FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD53 → Bagelseeker

Bagelseeker

By alaah

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall3.004
Fun2.504
Innovation2.254
Theme2.504
Graphics3.504
Audio3.254
Humor2.754
Mood3.504

Comments

kiv 2023-05-01 13:55

The game looks nice, but I can not jump over the first obstacle, just falling down near the next platform

alaah 2023-05-01 14:04

@kiv

ezgif-5-a7e5c80688.gif

tomrijnbeek 2023-05-01 14:08

It feels like a super chill platformer, but it's quite hard to get far. The first jump immediately seems impossible, until you realise you actually have a triple jump. Even then, it feels like the game starts pretty unforgiving right from the start. To improve the game, it would be good to have a difficulty curve to slowly ramp up. If you wanted to make a really unforgiving platformer, the controls should probably be a bit tighter and less floaty, because it is quite easy to accidentally fall off with the current controls.

Overall, the game looks and feels nice, it's just a little bit too difficult.

kiv 2023-05-01 14:12

@alaah yep I tried it, but for some reason I have only double jump in the air, not tripple. Will try again!

alaah 2023-05-01 14:15

If you drop off a platform, you only have 2 jumps left. Sorry there is no tutorial but I was heavily time constrained this weekend.

100th-coin 2023-05-01 15:43

There definitely needs to be some way to teach the mechanics to the player. I really enjoyed the parts of the game I got to experience, (tricky platformers are my favorite genre) though once I got to the red key, I was stumped. Which isn't even that for into the game (I assume). I recorded myself playing so I could deliver as much feedback as possible, though just a heads up, I never figured out how to get the red key.

The character looks nice, and I love the blips and bloops when you walk around / jump! The background music is nice and calm, the color palette is charming too! But the lack of direction or explanations on how the mechanics work is this game's biggest shortcoming.

Here's the recording. I hope it provides all the feedback you need!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkA_0UaRSw

fabian-denter 2023-05-01 17:07

Fun little entry, I managed to get the first jump with the help of the gif you posted above and went on from there. I found a key and noticed that a barrier above was gone now, but couldn't get there. But until that point I enjoyed my time with it. The controls are pretty tight, I just wish it started out a bit easier :)

Also when I died the death message stayed on my screen and didn't go away, while (I assume, based on the sounds) the game was still running in the background. But nothing a quick restart couldn't fix. Overall cool entry, and I want a bagel now...

alaah 2023-05-01 18:05

I already got four invalid ratings so I may as well opt out

blueanoli 2023-05-03 14:04

It's a very cute little platformer. I like it!

zyapimstudios 2023-05-03 14:34

Feels fun to play, however for some reason it couldn't run with vulkan for me and I had to run it with opengl3. Probably an issue on my end though. Cool little game to play.

meta-link 2023-05-03 16:05

A cute platformer, but not as easy as it looks ! It may lack a bit of tutorial, but the challenge is fun, good job :slight_smile:

decadedecaf 2023-05-03 17:49

Once I figured out the main mechanic, I was *super* impressed. I urge other people to stick it through, and pay attention to the mailbox at the beginning of the game. bagelseeker.png

alaah 2023-05-03 19:03

@decadedecaf thank you, I really appreciate that. I was honestly beginning to lose hope, but now I can say this LD was a success

untitled-studios 2023-05-03 19:51

Screenshot 2023-05-03 144656.png

Easiest 5/5 for innovation I will ever give. Absolutely fantastic.

I highly, *highly* suggest adding a more detailed set of instructions to your game page. I was *thiiis* close to giving up before I figured out what was going on.

Beyond all that, I think this game suffers from a few major issues outside of just not having enough signposting. I think the platforming is often a bit imprecise, and if you were sticking with the platforming system you're currently using, could maybe use some regular rectangular platforms instead of the complex terrain currently in the game for more consistency on platforming sections. The lives system could also go entirely, and I think might be part of why people are giving up on your game so early.

