lmao. I'm 10th? I thought I'd be ranked 999th out of the 10 games XDReviews in alphabetical order:
Cold by @Barvix - ehhhhh, a philosophical game done right can be really interesting, but here... well, I don't feel it has been done right. Rather than giving questions for player to consider, it comes with ready answers, which are kinda getting more and more confusing later on. I feel like there might have been some idea out there, but it goes over my head.
Also, this entry wastes a perfectly fine opportunity to use Pure Is Not Good trope; e.g. by still allowing the player to advance if they answer the exact opposite of "good" answers. It takes some purity to get things completely wrong, after all.
Finally, the bar system seems wonky - at least twice I passed the level despite having seemingly too few bars. '
Conundrum Castle by @K-BitCRUSH - fine little entry to play, if maybe a tad unvaried and on chaotic side (I still can't quite figure out how these disks movement work, it seemed pretty uneven quite often). I kinda forgot that "Purity" is the theme, only to be reminded at the very end; it feels a bit tacked on to me...
Darkness Wipeout by @John Andrews - that's a decent tower-defense style entry, and the music was well chosen for this one. Quite possibly it's the most advanced and varied of the entries out there. The annoying thing is the text being barely readable (some digits I couldn't make sense of at all, for example 3); it looks like it was hi-res text scaled down rather than font specifically made for this resolution. Also, I couldn't get what some upgrades do, especially the top-middle upgrade named "Upgrade". Sadly, the game gets rather monotonous later on, especially if player accumulates some cash between levels so that they can max-out firing rate and damage near the beginning. Either way, I completed the whole thing.
Dirty Sector v1.5 by @Lukan - it was somewhat fun for the first fun of the first level, the second level was a bit of a chore (and even the chilly music didn't help), I got utterly wiped out in the third level; didn't try again. One thing this game severely lacks - some sort of indicator where are the remaining planets. Without it, I had to search through all this huge, huge map to find out the last remnants and it wasn't fun at all.
Nymphonia by @Storyteller - one thing - the game tells the player to follow the stream, but the branching path on the second area actually contains a chalice I'm supposed to collect, without any indication outside of that room that I'm actually supposed to go there or that there's a chalice to be collected in the first place. Other, much more severe - the three snakes in the third stream-wise area are aligned in a way it probably takes lots of waiting, dodging and/or luck to have the road clear to the next level. The fact that the main character has significantly larger hitbox than her sprite doesn't help, either.
Purify by @Virtual Mage - this game is the very embodiment of purity, and thus deserves a very, very special ranking
Rehab by @Misu - uhhh, I don't really like some design decisions made here, such as skipping unfinished dialogue (I'd have preferred "click to show all -> click to skip" instead of "click to skip, whether fully displayed or not"), making the shooting button the same as downstairs walking (the stairs controls felt particularly wonky in general). The enemies are also unreasonably strong, even early on ("unreasonably strong" also includes ability to strike from behind a wall/door). Dunno how about others, but personally I prefer when I have very limited health (say, 3 or 5 pieces) but with sufficient skill can reliably avoid any damage keep the health full, rather than get exposed to barrage like that.
I got past the first nurse room, but got destroyed shortly afterwards and wasn't motivated to go on. Too bad, because it seems like the story could have been interesting.
Also, it's not truly 80x45, as some pixels are drawn on fractional positions...
Scrubby by @HayManMarc - the game is easy, but somewhat fun to play. The enemies are somewhat varied, there is some balancing between keeping the environment clean and keeping self healthy (granted, the more one advances through the level, the difficulty gradually drops until it becomes a final cleanup). I wouldn't mind seeing a few more enemies and a few more levels of that.
SquareSquared by @shadowspear1 - bounced around in the first level, found a semi-reliable technique to invoke purification blast, but after some wandering around I gave up, because I couldn't clean the ceiling anyhow. Also, this seems like the sort of game that would benefit from smaller levels; otherwise player may reach the point when they need to hunt for the last remaining unclean bit, and that's extremely annoying.
World Purification by @Bingdom - it's not a particularly great game, but it has a good concept and enough variety to keeps things interesting (in particular, each level introduces a new enemy). One thing I found particularly annoying were these impurifiers jumping around and regenerating all too quickly; then the boss came along with the regeneration, too (maybe you could have toned down the regeneration rate?). Aside from that, pretty good entry.
