Brackeys Jam 2020.2

Hosted by Yilian, TheDutchMagikarp, AquaXV, CodeMyst, Duxez, hucota7 · #BrackeysGameJam

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A jam submission

Reverse EngineerView game page

Now you're thinking in reverse!

Submitted by Mandelbrot Studios, Heizee, timbreaudio — 3 minutes, 29 seconds before the deadline

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Reverse Engineer's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Game Design	#23	4.208	4.208
Overall	#62	3.903	3.903
Audio	#75	3.833	3.833
Fun	#102	3.833	3.833
Innovation	#155	3.708	3.708
Theme	#183	3.917	3.917
Graphics	#198	3.917	3.917

Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

In what way does your game fit the theme?
Reverse Engineer is a puzzle platformer where you need to use your rewind gun to rewind objects to escape the spaceship.

---------------IMPORTANT--------------------------
If you get the error 'OpenAL32.dll was not found', go to the folder 'troubleshooting' and run the oalinst.exe. This should fix the issue.

---------------CONTROLS--------------------------
W/Up Arrow/Space - Jump
A/Left Arrow - Left
S/Down Arrow - Down
D/Right Arrow - Right
Left Click - Shoot
Right Click/Q - Overlay
E/Middle Mouse Button - Recall Orb
R/F5 - Reset Level
Esc - Open/Close Menu

Did you write most of the code yourself and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes, we haven't used any pre-made assets. For the details of who of us did what, take a look at the credits on the game page.

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Comments

moocow17Submitted4 years ago

Really enjoyed this! Great level layout and puzzle layout, teaching skills well along the way and then reinforcing them. Really enjoyed the graphics and audio too! Can't believe how many levels you made too! Very high quality overall!

Submitted

Rewind Bullethell

AileenaSubmitted4 years ago

Great game, I was gobsmacked by how many levels you managed to make in such a short amount of time, that's amazing! I had a lot of fun playing as well :) The audio went well with the graphics although I think the footsteps felt louder than the music so I turned down SFX in the settings and music up.

I can't remember if games usually have the Retry button first and then Next Level after (when you finish a level) but I kept wanting to press the first button automatically before realising it should be the middle button. Maybe that's just me being weird :)

Well done on making such a polished game!

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thanks!

Well, in 7 days of hard work you can get quite something done. Also, if you are a team of four.

Yeah, I thought there was something weird about the level end screen too, but I didn't bother very much. It's a small detail.

Thanks for playing!

-Claas

bajtixSubmitted4 years ago

I have no idea why does this have that little ratings, it is great! I love the audio and the graphics, the levels are well designed and challenging.

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thank you!

We only have so few ratings because we didn't do much marketing. Well, in a game jam you go through all steps of game development. We didn't do much until a few days ago when we started doing some rate4rate. This really helped us to get to 20 ratings.

Thanks for playing!

-Claas

infinitemasterSubmitted4 years ago

Wow let me just say, amazing design and graphics... i like the feel, gameplay and look of the game. how many people work on this?XD overall really nice job and for sure top 10 best games in the jam.

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Thanks!

If you take a look at the credits, you can see that we were 4 guys working on it. We worked as much as we could on the game and it was exhausting, but this makes hearing positive feedback even more rewarding!

Thanks for playing!

-Claas

LordDiegoSubmitted4 years ago

Guys... your game deserves MUCH MORE ratings. AMAZING Game Design! The levels are awesome well made! I really REALLY enjoy playing through it. Just ended the 44 levels. Just AWESOME!
Of course there are things that should be fixed, like the back shooting, or improved Sfx. But man... 44 levels in 7 days!
Congratulations!

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Thanks for the praise!

Well, we were 4 guys with one dude like me, who did nothing else than designing levels for days.

Thanks for playing until the end!

-Claas

GuldorGamesSubmitted4 years ago

Sadly i do not have windows, but since you commented with the game on a post i made and there was a video i try to give feedback on that :) I must say i really do like the video! nice voice to listen too and its really funny :)

I cant really comment on the gameplay, but the look is very nice, looks nice and complete like this! I do miss the theme a bit, you can move platforms back but not sure if that really is a rewind thing. I also had trouble with the theme and not sure if my idea of it works for everyone. So i know the pain ;) but the game really does look nice and fun! so good job! sadly i could not play it…

Submitted

SoulSucker (GameJam)

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Glad to hear you liked the video! And my voice.

