Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Several
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 28 | You Only Get One | The Social Avarice of an Adult Mayfly | jam | 410 | 2.74 | 2.32 | 3.34 | 2.74 | 2.55 | 1.25 | 3.41 | 2.39 | 73 | ||
| 2012 | 23 | Tiny World | Michael is Myopic | compo | 211 | 3.36 | 3.24 | 4.00 | 3.07 | 2.24 | 2.35 | 2.31 | 2.53 | 100 |
Several leaves an average of 39.0 feedback comments each event.
The text descriptions were a pleasant surprise; reminded me of System's Twilight. How you're handling healing is an interesting touch, too. If you continue development, I'd be interested in seeing how the world evolves.
A curious bug: the tanks I encountered were never visible (luckily, the text clarified why I was unable to move).
Cheers on the audio/visual aesthetic, and curiously drunken mood! Gameplay felt a little rough, though.
Had a fair bit of trouble understanding the voiceovers (often quality & enunciation issues, sometimes competing volume with the music (admittedly my speakers are somewhat muddy, though)) and reliably triggering the phrases I wanted/needed to hear (e.g. unfortunately triggering the "thanks" instead of the "what I'd like next" or triggering the "what I'd like first" instead of the first "thanks"). Some additional/immediate visual feedback would be helpful (dialogue bubbles or ideographic thought bubbles, perhaps?). Also useful would be restricting the phrases to only salient ones, interrupting phrases on successful delivery, and perhaps triggering delivery feedback when visiting with an item in tow. Alternatively, maybe just the ability to manually skip current dialogue would be enough. (If using text/thought bubbles for each clip, perhaps the player could shoot these to skip the clip?)
I also had trouble identifying a few things visually. Again, this is a case where additional visual feedback would've helped -- a text description of whatever I picked up or was near to would've been nice.
These audio & visual intelligibility issues on top of the extra legwork (the repetition of destroying the rocks on each visit to reach the planets, of waiting through dialogue clips to hear the next one, and the slowness of movement) ended up draining my patience before I received any twos in the upper left. Perhaps I'll take another go later, though--I'm sure I'll want to return to the audiovisual experience.
Like controlling a caffeinated cricket on ice. A bit too finicky to want to finish the game, but it was kind of interesting to try to die before touching the ground, so I'd respawn closer to where I fell from. (I don't believe that qualifies as a "fun" mechanic, but it's interesting all the same.) That said, if you were aiming for hardcore platforming, I wouldn't say you're very far from the mark.
Pleasant graphics outdoors. Particularly liked the ship design.
Excellent work on further development! In the post-compo levels, the visuals and multi-tasking/disparate elements to hold in mind border a bit on evil (to the extent of wanting to stop playing and take an indefinitely long break), but VVVVVV did that too (and, I think, somewhat less interestingly, as far as I have played).
Pleasant little one-button avoider. As others have observed, the day/night cycle & lights coming on are nice touches, and it seems like you could go even further.
Although it was an unpleasant surprise at first, I was able to fairly quickly get a handle on the weirdly sudden gravity by thinking of pound-the-ground moves in platformers; perhaps if there were some graphical cue to this effect (maybe a small blast at the top of the pack?) it'd help to explain or get a "feel" for the rather sudden velocity change, but it could probably stand to be a little more floaty either way.
Perfect scope for 48hrs. Gameplay becomes an interesting minefield--somewhat reminiscent of bullet-hell shooters.
Kinda wish there were some alternative to instant-a-death, but seems like this is likely just a matter of preference.
Would also prefer it if a differently colored enzyme wouldn't suddenly appear in front of the white blood cell while it's charging full speed; some sort of forewarning of the enzyme's appearance (and future location) or some placement avoidance of a radius around the player's position (perhaps with some consideration of current velocity) would be a nice subtle touch.
Amusing little game. There's definitely room to expand on the ideas.
Having a larger area turn red to indicate proximity may help playability. As it is, the proximity indicator area is quite small, the color change is fairly slight (yellow->red?), and the mechanic involves moving the magnifier rather quickly, which can result in blurring of adjacent colors (not sure if this is more screen-dependent or eye-dependent, but because there's a darker outline around the areas, it can result in some orange-looking false-positives if I'm not moving the cursor slower than most people walk).
To add to gameplay, it might be worthwhile to add deployment of cops, squad cars, or sirens to potentially herd criminals or otherwise cause them to move somewhat differently. Similarly, different movement patterns for different kinds of civilians would be interesting, and help to distract or draw attention. At the start of a level, a "last known location" for some criminals might add to the atmosphere (and make early levels easier) too. And having cops or cameras on the ground trigger alarms on identification (not always correct) could also improve immersion & make gameplay a little more hectic.
