Play To Clean The Mountain
To Clean The Mountain's itch.io pageGame Title
To Clean The Mountain
Developer Name
Yinz Devlopment
Short Promo Blurb
To Clean The Mountain is a game Created for the 2024 Climate Jam which follows the story of a person carrying a bag of recyclables to the top of a mountain to recycle, picking up trash along the way and in turn, cleaning the mountain. As you climb, the spirit of the mountain speaks to you about its struggles.
Promo Image(s)
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/4a6bu9k0vlndz6ni5mhpu/AFpvjx0tuWQc4o-fHJsqZ6E?rlkey=op4cx9ac4u6wnk7d0xhkmrh40&st=9bqq7d2j&dl=0
Promo Video
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q1tzgjmobicbvum3goki6/ToCleanTheMountainPromoVideo.mp4?rlkey=x84a7fz5km597oytioxnhvdny&st=zxhahqqy&dl=0
Artistic Statement / Use of Theme(s)
For the art to really start we needed a game idea. We bounced from different ideas like dating sim, to puzzle game, to an rpg, until we settled on a platformer. In the beginning, our inspiration was “Jump King” a precise platformer where the player can lose progress if they take a wrong jump. At the beginning of development we had 2 pixel artist, so it was a given what style we wanted to use. As the lead art developer in this jam, I wanted to limit the pixel size to 16x16 for the player in order to save time and use it on other aspects of the project. The main premise was that the player climbed a mountain like in other platformers, but to add in the theme of “change the story” we wanted the player to also pick up litter found scattered across the mountain in order to recycle them at the top. With these aspects in mind the game mechanics and art themes played hand in hand, eventually leading to the design of the player slinging themselves up the mountain using a trash bag. After research on different platformers, “Celeste” became leading inspiration behind the playable character in our game. While crafting the animations for the player, I wanted to show a sense of bouncy weight from carrying a trash bag over the shoulder showing how hard making a difference can be, but doing your part is what matters. The vfx makes the rest of the art come together. Since a majority of the tiles used were filled with nature, I felt that creating some falling leaves would tie in the playable foreground with the rest of the background making the game world feel more believable. I also made a variety of recyclable waste that would litter all over the mountain and the player is able to interact with. This decision was made to show things that get thrown out improperly and can be used to better the environment instead of harm it.
-Anthony
Development Summary
Development went well in the first preproduction phase where we completed our planning documents. Unfortunately, from the prototype phase onward most of our team was occupied with other things leading to the future portions being completed by the main artist and game designer. The scope of the level with this few team members was too much which required us to cut the experience down to the first of 3 sections. The mechanics were simplified and honed as we discovered what was fun and what was unnecessary. One of the big changes is that instead of the recyclables giving you more force the takeaway force slightly making the game more challenging. Between production at testing the game was contributed to by about 10 people.
Release Plan
The current state of the game is playable and fun, but a bit on the shorter side. It doesn’t matter much for the jam because it still takes most players a good 20 minutes to play through, but for a full game release more would be better. There are a few more mechanics that have the programming and art started but weren’t implemented yet to focus on the core gameplay loop. We would like to expand the level significantly and incorporate those mechanics before releasing the game on other platforms. Farther areas would incorporate their own unique mechanics while still maintaining the frustrating platforming that makes this genre unique.
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Comments
The game's art are great, the narrative and gameplay environment creates a serene atmosphere. However, I encountered issues with the hitbox and movement controls, which need refinement. The platforms could be larger, and adding checkpoints would help prevent restarting from falls. The unique jumping mechanic and engaging dialogue are standout features, though the character's speed and initial game explanation could be improved. Overall, it's a solid effort that fits well within the game jam's theme.
I love the art direction and aesthetic of this game. Its calm, serene landscape really made me stop and say "wow, this is beautiful." I'm not entirely good at this game cause it took me like 10 minutes to get past the first few hurdles, and there was one main issue I spotted which was the hitbox being weird. On a second playthrough though the movement controls just stopped working for me, and had to restart it. This seems to have been a one-time issue thankfully.
I found that some of the platforms could be bigger so that the player has an easier time climbing around the level. The music is well done and the art is cute. I also think that checkpoints could be added as I fell halfway down the mountain and had to start again.
I really love the sound, art and jumping mechanic. The dialogue is also amazing. I like this unique jumping movement, as we don't really see it as much. I think this game really fits in with this jam. Two areas of improvement are the speed of the character and explaining the game before hand (like a cutscene or something). Overall great job guys !
As pointed out before the level design could be improved. Smaller levels or checkpoints would have been nice since the jumping still is hard even though a jumping meter has been added (thanks!). Still, it is a very well made game with pretty graphics and a lovely music track. However, collecting trash is not clearly related to fighting climate change in my opinion.
The art and sound are amazing! i find the control a little bit frustrating, maybe adding a double-jump would help, but overall good job!
Love the visual and audio aesthetic and cohesiveness, and the simple but interesting mechanic. Just wish that it didn't take me so long to hop onto the first two platforms.
it's so cute!! would be much more enjoyable if it weren't so hard from the start, still good! music and art work very well together :3
Pretty fun and novel, reminded me not only of Jump King but other games like Cursed to Golf or Sticky Ninja Academy! My main complaints are that the level doesn't feel very aesthetically cohesive (mostly because some platforms are missing tiles) and that there isn't much reward for exploring or moving further up. I think you could make a really powerful statement, not just about perseverance, but about the beauty, scope, and damage done to the natural world. That's something Celeste embraces as well, and something your game could elaborate on. Otherwise, well done!
This game was def super hard, but everything else is super put together! I wasn't able to get very far, but gameplay was def challenging! The trash collecting was cool, but I was wondering if there was a bit more to the game, like powerups, challenges, etc.
Although I rage quit after 10 minutes, I thought the game was very well put together. The music was vibey, art was great, and the gameplay felt fair. My one criticism is that collecting trash felt very separate from the game. Maybe you can reward the player by making it so that each piece of trash you collect increases your maximum jump height?
We thought about it then threw it out after a bit of development because in the next jumps you would be thrown off by the change. There's also the aspect that you shouldn't be picking it up just to get a reward with the theme. We might have to go back and figure out what we want to do with it if we keep production going.
The art and sound design are really polished! I played this game after the production sprint and had no idea what I was doing, but adding the meter indicator made a world of difference. You've improved it a lot since then. My main critique is I think the player should have more control while falling - it feels very strange to walk off the edge of a cliff and then drop like a rock with no lateral movement.
The art and sound design are really polished! I played this game after the production sprint and had no idea what I was doing, but adding the meter indicator made a world of difference. You've improved it a lot since then. My main critique is I think the player should have more control while falling - it feels very strange to walk off the edge of a cliff and then drop like a rock with no lateral movement.
nice rage game! I like the pixel art, but some of the tile placements in the background layer are pretty jarring as they don’t always line up properly. the voice acting is great, I just wish there were more — like funny comments when I fall down — but what’s there is really good.
when it comes to mechanics, the grounded movement is pretty rough (especially for slanted tiles), but it didn’t detract much from the core jumping experience. unfortunately, I kept encountering an issue where the jump went much shorter than it should have. I think it’s a bug with the physics, sometimes the jump just gives a lot of spin but not much velocity. I gave up around 80~90 % after falling one too many times because of that issue. other than that, this was an enjoyable challenge!
Very pretty game. Jumping mechanics is beautifllly infuriating at first, I was failing the very first platform in a variety of ways. Eventually it settles.
Loved the voice acting, not a voice I would expect for a mountain but it's pleasant, I wish there was more of it, and it did help me put in some extra effort to be of service to this particular mountain. Still, having me plunge way down on the slightest missjump without anything new happening while climbing back up is not enjoyable for long, or at least I'm not a big fan of masochistic games, but those who are will love this one for sure. I had to give up after 20 minutes as the game punishes way too much too far up.
I'm not sure how much will this game help the ecology with all the smashed monitors, keyboards, and mouses but it has a lot of potential and jumping mechanics is addictive, it is just the ratio of success vs punishment that lost me.