Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → richard
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Po | Te | Cl | Gp | Cs | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 35 | Shapeshift | Caged | jam | 569 | 3.22 | 3.38 | 2.87 | 3.66 | 3.13 | 2.52 | 2.46 | 2.86 | 62 | ||||||
| 2014 | 30 | Connected Worlds | Dimension Plane | compo | 816 | 2.95 | 2.78 | 2.89 | 3.17 | 3.11 | 2.73 | 32 | ||||||||
| 2013 | 28 | You Only Get One | Archerilles' Heel | jam | 419 | 2.71 | 2.67 | 2.81 | 2.81 | 2.38 | 2.53 | 2.50 | 42 | |||||||
| 2004 | 5 | Random | Title Unknown | compo | 2.88 | 2.65 | 2.47 | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | 2 | Construction/Destruction | final entry | compo | 31 | 3.08 | 2.73 | 3.42 | 2.83 | 1.00 | 2.50 | 3.67 | 3.25 | 4.17 |
I loved the idea. As an arcade game there is a lot of missed opportunity as it could only provide a few minutes of entertainment.
I could easily see this idea in a puzzle game in which you could try and get to an exit without blocking yourself or trying to trap some sort of enemy in the grayed out blocks.
The graphics and audio of the game were all primitive and worked well together. Nothing looked or sounded out of place, and everything was visually/audibly pleasing.
Overall a pretty good game and I would love to see this idea taken further. Congratulations and great job on finishing!
I think this is a great game. It is simple yet I wanted to play a couple times more than originally anticipated. I don't really like random gameplay elements, so it would have been nice to have a more reliable way of getting the right card you wanted at the right time.
The graphics and audio were very well made. I enjoyed them and your art style is interesting.
I think that if more time were spent on the gameplay, this would have been a perfect game, great job! Keep up the fantastic work and have a fun time doing it!
I'm not quite sure what the game had to do with the theme, but it was a fun and interesting game to play. It's simple enough to know how to play yet complex enough to make it difficult enough so that the player can't just push buttons without thought in order to beat the AI.
The graphics are clean and beautifully crafted. Some of the UI text (like the cost of each ship) was difficult to read, however.
I don't know if I was imagining it, but it felt like whatever direction the Xenos ships decided to orbit in, it helped the player whose ships orbited in that same direction. I only played a few games so it was difficult to tell, but if it is the case then perhaps you could just have the Xenos ships alternate their orbit direction.
Great game and congratulations!
This game has great potential to improve.
The gameplay in its current state is not too interesting, just running around the room while clicking furiously. Different enemies with a variety of attacks and movement patterns can fix this. Also having multiple attacks for each hero could help as well.
It was frustrating whenever the enemies spawned right next to the hero; there was not enough time to react before taking damage. Since the hole appears in a single position, you could use that position and have the enemies spawn at least a certain distance away.
You may have had some of these things already planned, but I'd thought I'l suggest them anyway. Great start on the game! Make sure to have fun, and congratulations on your first finish!
I too get the same error Seigeengine is getting.
This is a fun game with plenty of potential to improve. You may have already had some of these ideas planned out, but I'll mention the thing I would have liked to see anyway.
This game was like a hidden object game but much easier. I would have liked to see many distractions going on in the foreground and background to make the target harder to find. Perhaps could also have targets that only appear for a short period of time every so often.
I liked that you at the very least had some moving targets to add some difficulty. Overall, great job on your game and congratulations on getting partially finished in time!
Perhaps a little too difficult, but a good game overall. I liked the idea of having multiple paths on the same level for the different power-ups. I found it great that you color-coded the blocks to be the same color as each power-up to help tell the player which way to go.
I did like the music choice you guys had, but I don't feel it fit in well with the game. Maybe it's just me, but I feel in a game with primitive graphics, you should also have primitive audio. Also, I couldn't get the - and + buttons to turn down the audio so I'm not sure if that feature was implemented or not (I was playing the Windows version).
The graphics were very nicely done. Simple, but they were clean.
The couple of seconds in between death and respawn was a bit annoying, I would have preferred it to be instantaneous. I'm also not a fan of the non-solid floors in games. Yeah eventually you learn the location of where not to jump, but it's frustrating having no indication that you cannot step on those blocks. It just seems real un-intuitive to me.
Again, you guys made a great and fun game. I hope you had fun making it, and congratulations on your accomplishment!
