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A jam submission

Stack IslandView game page

Game submission for Brackeys Gamejam 2024 Theme: Calm Before The Storm
Submitted by BenskiGameWorks (@BenskiGameWorks) — 11 minutes, 32 seconds before the deadline
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Stack Island's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#1753.4583.458
Theme#1803.6673.667
Graphics#2633.7083.708
Overall#2643.3963.396
Game Design#3963.2503.250
Audio#4063.1673.167
Fun#4493.1253.125

Ranked from 24 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?
We start on a beautiful island, with a serine feeling. Things change fast when we realize we need to survive the storms at night.

Welcome to Stack Island!

A paradise of Items to stack! Here we appreciate the Sunny Serenity while preparing for The Upcoming STORM every night!

1. The Storm Destroys all that is out of the Safe Zone!
2. The Storm Gains height every level, survive by:
(A) Staying higher than the storm in the Safe Zone.
(B) Creating 360 Cover

* The game has 4 levels.

PhotoSensitivity Notice: There is a quick 2-frame flicker when the storm(lightning) hits the island.

Enjoy your stay! And try Not to Get Blown Away! HeHe

Walktrough:
https://youtu.be/xkahudJ5I4c?si=VWMXEWSpmWb2WJPX

*Credits in the first Comment

Did you write all the code and made all the assets from scratch?
All the code yes(Except the Unreal Engine Base stuff..)
I did not make a single asset, thanks to all the artists out there! (And unreal engine's Quixel bridge)

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Comments

Viewing comments 21 to 2 of 21 · Next page · Last page
Submitted

i can not play your game on my Mac, but rated it based on your screenshots and other people’s comments :)

Submitted(+1)

Nicely done!

Developer

Thanks for playing! Rated your game back

Cheers

Submitted(+1)

I get a little issue with update driver. But the graphic looking amazing for game jam.

Developer

Thank you very much for trying at least, rated your game back. Cheers 

Submitted(+1)

Not a bad game, but I fail to understand why I collect object in to the circle(i can't really build stuff) and I don't understand what's up with the night time.

Hope that you'll also rate mine :) https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-12/rate/2973690

Developer

Thanks for playing!! Rated back 

geberally night time is when the storm hits, and when you advance to the 2nd and 3rd levels there are much more different objects to build with. The general idea is to stay higher than the storm(white indicator) or have 360 cover.

Submitted

Obviously very nice graphics and sounds, but also the concept is just brilliant in my opinion. It could have used a little polishing, and I didn't understand why you could get hit by lightning, but otherwise great!

Submitted

The choice of visuals is pretty good, the mechanics work well and it was fun using the items to build cover around you for the storm, nice job on this!

Submitted(+1)

Really great to see other Unreal games!  The games concept is really funny and I enjoyed it a lot.  I like the polish you have with things like outlining the items you're highlighting/carrying and a settings menu.  I also really liked the sizeable jump in the height you need to reach between the first and second level.  

If you're going to keep working on this game, I'd suggest shortening both the day length and the night length unless some more stuff is added to each.  I like the core gameplay, I just feel like the overall loop is too long and I would have liked to play more rounds faster.

Awesome stuff!

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing!

Thanks for the positive feedback and suggestions!! I totally agree that the game loop is too long, I originally planned to add a "Speed up game time" button, but then it started screwing up the music so I decided to give up on it because of the time constraints of the jam. 

I also made some poor choices with the storm's height changes because I originally planned it to be a game where the player builds a barricade (Not making a structure as tall as possible but more 360 cover). When I realized it's not working quite that way I made some last minute changes and it mutated to be what it is now haha. 

Again, thanks for giving it a shot and great feedback! Appreciate it!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

The game looked so cool that I updated my graphics driver to play it and it did not disappoint. The graphics are awesome and the game idea is neat. Great job!

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing!

To be honest, I owe all the graphics to Unreal Engine Haha. I hope the game was also fun and interesting in addition to the visuals.

Thank you for the positive feedback!!

(1 edit) (+1)

Cool  game! The mechanics were interesting, but I found it a bit tough to get through, especially in the first part. The concept is definitely unique, though, and I liked the challenge. Maybe with a bit more practice, I can master it! Keep up the great work!

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing!
Indeed it was hard to balance especially since as I was developing the game I realized the whole mechanic of using items for cover wasn't quite working so it started to become more of a height-building game haha. 

I appreciate the feedback and that you really gave it a shot!

Submitted(+1)

Nice Game.. But hard to play.

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing and feedback!

Submitted(+1)

It wouldn't be a game jam if there weren't a few criminally unplayed games in it. This is such a cool concept, I don't remember seeing anything like this before. The balance between frantically throwing stuff in your pile then building it up in the last second was very engaging. That last level... I'm sure it can be done, but not by me LOL. I think the safety line was a good foot above my head at the end. My only two points of feedback are: the rotation tool is a bit unintuitive, I ended up just positioning my player instead of the rotating tool because it was easier for me. The second one is small too, it would be cool if at the end, the lights turned back on when you died and you got to see your base so you could send a screenshot to your friends! I know there was a spectator mode, but I was 10 leagues under the sea before I remembered. Overall this was a really great game with lots of nice features and deserves to be played more!

Developer(+1)

These are some of the most beautiful words I got to read, you really are an amazing writer(Your game has AAA writing potential), and you really made my day!

