FoonLudum Dare ExplorerUsers → PopDaddyGames

PopDaddyGames

Games

YearLDThemeGameDivisionRankOvFuInThGrAuHuMo
202557Depths👥Leviathanjam4503.543.412.603.953.482.351.983.03
202148Deeper and deeperloading...jam7483.612.793.533.534.034.122.614.45
202047Stuck in a loopChippertonjam2603.923.453.393.194.133.364.15
201945Start with nothingFireFlytejam3.004.50
201944Your life is currencyGEMiNiD S484jam7333.263.343.143.143.743.112.882.79
201843Sacrifices must be madeBirds in Spacejam3833.573.393.182.864.093.682.413.60
201842Running out of spaceHalcyon Woodsjam11692.732.192.412.072.863.291.803.32

Performance over time

overall score (left axis) percentile (right axis)

Scatterplots

Fun vs Overall

Innovation vs Overall

Theme vs Overall

Graphics vs Overall

Audio vs Overall

Humor vs Overall

Mood vs Overall

Comments by PopDaddyGames

LD42 — Running out of space

Raiders of the Lost Beer by sawtan 2018-08-14T17:02:36Z

I love the machine gun! :)

Wackages by bram_ve 2018-08-14T05:22:42Z

This is a super neat concept-- and it matches the theme quite well! :)

Robotron's Inventory Quest by AlucardX60 2018-08-15T05:45:57Z

Ro... bo.. TRON! :)

Dyson's Fear by zeta0134 2018-08-14T05:26:19Z

Wow! This is crazy! :D

The TV Install Man by doomshmuck 2018-08-14T02:45:49Z

Links!

CryptoCult by Dyn 2018-08-14T17:04:58Z

CRYPTO-- IT'S THE FUTURE!

Awesome work! :D

42_GetOut by elZach 2018-08-14T17:10:16Z

This one is awesome!! The sound is phenomenal, and it it's got a great exciting atmosphere! :)

Swirling Infestation by Coda Highland 2018-08-14T03:11:46Z

Good luck on the rating during this jam session! :)

WetFeet by kruemelkeksfan 2018-08-14T02:44:33Z

I already love the theme!

Mystical Intrusion by yojammerjammer 2018-08-14T03:16:45Z

'Protagonistville'-- that's a really awesome name for a town.. haha! :)

Roboss by Doc ill 2018-08-15T05:46:36Z

I love the work- great job! Also... RO... BOSS!!!

Scape Espace by Belonzik 2018-08-14T17:05:28Z

I really love the simple art aesthetic and color palette!

SpaceIO by Tornquist 2018-08-15T05:40:00Z

Good luck with the Apple approval- I hope it goes quick. Awesome work! :)

Crushy by Balduvian Dead 2018-08-15T05:45:42Z

Excellent looks! Great effort- keep it up in the upcoming jams! :)

We Haul by Swordfish 2018-08-15T05:40:40Z

You obviously put a lot of effort into this- amazing work! :)

*N*X warriors by Stepan Shabalin 2018-08-15T05:42:33Z

A few bugs here and there-- but you obviously put forth an amazing effort! :)

VCR STAR by erebus 2018-08-14T03:12:45Z

The fact that you included cheat codes is a real treat, and an excellent throw back to the days of yore in gaming! :)

Balloon Critter by RedHermit 2018-08-14T03:16:15Z

I'm glad to see you tackled your first Jam! Awseome effort and good luck during the voting here!

I hope you take what you've learned over the course of this Jam and join us for the next one-- making something even bigger, better, and badder the next time! :)

Shrinking Bubbles by StJester 2018-08-14T17:01:39Z

I really love your drawing style- very felt marker cartoony! :)

Meteor Shower by beanslasher 2018-08-14T05:25:20Z

Make sure you expand on your progress after the jam! You can square away all the little things you couldn't wrap up on time, and really polish the heck out of your little gem! :)

Space Taters by Jan 2018-08-14T02:45:14Z

That's awesome that you used Java! :)

Delete After Reading by AndrewW 2018-08-14T02:44:13Z

Great work! I would really love to see you continue some of this...

Collapsing Mines of LUMDOOM by Gus the Shark 2018-08-14T03:10:22Z

I really freaking love this! This very much reminds me of some of the Dungeon Keeper mechancis form old. Your visual aesthetic is super strong, the sound has some of that great crunchy effect from old games, and the tension is super high when the walls start encroaching! Excellent work here! :)

A Sinking Feeling by Beard or Die 2018-08-14T03:12:06Z

I agree-- always get the download!

Fuoco and Tenebra by Optimans 2018-08-14T17:03:44Z

I love the spooky nature and art-- also good job on capturing the feeling of Dont Starve! :)

Sky Dare by zchangvx 2018-08-14T03:13:00Z

I love the fact that you chose to use an Owl for this Jam! :)

No Vacancy by Arbosis 2018-08-14T03:03:11Z

This concept is so 100% accurate to the theme-- I love it! :D

Planet 'O' by Nehal 2018-08-14T02:46:29Z

Awesome work! I love the visual aesthetic that you went with here. It looks like you put in a tremendous effort! :)

Carter's Crates by Diego Escalante 2018-08-15T05:43:15Z

Incredible design, excellent difficulty, and obviusly amazingly well crafted! You made a real gem here! :)

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T00:39:46Z

Hello Commenters! Thanks for playing! I addressed your concerns about Graphics and Votes in the main post. Thanks for helping to keep the Ludum community honest, positive, and awesome! :)

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T02:48:38Z

Thanks for the comments! I made a last minute decision to bump down all the physics and mechanic stats-- IE I made the player slower, carrying a log slows you down more, the jump is lower, you can't throw the logs as far, and it takes more strikes to break apart trees.

Based on this feedback, I think it would be best for me to roll back those stats to where I had them during development and testing: I let the player move way faster, jump way more smoothly, and have fun shooting logs all over the map!

I'll get an update posted first thing in the morning that has these changes rolled back.

Thanks for playing, and I hope you come back to see it with the update in the morning! :)

-James

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T02:59:23Z

@Jlv I really appreciate your feedback! My wife worked tremendously hard on the game world and layout. We opted not to design the assets ourselves for this particular jam because we really wanted to work on learning some of the other tools. We didn't have any prior experience with the Terrain tool in Unity- of which she started learning approximately 6 hours into the Jam. It was a phenomenal experience, and I can't wait to take what we learned from that into the next Jam!

What's really cool about the Terrain tool is how you can fine tune all of the details of the trees, grass, and other landscape elements (including the texture painting) to the point where it can really feel like a real world. We've had issues in previous games where it's really tough getting everything to fit together cohesively-- so that was our major focus: trying to figure out how to make everything cohesive.

You mention there are no surprises- but quite the contrary we put a lot of little easter eggs and surprises all over! Unfortunately, however, I believe my last minute player control changes may have made them really hard to 'get to' in the sense that it would take a tremendous amount of time. Like I said in the other comment, I will roll back those changes so that you have more mobility and freedom to explore. For example... though the goal is to chop trees-- try chopping some of the other things in the world, there are some unique events! One example: the gong by the pond!

Again- thank you very much for providing this feedback. I can see that we have already upset some people based on using assets we have previously purchased, but despite that we are tremendously proud of what we were able to do during this Jam. It was a very positive and productive gamedev experience for us- and we definitely were able to calmly complete this Jam more efficiently than previous jams.

Thanks again! :)

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T04:54:01Z

@tontonpizza Thanks for your feedback. I don't agree with either of your proposals: For one the theme is interpretive, and in this case you're just not interpreting the theme in the same way we interpreted it. For two: the voting is an important part of everyone's submission, as it helps to indicate a general public perspective on the effort given in a particular submission.

Some notes: This is actually our 4th Jam-- I moved over from another account so that I could have the name that actually matches my other Social Media presences.

Thank you for your feedback.

Good luck during this jam! :)

-James

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T05:30:39Z

@tontonpizza Thanks for your feedback and continued response!

I absolutely agree-- the 2 most major flaws are a dulled play experience due to dropping all the interaction stats, and also not demonstrating how to progress the thematic goals. In our next Jam-- we will try to create a bit more of a faux tutorial for showcasing what the intended goal is.

Thanks for evaluating the game, I hope at least that you can appreciate the tremendous effort it took to tie this all together in just 3 days, despite some of the more glaring flaws. We had a blast, and as always we can't wait to take what we learned here into the next project! :)

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-14T16:44:13Z

@j-star @paulo-augusto @darkguardsman @iloveyourface @pedro-m-marangon @max6333 @sciman101 @firebelley @thecommonthug @jlv @logicon211 @tontonpizza @zicboy @hdmmy @matt-fabius @bredera

I really appreciate you providing feedback and insight! Because you all voiced your opinion, and it was an accurate critique, we have fixed the physics issues that we made the last minute decision to change, and believe that the experience is -significantly- better for it.