Very impressive for a first time entry (I'm assuming that's what it is at least, judging from your notes). The collision was great, especially since you said you only just started programming games.
I liked the idea, but it wasn't utilized a whole bunch. It was better to jump on the green enemy to get the items and I found it easier to take the hits from the purple enemies. If used more, it would have been that much better.
The sound got a little annoying after a while; it's important to include a mute button or volume control in the game as it may be difficult for some players to turn down their system volume or may be doing something else on the computer and don't want to turn the volume down.
It also wasn't possible to jump on the purple enemy launchers. I don't know if that was intentional and it doesn't make a difference because there wasn't anything to jump to, but I thought I would mention it anyway.
The ending was a bit abrupt. I would have liked to see a little ending screen to know I made it to the end (and not try and figure out how to get to the purple level in your screen shots; I'm assuming that was just a test level). Even if you had thrown something quick together last minute I think it would have helped out.
Overall, there are some great things going on. As I mentioned, the idea was great but not implemented the best. Keep practicing and most importantly, have fun!
I didn't like the idea of the main game. Trying to find one pixel that is different is not fun in the least bit; I ended up just guessing until I got it right.
The mini-games were pretty fun, although the timing is not right. You treated each frame as one millisecond, so the time spent playing each game was longer than what you guys had thought. Not a big deal, just something to watch out for in the future.
Great job on finishing your game! Keep practicing and most importantly, have fun!
When I get to the page and log in, nothing happens. I'm not sure if I was supposed to click something or a download was supposed to start, but I could not figure it out.
There doesn't seem to be any executable application in the included zip archive. Those without the paid version of GameMaker Studio cannot run the project because of the limitations.
Overall great game. The idea was good and the graphics and audio fit well together.
A mute button/volume control for the audio would have been nice. None of the music or sounds were annoying for me, but some might find them annoying. For that reason it would have been nice for software control over audio so that the player doesn't have to touch their system's volume.
The 3 different game modes weren't so different so I feel it would have been better to work on making a single polished game mode as opposed to 3 similar ones.
I found it better to move diagonally since you move faster. I'm guessing it was implemented as moving right adds so many pixels to the x-component and moving down adds so many pixels to the y-component. Using this method allows diagonal travel to be sqrt(2) times faster than non-diagonal travel! In the future, use the Pythagorean Theorem or trigonometric functions to avoid this.
With the first game mode, the health power-up doesn't disappear after collecting it. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but if it were, I don't think it should be. It made me travel to the bottom of the level more often than the other areas to pick up some health whenever I needed it.
Great job guys, and keep up the good work!
Overall, the game wasn't the most interesting to play. I just spent my time circling around the oil rigs while firing at them. There wasn't much variety.
The graphics, however, were definitely the strong point of the game. They were beautifully made, very nicely done. The cannons on the oil rigs were a bit small though, I didn't know I would be fired at until I died!
The gameplay is the most important part of any game, at least it should be. Focus on the gameplay in the future; it doesn't have to be creative or never done before, just an idea that is fun to play. Keep practicing, have fun making games, and good luck in the future!
Before I begin, let me just say that the reason I am about to write what I am is not because I hate you or I am a spiteful person, I just want to give you good feedback so that you may avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
I immediately muted my speakers when opening the game because the main menu music was terribly obnoxious. An in-game mute button would have been greatly appreciated; I feel it's important to always include one in any application involving sound so that the user can mute the application's volume easily without having to touch their system volume.
The game also didn't really relate to the theme at all. Just saying that you only get one chance to save the world isn't close enough for me.
The gameplay is not fun or interesting in the least bit. I ended up standing in one spot, mashing the fire key as fast as I could. There were also way too many cows. I'm not even sure if there was a finite number of cows because I got bored after a while.
On a positive note, I thought your graphics looked nice. While primitive, you made them work well together and I could tell what each image was.
Again, please don't take what I've said negatively and please don't get upset about it. Just take my feedback and in the future, avoid the things I mentioned. Just keep practicing because I know you can get better if you do. Good luck!
Overall, this game is fairly good, but I couldn't see myself playing for more than a few minutes at a time.
With regards to gameplay, not very interesting. Just a generic maze with a few obstacles placed in the way. The camera is jittery when transitioning from a stopped state to a moving state which was distracting. Also, jumping was unreliable in this transition as well.
