FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD50 → RESET

RESET

By kazuren, Lollus and BattleToast

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall9913.2969
Fun12422.7668
Innovation9403.0469
Theme4523.8569
Graphics9733.2770
Audio6013.3370
Humor6762.9565
Mood6493.5169

Comments

electric-bonfire 2022-04-04 20:57

Loved the music getting slower with the resets. I won't spoil a moment that scared me, and then horrified me, but that was a good twist towards the end. Good job!

kazuren 2022-04-04 20:59

@electric-bonfire I am really glad you liked it :D! Thanks for playing!

lako 2022-04-04 21:37

The story was good, the ending was really dark. It really fit the theme of trying to delay the inevitable. The gameplay was really simple but it worked fine. The music was decent, with the small touch of it slowing down. Good work! I love lamp.

danc2236 2022-04-04 21:40

You've definitely put a lot of effort into the attention to detail with this game. The artwork and audio is also very lovely. Great work :)

kazuren 2022-04-04 21:45

@lako Thanks for the feedback! I agree the gameplay was simple, I didn't really know how to make it better in this kind of style(Side-Scrolling Platformer). I just went with it because it was something I knew I could do fast because I had the experience of making similar games, and we decided to focus more on the story aspect instead. We are looking into possibly expanding this into a full game in another perspective and in 3D instead :). Thanks for playing!

kazuren 2022-04-04 21:46

@danc2236 I'm glad you enjoyed it!

roboolet 2022-04-04 21:56

I'll say that i wasn't too satisfied with the gameplay or the art, but i can commend the work put into the story. I was able to get a laugh at a few points of the game as well, so i would say this is a success!

kazuren 2022-04-04 22:02

@roboolet Thank you for your feedback! I agree a lot with what you said. This was our first game jam, next time we'll try and do better :D.

billnotic 2022-04-04 22:09

Liked the story, but the gameplay left much to be desired. The graphics were very odd, and the extremely smooth walking and shooting animations felt off when compared to the rigid jump animation, and the human and "human" characters being more 3d than the environment felt odd.

One thing I LOVE about this that jam games NEVER seem to do is that your game actually has proper text wrapping with its typewriter effect. THANK YOU it's a huge pet peeve of mine.

Good game!

the-neon-shark 2022-04-04 22:12

This is an excellent short piece. The audio and narrative were perfect. The graphics worked in their own way and mechanics were tight enough to not be disruptive.

The biggest suggestion I have for improvement is to make the intro dialogue way way way shorter. Just have Dr. Carl give me a 2 second rundown that we're going to reset the day and let me experience the rest. I only got addicted to the game once I made it through my first loop, but I almost gave up going through my first loop since there was too much reading to get the experience started!

Overall GREAT stuff. Very eerie and well done :)

kazuren 2022-04-04 22:20

@billnotic Thank you very much for your feedback! I agree about the graphics, we tried to play to our strengths since we didn't have an artist and instead converted 3d models to pixel art :). I also agree that the gameplay was very simple but we decided to focus more on the story and pacing due to the time constraint.

kazuren 2022-04-04 22:22

@the-neon-shark Really glad you liked our game! Thank you for your feedback! Yeah, I agree, the intro dialogue is a bit too long. We'll keep that in mind for our next game :)

battletoast 2022-04-05 08:57

@electric-bonfire Thanks for playing our game!

battletoast 2022-04-05 08:58

@lako Thanks for playing our game! Glad you liked the story!

battletoast 2022-04-05 08:58

@danc2236 Thank you for the kind words!

battletoast 2022-04-05 09:00

@roboolet Really happy that you liked the story! Unfortunately the limited time meant sacrificing gameplay or art that we would otherwise loved to have implemented

battletoast 2022-04-05 09:02

@billnotic Thank you for your honest opinion and playing our game!

battletoast 2022-04-05 09:05

@the-neon-shark Thank you for the criticism! Ideally, all that text and exposition would have been spread out more evenly in more scenes and smoother storytelling, but we ended up going this way to compromise for the limited time, but I'm really glad you still enjoyed the game nonetheless!

sega23333 2022-04-05 09:38

story looks interesting but slowly

mosman 2022-04-05 09:54

Cool to see such a story driven game in the jam! Haha very strange and dark. Music didn't always fit the mood, but good there was sound :)

itooh 2022-04-05 11:55

Nice visuals and audio! The use of pixel art mixed with 3D animations gives really nice results. Only the platforming elements seems a bit out of place in this universe, but given it's some kind of time-glitch it might be intentional.

