Grand Mystic Quest of Discovery by hulahulahest 2010-12-25T05:03:00
I enjoyed this. Thanks for making it!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → UltimateWalrus
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | Deeper and deeper | Vertabyss | jam | 929 | 3.50 | 3.20 | 4.01 | 3.78 | 3.78 | 3.08 | 3.12 | |||
| 2014 | 29 | Beneath the Surface | Vertico | compo | 28 | 4.05 | 3.45 | 4.09 | 3.96 | 4.29 | 3.83 | 2.54 | 3.67 | 78 | |
| 2013 | 26 | Minimalism | Dehumanizer | compo | 82 | 3.82 | 3.67 | 3.59 | 4.40 | 3.69 | 3.74 | 2.69 | 3.62 | 47 | |
| 2012 | 24 | Evolution | Barnacles | compo | |||||||||||
| 2010 | 19 | Discovery | Title Unknown |
I enjoyed this. Thanks for making it!
Thanks for the comments guys. The idea behind the game is that the genetic algorithm adapts to your play style. If lots of them were puffing up, it may have been because you have difficulty eating those ones. If enemies were spawning behind the text it may have been because you had trouble getting them there.
If you want to get further, try intentionally eating the more powerful creatures (so they can't reproduce), rather than just taking the easy pickings.
It's fun, and the music is seriously cool. I'm guessing you might be left-handed as the controls were quite the opposite of what I'd expect for an isometric game. I think the standard would be to use the arrow keys and have "up" correspond to northeast (rather than northwest).
I like the look of this game and the concept shows promise. It's a bit of a drag right now, though, due to the slow player movement.
the "snake with gravity" idea is brilliant. my suggestion would be to switch to a non-web based engine for your games (Multimedia Fusion 2, Unity, Game Maker, etc.). that's just my preference though... i think it's dumb that anyone would want to play a game in windowed mode, period, so my opinion might be skewed :P
Really awesome, I love the titular mechanic. It takes the whole Animal Crossing-style scrolling to a level beyond just aesthetic. My favorite I've played so far. Nice job!
Cool game, I liked the quantum theme and the voxel graphics.
Nice one! It's a funny/cool concept. My only suggestion is regarding the balancing. I think the most powerful weapon should kill enemies in one shot. It's a little dissatisfying to just sit there kinda chipping away at the enemy's health even when using a weapon that appears powerful.
This looks really awesome, it won't run on my computer though :[
Windows 7 32-bit: When I run the EXE I get a white window saying SDL_app. Then a popup that says LD26.exe has stopped working. It allowed me to click "Debug" after which MSVC opened saying "Unhandled exception at 0x00000000 in LD26.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation." The assembly line it crashed on was "011B711F push dword ptr [esi]". Hopefully something there is helpful...
thanks very much for the comments guys! they're overwhelmingly positive! it makes me happy! thanks for playing! :D
@cadin: unfortunately with the engine i used and the way the game works, a web version would be impossible. is the reason you can't play because you're on OSX? if so, people have had some success running my games within the WINE emulator.
http://www.winehq.org/
I really like this, it's a very cool short puzzle game. I love how the bombs' movement seems very analog yet is deterministic. I'd really love to see a post-compo version with sound, as that's all it needs to feel totally complete and polished.
very polished. i love the art style and animations.
The artwork was extremely impressive, and I liked the music too. I found the actual gameplay a little weak. I guess in the end I wished there was more elaboration on the idea of clicking on a hole to make it more challenging. As it is, it seems more like an animation than something actually interactive. But it's still a very impressive entry!
This was a lot of fun. I was very impressed with the level design. Nice job!
The game's weakest point is definitely the music. By level 30, my ears were begging for mercy, but the sound button just muted everything (not just the music). It's clear that you chose to focus on the "meat" of the game (i.e. the level design) rather than music, which I admire. The problem with rushing music, though, is that it's one of the most easily annoying parts of a game. The game would've been better off and had a more pleasant mood without any music at all.