Overall, my final rankings (top 3 will be PM'd too):
- Darkness Wipeout by John Andrews
- Scrubby by HayManMarc
- World Purification by Bingdom (technically non-votable, but still)
- Dirty Sector v1.5 by Lukan
- Rehab by Misu
- Conundrum Castle by K-BitCRUSH
- Cold by Barvix
- SquareSquared by shadowspear1
- Nymphonia
- Purify by Virtual Mage
Thank you a lot man! It means the world to me knowing that someone liked my 3-day gameReviews in alphabetical order:
Cold by @Barvix - ehhhhh, a philosophical game done right can be really interesting, but here... well, I don't feel it has been done right. Rather than giving questions for player to consider, it comes with ready answers, which are kinda getting more and more confusing later on. I feel like there might have been some idea out there, but it goes over my head.
Also, this entry wastes a perfectly fine opportunity to use Pure Is Not Good trope; e.g. by still allowing the player to advance if they answer the exact opposite of "good" answers. It takes some purity to get things completely wrong, after all.
Finally, the bar system seems wonky - at least twice I passed the level despite having seemingly too few bars. '
Conundrum Castle by @K-BitCRUSH - fine little entry to play, if maybe a tad unvaried and on chaotic side (I still can't quite figure out how these disks movement work, it seemed pretty uneven quite often). I kinda forgot that "Purity" is the theme, only to be reminded at the very end; it feels a bit tacked on to me...
Darkness Wipeout by @John Andrews - that's a decent tower-defense style entry, and the music was well chosen for this one. Quite possibly it's the most advanced and varied of the entries out there. The annoying thing is the text being barely readable (some digits I couldn't make sense of at all, for example 3); it looks like it was hi-res text scaled down rather than font specifically made for this resolution. Also, I couldn't get what some upgrades do, especially the top-middle upgrade named "Upgrade". Sadly, the game gets rather monotonous later on, especially if player accumulates some cash between levels so that they can max-out firing rate and damage near the beginning. Either way, I completed the whole thing.
Dirty Sector v1.5 by @Lukan - it was somewhat fun for the first fun of the first level, the second level was a bit of a chore (and even the chilly music didn't help), I got utterly wiped out in the third level; didn't try again. One thing this game severely lacks - some sort of indicator where are the remaining planets. Without it, I had to search through all this huge, huge map to find out the last remnants and it wasn't fun at all.
Nymphonia by @Storyteller - one thing - the game tells the player to follow the stream, but the branching path on the second area actually contains a chalice I'm supposed to collect, without any indication outside of that room that I'm actually supposed to go there or that there's a chalice to be collected in the first place. Other, much more severe - the three snakes in the third stream-wise area are aligned in a way it probably takes lots of waiting, dodging and/or luck to have the road clear to the next level. The fact that the main character has significantly larger hitbox than her sprite doesn't help, either.
Purify by @Virtual Mage - this game is the very embodiment of purity, and thus deserves a very, very special ranking
Rehab by @Misu - uhhh, I don't really like some design decisions made here, such as skipping unfinished dialogue (I'd have preferred "click to show all -> click to skip" instead of "click to skip, whether fully displayed or not"), making the shooting button the same as downstairs walking (the stairs controls felt particularly wonky in general). The enemies are also unreasonably strong, even early on ("unreasonably strong" also includes ability to strike from behind a wall/door). Dunno how about others, but personally I prefer when I have very limited health (say, 3 or 5 pieces) but with sufficient skill can reliably avoid any damage keep the health full, rather than get exposed to barrage like that.
I got past the first nurse room, but got destroyed shortly afterwards and wasn't motivated to go on. Too bad, because it seems like the story could have been interesting.
Also, it's not truly 80x45, as some pixels are drawn on fractional positions...
Scrubby by @HayManMarc - the game is easy, but somewhat fun to play. The enemies are somewhat varied, there is some balancing between keeping the environment clean and keeping self healthy (granted, the more one advances through the level, the difficulty gradually drops until it becomes a final cleanup). I wouldn't mind seeing a few more enemies and a few more levels of that.
SquareSquared by @shadowspear1 - bounced around in the first level, found a semi-reliable technique to invoke purification blast, but after some wandering around I gave up, because I couldn't clean the ceiling anyhow. Also, this seems like the sort of game that would benefit from smaller levels; otherwise player may reach the point when they need to hunt for the last remaining unclean bit, and that's extremely annoying.
World Purification by @Bingdom - it's not a particularly great game, but it has a good concept and enough variety to keeps things interesting (in particular, each level introduces a new enemy). One thing I found particularly annoying were these impurifiers jumping around and regenerating all too quickly; then the boss came along with the regeneration, too (maybe you could have toned down the regeneration rate?). Aside from that, pretty good entry.