I liked the games' story! I admit I found it a bit goofy sometime, but it makes an enjoyable SF adventure with time travels, monsters, and parallel universes. It's well written enough to care about the character and be curious about the plot. Good job!

poppy-entertainment 2022-04-05 15:04

in some aprt the game doesnt really feel toghether, like there is a strong contrast between the models and the sprites, but overall is a good entry

dan-livings 2022-04-05 15:18

I think I agree with the other comments about the stylistic clashes between different visual elements. That being said, the story has an interesting premise, and if it were expanded could make for a game with a strong emotional impact. Nice work.

david-york 2022-04-05 16:22

Ooh a narrative game, and with so much content. I love it when I can interact with almost everything but I don't have to, it really makes me feel like I'm in control of what I'm doing and not being railroaded. Also my favorite part was the music, very spot on.

callicou-jack 2022-04-05 16:47

nice game but too much text. love the plot

dan-smith 2022-04-05 18:28

Impressive amount of content for a jam game :)

nash 2022-04-05 18:55

I can always appreciate when this amount of narrations and storytelling is packed into a jam game. The mechanics are simple but the narrative, art and music support it very well.

sam-minh 2022-04-05 19:13

This is a fantastic entry. It is simple but does what it tries to do well. The story being told has a very nice progression and finally. Forcing the player to take the action at the end is a very good way to make the player connected to the character and the story. The walking animation at the start is so very smooth it hooked me immediately. The sound slowly becoming more distored is also a very nice way to set the mood. The dialogue is nice and does what it needs to do. And the little quips about random objects is always very nice for player agency. Overall very solid entry, good work!

koolruz 2022-04-05 19:35

This was an interesting game! I *think* that I found all the easter eggs and jokes that you scattered around (there were a lot of them!), but by the third loop, the humor made for a weird juxtaposition with the dark plot. Once it became obvious that things weren't going to get better, I was expecting the environmental jokes to change to match that new tone, and it felt strange when they didn't.

One thing that felt strange to me about the art was that the pixel scale on the sprite art didn't match between different assets, which made things feel inconsistent/less cohesive, and detracted from the retro sprite art vibe.

That said, I didn't even realize that the main character was a 3D model until other commenters pointed it out - The shader/post processing effect that you used there really worked for me! It reminded me a lot of old point and click adventure games - Great job on that!

Overall, good job on the game! :) Hopefully the my nitpicks don't sound harsh or discouraging, because they *are* nitpicks!

kristinamay 2022-04-05 19:55

This is great! Loved interacting with everything, loved talking to people, loved the plot. It was somehow still kind of a chill game even though the outcome was (spoiler alert) not great. I enjoyed playing this for sure.

battletoast 2022-04-05 20:08

@koolruz I really appreciate the nitpicking actually! I personally have a tendency to nitpick games and other works to both get a better understanding and to see how things can be improved, and I wouldn't treat my own work any differently, and I would want others to do the same. I had considered removing or changing the jokes earlier on to match tone or to fit the sake of continuity, and it's feedback like this that lets me see which is better for the player experience. Your feedback is really constructive, and that's the best feedback I could ask for!

lohii 2022-04-05 20:23

The story is interesting, but the dialogue is slightly meandering. The controls are a bit clunky. However, I really like how you committed to the theme, and the artstyle is nice and pretty unique.

foxwater 2022-04-05 21:46

Carl needs his PhD revoked and I suspect Sarah is having an affair.

