FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD47 → The Trade Secret

The Trade Secret

By milestone-games

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall793.8743
Fun1603.6243
Innovation3603.1943
Theme454.2342
Graphics574.1443
Audio2
Humor1773.0138
Mood683.8143

Comments

rex64 2020-10-05 01:19

Pretty cool adventure game. I'm not going to spoil the story but beware: nothing is what it seems!

hydrasil 2020-10-05 10:33

Great implementation of the loop theme. Too bad we can't follow more of the story, but really well done with what's there

milestone-games 2020-10-05 11:59

@rex64 Thank you so much, your feedback means a lot!

@hydrasil Thank you for the kind words! If the game concept shows enough promise, I would love to continue working on it :)

hydrasil 2020-10-05 12:45

I'd say the game concept shows promise, and you have the art and story-telling mechanics for it. If you still have to smash windows after 30min's of play, the loop-mechanic might just do with something new :P

lanalux 2020-10-05 17:45

Really cool! I hope to see more!

patetfisk 2020-10-05 19:31

Cool! Maybe a little annoying how my character tells me he doesn't need tools right now or whatever when i am the one wanting to pick them up but not really a big deal. Thumbs up

schraf 2020-10-05 22:42

Nice take on the loop mechanic in an adventure game. Also a nice job on the graphics for such a short amount of time.

nethead 2020-10-05 23:20

I really enjoyed how much story you were able to pack into this! There was a lot of detail in the art and it set a great atmosphere.

elbapotsnugg 2020-10-06 00:34

Great adventure game and uses the theme well! Love the art style and story.

magnusfurcifer 2020-10-06 00:55

Really interesting take on the theme, and the story was really well done for a jam game. Visuals were good too. Nice job. I could see the backtrack loop being annoying in a larger game, but in a short experience like this it was actually engaging.

toasterwerewolf 2020-10-06 01:26

Very fun and impressively polished! Interesting story too. Although I've been trained by other games to just grab everything in sight whenever possible...

kunonooni 2020-10-06 01:58

This was really well done! The art and overall presence was reminiscent of those graphic adventure games I used to play back in the day :smile:. I really hope you continue the story as you have something promising here.

week-of-the-agents 2020-10-06 08:24

Atmospheric game. Hope, history will be continue.

koemeterion 2020-10-06 10:02

Fun game but to short! I wanted to play and know more about the world :D

Well done for a compo entry. You achieved a lot in 48h.

endurion 2020-10-06 14:45

Wow, really, really good! :)

And clever use of the theme as well. Only missing a bit of sound. Well done!

thecakeconsortium 2020-10-06 15:33

Short interesting game, could make for a good story game.

yngvarr 2020-10-06 15:45

Great execution and atmosphere! The game left me hooked. I want more of it! :D

I like how player can interact with objects several times and the result will be different, as the story goes. However, storyline seems kinda underdeveloped with things like "the client said I should follow the other direction". :)

Another consideration is a control scheme. I think, the game would benefit of using the same button for text boxes and for actions. Switching between these two is a bit annoying. X_X

Still, the game feels super solid. Superb pixel art! Nice entry! ;-)

preda 2020-10-06 17:56

I like the art and the story is pretty nice, interacting with everything is also pretty nice.

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:07

@hydrasil Thanks for the great feedback, definitely agree that that would get tedious after a while :) My original concetpt actually had the player go *back* in time after a while, but sadly I ran out of time.