Nice of you to comment on our game even though you can't play it. Maybe you want to play it with a friend who has a Windows Laptop? The other comments really like it and once we win the jam:) I'm sure it's worth it.

There wasn't much gameplay in my video. I didn't want to spoiler too much of it. I can assure you there are other things you can rewind as well, like yourself, enemies, and other objects.

Thanks for your feedback and for watching the video, nonetheless!

-Claas

Dr UmbrusSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

Great game, and an amazing job from your team.
Lots of contents, and with some nice polish.

I had some small problems :
-The jumping sound was pretty low in volume compared to all the other sounds, which is a bit weird.
-That fact that you can't shoot behind you makes shooting and moving pretty stiff, which is a downer.
-The "shooting range levels". (and overall the fact that there is quite a focus on the enemies). I don't understand, since your game works way better as a puzzle platformer. Precise moves and shoots seems to be neither the focus of the game, nor a good match with the controls. So, those levels were disapointing for me.
-Okay, this may seem weird but I feel that the game ends "too early", or have too much content. What I mean is that your are still teaching new mechanics even during the last levels. (spoiler if anybody is reading this before finishing the game) :
For instance, the self rewind comes in pretty late into the game. The revive with a delayed orb is only used once. Or the fact that the shots go through objects that don't have a previous state, which is only used for the penultimate level.
I understand what you're going for, but it's not that great to teach new things to a player up to the end, since it makes these mechanics feel underused.

However, these are all really minor things.
Again, your game is great, and these critics are merely to point at the details that could be improved to make it an even more awesome game.

Submitted

Mechanical Wonders

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Oh, thanks so much! We really appreciate your constructive criticism, though we probably wont have the chance to change all that much. We will release one update when the Jam ends to improve stability and fix minor bugs and quirks, but will then most likely discontinue development to focus on new projects. But again, thank you very much for the great review and the rate!

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

I too want to thank you for your detailed feedback.

Most people don't notice these small polishing issues. We had to cut down our initial polishing time from 3 days to 1-2 days. So we didn't have the time to fix these small issues.

Very interesting that you feel the game ends too early. My approach for making levels was to introduce one new interesting idea to each level, so there is always something new. I probably should have made more levels with smaller ideas that reuse many of the old ideas. And I probably should have done a decent ending.

It's still a game jam game, after all, but your feedback is really helpful.

Thanks for playing!

-Claas

MitaclaSubmitted4 years ago

Awesome game with a large variety of levels. Not a lot of audio but the atmosphere is well built. Maybe you could have excluded some levels in the begining that were too repetitive (like mix levels 1 and 2 in one since they are so basic). Other than that, excellent game.

Submitted

Panic's Underworld

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

That's the second time I heard that the tutorial was too long.

Wait, where are my manners? First of all, thanks for your feedback!

It's actually a very interesting thing with why there are so many tutorial levels. The way I designed the levels, I tried to always introduce one new idea or mechanic per level. Something interesting about the game itself. Some levels are better at doing this than others. I mean, there are 3 shooting ranges, but they all got their unique twists. Maybe I should have done an exception for the tutorial.

But those are the small issues that require lots of playtesting to figure out, also 'accidental' playtesters like you. If I sit next to somebody, they won't stop playing the game because the tutorial is too long. You can only figure this out by listening to players like you or collecting a lot of data from the players.

What do you mean with not a lot of audio? We've got excellent sound effects from timbre audio, and of course the beautiful soundtrack.

Anyway, thanks for playing! All this feedback is really motivating our team!

-Claas

Maroon SealSubmitted4 years ago

WOW! What a polished game! You could definitely release this game as it is and most people would be none the wiser that this was made during a game jam! The puzzles and level design is excellent and the art and audio are really good. I hope you continue adding more levels after the jam!

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Thank you very much!

From a design point of view, my goal was to have the time to polish the game. I really wanted to get all those little things right. In the end, we had to cut down our polishing time from 3 days to 1-2 days. As a perfectionist, I still see a lot of little things that we could do, but the core gameplay should be alright.

We haven't decided on the future of the game yet. We'll wait until the jam is over. So far the game has been received well, so we might actually do more with it. But it's far from being polished enough for any commercial release. Making a bigger commercial game is a very different calibre. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback!