I do have a tendency to take up on projects that are a bit too big for my shoulders (The rotation system, the collisions and the physics in the engine etc). As I went deeper into the jam and started tweaking those things I realized I got myself into deep waters (literally hehe). But I think the main reason we do gamejams is to learn, and the second reason is to make connections. 
I actually always wanted to make a game like this, ever since the days of playing around with "Garry's Mod" as a kid and also Half-Life's Gravity Gun. ( Hope you know what I'm talking about)
It's far from perfect and my Idea of the Lightning coming in from around the island was breaking down as I was making the game. My original intention was that the player will build a barricade and cover themselves 360. At this point the storm "Shooting" angle was parallel with the floor, but then I realized that if it's parallel with the floor then it's enough for the player to build a barricade in the height of the player and the height of the storm doesn't affect anymore. 
Then it slowly mutated into being more height oriented or whatever it is now hahaha

Submitted(+1)

Simple and great consept! The first part is just a bit too hard.

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing!

Haha I thought the first part was the easiest XD that's why we must have play testers in our games

Submitted(+1)

Hee-ho. Interesting game

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing and positive feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Oh nice, there are not many unreal games in this jam so it´s always good to see another ones, just rated your game would be lovely to get mine rated as well.

Developer

Hey, Thanks for playing!
Sure, I will try "Echoes Before The Storm"

Submitted(+1)

Fun and unique premise! I really enjoyed the strategic puzzle element of the game and the objects washing up to the shore is really smart! The first level with the chairs is diabolical haha. But the larger objects in the next ones made it more manageable. I really liked the looks of the game and the use of music to signal the incoming storm. There were a couple physics based issues, like the time I sent a stone pillar helicoptering into the shadow realm :D But it felt quite polished and good to play. I'd like to have a way to skip the remaining day time as a quality of life addition. The controls for rotation felt a bit clunky and hard to predict, but I can imagine a system like that tough to design. Maybe also with mouse controls? 

Overall, I enjoyed my time playing! I think it is an idea that could be further expanded upon and perfected :D Great job!

Developer(+1)

Hey, Thanks for playing!
Thank you for the positive feedback, you killed me with the comment on the chair level XD I thought it was the easiest hahaha

Definitely had the skipping day time in mind, at some point I added a button to speed up the in-game seconds but it started causing problems with the music playback and in the time frame of the jam I decided to give up on it :( Maybe I should have went on a more simple implementation like just starting the storm right away(simple thoughts that come when the mind is not in gamjam-stress-mode). 

The physics and rotation issues are known to me, I didn't understand the complexity before I already went into deep waters into the gamejam ahaha. But it was a good learning experience, and I got to fulfill a bit of my childhood dreams from playing "Garry's Mod" and Half-Life's Gravity Gun hehe. 

Submitted(+1)

Good game and really fits the theme well. There was no sensitivity setting for the mouse so I found it too sensitive, but was ok. I was carrying a chair and got hit by lightning and got flung out into the water and just kept spinning out of control under the water... lol. Was pretty fun.

Developer

Hey, thanks for playing!
Thank you so much for the positive feedback!
I haven't thought about adding mouse sensitivity settings so I'll keep it in mind now :)
I wish you could have advanced to the next levels (Need to stack at least 2 chairs and stand on them to pass the first night's storm\Use other objects in the level to stay higher than the storm line).

Indeed making the ragdoll projectile when the player dies was one of my favorite parts! I feel the game is a bit too slow and too heavy(literally 800 mg) for a gamejam but if I you could enjoy it, that's enough for me!

(+1)

Cool game! I like the music and sounds, the graphics are pretty cool)). 

Please play and rate my game The Little Fire! I will be very grateful to you!)

Developer

Hey, Thanks for playing and positive feedback!~
Of course I will try your game too 

Submitted(+1)

Sorry guys but I don’t really undertand what I have to do

Developer

Hey, Thanks for playing!
So I've tried to explain the game-loop in the description. 
Basically, there is the Safe-Zone (in the middle of the island). The player may survive only by staying in the safe-zone when the storm hits.
Then when the player is in the safe zone, the storm can enter at every point under the white circle indicator.
So the game is designed in a way that the player must either stay higher than the White Storm indicator or inside it but covered from all angles. 
If you are still interested in giving it another shot, I've got a walk-through video on the game page:

Submitted(+1)

All the items seem very light when thrown and it can be difficult to get stuff where you want it.

Developer

Hey, Thanks for playing!
It's true, the throw mechanic could be too powerful. However, the intention is to be able to collect items around the island and throw them into the SafeZone.
The most precise way to get an items in a wanted place is using pressing 'R' to reset the item's rotation and them setting them by releasing them by pressing 'E' and not throwing. There is also a rotation mechanic when grabbing an item it is possible to press 'Q' to enter rotation mode and try to rotate it to the most precise position. 

Thank you very much for the feedback! 

Developer

Credits:

Palm Tree - parples

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/palm-tree-7ead23c3aed342efab80693b2094a5b9

* title: Beach Umbrella Asset

* source: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/beach-umbrella-asset-fbdded313a2f4bc896eeee66af7...

* author: beewee (https://sketchfab.com/beewee)

* title: beach chair

* source: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/beach-chair-2873b42fd98d4e879bfd3d29cf72a9af

* author: Tahir.Muhamad.Ajmal. (https://sketchfab.com/Tahir.Muhamad.Ajmal.)

Music:

Out Of The Blue

Cosa Caliente

Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven (No Copyright Music)

Relaxing Ocean Wave Sound।Nature Sounds Copyright Free

Danya Vodovoz - All Good

SFX:

_01storm - orage.wav

https://freesound.org/people/arnaud%20coutancier/sounds/53605/

thunder storm sound copyright free

Thunder Sound Effect | No Copyright

Viewing comments 21 to 2 of 21 · Next page · Last page