Overall, I have *no* ***idea*** how you achieved this in the span of the jam, let alone really how it works at all. Fantastic work, I hope more people get the opportunity to figure out how your game actually works, because it's really great.

nazorus 2023-05-03 19:53

For some reason the message in the mailbox won't display properly on my computer.

screen.png

So here's what I could experience from the game : It's beautiful, love the color palette, the platforming is very tricky, maybe a bit too hard for a jam game, which means some people won't have enough patience to experience the full game. Now I'm left wondering what the big twist is with the mailbox, I'll try again with another PC when I can.

In any case, good job on delivering !

alaah 2023-05-03 22:27

@untitled-studios I thoroughly agree, and I added more instructions on the itch page (since it has spoiler tags). Thanks

@nazorus Can you tell me your screen resolution and the window scaling percentage?

austin-sierra 2023-05-03 23:55

Cool platformer thanks for sharing alaah it was fun

snesgaard 2023-05-04 02:09

Cool platformer, nice artstyle. Feel like some initial level design where you can fall down without dying would have been a great way to teach the mechanics (e.g. the triple jump).

kent-lizardo 2023-05-04 04:28

Oh wow! It took me a second but I like the audio design of the jumps. I originally thought it was part of the music, then thought you made a system for it to select notes based on the song playing, but I think I just got naturally synced up when playing the game haha. The tone of the game is such a vibe, and really relaxing, but I think the sudden death thing is a little immersion breaking. I do agree with the other comments about the difficulty, I'm just terrible at platformers, and I did not think it would be such an intense platforming experience with the limited lives. I think the easiest tweaks to make are the limited lives, and maybe death wouldn't feel so punishing if I didn't have to restart the game every time. The platforming puzzle is fine. There is a bit of clash in tone of "deliver thee unto death" when I just want Shallotte to get to work on time ^^, but you could probably turn that into a comedic and humorous tone if need be. I think you should make a choice to commit to the ethereal vibe that the music, art style, and level design give off, or do the difficult platformer where the death animation is really funny. I understand the Compo struggle, especially with a limited amount of time, so really, great job on finishing your game and publishing to the jam!

binroot 2023-05-04 04:45

Beautiful art, and love the pacing, just ASMR the game

nazorus 2023-05-04 05:51

@alaah 2736x1824 with 175% window scaling

alaah 2023-05-04 10:38

@kent-lizardo You haven't played the real game. Lives are effectively unlimited

benjamin 2023-05-04 11:00

*SPOILER ALERT* Well I struggled a lot. I tried to scan when I first see the sign but my phone won't recognize the code, so I was thinking it was just artworks. The first jump was indeed very hard, probably not the best way to learn the control of a game. Then got the first key and then tried many time to reach for the second door without being able to do the jump. I came back here, read the comments, figured out about the code, then I had to download 3 different apps before finding one than can actually read the code, went to the site, got the apk, and finally my phone told me it was impossible to install. At this point I guess I could search phone params and find a way to bypass security checks but I'm old and not so good with smartphones. So it seems indeed very innovative but I won't be able to play it. By the way I have no problem with enigmatic gameplay, not enough of them around here.

kgurniak91 2023-05-04 11:08

I don't get it, am I supposed to download and install .apk to play this?

alaah 2023-05-04 11:23

@benjamin Thank you so much for the effort and I'm sorry for all the trouble. It should work on Android 7+ but I haven't tested it. If you're still up for it, you can scan the iOS code because it's actually an exe

@kgurniak91 Yep

kot9 2023-05-04 17:49

it`s so cute and soft

swordfish 2023-05-04 19:13

It's really cute looking, and the falling sound is cute too, but I found the platforming extremely difficult even with the triple jump, especially those really small platforms with the key on them. I also think it needs to be clearer that you need to download the app to make it to the end but its a neat idea.

I also had the same issue as @nazorus, doesn't seem like a scaling issue though since I've got a 1920x1080 screen on 100% scaling :shrug:. Managed to get the app from the video so I got it working anyhow.

misterixi 2023-05-04 19:15

At first I thought it was just a clunky little platformer with a cute aesthetic. When I read the mailbox I assumed it to be just for flavor. I really needed the three walkthrough steps on itch to follow through and understand the main mechanic. The mechanic then actually blew my mind. It is a really interesting idea and it was really fun to figure it out and test how it works/what it does. Lovely entry. I just have to say, that towards the end it got more and more annoying to try to set them at the right spot -> wait -> realize the new thing was off by 2 and try again. Maybe I'm just bad at the mechanic, but that's how I started to feel after a while.

