ah I just saw your message on the LD page - You can move the camera up and down using the W/S or the up and down arrow keys, that should help with timing the platforms a bit better, I never explained this in game though so you not knowing it is entirely my fault. I'm working on a fix for this now
Loved the game!!! Felt amazing to play. The game feel effects are very well executed.
One thing - I did not realized that I can look down (did not unlock it explicitly or I missed it?). Therefore, in the part in the beginning when you need to look down to see the elevator It was hard to figure out what to do at first.
Did not realize how much challenge you can have by only walking to the left! :)
(PS: the elevator was super long and I encountered a bug there that from the left of the screen I got slingshot-ed behind the right wall :P)
Thanks sheeproid - Ah that bug is a known issue, I thought I had fixed it before submitting to the Jam but is managed to find its way back in. Yeah sadly the up and down camera view is never explicitly told to the player, however it is unlocked from the start - I need to think of a natural method of giving it to player - or maybe just another upgrade at the platforming segment would fix that
Great idea and execution, I had a great time playing it ^^
Both the art, narrative and design work really well together to make it a enjoyable experience and having some small jokes scattered along the game makes it even more enjoyable.
One of my favourite things of the game is how it's the charismatic intro lets you know perfectly how the game is gonna work, making it a natural tutorial for the player.
I would really like to see an extended version of the game where picking and upgrade disables or overwrites another making you adapt to the change.
Wow Joel this was so lovely!! The assets are stunning as always and the movement/effects feel really juicy. I really like your use of the theme - starting off with a player that has no properties and abilities and slowly acquiring them. I think having the movement so restricted (ie. only being able to move left for a while) was so great, especially for gamers used to platformers like this, it feels really debilitating. And then so freeing when you finally gain the ability later! The level design following each new major acquisition was great too, allowing the player to explore and appreciate their new capabilities and restrictions. It's a great exemplar of graduated tutorials/skill mastery and level design. I loved the silly upgrades too - the elevator music, fairy that just says "hey, listen".
I'm a little disappointed in the commenter I saw below framing their negative experience as if it were an objective judgement of the game, or as if they understood what care went into making it/where you spent your time. I had the complete opposite experience and was extremely impressed by how much polish and content you put into this, and I found the humour really subtle and well-delivered. It's possible to deliver constructive critique without being mean or framing your view as if it's the definitive one - we're all different people and even if you don't like something, someone else might. Claiming something fails because you personally didn't like it is silly and not helpful feedback.
Aaanyway, I can totally see this being expanded into a larger game; each ability acquisition could be expanded and given even more time, to really push the edges of what the ability can do (or what you can do by combining one of your old ones with the new one). But of course, even on its own this is a really great game and excellent execution of the "you start with nothing" concept. Great work, Joel! :)
AH! FC you really do put the Friendly in friendly cosmonaut. Thanks so much for checking out my game, it genuinely means a lot because I probably wouldn't be anywhere in gamedev without folks like yourself providing tutorials and insight on game development.
It is unfortunate that criticism can come off a little negative from some users, but it's commenters like yourself that make making games a real thrill. Thanks again and I'm glad you enjoyed playing my game.
Haha this was really sweet. The beginning part was a bit unforgiving and I would have liked to see what all the other upgrades were. But the art is very pretty and the jokes were pretty cheesy (in a good way) :v)
I'm gonna need a copy of that chip-tune Girl From Ipanema song though!
Haha I'm glad you enjoyed it - and totally I struggled a bunch with the earlier parts when I was play testing the game - I think its because we become quite dependant on traditional platform controls like adjusting ourselves mid air to fix a jump. Without it, it's like you have to really think about your next move.
Glad you enjoyed the game, as for the song it can be found here:
Don't like it. The attempted comedy falls flat, the game, while short, still overstays it's welcome because there isn't really anything to do. The platform challenges are uninspired and sometimes buggy (ducking on the treadmill works until just at the end, where you can just randomly die). The pixelart is definitely the best thing about the game. It's charming and clear. Shame that kind of care seemed to, aside from the art style, go into the completely wrong things instead of making a more engaging and enjoyable experience.
That's unfortunate that you didn't like it. I was pretty rushed for time and put more effort into the art as that's something I'm more comfortable with, opting to keep the game simple and concise instead.
That being said It's unfortunate a few bugs and other issues sneaked through the cracks.
Outside of the treadmill bug (that sorry I hadn't seen on my previous playthroughs testing it) was there anything else you could offer some feedback on? I'm always looking to improve on my work and every bit of feedback is helpful
The treadmill bug isn't exactly a bug, It's just that at the end, your character is no longer crouching but in a falling state. And if a cannonball happens to be above you it results in you dying.