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@endurion Thank you! I'm very happy that you like it, and actually a bit surprised you are the first review to mention the lack of sound. This was something I was kicking myself over as I had a lot of ideas about how it could contribute to the atmosphere, but sadly I ran out of time. Next time!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@patetfisk That's great feedback, thanks! If I continue working on this game I'll definitely keep this in mind!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@schraf Thank you for the kind feedback! Hope the amount of re-used sprites weren't too obvious :)

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@nethead It makes me really happy that you appreciated the atmosphere! I planned out the plot before writing a single line of code, but didn't actually implement any of it until the last few hours, which is painfully obvious when looking at the amount of typos :)

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@elbapotsnugg Thanks for the nice feedback! This is my second pixel art LD game, and I managed to double the amount of resolution for the character sprites, adding more detail :)

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@magnusfurcifer Thank you for the detailed feedback comment! Appreciate the kind words on the story. Definitely agree that the time loop could get annoying after a while, originally I planned to make the loop a bit more random rather than return to the same point every time.

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@toasterwerewolf Appreciate the comment, happy you found it fun :) Yeah, I'm also not a huge fan of games where the player realizes something, but the game character that represent them doesn't understand the same fact, it kinda breaks the illusion. Something to improve for future versions!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@kunonooni Very happy to hear this gave a dose of nostalgia! :) I hope to be able to continue the story some day. What was covered in this first chapter is only the beginning...

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@week-of-the-agents Thank you for the kind feedback! I hope to continue the story as well!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@koemeterion Yes, definitely agree that it was very short. I was contenplating to add another loop but did not have any good reason to, and it would only have made the game feel artificially longer. Appareicate the kind words!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@lanalux Thanks for playing this on the stream Lana! Few things are as fun (or scary) as seeing someone else play your game. Live nonetheless! I really appreciate the kind words! Heading over to play Spaced Out now :)

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@thecakeconsortium Much appreciated, thanks for the feedback! Yes, I'd like to develop the story further!

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:08

@yngvarr Thank you for the detailed feedback! :) Yes, the "can't go left" was definitely a bit of a workaround to solve for the lack of rooms. I definitely hear you about the control scheme. Interact was E early on, but I switched it out last minute. In the last hour, I tried using Enter for both Actions and Continuing Text Boxes, but it ended creating an endless loop (!!) of actions and text boxes, so I had to abandon that idea. Very glad you liked the game regardless :)

milestone-games 2020-10-06 21:09

@preda Happy to hear you liked it! I tried adding interaction comments for as many objects as possible :) Thanks for the comment

listonos 2020-10-07 01:47

Very solid point-and-click, I would love to see more of these in LD jams. Interesting story, just the right length and no combine duck with fork non-sense. Good job.

2020-10-07 02:44

Hey. I recorded a video about the Ludum Dare jam and included your game in it. If you want to cut your game out of the video, let me know. However, if you like the video, I make similar videos every day. I will be happy if you subscribe. Anyway, I enjoyed playing your game. https://youtu.be/01nA75SrbJs

milestone-games 2020-10-07 07:57

@listonos Thank you for the kind words! I am a fan of the adventure game genre as well, hoping to give the genre another try when the theme allows for it! :)

milestone-games 2020-10-07 07:59

@vlad-mgc Thank you for the playthrough, that was super fun to watch! Thanks for your feedback!

zimny11 2020-10-07 08:14

This is a really cool story start. I like this! Good luck with your further work on this project. Just a small suggestion on my part. I think you should change the Spacebar and Enter buttons to something else. If I support the A and D buttons with one hand, using the spacebar and Enter with the other hand is quite inconvenient (they are a bit too far apart).

bereg 2020-10-07 12:50

I'm a sucker for adventure games, and this one is great. I love the story and design. It's a little bit too easy to beat, and the looping idea could've been developed further. But overall, it's a nice game, and I've enjoyed playing it.

milestone-games 2020-10-07 13:04

@zimny11 Thanks for your feedback! Yeah, that's a great suggestion. Interact was E early on, but I switched it out last minute. I should've experimented with interaction a bit more :)

milestone-games 2020-10-07 13:07

@bereg Thank you for the kind words! Definitely agree that it's a bit short & straightforward. :) I initially outlined a much larger plot, but in the end I only managed to implement a fraction of it. Hopefully I can expand on it in the future. Appreciate the feedback!

