FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD53 → Deliverance

Deliverance

By stephenwhoskins and epicgamefan

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall7423.4347
Fun6963.3147
Innovation11822.3746
Theme11622.8247
Graphics6693.5747
Audio2013.8747
Humor8192.7045
Mood10262.9147

Comments

kabura 2023-05-01 19:09

great entry! obviously reminds me of Celeste hehe :D

firebelley 2023-05-01 19:10

Nice platformer! Had a good amount of fun with this. There was one part I got stuck on where I couldn't figure out how to proceed. But I had fun otherwise!

One thing I would suggest is to make the spikes hitboxes a little bit smaller - they felt a bit too unforgiving.

Nice work!

fersyvanderzee 2023-05-01 19:13

Great entry! Quite hard as well. I didn't manage to finish it, but I will come back later to try some more. I really liked the pixel art combined with the retro music.

sodoj 2023-05-01 19:48

This game looks and sounds great! Moving, jumping and dashing all feel good, but I really didn't enjoy how sticky the walls were. I wish there was a button that allowed me to grab on the walls manually, I think that would have made the game so much smoother! I had fun though and this is a neat little game, so congrats on making it!

stephenwhoskins 2023-05-02 23:51

Thanks for the kind words @kabura ! And sorry for the late reply! We honestly didn't know that we had already published, lol.

And yes, we got inspiration from Celeste, Shovel Knight, and a third thing that you'll have to beat the game in order to find out. =P

Thank you so much for playing!

stephenwhoskins 2023-05-02 23:55

Thanks @firebelley ! Yes, I have to agree that the spikes are unforgiving, lol. They are what you call "very very menacing spikes." =P

Thank you for spending a good amount of time on it. That means a lot to us! O__O

stephenwhoskins 2023-05-03 00:03

Thank you @fersyvanderzee ! I really appreciate the pixel art and music comments. My musical inspirations are Yuzo Koshiro, Jeroen Tel, Nobuyuki Hara and Naoki Kodaka.

I'm really fond of pixel art. I aspire to be like Paul Robertson. =D

stephenwhoskins 2023-05-03 00:07

Thanks @sodoj ! You are quite correct that the walls are really sticky, lol. It definitely requires being careful around them. D=

Thanks again for playing! It's greatly appreciated!

uppitydonkey57 2023-05-08 00:53

I enjoyed this game! I really liked the art and enjoyed the story elements in the beginning. However I did find the wall physics to be a little frustrating. due to it being difficult to attach and jump from them.

floralvikings 2023-05-08 01:09

Really enjoyed this, just the right amount of challenge!

stephen-kyranakis 2023-05-08 01:16

Nice work! I liked the feel of the character, though I do agree it was a bit too easy to get stuck on the wall. The level design also had me fighting the camera often. I really enjoyed the art and sound! Well done.

teejio 2023-05-08 01:55

the jump button not being the up /space key felt wierd but otherwise great game

macdoom 2023-05-08 02:16

Got super stucked in one screen. Lots of references! Shovel knight, megaman and b*ng nes music. Fun game!

hcs-hades 2023-05-08 02:48

This game filled me with rage! I died sooo damn much lol!! It was definitely tricky but once you figure out the dash jumps life becomes much easier. The movement is actually pretty good (I played on controller btw).

The hit boxes are deff in need of a bit of a tune or the sprites need to be bigger to fill the whole area. Many times I died and was not touching the spikes per my visual cues - which as a player feels crummy.

Regardless made it to the end to delivered some za to a hungry turtle bro - so all it well.

grommit 2023-05-08 03:19

What a cool game but what a cruel game. Was playing on hard mode too!

Music and sound design is top-notch. The animations and sounds are detailed and make the game just feel really responsive. The player controller is very polished but some oddities remain, particularly around walls. Like I can't really jump along walls, and you can get kind of hold onto the wall, not falling, without being able to jump. The dash is cool but I kept finding that it didn't work when I pressed the button- I think I wasn't timing pressing the direction correctly. Some kind of buffer or wiggle room would've alleviated this issue.

