southpawdevelopment 2021-04-28 01:38
Significantly better than i thought it would be based on the screenshots. Simple, but nice. Good work
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → Line
By morrilet
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1348 | 3.26 | 34 | |
| Fun | 1206 | 3.15 | 35 | |
| Innovation | 977 | 3.15 | 35 | |
| Theme | 682 | 3.81 | 35 | |
| Graphics | 1347 | 3.24 | 35 | |
| Audio | 1063 | 2.95 | 35 | |
| Mood | 1362 | 3.15 | 35 |
Significantly better than i thought it would be based on the screenshots. Simple, but nice. Good work
Interesting idea that perhaps could be implemented in other similar styles of games as well. I wonder if a side-scrolling platformer could be developed with this concept?
I got to 400 meters! I have to say, in that 400 m the music did get a bit repetitive. I liked the simple gameplay, but I found the deaths a bit cheap. That said, there were a few really nice moments when I barely got away, which were really fun.
@southpawdevelopment Glad to hear it! Thanks for playing!
@totteriludum I think there's some value in thinking that through. Definitely an interesting experiment to see how that'd work!
@nardandas Yeah, the music gets gradually more complex down to 850 meters, but that leaves a lot of room where it's just on repeat. Totally get the death bit, too - I think the enemy / movement balance could have used a little more time in the oven. Thanks for the feedback!
Very unique and clever idea to make the player protect something other than just their character. The controls worked great. I liked the swordfish audio a lot. I did find that the game didn't really give me a reason to use all the tools it had, like wall-sliding to slow down. The best way to avoid the fish was just to dive as fast as possible because they'd always hit the armored part of the hose that way. Perhaps a different kind of fish that charges when it's below the player would fill that gap?
This reminds me of our game a tiny bit, being tethered to something and making sure it doesnt get hit. Good job =D It was fun.
@bmacintosh I think some sort of challenge from below could be really good. Giving the player a reason to slow down and put themselves in danger is definitely something that I feel was missing here. Thanks for the feedback!
@cam-moore Thanks! I'll have to give your game a try!
The mechanics is really interesting! the line is actually a "lifeline" and it reminds me of the same game with this name. I think you could start with this concept to do some post-jam update since this is a great theme for "deeper and deeper" from my point of view. Good Job!
I love the mechanics, feels like I am in water. Great graphics too.
I strongly agree with the comment of bmacintosh. Maybe add some little things to collect on platforms ? Nonetheless great job!
Really fun to play, i wish i could get deeper hahah but I am really bad with those kind of games
Nice game. I love the lifeline idea ! Audio is also pretty good. Graphics are nice, it just lacks a little something imo to bring everything together and create a strong mood.
Was able to hear a lot of the soundtrack by falling out of bounds, don't think I'd have survived long enough otherwise.
@foursay Oh, I just looked it up and that game looks super neat. And thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
@michaelyount I wasn't sure how such low gravity would play out but I'm glad it got the effect across. Thanks for playing!
@hippolytea Noted - adding some collectibles to reward players for slowing down is a really good idea. Thanks for the feedback!
@johny0911 You and me both. Thanks for playing!
@yorsh Totally. Originally the level was going to get darker and darker with bioluminescent coral as you went down, but 72 hours is only so many hours. Glad you liked it, though!
@twbst Hah, that's a new one. Never saw that in testing but I'm glad you got to hear the audio regardless!
I got only 250 meters, but enjoyed your game. Graphics, sounds were mude very good, had a lot of fun
The game is interesting and reminded me of an old project that I never finished. This graphics and sfx are really good. The only issue I have is with the controls that feel a little clunky and with too much inertia. Good job !
@adil Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for playing!
@havok06 Ah, noted. Thanks for the feedback!
I liked the idea of you having to take care of your oxygen line while going deeper. Good job.
I almost made this game exactly! I actually did make a game with a lifeline, but used it in a totally different way.
My first run, I immediately ran into a bug; as soon as I jumped against the wall this happened...
bug2.png
After thinking about running up my high score for a bit, I decided to try a fair game lol. I think the main idea is a good idea, but it does get kind of boring quickly. I just avoided landing on the ground and fell deeper with little risk. With that in mind, maybe forcing the player to find oxygen refills would help activate the gameplay a bit more, and introduce some risk v reward.
There's a lot of potential here to build on. I think shooting would be a lot of fun with something like this (Downwell), that way there's some more defense against those sword fish, and just more to do at any moment. Jumping on enemy heads could also be fun! (Downwell)
Visually, it looks good. I like everything, but the colors are drab and dull, and forgive me if this is out of place, I thought this would look much better with a "better" color pallet.
colors.png
Overall this is a good playable entry. Good job!
