Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → AaronYip
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Cm | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 26 | Minimalism | This is not a game. | jam | 192 | 3.33 | 1.83 | 3.77 | 2.55 | 3.36 | 3.22 | 1.71 | 3.79 | 79 | ||
| 2012 | 25 | You are the Villain | Demoman for Democracy | compo | 465 | 2.80 | 2.77 | 2.32 | 2.54 | 3.03 | 2.52 | 2.48 | 47 | |||
| 2012 | 24 | Evolution | The Evolution of Flight | compo | 97 | 3.55 | 3.45 | 3.05 | 3.26 | 3.29 | 2.42 | 2.69 | 2.93 | 73 | ||
| 2011 | 21 | Escape | Left Again | compo | 81 | 3.42 | 3.25 | 3.22 | 2.65 | 2.92 | 1.13 | 3.19 | 2.00 | 1 |
Thanks for the feedback, kavs!
The resetting was intentional. Being on the timers steamed out more zombies, which loses a bit of its effect in small doses. However, I do agree with you--accidentally resetting them is frustrating. I couldn't think up a quick fix though. :(
Thanks for all the feedback, guys! :D
@Rudy and demonpants,
I definitely agree, the strategy aspect is lacking. I was hoping that kiting/upgrade choices were going to be more meaningful, but I was too focused on adding content and the balance suffered. In hindsight, I should have focused a lot more on tactical encounters. Thanks for the criticism, guys :)
Cambrian_Man,
Definitely, man. In retrospect, my biggest folly was not designing towards "meaningful" choices and agency. Doing things didn't have as much impact, didn't feel as awesome as I hoped. I got caught up in the rush of my first Dare and pushed for getting the mechanics out early. After that, I found myself with a surprising amount of time left; I used the rest of my time by creating way too much content instead of really digging in to polish gameplay and design the game towards specific "fun" scenarios (like boss battles, radically different enemies, upgrades that changed units' gameplay). Next Dare, I'll be more prepared. >:D
Again, everybody, thanks for all the feedback! I'm learning a lot from this Dare because of all these comments, and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to talk about what you liked and what you felt could be better. It really means a lot to me. :)
Aside from the aforementioned not original music,
++ creative gameplay concept
++ great use of red squares (who are also trying to escape?)
-- UI could look prettier and more integrated with the game's graphics
-- the music loop was jarring
-- steep learning curve
Also: Why do bubbles emit gravity fields? :P
Everybody else covered all the highlights I would have said, lol, so I'll try to give more feedback.
The fireball battles were definitely the sweet spot. :) I found myself hoping for more abilities and design centered around that mechanic (wind buffers, teleports, stuns?), maybe at the cost of skipping one of the earlier melee evolutions or somehow adopting procedurally generated sprites (ala Bubble Tanks). Deaths came pretty quickly though, and I seldom knew what hit me. :( Then again I may just be terrible at this, lol.
I disagree with you that "the game concept has quite limited potential" :P I can totally see a free-for-all DotA/LoL-esque battles with this system. Different evolution paths determined by how you play and earned by successfully killing other players and "farming" trees. Add in regenerating health, running away, stuns, and it'll still be an awesome gaming metaphor of natural selection. ;) Make it happen, man. :D
I applaud your ambition, but perhaps too many features (and the pretty extensive control panel to operate them) ultimately didn't quite work out for the better. Because there's over a thousand games to play, players can only afford to spend a few minutes on most games--or only a few seconds if controls don't make sense. Good games try to make that count: the few minutes isn't spent reading up on controls or features and instead spent diving in and having fun.
I would have really enjoyed a version of your game simplified to just robots and only constructing buildings (just 5 buttons on screen, one for each building, no other controls except a mouse click). Everything else--where the building gets built, creating/equipping/moving robots, etc--happens automatically. I liked your idea and it has a lot of potential to be really cool, but atm I'm unfortunately not really sure what to do or how to do it...