Overall, my final rankings (top 3 will be PM'd too):
- Darkness Wipeout by John Andrews
- Scrubby by HayManMarc
- World Purification by Bingdom (technically non-votable, but still)
- Dirty Sector v1.5 by Lukan
- Rehab by Misu
- Conundrum Castle by K-BitCRUSH
- Cold by Barvix
- SquareSquared by shadowspear1
- Nymphonia
- Purify by Virtual Mage
Yeah there's a chance of getting a gunman instead of a bowman. it just affects visuals, same with swordman, you can get a spearmanAlso, the bow man seems to be a gunman with a light bullet at random? It confused me;
https://snag.gy/5RnXwg.jpg
Ah! Allow me to explain, because uneven, yes, but the monsters do move exactly the same every time and there are never any collision oddities - there is no random element. I assume the chaotic feels were mostly due to my terribly designed levels at the end which contained a ton of enemies to dodge, but that still leaves the explanation for the 'uneven' aspect, so I'll explain:(snip )a tad unvaried and on chaotic side (I still can't quite figure out how these disks movement work, it seemed pretty uneven quite often). (snip)
If anyone wants to vote for my game, you can if you want. I wasn't sure if the host was even allowed to post on their own Jam. It seems everyone is cool with that.
Yes I have. I played by the rules. The only concern I had was I wasn't sure if a host could participate in their jam.did you make this during the jam time?
Meh. I guess I won't join another jam :T It just made the whole community hate me. literally.@Virtual Mage - Purify
ok then. you deserve an internet. a dark, dismal and put upon internet full of social justice warriors and candy that burns your mouth and is sour. still, I have beaten your game.
You still got plenty of time to vote. Feel free to make adjustments. I'll announce that voting has ended and I'll start counting at that point.Ah.. I literally posted right when you did... shoot, uh, maybe I should edit to change my votes then?...
Uh, I really feel conflicted, because it would change my top 3... I probably won't change anything and I hope that's okay.. feeling so conflicted
I dont think thats hate. Plus most criticism can be harsh but its not personally to you, its just your game and thats the way how you learn to improve your game development; by learning from your mistakesMeh. I guess I won't join another jam :T It just made the whole community hate me. literally.
I was really just poking fun at you.no worries, sometimes you come in late and dont have much time to work. no need to be so serious ok?Meh. I guess I won't join another jam :T It just made the whole community hate me. literally.
Oh YES! THAT FONt! (well at least it's better than my penmanship )I had a hard time reading the text font
Yes that was the whole point of the game, content, but almost nobody goes after the desert so they dont see even 20% of the game but still! The point of this is having fun making and playing games, and thanks I really liked the honesty in your reviews pretty unique.All the upgrades, the music, the artwork. It seems the short timeframe got the best of the game's scope
Most accurate position for now @Virtual Mage999. Purify by Virtual Mage
I'm very glad for your honest feedback. I agree that the intro text goes by too fast. Sorry. I'll plan on fixing that in my post-jam version. And the 'win' and 'fail' level messages will change slightly as well, allowing the player to skip past them by pressing a button, so I can make them stay longer as well. I realize I didn't give the player proper control to take things at their own pace.Okay – right off the bat, this game pushed my pet-peeve button. I don't read lightning fast and I like to look things over. When the screen has text and then changes too quickly, I end up not being able to read everything. That is extremely annoying to me. (No offense, just letting you know. I can't be the only one like this, right?)
Anyway, level 5 was way harder than level 4, then level 6 was when I rage quit.
The gfx were great, totally understood what things were.
I understood the puzzle-y gameplay for the most part, but I couldn't quite get a grip on what to expect from the fireball's movement. Sometimes they went around corners, sometimes they didn't. It was a little confusing. It boiled down to too much trial and error, which becomes not-so-fun to me. After dying so many times in level 6, I just couldn't take it anymore, sorry.
Too bad there was no sound, but understandable in a 72 hour jam. It's hard to get everything done.
I really liked the grid-based player movement. It was very smooth and seemed flawless.
This game has a lot of potential, in my opinion. I think you should continue developing it.
In a way, I like the cooldown effect the player gets from that. It's a relaxing, building sense of triumph before the win. But perhaps in higher levels a last-minute toxin monster spontaneously showing up might be a good difficulty punch. Good observation, I'll have to test some ideas if/when development continues.“the game is easy...” “...the more one advances through the level, the difficulty gradually drops until it becomes a final cleanup.”
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Thankfully, Bingdom extended the time frame of the Jam. Otherwise, it would not have been finished. The bulk of the level designs, message screens, and sound effects were created during that extended time.“Very fun game and impressively made (thought out) on time as well.”
I assume you are referring to the Wall Huggers. To destroy them, you must position Scrubby to be directly adjacent to its path. When the Wall hugger passes by, Scrubby is able to cause damage. 5 hits will destroy the Wall Hugger.“I was really confused on what to do with the gray things but it was a challenge and I love it.”