EDIT:Humor and mechanics were definitely on point otherwise. I enjoyed so much of this game, the art the music and the way you have to think about your approach because you can only move left. It's an amazing piece of work.
Ah! Thank you @foolishfire that explains that then! It would be pretty easy to fix too. Thanks for letting me know I was scratching my head on that one.
Thanks for playing And I'm glad you enjoyed the game, I really appreciate it
Yeah, Foolish Fire explained the treadmill "bug". I'm not saying that I expect a Jam game to be as polished as a full release game. It just seems a bit weird that your pixelart and platforming is so well made, but instead of getting some depth into the platforming mechanics. Instead, it's wasted (in my opinion) on joke upgrades that don't change anything of substance. That would be okay if that would go along with mechanical upgrades, but instead it's just jokes that, for me at least, did not land once. Especially when a lot of the upgrade jokes are any combination of useless and annoying. There are also little things like the elevator joke on the side being too far away, so you can only read the last two words, etc. Add to that the fact that a lot of time is wasted on the players part because you have to wait. Wait for the platforms to get into usefull positions. Wait for the treadmill to move you left. Wait for the elevator. That just destroys any of the pacing you manage to create with the tight controls.
That's the reason why I'm even complaining. Beneath all the jokes that never landed and questionable pacing design, there is beautiful pixel art, great controls and an interesting mechanic in its limitation that might be able to be crafted into level design that webs like a metroidvania by just getting the ability to go right after 2/3 of the game.
Thats understandable - sorry the game didn't live up to your expectations. if you'd prefer a normal platformer I've made one of those found here. A lot of the controls in that inspired the systems in my jam game. It offers a more natural Metroidvania style progression, though the humor may not gel well with you the mechanics you describe are exactly what are offered here instead.
Thanks for checking it out! Much appreciated. The full version is now released (Sadly not in HTML5) I tried wrestling with that export and it would just constantly throw a bunch of weird game breaking errors at me forcing me to make a windows only version.
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I really REALLY like this game. It's funny, looks great and is hella fun. Good job!
Thanks Mr Kitkat - glad you enjoyed it
Made a video
Outstanding style and feel. Got stuck on the "Careful Now" platforms, was never able to time the jump correctly.
ah I just saw your message on the LD page - You can move the camera up and down using the W/S or the up and down arrow keys, that should help with timing the platforms a bit better, I never explained this in game though so you not knowing it is entirely my fault. I'm working on a fix for this now
Loved the game!!! Felt amazing to play. The game feel effects are very well executed.
One thing - I did not realized that I can look down (did not unlock it explicitly or I missed it?). Therefore, in the part in the beginning when you need to look down to see the elevator It was hard to figure out what to do at first.
Did not realize how much challenge you can have by only walking to the left! :)
(PS: the elevator was super long and I encountered a bug there that from the left of the screen I got slingshot-ed behind the right wall :P)
Thanks sheeproid - Ah that bug is a known issue, I thought I had fixed it before submitting to the Jam but is managed to find its way back in. Yeah sadly the up and down camera view is never explicitly told to the player, however it is unlocked from the start - I need to think of a natural method of giving it to player - or maybe just another upgrade at the platforming segment would fix that
hey man whats the ludum dare link i want to rate it
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/nothing-2
Nice game ! Ididn't find the link to vote on Ludum dare, pelase share it :) ! And if you have the time, try mine, it's also a 8 bit game :) !
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/nothing-2
I liked it! What is its Ludum Dare entry link? Let me vote it there.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/nothing-2
Great idea and execution, I had a great time playing it ^^
Both the art, narrative and design work really well together to make it a enjoyable experience and having some small jokes scattered along the game makes it even more enjoyable.
One of my favourite things of the game is how it's the charismatic intro lets you know perfectly how the game is gonna work, making it a natural tutorial for the player.
I would really like to see an extended version of the game where picking and upgrade disables or overwrites another making you adapt to the change.
Thanks for making it!
Thanks David! Thats an amazing idea and I would love to try that out. Thanks for checking out the game I'm glad you enjoyed it
Wow Joel this was so lovely!! The assets are stunning as always and the movement/effects feel really juicy. I really like your use of the theme - starting off with a player that has no properties and abilities and slowly acquiring them. I think having the movement so restricted (ie. only being able to move left for a while) was so great, especially for gamers used to platformers like this, it feels really debilitating. And then so freeing when you finally gain the ability later! The level design following each new major acquisition was great too, allowing the player to explore and appreciate their new capabilities and restrictions. It's a great exemplar of graduated tutorials/skill mastery and level design. I loved the silly upgrades too - the elevator music, fairy that just says "hey, listen".
I'm a little disappointed in the commenter I saw below framing their negative experience as if it were an objective judgement of the game, or as if they understood what care went into making it/where you spent your time. I had the complete opposite experience and was extremely impressed by how much polish and content you put into this, and I found the humour really subtle and well-delivered. It's possible to deliver constructive critique without being mean or framing your view as if it's the definitive one - we're all different people and even if you don't like something, someone else might. Claiming something fails because you personally didn't like it is silly and not helpful feedback.
Aaanyway, I can totally see this being expanded into a larger game; each ability acquisition could be expanded and given even more time, to really push the edges of what the ability can do (or what you can do by combining one of your old ones with the new one). But of course, even on its own this is a really great game and excellent execution of the "you start with nothing" concept. Great work, Joel! :)
AH! FC you really do put the Friendly in friendly cosmonaut. Thanks so much for checking out my game, it genuinely means a lot because I probably wouldn't be anywhere in gamedev without folks like yourself providing tutorials and insight on game development.
It is unfortunate that criticism can come off a little negative from some users, but it's commenters like yourself that make making games a real thrill. Thanks again and I'm glad you enjoyed playing my game.
Haha this was really sweet. The beginning part was a bit unforgiving and I would have liked to see what all the other upgrades were. But the art is very pretty and the jokes were pretty cheesy (in a good way) :v)
I'm gonna need a copy of that chip-tune Girl From Ipanema song though!
Haha I'm glad you enjoyed it - and totally I struggled a bunch with the earlier parts when I was play testing the game - I think its because we become quite dependant on traditional platform controls like adjusting ourselves mid air to fix a jump. Without it, it's like you have to really think about your next move.
Glad you enjoyed the game, as for the song it can be found here:
Don't like it. The attempted comedy falls flat, the game, while short, still overstays it's welcome because there isn't really anything to do. The platform challenges are uninspired and sometimes buggy (ducking on the treadmill works until just at the end, where you can just randomly die).
The pixelart is definitely the best thing about the game. It's charming and clear. Shame that kind of care seemed to, aside from the art style, go into the completely wrong things instead of making a more engaging and enjoyable experience.
That's unfortunate that you didn't like it. I was pretty rushed for time and put more effort into the art as that's something I'm more comfortable with, opting to keep the game simple and concise instead.
That being said It's unfortunate a few bugs and other issues sneaked through the cracks.
Outside of the treadmill bug (that sorry I hadn't seen on my previous playthroughs testing it) was there anything else you could offer some feedback on? I'm always looking to improve on my work and every bit of feedback is helpful
The treadmill bug isn't exactly a bug, It's just that at the end, your character is no longer crouching but in a falling state. And if a cannonball happens to be above you it results in you dying.
EDIT:Humor and mechanics were definitely on point otherwise. I enjoyed so much of this game, the art the music and the way you have to think about your approach because you can only move left. It's an amazing piece of work.
Ah! Thank you @foolishfire that explains that then! It would be pretty easy to fix too. Thanks for letting me know I was scratching my head on that one.
Thanks for playing And I'm glad you enjoyed the game, I really appreciate it
Yeah, Foolish Fire explained the treadmill "bug". I'm not saying that I expect a Jam game to be as polished as a full release game. It just seems a bit weird that your pixelart and platforming is so well made, but instead of getting some depth into the platforming mechanics. Instead, it's wasted (in my opinion) on joke upgrades that don't change anything of substance. That would be okay if that would go along with mechanical upgrades, but instead it's just jokes that, for me at least, did not land once. Especially when a lot of the upgrade jokes are any combination of useless and annoying. There are also little things like the elevator joke on the side being too far away, so you can only read the last two words, etc.
Add to that the fact that a lot of time is wasted on the players part because you have to wait. Wait for the platforms to get into usefull positions. Wait for the treadmill to move you left. Wait for the elevator. That just destroys any of the pacing you manage to create with the tight controls.
That's the reason why I'm even complaining. Beneath all the jokes that never landed and questionable pacing design, there is beautiful pixel art, great controls and an interesting mechanic in its limitation that might be able to be crafted into level design that webs like a metroidvania by just getting the ability to go right after 2/3 of the game.
Thats understandable - sorry the game didn't live up to your expectations. if you'd prefer a normal platformer I've made one of those found here. A lot of the controls in that inspired the systems in my jam game. It offers a more natural Metroidvania style progression, though the humor may not gel well with you the mechanics you describe are exactly what are offered here instead.
Cool idea ! Looking forward for the finished version !
Thanks for checking it out! Much appreciated. The full version is now released (Sadly not in HTML5) I tried wrestling with that export and it would just constantly throw a bunch of weird game breaking errors at me forcing me to make a windows only version.