Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Toccio94
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 53 | Delivery | đź‘Ą | De-Evil-ery | jam | 797 | 3.38 | 3.27 | 3.68 | 3.72 | 3.85 | 3.16 | 3.42 | |
| 2020 | 47 | Stuck in a loop | Not Enough | jam | 396 | 3.79 | 3.66 | 3.40 | 3.13 | 4.05 | 3.43 | 3.45 | 4.00 | |
| 2017 | 39 | Running out of Power | đź‘Ą | Just Another Week | jam | 483 | 3.27 | 3.05 | 3.11 | 2.61 | 3.52 | 3.05 | 2.94 | |
| 2017 | 38 | A Small World | đź‘Ą | High Noon Robots | jam | 328 | 3.45 | 3.21 | 2.85 | 3.41 | 4.17 | 3.62 | 2.96 | 3.38 |
The sound it's amazing! Loved it
Loved the style!
Nice game! I like the idea of being under the sea, and that you can get lost if you go too far from the dome =) The change of sound it's a bit annoying tho, cause you have to enter and exit a lot. Also, i would have put some extra things a bit further from the dome, so you have a reason to explore a little more.
Played till the end! It's nice =)
Nice graphic and game, but maybe too easy! You don't have to unlock the heavy to win.
The game is funny, but the audio you put in there i think it doesn't fit at all. Maybe it would have been better with a less happy music.
Nice game, but it was too much like a trial and error..
So damn good! This game is awesome!
Nice game! Played it a few times =)
This game is very stylish! I liked the visual with those particle effects, and the music was fitting the mood u setup. The gameplay is original, and I liked both that you light up the sphere that will change behavior (it helps in understanding what will change) and the fact that you can rename the parameter (though it was something that I didn't need since I've a good memory).
But it was a bit too hard to judge what was missing, since there was so much moving so fast with a weird angle (maybe moving the camera could help?). I ended up, when close to the solution, just swapping parameters until it worked. It was not frustrating at all, but it could have been more rewarding to get to the solution more on purpose.
I was getting a bit enough of it when it ended so it was perfect for me, but I can see more levels as a benefit for someone else!
It's very polished, great work!
It is a very moody and touching game. I like how it uses the theme: it's not about being stuck in the loop, but about freeing yourself from it.
You managed to create a little but living village, and those dialogs felt real. The waves in the background are the perfect background to complete this, I wonder how you did it, so I'll download the cartridge and take a look at it ahah
It's small, but polished and with a great atmosphere. I think it wouldn't need anything more based on what you want to say with it =)
Just a question: the 2 dots under the faces are a beard? ahah
Unexpected and cheerful game =) Visually is good enough, I mean I like a lot the GBA palette and the environment, but the characters are a bit too sharp.
I liked that you don't have actually to play minigames (I was a little bit cared by it but it's ludum dare fatigue of playing too many games ahah) but you tell what you are doing, and the way you do it is compelling (and there are so many texts!) and somehow helps staying in that fantasy. If the minigames were playable maybe the focus would have shifted.
It's very nice especially at the start, but I've to say that towards day 6-7 I was a bit tired, it is a bit repetitive but still I was engaged enough to want to reach the end!
That said, no music or sound whatsoever was so sad, they could have made the game a lot better but I guess you know and just didn't have time. I see this is a compo game so it is even more understandable you couldn't make it, and it blows my mind seeing the polish of the game and the content in only 48 hours.
The elite gamer that can take coin from you is a little bugged: if I had no coin I could still challange him with no problem. And when I was able to beat him, I could beat him indefinetily (I think at least) to have infinite amount of coin everyday. I don't know for sure since I didn't want to exploit it and I've done it max 2 times in a day.
I easily found the bottom entrance to the second room, but I think it could be a bit more obvious, being a gamer for me it was a second nature to try that way but it could not be the same for a more casual one.
The change of the speed through the guy it's nice but for me it is totally an extra, the walking speed is super perfect as it is now. I've also maybe added a way to know how many coins you have currently, and another option on games to just say no instead of practice and score.
I just realized towards the end that the games name were referring to real name like catris/tetris lol, nice detail ahah Besides, when the guy say that he must put sunglasses on to go on in the focus game, I hoped the sprite changed form then on to have them, it would have been so funny lol The cat is still a secret to me, who knows if you can find a cheeseburger somehow!
The end thing with you saying go away and stuff for me was a bit out of context and more a thing to add to sound cool like 4th wall breaking and stuff, but it was not fitting the rest of the game. Super cool tho that the game is playable on a gba, I don't know how hard it is to develop on it nowadays but for sure it is a challenge!
Overall, great and surprising game! I liked it a lot =)
The concept is good, but the realization could be improved a lot. It's very hard to understand what you need to do, moving around is not that fun so it seems more like a chore. I've a very good memory and so that was not a problem, otherwise I can see it becoming even harder.
I managed to get the bucket, the stick, and managed to get the info from the fireflies that the stick couldn't hit the ants, but also the wasp. I've tried to use the bucket to get the wasp poison but again, nothing.
It seems to me that I've tried all but couldn't figuring out what to do. I've lost immersion and the game was not fun but frustrating. Something I've learned is that harder is not always funnier, and for a game like this, though being lost is good because is its core, it's too much for me.
I liked that the songs changed when the timer was about to running out, that was cool, and also the tree with an evil smile on top of them. I liked that snails do not hurt you but slow you down, making them annoying in a good way for the game.
If you make it a bit more clear I could see this totally change.
Edit: after reading the comments, I discovered what maybe be the biggest block. The ant paper to me means "you can't defeat them with the stick", it wasn't very intuitive that I needed to get through them without it =/ After that the rest was a lot more straightforward (obviously keeping in mind I already discovered basically all the other things before).
Particle effects are very nice!
The presentation is good, and the mood is there, but it needs more polish. I couldn't aim properly since if I aimed a bit more up they moved their arms straight upward. Also I don't know what I was supposed to do with the monster.
I appreciate your experimentation and keep doing it, but also try to distinguish between experimentation and "random things to make it even more experimental". It can be something special without being all about being weird.
That said, it's something very personal so you should keep doing what you like, it is just a suggestion.
It was very cool, it reminded me of evoland for the evolve mechanic, but you managed to twist it by making it deeper: you have to manage which one is active. It's cool because it makes me miss what I had achieved but also understand that I don't need them all to go on (something that is tied to your message).
When I got "look" I knew I could move without right and left, but then I needed to remove it to go on and it was a very smart choice. I missed it and when I had it back I was happy, but learned I could do without it if needed. It was also clever at the beginning that you start stuck, so you try to move but can, and then just press R and have that eureka moment, really nice feel.
The background music added to the atmosphere, as for the style u use.
That said, the interface could be more clear. I've understood quickly how to use it but the X icon was too small, you could rework it for sure. I like that I have to learn it by myself and there is not a tutorial for it, but if it is more comprehensible per se it would be nice.
The pacing was also not nailed. The start was too slow: when you got the walk forward and right, the left already start to be an "ok yes I've got it let's move on to a more interesting thing". The walk backward is more or less useless to be honest. Probably what makes it worse is that the restart thing with menu and text takes 1 hour so you get bored, and sadly it detracts from the mood. I like the atmosphere you want to set, but I couldn't get into it cause of this huge empty moments =/
The mechanic you have created is very cool, having to manage which ability could be used, and u use it in a cool way at the beginning, but towards the end you have so many points, and gained a bit of experience with the game, it is not a challenge anymore. I don't know if this is intended as "you are making progress so things get easier", but just as a game I would have liked some harder challenges before the end. This obviously is something that could go against your interpretation so it is up to you.
For the message, when you explicitly say it at the end I got it of course, and looking back at the game the mechanic are well tied to it, but I think that you could have done a better job in telling it throughout the game (and not just at the end like "this was the message"): You have those lines of text between restart that could be more aimed at that message, while as now are just a more general cool and deep thing to say. I replayed it a bit to be sure of what I'm saying. Again, this is your game and you are the one that better know what you wanted to say and how, this was just my feeling.
Overall, it really surprised me and I had fun playing it, it has a good level of polish even tho it could be improved. I could easily see this mechanic expanded into a very original and entertaining game. Heck I would steal it! It was a nice experience and there should be more like this!
Edit: give more feedbacks to the others! You need a few more ratings to get to the 20 needed to get to the rankings, and this game deserves it!
Nice scary game, very polished. The visual style it's pretty cute and polished, I liked the cloudy borders you used, it gave it a dreamy look, that I think fit with the game atmosphere. The sound design is amazing, and it truly improves the mood/atmosphere of the game that is, for me, the best part of it. The sound for the crow arrival is very oppressing!
I've played both jam and post jam versions.
My biggest issue with the jam one was the music puzzle. Fact is, I've understood pretty well what I had to do and also somewhat how the not were related to each other, but it was too hard to perform without any hint. I think another issue is that the sounds you here from the door are not a piano one (or at least sounds different from the piano notes), that makes it even harder to choose the proper sounds. You fixed it in the post jam and now is clearly easier but yea, this is the kind of fix the removes the listen part because visually is so much easier. Maybe, to help def people, the best solution would be to have a setting for them? Like enable visual clues.
Also, adding fullscreen would have been so nice (maybe with itch.io you could have obtained it for free? you know, the settings in edit game), it would have improved the mood since fullscreen makes it easier to focus and immerse into the game.
Maybe another little things that could be improved is the purpose (?) of your actions, I'll try to better explain what I want to say. Basically, after the first part, you have to unlock the door with the music, and it was a nice puzzle, but I was not sure how it fit with the game apart being a gamey thing to increase length. After that you have the teapot thing, again it seemed there just to add a bit of length to the game, but to me was a bit pointless so it detracted from the game itself. I know that the teapot appears in the room to make you think that the crow was in fact the little girl (even though it appears also when you are with her), but it seemed a bit "rushed" just to give some "easy" meaning. This is not a huge issue it's just something I think could be improved to make the game better, but being a jam game I think you already did a lot.
What I really loved is how you gave the hint on this page. Instead of putting the hint directly into the description, to avoid spoilers or accidentally read the solution, you put a text here that must be decrypted using the page you link, and also you made it so you give just a little hint and then the full solution. I've appreciated it since I just needed to know the notes and with them I've managed to complete the puzzle (jam version of course). I mean, you could have just added a spoiler block (I'm not sure if it is available on this page tho) but this solution is more cool to be honest, nice to know about it, I may reuse it in the future!
I would have liked the "close your eyes" mechanics to be used more. Reading the description I thought it was more important to the game, while it's more of a gimmick to know when the crow is coming (and for the music puzzle).
Those are just my thought and suggestions, at the end I've really enjoyed the game and it's atmosphere! Great work!
Nice game, music is good. SFX are a bit loud tho and could be better.
The story was ok with also a cool twist that got me interested in it again just before I was about to be bored. Towards the end it becomes a bit confusing though, it was like I was playing another game all of a sudden.
I don't think I've much more to say about it, it's okay the way it is (apart from little improvements), good work!
Oh and I found a bug: if you ring the bell in the church like on friday, when you go into the church on the monster day he will be already there! Nothing bad happens, it just hits u and teleport you on the stairs of the church.
I liked the music (even tho the pitch was maybe a bit too high) to the point that my goal was to survive long enough to listen to it =)
The right and left steer is a bit too sensitive, you could easily fall of, and it made the experience less fluid than I would have liked. Maybe widen the level could have also helped.
It has some good vibes, nice work!
It's a very stylish game, I liked the minimal visual + chromatic aberration, and music fit it.
It took me a while to get used to the control system, it may be a bit hard to use. It was also weird that the level changed every time at the beginning, I've more or less understood that there were no level but maps were you could score. It could be an idea, but then the score is really tied to the map you made it so you would need a leaderboard for every one of them.
I've managed to make 50 points and I'm somewhat proud of it lol, but I think it's all too rough (gameplay side) to really be interesting to learn deeply. Some improvements could totally change this. An example, shots could follow the loop too, and disappear after a bit. I say this because it was really annoying to aim at those red things with a straight bullet when it was all so curved!
I've just seen this is a compo game tho, I'm really impressed by the polish of it! Reading SFML is also nostalgic, since I used it too for my first ludum dares years ago =)
Don't take me too harshly, I like to give suggestions/my thoughts, and I liked it! It's a very nice work!
The concept is good, and being a compo I could say it is also polished enough. The game works pretty well, and has a lot of things going on and is somehow addicting and intriguing. Music is good though out of context to me, sfx are also a bit too high.
That said, there are a lot of things that make it not work as I would expect =/ I'll try to explain.
The tutorial/the first matches are not very funny, but frustrating. I had to start the game 5-6 times after 1 minutes because I literally wasn't able to build anything. The problem here is mostly that you don't use those overlay panel also when you put the mouse over the thing like the tools. I needed to build one to know which was. So I built the metal thing last (I thought it was some kind of armor guy to be honest). If you added some sort of explanation when you over your mouse on them this problem would probably be solved. Also, you could have forced me to build the metal thing as first building. I liked your tutorial panels since they are short and let's say, immersive, but you should have done a bit more.
The overall balancing of the game is pretty broken to me. The stress it builds it's cool especially for the game, it fits the game perfectly, but it goes so fast I can't even learn what I'm supposed to do. Besides, you have so few people, that more or less you have to build the same exact building in order to survive (at least 2 oxygen, 1-2 farm), so you have them always busy doing that + you have to built metal or fuel. After the first planet, the stress of "how can I manage this" become more a thing I've to do again the same, because trying an alternative is too hard. I'm sure that there are weird strategy it's just too hard to try something different because it all goes up and down too quickly.
The last thing is about the uranium. I literally don't understand how it is possible to collect so much. The mechanic of having to send people is somewhat ok, but it's too punishing, 50% you lose someone, maybe you get 2 back (so only 1), and MAYBE you get 3 uranium. Sure there is the planet description to help you know what will happen, but it seemed too random, and therefore, in my second playthrough with only 15 uranium on my 3rd planet when I was almost always sending someone out to find it, I just quit because it not only seemed impossible, but totally out of my control =/
Some bugs I've seen: you can go negative of people, info panel does not hide if I click outside, I have to click on something else (or a planet tile), music at some point went off, but could be related to my headphone that disconnected from bluetooth (the music tho just didn't play anymore, but sfx yes). Probably the most annoying bug was that every info panel (like the one that appears when someone comes back from an exploration) cause the speed up to reset.
Don't get me wrong, the game is overall well made, has a nice "stressing" mood, is addicting, it's very "complete" and not just a prototype, it's polished, and being a compo it's all even more surprising. Also, the fact that u used java is another thing that makes it even more surprising. I just believe that with some balancing adjustment it could become funnier and less frustrating to play!
