Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → blindfox
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 30 | Connected Worlds | Get Physical | jam | 200 | 3.48 | 3.35 | 3.59 | 2.47 | 2.78 | 3.46 | 2.11 | 3.35 | 77 |
The idea is nice, but the UI feels cluttered and the lack of audio makes the whole thing feel off. Try adding some kind of ambiance, maybe a few sound effects here and there and I'm sure it'll play much better!
I think the controls need a bit of work, as they're pretty unwieldy, and the jump mechanic is, as others have mentioned, a little bit too easy to spam - typically resulting in silly deaths. Also, I think the blue spikes are a little bit overloaded with features, since it seems as if they a slight knockback (maybe I'm imagining it), kill you, and also appear to stun you. I'd recommend splitting it up a bit and just introducing more spikes instead of having so much packed into one color spike.
Ignoring all that, it's a pretty nice game. The music and graphics go pretty well together, resulting in a pretty nice atmosphere. The idea is cool and I think the game has potential.
Really enjoy the premise. It is a little bit difficult to understand at first, but, if I'm not mistaken, at its core this is a kind of memory game? If that is so it could definitely benefit from having a timed aspect to it.
Movement is very fun, but escaping enemy fire is pretty much impossible because of how fast you move. Overall pretty frantic and fun game. I especially like the main menu.
I love the idea, and it was definitely executed very well. I'm not particularly great at puzzles, but these were paced well enough to make solving them fun!
Very cool game. Like the double crosshair idea, as it adds a sense of depth perception. Good throwback to the nineties. Theme was hinted at but not fully realized, but it didn't detract from the fun. A more difficult mode would be welcome. Can't give six stars because of no barrel roll.
Biggest fault right now is the lack of audio for me. Otherwise the art direction is very good, and I didn't mind the lack of theme right now because I can see the direction it is heading. Runs very smooth. Stick with this in the long term and I can definitely see something great coming out of it. :D
This game is great. It's super polished, smooth to play and aesthetically pleasing. The only fuss I had was that, when you died, you had to start from the title screen!
I like the game even though it's a pain to master the controls. The art is also nice, and I like the music. All in all, it's a wonderful and simple idea! Keep adding more to it, though.
Very good entry. There is extreme polish that is obvious when you start it up and the game handles tightly once you get used to it. A lot like Mario Kart on the SNES from an overhead view. Good track design as well. The theme is unfortunately not that strong, though. Overall a very good job and awesome art assets.
Just switch to a different browser like Firefox and it should work fine.
What a cool idea with the languages. My only complaint is that the text on planets usually just seems like gibberish and is preventing systems from seeming truly cohesive. I understand that that isn't the point, though.
The mechanic to this game is just awesome! Animation is fab, artwork is fab. I was so into it, and I actually felt sad when I saw how short this version was! I'll be anxiously waiting for an extended release!
Graphics are minimalistic but still appealing to the eye. The lack of audio is a bit of a shame but it doesn't necessarily detract from the gameplay. Overall, I think the biggest problem is that the game does not have a phase without combat (that I could distinguish). I remember a Midway game by the name of Rampart that this kind of reminds me of, but one of the best parts about it was the frantic non-combat timed strategy phases. This game could benefit from that, as it isn't really fun to be bombed while at the same time having to learn the game on the fly while the AI doesn't have the same crutch.
Yeah, it isn't that I don't think idle games are a fascinating concept, it is just that once you have played one, you have really played them all. Not a bad implementation, but this relates to the theme in only the most vague respect and I feel like it is unoriginal when we have games like Cookie Clicker. I'd be willing to forgive a lack of unoriginality for an adventure game, but it just comes off as a bit cheap when it is an idle game.
What a neat little game. I don't think I have ever seen this idea implemented quite like this. Of course many this jam have used the "change level lay out by toggling objects" but using previous levels is kind of inspired. I like it a lot, though the sound and control could use a bit of work. Also, an overlay option for displaying a platform before it is used could help for later levels when you have a lot of options. Wasn't expecting much out of this but was very surprised, honestly. Stick with this idea because it is pretty unique as far as I can tell. Also, well done on the humor. Very well written and not cringe inducing at all like some of what I have seen.
This game is freaking adorable.
Starring the universe's most confused solar system.
This idea is super interesting. You may not have had time to flesh it out, but keep working with this, please. Never seen an experience like this before that allows others to influence your decisions.
Very stylish and atmospheric. Minor gripes include having to jump up stairs and an attack animation that is a bit ambiguous, but as an experience it was polished and refreshing. Level design was very good, although enemy AI suffers a bit when you are above them and the level is separating them in the player (they won't pursue the player if they are above or below them unless the player kits them on one level). Love the aesthetic and the very subtle lighting around the facility areas. Jagged borders in the pocket dimension were a nice touch. Overall one of the best I have experienced even if it is not that difficult right now.
*starting the game* "Hey... You aren't a real person!"
Aside from the sometimes cringe worthy voice, this game is actually extremely pretty and has a surprising number of features. Lowering the rate of hunger and thirst would be welcome, though that is a personal complaint. Also, I have an issue with every first person game I have played in Unity where my sensitivity is off the charts. Don't know if this is my problem so I didn't detract based on that. Good job.
The idea is nice, but the controls feel a little awkward. I'd like to keep my hands on WSAD at all times, but I have to move them to shift gravity.
Very cool idea. A lot of people may disagree, but I find the use of the theme to be very smart and original. My only real complaint is that an audio cue to know when you have switched partners would be nice and the background music itself can get a little grating after the fifth loop. Overall a great job.
Although the controls feel awkward at first, it's clear to see how they add to the challenge, and a few levels of practice make the thinking shift from the controls to the puzzles themselves. Nice game!