There are still some trees that fall through the ground-- that's an unfortunate consequence of how we generated the levels. We added a bit of pop to combat this, but there are still some trees throughout the map that start too far below the horizon line to prevent falling. Thanks for your input and helping us out!

Here's the Update text: UPDATE 0940 14 AUG 2018 - Due to overwhelming feedback: we have rolled back the physics changes and freed up the players movement! You can now move like we originally intended, and also have the ability to throw logs much further again. Have fun! :)

Halcyon Woods by PopDaddyGames 2018-08-17T10:47:11Z

@Awix You clearly did not try the game. The music is definitely one of the best parts. You just commented to drag attention to your game.

Anxiety by TontonPizza 2018-08-14T04:55:10Z

Good luck! :)

ShipIt by cbenoit 2018-08-14T03:15:16Z

We're always day dreaming about somewher else! :)

2058, A parking Lot in Space by pedroaz 2018-08-15T05:44:48Z

Awesome work!

You did a great job, and I'm excited to see what you do in future jams! :)

Compress Chaos by Xerozylir 2018-08-15T05:47:16Z

Welcome to the Jam world! I hope you had a blast, learned a lot, and are pumped to move forward. Awesome work! :)

Amber's Space by Hiku 2018-08-14T17:04:37Z

The art style is a bit tough to figure out- but good work!

Youber Driver by Firepit games 2018-08-14T03:14:56Z

Awesome effort applied here- I hope you do well in the voting! :)

Castle Z by Erick Alves 2018-08-15T05:39:33Z

More levels-- but great work! :)

Due Process by scottyseus 2018-08-14T02:44:24Z

Justice for all!

The Maze by nik2434 2018-08-14T05:21:35Z

Sounds like you're trying to make an Indiana Jones Sim! Good luck! :)

The Maze by nik2434 2018-08-15T05:41:14Z

Killer job! Very simple, clean, and elegant! :)

The Junk's Games by Paulo Augusto 2018-08-15T05:44:02Z

Getting some issues-- you did a good job though! :)

Infinity Search by FlashViper 2018-08-14T03:13:20Z

Controls issues but excellent work nonetheless! :)

Space Collapse by Steffanie 2018-08-14T03:14:12Z

This is gorgeous. I really love everything about this submission. Tightening up camera stuff maybe-- but overall an amazing submission with obviously a tremendous amount of effort applied! :)

Space is running out of space by DarkGuardsman 2018-08-14T03:02:45Z

I love the conceptual progress you've made! Awesome work!

Park & Match by Carlos Giraldo 2018-08-14T03:13:34Z

Vroom vroom baby!

Trade Man: Out of Space by darkmonkey inc 2018-08-15T05:41:34Z

Take that- boss!

Love it- amaing work! :)

Backpack Fight by stellaryyan2 2018-08-14T02:45:37Z

Neat inventory

Cavern Crawl by SpoopsMcGee 2018-08-14T02:44:50Z

Good luck fixing some of these issues! :)

LD43 — Sacrifices must be made

JOURNEY by Syrapt0r 2018-12-05T12:28:28Z

This game is freakin incredible. SFX: Perfect. Music: Perfect. Gameplay: spot on. I'm sharing this with friends.

The Orion Trail by Archimagus 2018-12-05T10:26:11Z

I'm obviously biased toward space games, but I really love what you did here!! I especially love the UI design- it's unique and refreshing, while not being overwhelming.

Elwik Mage Academy by mrjoshuamclean 2018-12-05T07:06:59Z

This is awesome! That very pixelated style for the people is crazy cool! This is also a very different gameplay type than anything else I've played in these jams- awesome work! :)

JLIM by egordorichev 2018-12-05T13:09:18Z

As always- freakin incredible work!!!!

SheeBalloon by Rudenko 2018-12-05T14:20:29Z

I love this- you did an amazing job! :)

A Sworded Tale by Snowdrama 2018-12-05T10:29:27Z

Very ambitious idea and awesome execution! Hope you learned lots and can make the next iteration EVEN BETTER!! :)

Reap what you sow by ursagames 2018-12-05T07:10:20Z

Wow- you really captured the PS1 graphics and gameplay feel! This is awesome!!

Quest For Gory by Erasmus Crowley 2018-12-05T10:28:14Z

Freakin awesome... I love the aesthetic you went with. I didn't like most of those Sierra games, but this is still an excellent homage!

Bla v Raa : Eternal God Battle Brothers by ragtagradical 2018-12-05T10:30:22Z

You undertook a monumental effort- great freaking job. PS super duper love that artwork. Ultra high fantasy dark stuff like that isn't always popular but you nailed it!

HYPERFIGHT by hypersnow 2018-12-05T10:26:39Z

This is awesome-- amazing work and awesome presenting everything well! :)

Transit Terror by SlimothyJ 2018-12-05T10:27:18Z

This is awesome- you hit the theme spot on and also presented your ideas very cleanly. Hope you had fun making this as it's a great entry! :)

Trolley Troubles by randomphantom 2018-12-05T13:33:55Z

You killed it my dude. Like always. Amazing work and awesomely fun! :)

Night of the BloodMoon by erebus 2018-12-05T07:12:04Z

I love the boss and effects- and color palette here is awesome for mood. Friggin excellent jam entry- you did a great job! :)

Suicide Rabbits by m3rcurial92 2018-12-05T10:28:46Z

I'm glad you participated-- awesome work and keep going from here! :)

Vincent's Sacrifice by Honest Dan 2018-12-05T12:38:48Z

Damnit you've done it again. This is freaking great! I especially love the attitude and character behind mr bun... :O

Cave Adventures by Lyrcaxis 2018-12-05T10:32:23Z

Great theme- hope you had fun, learned a lot, and are ready for the next jam! :)

Most Important Person by Kobrar 2018-12-05T07:06:06Z

This is a crazy amount of stuff going on!!! :)

Plushie Piler by shieldgenerator7 2018-12-05T07:08:05Z

That poor bear... :(

Sacrifice LUL by jdelaay025johnd1788 2018-12-05T10:30:51Z

You made a great little game- hope you can add some more graphically in your next entry! :)

Dungeon Eternal by Raimon 2018-12-05T07:05:35Z

This is an awesome submission- I really love your color palettes and light work! :)

Captain Cottontail: Certified Rocket Jumper by tomonaku 2018-12-05T10:31:42Z

The character reminds me of the Tank Girl comic- excellent job!

Sacrifice Plains by thegreentofu 2018-12-05T10:31:18Z

Good effort and excellent attempt toward balancing the systems!

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:13:23Z

@drlizard Thanks for playing!

Don't forget to pick up oxygen bubbles (bubbles with blue inside) while you fly! :)

Thanks for your comments and positive messages!

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:14:14Z

@reimari Thank you for commenting about the controls and graphics!

The bird stations are the bird cages-- they have a blue bubble on the opening that you can fly into, which initiates a landing sequence.

Glad you were able to make it to the end-- thanks for playing!

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:14:48Z

@gao-ming Thank you for commenting on the sprint- we worked especially hard on playing input and the 'game-feel' (even more so than the gameplay itself!), and are all glad to hear that it translated well to players! ^_^

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:14:59Z

@mrjackhpil Thanks very much!

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:16:27Z

@ragtagradical The black hole is the purple one, and the warp gate is the blue one!! Glad you had fun despite the collision with your fate!!

I actually developed this while on my laptop, and that was the inspiration for trying to build 'really good flight controls' purposely for the trackpad. I love space games, and flight games, but I have yet to find many that do it well enough to play on my mobile devices or laptop. We very much intend to use this control scheme in other projects, which is why we spent so much time trying to hone them during this jam.

Thanks for playing! :)

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T11:20:41Z

@apace I'm really freakin excited that you liked the player controls!

If you check out any of our previous work, you will see that our player controls SUCKED. Full stop. None of my partners were the cause of those shitty controls, it was all my fault as the programmer. Alex, Josh, Anthony, and Ali all did amazing work, but I was never able to keep up my end and make the player controls "right". I've been studying player input since the last jam, and put everything I've learned to work in this project with the hope of it landing well.

Thanks again for playing, we're excited that you had a blast, even if it is just a mini experience! :):):):):)

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T13:34:38Z

@rodrigo-grego Thanks for playing! I actually never played star fox, but know that it was widely loved!