Really enjoyed watching the level change and I definitely liked the concept a lot. I think some pretty interesting gameplay can grow out of the idea if you developed it further: the level automatically moves, you have more control over the level (rather than just press switches), or even an ambitious combination of those so you're battling a level that "evolves" to keep you trapped. I think you have a lot of potential :D
@raarlac, I'm a bit confused why you compared it to a jam game, but I do agree that it's a stellar comp game. :) Nice work and very fun, mdkess.
Thanks for the kind words, guys!
@Mesene, it's a bit of a mess and far far far from optimized, haha, and if you need any help sorting through it, I'll be glad to answer questions. :)
Again, thanks for all the feedback, guys! I'm glad you had some fun :D
@mdkess
To dodge the double attack, I've been going right then left (or vice versa depending on his position), cutting between bullets with the glider. For other ships, circling around the boss is possibly an option--though I agree, not all ships might have been agile enough to do that.
@johnfn, that was the feeling I was going for. :)
@Walt,
I agree with you and Cracky that the ships and the difficulty curve could have been adjusted more. Haha, I actually designed levels to be annoying for the earlier ships: after a few levels, aliens appeared vertically to target the glider's inability to dodge horizontal bullets while rewarding the zeppelin's vertical mobility; then sneaky aliens were sent in from the back as an attempt to get at the zeppelin's weak spot. The first plane fares pretty well against all aliens since it naturally dodges bullets, but the boss fight's barrages were meant to keep it from winning. And finally, the last plane returns to typical WASD controls and lets you quickly breeze through everything. :)
@hamster_mk_4: Maybe we're just both deep people then, lol, because that was what I was going for. :) Great point about the cursor.
@Pierrec: Wonderful insight about the first upgrade cost. I was puzzling over that problem for a while, and I never considered just reducing the cost. Haha, thanks! And yup, I totally regret not doing a double take over the colrs of the death particles. I really appreciate the helpful feedback :)
Impressive amount of content for only 5 hours. I think a kicking animation would have helped quite a bit, and perhaps a simple twist to the gameplay might have been to include "scientists" coming from the right side that you have to keep from seeing the creatures. And if you hard more time, something inspired by TDs could have been really interesting.
How I get through the unmotivated phase is to just start doing something. Basic infrastructure like cutscenes, save systems, title screen, a dialogue system, upgrades, etc can apply to most ideas. I think a lot better while I'm working so I've found that just getting the groundwork sorted out helps me in many ways at the beginning. Best of luck with your future projects :)
I would have really appreciated a better sense of progression and goals--maybe as simple as the background changing, cut down on transitional screens (that don't really have a purpose except to make the world bigger), or even a minimap. Something that promises exciting rewards are just around the bend.
After a while, I just didn't feel like wandering anymore (and having to release the arrow key with every screen) and stopped playing. From the other comments, it seems that I sadly missed out on many more interesting gameplay mechanics. :(
Wow. There's a lot to commend on this game, but I feel the level design (especially the bridge!) and amazing aural buildup behoove special mentions.
I like the flames. (: The UI is a great touch and much needed with so many controls and actions. But still it was too much to take in for me. :( I just ended up falling a lot and just throwing javelins. If you had the time to gradually adjust players into it or game options (only needing s&s for the first play through, then adding axes next, etc), that would have helped a lot.
I really can't explain why this was so fun!
Thanks for all the feedback! Some of these points are splendidly enlightening--like SimianLogic's hint that "killing" civilians need to be emphasized during play. Haha, I sure could have used a second pair of eyes a couple of hours before the deadline--but I really, really appreciate you guys taking the time to type out pointers now. (:
Woo! Everybody's happy. :D Charming game, agreed.
Wowzers, fantastic atmosphere.
I'm playing via touchpad, so most games are usually harder; but after a while, I found out that not trying was giving me more points, hehe. Maybe a simple combo system (x1, x2, x3) for not letting things by would be an easy addition, and an initial screen that had all the items under a EXCESSIVE = BAD and MINIMAL = GOOD labels could really help anybody outside the jam to understand the game. (:
Charming style:
sweet soundtrack, frantic gameplay.
Filled with win.