Did you know that you can actually make your own levels? If we update the game, we'll sure include great community levels and credit whoever made them. The 'editor' is not the most user-friendly, but you'll get into it, at least I had to. For more info on how to make your own levels, head here: https://itch.io/t/918182/community-levels

Thanks for playing!

-Claas

Maroon SealSubmitted4 years ago

Well they do say that art is never finished it is only ever abandoned :'D I'll be sure to check out the custom levels thing! It looks like a really interesting and accessible way of storing the level data.

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Right, it's never done.

I actually made some custom levels for a video on my gaming channel. It's attached on the game page, if you are interested. Might help you a bit.

Joza100Submitted4 years ago

This is an amazing game. The mechanics are so simple, but they allow for SO MUCH depth. Make sure to do rate for rate to get to those 20 ratings as you can make it into a brackeys video.

Submitted

Rewind the Dead!

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thanks for the praise!

As the designer, I tried exploring every new mechanic to its fullest, and it wasn't that easy. It's not so much about what you can rewind, but what would allow for interesting new mechanics. The platforms are a great example. Not only can you get them back up, but you can also use them to jump higher. Finding these ideas is difficult, but once you have them, they open a new realm of possibilities.

Thanks for your help with the rate. We sure are working hard on that. Who knows? Maybe we do get into the video.

Thanks for playing!

- Claas

amavidatoSubmitted4 years ago

Fantastic game! Very well implemented, wonderful audio, graphics and animations. Loved the Halo style character. And the number of levels is insane for a game jam ahahah Good job guys ;)

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed the game!

As the designer, I spent like 4 days just designing levels. I guess you can get something done in that time. It was very exhausting, though. But the more glad I am that you liked the game!

Thanks for Playing!

- Claas

moonlife1Submitted4 years ago

This is not a jam entry. This is a complete game!

I wonder how did you manage to complete that one in just one week, that's amazing. Difficulty curve between levels are so balanced,

Levels look simple, but they are perfectly calculated puzzles. You feel like playing an action, platformer and a puzzle game same time.

That one is definitely one of my favorites in this jam.

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

I wouldn't go as far as calling it a complete game, but we sure do have some content! Thanks!

Well, if you work on a game about 10 hours a day for 7 days in a team of 4, there's a lot of work getting done. It was sooo exhausting, but I'm glad to hear the work was worth it.

I think the difficulty curve is that smooth because I only wanted to have one interesting idea per level. And whenever I introduced a new mechanic, I tried exploring it too it's fullest by thinking of all its new implications. I also did one playtesting session, which helps SO much, especially with puzzle games.

Most levels are pretty lean, only focusing on one idea. But a few levels look very weird, because I did some weird stuff with doors, like in the 'Friend' level.

Thanks for playing! Glad that our game became one of your favourites!

- Claas

FedCapSubmitted4 years ago (3 edits)

WOW This game is awesome, almost everything is perfect (music, level design, graphics, mechanichs) but one thing.

Although the game is incredible, Its really difficult to play it (meaning that you get an error saying that OpenAl32.dll was not found). This can easily scare away people from play testing your game. Because they just see a broken game, and say "I cant play it. Well, on to the next one". I dont know why you have this issue, but my advice is changing either the "In what way does your game fit the theme?" or "Did you write most of the code...?" to say below something like:

--------------IMPORTANT-----------------

If you get an error saying that OpenAl32.dll was not found, then go to the troubleshooting folder and run the .exe. This should fix the issue.

because if you write a comment in your own page, it could easily be drowend by other comments and not be seen. If instead you change this post (and your game post), people will see how to fix the problem on first try, and be able to enjoy this awesome game.

In order to get more rates,try doing any of these 3:

1) Host a Rate4Rate and keep it active (you have to comment a post on people who leave their games there, to keep your Rate4Rate above from others. Obviously after you play their games, dont be mean). A nice Idea is prioritizing playing games that comment your game instead of the post (to make sure they play your game) and make that clear.

2) Take part in a Rate4Rate, this depends a lot on luck, but it can help.

3) go to submissions, select most karma, rate those games, and ask them to play yours. Those are the people who rated most games, so if you ask them IN THEIR OWN GAME, its really likely that they will take some of their time to check out your game (at least I do that :D).