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T13:34:57Z

@oddballdave Thanks for playing, and glad to hear you enjoyed it! We love chill too... :P

Birds in Space by PopDaddyGames 2018-12-05T13:36:07Z

@mza We love cheat codes in older games (wish they'd make a comeback, really!)-- We wanted the game to be difficult at times, but also able to be overcome after a few attempts and learning the mechanics. Thus: we added cheats so you can just have fun flying around at super mega speeds! :)

Switch Accelerator by Nekonyo 2018-12-05T07:13:47Z

Great work-- hope you had fun while doing it! :)

melancholy by Domixltu2 2018-12-05T15:00:15Z

Good work. :(

Chaos Shelter by Sockyman 2018-12-05T07:07:33Z

Definitely hard to get far, but awesome work! :)

Bee Defence by antonhvid 2018-12-05T10:27:36Z

Great work on the theme!

I don't wanna die by Eduard Xue 2018-12-05T10:31:59Z

I really love the aesthetic here... amazing work!

Chiiip by LuCecyl 2018-12-05T07:11:12Z

I really love the theme here, and your artwork is awesome!! EXCELLENT WORK! :)

LD44 — Your life is currency

Invest® by thristhart 2019-05-06T21:32:46Z

This is an atypical system use in jams like this but overall a great effort. I hope to see more of your entries in future jams! :)

Signal by HitchH1k3r 2019-05-06T21:03:28Z

This is freaking superb! You clearly put a boat load of effort into this- great work and I'm excited to see more of your games in future jams! :)

Assault on Crown Archipelago by aurel 2019-05-07T00:41:47Z

The fact that we're killing monkeys is kinda unnerving-- it makes me feel really bad. Overall very well put together game and impressive for a jam game, no doubt. Solid effort with a great premise. Music is intense and puzzles are interesting. Combat is definitely hectic when you're surrounded.

Shield Mates by Jacksendary 2019-05-05T21:40:16Z

The bloom is gorgeous, that much is for sure! :)

Fishtastic - The Adventures of Kailax by limered 2019-05-05T21:43:05Z

I really love the color palette that you selected, and the overall fish idea is awesome! :)

Hight Point by tangiblegames 2019-05-05T21:43:43Z

Im really glad you spent time taking care of 'customer support', that definitely earns a thumbs up from me! :)

Meat Mountain by gamechoy 2019-05-05T21:57:04Z

This is superb. It's kinda super gross but I think that fits the theme super well- great work! :0

F_NULL by feips 2019-05-06T21:30:56Z

This is splendid! The varying colors are gorgeous, and the motion is surprisingly smooth. This is fun and something you should keep working on after the jam! :)

Kill Paouf V by shubart 2019-05-05T21:49:02Z

I love that you went super simple for the design- it makes it easy to follow! :)

Ephemera by atmospherium 2019-05-07T00:52:38Z

I love the colors and flashy presence! :)

Heat of the Star by mikethewayne 2019-05-05T21:41:36Z

Good work and make sure to come back for the next jam!

Master of Lifeblood by oillen 2019-05-05T21:55:51Z

Those creatures are creepy as heck

Brave Swordsman by falak 2019-05-07T00:58:28Z

This has a great LoZ design / influence- really cool design!

Lifeblood Arena by svntax 2019-05-05T21:50:39Z

This is very well put together and surprisingly fun to play. The Throwback to old school visuals is awesome- I especially love the bull design.

Between Light and Shadow by winniehell 2019-05-05T21:52:36Z

I super love the visual aesthetic and the throwback to early 2000s web games. Superb work!

SERVUS BONUS by gurkenlabs 2019-05-06T21:29:04Z

Good job on the colors, art, aesthetic, and design. I don't think I've seen this setting used in very many Jam games, but I think it works great here. This is an interesting take on the them, and obviously has some great work put into it!

Digital Gray by fusionnist 2019-05-07T00:55:57Z

WOW! This game is awesome and has a tremendous amount of polish! This is a really fucking cool game, with amazing controls, great feedback for play and input, and overall is just an awesome entry!

Dungeon Boast by Ted Carter 2019-05-06T21:31:57Z

This tiny project is awesome! I love the robust color palette and use of constant motion. The energy is inspiring!

Bankin' Bacon by arielsan 2019-05-05T21:44:36Z

Holy crap this game is gorgeous. You did an amazing job... I cant wait to see what you do next jam!

Lousy Life Lessons - [LLL] by AwesomeAlliterationAlliance 2019-05-06T21:27:47Z

This is the best Jam game I've ever played.

Phenomenal story telling told through narration in cutscenes and continuing during gameplay. The visuals enhance the experience more than take away, which is atypical of game jam games; normally the artists don't have enough time to generate visuals that enhance the story. The exact opposite is true here- they used a minimal yet purposeful design that creates an amazing atmosphere for telling the short story they crafted.

The music is intense, suspenseful, exciting, energizing, and yet not at all distracting. It seems to parade itself around the narration in a wonderful dance that reinforces the story while also keeping you as the player feeling like you're inside this wonderful world.

The gameplay shifts between platforming, falling, and quick-time events yet no part feels out of place. I believe some of the QTE's could be polished such that having to repeat one right after death is not too jarring (for example the first "slide under truck" pop up should not reappear after the 2nd or 3rd attempt), but overall they are well placed and elegantly pull you along through the game.

The alternate endings are superb and wrap up the overall experience in a wonderful way.

Overall I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this game; this is sincerely the best jam game I have ever played and is just simply perfect.

This is the clear winner of LD Jam 44, if I had to choose.

Undertaker by LuckyFeathers 2019-05-05T21:53:29Z

That background is fucking cool- the like... "2D but 3D with only 1 color" thing... I've never seen a design like that before but it is amazing.

My Sweet Money Shooter by Lex Randea 2019-05-05T21:57:37Z

I love the coins. This is a laugh fest- amazing job!

Life-Time by Untitled Studios 2019-05-07T00:43:49Z

This game will razzle you, but it's a great entry! I love how simple it is, yet it still has tremendous character. Awesome job! :)

Bullet Souls by Jellis 2019-05-05T21:49:33Z

Upgrades need some work but otherwise this is an awesome and fun game! :)

Black Market by bbaf 2019-05-06T21:43:55Z

Everything about this is nostalgic as heck (and awesome for it), from visuals to sound to controls! Great work!!

Aliens Love Humans by R2D48 2019-05-10T03:56:26Z

Great work on the jam friend!

My biggest advice is really to flesh out the game page just a bit more. There's just the 1 image and very little info so it really leaves us to wonder what the game is.

Forex Platformer by cax 2019-05-05T21:40:46Z

Theres a lot of data here but good work overall

Lost Hexagon by Oune 2019-05-05T21:54:58Z

Id really like to see more on the page but overall you did a great job.

AUTOTRANSPORT by C1FR1 2019-05-07T00:53:58Z

This is a very impressive entry and an awesome submission for a game jam! Definitely needs some polish but this could be really dope if you keep working on it! :)

Stabman! by NoahRo 2019-05-07T00:57:51Z

Dont dead, open inside!

But seriously- great work. Needs some work but you put together a great project! :)

The greedy ATM by island-jam-2-group-3 2019-05-07T00:53:20Z

This is an interesting submission, but I really wish there was more info on the page. Good luck next jam! :)

TheGuard by 4Knights 2019-05-05T21:51:40Z

Id really love to see more on the page but great effort!

Project Slorgan: The Escape by CodeKoto 2019-05-07T00:54:44Z

This is really fucking cool and has an amazing presence. That death screen is fucking intense. Overall amazing entry- can't wait to see what you make in the next jam!

The Greatest Show by FranVadillo 2019-05-07T00:42:56Z

I love the style and design- very bizarre but super creative. Please make more! :)

Spirit Seekers by DoubleBlackStudios 2019-05-10T03:49:53Z

I really love the super simplicity of the art design here! There's something really cool about just using black and white to get everything passed along to the player, and emphasizing the shapes. Great work!

GEMiNiD S484 by PopDaddyGames 2019-05-05T23:28:35Z

@acactus You need to plug in a controller and press 'start' on that controller, whatever it is called. The game should recognize any type of controller that you plug in! :)

P.S. Keep in mind that it is a local multiplayer game- you need 2 to 4 players!

GEMiNiD S484 by PopDaddyGames 2019-05-06T02:56:35Z

@acactus Thank you very much for your feedback! I hope you get a chance to play with someone, and if you do then I hope you have a blast! :)

GEMiNiD S484 by PopDaddyGames 2019-05-06T21:02:16Z

@awesomealliterationalliance Thank you very, very, very much for playing it and getting over the initiation curve! We recognize that 'getting it going' is a bit of a pain, but we really wanted to try to make something fun for people to play together, on the couch, without too many gameplay restrictions.