Some of the challenges required more precision than I feel the controls are suited for, as you're a bit slippery. This is particularly felt in that last ascent. Also I'd make the spike hitbox slightly shorter as it kept killing me when I was standing on ground level with it in that stair bit.

But it was a fun game, it was a complete game and I enjoyed this game til the end, with some struggle. You should be very pleased with your efforts.

(Also I'd just like to point out that this game bares a striking resemblance to this terrible game I worked on for another jam a while ago. https://grommitchio.itch.io/tefl-castle Only works on Edge of all browsers. You will be hearing from my lawyers shortly)

kohcepba 2023-05-08 03:34

Game is fine, but camera is a bit dizzy, also death animation is too long.

dongle 2023-05-08 04:02

Fun but very challenging. Awesome game!

firespike33 2023-05-08 04:17

I did enjoy this but some jumps are a bit too precise, especially for how early in the game they appear. As others have said, the wall stickiness and giant spike hitboxes are both an issue. Jumping is slightly unresponsive which got me killed a lot (I recorded video with an input display to make sure this wasn't a me problem) but I think that might partly be a HTML5/browser-related issue. Regardless, it would have really helped to have some coyote time on jumping, especially since you're going for a Celeste feel.

deadbydeath 2023-05-08 07:16

Beautiful entry! I liked the aesthetics and the music of the game a lot! Very nice work! Though I faced some issues with the responsiveness of the controls, but in general the experience was very nice! Keep up!

python-b5 2023-05-08 07:27

Overall, this was pretty fun---there were just a few annoying things that dragged it down for me, like the odd camera in some places or the fact that you sort of slide off the edge of platforms. But this is a game jam so none of that's a huge deal.

I didn't have a controller but really it wasn't _that_ bad on keyboard.

tobiasd 2023-05-08 07:48

You're right, I shouldn't have played this on keyboard, it was a bit too hard somehow ha ha! Really impressive to get a nice platform engine working for a game jam. Good vibe and banging music. A few dodgy collisions and a slightly slow death/reset were holding me back a bit. But great job!

stuembi 2023-05-08 08:32

Audio on the title screen reminded me of Terraria! Very polished game for a jam! I liked the in-game introduction to the controls, but agree that it is pretty hard with the keyboard. The spikes seem very unforgiving, or maybe im just really bad lol. Cool stuff!

hakro 2023-05-08 09:05

A really neat little platformer, I like the mood, graphics and music. It's quite tricky to play on a non QWERTY though, I wish there was mapping to physical keyboard keys instead of WASD values, so it becomes playable no matter what the keyboard layout is. Other than that, solid entry. Nicely done

cureja 2023-05-08 09:33

Fun game, the levels seemed well thought out! Camera was a bit wonky for the precise movements needed sometimes, but all in all a good time~

skel3ton 2023-05-08 09:53

great entry. I get the shovel knight and celeste vibes. It's great to have infinite lives. It's hard and sometimes I felt like your game is unfair... Like spikes hitboxes could be smaller or respawn over spikes.

I did not finish the game. It was too hard for me. But I think a lot of people enjoy your challenge.

kultuk 2023-05-08 11:26

Nice game, I can really see the vibes you were going for. I couldn't finish it, some jumps felt a bit unfair, or too demanding, but maybe I'm just not good enough (played with a keyboard)

The graphics were fine, but one criticism I can give is to keep a consistent pixel size. And maybe some small changes to the color palette.

all and all it's pretty good.

alpacalypse 2023-05-08 12:08

I knew I recognised that opening musical riff. I liked Tower of Kraduul and I like this.

I do think the movement and hitboxes could be slightly more forgiving - I died plenty of times due to my own errors, but also some times when I felt like I was fighting to have my inputs properly recognised, or dying a frame/pixel earlier than I expected brushing spikes. The former is great, the latter was frustrating. This is a very fine-tuning type issue however.