Didn't notice if there was an explanation for the instant-arrest on click, but it seemed like something that could be mined for humor or mood. Some explanations imagination suggested during play: Orbital cop bombardment? Teleporting cops? Abiogenesis? Cops hiding literally everywhere? Invisible cops sprinting after the satellite's shadow? The ineffable will of the law? Or is something going on more like the "agents" in the Matrix?
Brilliant.
Having a fire pop up a couple of pixels in front of me while I'm charging is a bit frustrating, and lack of cooldown time indicators is a bother, too. Also not very clear why I was naked, but it added something to the experience.
Regarding the game as a game, I want to argue that agency feels lacking--I don't feel like my knowledge/skill improvements make much of a difference, and I don't find much in the way of strategy. Regarding the game as art, I don't think this agency issue is a problem at all; given the theme, tone, and pacing, it makes perfect sense.
Kudos on the mode-switching & the ghost captain.
Hah. Well done.
Noticed the "filled" indicator on the second go, thanks to the audio cue. Something a little stronger would probably help, though. (Perhaps a heart over the target planet?)
Control improvements in the post-compo version are a significant improvement, too.
Desire text was invisible on Firefox 12 in OS X 10.6.8, but I was able to play in Unity from the source files (though all text was quite misaligned).
With animations (waving at desired people? interacting with environment tile? -- generally showing appreciation/disappointment to placement v. specific desires), extra graphical polish (outfits associated with names, perhaps, for faster visual identification?), more sounds, and a few board variations, this could be a pretty strong little mobile game. Quite diverting as-is, too.
Beautiful work.
The controls for breath are pretty awkward, but the metroid-vania elements are well executed, and the mood is thoroughly absorbing. There's a nice bit of synergy going on between the leaping mechanic, the theme, the pacing, and the music, I think.
Looking forward to trying to finish the game tomorrow.
I'm in OS X 10.6.8, and the app crashes on start. Looks like the relative path is stumbling somewhere? It can't find Resources or ludum.
Pity, too. The screenshot exhibits an interesting aesthetic.
log:
usage: dirname path
LudumDare.app/Contents/MacOS/ludumdare: line 4: cd: ../Resources: No such file or directory
LudumDare.app/Contents/MacOS/ludumdare: line 5: ../MacOS/ludum: No such file or directory
Exited with exit code: 127
Glad to hear you're continuing development!
To add to preceding suggestions:
- Instead of just shooting the bombs, I'd love to defuse them with a similar RoboRally mechanic, perhaps controlling one hand to de-solder, cross wires, and/or yank out pins in the correct order.
- I'd kinda like the viewable area to be one tile larger in each direction.
- There's more to mine from RoboRally that could be good fun--in particular, timed events, like strong gusts (provided forewarning 5 turns in advance) & on/off deflector shields could add some interesting wrinkles.
- The theming of the levels brings Megaman to mind. Have you considered adding perks to successful animal-scanning, or making more level-specific objects/enemies?
The concept & screenshots look appealingly odd, but I'll need a Mac or Web build to be able to play.
Pretty thoughtful start!
To the earlier requests/suggestions, I'd add:
- some sort of time controls, to stop/slow/speed up movement/action. The first couple of levels felt too slow, and later levels too fast. Being able to pause & consider strategy would certainly help with the difficulty.
- some additional ownership indicators. Mousing over, for example, to see a list of % (e.g. 20% neutral, 50% player, 30% rogue), and a constant visual element (maybe outline color? or another badge?) to indicate who currently controls the unit. For units that had special icons (the sword, for example), I definitely had a hard time determining affiliation, especially mid-battle.
On OS X 10.6.8, I was able to start the game via the .bat file in Terminal (I opened the .bat while within the game folder, to take care of the relative paths).
For Mac users that haven't fiddled much with Terminal, the easiest way to do this is probably just to open Terminal (in Applications > Utilities), type "cd" and a single space ("cd "), then drag the game folder into the Terminal window (this should autofill the path to the game folder) and hit enter (this should navigate to the folder) then type in "submarine.bat" (or drag that file into the Terminal window) and hit enter again to start the game.
Glad I made the effort to get things working--this is a very charming entry!
Was confused at first (adding the "help" menu to the normal game screen would be useful), but I made it to the bear entry by just doing what seemed to make the most sense. After reading the "help" and taking another try, I was able to beat the game quite easily. (perhaps my "story" decisions helped, though?)
If you plan on making a more polished version, I'd advise cleaning up the text to catch some of the typos & grammatical stumbles. Otherwise, much of the roughness adds to the humor, I think. The crew portraits had me chuckling immediately.
