Beautiful blob

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.01
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.06
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.60
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.82
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.13
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.81
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.83
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.04
Help the blobfish get to the ocean floor to become beautiful again as he was deformed due to the low pressure on the surface. Don't let the mirrors hit you with the harsh reality until you get to be the most beautiful creature in the ocean!

Controls:
Mouse(only aim)

Tools used:
-Game engine: Unity
-Audio: Bosca Ceoil(music), sfxr(sound FX)
-Art: Piskel 0.14
-Code: VisualStudio2017

Comments76

Panacea
Panacea25 Apr 2021, 22:43
Cool idea, I like the visuals! I thought the bubbles were projectiles at first though, so that was confusing.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor25 Apr 2021, 22:53
@panacea The bubbles were made to make it feel like the player is moving, because if not the screen feels very static, didn't think they could be mistaken for projectiles lol. I'm glad you liked it :smile:
Rushhourz25 Apr 2021, 23:21
My best was 70%, really nice idea :D
ksadov25 Apr 2021, 23:36
Good job balancing the movement physics so that the game felt reasonably tricky without the controls feeling frustrating or unresponsive.
cavedens
cavedens25 Apr 2021, 23:40
Interesting concept. I loved the blob and handsome squidward :D
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor25 Apr 2021, 23:45
@rushhourz Thank you, I bet you can clear the game, don't give up!
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor25 Apr 2021, 23:46
@ksadov I designed the level first, and felt a little short but I wanted to finish it with time so instead of adding more level I just slowed the blob, thanks for the feedback!
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor25 Apr 2021, 23:47
@cavedens I didn't know what to draw for the middle sprite, but I'm glad the other 2 are recognizeable!
youthfulIdealism26 Apr 2021, 00:05
(Disclaimer: I got to 74%, not the end.)

Solid game.

I'm not sure if it's just a quirk of the browser, but for me, the pixel art was very blurry.

The biggest thing the game would benefit from is a "drop faster" button.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 00:31
@youthfulidealism the reason is blurry is because i scaled a lot the sprites and it gave that effect. My pixel art is not that good so the blurriness makes it more acceptable. Regarding the drop faster, I agree but the level is so short I didn't feel the need to add that functionality. Thanks for the feedback, and maybe try going for the 100%!
oeschmid
oeschmid26 Apr 2021, 00:53
God that music is fantastic. I really enjoyed this one - the changing face got me hooked to see what look the blob fish would have next. Great work!
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 01:03
@oeschmid the music is me playing notes randomly in Bosca Ceoil, I think what makes it "good" is the change in pitch as you go deeper. Thanks for the feedback!
oeschmid
oeschmid26 Apr 2021, 01:06
@hestrateja I think it's a mix of that and the instrumentation. Keep it up!
Elmando2333
Elmando233326 Apr 2021, 01:12
Ugly and lovely fish, but I didn't have good control, so I died soon
Cheese_man26 Apr 2021, 01:27
I didn't have the patience to finish the game but for those who do they must have had a fun time. Is there a prize at the end lol?
PixelPortalz
PixelPortalz26 Apr 2021, 01:30
my browser is stretching the image so that i cannot see anything above and below the 3 immersion suits. Could you fix that?
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 01:31
@Chees_man the prize is not finishing the game, is the journey
PixelPortalz
PixelPortalz26 Apr 2021, 01:41
I managed with a different browser (was using Brave and it bugged out).
Really like the idea of the evolution of the character! Couldn't reach level 3, maybe you could be a bit more generous with the hit boxes of the deep sea "mines"? It might be just me, I suck at action games....
Ariorick
Ariorick26 Apr 2021, 02:00
Awesome cover art, got be bamboozled!
kory
kory26 Apr 2021, 02:03
Funny idea and the music is perfect!

Kinda slow but that's okay
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 02:08
@kory What would be the perfect speed for you? Is it a small adjustment or like 50% faster? A freediving blob didn't sound right for me xD
Rewdas26 Apr 2021, 02:11
Had to go back several times just to see what 100 % Beauty was. Music was slowly driving me insane. Fun time.
Rewdas26 Apr 2021, 02:11
Had to go back several times just to see what 100 % Beauty was. Music was slowly driving me insane. Fun time.
Greg the Egg
Greg the Egg26 Apr 2021, 02:16
It's really funny! The music is great. The two biggest gripes I have are:

The hitboxes are a little wonky at the end. I think it's using the original sprite's hitbox, so you've got more clearance with the forehead.