Also, my muscle memory for controller strongly wanted jump and dash to be the other way around for a 2d platformer.

enver-arco 2023-05-08 16:20

Nice entry, I'd make the death animation shorter and change the hit boxes on the spikes to be a little more forgiving and as other people mentioned the walls jumping is a bit too sticky. Loved the music

flashviper 2023-05-08 16:49

As a Celeste fan, I enjoyed this game. I think the game would feel more forgiving if the spike hitboxes were a little smaller, and the wall slide were only to start if you are moving downwards. Regardless, I had fun, and it's super impressive that you were able to make such a big world in such little time!

joao-marcello 2023-05-08 21:53

Strong inspiration in Celeste and Shovel Knight, which is nice!

Liked the graphics and the music is the best in the game for sure! Really like it.

The physics need some tuning: the player can't jump/move near to wall without being stick in it, which is frustrating and ruins the mood of your game.

With some adjustments in the physics, this game will be great!

zungryware 2023-05-08 22:06

I spent over 20 minutes of trying to clear the room above the one full of spikes. I was trying to wall jump off the right wall and dash over the the platform. I was using the keyboard at first because I prefer that over using an analog stick for a 2D platformer. I decided to switch to the analog stick to see if it was easier and discovered that wall-jumps with the analog stick are more forceful for whatever reason. I determined that was the issue and I spent even more time attempting over and over. It was only after I misinputted and accidentally held up while dashing that I found out you can do a vertical dash. I never thought to try that.

I think the problem is that there is no part of the game up to that point where the vertical dash is obviously required, so I assumed I already knew all of the game's mechanics that I needed when I got to that room. My method looked possible so I kept trying.

Here are my other notes about the game: - After beating the game with the gamepad, I went back to beat it a second time with the keyboard and found the controls to feel better. The arrow keys have movement acceleration (presumably to make up for lack of analog input), and that actually improved the feel. - It's usually a good idea to implement coyote frames in platformers. The jump mechanics felt a bit unresponsive on small platforms. - There are several rooms where you have 1/20th of a second after entering a room before you fall into spikes. The penalty for failure is low, but it's not a good idea to put hazards immediately after blind room transitions. - The spike hitbox is too big. Hazards should usually have as small of a hitbox as you can reasonably give them to match their sprite. Standing on the floor *next* to a spike definitely shouldn't kill you. - The wall jump felt a bit clunky. Since you have to hold *away* from the direction you want to go in order to cling to the wall, it's a timing challenge to change directions right after hitting the jump key. The trick I've seen used is to lock the player's movement controls for a few frames after performing a wall jump so they have more time to switch movement directions. - Other than those issues, the controls are very responsive for a Jam platformer game. - The auto-camera felt really good in the last room. It always showed what I needed to see. - Great retro NES soundtrack. It's an impressive OST for 3 days! - Well-designed levels that each test the player's moveset in unique ways!

fis 2023-05-08 22:22

Solid entry! It was quite difficult, since the hit boxes are very strict and also the unlimited fallspeed makes timing when dropping pretty hard. But once you figured out how the controls act on the character it was fine.

stephenwhoskins 2023-05-08 23:16

Holy smokes @zungryware ! You are awesome, lol. Thank you so much for all your feedback. You provide it in like the best way possible. And that looks like that took some quality time.

We're going to try implementing the features and bug fixes suggested.

Also, thanks for the feedback on the OST. =D

It probably comes as no surprise that I did it with Famitracker. I was using the music from the NES game, Fester's Quest, for my inspiration. Sunsoft has really solid game scores for the NES. (So does Konami, but I'm here to talk about Sunsoft today, heh.)

Thanks again and hope you're having a great day!

mavvy 2023-05-09 02:56

I had a good time with Deliverance. It's got a cute story and nice visual polish, but the star of the show is the level design. On top of having a decent chunk of game in the timeframe, I never found any room too hard, nor too easy. There's a good balance and curve to the difficulty.

The level structure of Deliverance is really solid, especially with how nuanced it is. There was never a point I felt confused, thanks to the camera always pointing forward and showing a path I could take, and there was never a point I felt overly frustrated, thanks to the checkpoint at the start of each area. If I had to be picky about one thing, it's the hitboxes from the spikes, they felt just a tad too tall in a couple of areas where I feel I could've just dashed over them fine.