I hope you'll keep an eye out for the updates we've been working on- we're really hoping to flesh this out into a full featured couch game! :)

GEMiNiD S484 by PopDaddyGames 2019-05-08T19:45:08Z

@lyrcaxis Thank you for the feedback. To be honest, we just grabbed a few screenshots and threw them up because we were so entrenched in fixing some major bugs. We have since updated the outward facing image with one that should provide some additional info to anyone glancing at the game, and also an image that hopefully explains the energy and spirit of the game.

Thanks again very much! :)

The Reapers Delight by itsjustjord 2019-05-05T21:39:54Z

This is fairly neat- love the little death! :)

The Bounty Hunter by dk5000p 2019-05-07T00:57:03Z

Very simple but great design. Good entry- and good luck next jam too! :)

Older than War by BetelgeuseMan 2019-05-05T21:54:37Z

This is super interesting! Although- I don't know if I like the idea of trading away my life. O_O

bETween us by Zariel 2019-05-06T21:30:10Z

Okay so you totally captured a particular mood here- that's some spooky shit. Amazing work... but heck if I don't get stressed out.

The cold by EndSSGamesStudio 2019-05-10T03:52:52Z

This has a great atmosphere and sense of environment. One little flavor mod I love is the LD Jam logo. Overall great work!

Your Life is Currency by nanocube75 2019-05-10T03:51:07Z

You did a really great job on this project! The biggest thing I would request is that you add some more information to the Jam Page- with it being blank it's hard to tell whether it's worth a shot. Definitely get it updated! :)

Currency Lane by Cody Nguyen 2019-05-07T00:42:18Z

Great entry and welcome to the jams! Amazing effort and I look forward to seeing more in future jams! :)

The Giving Thing by Jam373 2019-05-07T00:56:34Z

This has got a great mood- you should definitely add some info to the page so more people express an interest in playing it! :)

Goal: Bounty by xebia-jam 2019-05-10T03:51:59Z

This is a really cool game!

I love the throwback feel to early 2000's flash games, but in all the good ways. This has that "familiar mini game" feel and look and really has a tremendous amount of spirit!

Earn Your Life by aCactus 2019-05-05T21:51:19Z

I love the text based idea here- this is dope.

LudumDare 44 by SingularityOddity 2019-05-10T03:55:29Z

Hey friend- you did a great job working on this project.

I would definitely recommend adding some more screenshots and info to the LDJam page- with it being black it really loves us wondering what this project is prior to downloading.

Great work and good luck on the next jam! :)

Weapon Draw by Niteb 2019-05-07T01:00:20Z

I love the design idea- very cool implementation of simple designs and familiar concepts. It can be overwhelming at times, but it's fun!

U Wouldn't Shoot a Ship by NotSoEpicGames 2019-05-05T21:44:01Z

Id like more info prior to the download but overall good effort! :)

Life//Time Paradoxon by GreenDinoGames 2019-05-05T21:55:19Z

This reminds me very much of "Zombies Ate My Neighbors"

Hide’n’run by Fractal 2019-05-05T21:42:00Z

Good work and great job capturing a simple idea!

Deterring Delinquents from a Dragon's Dwelling by Jomiak 2019-05-07T00:59:09Z

Needs some polish to better give info to the player, but overall great work on the game design!

KNIFE=LIFE by QuadApe 2019-05-05T21:42:25Z

The polish here is incredible- you did an amazing job! :)

BIOFUEL by Antoine Cuvilliez 2019-05-05T21:56:27Z

Everything about the design is incredible- I love the visuals and overall aesthetic.

Grim Deeper by FalseBracket 2019-05-10T03:54:35Z

This is freaking superb! I really love the color palette and visual aesthetic. The little flash animation you have for the dash move is really well done. Excellent game premise and great job incorporating the theme into this flavor of game! :)

5 Minute Dungeon by LubFotPig 2019-05-06T21:05:02Z

This is a very neat idea and certainly fits the theme well, while still being a unique experience. Great work! :)

Mr. Mewsifer's Malevolent Market by Faelim 2019-05-06T21:04:20Z

Oh my god this is cute as all get out! I love the character aesthetic, level design, and overall experience. Amazing work! :)

LD45 — Start with nothing

The Land of Milk and Honey by Skosnowich 2019-10-16T15:27:04Z

Very clever design here with a super personal feeling.

The Tragic Tale of No Bones Jones by darefus 2019-10-16T15:26:05Z

The artwork looks great, and no bones Jones is a clever name! xD

LD47 — Stuck in a loop

con-junc-tion by gentoogames 2020-10-06T03:17:41Z

This is an incredible game! Super tough to solve the puzzle mechanics. Needs to be fleshed out with more levels, and ultimately brought up to a full mobile release.

Great SFX- inclusion of humorous elements and notes from the characters in the world.

SKill required!

Periphery by agentparsec 2020-10-06T03:30:45Z

Superb audio. Very responsive and accurate input. Challenging levels yet attainable. Love the inclusion of the unlockable speed attack mode.

Without My Arms by killerkun 2020-10-06T02:21:59Z

This is raw 5's. Pure perfect. Absolutely love this.

Beyond Death by Trypants 2020-10-07T02:02:08Z

Like I mentioned in the stream- you could add footsteps to the animation cycle to ensure that a step plays as the character steps. That being said- you already did a great job with the sfx and this isnt a necessary change.

The OST is absolutely superb! I definitely think I could listen to this as a background album while working on projects or just as a nice, chill, music experience.

Gameplay loop is great- you definitely implemented the LOOP mechanics quite well- forcing the player to think about some of their actions. As you saw on the stream, I even let myself fall prey to 'thinking death was the end' even though I had just learned your lesson. Great job here!

I did like this work- and will definitely keep an eye out for your future projects.

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T01:53:20Z

@daimadoushi There is a bug with the gas can where, for some reason, every -other- time you start the game, it lets you finish the mission. We will root out that bug and squash it in an upcoming build, but for now-- if you just hit 'menu -> restart' when you get to that point (gas being the final mission), it will step forward appropriately for the LOOP. ;)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T01:53:41Z

@seth-tal Thanks for your comments! I hope you were able to... figure out how to carve your OWN story into our little town.

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T02:22:59Z

@blumber I reckon you might find that there are... significantly more actions... than you might think on your first playthrough. I recommend trying to use your tools in... various ways.

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T02:23:31Z

@geroblacksmith Would you please write up a bug report for these faulty features? Thanks in advance.

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T03:32:25Z

@trexxak It sounds like you had a wonderful and positive series of interactions with the townspeople of Chipperton. I reckon they would invite YOU back any time. They have had a series of poor run-ins with some folk recently, so it's real nice to hear from you that YOUR experience was full of positivity.

Thank you for spending some time in Chipperton, and we certainly look forward to the next time you drive in.

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-06T05:45:55Z

@quack-doctor You should give it another go and try your tools in unique ways! :)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T03:13:47Z

@stephenwhoskins Im glad you had fun- thanks for playing!

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T03:14:08Z

@aless Thanks for playing? I'd like to know- did you get to explore the world quite thoroughly?

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T03:15:52Z

@sophiemae0 Our little town of Chipperton is super relaxing, peaceful, and just an absolutely wonderful place to spend a lazy summer!

Thanks for your comments about the music and intro- those were certainly some of our favorite parts.

The atmosphere was intended to bring you a feeling of peace and serenity, so I hope the particle design supported that goal!

I would like to ask you- did you use the tools in all there various configurations? I assure you- the loop is present, though there's a good chance that maybe you didn't discover it. ;)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T04:25:04Z

Hey there @ale I am super glad you enjoyed our game!

I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to give it another play through. I reckon you didn't get to explore the entire loop... and may have missed some of the most fun mechanics! :)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T10:18:43Z

Thanks for playing our game, @melvinng!

Did you get a chance to explore a bit? I reckon you missed some things! ;)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-07T11:13:29Z

Thanks for playing, @eugenik!

Were you able to find some particularly fun elements? ;)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-10T05:13:20Z

@week-of-the-agents Thank you very, very much for playing our game! :)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-10T05:13:57Z

@tricky-fat-cat Thank you so so so much for giving our game a go! We sincerely appreciate you jumping in and exploring our little town. I hope that you found multiple satisfying solutions to your story. :)

Chipperton by PopDaddyGames 2020-10-12T15:05:58Z

@elysiagriffin You did what?!

Well... no matter how you broke our little world, we're glad you played our game! Thanks so much- as always- for supporting LDJam! :)

Hyperspace Slingshot by AllBetsAreOff 2020-10-06T01:03:22Z

We played for a few minutes- only got through 1.5 levels. I like the backward mechanic / scoop- it's a nice twist on this space game mechanic.

