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Very nice game, so charming and love the concept, gameplay, level design, the interpretation of the theme etc. Well done you guys!

I liked it too! I can't find more than one fuse at a time so not sure how to complete it yet, but I have saved it and kept it and will attempt later. I love puzzle games and this is very charming. Also like the scares with the one-tooth monster guy creeping up on you. One thing though: it seems like your defense is a bit unresponsive at times? Or is it because he gets too close? I can't tell where the 'limit' is and sometimes when I think I have enough time to take a snapshot of him he just gets me.

Good job guys!

thank you for playing our game and for your feedback!

Ah yes, now I think I get it. Indeed I ran out of food and starved to death when I played haha.... got so greedy with the missions... greed is good! until hunger kills you...

Yes thank you, this was exactly the double edged sword in this situation...too much content, gameplay mechanics but in the end not enough clarity. Oh well.. tried with a lot of instructions, a gameplay preview video, didn't have time for a more instructional demo map / tutorial or an explanation video. Anyway, lesson learned for GameDev.tv Game Jam 2022!! ;)

Very nice concept, like the strategy theme, though I'm quite rusty in the genre and not very good. There were not too many things to do en route and I guess as the developer said maybe the whole point is to strategize about where to go and what missions to pick...? Anyway, technically it seemed like a sound game, had a resources system, a mission system, you could have crew (I didn't get far though so not sure what they do). So, quite a few gameplay elements there, well done.

What was the exact connection to the theme though, if any?

thank you so much for your kind praise! I really am curious about your opinion. If you had to choose the shape of this game  as a more ‘full’ release, do you think it would be better as more of an action type (like what you experienced; control a character in 3rd person view and fly a spacecraft or other vehicles) or more like a strategy game perhaps with more clicking and instructing pawns to do stuff?) I struggled with deciding what’s best for gameplay...

yes lol, some of it is me making childish sfx. The downfall of this game was too many features, too much going on and too little time to explain to the player what's happening. the preview video kinda helps, and I produced lots of text instructions... but who wants to read that?

Amazing vibes with this one. Very well made. I'm excited to see another Unreal submission (there's so few of us!) and frankly jealous because you guys were a team and I was all alone :( 
amazing what more people can do with the engine.

But I think others may have said this, WHAT WERE YOU GUYS THINKING?! You should have saved this game idea for an Epic jam instead!! Quality is amazing. You say "the first in your career"... are you guys professionals? Or are going to be?  

A small criticism that I have is that for a game jam, where we have to quickly play and rate so many games, this was a bit too difficult and it was taking too long to "reach the end", if there is one! See, at some point, after getting quite lost in the tropical jungle, I realized I had to find some gems and place them in the altar, but only managed to find two and couldn't figure out how many more were left, what I was supposed to be achieving etc. Some more hints as to perhaps why we were gathering me might be nice, or some visual cue as to what they are doing to the altar (are they slowly opening a passage etc.).. otherwise we are clueless. But yes this is good mystery, but combined with the fact that it was just difficult to find what's what in that dark jungle maze and that I - personally - wanted to get through as many games to rate as possible, it just wasn't possible to finish the entire story you guys put for us here. 

Anyway though, very very nice game, you guys did a top job. Out of curiosity, did you do all the art / assets yourselves or what?

Very well executed game, bravissimo! Indeed the only bug I found was that turning on lights didn't drain battery, but also, didn't quite get why turning them on was necessary.... they went out after a short while anyway. I like the concept of mazes that are random etc. And cool mechanic, that you have to shed light into the rooms to see what they have etc. This prototype has some potential!

Haha, quirky and fun. I think it might have been better as a true platformer without the shooting, but anyway, it seemed like a technically good effort, no discernible bugs, and quite simple in its execution. I think what could be improved is the shooting (maybe the mouse only changes the pitch of the gun up or down and doesn't change direction - only facing where the player is facing, the gun pointing backwards at you didn't quite look right).

Hmmm... not a bad idea indeed, the video was slightly more of a showcase of the various elements and design, but something more pointed, maybe with text pop-ups that explain what I'm doing, like "Hey, now I'm killing of infection here" or "can turn this off to do this" etc. I like it

This

Might

Be

The

Best

Game

of

The

Jam

Oh man, this was a fun addictive little game. Very very good effort. It seemed polished, and ran smooth without any  noticeable bugs (at least for me). I say this might be a possible contender for first place. 