The music is really impressive, it sounds like something from the back half of a beloved NES cart. I was half expecting a boss by the end, but the ending was just as worth it. Got a chuckle out of me lol. This was one of my favorites this jam!

ruruie 2023-05-09 03:25

Definitely had a tough time with it as a non platform player. The spikes always seem to hit earlier than expected and I wasn't sure what to make of the wall jump requirements as the back and forth seemed very inconsistent in how far up or across it would take me because of the air control. There were multiple areas that were asking for jumps very close to where the camera would cut back and forth and the walls felt very sticky. This could all be because I don't have a controller lying around to use.

Music slapped though.

renardgames 2023-05-14 11:30

It was fun!The platforming challanges were a bit hard sometimes but nice!The only problem I had is that if you are too close to a wall you get stuck a bit while jumping and its a bit hard. Other than that solid entry good job!

epicgamefan 2023-05-14 23:45

@firebelley @fersyvanderzee @sodoj @uppitydonkey57 @stephen-kyranakis @teejio @hcs-hades @grommit @kohcepba @firespike33 @deadbydeath @python-b5 @tobiasd @stuembi @hakro @cureja @skel3ton @kultuk @alpacalypse @enver-arco @flashviper @joao-marcello @zungryware @fis @mavvy @ruruie

Thank you all for the feedback!

I've attempted to fix all the bugs that were discusseed. I feel this has made everything feel more like it was intended, a touch more forgiving and a touch easier for those that didn't finish.

Here is the list of bug fixes made:

* Fixed rushed tile placement so correct tiles are together. * Fixed spikes player colider * Fixed wall jump when hitting the corners of platforms. * Fixed coliders for sticking to walls. * Fixed camera follow for some rooms. * Fixed slippery platform corners. * Fixed title menu losing focus on mouse click. * Fixed full screen. * Fixed bandaid fixes in audio objects. * Faster death animation * Added death counter so you don’t have to count deaths manually. * Added play timer so you don’t have to keep time manually.

ryabchik 2023-05-15 10:35

A good platformer, I liked the pixel art and the musical accompaniment. There is support for the gamepad, which is a separate plus, the main thing is to be calm and not nervous)

tomrijnbeek 2023-05-15 11:14

Thanks for reminding me of how bad I am at platformers!

kohcepba 2023-05-15 17:11

Thank you for changes!

There is 2 small things left I would change - allow to skip intro, and do not stick to wall if I was holding right and begin jump when already touching that wall.

Also, I am not sure about death counter and clock - it may scare some people, with a mentality of something like "I don't want to feel bad, like I am a bad player. I don't want game that remind me about my skills, I just want to play". It is not a big percentage of player base, but maybe you should allow to turn off counter and clock. Again, I am not sure, it is usually decided via tests and analytics.

poisonbirb420 2023-05-15 17:27

Hi there! This game looks pretty well made. I must say, I am really, but REALLY bad at platformers. It might be my own bad, but I feel like the drag jump mechanic it's pretty hard to manage. Yet again, could be because of my back of ability... seriously, the times that I missed the keys J and K are numerous. And I died like 23 times only on the tutorial parts, so take this with a grain of salt.

But hey! Graphics are excellent, animations are REALLY smooth and the music? Top notch. You did a great job here, congratulations!

jhax 2023-05-15 18:22

Really solid platformer! Enjoyed the music a lot and the graphics all felt like they sat well together.

jordantanner 2023-05-16 00:46

Really enjoyed this one. Character was super fun to control, with all the classic and familiar platforming moves. Some of the room designs felt a little punishing, but as others have said, the penalty for death is only a few seconds, so its probably not a huge deal. Maybe having a few rooms before they get really difficult would help slow down the difficulty ramp, as well. It would allow players a little more time to become accustomed to the mechanics and what you're expected to do. Also room-to-room camera transition could maybe slow down a bit -- it was a bit disorienting at times. Really fun entry and the soundtrack was on point. Nice polish in the character animations as well.

alanxoc3 2023-05-16 03:14

The controls felt odd, especially the wall jump controls and gravity. But you made up for that by challenging level design and fantastic music. Great job!

