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A jam submission

Poke ALL ToadsView game page

A puzzle game starring mischievous fairies
Submitted by La_Fafafa (@spacematra) — 2 days, 23 hours before the deadline
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Viewing comments 22 to 3 of 22 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

I'd played the game before in a previous build before the art swap, and it's still as solid as it was. Now that you've gone and updated the art though, I've got a couple nitpicks that you'll maybe be interested in, amongst a couple other things:

- The player hitbox is weird; it starts at the shadow and goes up some distance. You have a nice circle at the base; why not center it around that? It would make more sense imo. But I guess then you'd need a different hitbox/target point for the tongues maybe.

- I keep waiting for the level titles to transition automatically. Maybe you could add that in, but maybe it's just me.

- The pixel-perfect option seems to not hold true, unless it's just for scaling. Clouds and characters move off the pixel grid.

- I think the upscaled clouds at the bottom of the title screens are very jarring.

- The sand tiles feel too noisy

I've gotta say the art is very charming now, although I'll miss the smug energy of the old blue fairies! These animations are very good.

Developer

Thanks for playing again and the feedback! I appreciate the nitpicks, polishing is very important for me at the moment. 

- The fairies hitbox are a doozy. The fairies are in profile view in a top-down world, which doesn't make any sense and causes troubles. The hitbox is a circle which fits nicely in width of the sprite, but not in depth. What you noticed is the sprite offset.

 

Here you can see the fairy feet are slightly below its origin. This is so when they are touching the bottom of a tile, they look close enough to it. In the pictures to the right, I modified the blue fairy and its shadow to be in the middle of the collision circle while the red fairy is how she currently is in game. Notice how the blue fairy looks very far away from the tile boundary in the top picture. Maybe it is just me, but such a big separation felt off. Meanwhile when both are on the top part, both have a separation from the top but even when the red fairy looks much farther away, it is doesnt feel very strange.

Did the collision feel weird when interacting with buttons and levers? That is something I have to update and maybe making them graphically smaller will fit the fairies collision better.

- You are not the only one that felt that way. I will add a timer which will load the level after a brief wait.

- Pixel perfect only does something in "maximize" and "full screen". In anything but zoom x1 there will be some pixels off the grid. I have tried to change it but didn't manage to fix it. I still have to tinker with this. At least the sprites don't get deformed when pixel perfect is on.

- Yeah, you are right. I should replace them.

- From all the things I tried, making it noisy looked the best. It is sand after all and the fairies are tiny. Maybe if I was more skilled I could pull off something better. I might adjust the contrast between sand grains a bit though.

Submitted(+1)

Yeah, I understand what's going on with the hitbox, it's just that for me it's the opposite. I think the blue fairy looks better aligned (though I think you should keep the shadow positioned relative to the sprite not the hitbox). Interacting with stuff indeed felt a bit off for the same reason to me.

I think for the sand, something resembling a dune-y texture would work better. Something with a wavy shape and two tones, like this perhaps? How Fish Makes Textures [Semi Realistic Planks 2/12/2012] - Resource Pack  Discussion - Resource Packs - Mapping and Modding: Java Edition - Minecraft  Forum - Minecraft Forum

Developer

> Yeah, I understand what's going on with the hitbox, it's just that for me it's the opposite. I think the blue fairy looks better aligned (though I think you should keep the shadow positioned relative to the sprite not the hitbox). Interacting with stuff indeed felt a bit off for the same reason to me.
Ok, maybe it falls into personal preference, but I will keep an eye on this in the future.

>I think for the sand, something resembling a dune-y texture would work better. Something with a wavy shape and two tones, like this perhaps?
I tried something like that. The issue was that it made the fairies look human sized. Right now the sand does have some waves to it though but they are on the larger side of things. Maybe the effect could be improved a bit.

 

Submitted(+1)

Like a lot of the other play testers are saying - this game feels very fleshed out and the art is very nice. It already feels like a lot of the questions that players may have had in previous builds get nicely answered in the first few levels.  The new art is much nicer than the previous stuff (I remember from AGDG threads), although you still have the old fearies in the UI screens. I don't have much in terms of critique as you seem to basically be on top of things. Looking forward to more progress!

Submitted(+1)

Like a lot of the other play testers are saying - this game feels very fleshed out and the art is very nice. It already feels like a lot of the questions that players may have had in previous builds get nicely answered in the first few levels.  The new art is much nicer than the previous stuff (I remember from AGDG threads), although you still have the old fearies in the UI screens. I don't have much in terms of critique as you seem to basically be on top of things. Looking forward to more progress!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! I still need to change the tutorial images. I didnt make it in time for this DD, they should be done for next time.