Nice concept, and solid work. I think the sense of 'unresponsiveness' might come from the grid-locked movement vs not moving a whole grid space. I'd love to try a version slightly a bit more like the retro snake, but with all your cool additions (multiplayer AI, waves spawning). :D
The simplicity is almost artistic, I would say. There's a strong postmodern feel to it, as suggest by the violet square background, the simple ant. The title supports this perspective--the explicit "RPG" label without any traditional gameplay elements associated with RPGs. It's asking: What is the RPG? What are RPG elements? And that's a very fitting question for the current industry climate; almost all modern games have taken to leveling aspects and there's even the gamification of not-gaming apps, challenging that either all of these ideas are RPGs or that maybe RPGs must involve other elements--but what? And that's just one side to this game; the purple square casts obvious allusions to Kazimir Malevich's famous Black Square on a White Ground. It states bluntly and plainly: "This is whatever you want it to be. The message is of the viewers'."
So, yeah, not sure that something of that depth quite fits the theme though. :/
Whoa, the complexity behind this game is staggering. Exceptional work for 72 hours. Really digging the overall concept, and like the others, haha, no idea what's going on--but I would really want to. I can definitely see myself playing a version of this way too much. That's another strong vote for a post-comp ;D
Wow, very ambitious and quite an impressive feat of timing. I'm sure you had a lot of fun this LD, hehe. (: Axis especially showed off a talent for making fun simple games.
Wowzers, this game is gorgeous, and really charming. Definitely has my pick of favorite game so far. :D
I agree with everyone else: loads of potential, definitely liking where this game seems to be going. "More, more!" is the best feedback for a game, haha. Keep developing it! Add high scores, add more levels that explore some more mechanics, add in audio, and post a post-jam version. :D
The concept is a smart take on the theme. (: Nice work if you did this in a short amount of time!
This was fantastic. :D Not sure whether my soldiers crouching did anything, but I can definitely see myself playing this way too much, with just a few more systems to mix things up.
Uhhhhh. Uhhhh, ummmm. Uhhhhhh. Ummmmm, mmmmmmm. Uh?
I've never played a game in such a tiny window. It has a very claustrophobic/on edge effect, as visibleatom mentioned, which is pretty interesting. It looks great this small though. (: Simple and polished, like it a lot.
Clever concept. (:
Loving the concept :D
I would definitely look forward to the polished version, as I'm liking this quite a bit. (: I think a more hand-written font (like a letter) could really add a lot to the mood. But regardless, great job!
Very, very cool use of real world concepts! I googled triage after reading the instructions, wow. Heavy stuff. I also definitely liked the game mechanics! Simple, and the effect of losing a life is portrayed pretty powerfully.
Wonderful concept! (:
Unity first loaded to a screen that flickered and looked cut up/broken, then refreshing the page loaded it better. The backgrounds seem spliced together and then eventually run out to a blue screen... not sure whether this was intentional or just me. :\
I love games about speed, and this both captures that well and then pivots the game's difficulty/challenge flow around it. Very, very smart design. I especially like how the level has such a grand sense of openness--I thought, hey I could totally cheat by sneaking off to the sides. Nope. Well done! (:
Great use of simplicity, and the concept is pretty fun. Like others have mentioned, I also felt that some elements were on the harsher side. A softer palette (http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/search?query=horror) would have added more mood and been easier on the eyes. The enemies were a bit too random for me; I lost any sense of strategy/control since I didn't feel that I could avoid them besides luck. Maybe an interesting spin to this game would be monsters attacking you in the dark, but you see where they're going to in the light (arrows/faces/slight movement)?
But regardless, nice job and a big congrats on your (first?) completed game. :D
This is a lot more fun than the original, haha. Great job, especially for your first dare! (:
Slowing down time as a way to denote progress is really creative, and maybe not as fun in practice. It messed with my mental mapping of the game space, so I felt disconnected from the game (not in control) after the time distortions. I actually restarted the game twice, so I could only play the beginning parts--which were really fun! I would love a version of this game (radial pong), without the narrative as neat as it is, on my iPhone in a folder next to Super Hexagon.