I especially liked that I needed to fall of the ledge and bounce off the sides for a few spots (I think that was intended).

Ending was great too.

Edit: I also appreciated the in-game tutorial and the dvorak controls!!!!

pouyan-shekarikiani 2023-05-16 08:23

Awesome game, very well executed. i loved the clean mechanics game has.

digital-bacon 2023-05-16 11:32

Nice game! Enjoyed the graphics and soundtrack. Found the wall climb a bit difficult to use, but that's probably just me :shrug: Well done!

fabula-rasa 2023-05-16 15:20

And to show how much of a "not for me" this game is, here is a screenshot. Notice the death count :laughing: :grin:

Screenshot_1.jpg

Very nicely made game. It feels polished and the animations on the knight are great. The music fits the atmosphere perfectly and the color work is very good. I enjoyed looking at this world, even though sparsely decorated, and definitely enjoyed dying in it :grin:

This platformer is too much of a platformer for me to even dream of finishing it, but controls felt nice and responsive. Great work!

automatonvx 2023-05-16 17:07

Phew, made it to the end in 68 Deaths, had fun, although quite a lot of frustration too. I felt like the controls needed some fine tuning and polishing for extra time window allowances, e.g coyote time, the wall jump if you push away just before you jump, that kind of thing. All those little details a game like Celeste has to make it feel just right to control the character that you really miss in a precision platformer if its not quite so fine tuned. Having said that its a game jam game so can't expect perfection. I did wonder if in a downloadable version instead of web gl it might feel a little smoother control wise. Pixel art was pretty good, spikes seem a bit on a different pixel scale to everything else, but apart from that, maybe making the UI fit a bit more in terms of Font etc. would be nice. I enjoyed the authentic 8-bit soundtrack. Level design was ok, a bit lacking in elemenents with only the spikes and platforms to work with perhaps and restarting a whole room when you just fail near the end is obviously frustrating, but kind of standard I guess. All in all a really solid entry, albeit very Celeste inspired and the theme was a bit of a stretch but hey.

epicgamefan 2023-05-17 02:25

@automatonvx @fabula-rasa @digital-bacon @pouyan-shekarikiani @alanxoc3 @jordantanne @jhax @poisonbirb420 @kohcepba @tomrijnbeek @ryabchik

Thank you again for playing!

I decided to post a full uncut playthrough for everyone. Enjoy!

Full Uncut Playthrough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fkb9e_e9mA

cheesepencil 2023-05-17 03:47

I *think* I got pretty far but there was a room I knew I couldn't get through without a gamepad and a lot more free time. (the vertical room with the floor of spikes and the series of 1x1 blocks that you had to jump-dash to climb)

Platforming seemed really solid though the inertia(?) of the player character was frustrating (like everything was slightly icy/slippery) and I'd stick to walls even if I didn't jump against them first.

Someone probably already said it but this is 5/5 audio for the bangin' tunes

tygrak 2023-05-17 08:21

Very nice music and graphics! It took me a bit to figure out what all the dash could do. The wall jumps worked a bit strange too, not exactly sure how, but maybe the character should automatically stick to walls to make it feel better? It's really hard to make a platformer feel really good, but this one is almost there! Good job!

grommit 2023-05-18 22:54

Great job with the update. The timer was a good addition- it's a lot of fun to speedrun! Only problem is there's no quick restart, so whenever you want to try again you need to rewatch the opening cutscene. Since I enjoyed your game and wanted to get a good speedrun of it, I cloned it off github and added a quick restart myself. It takes 1 minute to implement so I recommend you add it to your web build if you care to

Anyway, I was convinced this game was beatable in under a minute. It is! Here's what it looks like. Enjoy. https://youtu.be/LhgMyy1wlTU

epicgamefan 2023-05-19 10:45

@grommit Wow, that was an awesome run! Almost a perfect run. There is still a little wiggle room for someone else to beat you. I'm very impressed. Thank you for sharing. Great idea about the quick restart. Thanks!