Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(2 edits) (+1)

Wow! Another wow! Skyglow is an absolutely amazing little game, and you should all be incredibly proud of what you've achieved! Picking a more niche topic was a great choice that makes the game stand out and the message more impactful, and the way you've handled it is so great—focusing on three animals affected; having a journal with more information, practical solutions, and case studies; placing collected stars onto a map. The main platforming gameplay is a cute way to connect all these elements (Thalia is beautifully sculpted and her animations are all adorable!) and surprisingly fleshed out. I was already impressed when I was jumping around at the start, and then I found out I could run, and then that I could climb! Seriously impressive in the timeframe of the jam. 

Visuals! Huge pats on the back for everyone involved with this. All of the character models are gorgeous and full of character and I personally love the 3D characters and platforms against 2D backgrounds (which are also excellently done). All the other artistic choices complete the overall aesthetic, from the different interfaces down to the font. The sound design also compliments it, and I really love the sound effects for talking to the other characters. It'd be great to see you update the itchio page to have more of this; the background is really lovely, but a custom banner and some promo images and a video would really elevate it. If you do a full release, getting permission from itchio to change the page css would be a great idea. 

Overall I'm impressed with how well-developed it already is (especially with the issues you mention of a last-minute camera angle change and github issues almost causing deletion!), and I really hope you do make the polishing touches! In an effort to help, here's the potential areas for bugfixing that I spotted while playing:

  • You warn of lag in the disclaimer. The main lag spikes for me were upon first entering the observatory, and then every time I stood on a daisy specifically
  • I fell down a gap to the right of Motholemew, and when I approached the base of the lantern while looking for a way up, it displayed "press e to interact", event though I'd already collected the (purple) star from it. This reset my spawn to the bottom of this gap, so I had to restart (this was before the prompt about climbing, but I'm not sure the objects either side of the gap were climbable anyway)
  • Some buttons need their borders remapping: when placing the collected stars on the star map for the first time, one star was too close to the "close" button and thus trying to move it just closed the page, while clicking the top half of the notebook opens the menu instead of the notebook. Also, the back button of the notepad didn't work
  • Check places where dialogue is four lines long and try and split it to fit in the text boxes better; places I noticed this are Shellie's second line of dialogue and as Thalia is talking to the mayor
  • Stars seem to be able to snap onto constellation points that are already occupied by another star, making both of them unclickable 
  • The first time I played through it didn't go back to the start menu after the credits

I don't think any of these bugs I experienced detracts from your achievement, and while I'm not finished playing through everything, I suspect this will remain one of my favourites of the jam!

EDIT: I've been told to add a sentence specifically praising the climbing animation for being the cutest, and being very fun to do while running around.