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I do plan to develop this further, but I think I should finish the project I'm currently working on first. However, in the past, I've said that I was going to keep working on stuff, only to then drop it into the “Someday” file a few months down the road. (I'm sure you all know how that goes.) So, we shall see. With the amazing response Scrubby garnered here, I'm pretty inclined to continue with it.“I think I would like to see this developed further, with as fun as it is. But that's up to HayManMarc.”
I was thinking the same. It's tricky because I don't want any other user input besides movement and one button (enter/spacebar). I would really like to restrict the gameplay user input to movement only.“I feel like something like upgrades would have been nice, because the gameplay seems to not advance after a while.”
Well, I made the tune on the final day of the Jam. After approaching 2 hours working on it, I decided it was good enough. However, when I listen back to it now, I'm not hearing too much in the way of it being 'off'. There's a place in the first part of the tune where the notes sound a bit jumbled, perhaps staggered in rhythm, but I tried to take care to maintain harmony. It's quirky, as I intended, so perhaps it's just something you're not used to? I will definitely be refining the tune if/when I continue development.“The only remark I have - check out something about chords, harmony and progression in the music. It wasn't bad, but it just sounded a bit off.”
I would have loved to create more levels, but there was simply no time. I really wanted to make at least one rather big level, but I felt it would have taken a lot of testing. By the time I got everything working, it was well after 1 AM and I had to work early the next morning. I was fighting my eyelids as it was! lol“...the only counter was that I expected more levels...”
A dish sponge! The thought never even entered my mind. In fact, I was thinking more along the lines of a CO2 scrubber on a spaceship. That's where I got the name “Scrubby” from. At first, I was going back and forth between “Scrubby” and “Scrubber”. I think I chose correctly.“I never realized you could have so much fun playing a dish sponge.”
Funny thing about that. I actually made it 4 times quicker than I originally had it! lol! Need to be careful here – if it's too quick, it will affect the game balance. I had thought that this would make a good “power up” item if/when I continue development.“Only a couple of things Id change, maybe make the clean-up pad go a little bit quicker...”
Absolutely. Again – lack of time in a 72 hour jam forces you to cut some features. Luckily, the game worked without it, for Jam purposes, by advancing the player to the next level. Though, I'm still kinda on the fence about having a score.“...and possibly add a score or game progress indicator.”
Genius? More like luck. I had used this method before – the help page wasn't text, it was an image. The whole thing was a sprite, 80 x 800, made in GIMP. The fact the words were cut in half at the bottom of the display signaling that there was more if you scrolled down did not dawn on me until you pointed it out! lol! I had pondered trying to put in a scroll bar of sorts, then skipped the idea because of time constraints (besides not wanting to have mouse input whatsoever). I totally spaced off including any instructions for using the help. Yeah, I got lucky. Had the wording aligned with the bottom of the page, would it still have worked? Possibly.“I think it's genius that the help file showed the bottom text cut off, giving a signal without any arrow pointing or anything, letting the player know they need to press down to see more, and boom, yep, help starts scrolling.”
Yeah, this was one of my gripes, as well. I wanted the room_speed to be 60, and I wanted collisions to be perfect, so a movement speed of 1 was as slow as I could go (that I knew how to do). It seemed too fast and hard to control, but did add to the difficulty a bit, so I just went with it. That will be changed and smoothed out if/when development continues.“My only gripe is you move so fast it can be a little annoying trying to line up with some enemies to scrub them out of existence without feeling too much pain.”
Since you mention dying once... I had intended for there to be 3 lives TOTAL for the whole game, not for each level. I hadn't noticed that until after the jam was over.“...it was a lot of fun and challenging enough that I died once and had some very close calls on the final level.”
Good idea for scoring. The quicker you clean the level, the higher your score. Altho, I find it tempting to leave it as a scoreless game and just track the levels. I'll have to ponder this.“Adding time based score would probably push this to a 10.”
Yayy! I predicted 4th place for meGuys, you were meant to PM me your votes so it's all in one spot >.>
Anyways, doesn't matter. I've counted the votes and here are the results:
1st: Scrubby by HayManMarc - 29 PointsTotal Score
View attachment 8814
2nd: Conundrum Castle by K-BitCRUSH - 14 Points
View attachment 8812
3rd: World Purification by Bingdom - 9 Points
View attachment 8813
Scrubby - 29
Conundrum Castle - 14
World Purification - 9
Darkness Wipeout - 5
Rehab - 4
Dirty Sector - 3
SquareSquared - 2
Well done everyone!