Instead of getting a game over screen where you have to manually restart, just plonk the player back at the start. With how slow the game is during gameplay, it's really slow to have to keep manually restarting.

All in all, a really solid game
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 02:17
@rewdas yeah I don't do drugs but the music of the game sounds like what I imagine someone in drugs listens
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 02:22
@greg-the-egg the hitbox is a circle smaller than the sprite and remains the same for the entirety of the game. The game over thing was to.. maybe?? share where you lost or how advanced were you. Thanks for the feedback!
kory
kory26 Apr 2021, 02:23
@hestrateja ah that's a tough call, fall is so finicky. Maybe one thing to try is to increase fall speed when the mouse is far away? I really like the way left-right feels in the game so maybe something like that?

I think the issue I have is how fluid the left-right is and how restricted the up-down is

Let me know if that doesn't make sense :)
Billnotic26 Apr 2021, 02:24
Music detracts from the experience, and the pixel upscaling makes the visuals blurry. However, the game fits the theme very well and is a neat take on it.
eboatwright
eboatwright26 Apr 2021, 02:26
Uh. Very interesting? XD It's kinda weird, but kinda works also! Interesting submission!
LitmusZest26 Apr 2021, 02:58
Nice take on the theme. Thought I had to avoid the bubbles at first, which seemed super difficult, then realized I didn't and it became a bit slow. Kept losing at 81%, but wanted to keep trying so was having a good bit of fun.
TheseusInABottle
TheseusInABottle26 Apr 2021, 03:20
I love this idea. I was just listening to a podcast where the talked about the blob fish like yesterday so maybe that makes me a little more favorable to this game but I really liked it. Your music slowly dropping in pitch was a good touch and the transformations as you got lower looked good. I wish there was a little more room between mirrors on the second layer but its really not the big a deal. Also props to you for using a nonstandard aspect ratio even for the browser version. To many developers make games that have vertical to them and then put them in 16:9. So I appreciate the novelty of the 9:16 aspect ratio
Pixelhurricane
Pixelhurricane26 Apr 2021, 03:42
funny game, definitely cursed. had a good time 3/5
Ironicnet
Ironicnet26 Apr 2021, 03:53
Nice one. I would make the obstacles or dangers more like a red or something to indicate danger
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 03:55
@kory yeah, maybe adding varying vertical speed is a good idea, thanks for your suggestion!
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 03:55
@litmuszest thanks for the feedback, second to say they thought they had to dodge bubbles xD
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 03:56
@theseusinabottle I planned to make a "mobile" game and so I thought in making the game in a phone aspect ratio. Long live the blob fish lmao
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 03:59
@ironicnet could be, but as you are in the not so clear sea it would turn into a brownish color. Also, there aren't other obstacles, so they should be perceptible
rhoff95
rhoff9526 Apr 2021, 05:08
Cool game and idea. I would like player to have some control over downward speed. I did not like waiting for the fish to slowly lower. I would like the focus to be on maneuvering rather than waiting.
Famicon80
Famicon8026 Apr 2021, 14:43
terrifying but full of soul, a drop faster button would make it 11/10
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 15:08
@famicon80 thank you very much, I'm blushing lol. Regarding the drop faster button, it is totally a feature I would add if the game was longer
RomeRomey
RomeRomey26 Apr 2021, 15:48
super funny! i think it would have been interesting to have the music slowly get more "handsome" as the game progresses, to match the visual of the blobfish getting more handsome.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 15:51
@RomeRomey define "handsome" music lmao, something like "Careless Whisper" by George Michael? xDDDD
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 15:52
@rhoff95 the downwards speed seems to be a common concern, thanks for the feedback!
RomeRomey
RomeRomey26 Apr 2021, 15:55
@hestrateja yeah that would work haha! like the game starts with a really off key/off time saxophone and it slowly gets sexier. almost something like the harmonica jurrasic park theme.