The inclusion of cutscenes was superb- excellent work there. SFX were nice and arcade-y, definitely a plus.

Overall pretty good. No negative critique to speak of.

Chronos Time Warp by Zliebowitz 2020-10-07T02:51:21Z

Excellent work for such a small game- did a good job forcing the player back and using the loop mechanic of- ya died, time to start over!

I love credits, and showing your 'actors'.

HONK II by Tricky_Fat_Cat 2020-10-07T11:13:00Z

This game was very well put together!

This team definitely did a great job pulling some familiar favorites into a new package.

The music itself is a true pleasure and definitely keeps you in! :)

Pillars of Anguish by Outfrost 2020-10-07T03:21:50Z

Very cool loop idea. The inclusion of the humorous jabs at the player really stepped up the overall feeling of the game. The inputs were nice and precise- so great effort there.

The game crashed on a pause after the joke 'press' escape', and so that's where I left off.

Space Cat by Wubbl 2020-10-06T01:17:10Z

I love this game. To be honest, this might just be one of my favorite uber-indie jam games.

The theme is superb. Colors- excellent. Amateur style pixel art, great.

Gameplay is slow, but I feel it was purposely so. A+ for effort, and I'll definitely check out your future efforts.

Divine Drifter by Enzar17 2020-10-06T02:55:09Z

This game is a real treat to play!

It has 6 levels that very fairly 'ramp you up' to the point where the final level is both a challenge, but also surmountable. It remains fun the entire time.

There is a leaderboard so if you want to challenge yourself to crush others- this is a great offering.

The music and sfx are great- they match the theme and keep you pulled into the environment quite well.

There is a tremendous amount of polish on the overall GUI experience, both in and out of gameplay, to enhance the experience. Even though there were 'juicy' bits during the gameplay, they were subdued enough to not distract you-- yet loud enough to provide fun info.

I did not at any point feel as though it was not purposeful decisions in design.

A+ -- this is a masterpiece LDJam entry. Keep an eye on this team- their future work is likely to be incredible.

Tip of My Tongue by KeithSwanger 2020-10-07T04:05:37Z

Excellent idea, and great execution!

This game will make a thesaurus out of you!

Easy to play and pick up- the only advice I have is to

A.) Make the map smaller, or add a map

and

B.) a prompt when you get to the end telling you to press Enter to step forward the mission.

I loved this!

Progress by Anant Ahuja 2020-10-06T03:44:31Z

This is the game that we have all been waiting for. I am glad to say that we experienced 100% of what this game has to offer, and are not worse for it.

Thank you for submitting your game to the jam.

The Titan's grave by BadPiggy 2020-10-06T03:41:47Z

The controls are absolutely super tight. They are responsive- and the abundance of actions on screen are kinda perfect. Enough to be low-end paying attention, but not so much as to be hella distracting.

Colors are perfect. SFX are easy to listen to- no complaint.

I would love to see many levels not just the 3.

Excellent jam entry.

Frozen Potency by Eugenik 2020-10-07T04:23:02Z

This is a fascinating entry. I really love the 4th wall break of the 'character on the monitor.' There needs to be some effort put into balancing the game, but aside from that this is a superb entry. Love the high score tracking.

Music - A+

(Nu) Da Drum by Trexxak 2020-10-06T00:53:43Z

It looks like that you might have a pretty good understanding of color theory. You seemed to use colors that either complemented or contrasted from one another purposely. I reckon if the art design / direction (overall aesthetic decision) was A.) more cohesive, and B.) more direct / clear, that your color theory application would be superb.

That being said, as it stands, the multi layered artwork just leaves the screen looking like a mess.

I dont really understand the project, if I am being honest, and really only was able to play for about 3 minutes- before getting caught in an audio / clipping loop. A+ on capturing the theme: caught in a loop.

The Facility by Feiko 2020-10-06T04:08:01Z

Cool use of the looping pattern and trying to, with audio, tell the player how to break out of the loops. Pretty straight forward design, I liked the feeling. Please continue with the idea and create a short, full, narrative experience.

Chrysanthemums Fragrance by Roberto Nascimento Almada 2020-10-07T02:22:31Z

Music - the rolling background audio definitely sets a wonderful tone. The audio sfx match the on screen actions (vhs, etc) in a way that I rather liked. The GUI sfx of course were excellent feedback to know that I was still accurately interacting with the game.

I like that items that cannot interact with eachother still have gui prompts, asking you to check if they can interact. It would have been easier to just cut that out and prevent any gui prompt if one wasnt possible but, including that adds to the sense of exploration.

I did not get beyond crafting potions, so I can't speak to anything after that point, but everything up to there was great.

The notes, along with the bloody rooms etc, definitely helped to keep me in a state of unease.

Superb work!

L8ps by Delender1100 2020-10-07T01:46:02Z

You nailed the loop for sure. There is no forgiveness on the collisions so, if you like that kind of difficulty in a game then this is superb. The artwork is simple and straightforward. This is not a problem so much as it is just a statement- it could be more stylized or more intense, but as it is- is fine.

Möbi's Trip by Jack LeFevre 2020-10-06T03:54:26Z

This is a super clever twist on the pun-of-a-name, and is aptly related to the theme! Excellent job, and great use of simple tools to complete an entire game experience.

Hellscape by kp_gamedev 2020-10-06T01:51:07Z

Excellent controls, barring just a few hiccups. The future of the project looks cool as heck.

Easy to play in the sense that you can jump right in and go. The controls are very straight forward, but absolutely most importantly-- RESPONSIVE. The input did not have stutter or delay. The character controller, as designed, did exactly what I told it to do. Every time I failed, for the most part, I felt like it was -me- failing, not the game.

I rated a 4 overall- I enjoyed the effort and would surely play a follow up.

Stuck In A Loop by 56_ 2020-10-07T04:11:02Z

Wow.

The way you played with the 'can only go right' rule is actually superb. I know the game looks simple visually but you really did a cool job giving the player a few 'what the heck' moments. Superb entry!

LD48 — Deeper and deeper

Marble Warble by MrTroy 2021-05-03T19:50:46Z

Marble Warble https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/marble-warble

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:4.0 Theme:5.0 Graphics:5.0 Audio:5.0 Humor:5.0 Mood:5.0

Troy you killed it and I love this game!

I'm not too much of a fan of the Sega Dreamcast games... but something about this has an incredible dreamcast vibe and this feels really dang good!

You definitely have a solid grasp of level design and allowing players to trap themselves, find alternate paths, and interact with the game on their own terms. There was no part of the level design that I felt was unfair or poorly designed... I really have no complaints here.

As for the controls... it's perfect. I like how difficult it was to fight the ball's pull and never felt like it was out of reach of my own control. I always felt like I was -just not good enough-... but that I had the potential to not make the same mistake again. This is a very fine line to walk but you walked it quite well.

The music, as you know, is incredible. You have mastered the transitions- and your placement of 'levels' in an open zone works very well.

The only critique I had was that the distance slider fill area steps outside the bounds of the border- just adding a proper mask will fix this.

Overall you absolutely nailed it!

Thanks for bringing this by... I'm definitely super excited to see your future games!

Adelie - Rolling in the Deep by Meep 2021-05-03T19:19:31Z

Adelie Rolling in the Deep https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/adelie-rolling-in-the-deep

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:5.0 Theme:4.5 Graphics:5.0 Humor:5.0 Mood:5.0

YOU NAILED IT!

This game is beautiful. This game is fun. This game has ambiance. This game has mood. The sounds are amazing. This is an incredible jam game and I am absolutely impressed. Everyone we had with us has saved this on their own laptops as a "come back and play this later" kind of game. You absolutely killed it.

If there's a game from LDJam48 that has a chance to be made into a full commercial release after the jam: this is certainly a major contender.

I had an absolute blast playing and loved watching our other people here play, too.

Some of the things I think were excellent game design decisions:

--the mostly linear level design with rooms going 'down', but -occasionally- having offshoots to the sides. This lets the player have choice but also primarily pushes them toward 'the end goal'-- I like that it did not feel like a maze or trap.

--The bullets having a very short range before disappearing. This made the gameplay and combat VERY strategic in the way you would dip and dive around the fishies. At first I thought it was a centipede or space invaders mechanic where you could not fire a bullet again until the first one had struck (which I erroneously said on stream) but once I realized it was the design of a short distance I realized how much more I prefer the design you chose. This went from feeling like a bullet hell to a true 'play with skill and think about your actions' almost 'chess-like' experience feeling.

