First Impressions: - My first thought was the weird controls. Z+X? Why? - Also, why am I throwing these dinosaurs into this otherworld portal? I mean it seems interesting enough though, so I guess that doesn't really matter. - I got used to everything pretty quickly after dying a few times and being really confused and frustrated about how to actually send a frozen dinosaur skyward; watching the tutorial over again after actually playing helped me understand, though. - Kind of a neat idea, hiding the tutorial in the main menu.
General Compliments: - The art and music (when it plays) are pretty nice. I can tell you put a lot of work into this area. - The strategy involved with the dash mechanic is pretty cool. You have to make sure there are no unfrozen enemies in the direction you're charging or you'll hit them and die, and you also have to be careful about knocking enemies up onto platforms where other unfrozen enemies are. Requires you to put a bit of thought into the order you do things.
General Gripes:
Also, it might seem trivial, but it's something I feel was missing: a victory prompt. After I beat the first level I was like "...did the game break? ... OH, ok, next level, I guess."
Deal Breakers: - I think there needs to be more gravity or maybe just more solid (pun intended) platform collision. It feels weird walking into a gap and then popping back up on the next platform. This also makes it kinda hard to get back down from a platform when there's only a tiny gap to go through; consider adding down+x jumping ability. - Sometimes after you knock an enemy into the air and miss catching them, you can't knock them into the air anymore; you just go right through them, and sometimes die. - I mean I know it's a Ludum Dare entry, but collision doesn't work consistently, and sometimes jumping doesn't get you to your full jump height. I understand completely how hard creating a good platforming character controller can be though; I've done it myself, and it took MONTHS, so you're kinda excused on that front. Having this kind of thing already coded up before the competition starts can be a big help, though. - When I get hit and turn invisible forever... UGGGGGHHHHH!
Closing Comments: The bugs kinda render it unplayable for me. People on this page keep calling it polished and stuff, but I feel like their idea of polished is quite different than mine. I mean the art and music are good, yeah, but, imo the mechanics and collision need a lot of work. And it's probably more important to spend time on that before spiffing it up art-wise, especially as a one man team. Although, I do get that some people draw more inspiration and drive from creating art rather than spending time coding, and maybe that was a factor. Just, in the future, keep in mind that spending a little extra time squashing bugs can go a long way in improving the user experience.
LD32 — An Unconventional Weapon (1)
Ice Story ( koori monogatari 氷物語 ) by Christina Antoinette Neofotistou 2015-05-03T15:46:00
First Impressions:
- My first thought was the weird controls. Z+X? Why?
- Also, why am I throwing these dinosaurs into this otherworld portal? I mean it seems interesting enough though, so I guess that doesn't really matter.
- I got used to everything pretty quickly after dying a few times and being really confused and frustrated about how to actually send a frozen dinosaur skyward; watching the tutorial over again after actually playing helped me understand, though.
- Kind of a neat idea, hiding the tutorial in the main menu.
General Compliments:
- The art and music (when it plays) are pretty nice. I can tell you put a lot of work into this area.
- The strategy involved with the dash mechanic is pretty cool. You have to make sure there are no unfrozen enemies in the direction you're charging or you'll hit them and die, and you also have to be careful about knocking enemies up onto platforms where other unfrozen enemies are. Requires you to put a bit of thought into the order you do things.
General Gripes:
Also, it might seem trivial, but it's something I feel was missing: a victory prompt. After I beat the first level I was like "...did the game break? ... OH, ok, next level, I guess."
Deal Breakers:
- I think there needs to be more gravity or maybe just more solid (pun intended) platform collision. It feels weird walking into a gap and then popping back up on the next platform. This also makes it kinda hard to get back down from a platform when there's only a tiny gap to go through; consider adding down+x jumping ability.
- Sometimes after you knock an enemy into the air and miss catching them, you can't knock them into the air anymore; you just go right through them, and sometimes die.
- I mean I know it's a Ludum Dare entry, but collision doesn't work consistently, and sometimes jumping doesn't get you to your full jump height. I understand completely how hard creating a good platforming character controller can be though; I've done it myself, and it took MONTHS, so you're kinda excused on that front. Having this kind of thing already coded up before the competition starts can be a big help, though.
- When I get hit and turn invisible forever... UGGGGGHHHHH!
Closing Comments:
The bugs kinda render it unplayable for me.
People on this page keep calling it polished and stuff, but I feel like their idea of polished is quite different than mine.
I mean the art and music are good, yeah, but, imo the mechanics and collision need a lot of work.
And it's probably more important to spend time on that before spiffing it up art-wise, especially as a one man team.
Although, I do get that some people draw more inspiration and drive from creating art rather than spending time coding, and maybe that was a factor.
Just, in the future, keep in mind that spending a little extra time squashing bugs can go a long way in improving the user experience.