Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD47 → Dog Go Bark
By snowdrama, rot_god and arc1llusion
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 773 | 3.52 | 25 | |
| Fun | 678 | 3.43 | 25 | |
| Innovation | 1266 | 2.87 | 25 | |
| Theme | 1203 | 3.19 | 25 | |
| Graphics | 830 | 3.52 | 25 | |
| Humor | 245 | 3.63 | 24 | |
| Mood | 702 | 3.47 | 25 |
You see a lot of action puzzle, and sometimes rhythm games in these jams, but this is the first zelda adventure one I've played (and it's good). I'm not really sure what the curfew was for other than I guess it connects to theme. But I loved the layout, it was fun to explore, and had those great "a ha!" moments when you discovered a new ability. The temple was a cool surprise and a great way to wrap it up (though greedily, I wish there was a boss fight!)
Really nice rpg - was fun to play. What it is really missing to fullfil the mood is audio like a real bark when you hit the space key :D
Nice game dude! I think sounds would have been nice but overall it's a nice complete game :)
@roolow yeah the curfew was supposed to matter a bit more, but would have required adding more items. What was supposed to happen was that the day reset would remove all your upgrades(but not bones) so the idea would be that some bones would rely on pretty tight timing of knowing EXACTLY what upgrades you need for any one bone. As an example, imagine the temple had a leash item that lets you pull some blocks,the south river was also going to have a cave that was blocked by pullable blocks. You'd have to coffee -> ball -> leash all in one day cycle to be able to get the bone in the cave. The reason we changed this was because we found that it would be really annoying if you weren't making the right connections between upgrades and puzzles so each rotation you just slam your head against the wall trying to essentially route a speedrun for each bone.
@neowhoru @thestoff Thanks! Yeah for sure, I didn't have time to go record sounds though, so I prioritized making features and having content than having sound.
I got stumped on 6/10 bones - I really want to complete it but I must be missing something, I'll have to come back and give it another shot! Overall it was very compelling and incredibly wholesome (up until I started chucking balls at squirrels). It's already nailing those gameboy vibes and I'd definitely revisit it if there are any plans to add audio.
Based on your comments, I can see how the systems were meant to shape up. As is, I'd do away with the curfew (but leave the returning home at low health animation because it's fantastic (maybe add a skip tho)) - I didn't mind the timer until I got stuck and then it quickly got in the way of an otherwise adorable experience.
A similar speed route/memorization issue led me to completely scrap my original idea - but I guess that's the fun of a theme. Whether you stick to it or have to compromise it - it can force you to adapt outside of your comfort zone.
@tomatolamp Thanks! I love the gameboy/color era(if you check firestarter my last LD game, it also does the 4 color palette thing) and this time I wanted to try to do a Zelda-like, so I tried to make the gameplay similar to my favorite Zelda game, Oracle of Ages/Season
Yeah there's definitely plans to add audio, and I want to re-visit the mechanics a bit. I agree the curfew is kinda forced though I think it works, the design was supposed to be a slightly modified version of Minit(Definitely check it out if you like this kind of game) where this kind of thing works very well. In Minit you only get 60 seconds and then you respawn back at your house. So that's where the respawn/curfew mechanic came from. It's funny because I felt the same way in Minit, it weirdly was fine until I spent 20+ respawns going "IDK where to go..." So yeah I can understand how the respawn can kinda hinder the experience if you're stuck.
I think I know where you got stuck as well, I believe there's an NPC in the town that hints at the solution(I won't spoil it if you want to go back after I add audio)
There is a lot of puzzles and mysteries, i really enjoyed while playing ! Great Job !
Really had a gome time playing this! Thank you for your amazing game! I played this night but I forgot to live a review here hahahah
@sevenlevelgames Thanks! I tried to make sure for this game that I gave myself around a full day just to add content, something I had not done in the past.
@gabriel-dias-oliveira-de-almeida Thanks! glad you enjoyed it!
I got all the bones, yeah! I didn't expected to find this kind of game on that theme, so it was a good surprise! You said the initial idea was to reset the loots with the day, and you dismissed that to prevent annoying gameplay… Well, I must say that because of the warning about returning home before 7, I was expecting to loss found items if I wasn't at home while the night come :sweat_smile: Anyways, it was fun to play, and to search all the bones and how to get it, so well done!
@lereveur Yeah, I did think of that actually, there was the idea that if you made it home before curfew, you could bury an item in your inventory so you can grab it the next day, but we ran short on time before I could flesh that out and decided to cut it as well. At that point we just changed it to be a short cutscene showing you going home. Definitely could have done a lot of things just needed more time haha.
I like this idea and who does not like being a good boy for a while. Audio is the biggest hole here.
Really cute game! I like the simplistic art style and day-cycle resetting the 'loop'. All I find missing are some sounds and some walking animations for the dog, but really great game!
@lebrra Yeah I wanted to get to animations but ran out of time. Sounds I thought about adding like some CC0 ones I found online, but didn't get a chance to build the tools to play the sounds either. Spent too much time trying to come up with the few mechanics it had sadly. Thanks for playing!
Really enjoyed the game ^^ The idea is creative, I haven't seen a game like this yet :D animations and sound would've been cool, but i know you ran outta time, it's understandable :P well done though, the game is cool.
Interesting game i shall say. It's really something different.
Nice game! Perhaps there's at the beginning confusing because the player has a big environment to interact, etc. Maybe reduce the scope from the start (exit for one room for example) will be a good tutorial... also the audio... Despite that, the game has a lot of possibilities and situations! Good job!
Nice game. I like the idea of throwing the ball the most.
That was a fun little adventure. I always like to see people put effort towards level design in an LD game, which is always a luxury with such tight time constraints. The world wasn't huge, but it fun to explore, and the barking combat felt very Zelda-ey, like how you swing your sword in Link To The Past. The "dungeon" towards the top of the world was really short though, and I think adding some more difficult combat encounters there could've worked well.
Overall, nice entry!
It took me a while to complete this game, but it was very satisfying to make it to the end. Loved mechanics, especially throwing the ball. It felt rewarding to figure out the puzzles and find what to do next. Theme is realized perfectly, the restart of the day on the timer or upon death fits into the theme. It is also not punishing for the player, because all the progress remains and you start every other day a bit ahead of where you finished last. The buffs gave useful powers, and it was a great choice for how to marry progression to the theme.
Overall I loved the game. Thank you for making it. :)
________________ May @candlelight watch over you.
_______________ Summoning @nekopi to take a look.
good. I love it!