Furthering this idea; you limited the number of enemies on screen to something that totally made sense. I personally died during the "chaos" of 4 spikes and 4 enemies... but that felt incredible. It did not feel like an overwhelming army of enemies but rather just a small skirmish in a scene that makes sense. There is something about the scale that you chose that -just works-.

--The gliding and sliding (friction movement) is really dang good. You have build up speed and bursts of speed and sliding all interacting in ways that come together in what is ultimately one very, very good character controller. While 'difficult'- it felt fair and responsive. This is one of the hardest things to get right in games and here is an area where your programming absolutely shined and demonstrated you have a very firm grasp on gameplay design principles. Whoever did the programming on the movement absolutely blew me away; this was my favorite part. I seriously think you need to give yourself a pat on the back for this because this is absolutely impressive work.

Overall I have to say that you really have a gem on your hands and I am very excited to have been able to play it during this jam. This game is exactly what LDJam is all about, what indie gamedev is all about, and what we should be striving for.

Thank you very much for bringing this to our stream and letting us play it - plus engaging with us and accepting our feedback.

P.S. I will send you a link to the gameplay session video once I have it uploaded to YouTube! :)

The Incredible Adventures of Oleg by Nikolay Zapolnov 2021-05-03T19:38:49Z

The Incredible Adventures of Oleg https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/the-incredible-adventures-of-oleg

Overall:4.0 Fun:4.0 Innovation:3.0 Theme:4.0 Graphics:4.0 Audio:4.5 Humor:4.0 Mood:3.5

This game was super fun!

My first impression was not great- this was based on the flat colors, simple textures, simple cube level designs, etc. However- this game is so much more than what you see on the cover and I am glad we were able to dive deeper into it to get a sense of the true magic you had woven into it's underlying mechanics and design.

The biggest issue with the game has to do with the transitions from grid position to grid position; which we discussed in detail on the stream. All I can say here is once you guys tighten up that collision check, speed up the transition from spot to spot, and have a bit tighter input queueing- you'll have a complete package here that is 100%-donezo.

The sound effects were a really great point for me in this game-- I really loved the scraping and shuffling and doors squeaking etc.

I rather enjoyed the puzzle design- even if a bit simplistic or traditional in nature.

The character and character animations are incredible... they enhance the overall immersion and intimacy one feels with the character quite a bit. Im not sure if I cared for the blood during deaths because the game asked us to become a bit attached to our hamster and so each of these deaths felt a bit grotesque or over the top... but I can't say it really hurt the experience itself... just that I would have preferred not to confront the reality of the deaths.

Overall we absolutely had fun with this and are mighty impressed with your work!

Thank you very much for bringing this by the stream and letting us play it!

P.S. I will send you a link to the video once I have it uploaded to YouTube. :)

Masseuse you Loose by ColeSlaughter 2021-05-03T19:28:34Z

Masseuse You Loose https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/masseuse-you-loose

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:5.0 Theme:5.0 Graphics:4.5 Humor:5.0 Mood:5.0

It's not fair to play Coleslawski's games. The team here quite clearly knows what they're doing and obviously has a great cohesive working pattern. Their games are always really cool.

This time they knocked it out of the park with a chaos and stress inducer unlike any other jam game I have played during the Ludum Dare event.

This game has an excellent visual throwback (artistically) to the romance-novel-game type that we have seen all over the web... but in a way that has it's own charm and humor. The artist here put together, if I recall correctly, over 15 body types (level objects) in addition to all of the rest of the gameplay and world art... a truly impressive 'body of work' for such a short jam game. While I am not personally a fan of this art style; I have to agree that the artist did absolutely impressive work here.

The sounds are incredible - the music is great. I felt forced into the gameplay in the right ways if that makes sense.

On to the gameplay, the shining star:

The tutorial was "overwhelming"- but entirely sufficient to get us through the game 'on short notice'. The only complaint I have is the Swedish massage style- I did not understand that I did not have to also click the mouse during the action.

But the rest... damn the chaos is good. It ramps up slowly so at first you feel like 'I can do this'- but once it gets going... it really gets going. I did not give the challenge mode a shot but I did watch Josh playing that and I must say this is a perfect 'arcade-friction-chaos' game for those that love this kind of gameplay. I love score attacks and rating systems when they are done well and this game is absolutely a top tier performer in both of these regards. To anyone reading this and thinking about playing; do- you'll have an absolute blast.

My overall opinion is that this is your best jam game yet. I seriously loved the experience and presentation. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

P.S. I will send you a YouTube link once I have the gameplay video up.

Thank you very much for bringing this to our stream and letting us play it!

Derpy Deep Drive by Extrone 2021-05-03T19:06:56Z

Derpy Deep Drive https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/derpy-deep-drive

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:5.0 Theme:4.0 Graphics:5.0 Audio:4.0 Mood:5.0

I love this game!

This is of course made in Unreal Engine so we certainly expect 'the graphics to be good'... but you really did nail an art style that is fun and derpy while also having a very gorgeous aesthetic. The gameplay itself is super fun with the input actually being fun to engage with. You of course saw us doing 360's and slamming into walls and everything and yeah- we certainly had a blast with this.

You asked us to keep in mind that you did not make the backing track but I will reiterate what I said during the stream: you acted as a creative director and as such had to pick something that really accentuated the feelings in the game that you wanted to communicate- and I think you managed to nail it. I really liked all of the sound effects- and the music wrapped it up perfectly.

The largest complaint we have about the game is that lack of a true endless mode. Like I mentioned on the stream; the way I think you should design it would be to set a breakpoint at the ramps / jumps so that the player can still go back up the hill, but then going through endless level creation after that point-- I would have liked to try to play longer than a distance of 2300m.

Overall you did a great job here and I absolutely had a blast. Excellent work!

P.S. I will send you a link to the gameplay video once I have it uploaded to YouTube. :)

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-04-28T10:21:22Z

@snowdrama There is a Windows build and a MacOS build now properly uploaded. I appreciate your patience; I was having issues exporting from my M1 Macbook related to IL2CPP.

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-04-28T10:21:32Z

@vincent-abel-grimalt It's up now- check it out and let us know what you think?

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-04-28T10:21:39Z

@caeonosphere There were a few launch bugs with the version you downloaded. I have fixed the rotation issues now- maybe these fixes will resolve your problems! As for scaling... well... we chose to have a bit of creative precedence over exact scale because it just feels better. :)

Thanks for the note on the voice acting! We both (me and @atmctype) voice acted in this game- I took the lead voice acting role of Col Roy Buchanan.

We chose to not include instruction so as to follow the nature and purpose of the game. We will expand the LDJam and Itch page in the next day- just with leaving the jam we both had to get caught up on family stuff!

Thanks for playing!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-04-28T10:21:43Z

@noble-robot I very much understand that you lost patience. We struggled with wanting to release the game this way because we knew it would be very trying for a lot of players... but ultimately chose to stay with our vision. I will say this, regarding futility... there are many 'solutions' or 'endings' and it's possible for you to get to them all. However... it's not likely you'll quite get through our story completely.

We intend to do a deep-dive (no ldjam-pun-intended!) in the next week or two, after we have had a chance to watch a few people play it and get some feedback.

Thanks for checking it out!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-01T09:01:49Z

@raptor851 Thank you very much for playing!

I am very glad to hear that your overall experience was positive.

We have reviewed some footage of people playing and have found a common point of issue is (at the moment youre talking about in the game) people tend to have a dead spot they don't check that is the right direction for the ISS. This being said: we have just now pushed a build (v1.2) with some super minor tweaks to our coordinate system, as well as our pointers, that should hopefully help create a better and more cohesive experience.

If you're able to check out that build; maybe it will make better sense and you can combat that problem!

Notes:

The light does point you in the direction of that particular destination- with a range of vibrancy and intensity to help pinpoint the positioning.

The position coordinate system has been tweaked to make better sense (on the bottom left)

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-01T09:01:53Z

@mrtroy After reviewing gameplay footage from a few streamers- we have made a tiny tweak to the way some of our coordinate calculations and may have addressed your problem during this change.

if you're able to check it out: there is an updated version (1.2) available now that has these minor tweaks.

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-01T09:13:16Z

@bereg Thank you very much for giving our game a go! You can thank @atmctype for the wonderful sound design- that is entirely his work and experience giving su such an authentic and warm sound stage!

Im glad the mood is appropriately set- that was the hardest thing to get right.

On your note about controls: we have reviewed much footage of people playing and spent a great amount of time debating this topic... we have since updated the GUI to provide a bit more clarity on the nature of the rotation controls to hopefully better point the player (no pun intended) in the right direction. However- we do not believe that changing the controls supports our vision of the game and the experience-- at least based on the playthroughs we have currently seen. There is a certain level of challenge, struggle, and accomplishment that we really wanted to achieve and we believe it currently lands right where we want it.

