I for sure got filtered, but I'll still leave a review because I feel my 20 minutes of gameplay is enough. I got about 10% of the way and spent 90% of my time in the pictured area. I lost heart when I fell from the triple steep cliff the third time. I am not a fan of getting over it but I like this game a bit more, it's charming and good to look at. I had fun learning how to catapult and really think this game is about taking your time, which might not be obvious at first. The jump mechanic worked well with the catapulting and allowed some really calculated efforts. I would strongly consider making this part slightly easier, as you don't want to filter too fast in my earnest opinion. Good overall, sorry I couldn't get further.
I quit 5 minutes in. The controls are substantially less intuitive than other games of the genre, even when you only have one leg. Presentation is pretty good, though.
This game is a lot like learning to play an instrument... fun, but it confuses my nervous system. I have to say, though, the physics feels kind of weird. Sometimes it seems to launch you at full speed randomly. It feels like some of the physics is not necessarily tied to momentum but simply how hard you move the stick (sorry if I am wrong, that's how it felt). I liked the choice of sound effects. Since you're going to be hearing them a lot, they need to be pleasant. Now playing this game is certainly a great way to train hand coordination. The Linux version got stuck in the first cutscene, so I played the Windows version on Wine.
(starts halfway through since I forgot to press record)
Thank you. As you say it's not about how hard you press the stick but where you are aiming it so there is a very steep learning curve that has been hard to acclimate players to. I think the cutscene issue is something to do with localization and it's hopefully fixed in the new builds but otherwise I am working on it.
I'm working on getting an updated build out, there is an error being hit and I am guessing mac/linux may break because of it currently. I recommend getting the demo on Steam https://partner.steampowered.com/app/details/2800310/ where it will autoupdate, and allow me to test steam functionality like leaderboards
If you hate yourself and like this game I'm looking for people to test the full game
is the rabbit that says "hahahaha!!!" supposed to teleport? he didnt show up in the brown level at first but then he was there and when i talked to him in the red or green level it panned alll the way over to where he sits in the purple level
is the red level finished? i try and do what the hologram does but i just randomly detach from the grab thingy and maybe 5% of the times the wall would give me a boost so i only made it past them a single time, just to get dumped onto a floor that apparently disappears and sent me back to the purple level, which like wtf dude? is this game trying to troll me or something? i can swing the stick as fast as i can just to get a tiny jump 50% of the time and half the time im moving the stick as slow as i can i get flung across the entire level. is the colored stick stronger than the white one or something? i do the same jump in the same exact way 100 times and get a widely different result every time, i wouldnt be surprised if it was completely based on rng. also i cant tell where at a corner that the floor ends and wall begins, its like rounded or something and feels wonky.
no the rabbits aren't supposed to teleport you. I was adding some extra dialogue with a rabbit that would move around but didn't finish it yet. I'll disable them for the next builds until they are done.
Yes the red level is complete, as well as the two zones after it.
The arms are the same strength. It's not random of course, the behavior is entirely predictable just sensitive. As an example I will show the break the targets minigame here: https://x.com/ZanthousDev/status/1852729012126159198
If you're curious the specifics, a lot depends on the angle the arm is at relative to the ground when you start moving your arm fast (by inputting a high angle difference input). There is a dot on the arm that indicates when a joint is made with the ground as well, and these joints let you generally speaking jump further than if you are say sitting on the ground and slamming the arm into the ground with out it touching the ground beforehand. It's difficult to explain.
I've updated the hint for the climb regions to say "Grab - Hold L/R" and slightly increased the size of a platform in that area. Right now this is a bit of a pain point, figuring out how to balance this mechanic. It's apparently a quite steep learning curve to jump between these things. Back when I first implemented it it was a lot harder, and I've made many improvements over time to where it's easy for me but it's still difficult for me to predict how new players will handle it at this time.
I'm curious how much time you've put in at this point if you're willing to share, because I think your progress is decent all things considered. If you're playing on windows there is a replay file saved at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Zankai\Sklime\Replays\The Depths, if you could upload that at some point I'll take a look at it and see where it might be good to make level adjustments
Also thanks for playing so much, and sorry it's a pretty frustrating game. It's been very difficult to get it to reach my expectations and those of players in some aspects. It's like an idea where you wonder why noone has ever done it until you try and do it yourself and slowly realize over the course of months
Comments
I for sure got filtered, but I'll still leave a review because I feel my 20 minutes of gameplay is enough. I got about 10% of the way and spent 90% of my time in the pictured area. I lost heart when I fell from the triple steep cliff the third time. I am not a fan of getting over it but I like this game a bit more, it's charming and good to look at. I had fun learning how to catapult and really think this game is about taking your time, which might not be obvious at first. The jump mechanic worked well with the catapulting and allowed some really calculated efforts. I would strongly consider making this part slightly easier, as you don't want to filter too fast in my earnest opinion. Good overall, sorry I couldn't get further.
I quit 5 minutes in. The controls are substantially less intuitive than other games of the genre, even when you only have one leg. Presentation is pretty good, though.
This game is a lot like learning to play an instrument... fun, but it confuses my nervous system. I have to say, though, the physics feels kind of weird. Sometimes it seems to launch you at full speed randomly. It feels like some of the physics is not necessarily tied to momentum but simply how hard you move the stick (sorry if I am wrong, that's how it felt). I liked the choice of sound effects. Since you're going to be hearing them a lot, they need to be pleasant. Now playing this game is certainly a great way to train hand coordination. The Linux version got stuck in the first cutscene, so I played the Windows version on Wine.
(starts halfway through since I forgot to press record)Thank you. As you say it's not about how hard you press the stick but where you are aiming it so there is a very steep learning curve that has been hard to acclimate players to. I think the cutscene issue is something to do with localization and it's hopefully fixed in the new builds but otherwise I am working on it.
I'm working on getting an updated build out, there is an error being hit and I am guessing mac/linux may break because of it currently. I recommend getting the demo on Steam https://partner.steampowered.com/app/details/2800310/ where it will autoupdate, and allow me to test steam functionality like leaderboards
If you hate yourself and like this game I'm looking for people to test the full game
erm i did the steam version like u said but it ended at the brown part with the wheels, also capral tunnel
yes you need a key to test the full version
ZWRNI-
GVDYG-
VDZQH
is the rabbit that says "hahahaha!!!" supposed to teleport? he didnt show up in the brown level at first but then he was there and when i talked to him in the red or green level it panned alll the way over to where he sits in the purple level
is the red level finished? i try and do what the hologram does but i just randomly detach from the grab thingy and maybe 5% of the times the wall would give me a boost so i only made it past them a single time, just to get dumped onto a floor that apparently disappears and sent me back to the purple level, which like wtf dude? is this game trying to troll me or something? i can swing the stick as fast as i can just to get a tiny jump 50% of the time and half the time im moving the stick as slow as i can i get flung across the entire level. is the colored stick stronger than the white one or something? i do the same jump in the same exact way 100 times and get a widely different result every time, i wouldnt be surprised if it was completely based on rng. also i cant tell where at a corner that the floor ends and wall begins, its like rounded or something and feels wonky.
no the rabbits aren't supposed to teleport you. I was adding some extra dialogue with a rabbit that would move around but didn't finish it yet. I'll disable them for the next builds until they are done.
Yes the red level is complete, as well as the two zones after it.
The arms are the same strength. It's not random of course, the behavior is entirely predictable just sensitive. As an example I will show the break the targets minigame here: https://x.com/ZanthousDev/status/1852729012126159198
If you're curious the specifics, a lot depends on the angle the arm is at relative to the ground when you start moving your arm fast (by inputting a high angle difference input). There is a dot on the arm that indicates when a joint is made with the ground as well, and these joints let you generally speaking jump further than if you are say sitting on the ground and slamming the arm into the ground with out it touching the ground beforehand. It's difficult to explain.
I've updated the hint for the climb regions to say "Grab - Hold L/R" and slightly increased the size of a platform in that area. Right now this is a bit of a pain point, figuring out how to balance this mechanic. It's apparently a quite steep learning curve to jump between these things. Back when I first implemented it it was a lot harder, and I've made many improvements over time to where it's easy for me but it's still difficult for me to predict how new players will handle it at this time.
I'm curious how much time you've put in at this point if you're willing to share, because I think your progress is decent all things considered. If you're playing on windows there is a replay file saved at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Zankai\Sklime\Replays\The Depths, if you could upload that at some point I'll take a look at it and see where it might be good to make level adjustments
Also thanks for playing so much, and sorry it's a pretty frustrating game. It's been very difficult to get it to reach my expectations and those of players in some aspects. It's like an idea where you wonder why noone has ever done it until you try and do it yourself and slowly realize over the course of months
https://files.catbox.moe/v0a03f.bytes
is this the right one :? i think it took me 6 hours just to get to the red level