> It already feels like a lot of the questions that players may have had in previous builds get nicely answered in the first few levels.
Thankfully DD and AGDG have been incredibly helpful in that regard. It's always welcome to get good feedback.

Submitted(+1)

I just love the smug fairy, nice animations

Developer(+1)

Thank you, I'm happy you like the animations!

Submitted(+1)

I love the new fairy design. This game is charming as always. At some point I'll have to actually try to get to the end.

Developer

Thanks for playing on stream! You are doing a great service for the people in the general!

Submitted(+1)

Got through them all, plus the bonus level(!). Love how the fairies look now, especially the blue one, that one is just incredibly charming, just the pure joy of poking personified. All those great little animation details. And those cool-looking level select graphics look amazing too, just setting the mood for the different tilesets. The speedup behavior at the flag is a nice tweak, I like that it's no longer holding it.

I disagree about what was being said below about that changing fairies should always be automatic, I like how it pauses everything and the manual selection, I prefer using it (maybe because I'm a scrub but still).

All around great job on this, it's really a super fun puzzle game, I always look forward to the improvements you make each demo day.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing again!

  • I disagree about what was being said below about that changing fairies should always be automatic, I like how it pauses everything and the manual selection, I prefer using it (maybe because I'm a scrub but still).

The reason why I haven't made quick switch the default is to don't overwhelm new players or players who are not very comfortable with getting pressured by time. I made a concession and added a new buttons specifically to quick switch plus twekead the regular mode a bit to make it more intuitive. It is a bit too late now for this DD, but I hope the response to fairy switching will be more positive next time.

Submitted(+1)

You've really wringed the soul sponge on this one. I remember when it was just a prototype... Great job; plays well!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the kind comment! Yeah, it always surprises me how different the current version looks compared to the prototype.

Submitted (2 edits) (+1)

Very soulful game, I like it. 

My only gripe is that you can't use "Enter" to select levels and get past the initial level screen while it works everywhere else.

The fairies are really cute tho.

Developer

Thanks for playing!

I will make Enter a more important key in the game. I wasn't aware so many people like to use it for UI stuff.

Submitted(+1)

- zip the game folder, not the files (correct: Game.zip/Game/Game.exe, wrong: Game.zip/Game.exe)
- when you end a level, set the level [] cursor on the next level (not the one you just finished)
- mixels make the game look much worse than the quality of individual assets 
- X should toggle automatically between fairies (manual select is a waste of inputs)
- was expecting frogs to be able to eat each other, could be something to explore 
- you piece of shit, taught me about quick switch after 20 levels, make that the default or tell me early
- gameplay is much more fluid with quick switching
- shame only got to use it on the last level

Very smooth experience, the overall structure and level transition feel like from a finished steam game.  The switching requiring 3 buttons instead of 1 became annoying fast, I feel like I was spending more effort fighting the inputs than solving the puzzles. I feel like that ruined the whole experience. Good job otherwise. Gonna make it.

Developer

- That makes sense. I will start doing it that way
- Since there will be multiple paths, I prefer to not force the cursor to a specific level. But I have seen a lot of people re-entering the same level when they start playing, so I might need to do something about it.
- I agree about mixels, but the only place when I'm using those are in the level presentation clouds, the fairy selection circle and the level node bounce. The first two will have proper animations for the future, but the level bounce will be like that because animating that in another way would be difficult. Or do you mean another instance of mixels? Maybe I'm missing something
- About that...
- At certain point I thought about that, but I scrapped it because the game was too complex already. Maybe for a sequel.
- lol. I have changed it to have both selection systems at the same time, one with X and the other one with C. Quick switch is introduced on the very next level.
- For most people it does, but I feel it can hurt the experience for people who prefer to focus on the puzzle part and having a chill action part. Both options are in the game from the start now.
- You can play all the levels with quickswitch again if you want to!

Sorry the regular switch soured your experience. I changed it a bit to make it more fluid, now you have to hold X to select and release to accept instead of pressing X twice. I uploaded that version online if you want to give it a try (version 0.11a)
>Gonna make it.
Thanks mate. I hope your horror pogo game gets there too.

Submitted(+2)

nothing to complain about, the levels are super well designed, the mechanics are original and make good puzzles, the sound design and animation are effective. You just need a good marketting campaign and some good streamers etc and this could be a nice little hit. One of my favorite games, awesome job!
Developer

Thanks for playing and the video!

>marketing
That will be very important. I mean, it is important for any game, but this one is very hard to explain which makes things a bit awkward. I will try my best to figure something out and implement it.

Developer

I forgot to ask, at the beginning of the video you had some issues with your controller. Controller support is something I added for this update and haven't been able to test it properly. Does you controller have drift to the bottom of the screen or does it work perfectly fine? if the controller is fine, I will need to go bug hunting.