I also felt a little let down when I beat all 30 levels and nothing happened.
The fullscreen mode distorts the aspect ratio; are you aware of Ultimate Fullscreen, the extension I made to address this problem?
http://ultimatewalrus.com/mmf.php
This is pretty funny. I like being able to dig indefinitely. And being nude. Nice job!
I like this, one of my favorites of the competition. I am normally a proponent of avoiding sheer randomness in gameplay as much as possible. However this game seems very aware that ultimately each round is a roll of the dice, and makes it fun anyway.
This is pretty cool! I like the dynamic music and just the concept of an island constantly under siege by giant tentacles. It's cute that you guys all jumped in to do the art at the end, but the art assets did kinda wind up looking like they were done in different styles.
It's an interesting prototype. I like the aesthetic. The "dollars per second" mechanic seems pointless because there is no penalty that for waiting, at least that I can see, meaning there's no challenge.
Couldn't rate unfortunately... here's a screenshot of the error I got when I tried to run it.
http://i.imgur.com/YGPyWTY.png
This is a cool game. Didn't have any trouble figuring out how to play. The laggy turning was an interesting design decision; while some have complained, I don't necessarily have a problem with it as it requires you to think one step ahead, making things a little more interesting. It's fun and innovative. Good job!
Adding sound would've been the biggest aid to making the game feel polished, followed by better graphics. For 16 hours this is still very nice. But it should take less than an hour to throw in quick placeholder sounds with SFXR, and even placeholders feel much more polished than no sound at all.
Really solid entry, I had a lot of fun with it. I like everything about the design, especially how paying attention to the waves becomes more and more important as the game progresses. I was impressed with how balanced it was for 48 hours. I would've liked a little bit of music to strengthen the mood; even a short little ditty at the start of levels does wonders.
Thanks for all the positive comments!
I'm worried by those who say they found no enemies. Can you tell me what settings you used when there were no enemies, and if it happens when you just leave everything at default? I wonder if this fits into LD's allowance for game-breaking bugs.
First of all, thank ALL of you for the wonderful positive comments, they really make my day :]
I'm going to try and respond to all issues people have had:
Naouak, John Drury :
Did you get past the part where you have to shoot through the green blocks to progress? This part was intended to teach you how to shoot before you encounter enemies.
I'm scared about the possibility of a bug, so if I can figure out how to message you guys individually I'll try.
mtinkerhess:
Only way to restart currently is to quit and relaunch the game. Controller support (as well as better restart) is planned for the post-compo version.
whalebot:
What probably happened is you grabbed so many energy tanks, you actually had more energy than the bar will show. I didn't have time to tweak this.
Huder:
You probably got stuck because you didn't realize there is a hole right in the middle of the jelly blocks (it's like a tube). I didn't realize until after that this doesn't read well visually.
deadarius:
You're right, Normal mode can be very tedious, though from the start I intentionally wanted to try and work in some backtracking so the player gets better, can let the environment soak in, and appreciate how deep they are going. As for figuring out where you are I'll add a shadow in the post-compo version which should help wuit a bit.
mactinite, shuanDang:
Have you tried Very Easy mode? It's best if you just want to explore. I'm contemplating a "peaceful mode" in the post-compo version which would be unlocked after you beat the game.
rubna:
The shadow should have been a no-brainer but in my haste I forgot to put it in. It will definitely be in the post-compo version.
jsmars:
The goal is to get to the bottom and destroy something down there.
Can't say I've played Operation Neptune, looks nice though. As a kid I liked another submarine game for DOS called "In Search of Dr. Riptide," but I didn't consciously try to take inspiration from any game.
Thanks for all the wonderful comments, you guys make me really happy :] It's discouraging that the "most cool" rated LD games are mostly stick figure button-mashers and things like "whack-a-meme," so I'm glad that at least some people have found my game and got enjoyment out of it. Even if my game doesn't get much attention, I gained an incredible amount of satisfaction from making it. It's actually felt like a self-realization of sorts, because after 17 years of making games, this is one of the first that actually turned out better in execution than it even was in my imagination (the only other I can think of being "Isopark," which is available on ultimatewalrus.com).
As for the music, I was trying to create an emotional contrast between the shallows (which I actually did kinda want to feel like a holiday at a nice beach) and the deep, which switches to a more melancholy ambience. One atmospheric point I really tried to hit was the loneliness of diving into really deep water, something I've experienced while scuba diving, and I don't think it would've hit quite as strongly if the music was melancholy from the get go.
Thanks! Don't give up, a lot of my games force you to start over when you die. I guess I miss the days of arcade-style games where you got a little better with each playthrough.
Also just wanted to apologize for dissing Whack-a-meme as I felt bad about it later. Honestly I wasn't even able to get it to run so for all I know it could be amazing.
Thank you very much for all the kind comments, it really means a lot :]
When I have a little time I'm going to tweak the lighting and add a shadow for a slightly tweaked post-compo version with hopefully a better sense of depth, for those who had trouble.
I'm hoping to find time to add a little bit more to Vertico in the future, for a significantly more fleshed out version 1.0. I don't know if I can get it on Steam but my other game, "Beat Bros," got greenlit for it so who knows maybe I can get my foot in the door.
If you're interested in the future version please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Email, via the links in the game description. :]
Thanks guys!
QubedStudios: you might be interested in watching the lighting demo which I did in the engine for my other isometric game, Isopark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgwnCcSaOYc
Everything in this video is 100% 2D. The smooth lighting with realistic shading on each surface was achieved with hand-drawn normal maps and displacement maps, and a custom shader.
Thank you guys so much for the positive comments!! Especially mrjohnson22, that's one of the sweetest and most glowing comments I've ever received :] Make sure you follow me on something so you'll hear about it when I expand the game.
For those who wondered how I got so much done, be sure to check out the new postmortem (link in the description).
I'm glad you liked the look and feel! Dive/ascend is Space/Shift. Quit is Alt+F4. This is explained on the config screen.
I think you'll find plenty of excitement, challenge, and action once you've gotten through the first floor (by shooting through the green stuff). Especially in normal mode, which most people cannot beat (that's why it defaults to easy).
Thank you for the great comments!
As for readability: I don't believe that isometric games are always doomed to have readability problems. While some have no trouble at all navigating the compo version, others encounter difficulty; through playtesting I've created a post-compo version that is much tighter and easier to read. I still have some tweaks to make to it, though.
OK! The post-compo version is up!! See top of the page for download link. Obviously, you should not rate the post-compo version.
I know some people had trouble navigating in the 48-hour version. I've worked hard to tighten up the gameplay, lighting effects, and radar so that the 3D world is even easier to navigate. I'd be really grateful if one of you who had trouble could try the post-compo version, and leave a comment describing if it was easier!
Haha this is cute :] I like the way you approached split-screen. I got stuck in the wall from the jump pad, and the moving platform slipped out from under me. But I appreciate the simplicity, you can go right in and instantly understand what's going on.
I experienced a ton of latency between when I push a button, and my worm actually turns. Would've liked to see a bit more interesting gameplay than just dodging things. You did a good job of keeping the design concise, but I still would've liked to see a little more done with it in 48 hours. I like the aesthetic though.
Haha, this is cute. It's weird in a good way. I didn't even know you could make games in Blender. If you were to improve it I'd suggest adding a little more challenge.
This is a pretty awesome prototype. Five stars for innovation, I love the idea, it's a really refreshing departure from the brainlessness of most tower defense. I would actually recommend at least considering axing the "lift" element, as I felt the game was much more interesting before I had built them, when I thought everything I built was bound to be impermanent. Also you might want to work on your art, since from the screenshot I wasn't expecting much. Oh and the music doesn't seem to loop. Nice job though!
It's a good effort. I have some hopefully constructive criticism, intended to help with your game design (not to be insulting!). This game is a perfect example of starting with a narrative first, and then trying to superimpose gameplay for whatever suits the narrative you're trying to tell. This method of game design puts the actual design last, making the game less fun. There really is no gameplay here, I'm just holding buttons and there are no interesting decisions to be made or challenge to be had.
Props for making something and entering Ludum Dare, but next time I would try to make people feel emotions through actual gameplay rather than spelling it out. If you want the player to know depression, than make gameplay and atmosphere that evokes a similar feeling, don't just say "you are depressed."
Really nice graphical polish, would've liked to see some challenge in the gameplay though.
I wanted to play more, but I couldn't deal with the slow walking speed and quit shortly after the first time I died.
Great job on the intro and music. The gameplay was pretty boring for me. The controls are sluggish, and I don't understand why using the mouse was better than just a keyboard key. All I'm doing is digging and there's no challenge. Good effort though!
I like that you achieved a nice aesthetic with very little actual assets. Would've been nice to see more interesting gameplay than just grabbing things, though.
A good effort, though I can guess from the execution that you might be a beginner. I would suggest that, especially at this stage, rather than slogging through C++ and SDL, use a tool that simplifies game creation as much as possible. I highly recommend Clickteam Fusion though Game Maker is an excellent choice as well. I'm a professional programmer and know C++ inside and out but I still used Fusion for my entry, it just makes sense for gamejams unless your game has very special tech needs.
This is very nice! I'm surprised it doesn't have more ratings. Five stars for innovation, it's nice to see people actually trying to come up with new ideas (which is one of the things gamejams are best for) rather than rehashing old ones.
I had no trouble controlling or figuring out how to play, though I wasn't sure why the game just decided to end at some point (maybe it's timed?). Also would've been nice if the perimeter is actually highlighted differently from everything else so you can see what's actually counting toward your score. Solid entry though!
I didn't have a problem with the controls, it's clear what's happening with the gauge in the lower left. You did a decent job with the execution. I'd recommend getting a little more creative with the design next time as this is pretty similar to other one-button endless runners, granted I haven't seen one with that jump-charging mechanic.
It's a nice little game, and while the mechanics are familiar the way you put them together is unique. It feels complete and decently polished, though some music or at least ambience would be nice.
Don't pay attention to people complaining they didn't know there were bombs... it's their own fault for not reading the instructions. Some people (newbs) are bound to struggle anytime you make something more complex than Angry Birds or Bejeweled.
It's a nice little game! I like the art, though it seemed like it was missing some sounds. Music would've been nice; even a little ditty that plays when a level starts does wonders for the mood of a game. For future reference: it's standard practice in bullet hell shooters to make the player's collision box very small (even just one pixel). This makes dodging bullets more satisfying and less "cheap" feeling.
The graphics are top-notch, I liked the mood, and "Caution: can fly" made me laugh. That having being said, I didn't find it fun. If you're going to do a standard point and click with no change to the usual formula, I'd recommend focusing on crafting more interesting puzzles, otherwise the "game" isn't that much different from watching a video (it practically plays itself). But really nice job on the graphics.
Nice one, I liked the artwork. The game itself was a bit too easy and seemed more like a "hold Z" than a "mash Z" sort of game. Sound effects really would have helped it feel more complete.
Solid entry. I liked this one, I tried multiple times to get farther and farther so obviously it was fun. It feels complete, which is always a challenge with gamejams, so you should be proud :]
The programming and music were solid so I'd focus on building your sound and art skills for the future. The space station looked a little bland. Remember if you don't want to draw something you can always try to make it look cool procedurally (such as with a shader).
It's a nice start but it seems a little unfinished. As far as I could tell there's nothing to do once you kill one skeleton, open one door, and get some treasure.
It's a fun little game though it feels a bit bare. I think you guys need to disable mipmapping on your textures, as the game looked very blurry on my graphics card (example: http://i.imgur.com/Zp6lod0.png). The boss took me from almost 100% to 0% in one attack which felt a little cheap.
This was nice, I played it to the end. I appreciated the Ecco the Dolphin influence. I thought you did a really great job on the look and feel, the graphics and music match each other pretty well. I liked exploring and appreciated that there were a little more unusual things to see as the game progressed.
Just be aware that unless Lonely Troll and A Thorny Succulent are the same person, it's technically against the rules of the 48-hour compo (which is intended to be solo). But for all I know they could be, just wanted to make sure you know.
Interesting close-combat mechanic, though the "PERFECT" after each one slows it down quite a bit. I got a kick out of the intro.
This is awesome. Reminds me of the games I did when I was around your age. Five stars across the board (though some sound would've been good)! Keep up the good work!!
Just remember: if other people like your game, that's reason to celebrate! But what matters more than anything else is that YOU'RE happy with your game. If you keep focusing on making the games YOU want to play, you'll be putting a deep level of passion into your games, and people will be able to see that. Forget you have an audience, and make what you want. If you keep trying to impress yourself, your creative skillset will soar to heights you never even imagined!
I think this might be my favorite I've tried so far. Very satisfying and "your mom said she thought you did a good job" made me laugh out loud. Good ramp up of challenge and the game feels complete.
Nice little game, I had fun with it. I don't see why I have to restart the whole level if I place one part wrong, though. I really liked the music though.
Very nice for your second game! I'd suggest playing around with some puzzles or other challenge for your next one, because while I like the story this one sorta plays itself.
I wasn't able to find a lantern, pressed X everywhere. Pressing A made it say "you found the lantern" but upon going inside it was still too dark to see.
Very nice! I can't give it many stars for innovation but it's solid on everything else. The flat-shaded aesthetic worked really well here and the mood is superb.
Five stars for mood! Though when I got killed, I didn't really feel compelled to try again, because the walking is very slow and it's a bit boring with all the long stretches.
Always happy to see other people using Fusion. I found the gameplay a little aggravatingly slow, but I suppose I shouldn't complain about a game called "Everybody Hates Water Levels" :] Five stars for humor.
Windows build seems to be just the source (not an actual build)
Very nice! Impressive for your first game ever, especially considering Unity can be difficult with 2D games.
lmao, this is the perfect one-hour game. i have a soft spot for Sting, his music is both beautiful and a comedy goldmine, and this game expertly takes advantage of both those aspects. A++++++
It's a nice little game. If you were to improve upon it, I'd suggest adding some more challenge as well as more feedback when the player gets something minerals.
I thought the easing on the left/right controls had a very satisfying feel to it. It's pretty funny how everything's physics based, but getting slowed down by enemies gets a little unfair since the player never accelerates again, so bumping one enemy the wrong way essentially condemns me to slow death.
The graphics are really well done! Gameplay was fun though seemed a bit standard. Feel like I can't give it a proper review since the rendering was just a little bit too costly for my poor outdated laptop.
This is very nice. There are certain things one would expect to be able to do (demolish a facility, jettison goods) that can't be done. However I actually like this, it makes the game more interesting/challenging and puts more weight on the types of facilities you choose.
One feature I really would've liked is "fast forward time." And it's not really clear what the inspections do. Time would have more meaning as a mechanic if fines/bribes from the inspections were a constant drain on finances.
Haha this is pretty funny. I like the x-ray effect. Good job!
The graphics are too good!! My eyes can't handle it! Seriously, good job. This is one of the tightest entries I've seen so far, and it really is a feast for the eyes. And it's very cute.
@dob ah thanks! Could've sworn I clicked there.
I played all the way through. These puzzle mechanics are "ROCK" solid! A lot of these types of gamejam puzzle games either end up being mindless, or mostly dependent on random chance. I was forced to think out my moves and actually be careful, especially in the last stage. Great job!!
It makes sense, given you seem to be behind some well known puzzle games. I've never tried Snood but I saw someone tweeting about it just the other day, haha.
Cute! Feels very polished, the dancing segment was fun. I liked the music and artwork too
This is top notch! Great puzzle design, I loved the one with the two different plushies. However I gave up after the first two keys. There is this one part, which seems to require insane amounts of masocore gamer skill to get past, and I'm not sure it's supposed to?
recursive_dreams_scr.png
I would have to fall asleep at exactly the right instant so the crescent goes through me, and doesn't kill me when I wake up. Then I'd have to weave my way out of there perfectly with my _huge_ collision bounds. I only managed to do it once... got the two keys... then wasn't able to find a lead on the third key. I tried going back that way, but when it came to doing this part again... I was like... no thank you...
@lohii Oh I totally get that. That's just how gamejams go. I'm impressed if you only had a few hours to make the actual level, since it seemed to have some genuine thought put into it! This is definitely one of the better entries I've tried so far.
I didn't get any time at all to test my game this jam... I spent 75% of the time just optimizing my compiler. Luckily, when I actually had time to play it AFTER the jam, I was really happy with how it turned out :)
The gameplay is top notch! The wobbling works super well --- it adds a new dimension to tasks that would normally be a little less exciting in a platformer (jumping over a cactus, etc). It's polished enough to consider a finished work. You clearly know what you're doing.
Five stars on everything but Audio (I can hardly complain though because I only had time for rudimentary audio in my Jam entry. You should try it though! It's pretty fun). Anyway nice job!
This was a really interesting entry! I thought the graphics were top notch -- I'm not usually a fan of excessive alpha blending, but it worked really well with your crisp sprite work. Love how you did the "fog of war" too.
The design of the gameplay was adventurous! It's fun, but I think its weak point is that it starts to feel repetitive pretty quick, because you're basically always shooting at a static enemy, a scenario which often plays out pretty similarly. It starts to get more interesting when the order of operations needs to be a certain way (have to clear a room from the other side, rather than just dropping down into the fire... etc.). So, working in more puzzles like that would be one way to make it more interesting... another easy way would be to find an excuse to work in more traditional enemies (back-and-forth moving fireballs, etc.) but that might be a cop-out from exploring your main mechanic.
Fun, solid entry, and the premise is hilarious
The art is pretty slick! And I'm always a fan of Robotron type gameplay. Although since there seems to be no bullet cooldown I was able to just rapidly tap space and demolish stronger enemies easily. Generally, for Robotron-type controls, it would probably be better player experience to ditch the spacebar and just have it auto-shoot at a fixed rate whenever you hit the arrow keys.
Cute! I like the realtime shading effects. I'll second the "jump works only sometimes" though. Unity physics are a real pain.
Lol... Good job! You should be proud that you managed to produce something. We all have to start somewhere. I actually enjoyed exploring down this glitchy tower with floating burgers and bananas. Five stars
The recursive-level mechanic is interesting! Always fun when you can see the entire game on one screen, but it's deceptively larger than it looks.
Nice! Some love clearly went into the graphics & audio
I liked this a lot! I was happy to see a Wario's Woods-like in the jam. It's really satisfying to zap a block as it's falling, and only matches up with its neighbors for a second. My only complaint was that I did spend time just waiting around for blocks to fall, because there wasn't any other way for me to "clean up" the grid after all pairs have been eliminated.
This was sweet, I liked the little narrative, and the rhythm gameplay was fun. It was fairly easy to get to the end with a few retries, but the patterns were complex enough that it was satisfying to do so. Surprisingly satisfying to just play the number keys like they were a piano
The core mechanic of "laser something, then tractor beam it, but you can only hold one type at a time" or, zapping something above another element and intentionally letting it fall to combine, was the most compelling part to me. I feel like it could really benefit from "Overcooked"-like missions where the time constraint provides some challenge to keep things from getting boring.
The graphics were pretty, and I love the music choice! I don't think I was quite in the demographic for the easy gameplay, but difficulty is subjective.
Five stars for graphics, audio, and mood. The visuals are great. I love isometric stuff :)
This is great. Saw it on the Birdwards stream and tried it myself, managed to get onto the leaderboard at the time. It's fun! Cool to see a Mr.Driller-like in Ludum Dare.
Very tight entry, especially the music. Those patches are super lush. Are you using a VST?
Super cute, especially the music. The maze generation is impressive. I got down to 189 cm :)
Five stars across the board. You guys didn't pull any punches here. No checkpoints... just the way I like it >:)
Did you seriously produce three drum and bass tracks over the course of the jam? @sloe is a damn machine... the last neurofunk track especially soothed my soul. I love it
This is super well thought out! I love the cute isometric graphics, the music was great, and the gameplay was surprisingly engaging. I found myself clearing off an artifact, then while its fall-off animation was happening, clicking wildly on the left to get stuff done in that short window of time. It could be even more interesting on a multi-touch screen, where I could be doing it with both hands.
At the end, I had a queue of artifacts so hopelessly large I could never get through them all. Eventually I just gave up and let the timer wind down. I wonder if there should be a button you can mash to auto-clear artifacts, where you only get half the fame for it (because you hired someone else to do it).
Also, it said my fame was my high score, which didn't seem right (I could have very low fame at the end due to dragging out the time as long as possible). I thought it should be depth, but I could also have just been thinking about it the wrong way.
I also think it could be interesting if there was a way to make the player have to think more about the screen on the left, beyond just clicking wildly after more workers are hired. It could be interesting if there's something you CAN'T click... like a curse cloud that you have to wait to dissipate, and if you accidentally click it, it kills a worker. Maybe even cursed artifacts that you have to clear carefully. Just a thought!
I gave this five stars across the board because I love it so much, lol. I love that it's literally for game boy color. The nusty-looking character art on the title screen makes me laugh. The puzzle mechanics are solid, fun, and unique. If only I could experience in its true form on an actual game boy...
Did you actually do a gamejam using assembler?? Back when I wrote a game for GBA, it was all in C (just doing a lot of raw memory address accessing)
Five stars on Graphics, Audio, and Mood! The art is super crisp, I loved controlling the cute little diver in his giant barrel submarine. My only gripe is that it could have used some playtesting (but that's a lot to ask for during a gamejam). It seems like 75% of the time, it's not even worth trying to avoid a mine, because by the time it appears onscreen it's already too late. Maybe add a radar?
Wow, spooky. Nice one. I was thinking/hoping it would eventually degrade into an "Imscared" type glitchy creepypasta type game, it did start to get there at the end.
The graphics are neat looking! I liked the concept too, it's nice and concise for a game jam. The gameplay felt a bit spastic, but maybe that's just subjective... @srrinio absolutely schooled me at my own game, so maybe I just need their level of skill to play MagiCave :)
@srrinio Ah, that makes sense! Yeah I was just getting hyper speed then, my screen is 240hz which may have something to do with it.
There shouldn't be anything inherently wrong with using Vector3.Lerp with deltaTime inside of Update(), assuming you're using it for translation. If you were using it to modify velocity you could maybe get inconsistent behavior depending on framerate. I generally just say screw it and do everything non cosmetic in FixedUpdate() using fixedDeltaTime. It might make it a bit less flexible performance-wise, but for indie games, I'd sooner avoid the grief of variable timesteps.
If you do put out a fixed version, I'd be interested to try it!
Cute! I had a fun time, and the art/music/mood were all on point. Good job!
Nice! Reminds me of an escape room. I got 8631 for the safe code, was that not correct? I did the number of the bugs from left to right... clicking the dial didn't do anything
This is cool! The slow acceleration was a really interesting choice. Avoiding enemy fire WOULD be easy... just go in a circle... but because of the slow thrust, you have to plan ahead and be aware of your trajectory, or you'll end up with a wave of bullets coming at you and no escape. I got to level -8, had fun.
It took me several tries to realize up/down even did anything, because of the slow thrust. Some feedback (e.g. particles behind the ship) would be helpful.
By the way, I'm sorry you weren't able to play my game while it was Windows-only. Do you have macOS? I ported it to Mac, although unfortunately I don't think a Linux port will happen anytime soon, as I don't currently have a Linux install.
It's a funny concept, and it shines with the level design. Good job!
I love it lol. The physics-based seeds flying out of the pot is hilarious. The music is too
Cute! This is a strong entry for a first jam! Loved the sound effects and the mood. I appreciate the innovation in the gameplay.
Nice! The lighting effects gave it a nice atmosphere.
Nice! I got Ice Climbers vibes from it
Great job for your first jam! I was impressed that the platform movement seemed pretty solid. It's tough to get even that down on your first go. I liked the lighting effect as well
Hi, I don't see a link to your game? Make sure you added it
Good job! You should be proud of yourself for getting something done and submitting it. It could have used a bullet cooldown though, I was able to win easily by just quickly spamming the mouse button.
Hi everyone! Thanks for trying! Sorry about that --- there were some major compatibility issues I needed to sort out. If you re-download, it should now just be a ZIP containing a single EXE and readme file. And hopefully that EXE should work on any modern Windows computer!
@gentlemelon01 @robinfaury
Thanks for the kind words, @wetburritosupreme and @linkwin ! I'm glad you liked it!
@linkwin I'm glad you liked the website also! It will likely be years before Manta hits the public, unless I get investors. But I do feel confident that if it ever does, it'll be one of the best programming languages in existence. If you want to keep tabs on it, you could subscribe to https://ultimatewalrus.com/newsletter !
Thank you all for the really kind comments! I'm doing my best to sift through them and play everyone's game to return the favor :)
@microchasm Thanks for all the kind words and feedback. I do want to come back to the reticle if I make a post-gamejam version. Regarding "health:" actually, you seem to be misunderstanding the game. There is no health... one hit and you'll immediately explode. You may have thought you were getting hit, but those bullets were actually passing you by in 3D space.
What you see in the upper left is your oxygen, which constantly depletes no matter what. You have to keep killing blue submarines and stealing their oxygen tanks to keep this meter up.
Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate it!
@srrinio I'm blown away by your high score... how did you manage it? If you're at all interested in a free Snake2 key, DM @UltimateWalrus on Twitter and I'd be happy to give you one.
Regarding the reticle, is it possible you were just clicking the right mouse button? That recenters the reticle on the player's level.
@srrinio Thanks so much for letting me know about that exploit! I figured there would probably be something, given I only had time for one pretty simple enemy behavior. I was able to get deeper using the exploit, but still not as deep as you did! It's impressive either way.
I hope you won't mind if I do something to fix that exploit in a future version :) And if I do, I'll likely leave your high score as is as a testament to your skill and ability to find that trick.
Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. I'm working on an awesome update to this game, which I'm calling version 1.0, and I'm taking all your feedback to heart. The new update will have **new enemies, better graphics, optimizations, and even music,** but it'll still be a little while for it's finished.
This is a cute "Gungeon" type game. I liked the cute little sprites. Good job!
Could've used a little sound, though. You'd be surprised how much even a few BFXR-generated sounds can spruce up a game.
Make sure you rate some other games! Otherwise, Ludum Dare's algorithm won't give you any visibility. I only found yours by chance when searching for games that didn't have ratings.
I won! The final boss didn't seem like much though, I just shot it over and over until it died. It's fun though!
There's an impressive variety of challenging enemies here, and the graphics are cool. I would've liked it if I could just dig a brick instantly instead of having to wait a few seconds, but I guess that prevents players from just running away from enemies.