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Black Matter's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Technical | #39 | 3.087 | 3.087 |
| Theme | #51 | 2.652 | 2.652 |
| Gameplay | #53 | 2.739 | 2.739 |
| Overall | #56 | 2.774 | 2.774 |
| Design | #57 | 2.696 | 2.696 |
| Artistic | #67 | 2.696 | 2.696 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
I am no doctor and I am not sure if there's a winning condition or not.
I just navigate around connect things don't really know if that's how the game should be played, because its not too fun, its too boring to think that I am playing a game.
I don't like the sudden loud noise that happens randomly.
I tried to enjoy playing this game, but I can't find the joy.
I would say well done successfully uploading a "game" anyway.
Thanks for trying it out :)
MY HEAD! IT'S HURT!!
I was a bit confused as to when I could connect neurons together and when I could right click them, some feedback would also be really helpful.
But all in all, it was pretty good, I had fun and the moment viruses appeared and music started was intense for sure!
Really cool game! I made it to tardigrade, which I hope is a good score. At some point I stopped focusing on expanding as much as interconnecting, which I think was good, but I am not entirely sure. Some more instructions would probably help, but it was fun just making the connections and trying to beat back the virus, so great job!
Glad you liked it! :)
Ooooh you build some beautiful geometry as you evolve the neural pattern. I thoroughly enjoyed this idea and want to see more of it.
If you haven't, check out "NaissanceE" on Steam (it's free). Your neurons is just like the guiding light in that game, and gave me the same vibe.
I would ditch all the colors and text, and communicate their function in another way visually. The game could start with a pitch black world and two single orbs, that you need to connect in order to imitate gameplay, and from there the player has all the information needed to discover the mechanics themselves as long as you make it apparent enough. Try practicing delivering information using only a monochrome gradient and no language.
Another thing that can help motivate the player to progress is having abstract geometry surrounding the area, that is only gradually and slightly revealed as the number of neurons (and consequently, lights) go up.
Oh, and this would be a perfect project to try out SDFGI with the emission on the neurons. Volumetric fog would also be amazing with the visuals of this game.
Awesome feedback!! Thank you so much! I might continue on, though it's not a very traditional game and difficult to see go anywhere, but I will take a look at the resources you mentioned.
That's what's so great about the idea! You don't really need more mechanics than this either, the "body shutdown" and helper neurons is more than enough to build on.
The game doesn't need to be balanced or paced either. It can be "gradually build and maintain a large and beautiful geometric construct" and the reward the player gets is taking a few steps back and watching what they've made. That's also why you need to have screenshots in mind. Not as a functionality, but practically; think about how the game is framed and how it will look statically on a screenshot, as that's where much the strength of this design lies. After playing for 15 minutes seeing the structure from inside to then flying away and look back felt satisfying to me and took a photo. Not only because the structure was so beautiful (it looked like a sitting fox), but because it's also ephemeral. It changes, it doesn't last, which gives it even more value and beauty.
This is also why I suggested to scale back on things, that might sound counter-productive and non-intuitive with how "simple" the game is but I really believe the lines and dots can speak for themselves with some clever design decisions. Focus on the experience and emotions and not the balance and math of it.
Another suggestion I forgot to mention is "hapticity". Instead of clicking and selecting, make it "physical". Make connections between neurons something you "draw", something you "drag" between them that gets more resistant the longer the distance is. Make creating helpers a physical act of pulling the neuron out of the pattern and releasing it.
Wow! This is amazing stuff. Thank you very much!
This was cool! The 3D controls were intuitive and I liked building up the neural network. It was satisfying to see it start to grow more quickly with the helpers. My favorite part was making an orange helper and watching it chase down the viruses faster than I could. I got to 110x150 and took a break. Making a brain is hard work :)
haha very much so! I'm glad you enjoyed it and found the virus helper.
Nice work! I was a bit lost a first but once I figured it out it was fun to create new connections and trying to have a lot of helpers.
Nice to watch the whole web from afar, really satisfying.
Thank you! Glad you liked it :) Having players figure it out organically was one of my main goals!
nice work looks great
Thanks!
A really unique experience, I really enjoyed it. I love how well everything stands out from the black around it. Its visually very pleasing stepping back and looking at the tangle of nodes connected
Glad you felt that! It was definitely fun to make and see come together. The atmosphere was a huge part of this game for me.