whispers in the lab post mortem
thought id do a post mortem of my jam game. its a 3rd person platformer inspired by a mechanic from wario land 4 of having to rush back to the start of the level, and a mechanic taken from ff14 which causes your character to only move in the direction of the arrow above your head.
you need to get through the level and get the eye of the old gods, and take it back, whilst it limits your control of the character and a spooky ghost chases you
what went wrong
1.due to not doing a proper tutorial, people didn't understand how the game really worked. you are supposed to lose control of your character when getting the eye, and can only move in the direct the arrow is pointing. the challenge is getting back. people thought the loss of control was a bug
2.it was to frustrating for people to play. I think the gimmick would have worked if for short periods you lost control but when its all the time its just annoying.
3.I overscoped - was happy with how the character moved and had a fun time animating him, but I had no time to do art, proper ui, sound, music, or just a basic tutorial on how to play the game
what id do if I did it again
Id keep the idea of going through a level and going back with a package and some sort of twist, and keep a ghost chasing you.
Id remove the loss of control gimmick, and probably use more hazards to avoid on the way back or something
would make the environment outside so I didn't have to think about walls and a ceiling. just have it floating in the void or something
if your interested in playing, the link is here
https://fidrik.itch.io/ludum-dare-53-whispers-in-the-lab
I challenge you to beat it, because I dont think anyone has yet. its tough
here is the game page too
Source: ldjam.com archive