Overall it is pretty simplistic but fun. The UI elements look pretty professional and the game handles tightly, but the level design (for the single level) is really lacking. The lack of music really causes the thin sound effects to stand out. Ultimately my main problem with this is that in the single level that we are given there are some objects that seem unattainable (at least within the span of two lives, as some are suicide). Rules like "use walls and ceilings to reach dots" aren't explained at all.
It would have been better to have instruction in game, but once I understood the rules I really like it. Very fun and unique. Some more hazards would be nice. :p Also I like what you did with the "connected" theme.
I like the concept however I am a bit confused by the scoring system. It would go up extremely fast as long as I was strafing (even with no panels in range yet). Movement is super slippery and it takes time to know what colors map to what keys but other than that it is fine.
Overall pretty nice. Had some issues with slopes, which I saw someone else mentioned, but otherwise it was pretty solid.
Not bad overall, but movement was really sluggish and looking around was way too responsive. The level design is not bad, though it isn't particularly challenging. Good proof of concept here, but my personal recommendation would be taking away the pistol and replacing it with a different item. Having a pistol doesn't make too much sense when it changes the whole room.
Wow, thanks for the feedback!
Having different themed levels was a plan of ours, but as with every jam, time ran out and we had to go with just one theme. We plan to keep working on the game, and we'll make sure to put in different themes.
Again, thanks for your time.
rooter4: Thanks! More sound effects and perhaps adding some percussion to the end credits music is a fairly high priority here right now. We also plan to try adding procedural sound generation (similar to the pings you hear in-game) that is based on object collision!
everystone: Oh boy, I remember Cube. I may go back and watch that again and pound out some levels based around some of the traps once we get some more complex mechanics implemented. At this point it is pretty easy for the whole team to design and implement new levels, so theoretically we could be creating large handfuls of levels each day and having them tested and added to the game weekly. As for the physics affected objects, we also have plans to make that a much bigger part of level design (similar to what you would have seen in the final stage but to a greater degree, if that is what you liked). Thank you for the feedback!
Thanks! We came up with as a spur-of-the-moment idea and it just stuck.
radmars: Thanks for the feedback! We're working on different level themes that might incorporate different strengths of gravity. Also, simply press space to reset the level!
Skyfish: We will continue to work on balancing the difficulty of early levels in the future. We have received some pretty mixed results from testing. On the one hand, I find the fourth level to be difficult though not impossible after a several attempts once the rotations of obstacles is considered. One of our designers, however, was able to beat the level in 3 moves on the first try and continued to be consistently good at it. Finally, I know of at least one other person who had the same difficulty with this level as you did. Ultimately we will most likely place a few levels in between the fourth and third stages so that players become more familiar with the physics of the game. Thank you for the feedback!
Squidtank: Thanks for the feedback! To be clear, your number of "shifts" will change every time you press WASD or the arrow keys. This will alter gravity for the player and some objects that we allow. We are interested, however, in possibly providing some consequences later on for high velocity impacts.
Razoric: Thank you so much for taking time to play our game!
Budaniel: Right now I think we are seriously considering placing some levels in between the ones we included here to introduce concepts like the gravity fields slowly so that players can get used to their strength. We tested this game to death, so we are quite used to the levels we made, however we are noticing that players are having some difficulty. It is possible that this could be resolved if there was more time for attempts and players weren't trying to play as many games as possible, but that is, after all, the point of a jam like this. As for the goals, we are actually a bit torn as a team on those. They were one of the first things we implemented and hold a special place in the hearts of a few of us on the team, if you will. Of course, if the response to them is negative we will probably come up with an alternative. Thank you very much for your feedback!
Robber: An idea being tossed around between the team is prodedural music based on player collision with objects. We feel like that is the direction we want to go thematically rather than explosions. We DO want people to know that we understand an audio cue for impacts with objects is something we are planning (outside of the jam, of course, along with all other gameplay facets we are discussing). After all, in space, nobody can hear you collide with solid objects. Or scream in frustration at difficult levels.
Ramori: We have got this several times already, unfortunately. One of our primary goals was to demonstrate several different hazards and obstacles while at the same time showing how these would potentially scale on harder levels that we will be designing in the future. We probably overestimated the strength of the learning curve since we constantly tested these levels for a couple days. Our solution will most likely be to add levels in between that slowly ease the player into handling each problem rather than reworking the problem levels (we tested each one to make sure it was possible to complete and had a general strategy that always worked when executed properly), however if problems persist then we won't be opposed to just removing those levels entirely and replacing them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. :)
SilverToda: Thank you so much! :D
SwiftIllusion: I think everyone on the team can die happy knowing that someone made it to the credits. We were all pretty proud of it. :')
We are so glad that some are enjoying the game so much! Thanks a lot for taking the time to provide your opinion! :D
Also, we apologize in advance for any typos that sneak there way through between commenting and trying out games that others made. The lack of an ability to reply, edit, or delete posts is a little frustrating (this is our first LD), but we are enjoying every part of it (especially hearing player feedback) nonetheless!
Toubib: We're planning on adding more padding levels between the difficult ones. This way, we can slowly introduce the player to new mechanics and lower the learning curve. We just got excited and wanted to implement all the mechanics for the jam!
Handkor: Did you run the game in 16:9? In any other ratio, parts of the screen get cut off.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to try out our game! Glad you all enjoyed it.
barryrowe: Thanks! I'm glad you stuck it out to the end!
rnlf: Sorry about that, I've fixed that discrepancy. We're working on porting right now, and have more native versions soon.
Thanks for playing, guys and girls. :D
So uncommon to see a business sim in this short of a time period. Very impressed, and it looks great as well.