The SUMmoning

Game stuck on loading so I couldn't play :(

Console got errors:
[libil2cpp] ERROR: Could not open Il2CppData/Metadata/global-metadata.dat
Builds.framework.js.br:10 RuntimeInitializeOnLoadManagerInitializer: Failed reading 'RuntimeInitializeOnLoads.json'
Builds.framework.js.br:10 RuntimeInitializeOnLoadManagerInitializer: Failed reading 'ScriptingAssemblies.json'
Builds.framework.js.br:10 No GlobalGameManagers file was found at , quitting player!

Builds.framework.js.br:10 Failed to initialize player

Unfortunately the game doesnt load for me either.

Here's an error log from the console:

```
[libil2cpp] ERROR: Could not open Il2CppData/Metadata/global-metadata.dat
Builds.framework.js.br:10 RuntimeInitializeOnLoadManagerInitializer: Failed reading 'RuntimeInitializeOnLoads.json'
Builds.framework.js.br:10 RuntimeInitializeOnLoadManagerInitializer: Failed reading 'ScriptingAssemblies.json'
Builds.framework.js.br:10 No GlobalGameManagers file was found at , quitting player!

Builds.framework.js.br:10 Failed to initialize player
```

I have the same problem with the game being stuck in loading screen on the website. Try uploading it on itch, it worked for me.

Can you throw this on itch.io so we can try it?

It does not load :(

I managed to start the game by pressing the big start button, then scrolling down in the frame and opening the frame in a new window. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to play it. All I saw was a green rectangle, a purple rectangle and a bunch of zeroes I could click on.

Had to do the same as @flying-dog-fish to get it to play (here is the direct embed link by the way https://files.jam.host/embed/$384836/25232/index.html) but I looked at the code to figure out how to play it:

1. You start with 0 points;
2. Moving over a tile consumes that many points;
3. Clicking any number will give you that many points;
4. You can't move into a number that would put you in points debt;
5. Objective is to reach pink square with exactly that many points left.

That said, that's a very interesting game mechanic! The implementation is very obscure, especially without any provided instructions, but it's an interesting base for a puzzle game! Being able to see my current score would go a long way.

Good job getting anything done in a cruddy laptop, I know how frustrating and unproductive it can be. I wish you luck with your hardware situation!

Also, a bit of Ludum Dare meta, please opt-out of categories not applicable to your game. Both so you don't get the sour taste of seeing your game at the bottom of the list in something that it was not fair to judge it by, but also because the people rating your game don't get full score for only partially rating a game.

@kroltan Thank you so much for the link to play the game as well as the instructions.

As for the game itself:
The core game play was really interesting, but it was hard to understand with no controls or anything. Even with the embed that kroltan provided, it was still cut off unless you went into fullscreen, so the added "summoning points" info just wasn't there at all.
As a note, you are allowed to edit your page to fix issues like this, so it would definitely be worth it to reuploading it. Adding controls to the description would be good too.

Oooh so there was a score counter... (I didn't open the entire Unity project 'cause I don't have the editor installed anymore) That makes so much more sense with it xD

I think you missed adding a Canvas Scaler to your canvas, so it would scale up and down to different resolutions (interestingly it almost looks centered on 1440p)

And yeah, if you are willing and able, it is legal by the rules to try and fix unplayability issues like the scaling and embedding, just don't add new features :smiley:

oops

@kroltan @pupirka @caz-creates-games @worldofmush @mrwarranty @evoleo @flying-dog-fish @saprina289

Hmmm the embed was working when I first uploaded I thought. My apologies, here is the itchi.io link, it's also updated on the game post. https://astrydax.itch.io/the-summoning

@kroltan Yeah, I ended up rushing out the final deployment getting down to the wire and not having sleep. Typically my design philosophy is anit-tutorial. I like the super meat boy approach of designing levels to only have 1 very specific solution depending on a single mechanic that isn't directly conveyed to the player instead leaving them to figure it out and building from there.

thanks a lot for all the feedback and help you provided here.

Which categories should I have opted out of? I didn't really realize that was a thing.

Yup, that's a valid design approach, and maybe would have helped if I had seen the score counter :sweat_smile:, but it's also important to notice that SMB appeals to people who have played a platformer before, so when they see a lil dude standing somewhere along a sideways view, they understand they will have the basic move and jump verbs at the very least. Less so with a square and wiggling numbers.

I can only speak to myself, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use the keyboard or mouse. So I tried everything, I clicked on the "player" and nothing happened, I pressed W and something happened, so I assumed it was keyboard controls. Maybe have an affordance for the mouse use might be a good idea in the future, such as highlighting numbers on hover, or having a (simple, mspaint is fine) custom cursor.

As for opting out of categories, generally, whichever categories that you feel your game shouldn't be judged by. That's for you to decide, but for me, the categories I was unsure about how to rate in your game were Humor and Mood, given the game doesn't really have any context that would enable either. For Humor I rated the pun name since that was the only conceivably related thing I could see :smile:.