Especially for a game jam entry though, this is really impressive, good job!

slimefriend 2023-05-05 00:31

i really wish i could delve into this game to see exactly wtf is goin on with the additional app, but its really difficult to see where to go next after collecting the key :(

kohqctps 2023-05-05 03:10

It took a bit to figure out, but I got the biggest grin on my face when the concrete bagel got delivered! I couldn't understand why my location showed unreachable for most of the game which made it difficult to progress too far. Other than that, the muted colors and soundtrack make for a nice sleepy aesthetic. Definitely the coolest mechanic I've seen so far.

binaryspark 2023-05-05 14:17

Love the background ambience in this one, the 'aaaaaa' when falling is a bit silly though haha! The jumping sound is also quite satisfying.

vknauss 2023-05-06 02:54

really creative mechanic! I did scan the qr code the first time, but skipped actually installing the apk until I read the comments and spoilers on itch, so thank you for adding those. i hope shallotte gets paid well because i spent like $1000 of their money on concrete bagels...

python-b5 2023-05-06 07:20

bagelseeker_endscreen.png

5/5 on innovation for sure; this is a really cool mechanic and I've never really seen something like this done in a jam game before. I did find it a little clunky to play, especially in the parts where your location can't be found. But it just needs a bit of polishing up. This idea has so much potential! Nice work, especially doing this in Compo---very impressive :)

(Just noticed I actually can't rate the game? Not sure why but I'll check back tomorrow to see if it fixes itself)

kiguel182 2023-05-06 10:19

Tried to play it but the qr code for the ios version wasn't working

taxol 2023-05-06 11:09

My bottom left corner of the screen is "No Connection". Is there something wrong?

alaah 2023-05-06 16:50

@python-b5 Thanks. I opted out of ratings because people were rating a different game, and not a good one at that

@kiguel182 Sorry, the link is [▮▮▮▮▮▮▮](https://bagelicious.me/ios)

@taxol Something's on your end; the server has been running non stop!

nazorus 2023-05-07 15:34

Hey there, I was finally able to play the game correctly and this was really fun. This is easily the best game I've played so far in terms of theme and innovation, very cool concept. It's a real shame people have been missing out because of technical issues or by missing the QR code entirely.

This makes me want to experiment with the dual-device idea in some future projects, I feel like there's potential for making fun games out of it.

Thanks for making this and sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted. Great entry.

cureja 2023-05-07 23:27

Untitleda.png fun time! i really like trying to figure out the location~ My phone was too old, so i wish it was easier to find the windows version in that case. I also wished that if you got to an area which for sure needed it, like the second key, that there was a hint to look at the qr code. Awesome compo game!!

binroot 2023-05-08 21:26

I was going to use Godot 4 too until I realized web builds were a bit challenging to set up haha. Nice work with the graphics and physics in your game. Love how the colors complement each other.

sodoj 2023-05-09 00:51

Dude, this is an ultra cool project! I'm not even sure how you managed to pull it off! Even though I haven't beaten the game (let's just say I really suck at bagel placing ;-;) I'm in love with idea, like this is what game jams are for! It is a shame to see most of the people were having issues, but don't let that discourage you, this is easily the top 3 entries I have played this jam. I love it I love it I love it

jimmymcginger 2023-05-09 21:38

I love the graphic style used. It and the palette were super crisp and it was a pleasure to look at. Gameplay-wise, I didn't get very far... I think I fluked the first jump and then once I got the first key I couldn't get back. I feel the life system might not have been needed as it seemed pretty tough and without it I think people might be more willing to stick it out.

jk5000 2023-05-10 14:20

Way too difficult for me, but I like the games visuals.

kanity 2023-05-11 17:17

The style and palette are very cute, but yeah, it is quite difficult. I like the little ahhh she makes when she falls because it sounds quite apathetic which makes it funny (in a good way) ^^ Also tried to scan QR code in the beginning but my phone wouldn't recognize it :)