Warning: includes flashing lights and screen shaking
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A short game about being not enough.
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#### TL;DR: PICO-8 is amazing!
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What a rush! I needed all those 72 hours to complete this. At about 40 minutes from the end, I had the game completed and for god’s sake, it worked and was ready.
It has been a lot since my last solo Ludum Dare (like 4 years probably) but I'm so happy that this is the game for my comeback. I thought about this concept just a few hours after I went to bed (LD started at 00:00 where I am) and I've fallen in love with it. I believe it truly resonates with how I feel and have felt and this is why I think I've managed to make it conveys those feelings to the player.
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I decided one month ago that I would have used PICO-8 for this jam, and I'm glad that I've chosen it because I had so much fun with it! The editor is so lovely and very well packed. I did all my work with it (except using notepad to reorder PICO-8 code tab) and I think that it helped to keep me focused, not having to switch to different programs and stuff.
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PICO-8 has a few limits to make the game feel like a true retro one, like palette color, sprite sheet, sound, and most of all (for me at least) code. The last day, at about 12 hours from the end and the game ALMOST completed, I reached PICO-8 tokens limit (a token is more or less a code word), so I couldn't write any more code! I totally panicked and had to refactor all my beloved copy-paste code.
Three hours later, I had the same game but with more or less another 1000 free tokens, the rest of the day was pure anxiety since I had to be sure I didn't reach the limit again, which I reached a few times nonetheless, needing to strip away debug code and some other refactor.
That said, PICO-8 limits are what makes it so satisfying and charming. They helped me focus on the important things and without them I wouldn't have made this game as it is.
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This time, thank again to PICO-8, I managed to do all by myself: code, art, sfx, music, levels and stuff (ok PICO-8 Celeste I’ve copied your shake camera code but never mind). I am very proud of this but, most of all, this helped me to create the vision I had in mind in the best way I could within the 72 hours.
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This Ludum Dare has been an incredible and important experience to myself, one that I hope will help me going on towards my path.
If you managed to read this far, I hope you will also manage to play my game and also leave some feedback! I'll love to hear what you think about it <3
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Thank you for your time...but
NOT ENOUGH ---
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Warning: includes flashing lights and screen shaking
A very interesting about not being enough.... but I like the character spinning behind every level, overlooking what you're doing and having the end-buttons turn against the player in a way. Love it!
A very cool "polished" feeling, and a cool sens of detail especially for color and animation, it's really impressing for a 72h game. congrats man you can be proud !
This was perfectly unsettling, loved this! I had never heard of PICO-8 before playing this game, and it sounds interesting from the sounds of it. I love how it seems like there's an underlying meaning to everything the antagonist says. Is this a metaphor for life, with the antagonist being an authority figure of sorts?
It was a fun game to play! Mechanics, and introducing new elements in the game (like movement, traps, coins) is very well done.
From a visual perspective I like the character in the background, he is very nicely done. Feels like the the one from the movies 'Saw'. For the level it would perhaps benefit you to extend your color palette. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish different elements in the level, because they all share a similar color Palette. (if this was your goal tough, you did a very good job on it:P)
Was a blast. The beginning was a bit slow until the first timer appears and i don´t see the theme on point. But the mechanic of 2 collectables with one unlocked and being fatal before all of the other are gathered was really fun!
Woww that was really cool!! Last stage (before the cage) took me a little bit more to complete, but it was a cool challenge. The art, the sound effects, the dialogues and the whole movement/animations were very nice and they complemented each other really well. And for all this to be made solo? Very very nice work!
The graphics are really good, and all the game is very well made, but i felt my patience to be tested a little to much, and as a result i didn't really enjoy it.
I really loved this game. It shook my self worth to its utter core! Loved the little sprite character, and the art style in general was fantastic. Wicked LD entry... congrats :raised_hands:
realy cool game. the gameplay didnt realy show the theme that well, but i can see some the game showing it through the wording, of "Not enough" and the "puppet master". you are being trapped in constant trials of the puppet master, and him never being pleased by your "work", he keeps giving you more trials. stuck in a loop of trying to keep the master pleased or to finaly be free of his string. i might be wrong but that was atleast what i got from it while not looking that deep into it. so the theme do fit realy well in that regard, but its not that clear if all you do is look at the gameplay. ill give you a bonus star on theme if i could.
Ha. That was a nice experience. You made so many levels. I was starting to get "enough" of it, but managed to finish. I liked it very, very much. Good job.
Really cool! Love Pico-8 games and this one has great visuals. Only problem that I had was with the amount and frequency of screen shake. Had to stop playing because I found it pretty disorienting whenever I'd die or in the (long) level changing sequences. That said, the animations were really great! Love how the main cube moved, and the movement felt good too. Also loved the background bastard. Spooky stuff!