Super happy to find this gem when I finally get the chance to sit down with your game. I definitely like the aesthetic, awesome concept, and thought the pacing clocks (timer, stairs) were great touches. Very cool entry, and wonderful job! (:
This has some wicked cool graphics and audio, but like the others, I'll probably refrain from playing it without Xbox controller. :(
Wowzers, is this game polished! I agree with many others that my fun was the willy-nilly destruction. My dream level would actually be to destroy all the destructible blocks instead, and thus having to plan routes beforehand. 6:< And I found myself longing for the classical Mario soundtracks as I was playing, hehe, as nice as the lazery audio aesthetic for this was--maybe consider a child of the two? (:
Simple and clever. I think adding a "head" would have helped me; I figured out that I flipped, but I wasn't sure which way.
Well, poop, this is amazing and everything else others have already mentioned. I second the notion for using WASD for one ship and arrows for the other. That could have allowed for more aggressive enemies and generally, more over-the-top action (ala the The Expendables). Anyways, fantastic work. When people start saying this isn't good enough because your former entries are better--that's pretty ridiculous, haha. 6:
The rules looked intriguing enough for me to wish that I had someone to play with. Seems to come with the territory of multiplayer games. :( Please make a post-comp version with a simple AI? :3
This made me grin ridiculously the whole time. (: I originally thought the target was the moon for some reason, then just kept trying to bounce off the moon into the hole. Then I found out that you can pilot it... lol.
Motion trails should definitely have a mention in the features! The game felt very polished, and I had a couple of "wow, sweet!" moments watching a ball sweep in via the magic of the pushers. My only addition would be to perhaps buffer the edges (so I could always click past the balls), or an option to reset the balls to their original positions--but maybe that really me just being bad at the game and always getting stuck on corners, haha. Great job!
@nintendoeats: Mostly I just want to ask players: what if your actions are irreversible and permanently affect something somewhere? There's lots of psychological, and many very real neurochemical, reactions, at play when a person's gaming--and I'm interested in the conflict that happens when reality breaches into that sacred play space. Regarding MW2, I think most gamers like to experiment with the borders of what's possible via their interactions; that's what gaming is: learning new rules and seeing what's possible through them, but MW2's civilians is an unfortunate case representing that. I would love to discuss that more with you. (: Feel free to email me at aaronyyip(at)gmail.com!
At everybody else, thanks for the support and understanding! :D You being speechless will probably be the best compliment I get for this not-game.
@playvue The database stores three int variables, all of which are only use to calculate/display on the final screen. It's to create permanency to your actions, as well as seeing how others have reacted in the situation you were just a part of. Outside of the context of this game, the data won't be used. Maybe I should have clarified that.
The tech for this game is really impressive. (: Not sure whether this was intended, but my crashes with the green planet has all resulted in my ant flying off into space, drifting, drifting, drifting, until I press R.
Haha, the painting effects were a very creative touch! I definitely appreciate it more than enough to say that we should be a bit more lenient on the rules for special situations like this, since having an actual painting is a big part of this game's narrative and doesn't really do so for unfair advantages. (:
Wow, this is really cool. I might have to borrow an OR from friends. :D The large amounts of negative space had a weird psychological effect on me too--not really sure, claustrophobia isn't quite right--that made the game feel more "trippy" than it probably was intended. The audio's especially great--the voice over made me smile. (:
I usually can't play games without well-established controls/mapping of the game world, but I really liked this piece. Nice work, guys!
Ahaha, Rift development sounds really fun. I definitely hope VR takes off in a serious way, so there's more support and designers/developers asking questions and looking for answers. (:
Auraline made much more sense to me when I started pretending that I was a knight, ha! Trying to challenge natural laws is always really difficult to make feel right--people always are going to push back against it, by the nature of the game. Going too far or too brutishly can violate the player experience entirely, and going too little defeats the point. It's tough stuff to balance. In a way, Portal is a really successful example (as well as for many other game design principles) and not too many of those types of games can say the same. But I'm glad that you guys pulled it off! And made a great Rift game, if the testers' reactions can speak for themselves ;D