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Murder Of Crows (PS Jam 16)'s itch.io pageJudge feedback
Judge feedback is anonymous.
- Let me put the most important thing first, you guys did a good job, this was fun to play. The art is adorable, and the music goes well with the intense situation of having to constantly dodge everything. The fact that every enemy has a different move set makes it so you have some good variety, even in such a small space with such few enemies. The ferret is just so good. Both the art and its mechanics were great! I had some issues with the screen size, which by itself is fine specially for a jam. But I'm not sure if it was related to that, my deaths were very inconsistent. Reaching 0 hp most of the time would not make me die, only around the time I had ~200 points that the game would actually register a new attack as killing me. The stamina seemed to be regenerating at a crazy slow speed, only charging enough for a single dash by the time ~200 points were reached, so it felt weird knowing the skill was there but not being able to count on it since it was so infrequent. Overall I like the GDD, it encapsulates most of the important areas, but there are some things I'd suggest to put more time into to make it better, as well as some insight into the importance of a good GDD. Remember that the GDD is not a task that has to be done before or after the development, it is an important first step of development itself. Other than being part of this jam's submission, the reason why it's important to create a solid GDD is because there is a lot of value during making a game to have a clear reference of goals, inspirations, what are you trying to achieve, mechanics and interactions. Especially when in a team, it makes communication easier, reduces doubt, and makes for less reiterations needed. For your game, it would have been great to see the enemies patterns described in the GDD, especially since they play such a significant role in the gameplay, as well as some games that inspired the idea, to better understand the type of game you guys were trying to make. And watch out for Lorem ipsum leftovers XD Great job, keep it up!
Link to your Game Design Doc on Google Drive.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jX-B4ZQZrmfWVVQfUqKfGAulCXAsG7UpQi_eHtFptPA/edit?usp=sharing
Have you checked that your GDD is publicly accessible ?
Yeah
Is your game set to public on itch.io so we can see it?
Yes. That was really annoying last jam.
Summarise your game!
2D arcade pixel art of a bird avoiding other birds!
Dashing through them destroys them (hence you are the weapon).
Upgrades every 250pts for roguelike-type feel.
Enemies scale slightly over time.
Healing items to balance game.
Please explain how your game fits the theme:
Dash through enemies
YOU ARE THE WEAPON
Is there anything you'd like the judges to pay particular attention to?
Have fun and be honest.
Ignore my inability to correct screen size.
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Comments
Very cute game. I like how all the enemies are birds (with the exception of the ferret). The big bird and the ferret can be quite hard to avoid (especially the ferret) due to the way they track the player down. But the dash ability really helps!
It did also feel like the amount of damage enemies deal on you ramps up very quickly. I was taking a lot more damage in the 2nd stage.
Speaking of the 2nd stage, I like that the scenery actually changes from stage to stage. It's a very nice touch. This was nice, and I hope to see you next jam. Keep making stuff!
Using top-down style movement to simulate flying (but with more control than typical flying in games) was a really nice choice. I never felt like it was unfair, my deaths were all my own fault. The sprites are really cute, especially the big fat crow and the ferret thing, but the pixel sizes were sometimes a bit mismatched lol. It's a really cute entry anyway, though. Good job!
Good that some of the balancing worked then.
I had people tell me it was too easy then too hard. xd
I only have CJ and Emma White to thank for those sprites.
They are the best and me patching in missing sprites caused them mismatched pixels unfortunately.
Glad you liked the game!
Nice little simple arcade game for the old time's sake. Enjoyed it. I'd say the game would definitely benefit from a timer that gives some tension and aim to the player. Makes them long for the upgrade after each session. Also spawning the small crows directly/near the playable area feels a bit unfair but at least its still manageable.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
Yeah it doesn't feel obvious enough, but the upgrades are points based (rn at 250 per upgrade)
Messing around with the spawn positions also sounds like a good shout (although I'm done with the game for now)
Great advice and glad you played!
Fun little arcade game. Reminds me a little bit of an NES game. Pretty sure I found a bug. I was able to deplete my health and then just keep living for another minute or so before touching something and perishing! Could def use some consistency on some of the art styles I think. But overall that's a nitpick. The Ferret was my favorite.
I thought I had replied, sorry!
Yeah this bug was picked up last minute by my friend and tbh idk what causes it. I might have a tinker just to find out what it is so I know.
As for consistency I had to fill some gaps to the art so that's why.
NES is a massive compliment for my first jam up - cheers!
Thank you for playing!