It is true that trying to do a twin stick shooter on keyboard is a bit awkward. My only "complaint" was that I couldn't really effectively both navigate and dodge projectiles with WASD and at the same time remember to also point the  mouse and shoot haha. I would suggest perhaps increasing the rate of fire? Felt a bit slower than optimal.

I love how the theme of the jam came across in both the intro/backstory (nice) but also in some of those gold pickups that were bad. Though, small criticism there, unless I'm mistaken, it was quite predictable that they were all duds? 

I was excited when I read 'randomly generated' but not sure exactly how that came across. Very cool idea with the connected rooms and you can get to choose where you go - amazing stuff. But I feel like Metalstorm just probably didn't have time to add more variety and randomness in the rooms (in terms of elements perhaps and hazards) that would have been awesome. I suggest that for the 2.0 iteration of the game. 

Very good job man!

PS. Oh yeah, and mighty impressive that all assets were the developer's... I can never do art, I grab whatever freebies I can get my hands on, so coming up with all that plus the programming, wow

Literally just view my reply to MetalStorm below hahaha... I'm so sorry, yes too much going on and kept adding elements, mechanics and strategy into this but didn't find time to make it more playable and easy to grasp for the player :(

If you read the reply below and have another 5 minutes of your life to waste (lol) give it another go

thank you so much.

I'm annoyed so much because the damage dealt with the bombs was a good splash damage thing (area damage) that was effective against those pesky infections.... but in my update which fixed a LOT of other gameplay bugs, somehow it became harder and different than what I wanted and now it requires far more direct hits, which I admit is very annoying for the player.

Awww dude, thank you so much. I've only submitted a couple of game jams before, but I don't remember anyone ever streaming my game before haha. Thank you thank you.

Yeah, I had lots going on in that game, which is probably its downfall at the same time. Didn't have time to put it better together and teach the player what's going on. 

Basically, you have to kill off those parasites that you attempted as well; either way you can, boots on the ground style with your little gun or using your little spacecraft (drop bombs are the way to go otherwise with the front gun you really have to go low). What happens though is... (it's in the instructions!) if by the time you go tackle the infection the ore travels through the pipeline and into the buildings that use it, then the buildings get 'infected' and misbehave. You were targeted by your own SAM defense system if you noticed. Meteors do not get efficiently eliminated either, that's why you eventually lose if your defense towers keep getting infected purple ore (the explosive stuff they allegedly use to make their rockets). If the power plants get infected, then their power disconnects, which is even worse. You shipped some gold I noticed, but you must have had an infected gold mine as well, because you also shipped a bit of parasite as well. I think one major thing that I didn't have time to figure out is how to tell and educate the player that the buildings are also in trouble after a while, and they should be noticing those repercussions. 

One other thing you can do is 'flush' the pipelines by toggling them on / off which instantly clears the infection in them and in the building (but NOT necessarily in the mine site itself). That may buy you some time (you can do this before or during your fight against the parasite so you could be strategic about it). There was also an emergency launch option to ship the last bit of gold if you wanted before imminent doom etc. 

haha... there's  ALOT going on, I admit. 50% or more of the features and mechanics I literally added the last couple days or so. I had picked up some pace by then but probably should have focus more on playability perhaps and difficulty level. 

I'm SO happy you also took the spacecraft against the meteors, wasn't sure if people would attempt that! And you were taking them out both with the front gun and the bombs, that was awesome. That's another way to buy you some time and protect your base. 

ALSO! Thank you, for pointing a bug; I must not have correctly implemented the control for the left stick... so I'll try and upload a bug fix for that

Oh, nooooooo! FFS! I love these types of puzzles, that was awesome! I now feel dumb for not getting it.  I should have perhaps paid attention, but as you can imagine, when we are playing a game with the gold thme, and we are looking out for chest with gold that won't kill us, it was easy to miss the  torch clue ;) But probably I'm just the one idiot that missed this haha. Advice: in situations like this maybe give the player (or rather force them) an excuse/reason or incentive to pay attention to one of these torches at least once, so that they get a bit suspicious. Or maybe make a very short version of a puzzle obvious and easy to  teach us (but that would also spoil the mystery and surprise in the real one). Anyway, no criticism there because we only had 2 weeks so I get it if things like that could not be perfect. ;)

Yes thanks, very good stuff. I don't disagree with your movement choices. But personally, I didn't see  or feel if and how the wall was going faster. Remember some times the wall is off screen so we can't immediately see it change speed. But that's indeed the right idea and a good alternative option if you don't want to alter player's movement. Perhaps with music (that speeds up!) the messaging to the player will be clearer. I hope you make a prototype of this game in the future, good luck with it if so.

