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A jam submission

Empty ShiftView game page

explore a secret basement hallway with 5 labs, get out with the needed materials without any problem.
Submitted by vector3cat — 10 hours, 42 minutes before the deadline
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Empty Shift's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Audio#1303.5853.585
Overall#4463.1733.173
Theme#4673.1323.132
Graphics#4783.3213.321
Game Design#4813.1323.132
Innovation#4872.9812.981
Fun#6242.8872.887

Ranked from 53 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
It has a calm beginning, leading to a horrific end

Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
I have written the code all by myself, and the story, characters, and the music are all by me, most of the other assets are from cc0 websites but some of them were made by me, for example the animated sprite of the main character was drawn by me while using a cc0 asset as a structure to not mess up the anatomy.
the websites which i got assets from are credited in game.

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Comments

Viewing comments 40 to 21 of 45 · Next page · Previous page · First page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

The game was great, and the audio was trully amazing and well done! I really liked the graphics too. There are a few things I’d change, like being able to move with WASD or having the option to enter doors and open the inventory with a UI button and the mouse, as someone else mentioned. Also, at first, I thought 'Go Out' meant exit the game and 'Keep Searching' meant continue—I might be wrong, but maybe changing that to something more intuitive would help. Just to clarify, even though I’m mentioning more suggestions than compliments, I genuinely enjoyed the game!

Developer

thank you for this amazing feedback!
yes i will definitely change that word to something better

Submitted(+1)

A very polished game, not much to complain about! The only point on which I am a little picky is the fact of using keyboard keys when the majority of the game is done with the mouse. In general I am rather for limiting to the keyboard or the mouse when we do not strictly need both ^^

Bravo for this entry!

Developer(+1)

thank you very much for the kind and honest words!
although i respect your taste, i do think combinations of mouse and keyboard together add up to the liveliness of the game
but thanks! its nice knowing different mindsets and thoughts!

Submitted(+1)

Nice game, the end got me lmao, it was overall good and I liked the fact you need to collect all the codes to open the lab doors! Good job!

Developer

thank you so much! it means a lot!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

10/10 from me, I have the ability to control the setting, I can change keybind, the music is so fitting for this game, the gameplay is just so fun (my arm hurt but it was worth it), the menu is beautiful. I hope this game would win this jam

Developer(+1)

thank you so much for these kind words...it means a lot!

Submitted(+1)

Nice game, well done. It was abit hard for me to read as the text type didn't make it easy. So I suggest a more clear text font would be nice, I like your story. It was simple but still interesting and I already new what to do from the story. I like the music too it was fast paste but much theme you went with.  This game have a lot of potential to grow by adding diffent type of puzzles and level. Great job.

Developer

thank you so much!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

At first I thought it was a rhythm game, since it felt like the papers were showing up when I clicked on them, but then I noticed that one would simply show up after I picked up an other, so there were always the door's number of papers available to click. It allowed for some strategy, so I could wait to pick up some, if there was a convenient cluster of them elsewhere. Also felt like a rhythm game cause the music is really energetic. It got my head bobbing.

Entering the door passcodes was satisfying too. Liked finding the bit of lore found right before an unexpected end.

Developer(+1)

thank you so much for this honest and kind feedback!
appreciate it a lot!

Submitted(+1)

Loved how you integrated an aim trainer as part of the game's story. It was a lot of fun.

Thanks for sharing with the stream! Here's the VOD of your game: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2255286225?t=02h06m29s

Developer(+1)

thank you so much for playing it and having a nice time! it really means a lot!
im gonna try your game btw!

Submitted(+1)

I almost didn't play this game because I thought it was horror but when I realized it was pretty much aimlabs I GOT SO HAPPY. I could not stop smiling while playing it was really addicting and I loved the music a lot!! Only thing is my wrist got quite sore because the last levels were quite long, but it was really a fun play. Entering the codes into the keypads was quite satisfying too. Overall really enjoyed it except the end, did not appreciate the jumpscare but overall amazing job!!!

Developer

im sorry XD
had to convince you that its not a horror game for it to affect properly!