@filipe-leal Hey, thanks!
@ismael-rodriguez Oh, oxygen refills could be really cool! I originally didn't want to add shooting because it felt too close to Downwell, but I agree that there's not much to do outside of fall and wait. Jumping on enemy heads might be the way to go. That mockup looks awesome, too! I was thinking originally of darkening the level and making everything glow (time constraints), but flipping into neon like this would be super cool. Thanks so much for the detailed review, and thanks for playing! (P.S. I just played you game and I was floored. Left you a review - great work!)
I only had the patience to get to about 480m so I haven't heard all of the audio, but I do like how it expands as you go. I don't see many LD games with dynamic music, so that was pretty neat.
Nice jam! Cute graphics, and the sound adds a lot!
@pizzasgood Yeah, the music comes in *reeeal* slow - probably should have been sped along a bit. Glad you liked it, though! We've been looking to do dynamic audio for a few jams now.
@doctortm Thanks for playing!
Cool little downwell-esque game that fits the theme nicely. I tried to stay in one area between the platform spawns and hang out there for a while but eventually got caught by spikes. Glad there's no easy way to cheese this game(at least that I saw.) Would be nice to have more maneuverability or some way to prevent enemies from attacking, rather than only being able to dodge. An overall good jam game though!
sweetspot.png
I've not read any of the comments so I write my review as a pure first experience.
The game is simple and linear descend lower into the depths of the sea while evading hostile animals.
The art style is simple and everything is clear. The oxygen tube is painted orange so that it can be distinguished from the environment. This is nice because you only need one hit and it's gone.
The music is a little bit jarring. Maybe some ambient would have been better instead to promote the feeling of isolation and darkness that one could expect from going to such depths. Maybe have some breathing sounds to add to the immersion.
I saw two kinds of enemies. Some kind of swordfish that attack with a delay. They force you to just keep going instead you'll lose the oxygen tube. The second ones are some kind of turtles that you don't want to step on. I was expecting that jumping on top of the enemies would kill them. This wasn't the case.
I found the best tactic is just to head down as fast as I can. Usually sticking to the far right(see image) in the "Sweet spot" where the level generation does not seem to generate too many obstacles. The game became super easy as the challenge didn't seem to scale as I went further.
The best part of the game was scaling the walls to slow down the descent. This could be something worth investigating and turn into a more meaningful game mechanic. Now it seems to serve no purpose. Maybe you could add an oxygen resource that the player needs to collect to maintain the descent. Scaling the walls could allow the player to jump the farther the longer the player scales. This could give the game more tactical depth.
Overall nice entry. Well done!
@cdunham Giving the player some other options would be really cool - but reading some of the other comments I'm suspecting that a dodge action and some collectibles could make a difference here. Thanks for playing!
@keppu Hey, thanks for taking the time to write this whole thing up! Hearing it from this perspective is really helpful, and I think you're on to something with adding some extra mechanical bonus for wall sliding. Originally it was meant to just slow you down to avoid enemies from below, but that behavior didn't really come through in the enemy designs. A horizontal speed boost could be really good addition here. Thanks again!
Really cute art style, with his legs wobbling around. The pointy fishes are assholes tho :p. I like how You can slow yourself down by hugging the wall. The fact that you have to worry bout the cord not to get cut, is a neat idea.
@chrissx2 Yeah, those fish will get you something fierce if you're not quick about it. Thanks for playing!
Hi @morrilet! Nice game! I liked animations, how the music progress and the mechanic of protecting the air line! The very first time I played it I attempted to stomp on the turtles only to find out that I should just avoid them! The swordfish on the other hand, I knew those guys were trouble as soon as I saw them! It would be nice to have some kind of objective other than just getting as deep as you can, maybe collecting something like coins or even oxygen tanks! Maybe even a story, hmmm how about that guy dropped a wedding ring right before proposing and now he needs to go get that wedding ring before his rival does it hahaha! Good Job!
Not bad! There's enough hazards to keep it interesting and the line mechanic is pretty unique. It felt a little repetitive though. It would be nice if the world changed a bit more as you descend (I only got to around 400 m, so there's a chance I missed something). It would also be nice to have more ways to interact with the line. Maybe grab it and pull it down with you when on a platform or something like that to give you a bit more control. Overall, good job!
Controls were simple and easy to use. Really liked the color scheme, character animation, and the theme. I thought the music fit the ambiance really well. Great work!
I got 200 meters. There really is no reason to ever try to stop and jump on any platforms. It's hard to avoid the swordfish if you do and if you fall you can just fall past them. Interesting game idea though.
I like those particles when the suit is grasping against the wall. Those particles that ooze out from the tube when the player dies look cool too. The controls feel a bit floaty, but otherwise well done!!