Ascent

by rbeattie

co-authored: @gamedevgoose, @meansquarederror, @binturong, @ttsgeb, @ysbwriel

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.91

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.89

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.04

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.35

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.37

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.64

Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.69

The world has fallen into chaos and instability, and you've traced this madness to its source: the Tower of Magic. Ascend, brave one, and restore order to the world!

Controls:
Left Arrow (A): Move Left
Right Arrow (D): Move Right
Space: Jump

Created by University of Vermont Game Development Club
Sam Gusick - Programmer & Not Forgotten
Marcus Elia - Programmer & Musician
Tyler Hickey - Visual Artist & Animator
Tim Martin - Level Design
Robby Beattie - Programmer & Manager
Dylan Gooley - Idea Man

Genres: platformer

Tools: Unity

Comments19

ClassicDillster5 Oct 2021, 00:44

This was a solid idea. A 2D platformer is always fun. The movement seemed kind of slow and clunky. I think that and some audio would improve this game a lot.

Turkey5 Oct 2021, 00:50

Interesting game. The gravity felt a bit low and I was floating a lot. Also knowing if a platform was stabilized or not was also a bit hard to tell.

SarahSprague5 Oct 2021, 00:53

Did y'all record Marcus playing live? It sounds great, if a touch quiet. More audio feedback for player actions would be great. For instance, I found it difficult to distinguish between the states of the controllable platforms, so sound there would help communicate that my input was accepted

MeanSquaredError5 Oct 2021, 03:00

Good question, @sarahsprague. I didn't have time to perfect playing it live, so the audio is just MuseScore3 playing through it.

SlimmerBurger5 Oct 2021, 06:21

Pretty solid platformer, the jump was a bit floaty but the main stablizing mechanic is really cool and I could see it in a full game :thumbsup:

TheGamerASD6 Oct 2021, 04:12

Nice game, I really liked the mechanics.

OctahedronSoftware6 Oct 2021, 09:30

I would like background and foreground to have more of a contrast, so that the platforms really stand out.

Misfire_dev6 Oct 2021, 10:19

I love the studio title of Idea Man, game has good ideas but with a shaky execution. I saw you guys were a Uni club so I think this is a great entry for 72 hours with people who probably haven't worked together long.

Muse_X6 Oct 2021, 12:57

This is an interesting game! I had a confusion with teleports, but I got through anyway. Could add a tower map to the game to see the progress of the climb :)

MeanSquaredError6 Oct 2021, 14:25

@muse-x Before we added the background texture, it was nearly impossible to tell what was happening with teleporting. If we had more time, we would have added fog that changes density as elevation changes.

Cookie_CHR7 Oct 2021, 15:50

Really nice game. The movement was kind of slow, tho

Nahuelito7 Oct 2021, 19:13

The interaction with the platforms is interesting, but feels a bit weird to control. Also, it would be nice if the platforms had more visual contrast with the background.
Cool game!

mrBell2708 Oct 2021, 00:40

Unstable platform are so annoying! Which makes your game a perfect platformer:)

Sound is lacking in web version, don't know if it is by design or bug.

Good work! Keep up, learn and make more interesting games :)

ElFapo8 Oct 2021, 17:09

Definitely an interesting mechanic! I think with some sort of constraint or cost for using that "stabilization orb" you could make some really nice puzzles with it.

Caleb9 Oct 2021, 04:32

You brought something new to the platforming table, which I appreciate. My main gripe is with the visibility of the platforms. I had trouble figuring out if I froze a platform in its intangible state.

sg-goennung10 Oct 2021, 17:03

Quite a good platformer - one improvement idea: it would feel better, if jumping would stop when releasing the space bar (like in mario games). However, great JAM game!

essarrgee13 Oct 2021, 09:27

Nice game! I like the stop and drag mechanics. I do have to say that it was a little hard to tell the platforms apart from the background sometimes. Otherwise, good job on the game!

Izzo17 Oct 2021, 19:07

Short and sweet, really fun mechanics I see a lot of potential for making fun puzzles.
Oh, I found a bit of a ~~cheese~~ speedrun strat: https://imgur.com/a/TzwOnGZ

Ve_ret20 Oct 2021, 12:42

The background is too harsh for the eye and blinding, it might be worth making a difference between the foreground and the background. The protagonist and the wall seem to me to be equally detailed.
In general, I love platformers, the attempt was a success, but it would be nice to finalize the game))

Other games by @rbeattie

★3.10