Excellent job! Lots of content here and I think if you polished up the art a bit and made another edit pass to tighten up the dialogue a bit it would be a really engaging play! (It was engaging as is, just saying the art took me out of it a tad!) Great job getting all of the content in there though, very impressive!

nexade 2022-04-05 22:42

My only feedback is that Q would make a better shooting button that clicking, because until that point in the game, you don't need to use your mouse at all.

foursay 2022-04-06 08:14

Great job for a Ludum Dare entry! The walking animation feels so smooth that I wondered if that is pixel-style shader + 3D models or something. Nice Job!

zevsehg 2022-04-06 10:56

I love lamp.

zevsehg 2022-04-06 11:01

btw liked the game. Nice jump animation!

adncoach 2022-04-06 11:20

So sad =\ @zevsehg, Lamp is best.

kylesevenoaks 2022-04-06 11:24

I too, love lamp.

nanolotl 2022-04-06 11:26

A bit text heavy at the start, but was worth going through it. Not too often that you see an LD game with an actual story. I really liked the music, especially in the city scene.

mar3k 2022-04-06 11:28

Great entry, I love the animations the overall the environment, but there was too much dialog compare to gameplay for me and maybe a little bit more repetitiveness (which I guess suits the story). But overall cool game and well done.

jamesolivermusic 2022-04-06 11:42

Good entry. Couldn't get past the zombie girl at the end though!

bearacus 2022-04-06 11:45

What compeled me to play all the way through was the hope that if we'd get that cure, the protagonist could keep playing Elden Ring, alas ;(. The impact of finding Sarah in that scene was shocking + the music stopping outright. The humor around the interactibles and the civilians we're great. Good Work!

kazuren 2022-04-06 11:45

@jamesolivermusic We're sorry you had that experience! I wasn't really sure how to code the mechanics so that part was easier but also have it give that feel to it at the same time.

Also I kindly ask you to edit your message to be slightly less evident so it doesn't spoil the game for others.

tetrapteryx 2022-04-07 01:32

Man... that is *dark*. Really good writing. I got emotionally invested :(

jzucc12 2022-04-07 12:03

Really cool story! The music constantly slowing down fit into the tone of the game really well. A lot more dark than I was expecting too. Good job!

alexsolonnikovp4 2022-04-07 12:22

I liked the game, it immersed me in its atmosphere of calmness and the music is perfectly matched. You can immediately see by the chosen style of play how much effort was spent. Great job).

proxy-games 2022-04-09 07:16

Good game, overall. The animation on the sprites was quite impressive and the sound design was solid, overall, especially with the changing in pitch of the music. The story was pretty engaging, and I enjoyed the interactions with the character. I did find the ending not exactly satisfying, however. I thought it'd be something where we'd have the choice at the end to go into another world or not, and either end would be unhappy, though it'd leave the story feeling complete. As of right now...I don't know, it feels like it just suddenly cuts off before it properly built up an end. I think it was because I was expecting at least one more interaction with the professor to sort of wrap up the character development between him and the main character before the ending happened (since this game was doing about one major character death per reset).

Regardless of that minor gripe, I enjoyed this piece a lot, and it is always nice to see jam entries with a focus on story.

renge 2022-04-10 01:47

Well, shit. That's a really intense story. Scientist reminded me of Rick Sanchez with how apathetic he was to everything. Really cool entry!

amerigo-gazaway 2022-04-10 21:10

Whoah, well that got dark pretty fast lol. Cool story and music, and the artwork style and animation was also very fluid and smooth. I think the art styles could have been matched a little better (the characters objects etc looked way different from the tiles). Also I wasn't sure what kind of game it was at first (platformer with RPG/horror elements?) but I think that's actually one of the things that makes it interesting/cool as it's kind of a mix of different game genres. Great work!

honest-dan 2022-04-12 18:16

A lot of effort went into setting up the scene and the story. It made the game a bit of a wall of text to start with, but I think it set the scene up for a story where you understood the situation which helped the twists and turns have an impact on you as a player. Some original ideas too! I would have liked if there were multiple endings!

fatsheep 2022-04-20 06:14

Very goofy and insanely out there story, definitely took me for a wild ride!

itsboats 2022-04-20 18:38

woah what the fuck I got way invested into this xD I love how dark things get, big fan!

Left feedback and stuff on stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1458309860?t=4h57m9s