Ah shame then... maybe I missed it. Probably did. Great thinking then

Ha! The joke is on us, for trying to find a golden door, when the theme of the jam is what it is!!! Not clear however how we escape, if you ever allow us to escape? Impressive maze! I like that we spawn in different locations each time, (or is it a randomly / procedurally generated maze system? I'd be mighty impressed...)

[pause to play game again]

I was about to give you a lower rating, because I felt like the mechanic was a bit bland, as you only just walk around avoiding zombies in the maze... BUT, as I was trying to suggest that the traps should kill zombies, I was like: "Wait, did I actually try this?! NO!!!" haha, so I went back and tried it and it works. Somehow I missed the clue lol, that these traps are so easy to trigger, so there is no reason for you to do so, unless... it's for killing the brainless zombies haha. Well done. I still though couldn't figure out how else I could get out, but now I love the concept of trying to run around and trip up the zombies so you can survive long enough to escape. Maybe the difficult curve there needs a bit of tweaking because I played in normal and still couldn't get far. 

you have an issue with your SFX because the volume is incredibly low and had to crank up my speakers to hear a faint footstep.... Some music would definitely be nice, but I don't blame you, I didn't put music in my game either; no time. 

Good job, I like to see what others make with Unreal because I use it too. 

This is a great little platformer, and has the potential of being a cult hit, sort of like Shovel Knight style. I love the concept. The gameplay mechanic potential etc. The movement needs a bit of fine tuning and work, but it's on the right track. You definitely need to actually implement 'lives' so that you don't have to restart from the very beginning after one failure? Unless this was intentional so that the player masters the entire level and finishes it unhurt...? 

Also, the messages when you get the new abilities are confusing, because you can see them BEFORE you get the chest haha! Maybe a 'dramatic pause', a tada sound when you get the ability would have helped to notice it immediately. Unfortunately I didn't find it useful enough to drop my coins, but I can tell this spin is a great idea, I've always told people in this jam with similar ideas, that maybe you just slow the player down, so make it an interesting trade-off decision for the player: you want more coins, fine, but you're slow, otherwise be fast and go away with nothing. 

Sadly as others noted, no music in this game, but I don't fault the team. I had no time to put any music in my game either, but at least I had some SFX.. would have liked to see (or rather hear!) some audio in this one. 

Mixed feelings here... this game and the concept in general is FUN! But unfortunately quite buggy. I tried 5-6 times (that's a lot compared to other games) but the thing that ruined it for me, is that the game loop is busted. You can't restart the game after losing, the retry / continue buttons don't work, even if you try getaway. I had to close and start the game from scratch. Also... might want to explain what a "tumbler" is  to us non-burglar types haha. I couldn't tell what I was doing wrong exactly. The keyboard presses are not as delicate to do a good job. But after managing a store lock, the case lock inside triggered the alarm immediately, I didn't even do anything. 

This can be a super fun game, and in fact, a great multiplayer game, where you play with a teammate accomplice and you have to coordinate delicate moves, or perhaps another entire team of players are the cops etc. I liked a LOT about this game, but unfortunately a bit buggy, and perhaps the difficulty level with how delicate those lockpick moves are could be toned down. I would suggest fixing the game loop bug and I'd happily try it again.

Yes, very interesting level design, sad that developers didn't have time to finish. I think this was going to be some sci-fi mystery/puzzle type game? Huge fan of the genre. Keep working on it. As mentioned, several bugs are there around the interactions stuff and mesh collisions etc. But I'm sure they can get worked around. This could be a good game project, so keep at it!