I'm inclined to file this under the "guess what I mean" kind of game, rather like riddles, crossword puzzles, and a slew of indie games that only seem to work (in my opinion) if there are very few linguistic cock-ups, insultingly obvious solutions, or totally insufficient clues. It's interesting to see this entry explore a gesture-based format, mostly for the difference it make in the experience (relying on audio to deliver the clues does a lot to augment this), but also in the way that it constrains the possible answers (providing one does not go overboard). I actually kind of like fact that "waggle 'til it works" seemed to be a perfectly viable strategy, as it helps frustration feed back into the "game" in a potentially constructive way.
A few complaints, though:
- The "any key to start" feels a bit misleading. Though I'd read the instructions before downloading, by the time I got to playing (a bit later, after reading some other things), the "key" business gave me the impression I was supposed to play with the keyboard, at least until I quit and checked the readme. Why not ask for gestural input to start? ("Move your mouse around the world to start" or something. A hint could be hidden in the voiceover, too.)
- There were a few cases where I figured out the puzzle before the voiceover stopped, and was left trying to work out the simultaneous audio tracks. I'd have preferred to hear the "completed" track continue while the visuals remained in some sort of "win" state, then transition to the next puzzle & its VO.
- As others have stated, the audio quality made the words undecipherable rather frequently.
- There were a number of occasions where I had no idea why a gesture did what it did, but this may be related to the above audio issue.
- The size of the worlds at their smallest seemed too small to reliably make out colors (on my monitor, at least).
That said, I found this to be a very refreshing experience. Thanks for sharing it!
(Note: everything I've written here refers to the original version.)
Knowing that I cannot play this in OSX is like passing a gallstone.
That head-thing looks grand, but I'm afraid I may only moan & curse & mumble for a Mac or web version. Do consider it next time!
I'd love to see this in a more finished state.
The visuals are quite lovely, and the dancing animation is direct path to joy.
The "generosity" on death is an amusing touch, too.
Amid scores of partial entries, it seemed perfectly reasonable to dismiss this as a broken demo after I mashed wasd a bit and observed no discernible reaction.
After reading the comments, I decided to take another go. It was amusing for a bit trying to figure out what was going on, in a sort of cactusquid way, but the interactions that I discovered were too irritating to pursue, and soon the app hung long enough to warrant a force-quit.
If anyone else enjoys these sorts of puzzles, it looks like the ruddy stub things move to different grid-structures at different times and disappear. You can (sometimes?) lure them out if you're standing in the right spot nearby, and the stubs will follow you as long as they're red on top. If you stand in the right spot in relation to the stubs, there will be a bit of pixel noise in a circular area around them, and they'll be content staying there forever. If you're out of that zone for too long, they'll lose the red and wander off, either back to their grid structure of choice, or to a random spot away from a grid structure for a while, before holing up in a structure again. Is there any reward to commanding as many of these stubs as possible? or leading them anywhere? I'm not curious enough to bother. But I appreciate that things emerge as symbols, and the symbols lead my imagination to interesting places. Kudos to racarate on that.
(One more note: If you stand still for long enough, the gridlines around you will flash pink in a circular region. If nothing else, this can be helpful for locating the lizard, as the pixel is often completely invisible on my monitor.)
I quite like the concept--cellular automation seems to be woefully under-explored as a starting point for gameplay. The assortment of "puzzles" in your entry is a nice touch.
The other comments here do an excellent job of highlighting the shortcomings (in-game instructions, amount & clarity of visual feedback, goals). It's a shame you didn't have time to implement more visualization of the variables in play; done abstractly, I could imagine the simulation being quite hypnotizing.
Upon realizing this would be game primarily about shooting random spawns, I was quite dubious at first, but having to frequently outrun my own wild arrows made for a very pleasant experience. Well done on the gravity + planet size + ease of missing.
While pestering someone to test my Windows build, I also pestered them to download and start up your game. Alas, I did not have the time to continue staring over their shoulder for more than a minute, but I saw enough to confirm that I want to play it. A pity there's no Mac build.
LD28 — You Only Get One (52)
1 Minute Capsule by jfroco 2014-01-07T01:35:00
Mighty charming little game.
I enjoyed the graphics, the levels, and the gameplay.
Don't have much else to say.
Kudos.
The Trail by Orava 2014-01-07T01:26:00
I played long enough to get the cake.
I liked the footprints.
Seemed a bit odd that you could pick a door that you didn't walk to.
Kind of an interesting experiment. A little too abandoned, though.
!1 Olly's LSD trip 1! by Peni6 2014-01-07T01:14:00
Strange. All I get is a pop-up that says "no more attempts", then a little bar on the top that indicates score: 0 and time counting down from something like five minutes. Everything else is white.
Only One Shot by TheTeamwithNoName 2014-01-07T00:09:00
What determines the direction a shot goes after it hits?
This is a potentially interesting start (I quite enjoy the thought of a kind of first-person Every Extend Extra), but the interaction and decision-making seem too limited in this prototype.
YOGOPlatform by uchiro 2014-01-06T23:56:00
I like the graphics, and the concept is fun.
Learning how to play is difficult, though.
I wish the platform did not disappear by itself. If it only disappeared when I pressed [space] mid-air, it would be easier to start the game.
Also, it seems I cannot create a platform if I walk off the platform. This is very confusing at first. Maybe the graphics can change, to let me know if I am allowed to create a platform? Alternatively, maybe you could allow the player to create the platform even if they walk off instead of jump off?
Anyway, an interesting entry!
Captain's Duty by VanhaVihtahousu 2014-01-06T23:39:00
Cute entry. I think other comments have summed things up pretty well.
Regarding difficulty of controls, I wish I didn't have to look in the lower left corner to see how hard I was steering. Perhaps if the red knob were visible at the front of the ship?
And some sort of indications whether I'm going at manslaughter-speed would be nice.
Follow The Leader by McDonaldsWizard 2014-01-06T23:32:00
I am kind of tired of godlike murder toys, but it was nice to see their fawning thoughts. It'd be nice to see them do more to celebrate the leader--maybe recite "poems" or "dance" or make a mud-totem in honor of the leader.
If you wanted to add a little more "play" time to the system, you could add zombification of corpses, and/or a cupid arrow that makes folk eject a wee one and bleed out eventually from the puncture wound(s).
It'd also help if corpses didn't prevent you from clicking on the people behind them. I think you might be able to set mouseEnabled to false for those, if you're using Sprites or MovieClips (and I remember Flash right).
Luminess by iiechapman 2014-01-06T23:10:00
Those particle splats & rebounds feel great. Very much so. The kill walls are nicely distinguished from other surfaces, too.
I'm surprised how much the repeated level-end text detracted from the final product. It seems like it should be pretty minor, but seeing the same text again definitely made me more conscious of my time investment. (Maybe if it were just transcribed sound effects of eating for a few rounds, it would be perfectly acceptable?)
Wish there were more to it, but that's probably a good sign if you plan on expanding on it. What's there is still a pretty solid entry, though! Good work!
To That Sect by gamesbyangelina 2014-01-06T02:55:00
I suspect a human that produced this would probably be received as maybe clever and definitely weird (in a 'your brain doesn't work like ours' way) and possibly pretentious (in a 'oh, you're just making things weird and awkward for attention, you don't really have anything meaningful to say' way).
I'm very fond of the blog, by the way. Found it through Gamasutra. Exciting, inspiring stuff.
Wild Growth by Moosefly 2014-01-06T02:43:00
Arr. It would be nice if the "easy" seed lived up to its name. Perhaps a more apt moniker may be: the "blind apocalyptic rage-inducing" seed. You have sown this in my brain, you evil strangers.
Tomorrow: you shall wake to naught but dusty, sun-scorched earth, tuneless humming, and two to three rulers that slap your knuckles and nose if you ever stop dancing.
A fitting end.
You Only Get 1! by Danman9914 2014-01-06T02:20:00
Hah. Nicely done capturing mood in the menus, interstitial screens, and brevity of the interactions. Good mix of activities, but I kind wish there were more.
Kind of a big issue: while trying to squash the orange by hurling the cat downward at it, I seem to have sent the cat through the table, never to return. It seems my only options then were to watch the orange and endure the music or reload.
The Hotdog Parable by SunShiranui 2014-01-06T02:03:00
Very cute. You've put together quite a cheery little experience.
From a gameplay standpoint, I want to say that it doesn't really feel like there are enough meaningful decisions, or really enough to do at any given moment, but, in the end, the charm of the world goes a long way.
You Only Get One Nap by Gtoknu 2013-12-22T17:51:00
Hah. The screen-shake, time-pressure, brutal difficulty, tendency to get knocked around after sleep, and enemies pouring in through black cracks in the background is really at odds with the pastel colors, soft music, and fluffy sleep theme. I suspect some strange relative has spiked the kid's milk.
I kinda wish the levels were a little less linear & difficult--it seems like there's only one correct way to play a level, which I don't find very fun. I also wish that fewer cracks had a target enemy level higher than the number of enemies to start. It also feels like the hit-boxes may be a little large.
Kudos on making a complete and evilly hard micro-platformer with mostly cute art, music, and persistent state in 48 hours.
Afterwife by Bribz 2013-12-22T17:25:00
It seems a bit confusing to credit "pinecone" with the sound, and not provide any credits for the music. The first track in the game is "Come and Find Me," by Eric Skiff ( http://ericskiff.com/music/ ), which is under an attribution license (which means you should credit him; please do so as soon as you can). Be very careful about using things without crediting whoever made them--partly because the creators can sue you, and partly because it is ungentlemanly.
In addition to the other things people have mentioned (checkpoints, etc), I'd suggest clarifying the "glide" button prompt in-game (e.g. "tap [space] while in the air to glide), and either adding a prompt for picking up the "ghost-bride," or just doing away with the button and picking her up when you bump into her.
The 9th Life by adcrusher 2013-12-22T16:39:00
Collision seemed kinda hit or miss--sometimes I'd hit the jetpack dogs, sometimes I'd pass through them. Movement also felt too slow when running.
It seemed a little odd that the scientist is better suited to dog-wrasslin' than, say, better enclosing the cat-room. I'd like to see the ability to place and repair defenses and distractions like walls, turrets, squeaky toys, mailmen, pathogens, etc.
Very stylish art, though.
The hunter by MrTedders 2013-12-21T06:44:00
Excellent work.
I've often wanted to play with permanent blindness as a gameplay element, but I doubt I would have used it in a sort of top-down sniping game, or added bits of horror in.
Bug-wise, I managed to A) run through a wall once, B) get the spear to stick parallel to a wall (such that I wasn't able to pick it up) when I fired in that direction, while pressed against said wall, and C) encounter or provoke something in the second area that produced a lot of noise and densely-packed concentric red rings but never moved.
Data Stains by Evilion 2013-12-21T06:18:00
I half-read the explanation first, and now I'm curious how much I might've puzzled out, but mostly on an ego level.
Having half-read your post, I had a sense of what I needed to do, and roughly how to go about it. While the visuals are great, I quickly focused on the objective over the visuals. After being more or less certain I achieved the objective, I hit enter. Seeing the list of deleted memories helped the experience snap unexpectedly into something much more evocative and appreciable.
I wouldn't say the gameplay itself is particularly enjoyable on its own, but I think it does play a necessary role in your entry, and--for me, at least--the entry evoked an an unusual and interesting response, which is the kind of thing I look for in art.
Thanks for sharing both the entry and the explanation.
Hammer Control by pkenney 2013-12-21T05:51:00
Definitely one of the most fun entries I've played so far. The random generation keeps things varied even if you keep dying, and sometimes makes it easier to reach the next level. And the fact that the level doesn't go down is also pretty great--you can keep playing at a level of difficulty that's actually challenging, rather than slogging through the easy stuff again. Great job, too, on the variation in enemy movement/behavior patterns (like the snake & spider).
You should really consider continuing development on this.
Some possible improvements:
- Use Screen.lockCursor (look it up in the Unity documentation, if you haven't already, as there's some extra details for doing it right in the webplayer or windowed modes). I suppose you'd have to make your own cursor to replace the system one, and then make sure you take the dead zone into account, but it's better than accidentally clicking out of the window or closing it.
- Consider adding the ability to hold shift (or any large-ish button, really) to stay still, as it's pretty easy to mouse too far and move when you just want to turn around or aim quickly.
- Provide more audio feedback for winning or dying--something still very short, but recognizable. Maybe just a coin-collection-style 'pling' sound on success would cover it.
- Perhaps provide some reason for starting the next round without hammer in hand. (Maybe the ground is falling out from under the character, and he's landing on a new level each time. Maybe time is passing--colors could change each round, perhaps with varying day/night/season details. Or there could be different locations, I guess.)
- Adding even more enemy types would be nice.
- Having non-enemy, non-wall things to hit could also be fun. Maybe something that creates a briefly fatal area (e.g. explodes) & flings your hammer back. Maybe smashable obstacles that only ghosts can pass through (until they're smashed, anyway).
Heh. I could probably keep going on. There's a lot of ways this could expand. The rapid succession of bite-sized battles in a small space with bouncing is a great kernel to build on.
You Only Get Hitbox One by eskivor 2013-12-21T04:50:00
I think I felt a little uncomfortable playing as a fat white guy who uses an expensive gift to kill the non-white security staff who rush to the scene when a white guy presses a button. This is really a comment on globalization, outsourcing, and a privileged middle class, isn't it?
The main character became spontaneously dizzy after flying; I assume it is a blood pressure thing, but maybe not.
Those bodyguard animations are great.
Dangerous pursuit by LemonTree 2013-12-21T04:29:00
You've done a really excellent job adapting and animating his drawings.
superfrozenkittengetsonlyonesecretbottleforyou by evilindiegames 2013-12-21T04:21:00
Very relaxing. Such a nice place to visit. Please explore this vein further.