tino 2020-10-07 15:31

Cool! I got hooked in the story! and it fits the theme pretty well

milestone-games 2020-10-07 15:50

Thank you for the kind words @tino!

tad 2020-10-07 18:26

This is super-cool. I'm really impressed with anyone who manages to succeed in making a compelling story-based game given how limited time is in a game jam. Really well done to the team! :D

milestone-games 2020-10-07 18:27

@tad Thanks a ton! Appreciate the kind feedback. And yeah, it's just a team of one :)

tad 2020-10-07 18:28

@milestone-games That's even more impressive. Excellent work!

milestone-games 2020-10-07 18:29

@tad Thanks, that means a lot :)

velocitycss 2020-10-07 18:53

I want more of this game NOW :). really well done. It's got me hooked and wanting to see more :V:

milestone-games 2020-10-07 19:20

@velocitycss Thank you so much, that means a lot! Hoping to continue the story one day.

neithr 2020-10-07 20:51

Love the story and I am still curious with what happens next after taking the mysterious stone.

milestone-games 2020-10-08 07:18

Thanks @neithr, much appreciated!

thiago-nascimento 2020-10-08 19:30

Great mood man

svyatozar 2020-10-08 21:31

Great little game. Controls are a bit awkward: having to press Enter, then Space is a bit strange. Why not just space for both "use" and "exit"?

commanderstitch 2020-10-09 03:33

lol i was really confused like the whole time but kept getting smirks on my face as things kept happening. Now i want to know why the scientist would just let me do soemthing since he totally liked murdereded me or something. xD

esphoros 2020-10-09 06:55

This is so cool! It's nice when LD games have storylines, and this one was epic. I liked the pace at which you learned about the story throughout the game, and now I want a sequel. The movement was really nice, the layout of the levels was very user friendly, and the art was really pleasing to look at. I'm not sure the four dots around the objects is very helpful, because the rooms aren't overly cluttered with stuff, and it's always clear what you're selecting. I felt it took away from the room and the objects being a room with objects rather than four cool looking buttons. I don't know if that's a real criticism, just personal preference, maybe. Also, I really liked a lot of the lines in the game, like when you select the plant and it says "plastic," or just the whole interaction with the scientist. The only problem I had with lines like that, is that there seemed to be a lot of objects, like the valve at the start, which don't get used during the game, but say things like "I have no reason to turn this valve now," and although I suppose it isn't actually a problem, I found that happening quite a bit, and I think it would have been better if it said something either describing the valve, describing the character moving the valve, or describing the character not being able to move the valve. It's just that the user controls the player, so although the character may have no valid reason to interact with the objects around them, the player does, and it's out of curiosity. That minor complaint went on for far too long here, sorry 'bout that. I loved the game anyway, even if my review focuses more on one negative aspect of it. Also, is the stone in your profile picture the stone from the game, per chance? Or do all your games involve stones, or is it just because of your username? I need answers!

j0ye 2020-10-09 20:31

Sure it is a bit short. But what it lacks in content it makes up in sprites and idea. The story is gripping and fits the theme nicely.

deathstorm 2020-10-16 06:46

A really cool game.

I liked the graphic style and the concept is pretty cool. The Mechanics are good and I only faced one bug where it was "hard" to stand up on the bin. And it was a bit uncomfortable to switch between Enter and Space.

Unfortunately the game was soo short. would like to see more of it.

In Total a really good game. Well Done

frank-gevaerts 2020-10-17 15:46

A nice game! It could of course use more story, but what there is is good.

The controls were a bit annoying. I'd say accept space and enter for both interacting and dismissing the dialog, and maybe also accept arrow keys for moving?

philstrahl 2020-10-26 04:59

You already know that I enjoyed the game very much and I liked that you hinted at a lot more in the story than I saw in the game. Maybe expand on it? I somehow got Stålenhag vibes from it and that's always a good thing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzklvE5HZP0

Thanks for submitting! 😊