Submitted(+1)

Nice job! I like the music and visuals, and I'm always up for a good code-puzzle ^-^ I tend to agree with other comments about the paper clicking game, but my main thing is the controls - the click controls and  keyboard controls don't complement one another very much; it would be really nice to be able to click the doors to open them, or to see my inventory by hovering the mouse at the top of the screen etc. (or to have it all controlled by keyboard except for the paper game) to make it more cohesive. Overall, though, good work :D

Developer (1 edit)

thank you very much for this feedback!
i will definitely think about improving the game with those suggestions in an upcoming update for the game!

Submitted(+1)

Thanks for submitting your game to the stream! If you wanted to look at it again in the future heres the vod timestamped to your game

(and then part 2 of the playthrough)

Developer

thank you very much again for trying it and giving your thoughts!
i appreciate it a lot and enjoyed the stream as well!

Submitted(+1)

I might skip rating this game unless I missed something, but I tried pressing every key and clicking every button and I can't enter any lab. I might consider playing this game again though, looks interesting.

Developer

uh...didnt the game mention that the interaction button is z? try dedicating it to another button in the games settings if it still doesnt work and try again...
if the issue still persisted, answer my comment and tell some more details about the problem and i might be able to fix it!
im so sorry for the inconvenience.

Submitted(+1)

I  tried it again and I could tell you more.

What happens is the key bindings show up as blank at the game start text. 

Pressing Z, or any other key, doesn't work when standing near the first lab door, or any door. 

Pressing X shows the list of key bindings, which show blank just like it does for me at the very beginning of the game.

I could provide a screenshot in case if you like of the game text showing blank key bindings.

It's very bizarre, I never saw such a strange issue in any game in this jam, and from the looks of it the issue might only be affecting me for this specific game only.

Since maybe it's not affecting other people playing this game, I might continue to skip giving any rating for now unless I could somehow get it to work.

Not sure what might be the issue, what do you think might be wrong?

Developer (1 edit)

normally this problem is because of corrupted save files not containing what key those assignments bind to

try and see if there are any files called save in this directory:

"AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Empty Shift\saves"

if there is, delete it and open the game again

another solution could be you yourself going in options in the main menu and setting the keys up again which might work

let me know of what happens, i have to fix it if its an issue from the game!

Submitted(+1)

interesting game, the visual is appealing also

Submitted(+1)

sound design and art style is great! i found the core gameplay loop to get a bit repetitive, alongside that there were also 3 separate crashes that forced me to reset the game, but other than that, i really enjoyed this game and i reached the ending! the ending definitely was surprising! overall, this game was great. as I mentioned before, yes it got quite repetitive, but that doesn't mean it was bad! i found it quite relaxing and challenging actually, it was a perfect mix of the two. would love too see any future projects you make!

Developer

thank you very much! i appreciate it a lot!
can i know where you got the crashes so maybe i could fix it?

Submitted(+1)

on door 2, 3 and 4, as soon as i would get the code i would go over to the door to try to input it and there it would crash

Developer

did you spam any key while being in front of the doors or did it just crash out of nowhere while transitioning to the passcode lock scene?

Submitted(+1)

Very cool! I was very impressed as soon as I booted up, the game looks very good and the animation is nice.

I really liked the ending because getting through labs 1-4 you get used to how things go, so seeing the door just open after the code but the player not entering instantly made me fascinated, and I loved the-- thing that happens at the end (Not spoiling it for anyone who has yet to play)!

That being said the game possibly demands too much time for the paper-clicking, kinda like porkrind commented, where perhaps it would be best to shorten the time and instead introduce a new mechanic/catch to increase difficulty.

Overall it was very cool, great presentation, and loved the one lore note!

Developer

thank you so much! i would have definitely made a better minigame if i had time and also a teammate who could do some backgrounds and sprites and stuff!
but theres a high chance i will come back to this game and try improving its minigames in the future after this jam!

Submitted(+1)

The premise is intriguing and I like the side view of the labs. The presentation overall was also very nice. 

I did found the paper clicking to be a bit of a test of patience. I was clicking everything fairly fast, but in the 2nd and 3rd room I had to play the room more than once to find the notes. I would recommend shortening the length it takes to find a note because 2 minutes without finding one is quite long to be clicking for.

Overall though I think you did great work on the game and it was nice to see some detailed story stuff!