I only get one hour to make a game by yatan 2013-12-21T03:53:00
Hah, I first mistook this for an allegory, where pressing spacebar once was all the input you could give the game, as a token gesture of agency. Then I realized that the 'press space' text was still up, and played an actual game.
A pretty good example of how much time-management and being willing to reduce scope can help you to finish a game. And of how little is necessary for something to be considered a game.
I mean this in a good way.
Untitled Jam Game by HuvaaKoodia 2013-12-21T03:42:00
That's some handsome art. Maybe future dev will yield a mac version?
Fantastic Franklin by Stealth 2013-12-21T03:17:00
A bit mean, letting you jump only 1-block high, killing you if you don't immediately run the opposite direction after throwing a rock, having no repair-dirt action, finding lava pop into visibility only as you are plummeting toward it, and always having to restart from the beginning, all as you get a feel for the controls.
Love the nose, though. Very happy it became the start screen.
I'm also fond of the license. This kind of thoughtfulness is pretty great.
She: A Game About Life by Hyde Wyvern 2013-12-20T04:04:00
It's a pity that transitioning between screens & stages takes so long--everything else is so well put together for 72 hours! Classy presentation, with a kind of linguistic clumsiness (or maybe it's just earnestness?) that seems spot-on for silent film writing. And, you know, it's a good moral to drive home.
Speaking of which, the driving's surprisingly challenging. After failing to reach her in time, I really wanted to play again, but after waiting for the menu to descend (while hammering on different buttons to speed it up) it seemed to have gotten stuck on the instructions screen. I don't see anyone else making these comments, though, so perhaps it is Firefox's fault?
N . D by davisan 2013-12-20T03:45:00
A nice mix of platforming abilities here. Just moving around (mixing the abilities) feels good at times. The limited visual range is kind of frustrating, though; it feels like you could zoom out 2-4x and have a more playable game.
The levels felt too randomly/arbitrarily arranged (among other things, seeing the pickups sitting above large stretches of lava more often than not seemed clumsy), but maybe zooming out would improve some of that. Might tweak the generative algorithm either way, aiming for more of a coherent or deliberate or at least player-conscious end result.
The graphics are a bit of a mix. Some things are quite pleasant (like the fog / smoke), while other things (like the lack of edging on the ground tiles, or the size ratios between blocks, player, and collectibles) seem crude.
I liked that my health refilled between rooms, but not that my bombs were apparently removed.
It's a great start. I'd like to check out the post-compo version later. For now, though: many other entries to examine.
Science Ship Cleomedes by KunoNoOni 2013-12-20T03:16:00
Hmm. I'm inclined to wonder what made me replay so many times. I think it's because it seemed like the deaths were kinda my fault, so I could just do better next time. Also because hard games with insta-death gives that kick of adrenaline that can turn into a desire for payback. So: 1) Game kicks my ass. Not too hard, but hard enough that I feel compelled to kick back. 2) Kicking back doesn't sound so hard. 3) Kicking is on the menu.
This is my theory.
Otherwise:
- Yes, as everyone says, some sort of visual timer would be nice.
- The hitboxes feel too large.
- I wasn't really sure how much the choice made a difference. The weapon could shoot further, but I didn't see much of a reason to do so, given the reload time; better to fire at the last minute if I'm about to crash. Things aren't a danger anyway unless I can't avoid them. So, both boiled down to pressing the spacebar at the last minute for me. I suppose if I somehow managed to dodge a danger after pressing the button, maybe the shield could help me if something else would collide within the next few seconds, but I only pressed the button when desperate.
- Would've liked more to see, even if that just meant seeing something in the background. It feels kind of barren.
- Levels felt too long. This is probably related to the above point, but the difficulty may also be a factor.
Good job making it challenging!
HootBow by Pixelulsar 2013-12-20T02:51:00
Round 3. The keyboard controls feel a little too tightly clustered--would be nice with a gamepad.
I think you've done a great job incorporating the theme into the mechanic--the one-arrow limit, the feel of the arrow, and the way the level defines the consequences, really make the game stand out from other jumpy-shooty entries. Also, the main character's art is wonderful. And the randomized elements of the rounds is a nice touch.
Infinite Fame by bitslap_ 2013-12-20T02:30:00
Hah. Too brutal for me to want to continue playing it, but it doesn't stop me from liking it.
Classy graphics.
Travesty by Jon Fischer 2013-12-20T02:27:00
Looks intriguing. Pity I don't have Windows.
Wall of Fingers by LTPATS 2013-12-20T02:24:00
Lovely game title. Good job designing the levels to introduce the new elements (bouncies, each mask, the mask choice) bit by bit.
Lag was an issue, and the green mask seemed to make the game much easier. Having to restart from the beginning is a little tiring--the tutorial bits actually kind of work against you here--but given the five-level length of the game, it's not really so bad. The levels feel sparse. This is perfectly normal for 48 hours, but I would like to see more strange things, as I think that's the game's biggest draw.
