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Self-Seeker's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Use of the Limitation | #26 | 3.379 | 3.455 |
| Overall | #33 | 2.601 | 2.659 |
| Presentation | #36 | 2.490 | 2.545 |
| Concept | #36 | 2.490 | 2.545 |
| Enjoyment | #37 | 2.045 | 2.091 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team members
Tekatonic
Software used
GameMaker Studio 2
Use of the limitation
The character is sitting, slouched, unable to get up, they can only send out their soul in a straight line to do interact with the world around them..
Cookies eaten
Lotsa candied ginger and curcuma ( i think it's called turmeric in english ? ) !
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Comments
Very polished for your first game dev experience especially under such a strenuous time limit like this jam has! Definitely keep up the good work and try to join more jams to really stretch out your creativity, you've got this!
There was definitely some hard parts and a lot of time strain, but ultimately I'm happy I managed to come out with something that at least looks coherent ! When I have the time I'll definitely do some more small-scale game dev ( though hopefully a bit longer than this ) !
Thanks for the comment and encouragement, it means a lot !! :']
Oddly relaxing. It feels like there's a deeper story to what's going on than what's immediately available, and I like that.
Thanks, that's sweet ! It's definitely meant to be a bit more than it is right now. Something about piecing yourself together to move forward in life ^^
Nice little game, shows a lot of potential, especially being your first game dev experience.
First I'm going to review the game as it is, as anything less will be a disservice to a budding game developer, but stick to the end for more praise. The game just has too little content. While the concept has a lot of potential, and the gameplay is mostly there, there is not a lot to do (which is understandable). The movement feels jagged, not at all smooth, which seems to come from the camera moving at integer pixel increments, this can be a valid choice, but I personally feel it makes moving in a straight line feel like going up or down steps. It can get monotonous as the targets appear in the same places, and even if they did not, getting them can be done with the same steps: point in the general direction and send the soul there, realize you were off course and adjust the mouse slightly. repeat. Finally, the lack of sounds can make everything dry.
Other than that, the visuals are excellent. Simple but consistent, monochromatic pixel art has more potential than some might think. The soul's sprite looks almost like a fireball, but the idea is there, and with minor tweaking could be so much better.
Now, to give some inspiration, the game could be improved by adding a simple story. Reading the description, I feel like something inspired by Return to the Obra Dinn, where the player finds sort of like memories of the past, could benefit the game greatly. Maybe write a story about this person and have it be revealed one piece at a time as you find this lights. One could bring a memory of the school they went to, a pet they used to love, their parents, siblings, lost ones. It could have a lot of the same gameplay, maybe with smaller additions like the terrain changing with every light found, or the soul being able to bounce and the player pushing it farther once out.
Overall, a good idea executed however you could, and it looks finished, even if there's so little to do. That's the greatest accomplishment starting game dev, actually finishing something no matter how simple. It shows potential for the future, and I hope I can see a game like this better fleshed out, because honestly I kinda want to play it.
Thank you so much for the detailed critique ! It really helps !!
Yes I agree it's definitely more an early prototype than an actual game, I just didn't have the time for more with my rhythm and outside circumstances. The jagged movement is indeed from the camera moving per pixel, I don't know how to fix that yet, I might leave it tbh.
For the sound, I first envisioned it having some kinda chiming noises you could hear in the direction of the invisible targets. The music would probably be something very ambient. Though I was too busy learning programming to even touch the sound section, I'd like to come back to that later. The targets were also gonna move around.
The soul was meant to look a bit like a will o' wisp ( and a dew drop when idle ). I don't have much experience in pixel art so I'm still happy with how the sprites look for a first try !
It wasn't very refined but there was gonna have some semblance of story, or at least progression. I really wanted to add some cutscenes in the style of OneShot or Omori, since illustration ( and concept art ) is kind of more what I'm good at, but I didn't have time ofc. The figure was going to have elements added/revealed to the design as you collected lights. And the levels were gonna have different traversal elements as you progress ( like going into roots that act as funnels, jumping into a trail of footsteps.. ), the lights were gonna be able to be located through different means than just ripples ( like grass rustling in a grass field level, light trails.. ).
Yeah I could really only do the bare minimum here but I still learned a ton !
I'm glad you liked the concept !! I was pretty concerned that it wasn't enough for the jam, but nonetheless I was still proud to have put it out without any major bugs or anything. It's barebones, yeah, but I made it, I took the plunge. I'm proud of that.
Like I said, I'm definitely going to keep working on this when I have the time, to hopefully bring it closer to the vision ! It's not going to be anything grand, but I hope it'll be more than this little prototype ! Thanks again for the critique, I REALLY appreciate it !!! ^^
Nice :) Felt like a golf game in the afterlife!
Thank you for the comment ! ^^
That's a cool way to look at it !!
Nice game. The artwork looks suspiciously like ... not a soul. But otherwise followed the theme
Thank you !
Not a soul ? In the idle it was supposed to look kinda like a dew drop but I guess I can see with the monochromatic color scheme how it can look like something else. I'm not very experienced in pixel art ^^;