Developer (1 edit)

thank you very much for this kind and honest review! i really appreciate it!
regarding the notes...they are supposed to be for players who dont go straight from lab to lab to finish the game, and who want to find more secrets, thats why i wanted them to be hard to find, especially after lab 1, the other labs require you to go back in them and search more to find those!

Submitted(+1)

Hi, I couldn't get through the first lab, I got over 100 points, but nothing. How much score do you need to get through the Lab 1?

Developer

i am terribly sorry! there was a game breaking bug revolving delta timing, i have fixed it now so i want you to download the game again and also delete your save file from "AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Empty Shift\saves" and try again.
im so sorry.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

This was one of several games I finished during the jam (score is 10940). Don't know why I've collected keys. It seems "Code" is all what matters anyway.

I like what the goal was clear and gameplay loop was addictive enough for me to complete the game. Also, I like how balance and progression was made. It kept me on toes for the whole game. As other mentioned, I would expect more juicy visuals for the gameplay part as looking for 90% of the game at the black screen is not that exciting.

Enjoyed the game! Thank you for this one! Check mine if you'll have some time!

Developer (1 edit)

im so thankful for this review!
yes the devices were not the part of gameplay progression but were important to the lore of the game and thats why they come before the passcodes to make sure the player gets them!
ill definitely try your game!
now that i think about it though, it was a great point, as the player has to collect it so there should be a punishment if it has not been collected...hmm...
thank you! ill definitely do something about it!

Submitted(+1)

I would have loved to rate finish it but i literally couldnt get past the first bit because of what you said before, 

one thing i did try was running my game and muting it at the same time as i was playing your game to drag down my performace ; sadly this did not work.

As i said before in an earlier comment this is a game breaking bug and according to the rules you are allowed to update it.

I would be happy to play your game again!!!

Developer

im uploading the fix, would love it if you tried the game again after i do it!

Submitted(+1)

Yes i totally will reply to this message when its all uploaded.

Developer

please delete your save file in \AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Empty Shift\saves after installing the new version for it to not mess the settings up!

Developer

i have uploaded the update, let me know when you finished the game!

Developer

did the fix work?

Submitted

sorry i was doing something else , im gonna play it now

Developer

im sorry i deleted the update file to be able to upload it with itch.io's butler so it might take more time...

Submitted (3 edits)

I saw that it worked for the other guy but for me it didnt work, i played it twice ,restarted the game and played it twice again to no success . i think this is a problem on my end though.

Im still gonna rate it based on the part of the game i saw and how dedicated you are to having  a good game!

EDIT:

i js thought id mention this


Developer

i told you, i deleted the update file to do my updates using itch.io butler thats the base one, please wait a bit...

Submitted(+1)

ahh im sorry you said "did the fix work?" so i assumed it was done.

Developer

yea i asked that before deciding to remove it and add it with the butler...
anyways, im so sorry, the newer version is up and running!
you can try it now!

Submitted(+1)

okay il try it tmr 

Developer

by the way before downloading the fixed version, please delete your save file in "AppData\Roaming\Godot\app_userdata\Empty Shift\saves" for it to work

Submitted

Didn't make it past Lab 1. The game does not tell me what I do wrong. Should I get some score? Should I just hope what I need spawns? Art and music are nice from what I can see, so good job on that front!

Developer(+1)

there is this bug where if you have more than 60 fps, the time goes faster for you because i forgot to use delta timing...
i dont know if your problem is that or not but i cant fix it because the fix i provided for a later version of it was alongside some other improvements which means i cant upload it or it will disqualify me, and i cant rewrite the codes to what they were because i have already forgot XD
but thanks for the kindness! ill check out your game!

Submitted(+1)

The rules say you are alowed to fix game breaking bugs which i think this classifies as

Developer

im telling you, the fix is alongside some improvements so if i give it out theres a chance it will disqualify me which im scared of!

Submitted(+1)

Will try to remember to check the game out after the jam when you post the changes!

Developer(+1)

i actually got to fix it and now i will upload it soon!
this fix should make the timer not go faster than how it is intended to go.

Submitted(+1)

Played it finally and outside of it getting a little repetitive the game is great!

Submitted(+1)

I like ittt

Viewing comments 40 to 21 of 45 · Next page · Previous page · First page · Last page