Wrecked by Pomb 2013-12-20T02:02:00
Yep, most people have said it already: the graphics are great, the sound is excellent, and the controls are mean. I would have said the rotation is way too fast (it is), but the idea of using the mouse to orient does sound much better than fixing the keyboard-based turning.
Single Load by willstall 2013-12-19T05:06:00
Yum! Yes, do finish this!
Process Journey by Lissar 2013-12-19T02:58:00
Surprisingly polished for 72 hours! The art, writing and sound fit well together. I'd play more of this.
I seem to have done everything right and gotten the "best ending" the first time. Perhaps because I downloaded it earlier, I ended up with the too-easy build? Everything I did made sense, though... If it really should take multiple plays, I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it quite as much. Will have to try a more recent build later.
Other, random nits (which may have been fixed?):
The initial menu seemed a little too dark, like something between states.
I think I spotted a few missing words early on. Can't recall where, unfortunately--it was before I actually got to clicked around the island.
The options menu seemed oddly arranged, somewhat difficult to tell what things were about.
I was a bit thrown off by the lack of a cursor-change or indication of what was clickable. Ditto for the click-on-the-bottom to go back. (I tried clicking near the other edges, not-quite-low-enough-at-first, apparently, and pressing escape, then space, before clicking randomly until success.)
Hidden Prison by javifugitivo 2013-12-19T02:14:00
I can't play a Windows-only game, but I can coo at the graphics.
1 shot per timeline by TaintedGear 2013-12-19T02:10:00
Your title intrigues me but I only have a Mac.
Stretch Bouquet Point by mister_morris 2013-12-19T02:01:00
I feel like the only proper evaluation should consist of a not-quite sentence, and I'm having trouble deciding between just:
Hah
(with no punctuation) and:
Eventually the shouting stopped.
Cyber Defence by Random Abductions 2013-12-19T01:51:00
Not bad. It'd be nice to get flashier visual feedback when firing, hitting, and destroying, as well as when the core is hit. And to see a wider variety in enemies shapes and behaviors. Also, I seem to have misread or misunderstood the tutorial text--I thought I could only use one power per level, and I'd never get that power back.
The Replicorp Heist by porglezomp 2013-12-19T01:33:00
Yep, looks like what often happens when one gets too ambitious. Next time, consider a minimal-viable-game that you can build onto, and be on the lookout for things that you can cut out.
As for the thing itself: the presentation is thoughtful; the tool-set is great; and the puzzle-solutions are pretty good. If you do continue development, do consider extending the flashlight (I believe Unity gives you per-pixel lighting on some number of meshes pretty reliably--perhaps it'd be worth trying that?) and making the level a little less linear, perhaps with multiple routes or solutions.
Cage Rage by adamwfindlay 2013-12-19T01:15:00
Hah. That is one long minute.
Breathe by ryanmurakami 2013-12-19T01:08:00
You made the engine and the game in 72 hours? Nice work!
It doesn't seem to run in Firefox in OSX, though. The y-position of the initial buttons (+ text) seems to be outside of the container (and thus hidden), and if I hack around that,to press the button, the screen fades to black, but everything within the svg element that should fade in just stays hidden.
Otherwise, if you plan on continuing on the engine: I'd like it if I could click to make all of the text appear at once (since it appears so slowly), instead of always skipping to the next block. I think the usual click-'skip'-to-skip, click-anywhere-else-to-show-all approach is a rather considerate way of handling things.
You Only Get One Doughnut by bionicsheep 2013-12-19T00:30:00
You seem to have made a very short game that consists mostly of excellent endings. I am impressed and somewhat staggered. No, better: I am inspired.
Unicode by natpat 2013-12-19T00:06:00
This is far more engaging than it ought to be. I'm not sure why I enjoyed playing it. Maybe the variety in the world-generation? Maybe the tension of passing through small spaces peppered with erratically-moving and instantly fatal oafs, balanced with the smooth sailing through larger-but-not-too-large, relatively safe areas? Maybe the abstraction? Maybe the font? I don't know. I liked it.
Nero Is Falling by LeafThief 2013-12-18T03:41:00
I had some trouble early on determining which areas were navigable/passable, and finding all the areas of the ship, and was a regularly distracted by the repeated phrases & mechanical disjointedness of the 'dialogue', but still left feeling quite impressed with this entry. Good job on mood, graphics, pacing, and concept!
Tether by orbitantlers 2013-12-18T00:37:00
Neat! But also very rough! I think the biggest thing it's missing is a way to see beyond the tiny screen (e.g. by adding a minimap, the ability to zoom the camera in/out, or by adding markers on the edge of the screen to indicate relative locations & distances of debris).
