Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD49 → A Crumbly Planet
By kumber
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 396 | 3.21 | 48 | |
| Fun | 394 | 3.04 | 48 | |
| Innovation | 445 | 2.84 | 48 | |
| Theme | 199 | 3.77 | 47 | |
| Graphics | 346 | 3.25 | 48 | |
| Audio | 279 | 3.09 | 46 | |
| Humor | 126 | 3.27 | 46 | |
| Mood | 306 | 3.14 | 47 |
This was super cute to play, reminded me of Manic Miner, it has that same feel and I loved all of it!. One thing I might add, the invisible platforms don't feel that fair, this is a small game, but in a longer version there must be some kind of power that allows you too sometimes peek. Overall a good game!
@c64cosmin Thanks for playing! I thought about adding monsters like in Manic Miner but there was too little time! Maybe post-compo. For the hidden platforms, you can peek a little by moving on the edge of a platform, if there is a hidden platform it should then appear. You are right, it's a mechanic that can be annoying, that's why I saved it for the last levels...
The audio makes me laugh and they are cute.I have to mark the invisible floor on the screen so I don’t forget.Nice job!
At first I thought the randomness of the destructive platforms was a downside, but thinking about it I feel it could be a fun way to improve your mind to remember things
Good entry. It was a little frustrating falling straight to my death..I think a little bit more time for the platforms to disappear would help. Good job.
@kora0h & @robert18 Thanks for playing! You can press Q to hide the unstable platforms and show the *true path*, it's a debug key that I forgot to disable for the release... and maybe it can feel like cheating but, hey, if someone gets stuck here's how to have a hint :)
After making it to the rocket:
Pros:
- cute main character - easy controls - quite clear goal - plottwist is a nice touch - I don't really wanna know how you made 'earthquake' sound probably :joy:
Cons:
- There's no indication to which tile is good and which is not. I understand difficulty and such, but there's a very thin line between being it an enjoyable challenge, and boring "try-until-I-force-my-way-out" type of game. It does unfortunately lean towards the latter, especially on the second part of the story - I'm not exactly sure if earthquake should kill me or not. I couldn't tell
Good effort!
@paroxysmal I planned to do platforms that crumble after some time you're on them but it wasn't working and I couldn't finish it in time. Thank you for playing!
@mikoziq I did the earthquake sound by shaking a box of cereals and then slowing down (and low-pass filtering) it in Audacity... It could have been harder to do in another way :laughing: . About the indication of which tile is good, duly noted. I tried to balance it by making the invisible ones appear when you are on an edge and jump around, to test the waters. The earthquake shouldn't kill you, it just make the floor (all the floor) crumble, so you'll have to find a good platform before it happens. Thank you for playing!
A liiiiiittle frustration with some levels :rofl: Good job on your entry... maybe the wrrrrrrrr sound was a bit annoying.... but yeah I get it :smile: you'll find annoying things in my entry aswell :rofl:
:purple_heart: :dart: :frog:
This is one of the better ones. At first I thought the hidden platforms were a bug, and somehow never quite got over that feeling. This sort of feels like one of those mega hard games like super meat boy (never played, but I think I get the idea, that you are expected to fail a lot). I felt quite accomplished when I finally made it to the rocket :)
A little 'Press Z to start' at the beginning would be nice.
This game was adorable! I loved the little scream the astronaut made when falling through. I had a lot of fun with this game. And the twist was really good. For a second I thought the game had just restart. Well done! My only critique is the game feels sluggish so I felt like I had to wait to get over to a spot, only to learn it wasn't a viable path.
@purpledartfrog I'll tone down a little the vrrr sound in the post-compo version :laughing:
@michael-feldman Yes! That's the spirit, you are expected to fail a lot but every time you learn something and become better. I added your suggestion to the post-compo version :smile:
@queenofsquiggles Thanks for the feedback! I made the player less sluggish in the post-compo.
Thanks for playing everyone!
@kumber No worries ... just remember to do it prior to steam release :rofl:
I wish I either had some way to react to platforms breaking or the game was much faster, so replaying a stage (now knowing one more breaking platform) went quicker. Well-made platformer though, great fit for the theme, neat visuals! :)
Nice platformer, but it seems a little unfair. Each level has a fixed solution, and the only way to find that solution is through trial and error which means the game is only difficult if you don't know the precise solution. I think the game could still be challenging if you made it possible to jump off a platform before it crumbled.
This would make the game a very tight platformer where you can speed through a level with perfect timing. If you aren't good at that, then you can still beat the level if you find the platforms that don't crumble. If you add more hazards like flying enemies, wind zones, falling rocks, etc, it would add another level of gameplay and increase the challenge.
Nice job putting this together in 48 hours.
and those sound effects were great
I agree with @skleembof that the main downside of the game is that you have to learn by trial and error instead of challenging your skills. That said the game is well executed and the graphics are neat!
The sound effects are also hilarious xD I liked that!
Got Mr. Bear and beat the game! I like the fake out moment in the middle, and the explorations of tiles appearing and crumbling. I would have liked a bit more feedback or explanation as to why platforms would just appear though? A lot of the game ended up being memorizing where the steppable platforms were. Perhaps if you had a limited amount of time before they break, or maybe rocks falls and create platforms, etc. I liked how you were able to get a bit of story in there. Keep up the good work!