The graphics were gorgeous and the audio was pretty good as well. It seems like there wasn't enough focus on the gameplay, however. Graphics, audio, story, et cetera are all important aspects, but I feel they shouldn't be the main focus of a game; that's left up to the gameplay.
Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of this, so try and focus on making the game fun to play next time and then polish the visuals if time permits. Keep on practicing, having fun, and do an even better job next time!
Well, a very interesting idea for sure. Unfortunately it is only fun for a short while, then the blocks get too fast to react. It is also possible to completely prevent any scoring or losing by moving left on the left edge of the screen. I'm not sure that was intentional, but it raises the level upon doing this and by getting the level high enough, all blocks never collide with the player.
The music was a bit repetitive, so a mute feature would have been appreciated. Keep practicing, and make an even better game for next time! Good luck and have fun!
Overall this was an okay application. I don't want to use the term 'game' because gameplay was very limited. The only interaction I had to do was move right, jump once, move right while pushing the R key every once in a while. Not very interesting for a game.
The story it told, however, was a powerful one. I really felt regret that I couldn't help the villagers of the desolate town.
The graphics and audio were beautiful. There were many graphical issues throughout, but the artwork was fantastic. The music and sound also suffered from issues, such as starting near the end of the game, but I liked it while it was playing.
To summarize, it was great as a story but poor as an actual game. I've always felt the gameplay should come first, as games have been enjoyed without stories for centuries. At their core, games should be fun to play. Nevertheless, nicely done on all of your achievements!
While I do love me some Sudoku, this game is nothing more than that. I don't feel that the idea for Sudoku fits in with the theme all that well, you could have made a more interesting game that only has one solution.
There's not much to say about gameplay. It's just a normal sudoku puzzle, no rules altered.
The graphics were a bit confusing. There was no lighter-weight lines for the inner 3-by-3 grids so it was difficult to keep track of them. The numbers weren't designed very well either. After staring at them for a while I began to mix up the numbers.
I'm guessing you couldn't come up with a good idea, but I feel that any idea would be better than using an already existing game. Keep on trying; hopefully you'll be able to come up with something next time.
Theme:
(Positive) + Some guys came up with the same idea of having the code a part of the game in my game design class last year, but you've made it interactable and it works much better than what they created; plus you've done it in much less time as well!
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Keyboard controls are simple and easy to learn. Chose some odd key bindings that I don't see too often, but they ended up working out. I imagine it would be difficult for a left handed person possibly, but I don't know for sure.
(Negative) - It's not obvious right away that you have to shoot the right part of the code in order to change it. Having a keyboard in game that the player could interact with might make more sense.
(Negative) - The gameplay is a pretty standard platformer that uses backtracking. A little bit of additions to the code world might help break things up. For example, you could add a puzzle aspect by allowing the change of a few different variables, but allowing for only one to be change at the same time.
Graphics:
(Positive) + All the graphics are consistent with one another and fit nicely into the world.
Final Thoughts:
Very great game and I had a lot of fun playing; congratulations for your accomplishments even if you were not completely satisfied with your results!
Gameplay
(Positive) + Fun puzzle mechanic that seems fairly difficult at first.
(Positive) + I do enjoy good puzzle games, and there is enough challenge in this game to make the player think a little bit.
(Negative) - After realizing that it's possible to just switch back and forth until ready to move on, it's easy to tell where to switch next. Perhaps making it so the player cannot swap on the same time in a row (would have to do something slightly different for the start tile), or even have a timer that automatically switches every few seconds.
(Negative) - The hit box for the character is a lot larger than the character; this was the cause of my losing some levels because I thought I was fully on the tile but was not.
Graphics
(Negative) - There is not a nice transition between all of the graphics. There are clear seams in the world where each tile begins and stops, and it breaks the immersion. They don't have to look nice because of the time constraints, but I feel it's important for everything to look as if it belongs in the world.
(Positive) + The graphics look nice if they were isolated from the other graphics, however.
Overall a very good game; congratulations!
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Mechanics of the game aren't difficult to pick up, making it easy to learn the game.
(Negative) - Very similar to Lunar Lander as far as controls and the idea of not crashing into the walls. Using ideas from other games is unavoidable, but there should be some effort in adding or destorting the existing mechanics into something that feels different. A simple example of something different could be having a puzzle aspect such as using the thruster to burn a piece of wood that is blocking the path.
(Negative) - Horizontal collision detection is far too unforgiving. It doesn't matter what speed the player is going at; if you collide with a wall to the left or the right then you have to start over. This was very frustrating in a game where the whole idea was to navigate your way through tight spaces.