Submitted(+1)

My controller setup does work fine for other games without drift, and I did unplug and replug in a few times but still had an issue. However My setup is jank, it’s an old Wii U controller connected to a third party dongle that makes my desktop computer interpret it as an xinput xbox360 controller. So if you wanna reproduce I’d try an Xbox 360 controller, but don’t worry too much about it 

(+1)

That last level was a bitch, but really good!

- There might be only one song, but it's long enough that it isn't grating on the ears to hear multiple times

-The flag system feels a bit odd. I'm not sure if having different wait times for some levels is necessary.  I'm pretty sure it's in place so the player does it the right way, but when you do having to wait that extra second or two feels more like a punishment.  If it's always set to the short time, the player will know they did it right when they win, otherwise they get ate.  Maybe there's something else I'm not seeing.

-The game is funny. Really funny. And it does with and without obvious jokes. Having the intro to level 2-7 say "experimentation is key" and then immediately being able to fly into a wall got a belly laugh out of me. 

Sacrificing fairies is sad and funny, muscle fairy looking contemplative when aiming a fairy into the abyss is great, and the intro pictures are funny. A lot of thought went into this game and it shows

I am excited to see you have planned!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! I'm happy you liked the humor in the game!

I'm aware the flag waiting time is awkward. I have a couple of ways to predict a level has been beaten and a shorter wait time is activated, but for the most times predicting that is a bit difficult. I'm going to experiment on that in the next few weeks to see if I can come up with a better system.

(+1)

I fucking love poking toads!

The ending screen seemed weird, it told me I did all but one level, because I guess I hadn't completed that level? Confused me a bit. Also the timer counting my time was moving really fast.

Developer

Thanks for playing!

  • The ending screen seemed weird, it told me I did all but one level, because I guess I hadn't completed that level?

Yeah, on hindsight that last level shouldn't count for that counter. Or it should be a special level instead of a regular one.

  • Also the timer counting my time was moving really fast.

The timer code had a bug, it is fixed for the newer version.

Submitted(+1)

Man, those animations are amazing! I love those details like buff fairies clasping their hands when you beat the level or blue fairies fluttering their wings. It's really coming together in terms of visual style.

Can't really say much else about it, though.

Developer

Thanks for playing again! I'm happy you liked the new art style.

  • Can't really say much else about it, though.

It's ok, the puzzles are basically the same so the gameplay didn't change much from last DD.

Submitted(+1)

It's really polished and there's nothing to complain about. Animations are soulful. The tutorial is pretty much perfect at teaching mechanics. It makes me wish for a steeper difficulty curve, but better not fix what's not broken.

Developer

Thanks for playing! I'm aiming for a gentle difficulty curve. Later levels will be more challenging but I'm not sure if poke all toads will end up being hard as other puzzle games like baba is you or patrick's parabox.

Submitted(+1)

Amazing concert, art, and music. I don't really have any feedback outside having more resolution options for people to choose.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! By more resolutions, do you mean x3 and up? I had x3 in the last DD and it caused some issues for people trying it out on stream. Although It was in combination with other issues, it caused confusion more than anything else. I could try implementing it again if there is a serious demand for it.

Submitted(+1)

Genius concept. Puzzle mechanics are simple and easy to learn, and they're utilized well within the level design. I've only just cleared world 1 and so far my only real gripe is the repetitive music, but then again it's probably a good thing for a puzzle game's soundtrack not to be too distracting. Also the pixel art is top notch and I love the yoshi-esque noises the frogs make

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks for playing! 

  • I've only just cleared world 1 and so far my only real gripe is the repetitive music, but then again it's probably a good thing for a puzzle game's soundtrack not to be too distracting

I will keep that in mind. At the moment I only have one track, so I just play it constantly. There are a few more tracks but they are placeholder. How music will be handled will be decided once I get more music tracks.

Submitted(+1)

-The collision box for the toads is too big. You should be able to walk past the toad on level 4.

-It should switch fairies when you release X instead of having to press it twice. Same applies for throwing.

-When switching fairies, it should show status icons for all fairies in the level so you can easily keep track of them.

-Launch pads need to be faster.

-Pressing Z near a strong fairy with a normal fairy should make the strong fairy pick up the normal fairy, and then automatically switch to the strong fairy.

-You should be able to put down fairies without throwing them.