Well, this is hard to review.
I'll start by saying that, after I've understood it, it's a nice concept. Being a compo game I can understand it's not so polished, and it works enough to be playable and show off what your concept is.
My biggest complaint is about learning how to play.
To be honest I've made a huge mistake, I thought that I could learn how to play just by playing, something I always try to do, so I skipped the tutorial in game (though I read a bit the description of this page). This game totally can't be learned by playing it, it's not so dramatic, but you really need to make the tutorial mandatory.
What I was not getting (before looking at the tutorial in game) is: 1. You can drag with the mouse to create a big block: at first I made the if block and while with only one little block and I was like "no way", after I discovered I could create a larger block it all made a lot more sense 2. the hp goes down and the red icon goes down too if you hit something (hp for errors, red icon for successes), here the problem is a lack of sign & feedback, because it's not very visible that hp are going down and you have to explicitly look at them, but that happens only after you know you have to look at them to see the result of your action. A simple yet ugly text in the center of the screen that says (error/success) would have helped
The other issue I had was with writing while/if block. In the html version my keyboard was not working so I was confused. I then decided to download the window version and it went """fine""". I say fine that way because the keys were not the one on my keyboard, and parenthesis or > symbol were somewhere else (heck I've not even managed to find the = symbol), so I struggled every time I had to type something. I don't know how u parsed the keyboard input but maybe there should be a universal way that does not rely on the kind of keyboard you have (I've an italian one). Also, creating a block, cancel your action, deleting them, etc..., is not very intuitive and a bit clunky.
I didn't want to quit the game, I really try to give almost every entry a huge chance before dropping, and that's what made me going forward. I also was a bit curious because it was clear I was missing something. Reading the tutorial in game surely helps, even though I don't know how much for a "fresh" player since I really played it a bit before reading it and was easier to understand to me (at some point I just forgot it was there otherwise I would have looked at it sooner).
After all of this I finally knew how to play and the game worked well enough (I'm not sure but maybe sometimes they managed to exit the while loop if there were too many balls in it).
After completing the first levels, I just found a strategy that seemed the only one needed, nothing complex just a while(x) block, a huge vertical if(x) block and another while(!x) block. This led me to find the impostor just by waiting, so I went straight to the level 10 and won it.
This sadly show off another issue: the levels themselves are not very different to play, and the difficulty after the first 2-3 levels, if you've understood the game mechanics, is just about how patient you are, not about using a lot of blocks in a weird way (as said, I went straight to level 10 because the in between levels seemed a bit pointless to play).
Being a compo game, the real big issues for me is just about teaching the mechanics, the "difficulty" thing is not a real issue since in 48hours and being alone is not easy to create a compelling progression, I pointed it out just to let you know what I thought about it.
Don't take my words too harshly, I just like to give a detailed view of what my thoughts are, hoping they can help you to improve the game, but only if you think it should be improved in the first place.
I gave u 5 stars humor before playing the game, your description is so hilarious. Also they all have very small telephones ahah
The music is a bit repetitive even if it is nice. This also reminded me a lot "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix" that has a section dedicated to the bureaucracy, if you don't know that clip search for it and you will love it!
It's very long, maybe a bit too much, but it was fun and you get attached to the characters. It was fun that at some point it seems you get more involved in them than the Form, but also maybe a bit out of character, it's true that you do that in order to get the form, but it seemed the protagonist cared too much.
The end was a huge twist, I loved it, and it added to the loop theme that was already there as the bureaucracy thing.
"Martha? Please be Martha" Awesome!
The game is chilling. The art is nice as the music, it's funny they write badly on purpose to remind the experience you have when playing those games. I also think I got a reference from SAO about the beta tester.
The font could be bigger tho, and also the icon in the top left corner are not very clear, I understood more or less their meaning towards the end and think the game could be better without those kinds of management.
It was fun to reach the end, maybe a bit too long. Nice work =)
I liked the first part with the chat, the character is very believable and was a nice way to explain the game. The music is nice and the game has its atmosphere of loneliness that I liked. The way you control the character is also interesting.
Sadly, the rest of the game seems a bit lacking. I explored a bit but couldn't find anything, my clock also didn't work, at least I guess:
156.png
As you can see I don't know how to interpret that thing in the bottom as the timer. The fun thing is that, in the attempt to understand if there was some button I was missing, I used the scroll wheel and discovered that you can zoom out, though I don't know if that was intended since it lags:
157.png
I somehow discovered that with the dash you can destroy the trees (?) but don't know what the purpose is (maybe increase the timer?).
That said, it's a bit too rough but it's also a compo entry, therefore it's harder to make and I appreciate your effort. Keep it up =)
Music was nice. The connection with the theme may be a bit too weak (they are stuck but it's almost just that). It worked fine without problems tho, nice work!
This was very original! Visually is very beautiful, and the music is good (tho it has that chinese vibe that I don't see fit the game that well).
The mechanic of moving the ribbon is as you say a bit weird to get used to, especially the scissors part, but with a little bit of effort it could be easily explained, you need just a bit to get used to it!
I really liked how original it is, I'm sad though that it is more of a concept, and it's true potential is not shown (and it HAS a lot of potential). I can see this expanded into a complete game where this ribbon mechanic is used in a deeper and more interesting way! I've seen now it is a compo game, so to be honest you did way more than enough, the polish is incredible, I just hoped to see that mechanic used a bit more but I can understand that in 48 hours it can be a problem, and you did a lot of work.
It also has a bit of funny vibes with the knife part.
Overall, this is an amazing work and one of the best game I've played in this LD, also considering jam entries!
It was very intriguing! I was immersed and the atmosphere was good (I'm not sure if a background music would have improved it tho).
I liked a lot the blue color u used (less the green to be honest), as for the rounded font. The way you displayed the text was also juicy!
It's a very "disturbing" experience, I liked a lot the change on the rooms, and I realized that it wasn't just a puzzle but it was telling me a story. I'm not sure tho if it is about the guy being in a coma and therefore unplugging you die (it mentions a car crash at some point, there is also the drip and other details). Anyway it added depth to the game and make me a lot more involved in it, I played it again to see if there were more clues about it =) It may also refer to him not feeling enough for his father or else and wanting to turn all off. Or maybe both together ahah
I don't know if it was intended or not, but how you end the game, with the unplug sequence, was what made me think "maybe the game had a deeper meaning" and think about the other details, when before the end I was not paying too much attention to it. What I'm saying is that the final part helped me getting interested.
I liked how smooth and fast you move, it improves the pacing to be honest, that is already good per se, since you have small room and it is all always changing (but never too much all together), adding one at a time things that get you into it.
The only "flaw" is maybe the code thing that was out of context (it made it less likely, so less immersion) and also the date code was a guess that could lead to a lot of attempts (but at least can be bruteforced), Having also a feedback if the code was wrong or you are just resetting it could help (if you press the button it just start again).
Also, sometimes the text, especially the upper case one, goes out of the box towards the right so I couldn't read all.
It's small but polished and it has depth and details, great work!
Don't forget to rate other games otherwise you will not be able to reach the rankings! You need at least 20 votes!
My only major complaint was about mouse sensitivity, and I see you have a menu for that so great, but maybe you could advertise it since the standard sensitivity is very low (and I'm not a badass fps player) and I've seen the menu just when quitting.
Other than that cool style, nice music that fit it, and the ray mechanic was satisfying. At first was a bit unclear because I thought that only the purple boxes could be used, but I quickly discovered it was not just by trying, therefore I think it is ok like this, I like to experiment and discover the mechanic and you made them easy to understand, it was also cool to find by myself I could just stick the enemy to the wall, or even better, 2 enemies. I liked the kind of aim assistance because I'm not very good at aiming, and also made it less focused on aiming and more on smashing. Made the smash even more satisfying and powerful!
Movement was ok, like the dash, but could be improved, I felt like a more ninja/dynamic style of movement could better fit the game. The objective of the game is somewhat clear, I manage to understand it but maybe a bit weird for someone else: you have the arrow to the piece thing, but it's not very obvious that it must be linked to the sphere, maybe a more matching shape could help in making the connection. The purple color is the same, but eh it's all purple. In the end, there is not much in the level that can grab your attention so I guess you end up trying that.
The game was also very easy. I've to say that for a jam game is ok, since you let everyone explore and complete it, surely better than super hard, and I had fun smashing the guys on the wall and stuff, but with a better balancing it could have been more immersive and fun.
I couldn't find the connection with the theme though =/
That said, you need to vote more entries otherwise you will not receive enough feedbacks to make this into the rankings! you need 15 more!
Edit: reading the comments I decided to give it 1 more try to explore the map with the dash and it was funny =) Even though I couldn't find anything special. Also it seems that in the comments they talk about 3 pieces to end the game but I only needed one
Lel I thought that the reset was a game completed and that's it. I've played it again and reached the end (I guess?) but even then is a reset to the tutorial ahah Another "bug" I noticed is that sensitivity (as all the other settings I guess) is reset every run =/ So I had to set it again
Well the game is longer for sure, but maybe it is not that interesting after the 3-4 times, maybe there could be fewer pieces. The one where you need to jump is cool, but if jump becomes a core thing to do to advance I think it should be made a bit easier or at least intuitive. If it wasn't for the comment that says how to dash upwards I wouldn't have made it! I can also see a bit more the connection with the theme (repeat the thing) but is a bit of a stretch.
Killing the guys though is very satisfying for sure, you've managed to make the beam mechanic really well!
I pressed hard my left button every time I needed to brake!
It's a cute and cheerful game =) The style is nice ad for the music, sound design was good enough. I would have liked a bit more space between the stops to have time to read the thoughts, it was a bit stressing at first, I don't know if it is intended tho.
It's a bit sad that it is so short, and lacks maybe some sort of progression, it feels repetitive very fast. I'm also not sure it fits the theme that much.
Nonetheless, nice work and keep going!
Edit: from the images on this page it seems you could do something to them to make them happy (the stars) but I was not involved enough to keep going after 2 days to be honest =/
Playing it again, I realized that I must stop at the shops to make them happy. I thought about this in my first playthrough but ended up not even trying because there was no stop, so I thought it was not possible. I'll give it another shot and update my ratings and feedback!
Edit2: Ok, I think I've completed it this time (the train is into the sky but it's not ended, don't know if it is completed or again not!). I think the main reasons I quit before even trying is the control of the train, or, to be more specific, the camera that is too close when moving, that made it impossible to brake in time, and therefore you always needed to go back a little. It's very slow and may be annoying, it was to me sadly, to the point that even trying to stop at the shops was a no.
It still is a cute game =)
Plus for the fact that you made it for commodore, very, let's say, original! The game is good but require a bit too patience and precision, which is harder to have with numpad commands.
I liked that the movement of the x is snapped since it helped in going into the right spot, while when it moves, it moves smoothly so it is visually good.
I didn't understand at first you have to keep pressing ins to be honest, but somehow I figured it out. Could be improved to be more clear!
Nice work! Especially being a compo entry =)
I liked the low poly style, the palette used and the atmosphere. The sound is probably the best part of it to me, very moody and alienating. Movement is a bit clunky tho, and combat is less than a proto version.
More exploration in every dimension would have made it more engaging, and also would have made me explore each trip better, while as now you jump in and out super fast.
The final "shot" where you move and see the statue and the lions is very stunning, I liked it! Even tho it took me a while to understood it was the end of it.
I think the game would have been a lot more cohesive if you removed the combat (and the progression), I guess I would have enjoyed it more.
It must have been a challenge to work together in such a huge group!
I think the idea is cool, the hula hoop thing was clever was a concept related to the theme, but the realization is too clunky. I struggled a lot to make that hoop spin, too much to be honest. I've reached the end to see all your work, but I was tired after level 2 =/
I really think that the spin mechanic should be improved and made more natural, as it is now I was mostly trying to avoid enemies attack while struggling to make it spin just enough to make a single hit. Probably the fact that it stop at every hit is also a turn down, it removes the spin thing since it's never truly spinning but just spin for that 1 second needed to attack. Maybe if the hoop was smaller it could have helped.
I liked the enemy patterns, they are interesting and well done. The final boss was also clever with the bomb thing, but again, the bomb should be a bit easier to throw to him, I've done 10 attempts were the bomb just slightly avoid the king, very frustrating. I ended up not spinning the hoop and just go towards the bomb since it was easier (but somewhat weird I didn't need the spin).
The music was cool and fitting, the visual are good enough, probably the super short sound for the text box was not that good.
In the end, I liked more the idea than the actual realization, but it's a good starting point. I've just seen this is a compo game and, with that in mind, you did a nice work on this since, apart from balancing, is overall well polished, with also a short story that make it feel even more complete.
Cute game, fun enough to complete it
I like the style a lot, a love this abstract kind of game and they feeling they give. For this reason I'm also sad that it has not sound, it would have given it the mood it deserves, but without it the mood is sadly lacking.
The white square could appear easily, most of the time I just jumped and come back again so they were there and it was a bit frustrating. For example, I completed the game without using the blue lever because I thought it was out of reach (the square were not appearing at the beginning). I thought the way to go was to jump from the top to the red lever! And to be honest the first 3 times I didn't understand I completed the game, but thought I died somehow (the white man touched me was my first thought).
Also, you could put the color of the door somewhere when they are open (they lose it) because I couldn't remember them and I just spinned around to see which was the new door opened.
The man following you, when I discovered it I was scared! But it seems he can't do much, nice addition nonetheless.
Overall, nice idea and realization, maybe not really stuck in a loop and more stuck in a trip!
You managed to use your "lateness" in something funny, nice work!
Wow this was so fun!
You managed to create a great tension mood, both with the alarm, but also game side with the timer. I think you balanced the game pretty well, giving what it seems a small amount time at the beginning, but in the end you learn and can make a plan to make it all work, and it's not like every second matters so you are allowed to make some little mistakes.
I liked a lot that the experience here is not based on points or levels, but on the knowledge itself, learning the game and its rules one by one. At first, you are disoriented and manage to try just a few things, later on you discover more and more about the game, the map and so on and it makes for an immersive experience.
Visually may not be the best, but how you handle the camera and the light really help the atmosphere. I think that controls could be improved to move a bit easily and not get stuck so often, also the use of the tools was a bit awkward, I would make it so that you just use the one needed if you have it without having to select it, also I would make so that if you click an item it auto replace the once you have. That said, going mad trying to press r to put down the item, select the proper one, gave a feeling of stress and made me feel like I was him trying to find grasp the item while sweating (like in the films where they have to find the right key from the bunch in a hurry), so maybe, even though some improvement could be made, it should stay as it is! It's hard to tell. I also liked the rewind animation, it's cool, like the chamber with the weird thing flying resembling the project failure, very atmospheric.
The level design, just wow, you manage to unfold it piece by piece, I felt so immersive, it felt so real and made my knowledge of it even more worthy. Trying to find the best course was a pleasure. You also made it so that there are multiple ways of doing things. I just used mine but I guess others are available (for example, the red card behind all those piles of mud, I'm not sure how helpful can it be but who knows, maybe for some else was the way to go!).
At first, I didn't understand the tools were consumable and thought I dropped them somewhere, maybe that could be a little more clear? The log also is very useful at the beginning, but maybe a pop up sort of list would have been better. Having to open the log window is a bit of a turn down, especially since you don't need it anymore later on I think it does not add that much to the tension of the game. If you want to keep it anyway, at least reset it between plays, I just closed and reopened the game to achieve that. The map, though helpful, could be removed to add to the feeling of being lost and to the pleasure of discovering how big the place is by yourself, instead of having it spoiled from the beginning.
I wish I could say more about what I think about this, but maybe it's better to stop here (for my brain too lol). Amazing experience, I really loved it! I'll close with this beautiful screenshot of the game of one of my sadly FAILED attempts =) I guess he didn't want me to be safe ahah
147.png
Man you MUST play and rate more games! Otherwise you will not be able to get this into the rankings!
Italian fellas! <3 The game is very moody, the sound design is well done. It really makes you feel the apathy of an everyday life you don't like, one you feel you are stuck into. I wanted to talk with her and quit the job everyday but I discovered I needed to go through the boring job if I wanted to survive long enough to talk with her, very nailed. Also, the chat was interesting and touching, I played it again to go through all of it.
A bit sad it has not an ending of sort but she just repeat the last chat forever, I don't know if this is on purpose tho. The interface tho could be improved by a lot, I was a bit confused by it at the beginning. Also, I would have removed the use of mouse, and for the crowd part I would have made it so that I look at the center of the screen, while I just looked at the top right corner and the cool metro screen was totally ignored.
Overall a very personal game, and the cat part was very funny, very out of the loop as I think was supposed to be =)
Continuate così!
Thank you all for all your feedbacks! I'm so happy you like it <3
@anguish-bucket Thank you I'm very proud of how polished it is
@tammukka @tylerkealy he is always watching you @smoothie I'm glad you had fun speculating on it and I could say that you maybe right,but who knows! ahah
@hderue the game is supposed to be alienating, but it is a bit too disorientating cause of the palette as you say. Sadly I'm not skilled enough and did my best, also PICO-8 has only 16 colors so I also haven't much choice and preferred style and coherence over clearness!
@Asimov @nohua the connection with the theme is very strong to me, one that made me chose this concept almost instantly as I thought about it, but it may be a bit more subtle!
@smoothie @wakobu If you are curious about it you must at least see a video about the editor and you will fall in love 100%!
Thank you all for your feedback and for playing it <3
@lombax thank you for having put so much effort in trying to understand it <3
@hamus the shake and flash are supposed to disorient, but I'm sorry it was too much for you!
@tennotako @rgilpt after some feedbacks I think it could have been better with one level less ahah. it's weird to say that but it supposed to be an experience straight to the point, and I think more levels would have made the point of it lose a bit, especially for how LD games are played. I'm very happy tho that you would have liked more levels, I guess it means you really appreciate it!
@netmute This was my first experience with pico (apart for some tutorials) so I was not paying attention at all to the tokens and pasting everything to make it faster! I would have not thought that the limit would have been a problem, but now I know ahah. I was amazed by the fact you instead only needed 2k tokens for your game!
@hicko You've thrown me back in the not enough loop, goodbye you all and thank you for all the fish 🌚
Again, thank you all for the feedbacks =) They are the best part of this competition!
@etrealjunior @aljon teaching the mechanics of the game in an immersive way is one of the things I care most so I'm happy you liked that part
@arzi @dedicave @rushikesh-charapale I'm sorry music/shaking was a bit too loud for some of you. To be honest, it is supposed to be annoying but I can understand it could be a bit too much. For the shaking, I could have maybe reduced it's intensity during the room changing sequence, leaving the Not Enough sequence disturbing while softening the rest.
@battlerager I couldn't made the music in time, but I also think that the atmosphere is good enough even without it, with only the sounds of the elements and the character moving. Maybe some kind of static noise music or stuff like that could have helped!
@alpacalypse thank you, I also think the twist it's pretty clever, especially how it ties with the narration
@arad-hamidsamiee @etrealjunior @battlerager @aidanmarkham @alpacalypse to be honest I'm wondering why PICO8 is not used more for the ludum dare since it is so well packed!
@jk5000 well I guess a need to create another game called "too much" ahah, I can understand what you're saying tho! I've really put a lot even though it has its reasons. That said maybe I could have added less
@acuriosity It's an interesting point of view and to be honest I can agree it can be boring, but being a very short game I thought it was more or less ok!
@trexxak or maybe you are not reading enough into it ahah
@zliebowitz if you already have it I truly advice to try it a bit, it's so easy and rewarding!
@erlioniel I think that if you want you could create the sprite outside the little editor and then import them so if that is a problem for you about pico8 it should be solved (even though one of the charming side of pico is also it's little editor)
@mar3k it could have been an idea to have a "happy ending" but I preferred to give that sense of "not solved" that leaves you hanging and anxious!
I would also like to thank all the other players! Your feedbacks are so valuable and cheerful! Thank you =)
@trexxak thank you for this kind comment, you really want to make me cry =) I'm so glad someone noticed my effort on giving a detailed feedback, it was something I truly improved this Ludum Dare and I'm proud of!
The visual are very nice, I was shocked by the restart/character fade animation, really good! Also nice colors. Music is also good and fitting, sfx could be a bit less high-pitched tho.
The idea for the gameplay is nice, but having only one clone seems a bit restricting (but who knows, it could work), the issue is that your levels, apart from the one where you have to press many times the button, are too simple/require just a single thing that is very straightforward.
You also rely on jump a lot, but jump does not work that well, I struggle a lot in jumping when I was over my clone: a lot of times I pressed the button and the guy didn't jump, I don't know why, maybe for some bug he was considered to be in air and so the jump was discarded, or else. It was very frustrating because I needed to restart every time to make my clone to the same thing, because after some failed attempt the clone moved (where the gameboy was) and so I needed to do another one. Last level took me more than 10 attempts and it was clear it was not my fault =/
The gameboy setting at first seemed a bit out of context, just there because it's cool, but you made some sort of story with it that leads to a plot twist so at least is more reasonable. I still find it a bit of a stretch, maybe because there is no clue about it and it's just there. For this same reasons the theme connection was not that strong. This may be very personal tho!
All said and done, it's a nice and polished game with a cool style, and I think that with some improvements it could become funnier/smoother and also a bit more challenging.
Visually very stunning, and the fact you can move the camera adds to the atmosphere, that was still well done even without it. Sound design is very nailed! I didn't get the story too much, but I admit I didn't try to understand it more than just the first playthrough.
The gameplay is also fun, using your own body to pass through traps or activate plates, when I discovered I had to do that it suprised me! It also makes a nice fit with the theme
Also, it's very polished and has a lot of things going on, being only two devs means you are very talented, nice work!
Little game but it works well, you managed to use efficiently yours 3 hours ahah
I've played both version, and in the post jam you manage to fix all the issue I could have raised (spawning too close to me and missing sfxes).
It's simple but it's visually cute, and the differences in speed gives it a spin, like turning pink but then blue that is faster comes sooner and you have to change again. Maybe having a single button for every color would have helped, even though this way you're "looping" through the colors, so we can say it's more on theme lol
I also like how it gets naturally harder when you're close to the end because you have to manage the bigger size.
Since you're uploading pico8 on itch.io I would like to share a guide I've made to make the game frame a bit prettier (no grey border for example). If you want to give it a shot: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=40036
Funny game, made me laugh a bit! The mechanic of the cereal moving is cool and clever, and it was nice to teleport around to avoid the bullet.
But, it is a bit too hardcore, I guess I made through max 4 waves, you have to move too much and sometimes I misclicked and you need only one bullet to die =/ Sound for the text is a bit too loud, and also the fact that the more it writes the smaller the text become is very disturbing when reading. Maybe you should just look at how long the string will be and set the font size to be the same for all the text.
Overall it was a nice work!
Edit: I played it a bit more and got to level 3. I'm glad I did because it has given me a bit more laugh (especially those sections where you move the hand in first person) but still it was a bit too hard. Also it was a bit hard to understand the story, probably because how hard it was to follow the text!
I liked the music, and the rope gameplay worked well and was intuitive. The bark was a nice addition but I used it only once to make a group of people on my way run somewhere else (I think it was to be used this way, just not very useful).
I've read your post about the palette and I'm sorry you couldn't solve the issue in time, though you made me notice the natural queerness of the game. Being a gay man I appreciate you thought about it!
Sadly, fullscreen you lose a portion of the game, so I couldn't see the timer while playing! But it adds those blue square that may be not intended but I found cool ahah
It is cheerful, nice work =) I'm sad you had problems with being in the jam, hope you manage to solve th issue!
I don't think I'll play this so I can't rate you, but this idea surprised me so nice work!
I've first played the jam and then the post jam version.
The game has something, likely related to the atmosphere. Thanks to that I was a bit intrigued by this and curios to know if it has something more. The lack of music with only the step was maybe a plus for improving the atmosphere, I don't know if some more sfx could have helped tho, but I lack how you handled the music overall (being by choice or just by lack of time). Also, being lonely and having to repeat the same thing in the same room added to the atmosphere, and when dark things started to come in, you feel even more immersed into this weird nightmare. I liked how you created the evil dark thing that follows you, with the moving squares, and also when the level changes because you stay too close to the red thing for too long, very cool.
That said, the game is a bit rough, controls are not the best tho can be funny since the game is not that punishing. The label for the money is weirdly put in the middle, and is barely visible. I've run the game again to see if in windowed mode it was anchored to the top but it's not, though I saw that with fullscreen enabled there are a lot of bugs that are not there in windowed (I played fullscreen). In fullscreen (unity one, not itch.io one) I couldn't see the button text in the menu, nor all the room (now I know why I couldn't move in some direction, I though was just by choice).
I liked the way the character is animated and the physic aspect of the props, I also liked that the room is always the same just rotated, when I noticed that it was cool. But the game is very short also in content, that's why I say it's rough, it's half a prototype maybe. The thief thing also didn't make that much sense and was a bit just put there.
I know how much effort it could take to do a game for a ludum dare, so I think that you made a nice work nonetheless, especially since you made this alone and still managed to put a lot of things in there.
As a side note, I've tried the post jam, and if you fix the gravity you should also remember to adjust your level design. With a stronger gravity I was not able to jump as before, and it was harder to escape some situations!
This is somewhat so wholesome! When I loaded the page I just stayed there listening to the tune, so chilling and happy <3 This game is so beautiful both visually and musically =) I was totally impressed, the mood was so nailed. I want to share this to my friends so they can feel these vibes too (I played solo anyway).
My only complaint is about the movement. I needed a bit to understand it (gravity was pulling me down, direction is about clockwise or anti), it's ok for me to discover the mechanics but I think that the movement itself could be also improved, and the combination of the two things (hard to understand and control) make it a little bit too difficult for the mood it sets you into.
Maybe just have you bounce when you hit a rock or the planet instead of die could have helped.
I've tried (alone so sad) how it is with 2 players mode and it could be funnier since it is that kind of game where you struggle and with friends the struggle becomes something to laugh at, but alone it is a bit too frustrating at times.
Very addicting, raging game like ahah The visual style is pretty cool, I liked those huge big pixel moving not pixel perfect, that set a sort of "distorted" atmosphere. Having no music and using only the gear sound was perfect to me, it improved the mood. The speed up visual/sound when the loop changed was also cool, but I don't know why it felt a bit laggy. Still nice to have, increased the tension.
Game side, it's fun, maybe your movement are a bit limited, especially in mid-air, but I could say that it was ok for this game, not sure though. Anyway, I've never felt like I was losing cause of the game being unfair, but mostly because I needed to get better with the movement and to better know how to react in the various situations. I say this to specify that the way you designed the level make the limited movement enough and not like a huge struggle that makes it super hard. It was fun to master one loop and then having to know how to overcome the next.
The annoying things was having to do it over and over from the start. It was like that 3 phases boss where you perfectly know how to handle the first 2 phases but you have to do them every time anyway.
Also, at first I thought the white dot in the middle was something that could hurt u (don't know why since it is white) and I wanted to touch it to understand if it did something. More than half the time I played was in trying to touch it LOL, but when I saw that it was safe, I knew I had my ticket to the end of the game ahah.
This is how I won lol (without this trick, I managed to get to the last loop once).
150.png
I was wondering if you made the center dot for this purpose, or if it was supposed to be an obstacle (I mean, I struggled to touch it so it was not that much of an obstacle tbh).
Nice and fun game, small but polished!
Edit: you made a lot of identical post to promote your games. It's not like you made a lot of them and it's mostly ok, what makes me a bit angry is that you made them to promote your game and you just voted 9 games. I mean, come on, at least rates if you want to be rated so much... If you don't have time to rate I don't think is cool to spam the same post to have more when you already have a lot
I've played the jam version (then the fixed one but I'll review the jam one!) and ended up with 30-35k score.
Being a compo game, it is very polished and packaged. Visually is very nice and the music fits the game pretty well. Sounds effect are really satisfying and, considering also the speaker voice, makes the game humorous.
The idea for the game is interesting, but I think that it should have had more depth. I'll try to explain. You have to circle the zombies to hit them, but that's more or less about it, it's not so different from plain aim and click. If the circle thing had more impact I would have liked it more, while now it just seems a weird and annoying way to aim and stay on theme. Sure the circle slow down zombies but I don't think it's enough to justify it (usually slow down happens in aim and click too tbh). I'm trying to think at a solution but can't come up with one, maybe the circle should create a little fence that trap the zombies, dunno. It's also not so clear what to do at the beginning even though you can learn it just by playing.
Fence health was also a bit hard to judge, I guess its health is split for every part of it, but I'm not sure and I'm not sure when it is about to break so which side I should protect more. Shops are also a bit weird/rushed, you improved it in the post jam version but also made it harder maybe (no more fence repair or maybe it costs a lot more).
Post jam though, with added zombies, is more interesting, nice to know that you worked on it more than (or then?!) just bug fixing.
