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Abyss Vaulter
Abyss Vaulter
By sinclairstrange
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 1 | 4.58 | 36 | |
| Fun | 2 | 4.58 | 36 | |
| Innovation | 334 | 3.41 | 36 | |
| Theme | 226 | 4.01 | 35 | |
| Graphics | 2 | 4.86 | 36 | |
| Audio | 1 | 4.73 | 36 | |
| Humor | 223 | 3.39 | 31 | |
| Mood | 45 | 4.30 | 36 | |
Comments
Super polished entry, very impressive for 72 hours! Loved the aesthetic, which balances colorful & detailed tilework with clean readability. Gunplay was great, enjoyed how all the weapons had a use, even ones that initially seemed lame. The shop combined with the bonus system created a nice secondary loop to help provide a layer of forward thinking. I did feel like the game dragged on in parts, especially the beginning. Feels like each area could've been a level or 2 shorter. Though things picked up again when reaching a new area. All in all, an impressive and fun entry. Nice work!
hoichael
2025-04-08 06:05
Very impressive. Quite literally as polished as a 3 day solo project can get. Fascinating how the paradigms around limitations and time shift when overwhelming experience and routine are at play :D
badpiggy
2025-04-08 17:05
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It never ceases to amaze me how much you manage to get done in these timeframes lol. MMO when ?
In all seriousness though, it goes without saying that the presentation here was amazing all around. Love how each of the 3 areas both looked but also felt distinct. Let it be because of the types of enemies, or the overall visual styles of each area.
Loved how each area had atleast one mechanic to differentiate them. I also loved how you introduced each of these new obstacles in a way that I pretty much instantly understood them. I thought every level had a great flow to it as well of this. I can definitely see some people speedrunning this and having a swell time doing it
That said, I think the game suffered in a way because of this. Mostly because the level design started to get somewhat repetitive in each of the 3 areas. This was mostly prevalent in the second half of each area where it felt like certain ideas got re-used a little too many times. ( I think some of the levels in the first area had a little too many instances where there was an enemy that would shoot at you horizontally on a higher platform )
While I thought the diamonds in the third area were an interesting obstacle, it wasn't clear as it could have been what the range of their pull was. More often than not I couldn't really hear the sound they were making because of everything else, and I ended up getting pulled away even though I was only slightly on their level.
The rogue-lite mechanics definitely kept things interesting and really incentivised me to collect gems and go for bonuses
The final boss while cool, also felt a little undercooked imo. All of it's attacks felt like I could mostly just shoot upwards while moving only slightly. Still, it goes back to what I said before about how amazing it is that you were able to put out all of this, including a final boss, in such a small timeframe lol
All in all, this is a very polished game with a ton of great content in it. Great stuff
wow man, so good job. ultra vibe and chill gameplay❤
Love this game so much, gotta be one of my favorite entries! Excellent job! :blue_heart:
THis is one of the most polished games I've ever seen out of a Game Jam. This could be mistaken for a finished game, genuinely. Incredible work and a stunning game, I'd play this on my Switch all day long if I could. I want to see more of this game so bad, haha!
@superpokeunicorn Aww thank you for your kind comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the game ^-^. So with the stages dragging on the original plan was to have five randomised levels/depths from a set of 10 to play. However I ran out of time making all these areas, so I just kept the ones I had made. In hindsight maybe I should of just removed them, but seeing as I already made them, I kept them in. But honestly thanks for playing, I'll be checking out games over this weekend when I have some downtime, can't wait to play!
@hoichael Thanks for ye comment! I'm glad ye liked the game! I'll be sure to check out your game this weekend when I'm gunna play a bunch of jam games! :)
@badpiggy Thank you for your beautiful review! Honestly all that really helps with further jam games or titles I decide to make, as always amazing comments! So with the regards of the repetitive levels towards the end, there is a reason for that. The original plan was to have five levels, that would be randomly pulled from 10 levels. However I just ran out of time at the end to do this, so I kept the ones I had already made. In hindsight I should of just chose 5 better ones and left the rest but I kinda felt I'd made them so it'd be a shame to waste them.