@toccio94 really enjoyable game :) I like how you teach the player the different mechanics. The graphics and sound effects are great :D. Maybe some mini music. The character on the background was creepy giving you the immersiveness of the game. Not sure about the theme: of course a level you are in a loop, but maybe you could explore more the loop idea eventually for some levels. ahhh and more levels :D... Nevertheless great JAM and thank you for your game :)
Thank you for opening up and using this game as a medium to share your experiences.
I thought it was wonderfully executed, the abstract pixel art feels like home, and I found the player controller very well-made. I thought the mechanism of the yellow traps becoming consumable was fresh and made for a cathartic change of perspective at the end of each level (especially the final ones). The game had a nice arch and pace, and I really dig the Portal-esque shapeshifting levels effect. Congratulations for this wonderful piece, and good luck. :)
That was spectacular! I loved all the effects you put in there. And I'm a bit amazed that you managed to reach the token limit :sweat_smile: I make sure to download your cartridge and learn a thing or two :grin: :thumbsup:
Hi all right, I had a lot of fun with your games, I love games made in pico-8, the gameplay was very good, and there are some great challenges at first I didn't understand, but the game ends up giving the opportunity to learn, this is a point positive, especially those games that depend a lot on skill and quick understanding, congratulations on the game, if you can also give your feedback on my game, I would be very happy, thank you, a big hug.
One of the top games for sure! But I have to ask, are you okay? lol. If you need someone to talk to i'm here. Amazing game man. The design, how you teach the player about your game. It's almost like youre a pro
Enjoyed the graphics and visual effects a lot. Glad you pulled through despite hitting the Pico-8 limitations a couple of times! Would have loved some music, personally, but maybe that would have clashed with the glitch-y sound effects a lot? Not sure!
Really nice use of Pico-8 for the jam! It took me a while to understand the pickups that kill you unless you have all the gold, but once I got that I moved through quickly.
This game has great presentation and atmosphere in general, but the twist where a 'friendly' game element turns against the player in later levels was particularly strong. Great job and extremely impressive for 72 hours, especially in a constrained system like PICO-8.
Again, thank you all for the feedbacks =) They are the best part of this competition!
@etrealjunior@aljon teaching the mechanics of the game in an immersive way is one of the things I care most so I'm happy you liked that part
@arzi@dedicave@rushikesh-charapale I'm sorry music/shaking was a bit too loud for some of you. To be honest, it is supposed to be annoying but I can understand it could be a bit too much. For the shaking, I could have maybe reduced it's intensity during the room changing sequence, leaving the Not Enough sequence disturbing while softening the rest.
@battlerager I couldn't made the music in time, but I also think that the atmosphere is good enough even without it, with only the sounds of the elements and the character moving. Maybe some kind of static noise music or stuff like that could have helped!
@alpacalypse thank you, I also think the twist it's pretty clever, especially how it ties with the narration
I like the idea, the humour and the games mood. For me this game is too much. I have a feeling it goes overboard with game feel (camera shake, speed, and flashing light). The visuals is overall pretty good, but it can be a bit difficult to see what is background tiles and the walls. But okay overall is this a pretty good jam game, but perhaps a bit too much.
Haha that was just enough for me :smiley: I really loved the level design :heart_eyes: but for me the transition between two levels is a little bit too long
I'm not patient enough...there is a lot right here, but the cutscenes/level loading are too slow to keep my attention. I would notice I was mashing the controls waiting for it to start. Everything worked, movement was fun, but playtime felt like it was less than the reading/loading times.
It's about the cycle of self-doubt, right? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.
It WAS quite enough! Your description of the game also made me realize what PICO-8 actually is, as I was wondering last LD why those games look so limited. So thank you for that, too! Might try it out myself now :3
The gameplay felt smooth and fun, the transition graphics looked impressive, the antagonist looked creepy enough... More than just enough, from me :D
That was an enjoyable play through. I have a copy of pico-8 that I've never really used. I kind of wondered how much could be done with it, and it is nice to see that even over a relatively short period of time, you can do a pretty good amount with it. I'll have to try something at some point.
Also, I have to say I'm a sucker for games with the deconstruction and reconstruction with parts flying-around (and it seems like that can't be easy with a pico-8 in particular).
Wow dude, that's very solid result for single man. Honestly I was expecting something more crazy, but you managed in in a good way. PICO-8 looks like a good option if you want to do something that's really feels retro, will keep it in mind, but honestly can't imagine how to do animations without cool tools like aseprite for example.
Hovewer to the result. I should say that it is very good and well done.
First of all I totally dig the art and the whole vibe of the game. The sounds and animations with screen shaking make it so cool! It's very simplistic pixel art (which I love so much), but with all those animations and effects you managed to make it into really cool feeling pixel art - just the main character itself is great example of this.
And as I said the sounds are just amazing and every pickup was so satisfying.
And the level design I really liked as well, I was expecting the same thing over and over, but you decided not to go there (which was a good choice) and made every level a bit different - having timer in one, being some really easy but having a deeper meaning etc...
Only thing I would wish for, is for more levels, perhaps at the end to give it a twist, it would be great for the main character to decide not to be a puppet anymore and make the player not do what the puppeteer wants - that's just an idea.
As I said, very cool game, I enjoyed it a lot, well done!
The gameplay itself was simple but solid - the character controlled very well, and made the tight action sections fun. The rest of the game... well it was definitely enough for me! Very creepy and an interesting take on the theme!
Thanks for submitting this game at my stream www.twitch.tv/drjavasaurus. I really enjoyed it! BUT NOT ENOUGH ! The controls are very decent and feel fair at all points. Even when things got a bit repetitive, they kept me on edge ! The audio wasn't lacking, it popped at the right times to really bring that vibe of "stop nagging and let me finish the game !". Screenshake? 11/10. Well done ! Honestly loved this one :)
wonderful, i always love to see pico-8 jam entries! played through to the end -- i'm absolutely fond of the somewhat chilling vibe you have at work here, the game and its ever-present watchful host, always berating and never satisfied -- it all came together very well through the charm of the pico-8 in all its minimalism, solid work!
Wow that was great! The gameplay was simple, but the character was satisfying to control, the graphics were nice, the audio worked well, and the screen transitions with dialog were polished and well-made (even if they did start making me dizzy after a while). This one had me hooked all the way to the end, excellent work!!
@jk5000 well I guess a need to create another game called "too much" ahah, I can understand what you're saying tho! I've really put a lot even though it has its reasons. That said maybe I could have added less
@acuriosity It's an interesting point of view and to be honest I can agree it can be boring, but being a very short game I thought it was more or less ok!
@trexxak or maybe you are not reading enough into it ahah
@zliebowitz if you already have it I truly advice to try it a bit, it's so easy and rewarding!
@erlioniel I think that if you want you could create the sprite outside the little editor and then import them so if that is a problem for you about pico8 it should be solved (even though one of the charming side of pico is also it's little editor)
@mar3k it could have been an idea to have a "happy ending" but I preferred to give that sense of "not solved" that leaves you hanging and anxious!
I would also like to thank all the other players! Your feedbacks are so valuable and cheerful! Thank you =)
As another PICO-8 fellow, I'm always very impressed by abilities others have, for doing marvellous stuff with it.
The gameplay is really nice, the controls are just right. The goal is pretty obvious, and the dialogs are nicely done. That said, I don't like screen shakes at all, but that's just my taste, and I also miss some button to speedup the dialogs, as they are fun but only for a while :wink:
Overall, it's a very nice entry, so thanks for making it!
I tend to forget about pico-8 even thought its a really cool engine. This game was fun all around, good atmosphere and felt good to control. I liked the soundfx too, very impactful.
@toccio94 Oh? You say my premature conclusion was... NOT ENOUGH? :'D
You know, there's a ton of games I played this time around, but yours DOES stick out a lot for some reason and will surely be remembered! Also saw you giving great feedback everywhere you leave a comment! Thank you for your game and your services u_u I'm glad I crossed my path with you this LD and can't wait too see what the Pico-Magician will cook up next! :D
@trexxak thank you for this kind comment, you really want to make me cry =) I'm so glad someone noticed my effort on giving a detailed feedback, it was something I truly improved this Ludum Dare and I'm proud of!
Comments66
I like the character spinning behind every level, overlooking what you're doing and having the end-buttons turn against the player in a way. Love it!
I love how it seems like there's an underlying meaning to everything the antagonist says. Is this a metaphor for life, with the antagonist being an authority figure of sorts?
Had fun both playing and speculating :thumbsup:
From a visual perspective I like the character in the background, he is very nicely done. Feels like the the one from the movies 'Saw'. For the level it would perhaps benefit you to extend your color palette. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish different elements in the level, because they all share a similar color Palette. (if this was your goal tough, you did a very good job on it:P)
Overall, a fun game to play. Well done!
I didn't know about PICO-8 but now I definitly wanna try it :smile:
Very good graphic consistency and mood.
Congrats !
the wording, of "Not enough" and the "puppet master".
you are being trapped in constant trials of the puppet master, and him never being pleased by your "work", he keeps giving you more trials. stuck in a loop of trying to keep the master pleased or to finaly be free of his string.
i might be wrong but that was atleast what i got from it while not looking that deep into it.
so the theme do fit realy well in that regard, but its not that clear if all you do is look at the gameplay. ill give you a bonus star on theme if i could.
I liked it very, very much. Good job.
;)
I thought it was wonderfully executed, the abstract pixel art feels like home, and I found the player controller very well-made. I thought the mechanism of the yellow traps becoming consumable was fresh and made for a cathartic change of perspective at the end of each level (especially the final ones). The game had a nice arch and pace, and I really dig the Portal-esque shapeshifting levels effect. Congratulations for this wonderful piece, and good luck. :)
I make sure to download your cartridge and learn a thing or two :grin: :thumbsup:
Glad you pulled through despite hitting the Pico-8 limitations a couple of times!
Would have loved some music, personally, but maybe that would have clashed with the glitch-y sound effects a lot? Not sure!
Great entry!
Please visit my game too and rate it:)
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/the-dumb-robot
@etrealjunior @aljon teaching the mechanics of the game in an immersive way is one of the things I care most so I'm happy you liked that part
@arzi @dedicave @rushikesh-charapale I'm sorry music/shaking was a bit too loud for some of you. To be honest, it is supposed to be annoying but I can understand it could be a bit too much. For the shaking, I could have maybe reduced it's intensity during the room changing sequence, leaving the Not Enough sequence disturbing while softening the rest.
@battlerager I couldn't made the music in time, but I also think that the atmosphere is good enough even without it, with only the sounds of the elements and the character moving. Maybe some kind of static noise music or stuff like that could have helped!
@alpacalypse thank you, I also think the twist it's pretty clever, especially how it ties with the narration
@arad-hamidsamiee @etrealjunior @battlerager @aidanmarkham @alpacalypse to be honest I'm wondering why PICO8 is not used more for the ludum dare since it is so well packed!
I really loved the level design :heart_eyes: but for me the transition between two levels is a little bit too long
Everything worked, movement was fun, but playtime felt like it was less than the reading/loading times.
It WAS quite enough! Your description of the game also made me realize what PICO-8 actually is, as I was wondering last LD why those games look so limited. So thank you for that, too! Might try it out myself now :3
The gameplay felt smooth and fun, the transition graphics looked impressive, the antagonist looked creepy enough... More than just enough, from me :D
Also, I have to say I'm a sucker for games with the deconstruction and reconstruction with parts flying-around (and it seems like that can't be easy with a pico-8 in particular).
Hovewer to the result. I should say that it is very good and well done.
...
BUT
...
PRETTY ENOUGH :)
First of all I totally dig the art and the whole vibe of the game. The sounds and animations with screen shaking make it so cool! It's very simplistic pixel art (which I love so much), but with all those animations and effects you managed to make it into really cool feeling pixel art - just the main character itself is great example of this.
And as I said the sounds are just amazing and every pickup was so satisfying.
And the level design I really liked as well, I was expecting the same thing over and over, but you decided not to go there (which was a good choice) and made every level a bit different - having timer in one, being some really easy but having a deeper meaning etc...
Only thing I would wish for, is for more levels, perhaps at the end to give it a twist, it would be great for the main character to decide not to be a puppet anymore and make the player not do what the puppeteer wants - that's just an idea.
As I said, very cool game, I enjoyed it a lot, well done!
The gameplay itself was simple but solid - the character controlled very well, and made the tight action sections fun. The rest of the game... well it was definitely enough for me! Very creepy and an interesting take on the theme!
WHAT.
THE HECK.
IS THAT?
@acuriosity It's an interesting point of view and to be honest I can agree it can be boring, but being a very short game I thought it was more or less ok!
@trexxak or maybe you are not reading enough into it ahah
@zliebowitz if you already have it I truly advice to try it a bit, it's so easy and rewarding!
@erlioniel I think that if you want you could create the sprite outside the little editor and then import them so if that is a problem for you about pico8 it should be solved (even though one of the charming side of pico is also it's little editor)
@mar3k it could have been an idea to have a "happy ending" but I preferred to give that sense of "not solved" that leaves you hanging and anxious!
I would also like to thank all the other players! Your feedbacks are so valuable and cheerful! Thank you =)
The gameplay is really nice, the controls are just right. The goal is pretty obvious, and the dialogs are nicely done. That said, I don't like screen shakes at all, but that's just my taste, and I also miss some button to speedup the dialogs, as they are fun but only for a while :wink:
Overall, it's a very nice entry, so thanks for making it!
Interesting little "narrative" combined with simple yet clean gameplay.
You know, there's a ton of games I played this time around, but yours DOES stick out a lot for some reason and will surely be remembered! Also saw you giving great feedback everywhere you leave a comment! Thank you for your game and your services u_u I'm glad I crossed my path with you this LD and can't wait too see what the Pico-Magician will cook up next! :D