"The light spirits make one with the power of the light and then ascend once they reach absolute unity with all light waves. Some of them get stuck with only a few light waves absorbed and need help to feel complete. Some just need an extra push to implode into ascension. This is when you get to use the Light Gun. Fire some light power with the correct color complement on the light spirits to help them take a step into a new form of existence."
My little contribution to LD Compo, I hope you'll like it, done in about 36 hours. Now I've got a head ache and should rest a bit.
Very cool idea. I also like the black and white presentation. The light spirits were a bit too fast for me. The input setting felt strange to me so I changed the movement keys to WASD in the Settings.
As noted, very difficult to play. If you work on this further I would really suggest a tutorial lesson. Something where you teach the player to combine colors (on the gun) correctly to match the intended complement of your target. It doesn't help that the targets move very quickly and/or erratically. Perhaps moving to a "wave" system where it ramps up the difficulty would be helpful too. Either way, good job on getting this out there!
The painting, and mixing of colours is nice. The mouse is way to sensitive, so I could not hit anything, also I would've liked to steer with WASD so i could am with my right hand.
Looks beautiful! Very moody and atmospheric, although the cheerful chiptune runs contrary to that. There is definitely a learning curve, but it's a fair one. Is it just my computer, or is the mouse control super sensitive?
thougths: - music is really nice, sets the mood together w. mostly grey background (also makes the colourful ghotst nice'n-visible) - mouse sensitivity was way too high, took some getting used too - also, why are the balls of light affected by gravity? ;-)
I like the mechanics but you just ask too much from your players :) I am pretty experienced when it comes to additive colors because of my day job and still I was overwhelmed shortly after the game started.
As a player I had to 1) walk around the room, 2) point my gun at 3) moving colored targets while 4) mentally assembling the correct complimentary color, and 5) operating the color switches accordingly. That's very challenging and for me it was just too much.
Interestingly your mechanics are similar as those of the compo entry Color Elementals which isn't a bad thing, but the freedom you give your players as compared to Color Elementals (fixed camera, only a few 'lanes' where enemies advance in a predictable fashion) works against it.
I have the same advice for your game: In the first levels/stages/waves, have the player mix the color s/he sees in the enemies in order to get a hang of the concept and become somewhat skilled at it, then add some complexity, e.g. by moving targets (somewhat predictably) and have them stick around long enough before they fade out.
Design-wise you can give of all the challenges for your player an individual "difficulty" level, e.g. moving around = 1, pointing & shooting = 2, switching colors = 5, thinking of the complementary color = 6 and so on. (Those values are very subjective, of course, but in general should do well). With that kind of "metric" you can design waves and levels in ascending difficulty, e.g. first level only stationary enemies (point-and-shoot difficulty of 2) of a single color (= not operating switches). The second level needs the player to move around (+ 1 difficulty), or to have targets of a second color, so the difficulty steadily increases.
Sorry for the wall of text, I guess that's becoming kinda my thing here! my point is: Interesting concept, nice execution for a prototype, you should look into building upon the mechanics and having the difficulty ramp up much slower. Nice work!
Comments17
The light spirits were a bit too fast for me.
The input setting felt strange to me so I changed the movement keys to WASD in the Settings.
It doesn't help that the targets move very quickly and/or erratically. Perhaps moving to a "wave" system where it ramps up the difficulty would be helpful too. Either way, good job on getting this out there!
- music is really nice, sets the mood together w. mostly grey background (also makes the colourful ghotst nice'n-visible)
- mouse sensitivity was way too high, took some getting used too
- also, why are the balls of light affected by gravity? ;-)
Thanks for the azerty keuboards like me ^^ (but hope you think about qwerty too...)
loved the idea/ innovation use of the theme.
Too bad there is no sensivity tweaking option and the level design is violent for the eyes :/
The game has lots of potential. good entry overall !
As a player I had to 1) walk around the room, 2) point my gun at 3) moving colored targets while 4) mentally assembling the correct complimentary color, and 5) operating the color switches accordingly. That's very challenging and for me it was just too much.
Interestingly your mechanics are similar as those of the compo entry Color Elementals which isn't a bad thing, but the freedom you give your players as compared to Color Elementals (fixed camera, only a few 'lanes' where enemies advance in a predictable fashion) works against it.
I have the same advice for your game: In the first levels/stages/waves, have the player mix the color s/he sees in the enemies in order to get a hang of the concept and become somewhat skilled at it, then add some complexity, e.g. by moving targets (somewhat predictably) and have them stick around long enough before they fade out.
Design-wise you can give of all the challenges for your player an individual "difficulty" level, e.g. moving around = 1, pointing & shooting = 2, switching colors = 5, thinking of the complementary color = 6 and so on. (Those values are very subjective, of course, but in general should do well). With that kind of "metric" you can design waves and levels in ascending difficulty, e.g. first level only stationary enemies (point-and-shoot difficulty of 2) of a single color (= not operating switches). The second level needs the player to move around (+ 1 difficulty), or to have targets of a second color, so the difficulty steadily increases.
Sorry for the wall of text, I guess that's becoming kinda my thing here! my point is: Interesting concept, nice execution for a prototype, you should look into building upon the mechanics and having the difficulty ramp up much slower. Nice work!
Loved the music :)