Yeah the diamonds could of done with a little more of a tale than just a noise and them blinking, they pull you in once you're on the same Y axis as the whole tile. Again should of made the hitbox on the gem a little smaller but blame lack of sleep on that! And with the boss, I didn't intend to plop a boss in, but I had an hour spare towards the end, so I thought it'd be nice to end on something a little bit extra than just finish the stages. If I had a bit more time or I factored in a boss at the start I'd make it a little more fleshed out.
I can't wait to play your game, I saw it over on the discord server and twitter and it looks rad! I'll be checking out games this weekend when I've got more free time and I'm fully recovered! Looking forward to it ^-^
@caffeinetrip Aww thanks for the kind comment, looking forward to checking out ye game this weekend! ^-^
@shadyshade Aww that means so much to me! I hope you enjoyed it! It's all worth the lack of sleep in the end haha. Looking forward to playing ye game this weekend! ^-^
@morepixels Hehe the temptation not to make it into a full game is big! Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the game! I'm looking foward to checking ye game out this weekend when I'm fully recovered and have some free time! ^-^
incredible effort for a jam game -- i saw some of your posts during the weekend and had to play it -- i am glad i did -- cant wait to play it some more and finish it -- congrats on a brilliant game!
daniel
2025-04-12 18:55
Always amazing what a polished and cohesive project you're able to complete in a weekend. Multiple world with distinct tilemaps and music were fantastic and the movement and gun system felt really solid.
mr-field
2025-04-13 02:26
Like everyone else has said, very impressive & fun reverse-downwell-esque game.
Someone needs to take your 'hazards that shoot on timers' license away though!
I did feel like the enemy placement could be pretty tight at times, especially with the above ^ offenders.
As a nitpick - I also found it a little frustrating that I don't return to aiming horizontally automatically & have to push left or right to do so. I think I'm just so used to games where it works that way, though.
Also, like @badpiggy said, the boss was surprisingly easy; I think, with my double damage upgrade, I gunned it down in like 6 seconds with the starting gun. Not that it really detracted from my experience, I think it's great that you managed to add it, & it served as a good finale vs just 'you escaped!'. (also way better than it being wicked hard)
Excellent music too!
Great job! Love pixel platformers in general, and this is a great specimen. :P
It's definitely on the level that wouldn't look out of place in Steam (maybe with more levels). I wouldn't have guessed that this is made in just 3 days if I saw it on Steam.
What software did you use to make the music?
It's a well-polished game, to be honest. You might have to release it on Steam and other platforms, complete with more levels and stuff, down the line.
This was fantastic. Extremely polished to a level you very rarely see in a jam game - like, to the point it almost feels ready for a proper release as-is. Not a single bug to be found (aside from a couple typos here and there). Not especially difficult at the moment, though the movement-altering crystals in the third area did occasionally mess me up quite a bit. I didn't manage to get all the upgrades; I waited too long to buy the gem doubling one, and by the time I did, it was the last level, so I would have better spent my gems on something more useful. As for the boss, I do think it was maybe a bit anticlimactic, to be honest. It wasn't much of a challenge, and I found it a bit disappointing, after being given so many differing weapons throughout the game, to be forced to use the boring default one for the final boss (though, the homing weapon was pretty bad... I tended to dread picking it up, since it often would target gems instead of something more _imminent_). In a post-jam version, perhaps a more elaborate boss sequence like what Downwell has could add to the experience.
Still, amazing work on this. I had a great time playing it. The environments were all beautiful, and the controls were sufficiently tight. This deserves _way_ more ratings than it has. I'm assuming you just haven't had time yet, but if you want this game to get to the minimum of 20 ratings (and I really hope it does!), I'd highly recommend you get to playing some games soon. This won't surface very often in people's feeds otherwise, unfortunately, and that would be a shame because it's a wonderful game. I found it through the Fresh Games feed on itch.io, not through this site at all.
xpoho
2025-04-17 10:28
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Ok, this is the most completed and beautiful game i saw in this LD. I really dunno how you made it just in three days, but you are awesome! And the game is really great!
