The way I followed the theme was by creating a platformer where your deaths create your platforms. When you die on a spike your body will stay on the spike creating a red platform. The sacrifice is one of your lives so you have to be careful where you use them, if you make too many mistakes and run out of lives it will be game over.
Story
Jeremy is a collective. He must sacrifice many of himself to get to The Cube. Along the way Jeremy will find lost chunks of himself which allow him to get further.
Difficulties
Easy mode gives double lives and Hardcore disables checkpoints. Normal is the intended way to play. Can you get less deaths than my lowest of 54?
My main, biggest recommendation: Make a WebGL version. Please. It makes it so much easier for us to view your work, and I almost clicked away just because there wasn't one. That said though, the game really is quite amazing. I feel that this concept has been executed in the past, but this one felt quite developed, especially with the powerups such as double jump. Dying (for the final time) felt very demotivating, as I had to restart from scratch. This idea may have been better implemented as a series of levels rather than a single huge level, as dying in this makes it very hard to get back. I lost so much progress that I ultimately gave up. I did however sink a considerable amount of time into this; the core mechanics were actually quite fun! I also liked the level design; it felt neat the way you went back and forth in a huge, mostly interconnected maze. Overall, a very good production!
Wow it took a while to beat in Normal mode. Gameplay is what you'd expect from a platformer, you get mad at not the physics but mistakes you make and placement of spikes. A bit annoying when checkpoints are next to spikes, which was a source of some accidental deaths. I managed to get 46 as my score at the end, maybe because I skipped a few checkpoints. A pity that there's no sound or music.
@jannick-larsen Thank you for the idea with the animation, I sadly don't know how to quickly make sound effects and I'm not so great at animating. I will definitely try to work on these two things after the jam is over though. I've made sure to remove 'Audio' from the rating categories. Thanks for your feedback mate!
@justcamh That's a really great idea, I'll try to make a WebGL version before the cutoff. Thanks for your amazing feedback too!
@burnedkirby Thank you for the feedback, I'll look into that checkpoint dilemma.
Its really nice to see such positive comments and constructive feedback, this is my first time entering Ludum Dare and its been very encouraging. Thank you all! :D
@egordorichev Sorry about that, I've added a Linux download. I have no way of testing it though because I on;y have windows so if it doesn't work could you let me know? Thanks, if it doesn't work you can play the web version that I also just added.
Great execution, one little thing that could be improved is the speed of progression. Maybe, more checkpoints, or faster moving character would do the trick. Overall awesome!
Awesome game Muzzz. Great take on the theme. Loved the challenge the game provided. It was really polished and well thought game. Congrats on finishing the game!
Nice platformer. Your take on the die-and-retry formula was well executed, with short respawns and fun controls. The graphics are polished and the whole game is really readable. As others previously said, the short respawn is mitigated by the few checkpoints, and some pretty hard jumps as early as the beginning of the game. Your mechanic however succeeds really well in making the game easier at each playthrough.
Pros : - Clean and readble graphics - Tight controls - Great mechanic, thematically accurate and fun to use
Cons : - Death in indirectly punished by the length of the levels - Steep difficulty curve (although your mechanic succeeds in making it manageable).
Super interesting idea! Seems like it has a lot of potential in the way of possible mechanics and puzzles. A couple thoughts, maybe have a 1st, smaller level before the main one? Just something to kind of introduce the basic movement. I wasted quite a few of my early lives figuring out jump height and stuff like that. Also the first checkpoint was a bit too far in. It felt like I did the very first segment more times than any other segment. Overall, great job!
@jlv Thanks for the in-depth response! I am going to continue working on this game so I will definitely take your feedback on checkpoints and difficulty curves.
@evan-leibman Thank you! Like I said I will be continuing making this game so expect there to be tutorial level of sorts, thats a really great idea thank you! Also I'll try to work on checkpoint placement.
Thanks for all the kind and constructive feedback!
Great stuff! The platforming is fluid, the live/die/repeat mechanic is cool and the difficulty options are an awesome idea. With a bit more polish this could be loads of fun.
Hi Muzzz29. I played your game after you played mine on stream! I don't know if music was working for me but it would have been a big plus. Other than that I'd say the game had a good amount of playability and polish. Good work!
excellent use of the theme. I think something like double jump would benefit the game, right now there is a lot of sacrificing and replaying involved to make progress, if would be a bit more fun of you could advance more each run and only need to sacrifice at critical points. enjoyed playing!
@robber Thanks for playing the game! I assume you didn't play for too long though because about 5-10 minutes in you unlock the double jump. But thanks for giving it a go and for the feedback : )
Good idea for the theme! Maybe you should have more checkpoints (every 5 platforms for example) because it can get tiring going back too far every time. Cool game overall!
@emperor-eagle Thanks for the feedback! I'm going to completely rework the game using the advice and feedback everyone has given, so every little bit helps : )
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@justcamh That's a really great idea, I'll try to make a WebGL version before the cutoff. Thanks for your amazing feedback too!
@madrededios & @aycan Thank you!
@burnedkirby Thank you for the feedback, I'll look into that checkpoint dilemma.
Its really nice to see such positive comments and constructive feedback, this is my first time entering Ludum Dare and its been very encouraging. Thank you all! :D
for a simple game like in a game jam, try using your mouth to make the sound effect. it add a bit of humor as well ;)
I love this game! Its such a neat idea!!
The levels are really well thought out and designed!
Would love more levels! After the Jam perhaps?
@pixel-lifetime Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at ways of speeding up progression.
@jeffrey-hwang Thanks mate! I put a lot of work into polishing it so I'm really glad it payed off :D
Pros :
- Clean and readble graphics
- Tight controls
- Great mechanic, thematically accurate and fun to use
Cons :
- Death in indirectly punished by the length of the levels
- Steep difficulty curve (although your mechanic succeeds in making it manageable).
All in all, great work !
@jlv Thanks for the in-depth response! I am going to continue working on this game so I will definitely take your feedback on checkpoints and difficulty curves.
@evan-leibman Thank you! Like I said I will be continuing making this game so expect there to be tutorial level of sorts, thats a really great idea thank you! Also I'll try to work on checkpoint placement.
Thanks for all the kind and constructive feedback!
You also did a good job of visually hinting where interesting paths might be without making it too obvious. Nice work!
@stardynamic Yeah, I ran out of time for music, I focused more on gameplay and the camera movement.