Feels like a really well made LD entry, the graphics is solid, the music is nice, the soundeffects are retro AF (which I quite enjoy). I'll probably come back later and try it out some more, but from my first play I really enjoyed the experience! Great job! Cheerz!
Amazing pixelart!
Awesome art, great animations and interesting take on the concept! Awesome job!
Platformers and this kind of superhard game aren't really my thing, but even so, you had me grinning along as I died over and over and over. And I finally got to the end ... but it was closer to 50 minutes than 15. You kept me until the end, though! And having the items tick down to show how much was left was a motivator to keep going!
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@kooshy WOW, this is some dedication! Thank you for taking your time to stick with the game!
Solid game. Pixel art is gorgeous, controls are tight, etc, etc.
My only quibble is for slightly more generous "noob pixels"... e.g. making the hit box of your character slightly smaller when getting damaged. There were a few times I barely grazed the obstacles and was sad to not be within the threshold.
Very pretty pixel art and solid music. The game's controls are snappy and feel pretty good to control. I did struggle to get the first cloud to come all the way down to the bottom so I could bounce on it and I ran into lag (browser version) every so often that would mess with the gameplay. Otherwise, not bad.
Wonderful game!Art is also best!
This was fantastic! Beautifully polished and challenging, very well done. I adored the interpretation of the theme, too- it was very unique (especially amongst a sea of games that just start with no items).
There's one thing I'd suggest, and that would be for the items to do something. I think a game where you start with all your powerups and slowly give those powerups away would create a natural difficulty curve and truly make the theme hit home. That's not even a criticism though, just an idea, and it obviously would have been way more difficult in a jam timeframe.
Fantastic work overall, I loved it!