I loved the art style. So cool. The multilayers looked very awesome. the sprite animations were great. the presentation was fantastic. the world feels very alive. the music is fantastic. very very good music. i just wish there was a sprint button and i didn't understand the puzzle. I got lucky with it and didn't know why the door opened. i get that it was about the sound, but i didn't understand the wires. great great art. if this game had equally good gameplay it would be crazy good. probably steam quality good.
I think people are getting stuck on the second puzzle because it is a bit hard to tell what are connecting wires, and what are wires jumping over each other. There is a logic, but it is not really that obvious.
I'm glad the second puzzle is turning out to be a challenge. I was worried that it would be way too simple. I wanted to approach the theme with minimal plot/story/instructions/tutorial with only one 'action' button and very basic character control. Having any sort of built-in hints would go against that minimalism. The second puzzle has visual AND audio clues built in, btw. ;)
Second puzzle had me stumped though, was trying for a pretty long time, and now I feel sorta sad, because everything was so good.
Also, is it just me or does the first background layer parallax slightly wrong? It feels as if it moves like a foreground layer, but I might be confused.
haha that music is just amazing. after the second puzzle i chilled out enjoying it for awhile. also i have no idea if the wires help with solving the puzzles, i just clicked off any of the tracks that sounded 'off' until shit worked. (i also liked some of the dissonance from leaving the off parts on) did you use a tracker and silence/pitch shift various tracks of the songs for this? it was really slick
I have no idea what the second puzzle is about, I will come back and rate this later, because all this has managed to do is make me angry that : either there aren't enough clues as to how to open the gate, or that I'm so blindingly stupid that I'm going to feel really bad when I figure it out.
I feel like there's something wrong here. Difficult is good, but I have no feedback whatsoever, I even went through as many combinations as I could just ticking them off. There's supposed to be a visual clue, if you're talking about eh jumbled mess of wires, then either they're all connected, or i'm some are going over others, and I need to spend ages tracing the lines.
Good concept, great visuals, but the puzzle makes me angry. I will come back later and hope someone spoiled the puzzle in the comments so I can finish the game
You have really nice art in general, both in graphics and music. The world you created is really cool.
That said, I have no idea what I supposed to do for the 2nd puzzle. Tracing that many lines feels like a chore, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to only turn on the lines that go off the screen, but either way it just felt annoying and un-fun.
For those that are stuck... vandriver has it figured out. There are visual clues if you trace the wires, but if you tick ON the parts that SOUND correct together and left the others off, then you'll notice a change and can continue on from there. You CAN trace the wires to see which units link up, but you can also go by the sounds.
There is so much I like about this game, I wouldn't know where to start. I guess to put it simple it all fits so well together! Great job! Unfortunately, even after trying for about 15 minutes, both me and my girlfriend couldn't figure out the (2nd) puzzle :(
And btw, cool you remembered me from the previous Ludum Dare ;) I'm glad you also liked my second LD entry :D
Pretty impressive graphics... my god, this game is beautiful. And so is the music and sounds effects, once again, pretty impressive for one person, you have a hell of a talent sir ! Well done.
This is absolutely awesome. Looks beautiful, Sounds beautiful. I was one of the many who got stuck on the second puzzle at first (I identified the music correctly but I didn't realise what the spare machine was for). But yeah, really enjoyed it. Well done.
OK, there are enough comments so this will be buried pretty deep, but for those that are still stuck, the second and final puzzle solution: Turn on the 3 machines that are making beautiful music together without any excess noise or obvious detuning. This will cause the machine without a wire to turn on. Flip it from - to + then turn the others back on. They are now tuned properly!
Loved the visuals and music, I can't say I would have solved the 2nd puzzle without the comments, but then I barely solved the 1st one, I was waiting for the left door to open. Cool game.
(Warning, possible spoilers) Really nice atmosphere in this game, with the another world/out of this world-like background, the cool little alien dude and the harmonic humming and singing of the machines, beautiful. Sadly, I also had a lot of trouble with the second puzzle. I really didn't get the wiring and I couldn't figure out what machines made the "right" sounds; I thought they all sounded pretty good. :P After having read some comments here, I went back and tried some more combinations and finally got it right. Well the machines sounded a lot better after that, I'll admit. Really great music in this game, I'm a little sad that I didn't get the second puzzle, but great ending! Awesome work! :D
I think the problem with the sound puzzle is that the idea of what sounds right together just isn't intuitive for everyone. I half picked what sounded right, half just guessed, but I got it after a few minutes.
That said, I could really feel the minimalism in this- well done on that note.
Holy wow. That audio is the best, the graphics style is amazing, and the gameplay is fun, though I find it rather difficult to figure out. A hint system as a couple others suggested would make the game the best!
The graphics for the various instruments seemed very appropriate, in relation to the sound. Really nice detail on the animations. I had to read the comments to figure out the puzzle... I was sure the second to last terminal was one of the broken ones.
Put a smile on my face playing, and really got into the music. I saw a few people get frustrated at trying to understand the rules of the puzzle and gave it some thought. A simple second puzzle where the detuned computer is obviously broken, and provides negative visual feedback (like sparking) when turned on would help clue the user that not all terminals will be good. I'm still thinking about how one would introduce the computer that fixes the music in a simple fashion.
Yeah, it's tough with just 48 hours. What you see here is basically the 2nd and 6th 'puzzle' that you'd see in a natural progression of the game. These audio puzzles can't just be whipped up with programming, because I had to actually write the songs and split the instruments out. To do that 6 times in 48 hours along with the art and coding? No way, haha! So yeah, I will have to find ways to introduce the player to the different aspects of the way the system works.
Amazing game!!! Beautiful art, intelligent puzzles and a simple but deep story. The concept of minimalist music is perfect too. Congratulations a lot!!!
I love the game so far, especially the music (what software did you use ?) but I'm sorry, I'm stuck at this second puzzle, I really don't know what to do and I don't want to brute force it :( I might come back later with a fresh mind to solve this...
Amazing graphics and sound... the puzzles are a bit convolutetd without any kind of instructions, in my opinion... I see a difference between minimalism and obscurity, but I guess that line is different for everyone... :) But amazing job for 48 hours!
This game is very very (put some more very's) charming. I really enjoyed and if you complete it and sell it in a market, I will definitely buy it. because I am impressed!!!
S
SirDavies11 May 2013, 16:11
The visual style and the music were pretty amazing. I didn't understand the puzzle tough, and I ended up opening the second gate playing around with the music, which was pretty fun. Good job!
Brilliant. My only issue is, I think the game needed a third puzzle - an "intermediate-level" one, both as a matter of helping the player understand the mechanics of the final puzzle better and to improve the pacing (the game feels rather abrupt with only two puzzles to solve).
I agree. But with the limited time, I just couldn't compose an entirely new set of tracks to create another song. I see this as more of a prototype than a full experience. It's certainly an abrupt jump from the first puzzle to the next, and then it just kind of ends. Thanks for the comments!
Thanks everyone for the awesome ratings! The full game will take the basics of what I formed during the compo and will blow it wide open into a much more 'fun' experience. More info will be posted at phantomgreen.com for those that want to follow along. Also twitter @Phantom_Green
The competition is over and I finally am playing your game. It took me a while to figure out the wiring logic. I must say that it is hard to make music that doesn't sound like a 2 year old banging on a piano. This music was actually pretty good. Definitely one of my favorites. Looking forward to post compo.
Comments75
The songs, in all their different combinations are just beautiful :-) MORE please :-)
Second puzzle had me stumped though, was trying for a pretty long time, and now I feel sorta sad, because everything was so good.
Also, is it just me or does the first background layer parallax slightly wrong? It feels as if it moves like a foreground layer, but I might be confused.
I feel like there's something wrong here. Difficult is good, but I have no feedback whatsoever, I even went through as many combinations as I could just ticking them off. There's supposed to be a visual clue, if you're talking about eh jumbled mess of wires, then either they're all connected, or i'm some are going over others, and I need to spend ages tracing the lines.
Good concept, great visuals, but the puzzle makes me angry. I will come back later and hope someone spoiled the puzzle in the comments so I can finish the game
You have really nice art in general, both in graphics and music. The world you created is really cool.
That said, I have no idea what I supposed to do for the 2nd puzzle. Tracing that many lines feels like a chore, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to only turn on the lines that go off the screen, but either way it just felt annoying and un-fun.
And the movement speed is extremely frustrating.
And btw, cool you remembered me from the previous Ludum Dare ;)
I'm glad you also liked my second LD entry :D
Unfortunately, even after trying for about 15 minutes, both me and my girlfriend couldn't figure out the (2nd) puzzle :(
And btw, cool you remembered me from the previous Ludum Dare ;)
I'm glad you also liked my second LD entry :D
Sorry, man :(
That said, I could really feel the minimalism in this- well done on that note.
I did make it past the second part. I sort of understood the puzzle. Adorable ending. Review on my stream.
I had to read the comments to figure out the puzzle... I was sure the second to last terminal was one of the broken ones.
Thanks for playing and commenting!
Love the graphics and music. Its all so pretty. Great entry, well done.
I might come back later with a fresh mind to solve this...
But amazing job for 48 hours!