@ludokultur Thanks for the feedback! I made the player move more quickly in the post compo edition.
@skleembof & @jeremyfa & @aeveis: Thanks to you too! I was aiming for using two types of skillset: - the classic reaction-timing of an action platform, through platforms that break if you stay on them more than x msecs, falling rocks, small monsters that you need to avoid; - the spatial-navigation memory skill that is mostly used on FPSs but rarely on platform games; that skill where you try to reach the exit, but find yourself in a dead end, have to backtrack and retry another way, and so on.
I poured all the energy out on the second skillset because it seemed the most "original" one, and then the time ran out.
True, in an FPS you won't get killed by reaching a dead end, so I tried to balance it out by making the death a lesser problem: you always restart from the current level, infinite "lives" (no game over state), levels designed to have a max of three possible pathways. Clearly some of these levels were not well balanced and surely felt unforgiving, I tried to patch them in the post-compo version... Next time I'll ask someone to playtest it before sumbitting it :smile:
I'm aware that basing everything on spatial memory hurts replayability a lot, but consider this: the little astronauts surely don't want to return on that planet anymore, so it's a win-win :laughing:
@aeveis The explanation for the appearing platforms is: they are an illusion, they are just the same color of the other rocks on the background and they blend in, like in the famous Leap of Faith in Indiana Jones' Last Crusade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBBbq2g7yf8 I planned to do a little hint during the earthquake event, with dust falling from the ceiling on the platforms making them slightly visible, like Indy is doing at the end of the video. Alas, too little time. I'm adding it to the post-compo.
Thanks for the great feedback!
@kumber Spatial memory is definitely a good mechanic! I would suggest to have a way to see the traps prior to falling into it. For example, at the beginning of the level you can see the traps for 5 seconds then you have to remember when you walk. The only issue is that currently you need to die to get some information about the terrain, which is kind of a harsh punishment that you cannot avoid as a player.
Sometimes game feels frustrating, but it's a very nice and fun experience. Even including a plot twist, a solid entry.
I think I have sworn against some Greek god the moment my character fell down near the rocket after the first 3 levels :D Aside from this, I think this game had a really nice loop. How was the "Vrooom" noise made? :D
@lesinvisible Thank you!
@der-mondhase I sure hope that Greek god is not as unforgiving as this game levels :laughing: I made that noise by saying "vrrrr" through a small usb fan in front of a microphone, and then various filters with Audacity :smile: Thanks for playing!
Yay, managed to finish the game!
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The concept of the game is very fitting for the jam theme, and while i find the player movement a little bit too slow, it works very well.
I expected more variety during the levels as well, but is understandable that within the time constraints of the jam it is nearly impossible. In any way, you delivered several levels and a complete game!
Congrats! Good job!
Very infuriating, yet at the same time addicting enough one doesn't get too frustrated to stop playing. Perfectly in balance :D
Like the last person, I particularly liked the vrrr-sound! I'll find a little fan for my next game for sure :'D
this was well designed, every time i felt the game was too hard/random i found the right way to do things. so I improved as a played and the game kept me interested until the end.
@derek-volker & @trexxak & @fizzget Thenks for playing and for the feedback!
I like the sounds, they are really funny!
I found the bear! Sounds entertain a lot!
This was cute and funny, even if I had to restart from the beginning because I missed the bear. I couldn't let Mr Bear facing alone the end of the world! Good job!
This game is very well-put-together; looks great and everything really meshes. I like the idea of the mechanic, but I feel like something is missing, since it feels a little trial-and-error right now. Maybe if you had sonar or something that revealed platforms close to you? It's a cool idea, i just think its missing a little somthing. Still, something very captivating and even creepy about earthquakes underground. Well-done.
@pbg the sonar is a good idea! Maybe it would not always work because it's... unstable too :D Thanks for playing and for the feedback!
@sg-goennung Thanks for playing!
@alex-chertilin & @lereveur Thanks for playing and for saving the bear! Green would have been very sad without him...
I found it waaaay too funny to be trolled like that! It was perfectly balanced for a short little game :D
Very cool mechanic, well done and pretty playable. Would have been nice if the jumps were a little more forgiving, maybe with a bit of "coyote time" or something. I think more feedback to the player with what is going on with things would help a lot.
@andopp Thanks for playing! :D
@joel-davis I'll definitely keep that in mind next time! I tried to balance the jumps by extending a little the hitbox of the player:
Immagine 2021-10-15 164922.png
However that probably wasn't enough... Thanks for the feedback and thanks for playing!
Really nice! I love that the mechanics are discoverable by trial an error, that there was a fake ending in the middle, and the hilarious sound effects! (I have to admit I didn't save the bear, poor thing.) Nice game!
Really cute! I liked how you could actually see where the unstable platforms were during the shaking. Nice touch - that made it less trial and error and more of a memory game. Also, the 'move' sound cracked me up. Great work!
I will start my stream about 9pm Uk time. Hope to see you there. https://www.twitch.tv/thesoulselector
Neat little game! Didn't get the green plushie sadly. It took me a while to realize the crumbly platforms got semi transparent during earthquakes. They could be shown a bit more clearly, especially the bottom ground ones. Maybe you could have a ground dash that shakes crumbly platforms closeby. Had fun playing it, nice job!