Plazyqwerty
Plazyqwerty26 Apr 2021, 16:10
Great game! But it would have been better if there were more obstacles to dodge and there weren't so many mirrors. I love the idea and story! :)
neonjeff
neonjeff26 Apr 2021, 17:43
I could only make it to 80% but really wanted to see the ending. I like the music a lot... it fit the feel of the art style.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 18:01
@plazyqwerty It's true, I would have liked that too but finishing the game was my priority, thanks for the feedback!
WongKongPhooey
WongKongPhooey26 Apr 2021, 19:38
It did make me laugh when the transforms happened! It's a nice game, and a creative take on the theme which I always like. Well done!
GarethTheDestro26 Apr 2021, 21:12
I'm a true beauty! The first time I transformed it was such a fun surprise! Once piece of feedback - not sure if it's the compression in the engine or if the sprites were scales but the beautiful pixel art is a bit fuzzy, and the art really is fantastic. Great game! :blowfish:
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor26 Apr 2021, 21:31
@pohko it is scaled up, might try to fix that in a update, thanks for the comment!
etom
etom26 Apr 2021, 21:36
Wow! I love the music! :D
neverautomatic
neverautomatic26 Apr 2021, 23:05
In my opinion, blob was 100% beautiful from the start and beating this game was pointless. (I did enjoy it though)
Andreia
Andreia27 Apr 2021, 03:54
I liked the surprise element of the character shapeshifting. In the first wave where it got narrower I thought "uh-oh" but then that happened. Really nice game! I made it 77% to my true beauty :)
ashenswish27 Apr 2021, 09:58
The sweet blob got me rooting hard for him, even though I too felt he was beautiful as he was from the start. Great job!
BridgeOnAStick
BridgeOnAStick27 Apr 2021, 12:30
Reject surface blobfish, return to depths blobfish. Very cursed game, although I did enjoy it. Was not able to finish it, the hitboxes felt a bit inconsistent. One time I could go almost through a mirror and did not get hit, another time I barely touched it and died.
Glaikunt
Glaikunt27 Apr 2021, 14:12
I transformed into full chad that I knew I always was. Great little game, pretty funny :) The transformation animation was really cool, reminded me of pokemon. It might just be the music or me... but felt like it had a dark undertone
sadsmile27 Apr 2021, 16:46
The game was pretty funny ^^
Shaolin Dave
Shaolin Dave27 Apr 2021, 17:06
The follow-the-mouse controls were surprisingly intuitive, then a little frustrating as the hit detection was so sensitive and movment needed to be very percise. Still, I managed to win after I think 10 playthroughs.
I suggest some work with colors and focus to separate important visual elements. At first I thought the bubbles were killing me because the mirrors seemed like part of the background. The player, ostacles, and background should all contrast each other.
I was excepting some sort of metaphor, like he was sad about being ugly because he was "shallow" and when he was "deep", beauty wouldn't matter.
I did have to chuckle at what I think is a spongebob reference? Is the face suppose to look like sexy squidward towards the end?
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor27 Apr 2021, 17:22
@shaolin-dave the visual elements are far from perfect, but i put a layer of a green sprite with reduced alpha to make it look "murky" but resulted in worse differentiation of what is what.

Regarding the last blob sprite, yes it is handsome squidward, it was either that or giga chad which i put as a background xD
Shaolin Dave
Shaolin Dave27 Apr 2021, 17:33
I didn't even notice giga chad, had to play again to see him. nice easter egg!
SciDev
SciDev28 Apr 2021, 00:49
The concept is quite novel and it was quite easy to understand how to play. The art was a bit odd tho, it would have looked much better if you set the sprites to point interpolation. Other than that the game was very funny and good.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor28 Apr 2021, 12:38
@scidev Thanks for the feedback! Do you know how to do the sprite thing in unity?
Edit: Nevermind I already found it! Gonna reupload with the change in sprites
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor28 Apr 2021, 12:39
@shaolin-dave giga chad is the thumbnail and is literally all the background when you win. Were you tunnel visioning that much? XD
exewin
exewin29 Apr 2021, 00:39
Good thing you made hitboxes so forgiving. Thanks to that, I felt like average enjoyer of game rather than average fan.
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor29 Apr 2021, 00:46
@exewin what do you mean by "average enjoyer" and "average fan" I can't tell if it's sarcasm xD
exewin
exewin29 Apr 2021, 00:57
@hestrateja It's a meme involving gigachad, looks like I incorrectly assumed you know it. My previous comment probably sounds idiotic... :face_palm:
Hestrateja
Hestratejaauthor29 Apr 2021, 01:23
@exewin It's not your fault, I don't know how I didn't get it, I was trying so hard to see feedback but it was a meme xddd. Also, maybe it's because I'm Spanish so the catchfrase didn't click. Didn't know the chad I used was used in the average enjoyer meme, I usually see this one

Also, here is the spanish meme I got the chad from:

It translates to "That's right bro, how did you know I'm team Kong?"

Other games by @hestrateja

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord