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Abyssal Ascent's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #71 | 3.873 | 3.873 |
| Presentation (graphics, audio) | #102 | 3.873 | 3.873 |
| Fun | #218 | 2.945 | 2.945 |
| Originality | #283 | 2.873 | 2.873 |
Ranked from 55 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game represent Mode?
The player has to change between the light and dark modes in order to progress through the levels.
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Comments
I like that both guys have their own move set. One thing to change is the way you switch states instead of one for white and one for black just one have button that switches between black and white.
I love 2D platformers, Celeste is one of my favorite games. You have some good challenging levels here and they would benefit immensely from revised controls, which have already been discussed. I noticed you said that a small wall jump should occur if the player only pressed Spacebar while against a wall, but for me it was the opposite; only hitting Spacebar gave me a big jump and attempting to hit A/D would kill/diminish the jump.
Functionality-wise, your usage of mode here reminds me of the pink/blue alternating rhythm blocks or the switching between ice vs lava sections in Celeste. What those have in common is that you can always see where the objects/platforms in the other “mode” will be, so it feels fair. I would argue that’s my biggest gripe here, especially in the level where there’s a horizontal moving block in dark and another horizontal moving block in light, but they get desynced from each other.
You’ve got good ideas here, like how it’s not just the environment but also the character’s movement ability that changes with the mode. Having revised controls and improved indicators would help it shine.
thanks for the extensive feedback! I plan on working to fix the wall jump inconsistencies. Being able to see an outline or something of the hidden platforms would definitely help to make the game a bit easier to understand.
Very good idea, the execution can be more polished. I like the graphics and music. The physics can be improved a bit the wall jumping feels unpredictable and is difficult like in Super Metroid (I have to move away from the wall to do a wall jump, I would take a closer look at how modern Mario games solve this problem). I feel like you should make some tutorial levels with button prompts instead of relying on a dialog system to explain the mechanics.
Thanks for the feedback! button prompts sound like a good idea
I double down on the switch key with the some button and maybe having another key for the dash (the J felt really far). Great main mechanics and interesting take on a platformer I did really like some of the unusual layout you used in the platforming. Loved the look and the atmosphere.
Thanks for the feedback! the J key was meant to be pressed with the other hand but i agree there are definitely better ways to implement it.
Yeah I have played with that setup but an option would be cool.(not to bothered by controls myself, just found only that as a nitpick !)
This was a lot of fun! I've seen some other people in the comments mentioning the controls, but I didn't mind them too much. I also liked the graphics and audio. Although the story is brief, really in a game jam any story is a good story. Overall quite a good submission.
I would appreciate it if you checked out my submission as well :)
I’m glad you liked it! I’ll check out your game as well!
The art and music of this game were captivating. I enjoyed this game very much. Also the light and dark theme was a great way for solving the puzzles. And you can't go wrong with pandas
Pandas are the best! Loved your game as well!
I've seen a lot of people saying this already, but I would agree that the controls were my biggest gripe. Otherwise I thought it was pretty great! Awesome use of the theme!
Cool idea and presentation! The main suggestions that I have are just related to the controls :)
- same button for switching between light and dark mode
- allow for the up arrow/w key to be used as jump (as well as spacebar)
Thanks for the feedback!
The art style and overall presentation are top notch! I loved the mechanics of the game and the movement and mode switching felt very fluid. One thing though is I wish that the controls were a little bit simpler. For example, just one button to switch between modes and maybe add the dash as the dark modes "double jump" option.
Loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback! I’m planning to include all your suggestions in the revised version.
Amazing game very easy!!!
Wow, what an incredibly challenging plat former! I loved it! Lot's of great ideas in here, I had to train myself to switch between light and dark pretty quickly with some of these levels and really think on my feet. Great job!
Thanks a lot! I'll make sure to check out your game as well.
I pretty much agree with what other people are saying. Too many buttons, inconsistent wall jump.
It feels like you need three hands to play this.
playing with WASD doesn't work because Q and E are right above it. making for example jumping to the left and changing to dark mode extremely awkward. But arrow keys don't work either because Q E and J are just way too far apart to press them with one hand. The best way to play this I found was to use both WASD and arrows at the same time and switch between them depending on the situation.
Aside from control layout there are some other issues here. There is one platforming setup that comes up quite often where a moving platform needs to be jumped on in one mode while only visible in the other. Meaning you need to time it because it is fully invisible in the other mode. Combined with the wall jump sometimes not working and the poor control layout this was very awkward as well.
I like some of the level design you have going on here and the art is great but unfortunately I can't get past how awkward everything feels. Would love to try a version with those things fixed.
Thanks for the feedback. you have several valid points and people have said that the controls are awkward to use. Could you recommend me a keyboard layout that would work better? In my experience the wall jumps are mostly reliable its just that its not properly explained how to use them; when simply sliding down a wall and pressing the space key and no directional keys the player will do a small wall jump opposite of the wall, if they are holding A/D when doing a wall jump they will go further.
