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A jam submission

Curse of the CursorView game page

Entry for the GMTK GameJam 2020 - Theme: Out of Control
Submitted by Charlie Gray — 4 hours, 33 minutes before the deadline
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Curse of the Cursor's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall#594.1134.113
Originality#834.2454.245
Fun#1823.8683.868
Presentation#4943.9063.906

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?
"Curse of the Cursor" starts as a normal Platformer, but soon the Control Scheme switches to mouse-based controls. And soon after that enemies are introduced that wrestle the played for control of the character.

Did your team create the art for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

Yes

We created all art during the game jam

Did your team create the audio for this game during the 48 hour time slot?

No

We used pre-existing audio

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Comments

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

I liked it. Having the mouse control the character, with distance increasing the speed allowing you to make bigger jumps was clever. The idea of the enemies taking over your mouse cursor is also rather interesting as a mechanic. I like how it all came together. :)

Developer

Thank you for playing. I'm glad you had fun playing my game. :) 

Submitted(+1)

wow. i didnt expect that. i was wondering why "cursor" was on the title. great game!

Developer

I'm glad I was able to surprise you. 

Thank you for playing, hope you had fun. :) 

Submitted(+1)

Wow this is a really neat platformer! The controls feel really good and the twist with the mouse is really great! Also impressive that you made all the art during the jam! Well done!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks a bunch for playing. I'm glad you like the art.

Submitted(+1)

The game title attracted me and i'm glad it did!!!!! 

One hell of a game great job!! 

Developer

Thanks a lot for playing. I'm glad you had a good time. :) 

Submitted(+1)

Dude this game is great! Well done! I was so scared on the last level in the dark 😱

Developer(+1)

Haha, cool that my cheeky little stunt worked.

Thanks a bunch for playing. :) 

Submitted(+1)

Having to fight enemies for control over your own cursor is a fun take on the prompt. Every movement feels frantic knowing that you could rocket in the other direction at any time! The dynamic torch lighting and variable movement speed added a lot to the chaos as well, making for a real solid submission!

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much for playing my game. I'm glad you like my interpretation of the theme :) 

Submitted(+1)

I'm glad you were able to submit something after having trouble coming up with an idea in the beginning. I like the outcome, the music and lights and general vibe pair very well together.

Despite there being bugs, and despite I had to hard reset my computer while playing this game, I rated it very high and added it to my GMTK collection!

Developer(+1)

Oh wow, high praise, thank you very much. :D

Might I ask what bugs you encountered and when the game crashed your computer? 

I'm curious because when I read through my comments it seems like for most people it runs flawlessly but a few have massive trouble like bugs, glitches and crashes. 

I want to learn what some of these pitfalls are. 

Submitted

In the 3rd room I ran to the bottom right corner and the game's music started skipping and then nothing was responsive. I tried again to duplicate this but can't for some reason.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

It was a interesting game, I had some fun!  I actually never seen a platformer where you had to use your mouse to move.  It was an interesting idea that could be explored further!! I even came up with the idea where maybe there could be a level where the character runs away from the mouse! (PS: I did get interrupted while recording, so I just put something funny in the blank spot)

Developer(+1)

Oh wow, thank you so much for making a video.

It's always insightful (and fun) to see somebody play your game. I left a more detailed response in the comments of you video ;)

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

This was excellent (I got the gold! yay), though I also think that introducing WSAD moving was pointless. And yeah, with this concept You already have many more mechanical possibilities to expand this provided by other.

I maybe will suggest this as a mobile game. Touch controls are obviously mostly out of the way You can't move player's finger... But maybe motion controlls would work? Or maybe You can scrap this cursor stealing mechanic to make something different?

Really fun game, I like it, would like more of it.

Developer

Thank you very much.

Hmm... Mobile is an interesting idea. Moving the character left and right would be easy with this control, though jumping is a different matter.

Tilt controls is also an interesting idea. In that case tilting would be used for left and right and a tap means a jump.

Definitely something to think about. :)

Submitted(+1)

I was actually thinking about making the character follow finger (tilt), and building on this some new mechanics. But I forgot about jumping... Double tapping could not be so nice... hm... Dunno

Yeah, but I think this is a cool concept for mobile.

Submitted(+1)

That was a really cool game with interesting mechanics. The mouse movement works really great and feels fluid and responsive, the only issue is accidentally moving the cursor outside the game window (I have 3 monitors). I think there is a lot of potential in the way enemies work too.

Visually speaking, it looks great, the pixel art is nice and clean and the lighting effects are just so effective at creating a cool atmosphere and making the game look dynamic.

All in all, you did a great job on this entry, there's not much to criticize, really :)

Developer(+1)

Thanks a lot. Glad to hear you enjoyed my game. 

Yep, restricting the cursor to the game would have been a good idea and I'm honestly not sure how I didn't think of that issue. Thanks for that.

Submitted(+1)

A great entry! At first I thought the only twist is the different control scheme (mouse instead of a keyboard), but then the first enemy showed up. I didn’t really see what was happening, just that my controls have gotten all weird. Perhaps some more prominent effect focusing players attention to the mouse cursor being “kidnapped” would help here.

I also think the main mechanics could be introduced much faster. The first section with the WASD movement is probably not necessary, it only delays the main mechanic introduction. The enemy shows up pretty late, too. For that I think it might be a good idea to add some level objects that interact with the cursor. Maybe something like magnets that pull the cursor in when it gets too close, or fields that push the cursor in a specific direction if it enters them. The player could get used to the idea of things influencing their mouse cursor before encountering the first enemy.