This being said- I think it's fair to point out some of our decision variables behind this.

The theme of this jam is "Deeper & Deeper". Many players will end up floating deeper & deeper into space- not making it to one of our end-game destinations / cutscenes / etc. Though it is punishing... we really feel that a lot of what shines through in this particular entry is the nature of its near-performative-art state-- the place of crafting and curating a particular experience centered around an intimate connection with a very negative set of human emotions that are extremely relatable- mainly loneliness (hence the name; Solus).

Also: we love difficult games. We are not necessarily "everything must be dark souls" type gamers, but we love really good challenges and we love the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge after a bit of trial & error and exerted effort. Through it took us many hours of play testing to tweak the variables to where they are now- to find the gameplay sweetspots- we really did get it at a point that's at the edge of the difficulty curve where we wanted to land, but also is still entirely feasible with the right amount of applied effort.

__

You say that the controls are "terrible", and that they are "terribly explained". This is a tough thing to respond to because it is such a subjective analysis of that portion of the game, and one where we agree with parts of what you mean, and disagree with others.

We believe the controls are near perfect. They work very intuitively when you approach them for what they are, but also are set in a game environment (a solo astronaut without any equipment- only his suit) dead-floating in space with no specific orientation or knowledge of how to make it to safety. The controls themselves do exactly what you expect them to do- and what they should do- its just that we have severely limited the impact of player input into the game world to enhance the emotional state we wanted to craft. This places us in a tough spot because people will feel the way you feel- and we aren't sure how to address that without compromising our vision. If you have advice here: we are open to hearing it and implementing changes.

As for the presentation of what the controls are: we have provided an update with a better visual representation of which controls do what-- hopefully this change will better assist all players in understanding our system.

__

We appreciate your enjoyment of the beauty of our spartan scene. Thank you.

__

I am sorry that the -event- caused you too much frustration. I hope that you are able to pick up the game again and push through that stage- I think you'll feel very satisfied with the end result if you do.

As for that ending: the latest build (1.2) has some ultra minor tweaks set with the intention of smoothing out some of the rough edges on the difficulty curve that we could have initially made better. If you get the chance; please let us know how you feel after these changes.

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-01T09:14:53Z

@vincent-abel-grimalt I have pushed a build (v1.2) that resolves the oxygen bar issue you pointed out: thank you for catching that.

I think I fixed the issue with the user input not working after some pauses... but there may still be some edge cases. For the most part this should now be resolved.

Thank you for the rest of the comments and thank you for playing our game!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:36:21Z

@dobrila I apologize that you have had struggles with overcoming the challenge of the control scheme / thruster orientation / primary gameplay mechanic- I wish that we could have done a better job accommodating you in that pursuit.

I believe, without having seen you play but interpreting your play experience from reading what you wrote, that you probably did not pay enough attention to the information provided to you in the helmet hud overlays.

Most people that play do not ever once even get to see the oxygen-loss fade out, to my displeasure, because I spent a lot of time making those look and sound really good!

I appreciate that you gave this game a go- and hope if you play it again that you find a way to vibe with the gameplay that we designed! :)

The mesh resolution is rather high in the base game- so maybe you had an issue with the game reducing your mesh quality due to system constraints? I am not quite sure what you saw; if you send me some screenshots or video I could take a look and see if there was something wrong that we can fix.

The stutter of the suit... I don't know if maybe you might have a bugged version of the game- I really would like to see what you saw so I can better analyze what to change.

Thanks for playing and providing feedback- I sincerely appreciate it!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:41:16Z

@aditya-kumar Thank you very much for such fine accolades! It truly means a lot to us that you resonated so well with the experience we tried to cultivate- and appreciate your recognition for the challenges we faced in trying to accomplish that goal.

We definitely struggled with the 'feedback to the player' part because we wanted to walk that line of 'giving them all the information they need, but none of the information they want.'

Thanks again for playing!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:42:01Z

@conduit We appreciate you playing and will make some tweaks to our audio levels in accordance with your observations!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:43:52Z

@andidebob Thank you very much for the positive expression- we sincerely appreciate that, and you playing!

Out of curiosity: do you have advice on how we could improve the controls? We fought tooth and nail against (and with) our design philosophy for the game, in regards to the controls / user input / player movement + rotation, and haven't been able to solve some of the more esoteric decisions.

Thanks again!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:44:05Z

@leandro4002 Thank you very much!

loading... by PopDaddyGames 2021-05-04T06:45:09Z

@villanelle Thank you very much for playing- and also thank you for the accolades!

We will look into what a tutorial could look like in this experience and see if we can get something we feel fits in line with our philosophic vision for the experience- thank you for letting us know this would be a positive addition to the game.

Bubbly by Kaish 2021-05-03T19:33:43Z

Bubbly https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/bubbly

Overall:4.0 Fun:4.0 Innovation:3.0 Theme:5.0 Graphics:4.0 Audio:4.0 Humor:3.0 Mood:5.0

I love the spiders and the monsters that come up from the ground. The animation cycles are superb... overall the artwork is great, atmospheric, moody, cute, and fun.

The gameplay is great- I know you saw us fail to get very far a bunch of times and of course we addressed that we wanted a bit more of a precursor info for the deaths that occurred when falling fast, but overall I think you really nailed the gameplay here. I really enjoyed it and honestly could see myself high-score-hunting for a good few hours with a gameplay loop like this.

I super duper love the fairy-throw mechanic, including the ability to recover them and also that they disappear after a period of time if you do not pick them up.

The shining star of this game, for me, was the tim-burton-esque backing soundtrack. Whoever did this absolutely has a knack for it and wow- that was mighty impressive and fun to listen to.

Overall I am very happy with this game and glad I got to play it! Thank you very much for bringing this by our stream and letting us play!

P.S. I will send you a link to the gameplay as soon as I get it uploaded to YouTube. Thanks again!

Pretty Flower by ZeppelinGames 2021-05-03T19:00:39Z

Pretty Flower: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/pretty-flower

Overall:4.0 Fun:4.0 Innovation:3.0 Theme:3.5 Graphics:4.0 Audio:4.0 Humor:4.0 Mood:5.0

This little game is superb!

The controls are reactive- though the gravity is a bit slow and thus the character has a bit of a floaty feel. There is also a bit of a 'bug' with the way that wall collisions work which detracts from the overall experience.

Outside of those two issues 'Pretty Flower' is a beautiful little game with a wonderful aesthetic and very cool gameplay loop. I rather like the color palette, character model, animations, and theme regarding the flower. One could very well see this game being expanded into a full platforming experience with multiple levels!

You did a great job and I am very excited to follow you in future jams!

P.S. - We will send you a link to the video when we have our gameplay video uploaded to YouTube. Thanks for coming by our stream and letting us play your game! :)

Vox Machina by MikeW 2021-05-03T19:42:31Z

Vox Machina https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/vox-machina

Overall:4.0 Fun:3.5 Innovation:3.0 Theme:4.0 Graphics:4.0 Audio:5.0 Humor:unrated Mood:5.0

This game gives off some super strong PS1 / Retro Horror vibes and I'm very much in love with this. I really feel like there's a lot of room for expansion on this principle and these game design elements- so if you have any enthusiasm for continuing on this project I would say that you absolutely should... this was really flipping' cool.

The input has delays in design that I didn't care for- I would have preferred a bit of a sped up and more responsive game input system, but I can't say that it was 'bad'.

I was very much confused by "what is a terminal" and couldn't figure out where to do the inputs, and also could not figure out how to interact with the enemies.

Thank you very much for bringing this onto the stream and letting us play it- we had fun with it!

HELL deep is your love? by Villanelle 2021-05-03T19:55:07Z

Hell Deep Is Your Love

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:5.0 Theme:5.0 Graphics:5.0 Audio:5.0 Humor:5.0 Mood:5.0

This game is perfect.

Top tier difficulty. Amazing pixel artwork. Beautiful color palettes. Excellent story telling. Amazing level design.

There is noting I have to critique in this game and I have to apologize for that. You clearly have an incredibly firm grasp on good game design- across the board.

I am entirely okay with the slowness of the camera and movement, and the non-inclusion of checkpoints. This game lands squarely dead center in the game type it competes with- if you start to add too many quality-of-life features the game will start to lose its charm... I love it entirely as is.

This game could absolutely be a Jam Winner in my opinion... I hope you do sincerely keep working on this and turn it into a full release. If you made this into a 20-30 hour platformer then I could certainly see myself spending $15 to $25 on a full-featured release of this gameplay and design.

Thank you very much for bringing this by the stream- we had an absolute blast playing it and loved interacting with you during the play.