Definitely one of the best games I've played on LD57. This game feels like it was based on my childhood. From the graphics to the gameplay (which will take something away from the innovation score). The fact that the game style is already considered outdated by some, but not by me, doesn't diminish the fun in any way. I felt like I was playing an official game from some big game company like Nintendo or Sega (in the 80s/90s). It's completely finished and defined. An excellent example of a publishable indie game. I would definitely buy it!
There was one thing I didn't like about the gameplay: When you aim upwards and release the direction button, the character continues to aim upwards. Usually in this type of game, the character only aims upwards while the button is pressed. This prevents you from taking damage from an enemy that is in front of you or coming towards you.
Otherwise, I made sure to play until the end and fly out of the hole in my beautiful blue balloon.
Congratulations! It will be saved on my list of "Coolest Ludum Dare Games"
I forgot to ask: What tools did you use? I really want to make a game like that.
oller125
2025-04-17 21:00
A really polished jam game, especially for a solo effort! Default controls are a bit weird but they can be remapped.
2025-04-17 21:11
I just wish I could be mad at this masterpiece. Its an extremely good game considering time restriction and people count restriction. It was perfect everything down to the last drop, though the one smallest thing is no freeplay or way to get all the abilities in one sitting.
neowhoru
2025-04-17 23:26
ok i didnt had the time to finished it...but..bro...what a great game! its one of the best so far. Music is awesome. How did you managed that make that game in this time frame ? It feels like a complete finished polished game. Reminds me of Downwell a bit but with so great NES Vibes.
I REALLY love that game and will definetly play it tomorrow again - i want to see the end lol.
What a remarkably fun game. The music, the game feel, the aesthetic—all of it feels masterful. I only have two points of contention: I so wish I could play with a controller, and I had to reset due to clipping into a platform and getting stuck. But other than that, amazing game. Wonderful job!
leorean
2025-04-18 05:11
The intro reminds me of Kirby: Great Cave Offensive (from Kirby Super Star) :heart_eyes: Your design skills are amazing! The color palette, the art-style (I love the Zelda GBC / Megaman style), the 8-bit music, the details.. Really well done :clap: :bow:
2025-04-18 05:26
What an awesome game! So glad you made a post, and I got to see and play it! Amazing graphics, everything consistent in one style — so many details come together in a single composition! Wow!
I *am* a great adventurer and super player, thank you very much.
Well, this was just freakin' great on all sides. Some nice weapon variety and interesting enemies and environmental effects. Very enjoyable difficulty. I was getting some strong Velgress vibes here, am I crazy? Also: how the heck did you make so many levels?! You had 50% more time than me, but you created like 400% more content. If I had one minor complaint, actually, it'd would be that you could have dropped maybe 1/3 of the levels and packed all the same nice level design ideas packed into the rest.
Also, rocket launcher OP.
aurel300
2025-04-18 10:45
Great entry!
The experience was very well polished, the graphics were great, the music was a *jam*, the amount of levels made for a satisfying experience start-to-end, well done! It's one of the best entries I have seen this jam, so the following are mostly nitpicks:
* The weapons were interestingly varied, but I was not always happy to see each. (Looking at you, spreadshot.) There were situations where I would have clearly preferred to use one over the other, but this was left basically up to chance: did I happen to have a good weapon equipped for this section? What confused me a bit more was that in a couple of places there were side-by-side weapon pick ups (both at the start of a level IIRC?). This would make a lot more sense if the player were given the freedom to actually switch weapons, which IMO would make for more interesting/strategic gameplay, too. * The early levels were quite easy and not *super* different from each other. Maybe the difficulty curve could be a liiitle bit more steep. * The boss, once I got to it, turned out to be a little disappointing! Just shot it a bunch of times, it just had a simple pattern with one wave of sending some bats after me. Should be stronger! :) * I wish the shop had more exciting things to offer! I looked through the line up and for many things I thought: yeah, this looks ok, but there was nothing that I really actively wanted to save up for. In retrospect, the orb of ow was probably the most fun upgrade of the bunch. * The screen scroll was a bit frustrating at times: the levels often had two parallel paths on the left and right, and gems to pick up on each side. Once the branches connected I wanted to collect gems from the enemies/gem clusters at the top of the other path, but having got to the top, the screen already scrolled a bit. Now, there was a little bit of grace because you could still stand on the platforms that were *just* below the screen, even though you could not see them. I guess I understand that this mechanic exists to support some of the more tricky platforming sections in the later areas, where the player is punished for falling off of thin platforms, but the side effect of not being able to collect what you want in the earlier levels was not the best. * There was a strange stickiness to aiming upwards? I expected it to only last as long as I helt the up arrow key, but it was not quite that. * I had to restart once because after respawning from falling off of the screen, because the player character was placed on a ledge, but then could not move or shoot. I could only press the arrow keys to aim, but that was it. :)
What a spectacular entry, wow. I love everything about it, it feels so incredibly polished! Absolutely awesome. Everything is top notch: the graphics (love palette), audio (and there's a music difference when in shop!), controls and gameplay. One of my favorite entries, if not *THE* favorite.
