TimeSplitters 4

by bluecalx

co-authored: @tino, @toffanim

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.44

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.12

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.89

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.77

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.07

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.41

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.17

Inputs

- MOVE : ARROWS
- STAND STILL / PASS TIME : T
- BREAK TIME : B
- RESTART LVL : R
- ESCAPE LVL : ESC

Instructions

Reach the exit.

But soon enough you will not be able to do it alone anymore.

So let me rephrase:
Reach the exit with any of your timelines.

You will do so by recording inputs to create time loops.
Record inputs for a loop by moving (arrows) and/or standing still (T) in the game until you used all five of your battery cells.
Each battery cell having five energy (understand five inputs/turns).

A time rewind happens automatically at the end of the loop, after that you have to pass time (T) to watch your past self perform the recorded inputs by himself.
While watching your past self you may break time (B) at any turn to desynchronize and record an additional loop by finishing the previous one differently.

Plan well as you will have one less energy per battery cell each time you desynchronize (your color gets darker).

Try not to get Stuck in a Loop! if so you may restart the level.

Unity, Aesprite, Tiled, FL Studio, Audacity (+ half-filled 20yo metallic water bottle)

Known bugs

- highlight of current energy bar during lost (black) energy turns is not working.
- energy bars red highlights goes from 4 to 0 instead of 5 to 1, which makes it display them all depleted when you actually have full current max energy available.
- breaking time on top of a button make the present self not activate it, therefore if your previous past self leaves it it will deactivate even if your present self has stayed on it.
Note: none of the levels need this to be completed, they are all doable in this version 1.0.

If you're still confused

The game mechanics can be difficult to grasp and it terribly lacks a proper tutorial. If you have the patience try (re)-reading the pseudo tutorial above and experiment it in a level. We believe it might be worth it to take some minutes to figure them out, once past the understanding people seem quite happy with the levels solving so far (thank you very much for all the feedback!).

Here's an example of recorded inputs for all five loops which tries to cover all kind of possibles questions you might have after struggling a bit with the game first:

Genres: puzzle

Tools: Audacity, FL Studio, Unity

Comments54

EasyGoingDubber6 Oct 2020, 15:00

I like the mood and audio behind the game. The anoying thing placed in this game is that so so unintuitive i think. For patient players yes but this makes game less fun i think. I mean, starting lvls should be easier just for people who don't like to be patient. Although you hitted the theme.

gnx6 Oct 2020, 15:09

Slightly difficult to get hang of the mechanics. But the presentation is very nice and the game feels quite polished otherwise!

Cargamoni6 Oct 2020, 15:15

its bit confusing, need more time to figure out gameplay

iorena6 Oct 2020, 15:15

Really difficult to understand the mechanics, but very cool and on point with the theme! Like the sounds also

grenk6 Oct 2020, 15:25

I was having a hard time until I realized that you could break at any point (I only skimmed the instructions, whoops). After that the difficulty seemed fine. There's a somewhat intuitive ordering of breaks based on distance you need to travel to each point. I think that a little hand holding while introducing breaks would help, but it's not mandatory.

Anywho, great game! I liked the aesthetic, and the stages are designed well.

fachscahfttf6 Oct 2020, 15:46

Easily my favourite game in this jam so far. The time split mechanic is relly well thought out and the later levels are relly challenging, but doable. I would've wished for the first levels to actively teach the mechanics, but your explanation in description did a fine job regardless.

Magic_mike6 Oct 2020, 17:48

Awesome game! It took me way longer than i'd like to admit to figure how to play, and once i finally figured it out, took me even longer to do the levels haha !

The gameplay is really deep! It respect the theme really wonderfully, so props to that!

Also TimeSplitter 4 !

LanaLux7 Oct 2020, 00:37

Wow, super complex. Really cool concept. :)

ZOMBIEBUST3R7 Oct 2020, 09:34

Good fit for the theme and very challenging. Very good overall! :smile:

Tino7 Oct 2020, 09:45

Thank you so much everyone for playing the game, for your good vibes comments and for your valuable feedback!

I rephrased the instructions to maximize clearness based on what people seem to be struggling with when discovering our game. Big thanks to @lanalux 's amazing twitch channel, after seeing her comment here I went and watched her yesterday's replay in which she tested our game, I could see what really needed to be clearer.

monninen7 Oct 2020, 16:04

It was pretty hard to understand all mechanics. Music and SFX were cool

JudgeZedd7 Oct 2020, 16:09

It IS a bit confusing, but it's worthwhile learning the mechanics because the complexity is very rewarding. Plus then I get to play TimeSplitters 4, so...

OddSocks7 Oct 2020, 16:14

Struggled to start with... but once I jumped back here and actually read the instructions I started making some progress! A complex game that deserves recognition. Nice job :raised_hands:

nicksmaddog7 Oct 2020, 16:33

Really great game mechanic, and the puzzles are quite challenging. Well done!

TheWustache7 Oct 2020, 16:35

It's really impressive to see such a complex puzzle mechanic in a jam game! Though the initial difficulty curve is a little wonky, the later levels that really leverage time breaking are really interesting. Great job!