P.S. I will send you a link to the gameplay video as soon as we have it uploaded to YouTube-- maybe it could help some of your design decisions!

Beepo's Shop by itsBoats 2021-05-04T02:44:31Z

Beepo's Shop https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/$250427

Overall:5.0 Fun:5.0 Innovation:5.0 Theme:5.0 Graphics:5.0 Humor:5.0 Mood:5.0

This game is superb!

The user input is super quick and responsive- feels very good. I really love your upgrade loop and item-hunt pattern... very good design here! Very beautiful simplistic artwork that is very thematic and aesthetic- I felt like I was in this world. Superb game!!

I will definitely recommend this to my fellow devs! :)

LD57 — Depths

Heaven Denied by Dingbat 2025-04-10T04:47:56Z

Definitely a fascinating take on the theme, and a great little reinterpretation of other games like papers please etc.

Great work getting everything working so well, and great use of colors to emphasis mood and theme!

Is there anything you didn't finish that you wish you had more time for?

Big Boom Bob by indegame 2025-04-08T12:50:46Z

Amazing art style!

What inspired you to design the game in the way you did?

Voidrunner by BinarySpark 2025-04-10T04:48:52Z

Wow. Did you really pull all this off in just this weekend?

This is superb gameplay, very tight controls, and wonderful overall artstyle and aesthetic! Im surprised how fun it is to play!

Would you go back and change anything now that you've seen the outcome from the weekend's work?

Voidrunner by BinarySpark 2025-04-11T22:29:46Z

@binaryspark i would love swappable loadouts!

yes please keep working on it, if you have it in you-- I'd love to see a full formal release even if its just a tiny game!

Listening Winds by Hoichael 2025-04-08T06:37:08Z

Where do you go after you get here?screenshot_20250407_233631.png

Listening Winds by Hoichael 2025-04-08T07:10:20Z

@hoichael you should add just a little bit more clarification

overall this is a superb game!

I -love- your artistic style here. The change in level design is amazing.

This is something you should totally flesh out, if it spoke to you, because you really have something special here!

5/5 from me

I really loved this whole thing

Leviathan by PopDaddyGames 2025-04-07T23:31:13Z

@rukimary I have pushed an update that should have the locked cursor. I debated back and forth on a locked cursor, I just didn't like the implementation but I've gone ahead and done it. Would you please let me know if it works / feels good / is too abrasive or full of friction? Thanks!

Leviathan by PopDaddyGames 2025-04-08T19:39:10Z

Background Music should be working again. SFX have been disabled because they were slowing down the polling / refresh && ultimately slowing down the game.

I might come back to add the sfx back if I can come up with a non-performance-affecting method.

Thanks!

Leviathan by PopDaddyGames 2025-04-10T04:42:54Z

@cmaks Yes D is the debug key

As for starting the game- because of the nature of the mouse capture you have to click into the frame to start the game then the mouse works correctly. I don't know a quick workaround given that players seem to prefer having the mouse locked during play

Leviathan by PopDaddyGames 2025-04-10T04:43:47Z

@gamurmakesgems I fixed the infinite speed scale bug thank you for pointing that out. I forgot to reset in between runs!

Journey to the Centre of the Ocean by GoogleFrog 2025-04-08T07:08:34Z

I made it around 4600m (or so) deep.

This game is absolutely lovely!

I love your replayability and continuing upgrade system. The first few seconds were not that convincing but the more I played the more engaging it becomes!

This is an amazing gamejam entry! 5/5!

screenshot_20250408_000716.png

Knights From Inside My Walls by WelshDivision 2025-04-08T07:28:36Z

screenshot_20250408_002732.png

A+ On the giant wizard

I really like the randomization of spells-- really had that gungame feel from counterstrike where you dont know what your skills will be on any given level.

Fix up the colliders and spawning of objects/enemies

Keep art on frame

Expand on this and you could have a great game!

Thalassophobia by erebrus 2025-04-08T12:44:19Z

Wow how did you pull off such amazing artwork in such a short time?

This is freaking phenomenal!

Lumen Dephts by MartRoks 2025-04-08T12:16:03Z

wow the artwork is incredible! this has an incredible atmosphere too. you really nailed it!

Void Plunder by Malte Hedenstrom 2025-04-08T12:26:56Z

I cant play it- the mouse is 1000x too sensitive.

Can you fix the mouse sensitivity ++ provide custom control of it in a pause menu?

I will come back and try again if you can do that!

TRENCH by toilari 2025-04-08T12:22:50Z

screenshot_20250408_052202.png

Wow... your artwork is on another level.

This is truly superb work- excellent level design, artwork, sfx, controls, and theme. You nailed it!

Illuminat! by Thieme55 2025-04-08T12:32:32Z

This is a super cool idea!

I couldnt solve the puzzle with the multiple lights... but I'll put some more time in to see if I can.

Artwork is stunning. Sfx re very well put together for such a small little thing.

Gameplay is GREAT-- but needs a bit more information present for the player without having to intuit 100%

Where I belong by un_kirik 2025-04-08T12:52:39Z

What a lovely character design!

I love that you did a twist on this common theme style and changed up our character.

Excellent work on this game?

What inspired the artwork design?

Explodicaves by ThatFirey 2025-04-08T12:51:43Z

Very slick game design!

The way you through the levels together with these textures is great it looks really nice

I love the input- you did a good job making sure its relatively easy to actually play the game vs struggling with the controls.

What was your favorite part during development?

KILLWARE by deadjolly 2025-04-10T04:46:27Z

Wow this is great!

You nailed the interface and the overall style is just... *chefs kiss*. Great work here! Gameplay is good too- very good work on tight controls.

What was the most difficult thing to tackle during the jam and making this project?

Shinjuku-eki by Solis 2025-04-08T06:27:46Z

The artwork is truly a vibe. The sfx are great. Lighting is awesome.

Gameplay I'm not so sure- I can't really make much progress // I don't know how to progress.

Controls need some work it's not very smooth / missing left and right movement // needs a qol path to make just touching the game easier.

Overall very fascinating game!

Mafushi by Ron88 2025-04-08T12:49:09Z

screenshot_20250408_054721.png

Wow this one is actually freaking awesome!

The feeling of throwing the spear is top notch with excellent feedback. Switching back and forth between sushi mode and fishing mode was a snap-- so great work making sure no interface and input issues!

Sfx are absolutely killer-- music is a good vibe.

You really nailed the whole freaking game!

This thing has a juicy game design with fun gameplay-- definitely make a bigger version of this!

Meanepth by rensun 2025-04-08T19:50:08Z

wow this is freaking amazing! the artwork is stunning!

excellent use of controls to make the game interactable you clearly have an understanding of good user input design

amazing work on the environments too

what was the most difficult part to flesh out while you made this game?

Treasure Down Under by cmaks 2025-04-08T07:21:40Z

screenshot_20250408_002048.png

Haha-- I love the mechanic and-- for what it's worth... I love the way you 'solved' the 'short game'. Excellent work here!

Flesh this little mechanic out into a full game and you'll have something nice on your hands, for sure!

Into the depths by Perovic2018 2025-04-08T06:44:36Z

I couldn't really tell where to go or what to do.

I did walk around the tunnels and look at things- it's an interesting visual style for sure. It could use just a bit more brightness so that on my monitor I can see just a bit better, but overall fascinating work.

Controls were smooth and easy to use so props on that.

I just couldn't really tell what to do.

Eyeron Deep by salty_grndpa 2025-04-08T19:50:56Z

the game looks quite splendid but I think needs some more work.

Can you flesh it out and make sure everything you intended was fully implemented? Its okay that you didnt make the time- we really want to see you accomplish the goal you set!

DeepCrown by Wyzal 2025-04-08T19:51:24Z

What a freaking clever artistic design- and the game humor / how it plays is awesome! This is a great ldjam entry- great friggin work!

DepthBrain by GARYglhf 2025-04-08T07:17:24Z

You did a good job getting a game uploaded! Great effort!

Orb of the deep? by is.a.hatbox 2025-04-08T07:14:15Z

screenshot_20250408_001343.png

I cant kill the second skeleton on this level. :(

Depth Gem by haykam 2025-04-10T04:45:25Z

I love the difficulty curve! Great work on this one! I also love the very minmalistic art style. This would be massively enhanced if you could make everything juicy and bubbly-- maybe think about doing that artistically if you go forward to a full release?

Awesome work!

To The Core by izzqz 2025-04-08T12:43:32Z

You did an excellent job with this gameplay mechanic and implementation! Great job on the artwork!

Using the click to change directions mechanic is great and one of my favorite ways to do this exact game type and you freaking nailed it!