Overall, This is a PERFECT game and deserves WAY MORE LOVE than it currently has. Incredible Job :D

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed the game so much!

I know about the error, and it's freaking me out a bit because it will turn some people off. I'm SOO glad we included the troubleshooting folder. If we could update the game we could fix the issue, but we can't. So I already tried putting the note about the error everywhere, but thanks for your feedback. I've now included it on the submission page.

I also appreciate your tips for getting more ratings.

We already started a rate4rate thread, but I guess I need to comment on it to push it onto the top. We already replied to everyone who posted there.

I took part in a few rate4rate threads, and I'll take part in a few more. Mostly commenting on active threads and leaving detailed feedback on their games works well, it just takes a lot of time.

I didn't know this about karma. So thanks for the tip!

Thanks for playing!

- Claas

ArakjinSubmitted4 years ago

WOW, I'll definately steal some of the rewind mechanics for my game.
I liked the simple pixel graphics and atmospheric music. The implementation of rewind mechanic (rewind gun) You managed to find a way to use it on enemies too with more than just rewinding them. There's also a lot of content (I didn't finish it tho, sorry) Puzzles were great too! for me the tutorial "section" was too long and I would've cramped some of them in same level.

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

I'm glad to hear you liked the ideas and mechanics.

As someone who learned a lot about game design, but didn't put it too much use (until now), it's very encouraging.

I get what you mean about the tutorial section. On the one hand, I wanted to only have one new or interesting thing per level. On the other hand, you want to get to the interesting part quickly, which is the rewind mechanic. But teaching the player about the basic game elements first is also very important. Hmm, designing great tutorials is difficult, but I think it does the job.

Thanks for playing!

- Claas

HDR GamesSubmitted4 years ago

Wow! That is really cool. I played a lot of games with the same idea but you made it the best. You managed to do a lot in that week. Good job!

Submitted

Crimes Investigation Unit: The Orion Murder

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Thanks a lot! I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the game and I have left a rating for yours. Thanks for stopping by!

~Gefüllte Taubenbrust

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

If you get an error saying that OpenAl32.dll was not found, then go to the troubleshooting folder and run the .exe. This should fix the issue.

deadgenghisSubmitted4 years ago

Everything was perfect. Almost finished. Played till the 41st level. And enjoyed every second I played.

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

I'm very glad to hear this!

If you are stuck on a level, you can pause the game and click 'show hint'. We even have an ending sequence for the game, so it's worth coming back.

Thanks for playing our game!

deadgenghisSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

yes I saw the hint section. but i just stopped playing there. but I'll play the rest of the game asap. thanks

deadgenghisSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

I finished the game :) good ending

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

CDiscoSubmitted4 years ago (1 edit)

Trying to play your game but I'm getting this error when launching the game:

(Edit) Image may not be shown in the entry page. See it in your game page. (your username.itch.io/your game)

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thanks for the bug report! Since we are working with a custom engine those problems can appear. If the issue has something to do with OpenAL, run the .exe in the troubleshooting folder. That might fix the issue.

I can't seem to find your post on our game page. I guess it's because we have a community section on the page and not a comment section. But you can go there to the thread for bug reports and should be able to post there.

I would really appreciate your help, as you are not the first who can't play the game. I hope we can resolve the issue soon. Thanks for your visit, nonetheless!

Jadefire16Submitted4 years ago

Uhhh, unplayable?

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

I'm sorry to hear that. Could you specify the issue you were having? If you had problems with OpenAL, head to the troubleshooting folder and run the exe. That might fix your issue. Thanks for your visit nonetheless!

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

We included instructions on how to fix the issue everywhere. Looking at all the other comments it might be worth it to revisit our game.

We are sorry for the technical issues. Thanks for drawing our attention to the issue!

ManusSubmitted4 years ago

Best game I've played so far.

Wonderful puzzles, audio, graphics, inventions and theme attempt.

I wonder how you did make that in just a week, totally impressive!

Submitted

Mandelbrot StudiosDeveloper4 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you very much! I'm very glad to hear this.

We are a team of 4, as you can see in the credits. We worked as much as we could during the week and it was quite stressful, but glad to hear that the work was worth it.

Thanks for playing!