I'd say shift to switch between mode is pretty intuitive, at least that is what I defaulted my game to. then everything else can be bound to space, that being the jump, wall jump and dash. (dash is only available in dark mode so it shouldn't overlap with double jump)
Obviously it would be perfect if you had key rebinding and controller support but just having one button for switch mode and dash and wall/double jump on the jump button would make a huge difference alone.
As for the wall jump, I noticed that you have to wait for the slide but sometimes I still got a double jump instead. Maybe I was pressing the opposite direction to early or I wasn't close enough to the wall and was pressing walljump without entering slide state.
Whatever it was I think that having to wait a second to enter sliding feels a bit weird. I assume you can only enter wall sliding state from falling and that may be the issue but I could be fully off base here.
Thanks for the suggestion. Switching mode being bound to the shift key sounds like a good idea. I cannot bind the dash key to space because dark can still jump once; this would mean that you could only dash once you jump which would be a bit awkward. Regarding the delay between being able to wall jump I will try to see what might be causing that and try to make it more responsive.
The visual looks very nice! Though the light mode kinda a bit too glaring for me. I'd recommend to use same button for shifting between modes than keep them separate so it's more intuitive to remember.
Personally I think the wall jump feels off, mainly because the direction you're supposed to press for it to work. And there's a bit too much buttons to remember. Wall jump can be minimalized to simply pressing jump button while in the wall, and double jump/dash can work as second jump as long as they're in different mode as well. The button layout felt a little bit all over the place as well with the J especially
The concept is there and I think it definitely can get improved. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! I loved playing your game! wall jump does currently work as just pressing jump when sliding down a wall, if you want to fly further than you also press the button for the direction you want to go. I agree that the color changing should be reduced to one button and ill work on that for the post jam version.
Thank you! I think the wait for wall jump is a bit weird, maybe it should be able to trigger as long as you've touched the walls and as long as any directional input is present (even if it's not the side you're aiming to, since sometimes it's a bit hard for player to instinctly instantly react)
Yes I also noticed that there is a delay between touching the wall and being able to wall jump... I will try to see what is causing it and fix it in the revised version.
Great atmosphere with pleasant visuals! The audio design is top-notch too! I think the wall jumping is very inconsistent and the controls feel too complicated. For example changing between dark and light mode could be a single button and double jump and dash aswell. The game has a lot of potential, but needs a bit more polish. Keep up the good work!
thanks! In the revised version I’ll make the color switching a single button and make the wall jumps more consistent. Not sure how I could bind double jump and dash to a single button though.
I couldn't finish the game because of the difficulty so I might be missing some context. But for what I could see the player can only dash in dark mode and double jump in light mode. If you can only do one silimar action in each mode in theory they could be binded to the same button.
I liked the visuals and overall presentation, and the concept was cool. Dark and light modes looked really nice.
However I gave it my best shot, but I couldn’t get past the first level O_o”
It might be a good idea to take some inspo from Mario level design and very gradually introduce each of the platforming concepts one at a time to allow dummies like to me have a chance!
thanks for the feedback! Were you able to walk jump? That was really all you needed for the first level.
I revisited it and was able to get through a couple more rooms! Looks like I got confused because I thought I needed to do something like wall-jump repeatedly while also switching back and forth between the light and dark modes from the first room
thanks for giving it another try! Glad you figured it out!
Fun game and concept. I feel like this would control better on a controller. Maybe just one button to switch light and dark would feel more manageable!
Very nice game! I love a good platformer. Like the chill music, like the pixel art. Overall, I think this game is very well done! That being said, I do have a little bit of feedback.
The jumps seem inconsistent to me. Sometimes its a short jump, and sometimes its a high jump. Sometimes when I wall jump, I shoot halfway across the room, and sometimes I barely hop off the wall, and sometimes its in between.
And some of the controls are a little weird to me. Like why is switching between light and dark mode 2 different buttons? Also the game told me double jump is only for light mode, but I am able to double jump in dark mode.
Also would be nice if there was a controls page in the game or on the game's itch page to reference the controls, instead of just that person that talks to you at the beginning of the game.
Thanks for the feedback! When I upload the revised version after the jam I will add a controls tab that explains it better. Being able to double jump by spamming the space key in dark mode is a glitch that I wasn't able to fix before the deadline was over. The distance you wall jump depends on how you do it. If you just press space while sliding down a wall you will do a small wall jump, if you are holding A/D in the direction of the jump you will go further.
Thanks for the explanation!
this game has just the right difficulty, it does not get frustrating to play. i just wanted to keep playing it. The pixel art is looks good aswell.
thanks! I’ll give your game a try as well!
This game is really fun. I like how you implemented mode, and switching between the two in the middle of jumps really makes this game challenging!
This also feels like a complete game you can sell on steam!
Thanks a lot. I've been thinking about it and I will likely do a revised version with better controls, more levels, etc. maybe I'll put it on steam for like a dollar.
The music and visuals are well polished, I think everything looks nice. I think having the mode switch on a single button would've helped, and dash on 'J' is just a tad awkward. The wall jumps were also really hard for me but that might be a skill issue. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid game, nice job!
Thanks! Many people have told me that the controls are a bit difficult which is something im planning on improving in a revised version. I play a lot of platformers myself on keyboard and these are the controls I personally use which ive come to realize are very different from most other people.