Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → The Golden Cavern.
By jim-jagers
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 3.25 | 12 | ||
| Fun | 3.35 | 12 | ||
| Innovation | 2.35 | 12 | ||
| Theme | 4.05 | 12 | ||
| Graphics | 3.05 | 12 | ||
| Audio | 2.70 | 12 | ||
| Mood | 3.20 | 12 |
Always fun to see what kinds of gameplay comes from clickteam games :) The game was too hard for me though, so I wasn't able to reach the end. However, I enjoy that I could get the jump upgrade, and there was a decent variety of enemies.
The controls were told to be WASD in-game, but they were actually arrow keys. Just something I noticed.
Enjoyable game overall. :)
It is new Boshi!)
As mentioned above, the controls stated WASD was to move but in fact it was the arrow keys, which was confusing. That being said, I had a fun time playing the game. Well done!
yeah i would like too apologize too everyone for confusing you all with the controls i wasnt paying attention when i wrote the tutorial part of the main menu so i automatically wrote WASD instead of arrow keys
This was fun! I love when games have secret pathways, and you pulled it off really well! Finding secrets wasn't hard but it still felt satisfying. Your level design had a good amount of variety and I had fun jumping through the different challenges, sometimes I would fall on spikes when I couldn't see if there was anywhere to land, which always felt unfair so it's something to consider for the next time you're making a level.
The graphics are simple but effective, which also goes for the sound. I seemed to get to the bottom, but I fell right through the orb. I jumped down to the right and just kept going until I closed the game :sweat_smile: overall, well done!
My kingdom for a checkpoint! :laughing: I will finish this one if it kills me!
Edit: I finished it! I liked the hidden areas and upgrades.
@jakobthequizguy Thanks for your feedback~ i'm glad you enjoyed my game. Yeah i can see how some of the spike traps would be unfair i think i fell into the game design pitfall there of simply knowing where everything is so i forgot too test of the spike placement was fair (unless you mean the spike traps around the green orb because those were meant too be incredibly unfair). As for falling through the map i just tested it and it seems that the collision on the edges of the orb don't work but it should work if you hit the center of the orb(although spoiler alert the ending is super anticlimatic).
@piratehearts i'm glad you enjoyed my game. Yeah the lack of checkpoints was intentional since the level is kind of short so i decided too use the old school game philosophy of stretching out a short game by making it stupidly difficult.
You have a good amount of variety in your level. The secret shortcuts which give you power ups only add to that. There were too many pits that led to unexpected spikes/death though. That was very frustrating especially because you have to restart the whole level (I think, didn't played it through).
And a small grammar tip: 'too' is used in a context like 'also'. Instead use 'to'.
@bytinggames thanks for your feedback i really appreciate it. Yeah some of the spike traps weren't fairly placed(unless you meant the spikes in the green orb room cause those were meant to be unfair) this is mostly because i didn't let anyone else playtest it but hey that's something i can improve on next time (: btw thanks for the grammar advice, english isn't my native language and i have always sucked at language classes so i will try too improve upon the dialogue in the future.
[Disclaimer](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/so-so-phia/done-with-compo-i-might-yet-move-to-jam-if-i-feel-like-it/edit)
Okay, so let's get into the level desing.
Fun is by far the strongest suit of your game, and is slightly above average. Iappreciate that the game doesn't drag on forever, since this is a gamejam. The platforming feels right, isn't too punishing, and has the right amount of challenge. I'm not an expert on level design, but since you speciffically asked for it, I'll try.
gold1.png
I think the difficulty should be be building gradually. Right at the start, you need to jump from the edgiest edge to land on the next platform, but in my opinion, this should be a little bit easier, since it's a start of the game. Build your difficulty gradually. I understand the level is kind of short since this is a game jam game so there isn't that much time to spread out the difficulty curve, but I'm mentioning this for the future, when you'll be building several levels with growing difficulty. I'd put one more block here for this specific jump (and maybe a few next) before making the jumps more difficult.
The hidden areas were a nice touch. The regen+ powerup was a lifesaver. It is placed well, since I didn't notice it on the first try, but it wasn't too hard to find, and it gave you more agency.
Specifically:
gold2.png
When I came to this part, I could take the more dangerous path (red) and risk having to start over, since my HP was pretty low, or I could take the more controlled long way around (green), which I did. The third option was to wait for my HP to regenerate and take the red path. I need to note that waiting for long periods of time is not a good game mechanic, but you're onto something here. If your design included a way to regenerate your HP quicker by sacrificing a resource (or something like that), it would add to the game feeling. Despite that, the game made me think at this point (before down to the worm pit, the screenshot was taken after I passed this area), and I was given several options of approaching this problem, which is what good games should do - not always, but it should happen often enough to give the player a feeling of agency.
Then there was this part
gold3.png
Unless I missed something, I do not see any reason at all to take these jumps and go the long way around. I went the long way on the first try, and then realised it was for nothing. It feels rendundant, and I think there should be a reason for you to have to take those jumps (like spikes or something?)
gold4.png
Also when jumping down, the player should see where they will be landing, unless it's a really deep fall without hazards at the bottom.
The shade overlay in the deeper part of the cave is too dark, and made me squinting at the screen. If this was an aeasthetic choice, you could make it less dark. I faced the same problem in my game, and ended up putting a light source with a large radius at the position of the mouse cursor. It solved the visibility problems, and added a tiny (perhaps even unnoticable) gameplay layer. I'm not saying it's an ideal solution, but I could have done worse.
Then there's this part.
gold5.png
Dead ends are fine if there's something at the end, but this area (with red question mark) made no sense to me - it felt rendundant. Make sure there's at least something pretty to look at, or a piece of lore at places like this.
There were some flaws, but I liked your level design. If you want to get really good at it, I suggest reading a lot. Find some tutorials and work your way up. Practice a lot, execute ideas you like in other people's work, execute your own ideas. Practice, practice, practice. [The most important thing you can do is do a lot of work (this applies to everything one can do)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHc3s-MtoUc). There is no way around that, but you'll get there.
*& Mechanics*
As I said before, Regen+ was a life saver. I didn't notice any changes with jumpup, avoid+ or defense+. There was a sense of reward when finding hidden shiny objects, but maybe make the effects more noticeable? I'm always for making the game playable without powerups, but making it easier with them.
--- Good job and thank you for this game. It was fun to play .)
I almost forgot. There were a few technical issues.
goldblip.png
Your menu is still clickable even when it's hidden. It made me loose progress once, after getting halfway through the game.
On my second walkthrough, I fell through the golden thingie at the end, and the game didn't finish.
It remained like this
gold6.png
I still take it as a win tho :v:
+ the game crashed on me once. I googled a bit to see if fusion stores any crash logs anywhere, but according to some forums it doesn't, so I can't help you there. Sorry.
@kuro thank you sooo much for your advice and criticism i can really gain a lot from this. I'm currently working on an expanded version of the game since i couldn't include everything i wanted into the Ludum Dare version so this will all help a ton!. I will definitely improve upon the areas you mentioned that had too much redundancy. the defense+ powerup reduces all damage received from enemies by 10(although i think the worm enemy still does the same) its definitely difficult too notice since it appears so late in the game and the red wasps do ridiculous damage in the first place. The avoid+ buff is weird what its supposed too do is prevent the red wasps from chasing you but its kind of buggy since it was the last and most complex of the buffs implemented. So yeah i just want too say thank you again and i will try too improve upon everything you mentioned in my future games and in the expanded edition of this game.
I can agree with @kuro. And it was a bit hard for me. But I guess I did it! ididit.PNG
Game didn't finish tho..
With only 1 level, the game had a lot of variety like being dark in the deepest part, having various enemies etc.
Good job!
for the people who werent able too get the ending because of the collision bug at the end of the level. Here is the ending in all its glory ending.JPG
Reqlly honestly, an almost perfect game. It chooses an aesthetic, and it goes for it 100%, both on visuals and audio. Well done Jim! (Also please tell Bink they're a good dog)
@LTorresTailfer i'm glad that you enjoyed the game and i will definetly tell bink that (: