Wee.

Well that was fun. Now I've finally made a platformer game! I've made a bunch of little prototypes, but nothing worth speaking about really.

(Oct 2, 2011 07:17 PM)Skorche Wrote:  Wee.

Well that was fun. Now I've finally made a platformer game! I've made a bunch of little prototypes, but nothing worth speaking about really.

*claps you on the back* GOOD SHOW!

Let me premise this by saying I like the game, but it's also frustrating.

The blue jelly beans are annoyingly difficult. I can't get past this part with 2 hearts left.
http://sethwillits.com/temp/upshot/upshot_s52bXvMc.jpg

I've literally tried it 26 times. I can't go back to get health because the only health that's available (next to the coin) requires getting hit by a blue jelly bean which kills me. Going forward it's really hard to get far without being hit by another jelly bean.

The vent there is also really hard to see. I only found it by accident. I went back into the dark twice.



I started over and I'm trying to get every coin, and I can't figure out how to get all of them in the dark without running out of batteries. You have to go all the way to the bottom to get the double jump, then climb back to the top, then go over a bit (which requires double jump), then fall all the way back to the bottom to get both coins, then climb back up, but then I run out of batteries. I imagine it must be possible but I can't manage it after many tries.

Generally, I find the amount of needed jumping and low-hanging ceilings to be frustrating. I often hit the stupid ceiling and fall back down, and in the sections where the level is really tall, that can mean starting all the way from the bottom again. In the dark levels, this can mean starting from the beginning because you die. Instead of having to start over, I'd expect to just not be able to see anything (almost). All I should see is some bright floating eyeballs and the faintest outline of the terrain.

Thanks for persevering Seth, did you make it to the end?

I'm going to watch some people playing when I get a chance over the next few days, to see where people get stuck. You've given me a couple of ideas on how to improve it.

No, after 40 failures I had to give up for the day. I will try again today after I finish some work.

Here's a playthrough video if you get properly stuck [spoilers]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHaOfBp-raY

I have to quit for now, but I’ll go ahead and write up some initial thoughts.

1. Very nice game overall - definitely one of the more polished games in the contest. Great graphics, great music, great controls introduction - really nice.
2. I assumed I’d done something wrong the first 8 times I went into the lit room, and went back into the dark. I didn’t realize there was a vent there until I happened to glance it in Seth’s post. Maybe make it stand out a wee bit more?
3. A few more checkpoints would be nice, I think. I died a lot when I first started out, and it was really frustrating to have to start over at the beginning of each screen just because I missed a jump, or missed a shot.
4. Agree with most of Seth’s points - particularly, it doesn’t really make sense to me to die just because I ran out of light.

On the upside: This is a game that I keep playing because I want to, not because I feel compelled to play it all the way through so I can give it a ‘fair’ rating. Really nice work here.

Hey, how do you get past the flashlight level? I got the medallion of double jump and then proceeded up-right-ish, got the coin and killed the ball monster. Then either right of left from there weren't any exits (nor batteries). Is the exit farther away?

Here's a Your Story review.

Ah, that's a very nice review. Thanks.

I take it you figured out the flashlight level?

(Oct 7, 2011 07:10 AM)Skorche Wrote:  Ah, that's a very nice review. Thanks.

I take it you figured out the flashlight level?

Yes, I found the way!

Now that I've gotten around to playing all of the entries, I have to say this one is my favorite. I wasn't sure about it early on, but the final product is a thing of beauty. So many little things make it feel special: The guy hitting the grass, the music changes, the hidden coins... I'd planned on having collectibles scattered around the levels in my game, but never got around to it, and now I'm kicking myself for not doing so. Even if they don't do anything, they add a remarkable amount of depth and enjoyment to the gameplay.

So, top marks from me! Hope it does well in voting, and I'll be very much looking forward to anything else you end up writing in the future!

Thanks for the kind words Alex and the awesome review ipeku. I'm really pleased.

If you collect all the coins you get a better ending, though neither of the endings give much closure.

Seth and Lincoln: Thanks for the feedback. I have made some changes that I think should solve some of the problems without making it too easy. I'll try and release it tomorrow.

I saw it as a nice metaphor for the Peter Principle, with you being promoted to the land of blobs (the promoted employees?) and view-obscuring darkness with some people that still look like people uttering what is mostly nonsense. I kept wanting to see a boss battle of some kind (the head of the company?) that summons blobs, where losing has a little cinematic of becoming a blob. Probably just a weird thought, but that's what I felt.

The mechanics of the game worked well, and there aren't many things I can complain about. However, if you go further with this game, it will really need a save feature, and the amount of health that blobs take on contact became frustrating.

Most rewarding end to a game I've played this year

...in fact, I've left it running for like 5 minutes. Why do I like the ending so much? haha