Re: the confusion:
Since the game always seems to start with the player bouncing/flailing around randomly, there seems to be only one button that does anything from the start: 'c' to cut the cable. While you're attached to the cable, you can't use the boost, and seem to be unable to land on anything. So really, there's only one button to start, and it only does one thing. Once.
Since you start out bouncing around randomly and you can't really see any of the pieces that you want to latch onto, there seem to be low odds of cutting the cable and not immediately dooming yourself. So you'll finally discover the one button you can press, and cut the cable, and just end up floating forever, or until you press the reset button. There's no major game feedback that tells you that you lost, you just have to decide that yourself.
How do you decide that? By a lack objects passing by, I think. It's the same if you stay latched on. You'll see a few things pass by, and then nothing. In both cases, you've missed your chance, and you don't even know it. You don't see what you need to do.
So the confusion is probably:
- Why am I suddenly bouncing around? That looks kind of glitchy. Is it glitchy?
- Why can I only press one button? I thought there were other controls?
- Why is there so little to see? Is this a game over? Should there be more to the game?
And so forth. Those 'known bugs' don't really help, either.
I hope this doesn't come off as too negative! I'm just trying to explain my own initial confusion, and perhaps explain others' as well. Once I realized that I had a narrow window to jump onto a small collection of debris and try to scuttle across it, I quite liked the game--I'd even like to make something like it! (Or something a little more like Gravity, at least.)
Alas! Picking up the jellyfish results in the little bastard bumping into me & knocking me off debris, and I've no idea where the ship went, so I just kinda gave up.
Kudos on the graphics!
YOGO Cookie by Lacutis 2013-12-17T23:12:00
Kinda cute!
I'd like an easier first level, though.
St. George's Day by TinyMoonStudios 2013-12-17T23:05:00
I'm surprised by how much I missed sound effects here. I think even just sfxr-style 'bup' and 'gworbl' sounds for firing & exploding (respectively) would make the death-dealing so much more rewarding.
Controls feel a little stiff, and it's kinda hard to get used to having only one axis of control.
But that's a lovely death-screen. And some dandy hints there. I'd like even more of that throughout. (Perhaps a rendition of 'God Save the Queen' playing in the background? With the occasional patriotic cheer or stereotypical phrase ('for king and country!' 'stiff upper lip!') when picking up power ups or downing a larger enemy?)
ONE AT A TIME. PICK WISELY TO PROSPER. by Sean Hogan (anodyne/even the ocean) 2013-12-17T05:13:00
There were sounds and movements and words and numbers and I pressed space a lot and some things turned green at the last minute and I was told I had 92 relations so I guess I liked it?
Note for future games: the spacebar also scrolls the page down in some browsers, particularly if the game/plugin/whatever element has not been clicked first, to give it focus. Make users click something first before asking them to press the spacebar in a webplayer build. (Also, please don't hide the cursor without locking it.)
SCUMBAG by Avant-Marde 2013-12-17T05:02:00
Interesting.
It's enjoyable to piece things together, but no so much to repeat the same scenes after you've exhausted their options or just want to explore a later thread. Being able to click to speed up the text would help. Being able to jump to a scene you reached earlier would also make a big difference. As it is, I got tired of the repetition (of the earlier scenes, of the music, of the word 'scumbag', of the seemingly meaningless dead ends, and of the unrelenting mood), and stopped after buying the train ticket.
Space Voyage by nikev 2013-12-17T04:38:00
"Porting […] can happen after the initial 48 hours. The longer you wait though, the less of a chance other participants will have to play your game."
(from: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/rules/ )
...so go make a mac build, please!
FASTBACK by Opifex Ludus 2013-12-17T04:16:00
I rather enjoyed this.
The story and its textual presentation are much weaker than the gameplay. Drastically so. I felt a little like quitting early.
The gameplay is fun, though! The levels felt excellently timed & sized, with a good level of challenge. The minimalist mis-en-scene is great, and the beakers are a nice touch. Even the physics (sense of weight, response to bullets) feel good.
I would like to finish the game, but I encountered a bug in the level from the second screenshot (the first area with two floors?): some of the enemies seemed to be able to see me (through the walls) as soon as I spawned, and started shooting immediately. They continued to shoot, wherever I went and however many times I died. It happened even on the first time I played the level. Hope you can fix this!
Cat Gentlemans Play: Insult Spinner 10 Cents by RobotLovesKitty 2013-12-17T03:49:00
Kudos on the humor! For me, the sound is what makes the slapping bit so excellent.
Although opening with insults is perfect thematically, the interaction for the insult spinner doesn't really work. Makes for a good screenshot, though.