Coda Highland7 Oct 2020, 16:42

This was really challenging. It's addictive! It looks simple, then it's hard, then it seems like you've got it figured out, and then it throws you for a loop (pun intended). Well done!

Charlie Hall7 Oct 2020, 17:00

This seems really interesting, but player onboarding needs some major help. I read the instructions but still didn't make any progress. Sorry, just didn't understand the game.

Wxzuir7 Oct 2020, 18:36

Spent some time figuring out the game mechanic, then fell in love with it!
Nice job guys!

SandPile7 Oct 2020, 21:42

I like the art style, and the sound effects and music really fits the game! I cleared some levels, but I don't think I grasped the concept completely. The level after the one with the crate stumped me.

Dani Tufeld8 Oct 2020, 15:01

hard to understand the mechanices, a tutorial would have been usefull, loved the theme, vibe and audio!!!

CodeHacher1238 Oct 2020, 15:05

Nice game, pretty fun!

Yword8 Oct 2020, 15:20

Very clever and unique puzzle! Great works. ^_^

polaliart8 Oct 2020, 16:16

I was confused at first but once it clicks in your head it is a very interesting and complex game! I loved the music and I really like how the idea fits so well with the theme :)

blobo8 Oct 2020, 16:36

Really cool ideas! I'm a huge fan of the puzzles you've set up, and the music fits very well! Great work!

Yamo the Lucky8 Oct 2020, 17:32

it is a cool puzzle game, good job @tino keep it up with the sounds :D

abvadabra8 Oct 2020, 19:03

You, people behind this game, are a bunch of mad geniuses. Coming up with this concept seems incredibly smart, and I loved solving these puzzles, totally fun. Finished all levels except the last one, but only because don't have the time right now and probably will return to it later.

I agree with comments above mentioning that understanding mechanics is a bit hard at first, but once you get it - everything suddenly makes sense and solving levels starts feeling natural. It's like figuring out the plot of the Primer movie (btw, totally recommend watching), once you understand how it works you are starting to see the whole picture. All of it probably means that a simple in-game tutorial will solve the problem.

Bonus points for the music, altough simple, it works like a charm with your simple graphics.

Hoping for a post jam version, thanks for making this game!

BlueCalxauthor8 Oct 2020, 20:24

Thank you all for your feedbacks. We're very happy to see that you had a great time playing our game despite the convoluted UI/lack of tutorial. It makes the sweat worth!
@abvadabra Thats some great positive energy you're sending here. Thanks mate!

Aimainiac8 Oct 2020, 21:20

A very cool concept, if not a bit confusing. I think that an in game tutorial would work wonders in a game like this.

The Enigma8 Oct 2020, 22:15

Really interesting puzzle concept and very well executed. I feel like being able to step backwards in time as well as forwards would be useful because the puzzles are so punishing even making a small mistake means you often have to skip through an entire loop, but obviously its very well done for a jam.

Its time to split!

Zypo8 Oct 2020, 22:37

Yes the controls were wierd, but once I got the hang of it I did well. I wish there were more intermediary levels as I felt like I got thrown in with the wolves on some levels!

Eugenik9 Oct 2020, 01:01

Big fan of the art

cristi_aby9 Oct 2020, 06:57

Interesting way to do a game. Keep up the good work.

Toulou9 Oct 2020, 10:33

This is a very ambitious and clever game, the gameplay is unique, but I do agree with the other comment, it's a bit confusing at first. Even when you understand the controls, it's still very hard, there are no room for errors. The presentation is top notch and the music is nice, overall it's a great game, but yeah, a bit too difficult.

Lamossus9 Oct 2020, 15:09

Best entry I've played so far for sure! Usually when people make puzzle games for LD they make levels too easy because of a lack of time to think them through but this game seems really well designed. Still can't get my head around level 6

Remzo9 Oct 2020, 15:21

This was very cool! Super well designed puzzles - very hard, but fair once you understand the controls and rules. As mentioned a tutorial would be excellent, one thing that took me a while to understand was that I was losing a move *per battery* with each break. Would've been nice to have a "go back one tick" or restart loop button though. Solid entry!

Aiyn Skriban9 Oct 2020, 15:33

Really nice game ! I manage to get to the 7th level but that one blew my mind !
Definitely going to finish the 2 last levels. Really great job there.

EDIT: I finished it ! Love hard games ^^

PROJECTaroid10 Oct 2020, 01:27

Cool concept. The music and art work well together. The game play is fun. Nice work!

Oblivion Games10 Oct 2020, 02:56

Great game! The mechanics felt a little off to me, but overall it's extremely well done!

etrealjunior11 Oct 2020, 19:16

I liked your game, I believe that nothing like trial and error can lead to learning how to play, I was bothered by the location of the keys, because the main function is on a far button "B", maybe if you use a close sequence like "Z" "," X "," C ", can be more practical, the music combined with the style of play, because it brings calm to a very complex challenge, the idea is not new to the game, but it is supported in a very challenging game, in the future being able to add new functions to become a commercial game, I hope I helped, a big hug.

elysiagriffin11 Oct 2020, 21:22

Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/767505473?t=5h42m46s

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin

Balance68611 Oct 2020, 23:36

This is awesome! Definitely the game I've spent most time playing so far this jam. Very clean presentation with pleasant audio. The loop/break mechanic is very clever and fits in excellent with the theme. It has a bit of a learning curve without an in-game tutorial, which you mentioned, but it can be easily learned with some initial trial and error. Excellent job!