Don't take me too harshly, the game is overall well done and as already said polished, and for a compo entry it's even more and I take it into account. My biggest issues is not about the realization itself but more about the core circle mechanic as a concept itself.
I managed to wipe out 88% of them!
This game is funny, but the best part to me is the music. It's sooo good to hear and set you in the right mood. I'm impressed! The sfx are also well done and integrate well with the music itself.
The visual are simple but funny, and overall is very cohesive. Being done in PICO-8 I guess you used basically the whole sprite sheet just to make the bosses ahah
As for the control, they are good enough, but I would have preferred some sort of "smoother" movement, like with a bit of friction. It seems to fit more with the asteroid thing, even though it would have been clearly harder to control. Pacing is good, with some panel here and there to take some seconds of break, but maybe it would have been better if the game was a bit shorter. It's not that becomes boring, but near the end it was a bit repetitive and I kept playing to see the end. This is personal though, probably someone else would have preferred even more!
I liked how you handled health: instead of a bunch of lives and game over, you have this score system, and therefore it's not about reaching the end let's say but more about reaching the end as big as possible. This makes the experience engaging and also not frustrating cause I don't have to restart the game every 4-5 hits. It also let you add more chaos to the screen without caring too much if the player will be able to avoid all of them because some hits don't hurt that much.
Theme is not very clear to me, probably the orbit thing is the only thing I can relate with the theme, but being only written and not even visible makes it a weak connection.
Overall, this is a great entry, very polished, great work!
Visually is nice, and the bounce animation (and the movement one with the tilt) is a good and easy idea to make them more alive (even though the way they stretch distorts the pixel a bit too much). Movement could be improved as for the sound of moving that can be annoying when moving a lot.
I liked the feeling of being lost and have to explore, even though it may be not clear you have to find the rocket and repair it (I more or less manage to understand it because I've read the description before playing).
The AI planning idea is cool, but not very intuitive, at first I didn't understand I could replace the initial position by clicking on them, and that I have to upgrade their tools in the record phase. Also, if you want to change the plan, you have to manage to click on them and wait their loop to end =/ It's nice that you have to carefully plan their movement to not overlap the others, especially at the beginning when you have only one storage.
Maybe you could add numbers to quickly choose the upgrade instead of clicking, especially for bridges!
My biggest complaint is that the pacing is off. It takes a lot to start (gather woods, back, gather woods, back, bridge, bridge, etc…), and even with bots it seems the progression is too slow, I've lost interest after a bit. At some point I needed to go to lunch and have left the game there, 1 hour after I was not done yet! It is still there lol, I'll let you know when it is completed (I'll not create bots to make it faster at this point, just wait).
The upgrade system is something I like, but the upgrades themselves seem not that much: backpack upgrade seems a bit useless especially for how much it costs compared to 1 only extra slot for upgrade. Tool upgrade was meaningless to me after the second level (I don't know what improves to be honest!).
I liked the way you designed the map so that you can end up finding the rocket without having to create bridge towards nothing. With this I mean that you always put the next islands in a way that at least some tiles are visible from the previous one, so I know I can progress toward that direction. It does feel a bit linear, but still well done, and probably, since there is not too much to do, if it was not linear it would have been frustrating.
At last, it takes too much to repair the rocket! Maybe this is intended for some reasons, but I see this a mistake I've already done. To drag the game, you could think "If I put
I don't want to sound too harsh, those are just suggestions, I liked the idea of your game and I truly think that it could become a very funny one with some improvements! Keep going =)
Edit: after 1 hour and a half I had enough resources to complete the game ahah
It was nice, especially being your first jam =)
I would have liked to have more time when reading the messages on top since there is a lot of text, either the text become shorter or the time stops when I'm reading, something like this. Also, the text disappear automatically after some seconds, I would have preferred to have a button for it so I can choose when I'm done.
I also thought it was a bit annoying to have to do it from the start, especially since you have to pass through the vhs sequence everytime, it breaks the immersion sadly. The interaction were also a bit random to me (clean the cups for example), I mean I didn't understand their meaning apart from add content to the game.
That said, it's playable from start to finish without troubles, nice work!
@vphyre thank for the clarification, I didn’t want to sound too harsh, you managed to complete it in 72 hours and it is not easy! I’m also playing many games from the ludum dare so sometimes I can be a bit tired and pay less attention, therefore the misunderstanding could be just a thing of mine. Feedbacks are important but in the end I think you must listen yourself and what (and how) you want to make the game come to life.
I hope you manage to go on with it and make it as intended =)
Well I've got a neutral pig familiar, guess I'm safe lol keep going =)
It's a start, but maybe a bit too simple design side, after 2 lap it seems to me you've seen it all and it's not that fun to go on.
I liked the auto follow bite and the sounds you made for it, very on point, on the other hand I'm not sure what the purple box were supposed to be (platform, obstacle, both?). I found it nice and intuitive that jump makes you move faster (like no friction with the ground) making you escape easier from the monster but also with a bit less control (being that fast) and the risk of getting caught by the rotating spikes. I mean that it has a good balance with its pros and cons, you can't just spam it.
The visual are nice though could be more consistent since the worms have a slightly different style, like the purple platform. The music fits the game, but your voice could be barely heard. I'm not a native english one so it made it harder to follow, not considering I have to follow the game too =/ I'm also not a fun of that kind of humor, so I can't say I liked it for personal preferences. You could also make it so that it does not restart when you die, so it does not sound repetitive. I've seen in the comments tho that someone got that as an incentive to reach higher score (listen to all the track).
For the keyboard controls, you may remove the need of a mouse and just use 2 other buttons for jumping and biting (w to jump space to bite?)
That said, it works without problems, keep going!
@acuriosity I think I've reached somewhere near 10k points! I've tried it a bit more after reading the comments.
Oh god I've written the whole response and hit back and it refreshed the page I want to die.
Anyway, I've tried the new setup and it works pretty well, it's more comfortable and intuitive. This time I was able to reach 20k, but I think the main change you made was to not reset your recording, so I was able to listen to it all. It was way more enjoyable to listen to it this way, while playing in a chilly way.
I still had a hard time following what you were saying, mostly because it was hard to hear you (this time I was also not wearing headphones and it was even worse).
I'm very glad you care about your game being enjoyable, but in the end you have to make the changes only if you think they are worthy/right to you, not because an asshole like me complained ahah
O and this time, I don't know why, I looked more at the planet and it has a simple sprite, but I was charmed by the rotating flowers on it, can't say why tho lol
It's cool visually to move the account and see all the lines move with it, but I think there are too many of them and it makes it a bit too confusing: I would say the same for the number of news. I think with less of them the game would have been more focused.
Also, a label over the objectives would have helped understand what they are, even if it is written in the menu page.
Last time I had to make them believe both "Dollar True" and "Dollar False" LOL
Music is nice!
This was a great game!
First, the "combat" mechanic of standing still is perfectly executed. It makes the game "relaxing" to play and focus you on positioning, it was very compelling, and I was eager to get stronger to go on. It has depth (for example, you can take the hit aimed are your father), especially for how little the experience is. Sometimes games want you to press 10 different buttons in 10 different way to make the combat fun, you managed to make it fun without stressing and relying on artificial difficulty (infinite amount of buttons and stuff to do), and this help in getting better at it, because I know I can focus on just my position.
You also made a simple yet very rewarding progression system. I truly felt I was improving and not like "5% extra attack that you may notice but very likely not".
Visually is very nice, the palette fit the atmosphere and improves it. I liked the particle effect, and the chromatic aberration. You used them really well to improve the mood. Music was also nice.
Initially I thought it was a normal game, but you manage to do the unexpected which I like a lot. The atmosphere become better and better, I was greatly immersed into the game and the mood was nailed! I liked how you progress through the story, liked it and wanted to go on to see how you would have surprised me next. I don't know how you could write so many interesting text in just 72 hours, mixed with the fact that you also made all the rest of the game so well.
It has also its funny moments. It was fun to see the goose being hit forever by the skeleton never dying: it must be tougher than me! It was also clever the fact that you must wait your father to go away to kill it, it's also well put, not something you can't understand and makes you stuck into the game wondering what the heck the solution is.
The pacing was perfect, never felt the game was dragged, and I had always something new that got my attention. It also ended at the right time.
The twist at the end was maybe a little too much, a bit too forced let's say. I would also remove the stat menu to be honest. It feels more immersive to just see you are stronger, I didn't even pay attention to it until the end.
You said to me It's almost like I am a pro, but you are for sure good at least as much as me, if not more! I can see you have a high attention to details and know what is important and what is better to remove from the game to make it better, with a stronger vision.
The polish of this game is incredible! You MUST give more feedback to receive the 20 ratings you need to be valid for the final ranking of the ludum dare!
One of the best game I've played so far =)
Edit: I've made my boyfriend play it and he killed the goose in the first loop and was so sad, but also happy to find it alive in the next loop! (Though he didn't know yet what he would have to do ahah). He also laughed hard at the sadness death!
Edit2: I realized I never died and tried a run without only me dying, and u made text for that too! You really put in so many details, also some like this that could be easily missed, I'm amazed! The end is always the same though, but nonetheless impressive!
It's a funny game, and music fits it (get up, get up!).
It's maybe too short and easy, on my first playthrough I basically went to the cabin with no effort in 23:28. I tried a second time and saw that I was lucky, but I just kept pressing the buttons till I reached the cabin at 57:something.
That said, when they fall and you can see their stupid faces, I smiled =)
You need to vote some more games to reach the 20 limit to get into the rankings! It does not take too much time so please do it for you and your game!
Wow what a surprising game! I love this kind of games that subvert your expectations, it really did that for me. I loved how you set up the game to really make you think there is the content the grandad talk about, a man on the water, some walls to climb etc... So it's hard to doubt that, and then you make the PC thing that is a very wtf moment where I knew I was into something interesting. The game per se seemed interesting enough, with nice music and visual, but nothing too special, so I was so excited when that thing happened.
And yet, I thought it was just that, not that much to be honest, but then you had the second pc thing and so on, and it set you in that atmosphere of "I'm in the game too".
And you know, now I actually I'm a bit sad I couldn't make to the town ahah.
How you made the room where the pc is, is also very cool, just a draft, that improves the weird atmosphere. Nailed.
For the theme I don't really know if it is very nailed or just enough, because you are surely stuck in a loop into the 2d game, but the rest is more of an inception thing, not sure.
You've also written a perfect description "A non-suspicious rpg" now that I read it again it's so funny, and also "You may also experience a sense of freedom, as your boring modern life fades away into the background." it makes even more sense now.
Being the game that it is, I would say it's perfect the way it is now, my only "complaint" is about the control for the 2d part because it felt a bit laggy, especially when I wanted to change direction, but I could say it does not matter that much for this game. To be honest, I've also spent a lot of time exploring and now that I thought about it, it was so meaningless ahah, even though it shows that you made a good job in making the game believable and immersive enough to increase the surprise and others emotions when the rest of the game happens.
This is one of the best game I've played in this ludum dare, thank you for making this, very inspirational, something I would love to make in the future too! Also, thank you for having streamed my game =)
The music is very nice, as the animation of the main character. The pizza maybe could come back faster!
Edit, I've just seen the challenges you put in the comments. I will try the game again now, I think you should add like a panel in game so at least you have a purpose and explore the potential of the dash!
@quadape nice avatar image ahah
This was really fun and addicting, completing it was a pleasure. The hook mechanic is very satisfying, i like that it has no length limit so you always attach to something (unless it is a spike, it could have been useful to have a sound for it). The style is very cool and original, I liked the chromatic aberration and how u smoothly move and tilt the camera based on the movement.
Level design is also well made, I mostly could move smoothly through a level, and not like stop and guess "I've to hook there or here?" then move and stop again. You are always moving and that is perfect, it gives a special dynamism to the game. I also felt lost in hem and it helped atmosphere and immersion.
That said, the base movement, if it is not needed since u mostly use the hook, could be improved a lot, it was too laggy. I would have also removed completely the glide and wall jump mechanic, I think they are out of the focus of the game. I can see you wanted to merge the hook with them, like in one of the last levels, but it wasn't working for me, maybe could be improved to better fit the hook mechanic.
Also, I really think this game was not on theme, even if I try my best to understand the connection it just seems it is not connected to it.
I could easily see this game with more levels and stuff as a complete game! Great work!
Cute game! The mix of platforming and memory is original and fun to play. The rules are clear, but you should clear the green label on the top when the levels is completed. If you took a coin last it keep saying "You took a coin" for example and it may confuse someone who has not understood the rules yet
With a bit more of polish, especially visually, could have been even better
The pixel art is nice, especially the background one! The true enemy here are the crates, so hard to destroy ahah A bit too repetitive tho, but in 72 hours it's still a nice accomplishment
The music fits the game and is cool, maybe a bit too loud, and I also liked the sounds, they had some sort of reverb that make them merge with the music pretty well!
Combat could be improved a bit, but for this game I think is good enough. When I died and saw I had to do it all again I was a bit disappointed to be honest =/ I know it is part of your game story, but if at least the door was still opened it would have helped. I think this kind of game where you have to do it all again works better when you don't have to do it all again 100% but can skip some part thanks to the knowledge of the previous run.
The connection with the theme is there but may be a little more, the fact that chronos makes you start it again it's more of a setting to make it fit the game. Maybe I liked more the connection with the map that is itself a loop, and you are stuck in it.
Not kidding, and not to underestimate the rest of the game, but the credits were my best part of the game lol I liked that you present the enemies, it reminded me super mario world or something like that. And give the sultan some clothes! ahah
That said, the game is polished enough, it's a complete experience, and I had no trouble with it (but a heart spawning on the wall
This was a great entry!
The atmosphere of this game is pure joy to me. You've managed to improve it with everything you have. The minimal visual with only two colors improves the feeling of discomfort, of uneasiness, while the way the character moves makes it even more alienating, mystical. The sfx you used also gives these same feeling, improving even more the game. Then you have the gameplay itself, where you must explore this weird ruins, and you feel lost, again improving the mood. I mean, this is a 5 start mood for me, I'm really amazed at how you've managed to create that world.
Visually speaking is also very beautiful, the way the gem moves is so elegant and makes it funny to control, it also makes it feel the movement fresh, not some plain movement control always seen in a lot of platform games. You've also such a high attention to details (right now I've scrolled to see if this was a compo game but fortunately it's not otherwise you would be god), like the dots that stays with you all the time, changing form and fusing with you for the jump. This details also improved the world atmosphere, make it feels even more believable, and, as all the other things, makes you totally immersed. The level itself is also nice built, with just a few different tiles that makes the difference in establishing where you are. Those shrines are cool. Obviously the creation power is amazing visually, I've decided to play this just after seeing the gif on the home page, I was charmed by it.
The sfx were really cool and the fact that they are annoying to me helped the atmosphere of uneasiness and alienating-ness. Maybe some of them are a bit too loud, but I've just lowered down the volume to fix that. I also liked that there is no background music (even if I don't know if it is on purpose or by time constraint), it helps in making you feel uncomfortable.
Even though I liked a lot the way the gem moves, I think controls could have been a bit easier to use, since you have just a few tricky platforming that, let's say, ruin a bit the immersion, because it's a spike in difficulty that seems artificial. Another way to fix that (and the best probably), if you don't want to change the control, could be to just adjust a bit the level to avoid those tricky part. I mean, if you like that difficulty is ok, but for me they made my "fluid" experience, like a dream, less fluid.
Pacing was also another issue I had with this. I like how the game makes you explore and give you more option bit by bit, I think you did a great work in leading the player without it being too clear, just hinting. But when you have to destroy a lot, it feels good but it's also a bit slow and confusing. The screen shakes every time so basically forever when digging to find the way, and you also have to be precise on clicking the squares. Maybe if the destroy had a bigger radius it would have been a more fluid experience.
The other issue with pacing is the last section, where you are left wondering where to go, and being so slow in digging, and also having the change to go up (where there seems to be nothing) it could be a turn off. I liked the game a lot so I keep playing until I managed to complete it, and it also has some kind of hint since the last part where you have to dig is one where you don't find anything before, but it was maybe too much. Maybe with a more powerful destroy this could be instantly change and not be a "pain".
As last, the theme is surely there having that thing killing you every x seconds (and I liked that you don't specify the timer so it makes it even more stressing "will I get there in time? dig dig dig"), but it's just that, it's not bad but compared to the rest of the game is just good enough.
That said, wow, this game was just so amazing! It's really a shame you have so few ratings but you also have rated few games =/ Please play and rate some game (and leave comments for karma) as long as you have time, this game deserves to be in the final ratings! (or not, so I have more chances to be higher ahah)
It's naturally fun and addicting. I liked that the mechanics are not explained but can be easily learned by playing, made it more rewarding and more surprising.
Visually is nice, and the sound design fit the game. To be honest it's perfect this way, without music and just the sound made by playing. It sets the right mood.
For a compo game, this is very polished and fun, great work!
Edit: Please play and rate more game so you will receive more feedback and reach the minum of 20!
Edit2: after learning from the comments I can shot more than once I played it again and it is even more funny! It should be a feature if it was not supposed to be!
The game is a bit too hard since the movement is out of control. I didn't even reach the end of the level. The death animation was also a bit too long. Nonetheless you get the work done, keep going!
The game is super fun and addicting, the style is nailed to the game very flashy and disturbing, I like it! Also the music fit very well. It's very hard and the challenge seems to fit the game, since it is like he wants to kid u, but maybe you could have made it a bit easier. I tried my best and really wanted to finish this, but when I saw I needed more than 3 hits for the boss, I gave up. Too much for me!
The mechanic of the coins was fun and it was also fun to discover it, and not like said at the beginning as a tutorial (the fact that they explode for example, or the tangle). The tangle also was nice, but it was never something that really made me more in trouble, indeed I thought more tangle helped me moving more precisely lol
My biggest complain is about the controls: I used AD since the mouse seemed impossible to use properly, but it was very hard to judge the direction of the movement since I'm rotating. From time to time I pressed D think to go right but i went left, because AD are not left and right but clockwise and anti clockwise, and it is always a bit too weird to get used to. Also, since the dash relied on the last direction, sometime I've myself dashing in the opposite direction, maybe if the sprite said which was the direction it would have helped.
If the controls were better I think that the difficulty of the game would have been ok as it is now. I could imagine that the weird controls could be part of the design (to alienate even more), but for me they were too frustrating.
Overall is very polished and immersive, so well done!
@kirstu I'm sure I was close and I'm sad for not finishing it, but it was too much for my nerve ahah Probably, for the controls you could have that, for example, D always makes you rotate to the right, and keep rotating that way if it become left, but if you stop moving and press D again you turn back to the right. I don't know if this is clear said in this way, but it is something similar to what it is usually done with the movement in a 3d world when the camera change instantly, you still go in the supposed direction even if it is not synced anymore with the joystick, but if you stop moving it reset how it works
Music is cool. Shift for the dash was a bit awkard tho, and movement in general could be improved. Overall is a nice work!
The rope mini game is very creepy, I was a bit scared by it. The music was cool! The credits come faster then I expected tho, they almost scared me lol Nonetheless, it's always an accomplishment to complete a jam, keep going!
46.79 here Cute game, I liked the transition from the level to the snail at the end
The menu music is very alienating, I like it! Also, the transition from the star to the ground was unexpected and very cool. The ufo was also unexpected and made me smile ahah Coins were a bit hard to get tho Overall, is nice and works well, keep going!
The style is nice, but the game is too short, and the controls are very weird.
The sound design is very well down. I like the atmosphere and the mood, and also visually is very nice. Loved how you animated them using the colors!
I didn't understand at first that I had to stop to eat (I tried to press buttons) so the first time I just went on, but discovered it quickly so maybe it's not an issue (especially since the game is short).
I don't think "humor" fit your game, maybe it's better for you to remove it, because it's sad to give you 1 star on it, when you did so good on all the other categories.
I'm a bit sad that it end so quickly! Great work, small but polished!
Lol poor friend who got stuck in the loop too, sad story =( I liked that you've chosen a different style from the classic sokoban for puzzle script!
The idea is cool and pretty on theme, you are stuck in a loop and have to get out, but also you have to be sure that the stabilizer remained stuck into it. It's a nice way to create a puzzle since I have to take care of both things: every move to help a friend could make it harder for the stabilizer to stay on. It's an interesting mix and add to the depth of the mechanics.
That said, it got hard too quickly, I got stuck at lvl 6. More or less I think I understood what to do (use the gray box to push around the friend in a better combination), and this means the level is good from a point of view because it guides you to the solution if you try to understand it, but on the other side it was too complex and I have little experience with the mechanics so even if I had an idea of how to solve it, I couldn't.
I also didn't understand at first that the stabilizer had to stay in the loop. Writing the rules in a text is not just enough because I don't know when I'm reading it what you are talking about and can easily forget 10 seconds later. Maybe in lvl 5, when the stabilizer goes out, you could put a new text to explain why. I had to hack the game to read the previous lvl text to know what I was missing (that is keep stabilizer always in the loop).
Some sfx could have been nice, I know puzzlescript has some sfx to use so they should be easy to add (??).
Overall, is a very clever idea and could be improved to make more levels and with them better explain the game rules and gives the player time to digest. It's like being 7 years old, you have just learned the division and the teacher ask you to solve an equation! It's challenging, but also something I'm not still prepared to.
An advice, especially for ludum dare, is to not make the game harder because it feels funnier/deeper, but to showcase its possibility in an easier to learn way, so more people can see what your game is about, and maybe add those harder level later on in the game as a challenge!
That said, you must do what you feel is the best way to present the idea you have in mind. These are just suggestions!
Edit: I hacked the game to skip lvl 6, and the level after it are way easier and teach the push mechanic that you can foresee in the lvl 6 in a better way (being easier of course).
The clone mechanic is also a nice addition, maybe was out of context but as a puzzle mechanic has potential. You also introduced it well because the level make it clear (but not obvious, making me feel smart for understanding it) you need both to solve the bottom puzzle, and also avoided you to think you need the top gray box since there is no way to take them to the bottom (since you made a narrow path to move between the to side). You also made the red loop small and easy so the focus is on the clones and not on the clones PLUS hard looping lasers.
This was a great way to add the mechanic and letting the user understand it without making him feel overwhelmed.
The music is nice and chilling, but I couldn't understand very well how the game worked, how you have births and stuff, and couldn't find anything more than just water or chickens or mountain. Also, if you move fast it's a bit disturbing.
Nonetheless nice work =)
Edit: I played it again after reading the comments and after 3 or 4 cycles i ended up spawning next to the spire lol
I like the feeling of being lost and having to explore, but here may be too much, I just feel I move randomly and the rules for new babies are hard to understand (water or chickens seems to not work).
You have a lot of tracks there! I liked them and how you change them smoothly between rooms. The game is a bit rough, especially visual side.
I'm not really in this kind of gameplay where you have to read much, but I managed to reach the end. Since I'm not into them my suggestion could be a bit off, but I think the sheer number of options could be a bit too much! You had like 10 options for every guest lol
As always, it's still an accomplishment to complete a game during a jam, keep it up!
This game is very fun to play, those pinky and greeny characters are fun, believable and entertaining, somehow I got a little bit attached to them =) I liked them both visually and what they say, their interactions are fun!
The style is cute (but the ant sprite could be improved), and the music was ok but maybe too loud, I also found it maybe too "energetic", "fast" I don't know how to say that, but it didn't fit 100%, thought it was nice!
The restart mechanic is clever, it's a nice use of it and a twisting one! It reminded me a bit of life is strange. The zapper mechanic is also nice. Both of them together add a lot of depth to the gameplay, and this game could be expanded into one that could be on steam.
That said, I'm glad it was easy enough so I could reach the end (I'm not very into this kind of puzzles), but I think you didn't get advantage of the depth of your mechanics. You managed though to well explain the mechanics through your levels (something I really admire), it's just that when I learned them there was not a challenge afterward! Also, the last level require you just to push 2 crates in an easy way, and was a bit disappointing!
Regarding the theme, it may be more about time loop than stuck in a loop, it's not out of theme for sure but neither fit that much.
I would have also liked to be able to change direction even if I was pushing a button. It's hard to explain but while I was going down I also pushed left but if I kept pressing down it didn't change the direction and was a bit annoying!
It's still a lot of work for only 72 hours, and it is very polished, so great work!
I really like the visual and how you use it to create a dark atmosphere. You also set up a very interesting camera angle that made the character feels super small and overhung by the skeleton. The music was good and fit the game and gives it an arcade feel, but maybe I would have preferred something more in line with the atmosphere, not sure tho.
I liked how you handled the gameplay, the fact that you can attack only if not moving and the auto aiming. You could also make so that if you not move you attack, without having to press. Movement and attacks in general feel smooth and fast enough.
I also liked that you share the hp with the boss, so being hurt it's not about how much can I sustain but how long this will last. It gave me more reasons somehow to not get hit because I would have lost progress! But also gave me the chance to get back up again if hit. It made the game more original overall, instead of the usual different hp bars with potion to heal and stuff.
Maybe the last stage is a bit of a spike in difficulty, and gives just a few windows of opportunity to hit him. Maybe making him vulnerable during the punch phase would have helped. It detracts a bit from the pacing.
The theme though is not there or I couldn't get it, maybe the end suggest that you are stuck in a loop of skeleton and have to beat them forever?
Anyway, I had fun beating this, great work!
I've a question, you have few ratings given but a lot of ratings received, besides making some posts here on the ludum dare, is there something else you did to gain visibility?
This was for sure an unusual experience, I liked the mood, especially when going down (I guess?) and the weird sound starts playing. The window moving from my point of view was also very original and helped settings an unsettling mood, especially since it was all on my desktop made it feel it even more weird, giving a huge boost to the immersion. All that movement also makes you feel lost and again this help the mood of a weird and "troubled" journey. Glad that you put the light to know where to go though (maybe the light has a meaning of some sort, like going on?).
I think tho it was too hard, I mean it could be your intention to make it frustrating to make me feel in some way, but I think it was a bit too much and it ruined the mood for me. For those kinds of experiences it's hard to tell though if it was intentional/enough or not, I just think being a little easier could still make someone feel frustrated without detracting from immersion.
More or less for the same reason (hard grab mechanic) I had problem at the very start because I couldn't grab the bear, and just resetting the game until it popped out somehow. I also think you could auto reset the level if the bear goes out of the screen, at first I was waiting it to come back and was afraid that reset meant whole game reset.
To be honest, I couldn't quite grasp what you were trying to say, it seemed like a recap of some events in your life, but I was not involved enough to want to know more. Also, replaying the game was a total no being that frustrating lol (I did replay it but just to watch again the beginning and see if that could give me a clue). Even though I couldn't understand it, you manage to make me feel some sort of discomfort you may have felt/feel. Probably for this same reason (couldn't get the story) I couldn't get the theme connection =/
At some point near half the game maybe, when a pink girl say he's cute, there is a yellow man pointing something. The bear falls more or less on him and his arms resembles a penis, I hope it was intended LOL I should have taken a picture.
This may be a weird tip, but for the description of the game here I would have preferred a short one and then another with some spoiler warning for those who needs to read more before playing or want to read more after. I say you this because if you explain the mechanics before playing, they are less surprising and shocking cause I'm prepared, I usually prefer to just experience it!
What bothers me is why you talk about a bunny and then the peluche is a bear XD I can't remember too well but I think I needed 30-40 forgetmenot.
Overall, is a very unusual game, maybe not too much polished but for sure one that does not go unnoticed, and that leave you with something more, at least for me is something that could broaden your horizons, I don't know how to better say this! Great work =)
The music is nice and the visual are good, I liked the parallax effect of the wall and how you moved the camera.
It's not very cohesive though, the first 2 paintings have the square puzzle, while the third is something else entirely, but they work well enough.
Advice is, if you want to add UI elements like the credits text, or the reset button, don't make it super small just because it is ugly, otherwise it becomes a bit useless (you could not see it, hard to click and stuff). I think it's better to give it the right size, and if it doesn't fit the visual style found a way to make it "prettier" if you can.
You've managed to create a complete experience, and it plays without troubles, so nice work!
You need to give more feedbacks to the others tho, otherwise you will not receive the 20 min ratings needed to get to the ranking!
Cute and funny graphics, but the connection with the theme was a bit weak
It was a nice and polished game =)
I liked the music (even though it became a bit repetitive after a while), it fit the game enough. The movement and the control of the character in general is nice and intuitive. At first, I thought you loop also when falling of screen, but it is also ok to lose to make it more interesting.
The thing I liked most was the fact you always built up the level starting from the middle pieces. It's a little touch that for me increased by a lot the immersion and made it feel more like a journey than a level select! I think they say it is more diegetic as level progression.
The dark thing near the end was intriguing but then the game ended sadly =( When the temple appear tho I was surprised, it's cool!
It's visually cute, the palette is very nice.
But it has too much lag, and the movement was not fluid/dynamic as I would have expected. I also was really disappointed that failure (falling) means you have to collect all again. And the level is also too long, making it hard to reach the end. This two things combined made the mechanic of "loop through the level to get all the orbs" not working: one error and you have to start again, and also the level is so long that it seems a chore to collect them all.
The idea is cute and it is still an accomplishment to do a game in 72 hours, so keep going!
Edit: As other have said, the only part where I had fun was in trying to reach the end going full speed to make it fast, avoiding to fall down or hit the tree. There is something they call "follow the fun" that means that when you create a game sometimes you see that what makes it fun is not what you wanted (collect the balls) and it could be a good idea to follow what make it fun (for me, going full speed to the end!) and focus the game on that.
Somewhat addicting, I played until the end and it was a fun and surprising one. Last level is not manageable but I think it is on purpose, maybe you could get to the impossible part a bit later but I can see what you wanted to do.
That said, sometimes 2 luggages overlapped so I had to lose a life nonetheless (pushing one resulting in pushing the other too). Also, if I lose one of the baggage that belonged to a client, the level can't be completed, but I need to notice and retry it otherwise I will reach almost the end just to see I couldn't complete it. Maybe you could add something to say that, or restart the level when happens.
Overall, nice work, it's fun!
Cute game, the music was very cheerful.
I didn't understand why I died in the second level at first, maybe those purple "comets" could be more visible. They are also a bit out of art direction (too "blur"). Also, when you die some fast transition could add to the immersion, while now there is this hard reset that also makes you wonder what happened! The oxygen mechanic could also be tweaked in a more interesting way, for me it was never a problem.
The fact that you move with the jetpack towards the mouse is intuitive, but it is a very odd use of a jetpack, where you usually specify the direction of the propulsion. It's not a problem and it makes the game easy enough, but the feel of a jetpack was not there.
That said, the game works just fine, and it is polished enough, nice done =)
The game wasn't really for me (too much to read), and I just started skipping to see if there was something extra, so I didn't vote all the categories. Mood and audio was good tho.
Sadly I stopped at level 3. The concept is ok, the music was nice, but the game is too complex, too fast. At first, I didn't even know what to do, if I clicked it seemed the game was glitching.
I really don't know how can you play this, it has also given me nausea, something I've almost never experienced in a game (and I play VR too).
I've two major suggestions: 1. the first levels should be way easier to let me understand what I'm supposed to do 2. the level should start to rotate slower so at least I've 1 second to setup myself. It starts so fast I don't even know how to move or position
I think that with some improvement it could be fun, but as now it is too hard and unfair.
I don't want to sound harsh, you manage to transform your idea into a game in 72 hours and that alone is great. It just could be more playable for us mortal.
I think there should be more feedback on the fact you are moving towards the right. At first I thought that the robot was still and the blocks were moving towards him. The platform under the robot does not help, maybe the "gaps" on it should be farther.
Also, having the robot more towards the left of the screen could help in seeing the box a little in advance and react to them.
I reached level 3 when I stopped playing. I think the games needs a little bit more juice (some visual effects, sounds or gameplay stuff) to make it interesting to reach the end. The theme was also not there to be honest, it could be a nice entry for the "Out of control" ludum dare.
That said, the game works without troubles, and in 72 hours it's still an accomplishment, nice work!
@etrealjunior While I agree with your points, it could have been listed in a kinder way. It seems a bit an "okay now I talk" speech.
I'm with you with point number 7, but remember that everyone has also their way to express themselves and their feelings (also of discomfort and frustration). I also thought that those restart screen are a bit meh, but they could still be used on purpose to make up for a humoristic/sarcastic game, or something to make the player feel a certain way for certain reasons! They are not wrong per se. I appreciate you pointed it out, and I will pay more attention to it from now on, it just could have been pointed out in a more delicate way.
@rushikesh-charapale my advice for those tips is that, if you made them more cause of frustration, there is nothing wrong with it, just try to understand better why you feel that way, and I strongly encourage you to try to express those feelings with a game =) It's not nice to "bully" the others to make us feel better, but with a game you can try to explore what's going on inside you. We all made mistakes but the best part is in learning by them.
Game dev is not only a journey to create a game, but is also (mostly?) a journey to discover ourselves!
@etrealjunior I'm not saying to him to keep doing the bad guy, but everyone has its way of becoming mature, and I think you have to follow what you feel, otherwise you just end up being like the others wants you to be. I'm sure that, through game dev, he will be able to get in touch with its inner self.
Gaming is also a way to let out our frustrations in a "safe" way. It's like going to punch some boxes, you are not hurting anyone, you are trying to let go what is inside you.
I know you could say that you do hurt someone (who could get offended by those restart tip), but that is part of growing up, mistakes can be made. Comparing this way of letting out to physically attacking someone, or to specifically targeting one online to bully that person is not right to me.
I also didn't say it was an excuse for humor, I said it could be his intention, but most likely not. To me, an unfair society is one which doesn't let one to express his feelings and letting him express himself.
You nailed the atmosphere, the sound was pretty cool. At first I thought it was too small, but the when more rooms opened up I was a bit surprised, it makes the game more compelling and helped the immersion.
The text tho are a bit slow and since you have to go through them a lot of times it's annoying (I did all 3 endings), a way to skip it would have been perfect.
Also, you picked too many buttons, E,A,B, it seemed a bit random. A more cohesive list would have been better. Also, pick buttons that are near each other, like z or x that are more or less a standard if u use the arrow keys to move. If you made the choice for the buttons for a design purpose it is ok , like to disorient maybe, but I didn't get if it was that tbh!
Overall is more polished than I expected,and I had fun with it, nice work!
I like the minimal style and the music fit it well (tho some sfx could be improved). It has an overall good level of polish, but I think the controls and AI should be improved, especially since the game relies on them basically for the core gameplay.
For the movement, I think the main issue is not being able to move keeping the button pushed, but having to press every time. This change could solve the problem, because the rest of the movement things are ok (maybe the sfx could be better).
The other thing, about the AI, is the main reasons I didn't really enjoy the game and have felt frustrated. At first, it's not very clear they follow you if you are near after some time, and I thought at first that they just move towards me when I moved towards them (something weird but is to say that I was not understanding how they behaved).
Probably what made it hard to understand is that they sometimes moved instantly towards me when I was close, sometime after a bit of frames, so it was not consistent and it all felt random. I don't know how you handled it but it seemed you had some sort of timer that went on even when I'm not close to them, so it can happen that it elapse the second I move near them, and they move instantly, leading to a 100% death that I could not foresee. Since they are the main threat of the game, this ruined my experience, but the good thing to know is that resolving this "little" issue could totally change the game.
That said, I liked the idea of having to going in circles to progress a bit and then having to do it again, at first is a bit pointless, but when the enemies are introduced it become interesting, since you have to plan how to "move" the enemies to be able to do the second loop, otherwise they could block the way. That is interesting and could be expanded with other elements that must be planned throughout the loops. The shifting scenario is also a good idea, though I'm not totally sure I liked how u use it.
Overall, is a good starting point, the mood is there with those visuals/music, and, even though is small and more like a concept, it shows that it could be interesting. It just needs a bit of improvement and better balancing!
I liked that you build the music piece by piece. It could become a way to teach the basis of how to create a beat, something that I would like to learn and that I've toyed a bit in the past weeks. At first thought I didn't understand that the blue at the bottoms were enabled =/ Mostly because you can already see the other notes from the start! A color that stands more could be better.
I've seen you sometimes put the letter on the notes and that could be a good idea especially for the beginning.
The music "I" was creating was very cool, but sadly I gave up at some points because it's too unforgiving, u have like 1 specific frame into which you can press the key, maybe you should be more flexible lol. Also, the first note, since it is looping at the end, it is even harder to get, a bit of space at the beginning without notes could help (but if it was more forgiving could be ok too). As you have said, I agree that having this view and not the classic one were the notes come towards you it's better if the purpose is also to teach music, as said in the beginning, since it makes it more visible what is doing what, while with the notes that comes to you it is just a timing game.
Besides, the position of the key is a bit weird. Thought the notes are vertical, I would have preferred a horizontal layout for the keys (left is top and right is bottom). It's like the pentagram and the piano more or less. The vertical alignment of the keys was very uncomfortable.
I couldn't try the "do it yourself" but it's cool you added it.
In the end, it is a very original concept, and it works enough to show its potential, so keep going!
That was a nice horror atmosphere. It instantly set the mood, I was scared, the sound design is what truly help the atmosphere. Visually is nice, I like low poly style, but maybe it was all a bit too confusing and dark, I also had vertical sync issues.
I really like the loop mechanic as learn through repetition, and I like overall this kind of games where you have to always learn a bit more of a tiny space. It makes it more believable.
The painting are pretty scary, if u made them good job!
That said, the game is a bit too unbalanced. The text are not clear as supposed to, but maybe a bit too much with all the other confusing stuff. You have pot over the library, a magazine with a lot of stuff but only 1-2 thing visible that are hard to see, and those that are above the shelf are too hidden. There are the levers to activate the lights, but I saw the other lever to pull when you set the code (just next to the others) just when I had discovered all the other things and was wondering what was missing.
The purple thing is cool, but too precise, I counted 5 drops but it was not enough, so the text was also not correct =/
Time is also maybe too short, and I wanted like a reset button, because if I failed just one thing I had to wait the end knowing I wouldn't been able to do it in time.
There is really to many things that adds to the confusion and makes it too much. I'm with you with disorienting the player, but if you exaggerate it ends up in frustration and lack of immersion as it did to me. At first I, was immersed and scared searching for a way out, a last I was just running up and down not even knowing anymore I was in a horror game.
It's an issue I've felt into too, that is making the game too hard thinking that "harder is funnier/better" but it's totally not. Especially for a game like this that heavily relies on immersion!
Of course, being your game, you must follow what you feel is right, but try to keep this in mind and see if it seems meaningful to you.
I don't want to sound harsh, I really liked this (and think I've completed it?), those are just suggestions! Great work =)
@valkija if you want to have more feedbacks on future builds feel free to contact me at eliaducceschi@hotmail.it
It has a very easy to grasp and very fun gameplay. It was fun to complete it, though near the end I started to be a bit annoyed. Maybe because it is fun but a bit too repetitive, can't say for sure!
The mechanic of needing to go into a loop more than once is cool, but as now it could be used better, since it is more like "bounce 3 more times in this loop than go on", and it seems just to make the level longer artificially, just for the sake of it.
I liked the minimal style and combined with the sound produced by the ball spinning it gives it a nice mood! The fact that the music is created by the ball rotating in the loop is cool, I wouldn't add a background sound to be honest, it could detract from the mood. I didn't like too much the others sfx tho. Brown for the shield was not so nice as a color to be honest lol
Since you only need to press a button, you could make any button valid to throw the ball, space is ok but using only the right hand for comfort I needed to move all the keyboard to the right.
That said, it's a very polished game, great work!
Edit: I've just seen this is a compo game, extra nice work!
The music is very nice, I like it a lot. The sfx tho are a bit too loud and don't really fit to me. Also, the platforming part was a bit too precise, I mean it seems more of a story game usually meant to be fluid, and the "hard" jump makes me lose immersion.
Nonetheless, nice work!
I've played it more than expected, my score is 285160! The patience of satan at a certain point become really unstable ahah It was fun adn addicting to watch the carts go crazy all over the screen, music and sfx were also nice and juicy.
At first i didn't understood it to be honest, but also because I was not zooming out and the first human come in the screen like 1 minute after the start.
I would have removed the zoom thing, the first playthrough I totally ignored it, the second one i just stay as zoomed out as possible. Also, I just keep using the random item since it is so cheap, but it made the game easier and therefore funnier, if it was harder I wouldn't have had so much fun. I think the best part is just watching everything move, while the managing side of the game is not its core.
The idea is cool, but it needs a lot of balancing.
You start off really slow and at first I wanted to see if the game could be played without reading the how to in this page, and sadly can't. You should make it more clear about the time gain you get, because after 3/4 attempts I was a bit clueless and therefore went back to read the how to. It's not a huge problem on a jam because you can put the how to in the main page, but I like more when the game can explain itself without reading too much.
I also had problems with using the sword at the beginning, and I guess it was because it took me a bit to realize the time was related to it too, maybe a feedback to specify why you can't use the ability would be nice! The second skill was a bit useless, I mean it has its purpose, but it cost so much you can use just once =/
The pacing was off sadly (probably the biggest issue related to balance) it takes too much to be able to do something more than kill the first enemy, and even after that you require a lot of repetition. I guess the feeling of being stuck in a loop was there lol I managed to keep going and complete this, but I definitely was bored after a bit.
I liked the sounds you used for the various actions, they fit the game atmosphere. The dash/katana gives a good feeling (sound, visual, speed) and moving/killing with it was nice.
Sadly, you get too many different visual styles, the ui, the background, the sprites, are all different. It's not impossible to make the stick together but is hard for sure. The setup/stage was not bad, it was just a lot of different styles all together.
Overall, is a good starting point, and with some polish could become way more fun.
I needed 104 seconds this time. You've managed to balance it pretty well, now it's a lot more enjoyable and the pacing is way better, you start faster, it feels more dynamic. I liked a lot that you made the eyes killable only with the spheres (and maybe behind with the katana? not sure), now they have a purpose, and being not so expensive made me use them more.
It felt very nice to use a katana, then switch to sphere to launch 1-2 of theme to kill some eyes, then back to the katana. This time I truly felt like a ninja because I could move more and I could feel the increase of time in each run (more or less).
Now I can see potential in this, with more complex levels and more enemies so you have to move more to avoid and kill without getting hit.
Maybe two other things that could be improved are: 1. Having two buttons for katana and sphere, because having to switch is not the best 2. specify that when you kill a guy that it gives you more time, the simplest way could be to add a temporary +seconds near the timer when you kill that increase the max, but it is the simplest solution, not the best one for sure. This way I would understand very clearly how to go on.
Very well done on the balancing, and I'm glad to know you are putting effort in this to make it better =)
I've played v2.0. Controls could be improved, jump gains too much momentum/speed and it takes a lot to slow down, so I ended up missing the head of my previous self that I was trying to stack on. Also, if one of your previous self dies, you have to start all again since you will not been able to win (unless you try your best to save him before he dies I guess). Maybe a way to cancel the previous self to try it again would have been nice.
In the second level, I managed to went on the second eagle and make it move, but when I tried to jump to the next platform the loop start again, I don't know why, maybe there was a time limit for everyone of them but I didn't understand it.
It also happened to me that "giant throw you in the air skyrim" effect. Like if I go to the eagle that goes upwards and jump at the end, I gain a lot of momentum and jump super high.
The concept is cool, keep going!
It's very rough, but since it's your first jam I guess it's a nice work nonetheless. It's good enough that you managed to make it and publish it to be honest, you've learned for your next time =)
That said, I somehow liked your background music even though, as you say, is totally random. It gave the game a weird feeling ahah Probably it would have fit better if the game visuals also were more weird looking.
My main issue with the gameplay is that I thought at the beginning that you kept the progress even when dying so I was not understanding why my money went away as my upgrades. But that was one of my assumptions.
After I've learned that, I was bugged tho cause I didn't know how to get coins for the bridge (I've read here it costs 30, maybe you could add it to the description here!). I tried to hit the blocks but it seemed useless. I therefore looked at the video and I can tell you what the problem was.
I think that you need to hit too many times the blocks, and this plus lack of feedbacks on the block health lead me to figure out it was useless to hit them. I've tried to hit them like 2 times, and also upgraded my strength and tried again with no result, while I discovered through the video you need like 6-7 hits. With this I mean that you need so many hits that it is very unlikely you discover that you can break it unless you truly want to go on in the game. Maybe some sort of cracks appearing on the blocks would have led me to think I could hit them more to gain coins!
After discovering that, I tried the game a little bit more but I've not completed it sadly.
Again, nice work on making it to the end of the jam, just keep it up =)
The visual is very good, very polished, I liked especially the menu and loading screen, they had "depth" I don't know how to explain the feeling. I don't know if it was a problem of mine, but when moving the background moves with a bit of lag/clunkyness like 3-4 pixel smooth and then a lag.
I loved how u used a sort of spatial sound to specify which doors open/close and where, it's a necessary addition to help exploration, and also help immersion by a lot. It's incredible how a little detail can change so much.
Connection with the theme is there, but not that much to be honest, the only thing I can see is the looping level.
The gameplay itself is nice, the idea of the puzzle is good and I managed to reach the end without being bored. That said, the wire thing is a bit too confusing, it's hard to think what will happen when you change something, especially for the long wire (more than the screen you can see), and the game, instead of making you plan what to do, lead you do a more trial and error approach that makes it seems not that deep as a mechanic, but just a matter of attempts.
It's true that when you're close to the solution you must look closer to avoid switching for 10 minutes and that a that point is also easier to know what to do since you've explored a bit (but also reduced the complexity/variables since some switches are active now), the issues is that the first part of every level is more about switching randomly and see how close I've become to the solution. I don't know which suggestion to give, maybe being able to see the whole map or something like that.
One thing that was not too clear is the single circle box, that I think is a sort of NOT operator, or like only one can be active, it's ok but my suggestion is to change the shape to not confuse it with the other multi circle boxes. At first, I thought that u decided that for one circle only you made a separate sprite, but later on I saw that you have also one circle only boxes (with the other 3 circles disabled).
For the boxes, wire that goes into it does not have something on the sprite and therefore it seems that the wire is passing behind them, i think that just adding a bit of pixel to specify that would solve the issue.
Those are just suggestions that I think would improve the game, to be honest I really liked it, it was fun enough and very polished, with just a background music missing to complete the package!
Edit: i don't know why but the first time I needed to wait a bit for the game to start and thought it was not loading! After clicking run game the screen went total blue like the background of the page for more or less 30 seconds maybe.
This game is visually stunning, i saw you in the feed while the jam was on and wanted to play this at all costs! You managed to create something beautiful with few elements, but a lot of little details that make it so alive. I'm in love with this minimalism. I also loved the rainbow "particle effect" for the start and especially for the success screen. The idea is also original and on theme, and the music fitted the atmosphere, enhancing the mood.
That said, the dot is very hard to control. You say move in the direction of the loop but: 1. the direction is there but not truly visible, it not stands out 2. besides, even if it was more clear, it's hard to move in the proper way nonetheless, especially with all things moving around. I found myself just pressing left and right until it was moving where I wanted 3. the dot maybe moved too fast too soon
This ruined a bit the experience for me, since it's all so chilling and cheerful, but then the levels are so unforgiving and require too much precision. It's sad but I quit on level 10 for this reason, I wanted to complete it but was too frustrated.
Dont' get me wrong, this was amazing, the polish of this game is insane! Awesome work!
The mood and atmosphere are well done, I felt alienated. Sounds are also good.
I don't know if there was more after the questions, I stopped at 30. Some of them are cool and improve the mood.
There was too much lag tho, it helped disorientating, so it helped somehow the mood, but it is also annoying, can't say for certain it was intended. The black shadow in the corner could have also made better, it appear for just a frame and it seems more of a glitch than something else. I mean, it is intended to be something like "Have I seen something?" but it could be done better.
It was a nice experience, keep going!
The concept is very cool, having to score points but also be careful in doing it in a simple way to avoid having bullets all around and therefore score more point.
Seeing this is a compo make I can say it is super polished, but I would say anyway that there could have been a bit more content because it's very small and related to how much you care in scoring, but for a compo is more than enough.
The visual are nice and consistent, I liked the background colors, the way you present the text is cool and fit the rest of the game, I liked the rumbling words. The "main menu" is also very cool and polished. I also liked how you change the text on the second run, it's a little detail that makes the difference!
My only complaint is about the aiming and shooting: aiming doesn't feel good enough, I don't know if it is about the collider being too small, or the shoot being too slow so the target moves, but it felt a bit awkward to miss so easily the targets, it is frustrating and sadly detracts from the immersion.
The shoot itself was also not that satisfying, the bullets are maybe too small, like a single pixel. They can bounce and that could be nice, but combined with being so small it's impossible to foresee it, you just get hit. I'm not sure those are the reasons I didn't like the aim/shoot mechanic but there was something off for sure. Maybe the movement could have been a bit faster too (?).
Apart from this, the game is very well packed, especially for a compo! Great work! And also nice timelapse video, thank you for it =)
I'm a bit confused to be honest, but I managed to complete it. It's a bit hard, I mean I managed to avoid all the sphere and stuff but I could see that it was something not possible for a more casual player!
Probably it should be a bit easier in the first seconds to allow an easier time on gathering resources. Maybe resources gathered at the beginning are worth less money. It would also be nice to have a text saying how much every upgrade costs!
The setup is intriguing, it is just a bit too confusing to really get immersed. You talk about the train but I don't really understand what the train should be.
It's a good start, keep going!
It has potential, but is too short. Maybe a bigger corridor and other weird stuff appearing could have helped! The atmosphere is good
Edit After reading the comments I discovered I didn't understand the mechanic! I thought it was just the room, and didn't pay too much attention to what the voice was saying.
It's very moody and spooky, I liked it, even though platforming could be improved. Maybe the fact that the tiles are bound to the song could be made more noticeable? I'll play it again to see the evil guy at the end once again ahah, I liked him!
Played it again after the feedback post you did, my feedback is almost the same.
The fact that it is a puzzle script game is cool I've discovered it recently and it I'm curious about it.
The game is pretty addicting, the puzzle mechanic is cool, and the levels are small so you don’t have much to think on and can focus on the few moves needed, that leads to the eureka moment. I reached lvl 11 this time.
You also manage to take the sokoban mechanic and use it in an original way, at first I thought it was just a clone but it has its charm, gg I’m impressed!
The loop mechanic is pretty cool and very on theme, and the orbs addition makes me think of harder level when you have to get one, remove a loop, then get a second etc…, so it adds depth (instead of like, you always have 1 orb from the start and that's it)
That said, the text was waaaaaaaaaaay too long, and it was hard to understand. The game is simple and could be learned by playing, maybe make it short and say just what is truly important, or just a hint so when I discover the mechanics is even more eureka. That is something of mine tho, I like to discover and explore even the mechanics of a game instead of knowing all the rules beforehand. For example, I didn’t understand you get stuck if there is a loop even if it is written in the text, but I understood it later. Maybe if u change the sprite for the avatar when there is a loop it could be better?
Also, the mechanic about multiple moves avoid the loop or stuff it's too complex to understand with just the text, and there are not enough levels to digest it, you get instantly level 8 which requires you to know it pretty well and if u didn't understand it (which seems easy to miss to me) you will get stuck there for a lot if you don't notice the thing.
It's cool to understand the mechanic by playing as I like, but if I get stuck so early it just feels frustrating and unbalanced. I would have added more easy levels to prepare you for the challenges. The difficulty is also very weird, lvl 8 is super hard, lvl 9 is very easy for example.
That said, I know puzzlescript/sokoban mechanics so maybe for someone who doesn’t know it the game could be even harder to understand, I don’t know.
I don't want to sound harsh, this game is very cool and polished, it's impressive it is a compo one, you manage to create a very interesting gameplay. My main complaint is that you could have taught the mechanics better, because I would have liked to go further into the levels but they just seemed to become exponentially harder with me still struggling to understand the rules.
Keep going, I can see this evolve into a complete game!
This game has a very unique style. I liked it visually, the palette, how you used the shapes to remind to the aztec style, the extreme camera is so good, gives u a nice feeling of movement, speed and dynamism! It's overall very polished. The music was also fitting this and the human sounds are fun.
Sadly, it's too hard, too easy to just lose all the humans, especially if u want to go fast that is the cool part of this game. I don't want to move slowly just to keep scoring to be honest, and moving fast lead to a very hard control over the human. Maybe if the human refilled at the end of the level it could be ok, and also made it possible to have multiple levels. Heck I don't even know if the second stage is like the first or it's new because I come to the second stage with almost no fuel! I also think the connection with the theme is a bit weak, you start again and do a full spin but it seems all about that.
Overall tho I was really impressed by this, so great work!
I've seen that u have a huge number of ratings compared to the ratings you received, and I was eager to know how could it be possible, if it was something I was missing that I could do to improve the visibility of my game.
It's a good idea to make a post about your game to gave attention on it (heck, you reminded myself that I could do one too) but posting the same exact post every 6 hours MAY be too much, unfair.
We all want feedbacks and comments, but let's try to not overshadow the others and be too greedy. There is already a lot of confusion nowadays and it is hard to stand out. It's easy to use those kinds of "tools" to stand out but I don't think it is fair to the others, which are playing and rating other games, or at least makes the effort to create a new post with new content. As a fellow dev I hope you understand what I'm saying.
Please don't feed this kind of behavior.
It's a bit rough, but still a game made in 72 hours. Nice work and keep going!
The first thing I did was going to the credit and man those are maybe the more chaotic credits I've ever read lol. Seen after that this is a humor game, I'm not sure it was a mistake or intended lol Also, the first camera being so close creeped me out, combined with the walk sound.
It's nice that you give a hint to avoid someone get stuck, but it may appear a bit after, I didn't even have the time to "explore". You could also just add something extra that makes me think to go to the left.
It was also fun that in the end I could still move behind the wall and hearing the footstep, it was like the red thing was already there and not gone, trolling him even more!
Fun game =) It lasted long enough for me, more would have probably been too much!
I'm giving you some points in humor because your description is actually funny
The game, is not very playable honestly. I've just understood after a while that the red thing was the actual target (and not the earth) and that I had to use the orbit of the earth to hit that. It is too slow overall and miss some visual effects that could make this look more dynamic. Also, the fact that the Moon moves, sometimes makes it be in a position where it is harder to even get into the earth orbit, and that is a bit frustrating. This makes it even harder to predict what it will going to happen, making it way too hard to master, making you feel more like u are just throwing them at random just hoping to it the target.
When u get to the solar system, things seems to get even more slower and therefore even less exciting. I've also felt like it was more random, just pressing space. I'm also not sure if spamming it instead of trying to be precise punish you, which I would sort of expect to give u am incentive to play well.
Maybe it should have been more like a fixed thing with like rocks in between the target, so the orbit was actually needed to curve the trajectory and avoid hitting the rocks! With the chance of being able to throw the package from all around the moon. Or you could make it more interesting on the simulation side, having a cool orbit setup that makes the package spins a lot in cool ways on the screen.
You could possibly add that the arrow keys make the sliders go up and down so you don't need the mouse? Besides that, when I pressed the "switch to solar system" toggle, with space u keep toggling it, but this just solves if u click anywhere.
This makes really happy ahah
I think u are right, maybe you should have sticked to a smaller system (earth+moon+mars) and focused on finding a way to make that funny and challenging. In the end though, what matters is making it and then going for the next game or jam, and having fun =)
The game is very rough, but I liked the idea of having to learn the "patterns" and be careful. After 2-3 attempts I reached the end and it was actually funny!
Maybe just adding a timer to know how long u took to reach the granny could be a nice idea to add a bit more replay value and "sharing" with not much extra effort.
As first, I would like to say that I really appreciate that the game has a complete flow and works till the end without issues. It is something that is not to be taken as granted for a jam so good job on that! You also have lots of stuff, animations, UI, levels, a menu screen with credits and options, a combat system, the minimap, and so on, which is a lot to handle and balance, but is can also be a problem, as I will explain later.
I think that the atmosphere is kinda good, and the ambient music was very nice albeit simple.
At first I did not understand what was going on with the controls, but quickly figured out it was grid based. I like the idea of having it grid based, with this wolfenstein sort of feel, but I also think there was something off with the controls, maybe some lag due to the transitions, especially while turning, and also because of the close 3rd person view, which was maybe too close.
The combat, it works very well on a technical level, and it looks good at first, but is first shallow, and get boring fast. The red enemies, which are basically the same as the others, are a pain just because of how many hits it takes to kill them, and kind of halt the pace of the game too much. As someone else said, the parrying was also super easy, which made the combat even less interesting, but at least made it not a pain to get over, not a good thing tho since it means it was not funny
Visually, the trees are nice, but it made so hard to navigate in the grid. I used the map often, which btw I think it is very well done, but it not for good reasons, just because it was so hard to understand what path between trees I missed. It is almost always not a good indicator when people look more at the map than the game. I would have also made it so u would have discovered one more cell radius speaking, sometimes I had to go back because it seemed that a cell may lead somewhere while it was just a corner.
The game is visually nice, but it is kind of a double edged sword, since the UI is so bad in comparison that it makes the huge difference very jarring. You could have made the dialogs smaller, removed the close button and just close them on a generic button press, and picked a better font. Not much time required and it would have looked less bad!
The credits, it is just 4 people, I think it would have been better to just show them without scrolling, which was kind of hilarious, especially since it takes so long to even show the first name. I see you put effort in adding the scroll with the mouse also.
I'm also a bit sad that the web version did not have full screen option, especially since u had so many for other things. I think that unity automatically adds that so it was kind of weird.
I would also advise you to opt out of the humor rating, since this game does not have any, it does not really make sense.
The first level, that works as a tutorial, is a good idea, but I think u had planned only a specific enemy to trigger the combat tutorial, which I encountered almost as last, so it was kind of pointless. I guess either u trigger the tutorial on any of the first encounters, or just put the first enemy on the only path u have at first.
Overall I appreciate the effort on lots of systems, which is a good idea to test your skills and try something new, but I guess this came at the cost of the overall polish of the game. Not inherently a bad thing, since u are now more skilled at a lot of different things, and will probably manage to have a more polished game the next time while also having all those features!
It's very well done! Very polished, I can see you really cared that it was completely working and to feel like a sort of complete game. Visuals and sounds are not that great but works well.
The in game "point to learn" is very smart and makes it easy to learn how to play without having to read stuff prior to play, I really appreciated this! Straight to the game and learning as I discovered things.
I really liked to explore and collect resources to upgrade my ship, and I was also sort of scared of the red ships which are very aggressive indeed ahah
I would have liked maybe a purpose, like defeat every red ships, or something, because at some point I felt like it was a bit pointless, it seemed like there wasn't anything else far from the planet. It's not a must, but for a jam game I think it's sort of smart to give a purpose to make your players want to complete it, it shouldn't be hard either otherwise they will just go to the next game and bye bye. This is true for a normal game, but for jam game there are some ways to do it more jam friendly like that.
Related to the game, I think that the player hitbox should have been way smaller, like at least half, since the bullets git me in parts where there wasn't even a single pixel. It is frustrating because for me it was like I dodged it! Usually is better to have it small for the player (and bigger for the enemy).
I also found frustrating, not much that the enemy could destroy the packages, which was very cool and made them feel smart, but that it was so easy to mistakenly attack the planet while trying to hit them, especially because the camera is so close to you that it is hard to aim and dodge while also trying to not hit the planet. I can understand it can be a point that the stress is good, but it felt too unfair, and could be adjusted.
I would have also avoided the E to interact with update and would have made it like the sphere near the planet that gets highlighted, it is way more clear and visually nice!
A thing that I liked is that u slowly discover more stuff, first u gather the resources next to the moon u spawn at the start, then u can see your home so u go to that and learn a bit about it, u explore and found out about upgrades (which btw at first I did not understand but used the point to learn feature) and u can encounter your first enemy ships, then u have the attack to your home. A very nice pacing!
Overall I really had fun with this and I am surprised by how complete it feels, amazing work!
This is a very well done and polished game! The art is cute, and the music fit it perfectly.
I didn't really like the "level won" sound tho, since I think it disrupt the relaxing atmosphere and the rhythm of the chilling background music. I think it should have been a more easy sfx that kept the music flowing instead of stopping it.
Apart for this, everything else is well done. You have some entry levels to explain the mechanics without being annoying, just a few mechanics that works well together, which is nice for a good puzzle, and the levels are actually interesting to solve, and also are made in a way that u can actually stop and realize how to win even without brute force. Maybe the order of the levels should be adjusted a bit, since the last level I think is way too easier compared to others.
The game is very nice, and it's very jam friendly, since it's entertaining but not too hard, and also knowing in advance the number of levels helps in the completion percentage, because players are more keen to keep pushing for some other levels if they know for sure they will be the last one (instead of not knowing if there ill be other 30 levels). Maybe the only thing is that it feels a bit too pre-made, not like u made this before the jam, but like built out of a checkbox list so to have a proper polished game for the jam. Not really a bad thing, since it's actually very funny, but something I felt like I wanted to note, maybe as a way to push you into something more experimental for your next jam/game, if u like!
At first I was like "ok kind of nice" but when there was a second part I was legitly surprised and was not expecting it, well done!
The music fits very well, and the visuals, albeit very simple, kind of fit the game. The car could be more funny to control tho, it felt very slow and could very easily stop, maybe trees could have been destroyable with the car (with them skyrocketing for more fun factor?). Throwing the bombs manually instead of just pressing the key to have it automatically go in the hole could be more interesting, even though it might make it too complex.
Having some extra visual effects for when the worm is close would make it more anxious (in a good way) and adrenalinic. You could also get rid of the radar this way which would improve immersion. I had some issue with the resolution (I have a 16/10 display) and could not see the entire screen, so the radar was cut a bit out and I could not understand the numbers in the top right (which I could only see partially).
The second part is very funny and I felt excited and anxious, the music was perfect. The car was a bit bugged but not a big deal because I was so excited by not expecting this second part. I did not deployed the bomb, which was not very clear. Maybe you could have given a bigger window to do that. After all, the player spent its time to reach that portion and it is a bit of a let down to reach the end and discover u didn't put the bomb because u didn't press the button in a specific point. Yeah it maybe makes u replay it, but I think, being a very short game, that it is generally better to make the player feel rewarded for having invested the time in it, since it's not meant to be hard after all but enjoyed (this game in particular, from my point of view).
I enjoyed the small but funny story and how u managed to present it in a very funny and handmade way!
Nice work <3
Edit: after a few attempts, all ended because of a soft lock bug when I replaced the truck inside the worm, I've finally won the game ahah
This is the first game I rate for this ludum dare, and as soon as I saw the classic puzzle script style I decided it should be it ahah
So, I like the aesthetic of the puzzle script games but I think this time u could have done something a bit better, maybe by choosing better colors. I see you have out out of graphics tho
The idea works and it could be a fun puzzle but I think it escalates too quickly, at level 3 I got stuck, it's maybe a bit too early. Seems I'm a bit used to puzzle games I sort of understood what the game wanted me to do but I had done so little experience with the mechanics that I didn't have the tools yet to solve the level, it felt like going directly to level 15.
I couldn't go past level 5, also because I got a bit frustrated by this. Having to see every time everything plays out is also a bit boring and annoying (thanks to the sounds too)
Overall it's a complete package and it works, I think that by just adding more easy levels add the beginning could be very helpful!
I like the idea of starting with low health and having to get resources to heal constantly. It's a nice fast paced/stressful mechanics.
That said, the actual implementation needs a good amount of work yet.
Not sure why I kept getting hit while gathering hearts. I think u mentioned that there is the sorceress hitting you, but it felt too much and totally random, sometimes nothing for a minute, sometimes hit after hit until I died. I can understand that u want the game to be challenging, but, since it is not very finished, I think it would have been better to make it easier so people could at least see what your overall idea was and also getting satisfied because they completed it. I tried twice, but after dying randomly because of the "constantly getting hit randomly", I gave up. I'm not even sure if killing the sorceress near the grave was the aim of the game, I thought I had to deliver something.
The music in the background was fitting, but it stopped playing after a while, I think u needed to setup it to loop!
As for the combat, well it's very basic but confusing, I saw that 1 hit could almost kill the skeletons, but they did not die even after many hits. Not sure what was missing but I guess that there is lots of work to do here too to make it properly working.
I guess u like stats a lot, but I think putting as the first thing in this game page the list of damage may be confusing for the player, and might be something that should be put somewhere else. The description would have been fine with way less specific informations.
Reading it back, it does say something I forgot while playing, that there are mines everywhere. Honestly, not a very good mechanic as it is, since u can't know where they are and it just feels like a bug. Maybe having a way to detect them would make it a bit better, as of now is just unfair and not clear.
That said, even if the game requires more work, overall it works and can be played, and that is something to be proud of when joining a game jam. Keep doing games and getting better!
The game visuals are very nice and sharp, like them a lot! The music was also cute, and the sound effects kind of worked.
The tutorial, albeit clear, is probably a bit too long and the game seems more complex than it probably should be.
I felt like I was getting thrown too many items right from the start and felt overwhelmed, but the thing is that there was really not much of a challenge in just filling the packages and throwing them out. After like 20-30 seconds of actually playing it (knowing how to play) I was hoping for the goblin to get angry and call it a day.
What I thought is that the object u had to fill the packages with were also coming to you instead of popping by pressing the numbers, maybe that would have been a bit better. Maybe the "create the package" part of the game could be more interesting! I also guess that there was too much going on in the game, u have to avoid the goblin getting hit, you have to unpack, then pack, then deliver the pack, then check the letters, and so on, but nothing felt really important, just a list of things to take care. I mean you can make any game sounds boring this way, but I think in this case it really feels like that, to me of course.
Overall, the game is polished and works well and I really appreciate this, but the game design or at least balance side of the project is its weakest part.
I had more fun than expected, thanks to the hook mechanic. It was kinda funny and exciting to pull yourself through the city.
About the hook, at first I thought that I had to keep it pressed to be pulled until released. I think it is also fine to just click it once but at this point maybe it should work on mouse press DOWN instead of UP. Also, if u press it again in mid air it stops your movement, which kind of ruins the moment, because it feels less fluid and fast(and furious). It is also very bugged but still funny.
I would change or tune down the volume for the shoot which was instead very annoying to hear, I'm not sure how you could have tested with that on lol Also, I think that the draw distance for the beam should be increased, I was not understanding why I was not able to see them and they (maybe) should always be visible, even from afar!
Not that this is important as much as the other things, but the cover for the game is kinda of weird, it might looks good but made me think this was a 2D pixel game.
@congeesetador the game is VR only! On the ludum dare page it seems to not work so I advice u to go see it on itch.io You can’t actually play it properly but u can have a look around with WASD anyway
@theartifacts I know, but I’m also proud to be one of the few WebVR entries <3
@weirdbitgames I've updated the description with the how to play section!
@b4ux1t3 thank you for taking the time to setting up VR <3 so nice to know someone was able to actually play it! what kind of glitch did you have?
@bullex as stated in the description, the game is VR only, u can give a look around with WASD but nothing more
@congeesetador @theartifacts @weirdbitgames @sodoj @obe-dot @emty @rocktavious @miao @beebster-games
Just wanted to notify you that a gameplay video is now available if u want to give a look at how the game is played in VR!
@wiredoverload thank you for taking the time to try this in VR! The teleport tip for now is just on the description page, not sure how to add that info in the game without making it too "immersion breaking" let's say.
As you say, the game is very unbalanced, sadly we didn't have time for that, the book and the skull are actually meant to do something else, I just gave them the same power as the apple one, just bigger bullets ahah
Thanks again!
Congratulations on your first game! It's very simple but works fine. I'm not sure what the machine overload or broken machine actually meant and I'm a bit curious lol I've played the jam version on itch.io without issues! Oh I see, you have the same link for both Jam and Post Jam, so I'm not sure anymore if I've played the Jam or Post Jam actually!
Maybe having some more types would have made it a bit more interesting without adding much complexity to the development.
As a side note, I've found a bit weird that, instead of move with WASD, you specified every directions ahah
Good job!
@congeesetador about the controls, I just mean in the game description above, not in the game. In the description you specify “D to move right” which is a bit weird ahah I would just expect wasd to move
The atmosphere is so good, really creepy and scaring. I'm impressed by the amount of beautiful artworks u managed to create! Especially loved the last one in the intro, with the guy staring at you. The audio is also very well done, delivering (lol) the mood perfectly, I felt uncomfortable and unsettled (which is a good thing in this case). Not only the artwork and music, but the direction of the intro is very interesting, loved everything about it and that alone was an impressive work!
The gameplay though, I mean, I still like the atmosphere and the amount of visual stuff that it is in it, let's say, on a "sensory" level (visuals, sound, mood) it was well done, but the gameplay, not at all.
As first, the way u control the character is very very basic platform and was not good. There were some visual glitches, like the box stretching, I did not understand and were confusing.
The hitbox are too big and get hit too easily, it feels unfair because, to me, it felt like I was not even close to the object hitting me. U usually do the hitbox smaller than the visual, not bigger. Some jumps are too precise on a height level, and since the controls are so basic this sometimes required to press jump before moving, otherwise I would have not been able to do that 1 pixel more to go over the platform. It might feel like "u need to get better" but it just feels like I can't do what should be very simple and easy.
I also encountered some body parts, the leg, which I could not reach (guess it was impossible?) and the body at the end, but could not interact with them. Not sure if the game has an ending after the body bridge.
In general, the level design was artistically interesting, but not very interesting gameplay wise, maybe because it felt too generic. At some point, I got outside the level by walljumping, which was kind of fun lol
As others have pointed out, even though I liked being overwhelmed by sounds and visuals during the gameplay, it felt a bit too much always. With this I mean that there was no change of pace, it was just a lot for the whole duration, while it would have probably helped to have moments of relative calm to have a better pace and make the "a lot" moment stand out and also not get boring and annoying.
Minor things, the click here to close button could have just been a properly scaled X without any other text annoying the player while watching the beautiful intro! Second one, since UP is not used, u could have made up also jump together with space, so people can pick their preferred one. After a while I realized that the rocks were the checkpoints, maybe some visual thing happening when u touch one could make that more clear. Besides, u should opt out of the humor category for the jam, I mean it doesn't hurt but it will not have a huge rating in theory since there is no humor in your game.
These are all suggestions related to the gameplay, but I want to remark how I am impressed by the artistic work on this, amazing work!
I really like the visual of the game, it's surely the main strength. I'm not sure if it was because I have a 4k display, but the text was all so small, and the recipe book text was also hard to read because the font was so thin!
The overall idea of the gameplay sounds fun, you have to check the monster and then fill the ingredients. It was frustrating not being able to see the monster while looking at the recipe book though, because the look is important and I had constantly to go back and forth (at some point I was lost on how to exit the book and clicked on menu instead). Also I think that the order should have not mattered, it just make it more complex for the small game that it is. I think without the order you would have still presented your idea very well and it would have worked better for a game made out of a jam. Don't be afraid that it will be too easy, for a jam game like this it's better that the game just flows!
As others, I'm not really into visual novel games, but I got involved into the story of this one, especially thanks to the resource management aspect, which helped keeping the tension high. I more or less managed to reach 3/4 of the path, but couldn't go forward and got frustrated even though I'm sad I didn't finish it.
I think the game is too punishing from the start, and even thou I like that u have to guess what every elements does by playing, it's really not very intuitive. For example, I realized that the last element is about fatigue and stamina, so I decided to take the long path instead of going for a more dangerous path (which I though would have required more """platforming""" and therefore more stamina) but taking the longer path was instead the bad decision, which, I mean, also made sense. Ultimately, it seemed like u just had to play and play again until basically u knew already every option.
Having to reload the page and not having checkpoints is too much for me, especially for a jam game. If it was a more intuitive thing, I think I would have though it was more on me not getting it, but there is too much randomness. I like that u don't (always) show how much stuff will cost, since otherwise it would be trivial, but at least should make a bit more sense, and should give you a bit more time to play in the first 5-6 encounters instead of being so punitive.
A more tech thing, it would be nice to be able to play fullscreen or at least full browser windows, it was painful having to play in a quarter of the window.