Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Kyle Bolton
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 26 | Minimalism | Mondrian | compo | 491 | 3.23 | 3.09 | 3.49 | 4.06 | 2.94 | 2.33 | 2.21 | 3.12 | 61 |
I like this entry, but I'll agree with the others and say that this is a bit challenging (this could be me, as I tend to struggle with this genre). On easy, maybe the AI should occasionally make bad moves?
Excellent presentation!
I initially had trouble understanding the goal, but once I saw the stars disappearing I caught on. I really liked this! It had great aesthetic, good audio feedback and really challenging puzzles!
This is great! It's appeals to my OCD traits much in the same way that Katamari does, though instead of rolling everything up I want to try to minimize everything.
The only thing I would look into is the somewhat wonky camera controls. If I right click and hold, and then move my mouse outside of the game's viewport, I'll be able to move the camera around regardless of whether or not I'm holding the right mouse button down.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed it!
I really liked the graphic design and game mechanic. Very addictive. I saw that you've been improving the responsiveness of the controls, but I still think it could be improved a bit. There were a couple of instances where I felt like blaming the game for my loss, because the line didn't change directions until it was too late.
Aside from that, great work!
I really liked how you changed the rules of the game as I progressed. Not being able to move left really opened the game up for me. Strategizing a platformer by limiting the player's resources is quite clever.
My only criticisms would be the lack of ascent control, and I wish I had more time to prepare my first jump during the auto running levels.
Great job!
I'm really impressed with how well the game runs at Level 10. Very well optimized. I also really liked the very frantic gameplay. If anything, I wish I could have a HUD that shows my current score. Good job!
I really liked this one. The Portal-esque narrative kept me going until the end. I think not putting in dangerous hazards was a smart decision. At first I was worried I was going to have to be on the look out for pits or traps, and was very happy that the game never went in that direction.
Your game looks super slick, but unfortunately I wasn't able to rate it (I'm on a Mac). I was a little disappointed that the Web link took me to a Youtube video...because I really want to play this! Maybe consider changing the name of the web link to "Youtube" or "Video?"
@dualtagh Thanks! I agree, but I haven't worked with mobile platforms yet...porting this might be a good way to dip my feet in.
@toinic Thanks for the feedback! Any specific recommendations for control refinement?
@iiechapman Thanks for the suggestion!
@ananasblau: I originally set out to avoid using keyboard input, as I wanted a "one-button" input scheme that matched with the minimalist theme. In hindsight, I probably should have been more prepared to deviate from the theme, because I didn't take into account people that only had a trackpad or preferred using the keyboard. Thanks!
@Ludipe I originally planned to implement inverted controls, but decided to cut it and submit the game. Next time...
@pereubu Yeah, my biggest concern is that I'm reaching for a low hanging fruit with this. Thanks for the feedback!
I'm not sure how I feel about shooting from the top of the player's sprite. I know you said this was intentional, but it made aiming more difficult than it needed to be. The meditation mechanic is what defines this game. Really like the risk-versus-reward system you put in place.
Thought the boss battle was pretty intense. Couldn't defeat him, but it was definitely the highlight of my experience.
That being said, I'm not sure how this fits in with the minimalist theme. Nevertheless, nice work!
I feel like the player character is a little too slippery. The control scheme itself is serviceable, I just feel like the character should accelerate and decelerate faster. Doing that would tighten up the controls immensely and make the game feel much more responsive. I gave up on the level where you had yellow trampolines at the bottom of pits lined with spikes, because I felt like I couldn't prevent my character from flying into a wall.
Aside from that, I feel like you taught the player the mechanics of the game well. New mechanics were introduced at a steady pace, which kept me interested in playing. Good job!
I agree with those praising the color palette. Walking around the environment was really pleasant. Sort of felt like PS1-era exploration games such as King's Quest or LSD: Dream Emulator.
The one thing I failed to grasp was the combat system. I feel like there's something very specific going on that I'm missing. Perhaps consider giving a bit of help for the player the first time they enter a battle?
Once I got a hang of the interface, I really started getting into it. I like the puzzle-focused use of elemental systems.
Couple of thoughts:
I feel that the color of the monsters should indicate both what it absorbs and what it can be damaged by. I get the sense that the color of the sprite currently communicates what it can be damaged by (when I was playing, for example, all red enemies were hurt by fire). Maybe a future iteration could color code the eyes to hint at what it absorbs?
I also wish I could use the mouse to preview the stats of an enemy. Using Q and E works okay, but sometimes it took longer to find the stats of a specific enemy quickly.
Aside from that, I liked it! Good job!
I really like the idea behind this game. Very artistic and relaxing. The only thing that put me off a bit was the constant fading in and out. I get why it was there, but it didn't feel like it was occurring at a constant rate. Sometimes I would see my lines draw before the fade out completed, whereas other times the line would draw once the screen was completely black.
Great job though!
Really liked the use of Metroid-style backtracking at the beginning. Very effective means of teaching me what the green blocks do. Really liked your use of minimal lighting to indicate where I should aim myself.
Maddeningly difficult in a very good way, though I do agree with the sentiment that checkpoints would have been helpful. I would have definitely played it to completion with them!
Art and audio are very nice. I had trouble remembering which units beat which, but that might just be me.