-Add the ability to manually control the camera for the bigger levels.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

  • I will try to position the toads more carefully to not give an ilussion of walkable terrain. They are supossed to be chonky and block some paths.
  • Nice idea for switching. For throwing most testers found the current system intuitive enough and it would make it impossible to cancel a throw.
  • I can think about a way to show fairies out of the screen. When I tried to add a fairies status bar, nobody really payed attention to it.
  • Some launchpads are slow for puzzle reasons. Or for comedic effect.
  • The interaction is on the complex side for this game. Also I have planned animations when fairies get poked.
  • Under most situations, droping a fairy and throwing it is basically the same and I don't have a key free to give it that functionality. Also there are some puzzles which will use the inability to not drop fairies.
  • I prefer to make the player explore the level by moving their characters around.
(+1)

really fun game. love the art and gameplay

Developer

Thank you!

(+1)

It's actually insane how much the art overhaul has improved this. This is great and I would pay to play the full game. The level where you kill all the red fairies for no reason after using them actually made me laugh out loud. 

I think the one thing that I could suggest is giving the player a separate quick switch button to use whenever they want instead of telling them to  go into the options menu for a fixed toggle 2 worlds into the game. 

Also maybe give the blue fairies some lore reason to be more important and pokier/cheekier than the red ones. Maybe a crown?

Developer

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad the new artwork is pulling its weight!

  • I think the one thing that I could suggest is giving the player a separate quick switch button to use whenever they want instead of telling them to  go into the options menu for a fixed toggle 2 worlds into the game. 

I can think about that. Even with the toggle button and a small tutorial, at least 3 people who have asked for the quick switch. I want to have as few keys as possible for the controls and I thought about some weird options, but a button dedicated for quick switching might be necessary.

  • Also maybe give the blue fairies some lore reason to be more important and pokier/cheekier than the red ones. Maybe a crown?

I have left lore as homework for later, the theme of the game is so absurd that bringing any sense to it is above my writing skills. From the little I come up with, the blue fairy is not more important than any of the bunch. She is just fearless when it comes , also greatly enjoys causing trouble.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Really nice game, just needs MORE! I only have some very minor things other than that to say:

  • I really missed some nice short fanfare for completing the level after hoisting the flag.
  • Custom cursor!
  • Pressing enter doesn't do anything on the map screen, while it works everywhere else.
  • A limit FPS option, always nice to be able to do it ingame.
  • A text telling you to press a button to continue after loading a level, it just looks a bit odd as it is right now. Like its still loading.
  • Also the world-level text at the loading screen sometimes flickers, like its erasing the text and then writing it again.
  • Timer in the end screen seems broken.
  • Re-bindable keys.
Developer
  • I really missed some nice short fanfare for completing the level after hoisting the flag.

It does. I was working on that yesterday night.

  • Pressing enter doesn't do anything on the map screen, while it works everywhere else.

A lot of people seem to use enter and space for menus. I added that to part of the UI, forgot to add it for level select.

  • A limit FPS option, always nice to be able to do it ingame.

I remember you mentioned something like that in the thread. What are the benefits of that option? I don't know much about FPS capping.

  •  Level presentation screen

I can add a prompt so the player knows they have to hit a button. I'm not sure if I can help with the flicker part, but I will look into it.

  • Timer in the end screen seems broken.

Fixed for next DD.

  • Re-bindable keys.

It's on the to-do list.


Thanks for playing and the feedback!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

The FPS capping is for not using processing power for no reason; I have ~2000 FPS ingame and the fans start spinning like crazy unless I go and limit FPS somewhere else. Having a V-sync option works too as it'd limit to the screens refresh rate, but I don't like v-sync for reasons... So a limit FPS slider would be nice but I get if you'd not want to bother and just have V-sync.

For example if you're running it on a laptop you'll drain the battery quicker for no real reason at all.

Developer

Makes sense, thanks for the explanation. That could explain why my laptop's fans go like crazy when running this game. I could add a cap of 120, it could be good enough for most cases. I'm not sure if this option should be in the options menu since it seems so advanced. I can also add it as a launch option.

Submitted(+1)

Yeah putting in a V-sync option would probably suffice.

Developer

Currently adding the vsync option, I noticed the engine I'm using (godot) has vsync on as default. Since you ran the game with uncapped FPS from the start, by any chance do you have an app that could have uncapped the FPS automatically? I'm looking around and haven't been able to go above 16ms per frame without disabling Vsync.

Submitted(+1)

I have it disabled in the Nvidia control panel usually because it adds a bit of input lag and it really annoys me... So check your gfx card settings for that.

Developer

Maybe the nvidia control panel is overwriting godot's settings, removing vsync and uncapping the FPS. I played around with the new vsync button and it seems to work. I will figure out if it is enough next DD.


Submitted(+1)

Yeah it will overwrite depending on the setting in it. You can set it to always on or off or let the program you run decide.

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