On a side note, I saw you used Unity and Tiled. I'm curious as to why you went with Tiled over Unity's built-in tilemap stuff. I haven't used Tiled so if I'm missing out I'd like to know :P

Tino12 Oct 2020, 13:19

Thank you very much again for all the feedback, we are delighted to learn that apparently a bunch of people around the globe had some minutes of great time because of us.

@balance686 :

We used Tiled because the noob in the team (spoiler: me) didn't know much about unity's tilemap system at the beginning of the jam.

It is an extremely light weight and simple program which generates text and png save files, handy for git merges compared to accidentally messing around in the same unity scenes.

It allowed me to get started with designing the game mechanics and levels as an efficient back and forth process since the very start of the jam (using random icons from the web). Once we got a first version of the core game loop implemented and placeholder sprites designed I then started to try out the level designs in unity and polish directly there. But even then I would still go back to Tiled whenever I needed to make big changes because it was just so much faster to prototype there.

arron-fowler12 Oct 2020, 14:18

Thats a really interesting concept and I feel out of the context of this rate a review phase I would have given myself more time to grapple with it. It hurt my nogging in a good way. Like you mention above a bit more hand holding in the first place required. I hope you continue to work on it it has loads of potential

Lyrcaxis13 Oct 2020, 00:22

Awesome game + level design!

This game feels complete and not lacking in anything -- despite the minimalistic graphics style.

Playing felt good, and was inspiring. Great job!

MSiddeek13 Oct 2020, 04:59

I love anything with time manipulation, so naturally I love this. One thing that made me struggle is learning curve. Even without a tutorial, a good set of levels can introduce the mechanics and build the player's intuition but by bit. Other that that, great execution: Audio, graphics, and controls are all great. Congrats!

Arthurds13 Oct 2020, 12:14

Definetly very precice puzzles, had a great time with this one. Thanks for submittint it! -PomoTheDog

Gonzalol14 Oct 2020, 16:15

It's a fun and original interpretation of the theme. Nice work!

guimoliveira14 Oct 2020, 18:34

Very nice idea. I liked the game! Good job. :)

fabula_rasa15 Oct 2020, 23:13

Very cool puzzles! So satisfying to figure out! Really nice design and a great cerebral game.

Music is very fitting as well, created nice ambience but didn't get in the way. Graphics are obviously very basic, so not much to talk about here. However, I will talk about colors :). I think it would be somewhat better if the color differences between me and my new selves were more pronounced. I am, of course, not advertising creating a color circus here :wink: but some more pronounced variation.

The game indeed took a while to get a hang of, figure out the inner workings (like it wasn't immediately apparent that my clones skip the specific action where they have an empty bar - it became apparent once I looked at the image you provided :smile:). But after I got comfortable with the core concept, the puzzles were very enjoyable to solve. Well done, well done indeed!

joleon16 Oct 2020, 16:03

Ok first of all kudos on designing a novel puzzle game. There's a good number of levels, and all the one I've seen are very well designed.

But man, this game is extremely difficult :sweat_smile: Or at least, level 5 is extremely difficult, fun enough to keep me trying for about 30 minutes, but I never got past it.

Anyway, it's a good kind of difficulty, so I've no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the controls are unintuitive, and make the game really unintuitive to learn to play. I spent way too much time on level 1, just because I never realized I wait (T) while the previous timelines play out, but instead always just tried to break time (B) right at the start.

Obviously, it could use a tutorial level, just to explain the mechanics (or at the very least, tell the player step-by-step how to beat level 1, then let them take it from there). But I'd like to point my finger at the biggest problem: understanding the "T" control. It has two functions in two different contexts (while replaying it means "step forward", and while playing it means "wait"). So I have two different suggestions to try: I would either introduce W for "wait", or just remove the "wait" functionality completely, and remove the need to use it. Or, if I was even braver, I'd remove the "step forward" functionality and make the previous timelines start replaying one step per second automatically after rewinding!

Other than that, the game looks great and sounds great. I was listening to the music for about an hour (as long as I played) and didn't get bored.

Very nice interpretation of the theme as well.

Great job on this game! :)

Trexxak21 Oct 2020, 22:43

The puzzles are really fun after you get the mechanics!

I do have to say though, this game was on my "to play" list for a long time before
I actually tried it out because the schematic you posted made it look way more complicated for
me than it actually was in the end.

Also @tino particularly, thank you for helping a certain ld participant learn about
common netiquette. It was because of your courage I finally played this game!

Coding4rtist22 Oct 2020, 23:40

Wow this puzzle is really fun and challenging! The concept is smart and certainly very promising. I must admit that at first it was not easy to understand the various mechanics (maybe a tutorial would have helped) but once I understand them I really enjoyed this game. The graphics is clear and the minimal style fits the game well, although in my opinion it can be improved a bit. Music is well done. Great entry!