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Nuclear Reaction's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #4 | 3.963 | 3.963 |
| Design | #8 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| Theme | #14 | 4.037 | 4.037 |
| Technical | #14 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| Overall | #14 | 3.781 | 3.781 |
| Artistic | #89 | 3.130 | 3.130 |
Ranked from 54 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Nice job! Are you using Engine.time_scale exclusively? Do you have to adjust audio pitch as well? Very interesting idea over all.
Yes, I'm using Engine.time_scale for the most part, but also adjusting the music pitch_scale in the same function. I used a tween for the transition between normal and slow motion (as I learned in a very helpful tutorial). But sometimes the change of time_scale bothers other systems, so it's a bit hard to tweaked correctly. An easy fix for animations is to simply establish its playback_speed to 1/Engine.time_scale, so it always play with the same timing. Thanks for playing and commenting!
THIS IS AWESOME!
Really good gameplay, graphics and very inventive puzzles, I never seen anything like it. Even if you know what you need to do to beat a level and still can lose multiple times because it also require you to think and act fast.
One of the best I played so far!
Wow, thank you very much for the kind comment! I'm really happy you had a good time! I love to have two layers in my games, one where you see a puzzle, you think and you elaborate a plan and another where you need to be skillful to implement your strategy. It seems it worked this time :-D Thanks again!
Really cool concept and progression !
I really like the way you introduced the different particles slowly so that you can get the time to grasp each new mechanic before tackling the more challenging puzzles, the slowdown is super cool and really useful to plan precisely where a particle will hit.
And i also like how you essentially seem to have taken inspiration from puzzle bobble type games for your aim/shoot mechanics and spun it in an entirely original direction, also the Ui design is pretty clean and clear, and i like that your main menu selection essentially sorta serves as a mini tutorial since you have to aim and shoot the button you want to select.
If i had to nitpick i'd say the only issue i had is that i didn't understood right away the target's cover mechanic where you need to have a certain charge level for it to open and let you hit the target, but that's really no big issue in the end since it's easy to figure out through trial and error ^^
Well done :)
Hey, that's not a comment anymore, it's a full review, thank you very much :-D!
For the progression, I always try to show things separately and step-by-step, so the player don't get confused and don't have a lot of text to read. I tried to make the tutorial like a mini-game, with the "T to show the Tips" system.
The slowdown was essential for the experience. When it bugged it was really impossible to aim. I hope it felt like going to quantum space ;-)
The inspiration came after the idea of atoms, but it was exactly Puzzle Bobble, the original. I couldn't implement the bounding aim line like they did (spent hours with raycasts without results...) but I think it works alright without it.
I tried to put a lot of animation and SFX in the UI (and in every input or output). For another game I made (here's the link if you want to try it: https://gotm.io/klustergames/colormaze) I had the critic of not having enough game feel, so I always try to work hard on this now. I'm glad to hear that it worked :-D. And I love menus that explain the core game mechanic, I took for Megaman X as you did! (remember the first one, in the menu megaman shoots a semi-charged bullet to choose!)
I'm sorry I didn't explained well how to open the barriers, I thought that with the tip system it would be clearer. Thanks for persevering and finding out how to play!
Thanks again for your comment!
Well i try to share all the thoughts i have when i try a game and i know i can sometimes end up in a bit of a wall of text territory ^^'
No problem, from what i experienced since i started my gamedev journey with Godot is that raycasts can sometimes act strangely, i know i've even had my issues with them for this jam so i understand, and like you said your game works fine without the bounding line trajectory, although hvaing bouncing surfaces for the particles could ba a cool way to expand if you plan on adding to it post jam :)
If i get some time after the jam is done i'll see when i can check it out, and i do understand not having much gamefeel for a jam entry cause this really can take some time to add and i know i've had several times where my games lacked any kind of proper feedback at least on intial relase during jams ^^
Some of the later level puzzles can be resolved by bouncing neutrons (the bullets) in walls. Its the aim lines that were rough, so unfortunately the player can't really notice the possibility of the bounce. But one day I'll master those raycasts :-D
Haven't seen anything like this before, awesome idea. In my opinion could use some fast forward option when you are ready to shoot the next ball. Great entry for the jam.
Thank you for the comment, I tried to be original, but got a lot of inspiration from the original Puzzle Bobble. Thanks for the idea of fast forward, I was actually trying to find something to give more fluidity to the game when you are sure of your shoot. I'll certainly implement that in a new version!
I loved this. What a great gameplay idea. It was a great blend of action and puzzle. Fantastic job!
A blend of action and puzzle was exactly what I was looking for! I try to make puzzle games where you must think and plan before starting a level. But when you start, you must have the skills to put your strategy to work! Thanks for the kind words!
Very clever theme usage and great mechanics! For me, your game is one of the bests on this jam!
Congrats, I really enjoy your game!
Wow, thank you very much! I'm really happy you enjoyed the game, for me that's almost all about making games, have players have some fun! I'm flattered, there are a lot of nice games, so thanks again!
Fun game. Hard to get the timing right!
I tried to balance the slowmotion time so that you can aim, but you're still "under pressure" to do it quickly. I like puzzle games, but I also love action and skill, so I tried to put those two together. I'm glad you enjoyed, thanks!
Very nice, suprisingly deep puzzles and a very nice gimick. Well done!
I'm happy you liked the puzzles! They are not as balanced as I wanted because I spend a lot of my time with the mechanics and the level design was made mostly in a rush. But if you liked its great! Thanks!
that was very fun to play! nice game
I said that our games had a lot in common, did you noticed? We kind of follow the same "frame" but with completely different puzzle mechanics. It was very nice to see different implementations. Thanks!
yeah I noticed, it's fun to see how different games with similar premises can be
Great interpretation of the theme
:-D It's so funny as yours, but I tried some jokes in the levels names. I'm glad you enjoyed, thanks!
Well thought out, I liked it a lot.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked the idea!
Great game, like it a lot. the slowmotion is a good way of up the attention.
I really wanted the slowmotion, I'm glad it worked well, thanks! Even though I struggle a lot with the code, entering and leaving slowmotion when there are a lot of atoms is hard :-)
Great work, I like the idea of agility (precision shooting) with puzzles :)
Thanks, I love puzzles but I also love skill games :-D
Really nice puzzle game, it took me a while to grasp the mechanics but it was really enjoyable :)
It's true that it can be daunting at the beginning, thanks for persevering!
A lot of fun, love the mechanics!
Couldn't get past level 11 though. xD
Thanks, it seems it's the place where everyone gets stuck. I unfortunately didn't had the time to balance it well...
Really fun to play, great work!
I thought this was a lot of fun and very clever. I wasn't able to get past level 11 yet but I feel like I'm going to be thinking about it during the day until I figure it out!
Thanks! You're almost there, there's 14 levels!
Creative puzzle game ;)
This is a really fun and polished game! Nice game design with the tips
Very fun. I really like the way you have the T option for tips! And great sound effects!💕
Thanks! The T mechanic was like a mini-game in the game, so that learning the game play is also a bit fun. Glad you enjoyed!