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A jam submission

boteView game page

derpy boat simulator
Submitted by Japes — 8 minutes, 19 seconds before the deadline
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bote's itch.io page

Names and Email Addresses of Team Members
JP da Conceicao (hobbyist)
jpdacon@gmail.com

Categories Your Team is Eligible for
Best Physics Gameplay
Hobbyist
Best Humour (?)
Greatest Post-Jam Improvement

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

I had a good time with this. Smart decision to have very simple art and spend the time on physics and gameplay mechanics.  The sound adds a ton to the atmosphere. 

I wasn't able to reach the final island... my bote just kept tipping over. Even when I moved all the way to the opposite side, at slow speed... it still tipped! That felt unfair. 

I feel like there are 3 main ideas explored with this: navigating, balancing and steering. Navigating and balancing are ramped up as you advance through the islands.  Steering remains pretty constant (except for dodging the pre-pyramid obstacles).

I didn't care much for the balancing mechanic. I really liked seeing my bote react to my weight as I moved around ... but I didn't like getting tipped over. It felt too opaque as a challenge.

Personally I loved the  navigating and steering. There's a real sense of magic when having a new destination and working out how to navigate there. If you kept ramping that up I would have loved to keep playing. Even with very basic art I could feel that sense of exploration evoking something in me. The steering was fun too, I would have enjoyed some dangerous obstacles along the way. 

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

I agree 100%, the balancing part should be reworked, and the navigation/control part expanded on.

First thing I'm changing if the balancing, it being annoying and feeling unfair is a common complaint.  I plan to make the boat even more wobbly (so your weight will be more apparent), but lowering its centre of gravity so that it is much harder to tip over.

Steering can easily be made more interesting (more obstacles, canals, whirlpools/currents  etc).  I'm considering adding damage to the game, to make the obstacles more dangerous.  Then "repair ship" could be another task for your sailor dude to do on the bote.

The navigation part is my personal favourite, I'm glad I pushed to get that done.  Would like to expand on that as well, at least adding more interesting/difficult levels to it.

Thanks again!

(2 edits) (+1)

Love this game. The sound design is really well done and made the experience really relaxing overall. It would be nice to have some more obstacles or challenges but I guess you ran out of time. I may be slightly biased because I have a boat game too, but this was a really nice experience. I can see this becoming much bigger. Great job :)

Developer

thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

Very engaging game, I loved the cute little boat :) Adding some wind direction and sail tilting mechanic will really bring the simulation home on this one! 

Developer

Thanks! yes that was definitely part of the plan, but something I sadly had to sacrifice due to time constraints :(

Having to tack into the wind and heel when the wind blows at the right angle would be super cool.  Even considering adding trimming of the sails, but that might be a bit much.

Submitted(+1)

Really well done, it was really fun to navigate the bote, felt like I was actually sailing the soundscape worked really well... overall it was very relaxing. Would have liked more interesting objectives, or more challenges along the way, from my view felt like a game that really could give the same experiences as Sid Meier's Pirates! well done and good luck with the Jam :)

Developer

Thanks - yes I agree the voyages could be made a little bit more interesting, perhaps more obstacles, or taking damage when colliding with stuff, etc.  Look forward to trying out your entry

Submitted(+1)

This is really impressive; it feels very realistic, but also pretty easy to understand and interact with. Or well, I'm not sure I completely knew what I was doing, because I couldn't manage to make it to the last, secret island. It just got to a point (pretty early on while the island was still a long ways off) where I would just capsize to the one size despite standing on the edge of the other side (thought probably too late). 

I liked the way you split up the gameplay into voyages to each island, rather than just making it one long thing; it gave me things to aim for, and the checkpoints were lifesavers, since I almost always capsized nearly directly after reaching a new island!

Awesome job with this!

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, I think the difficulty is a bit brutal atm.

Submitted(+1)

Nice mechanisms (and audio)!

The controls are fun. I can imagine this in a competitive scenario where I try to capsize my friend's bote by firing cannon balls at them.

Developer

That is a great idea, i mean once you're on a sailboat on the high seas the next logical step is to add cannons!  Might try to add that soon!

Submitted(+1)

Brilliant design, I love running from side to side managing the tilt of the boat. It's surprisingly effective and it sells the feeling of sailing the high seas. My only wish is that you could tilt the boat just a liiittle more before it capsizes, it felt like it was inevitable at times. Its also quite tricky to read the waves and tell which way the boat will tilt next. Overall wonderful little game, I was able to make it to the final island using all the tools :D 

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback, glad you managed to make it to the final island! Was worried that I may have made it impossible :)

I agree the boat is too top-heavy and that it's  difficult to read the waves.   My first priority will be trying to fix that, since it's a core part of the gameplay.

Looking forward to checking out your submission!