Overall, it’s a really well done entry. I love the lighting effects, the platforming controls feel pretty good. Good job! ;)

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing and for the detailed feedback. 

Having other elements that manipulate the cursor is a great idea! That way the mechanic can be introduced in a simpler way.

And I certainly will make the capture effect more visible, should I continue developing this game.

I'm glad you liked it :) 

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I think this was a really cool interpretation of the theme. I dig the use of the lighting effects, they looked cool and added a secondary challenge of not knowing where pitfalls are. And the mouse controls were very satisfying! But the enemies are definitely the coolest aspect of the experience. I think once they appeared, your take on the theme was very clear.  I like that there was a lot of levels that became easier if you waited for the right moment instead of trying to brute force your way through, and other levels could be bypassed if you just got enough speed. I think a slight afterimage on the sprite as you go faster would probably make the speed more satisfying, although what you have already feels very good! One thing I noticed is that your cursor is affected even when the game is minimized so it's actually hard to close the game that way.

I think the challenge with the current way it's designed is there's a chance players don't get to that point, or think the control scheme is the only twist you're adding in this game. I don't think this is the only solution, but if you were going further with this, I think it would be worth looking at whether there's a good way to condense the current tutorialization to get to that key moment sooner, or what you can do to let players know there's more coming. Great job!

Developer

Ooh, an after-image trail would be really cool, great idea!

That the cursor is also affected, when the game is not in focus should definiteley adressed, should I expand this game.

Maybe giving more clues to keep the players playing until they've seen the control twist and the enemies might be a good idea, however I haven't had one person say that they don't get  how the game fits the theme. As far as I know all players at least played until the enemies occured.

Then again, maybe the others simply didn't comment.

I thought that that might be a problem and so I at least minimized the time until the control change.

Thank you very much for playing and for you detailed feedback :)

Submitted(+1)

Wow this was a really good game, especially for you only finalizing the idea in the last 24 hours of the jam! A very good mechanic (though at times a little annoying with the enemies lol), and the graphics and lighting are really well done, if you showed me a trailer of this I wouldn't have known it was created in a jam! Really hard to think of much to improve (other than more environments, different enemy types, etc... if you were making more than a 48 hour game.) Well done! I enjoyed it and am happy with the treasure ending!

Developer

Thank you for playing and the kind words. :)

I'm glad you liked my game and I agree, the next step would be to make more content.

Submitted(+1)

I love the lighting effects for this!

Developer

Thanks :) 

Submitted(+1)

Wow! One of the most original games I've played so far! Running with the mouse felt great, and when it messes the cursor it felt fair. Also, the torches give a nice mood to the cave. Great game!

Developer

Thank you very much for playing. I'm glad the cursor pulling isn't too unfair. :)

Submitted(+1)

Pretty cool concept, I love the idea of the game having an enemy that basically restricts yours way of movement, with some levels having you try to rip your mouse away from it to move. One thing I would change is to just take away the darkness and torches, I'm not sure what that adds to the experience other then atmosphere of being in a dark cave. Overall super unique and interesting entry.

Developer

Thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked it. 

Yeah the torches and darkness are mainly for the atmosphere, to make some levels surprising and giv it a bit of a mysterious vibe which supports the story, I think. 

My question would be, what does it take away from the experience? I agree it's not crucial to the experience but I think it still supports the experience.

I'm not saying I don't value your input I just want to understand why you would get rid of it.

Submitted(+1)

Nice shadows and cool introduction. I liked that there was not just control with your cursor thing but also these thwomp-like things that pulled your cursor. 

There were a couple of glitches with tilemap but it didn't make the game unplayable.

Great stuff!

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you for playing. :)

If you don't mind me asking, what graphics card do you have? And did the Tilemap glitches appeared in all levels or just the ones where the camera moves?

Of course, you don't have to share that information if you don't want to. I've had trouble with TileMaps in Godot before and have read that it might have to do with specific graphics cards. I'm trying to understand the problem as much as possible.

Submitted(+1)

I have a GTX 1060 with 3 GB of VRAM, and I'm playing on Windows 10.

Looks like there are two kinds of glitches: black grid-like when the camera is moving (I think I get something similar in my game too) and white-grayish squares appearing for a frame or two regardless of whether the camera is moving or not.

Developer

Thank you very much.

Submitted(+1)

I thinkg for me this game was to most fun I had playgin the jam games! I really like the art, the whole story of the cursor intro, and the mouse controls. Really awsome game you have made here!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing. I'm glad you had fun with my game and that you liked the little story I integrated.

Submitted(+1)

I had so much fun with your game! :D I ended up playing through the entire thing. I really like how the game started off with normal controls and then switched to the mouse controls, and I liked the creativity of the platforming and enemies. Great job! ^_^ 

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing my game, I'm so glad you had a good time with it. :)

Submitted(+1)

Honestly a super creative and original idea! Nicely polished, I really enjoyed the lighting effects.

I never realized how much I hated somebody taking my cursor from me until playing this game...

I love the concept, though it was a bit frustrating to be swiping my mouse across my desk to fight against the pull of the monsters. I would love to see what other ideas you can come up with for this game! There's a lot of potential on the types of enemies  you could imagine up(I hope I didn't miss them by quitting too early)

Developer

Hi, thanks for playing. Nah, you didn't miss any enemies there is only one type. 

I think I could have conveyed more clearly that the enemies stop tugging your mouse when they can't see it. So if you place your cursor behind or inside a wall they'll stop. 

Viewing comments 40 to 21 of 40 · Next page · Last page