Story:
(Positive) + The story itself is fairly interesting. The idea of an explorer going to new lands where he doesn't know the consequences is pertinent to real life, not knowing what exists in where we've not explored. You've left it rather open to interpretation, but this is how I viewed the story.
(Negative) - I feel that having the story drive the theme doesn't really make it based on the theme of Connected Worlds. I'm not saying that you did this, but it is completely possible to have a full game idea before the compo and then just adapt the story to the them without much effort. I prefer to think of having the theme drive the creation of the gameplay, but perhaps that is just me.
Graphics:
(Positive) + The graphics, while simple and primitive, were all consistent throughout the game and nothing felt out of place. Nicely done!
Final thoughts:
Overall there are definitely some improvements that can be done. Take a look at all the mistakes, and analyze what is actually a mistake and what is not so that you may not make them again. Congratulations on finishing, and good luck to all you game development endeavors in the future!
Simplicity
(Negative) - The game is a little bit too simplistic. More depth could be added by provided, like perhaps making the planets move around or by having planets that you should avoid connecting to or you lose points; things like that.
(Positive) + On the flip side, simplicity is great for mobile games as often times they aren't played in long sessions, just in periods of down time during the day. So it's good that you are thinking simple, perhaps just a little more complex would create improvements.
Graphics
(Negative) - The graphics aren't anything extraordinary.
(Positive) + The graphics are consistent across the entire game and each one looks like it fits in with the rest.
(Positive) + The randomness in planet color is a great touch; I prefer the use of the random number generator for aesthetics as opposed to gameplay elements.
Overall, this is a nice game, especially for only one day's time! Keep on improving and keep up the good work!
Gameplay:
(Positive) + Easy to learn controls and game mechanics.
(Positive) + An interesting idea for a puzzle game. I enjoyed looking for the objects to interact with.
(Negative) - Not really any puzzle solving; only look for the specific objects to interact with. It would have been nice if there were more objects that could be interacted with other than those required to solve the puzzle. This could have been done, for example, by making it so the gem gets moved away from the portal in certain situations or even making a specific order in which objects had to be interacted in. Also, I noticed that the fans could be toggled on and off, so there could have been a timing puzzle used with this.
(Negative) - Having the walls on the right highlight as the mouse moved over the triggers on the left made things a bit too easy to find; only highlighting objects when the player was right next to the trigger could change this.
Graphics:
(Positive) + The graphics are consistent and each one looks like it belongs in the same world.
Music:
(Positive) + The music fits the game very well, in both mood and quality of the instruments used.
(Negative) - The music does get a little repetitive after a while. An option to mute the music would've been nice.
Final Thoughts:
A lot of potential for improvement, mostly need to make the game feel more puzzle like. Overall great job!
Negative Points:
- Asteroids controls. I abhor the controls in Asteroids.
- Mayan calendar in the intro looks out of place.
- Idea of eating something smaller than you to get bigger is common.
- The background fooled me; I thought I was moving even though I wasn't.
- Planets appear out of nowhere. This was frustrating when they appeared right in front of the player. Would've been nice if they appeared off-screen.
- The destination is randomly placed, and can be difficult to find until you figure out to look at your distance. An arrow pointing to the destination would've been nice, so that the player could focus on dodging bullets instead of constantly looking back and forth between the character and distance.
Neutral Points:
. Even though the idea of eating smaller objects is common, it was nice that you decided to use that as ammunition.
. Gives the illusion of slower movement as you get bigger, even though you always move the same speed.
Positive Points:
+ Sounds weren't anything extraordinary, but they also didn't have the "nails on a chalkboard" effect. That's a success in my ears!
+ Graphics (aside from the Mayan calendar) were consistent throughout and looked nice.
+ Loved the twist at the end, adding humor to an otherwise grim situation.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, this was a pretty good game! Congratulations for finishing on time!
Thanks for the comments so far! I'm glad there has been some enjoyment!
@Logan: Yes, I made sure to do all my planning before moving on to actually creating the game. Most of the trouble I had with the player getting stuck was the situation where the player entered the second screen without the green orb and jumped over the "hill". I for the most part fixed this by adding a bunch of inverted green doors in the first room, but after reading your comment, I just realized that I missed some areas and it is very possible to get stuck. I wish I had noticed sooner, but I at least tried to prevent it.