The difficulty was perfect for me, though I think on the second run I've abused the homing bullets a lot, to a point where I wouldn't grab other updates. They make going through the enemies easier, though I wouldn't say the game becomes unbalanced because of that. It required less skill from me, but was still fun!
Pretty awesome that I could play on a really low end machine too.
@euler-moises Based on one of the author's itch.io comments, CT Fusion was used. The author seems to know that engine quite well - to be fair I think the beautiful outcome depends less on the tool itself, and more on the author's abilities, which are - as we see - superb.
perrin
2025-04-18 19:02
Crazy polished for a weekedn game jam, it's insane how much work you delivered in such a short period of time.
wowowowowo i love this insane polish, insane art, really amazing!
nondev
2025-04-19 09:31
Dang, this was just amazing. I must admit I found it a bit easy once you get the ammo replenishment on kills, since it can let you keep your preferred weapon. As others have mentioned, each area does feel a tad too many levels before things change up but it's kinda rare to complain about *too* many levels in a jam!
So much polish, really great job.
Love it! Super fun to play and extremelly well polished. Reminds me of Shovel Knight and other similar games. Graphics, music, everything is super satisfying. Only suggestion I have would be able to switch the weapon, or at least ditch the current one, because sometimes it makes it impossible to hit certain enemies. Splendid work!
Screenshot_146.png
Damn this was a very complete experience, propably one of the best games i have played this jam
Aww thank you to everyone who's posted and played the game, just wanted to make a comment to thank you all! All the comments about the nit-picks/criticisms completely on board with a few there, if I were to ever develop this further, I'd address a few of those as I had similar concerns myself, but alas as it being a game jam game, tend not to get the time to iron out these things :3 But honestly thank you all! <3
This was a fantastic entry. I absolutely love it! It's getting 5 across the board from me. =)
Awesome! Super polished and juicy with the usual excellent pixelart. Great and plenty of music tracks too. I think it switched things up just as things started to get a bit repetitive, maybe just cutting a level in each world would be the sweet spot. Nice upgrade system to break up the levels and gives you a reason to collect gems. At first I wasn't sure I'd ever need a dmg upgrade since all weapons seemed quite powerful but the later enemies did get tougher (not surprising). Even though you can get multiple extra jumps I kinda forgot about it and kept just using the one double jump for the most part(I think I'm just used to that :sweat_smile:). Final world was definitely my favorite with the tougher platforming and those crystals (which gave me a scare the first time) which added some extra challenge.
Hey, I love the graphics, the animations, the music and the sound design! The only issues I ran into are that the movement is a bit too floaty, and that sometimes keys don't respond, especially when double jumping. The full screen didn't work for me either. I played on Linux through Proton, though, so maybe that's part of the issue. Good work!
@andriybyelikov I think that might of been an issue through Proton/Linux, I don't think the framework/program I use quite likes Linux I'm afraid :( Sorry about that, hope you enjoyed anyway! (I played/rated your game just recently, will leave a comment asap!)
egor-iv
2025-04-27 01:29
ну не знаю) странно все это
@egor-iv What that I won and you didn't?