I thought the music choice was funny.  I think this was an amazing effort for someone who wanted to practice newly developed skills. I liked the enemy NPCs, not sure if you created them or assets were externally sourced for free? Anyway, this has the beginnings of a fun little shooter and I'm sure in time you can improve on it. Though, a bit disappointed that I didn't see an effort to link to the jam's theme somehow. 

Damnit! I need to find someone to play this with!! I really want to try this game. Sounds so interesting, and kudos to you guys for doing a multiplayer game. A brave choice. You should win a separate category just for that choice. But your bravery may also be your curse ;D don't know how many people can try your game. Is it playable with 1P only...?

Allow me to offer a personal view, and the hosts can consider it as they sit fit.

I think this game jam has been great, this year and last year. For next time, I would like to see that there is an extra voting category based on the game's take on the theme. I think (nearly) all other game jams have that. It should be noted, highlighted, emphasized and reminded each time, that strict adherence to the theme is never a 'requirement' per se, this is a relaxed game jam and it's fun and should stay that way. But I personally felt limited when I wanted to reward some submissions with some extra 'voting praise' because they did such a good job interpreting the theme (in a literal or very metaphorical, and sometimes in a hilarious and very enjoyable/unpredictable way) in contrast to others whose approach was a bit 'lazier' or non-existent. Which is totally fine, their right etc. no judgements there, but like I said, I would have liked to praise those that put some effort. 

Take this suggestion as you will ;)

Ok, haha I managed to clear the jump. Not sure what I was doing wrong before. it helps pressing down spacebar for longer I think. 

I like the gameplay idea, I thought the use of the lamp as a gameplay mechanic was great idea to identify 'true' gold. I wish there was a voting category for the theme, because I wanted to reward games like yours more than others. 

My constructive feedback is still that you definitely need to work on the sensitivity on the mouse movement, not sure why it's sooooo sensitive. It makes it rather hard to enjoy in my case I'm afraid. You put in a lot of good effort in level design as well which I loved, but couldn't really get far and play more because frankly I was getting a bit dizzy haha ;D

Also, I know others liked it, but it's totally a personal preference, so not a huge fan of the pixelated look so much. It made identifying the real gold from the fake a bit more difficult (couldn't figure out all the time what particles are 'dense' or not), but my biggest concern was that I honestly couldn't read the text on the walls! I had to go up against them, and walk from left to right reading a few words at a time. I think if you made it slightly more detailed (not much) it might have been a bit better, otherwise it's slightly too 'blocky'. But personal preference.

Good little game, though, very nice effort, well done!

If clearing challenging jumps is not really the core theme of your gameplay, I would suggest maybe providing an updated version to make it a bit easier in the beginning, just to not put players off (like idiot me haha). You can increase the difficulty later...

Alright I may try again but no promises... dozens of games to rate still!!!

I agree, for a beginner this was a great feat.

I have no reason to not believe you, so I am very impressed you achieved this in 2 weeks, especially if you just started with a game engine you don't know.  I meant no offense of course. 

I don't think there was a rule that said the theme "was not necessary", but yes regardless, I think this is a more relaxed jam anyways, nobody really cares, and the general idea (with this and actually more serious game jams) is that you can 'interpret' the theme however you like. There is no right or wrong way, ever! ;)  All I was trying to say is that I didn't even see  an effort of some interpretation and I was just left wondering, maybe I missed a clue... 

You can definitely improve the game (either during this jam or if you feel like doing more with the project afterwards) by actually linking that revenge/greed to the gameplay. Maybe it was there, and I didn't notice it... but the more gold you find the more the AI can actually find you and chase you? So you'd have to be smart strategic about it, like maybe after some gold findings you go and stash it somewhere safe in your pirate base or something, and come out again to hunt for more gold. But the more you get, a) maybe your boat is slower! (haha) and b) more enemy ships chase you.

But anyways, super fun regardless, I know we didn't have time to put all of our excellent ideas in our games ;)

Also, your English is just fine! ;)

No worries. Yes, in my game you had to go to the infected mines (the bug fix version has the mini map that shows you where to go), and shoot some giant virus alien Covid balls - ha ha - and kill the infection. While infected, the mines "feed" infected minerals to the buildings and they don't operate well etc. Also gold gets infected and you cannot ship too much infection back to Earth etc. I admit there is a LOT going on in my game and it's hard to get it all quickly. So if you haven't played the updated version already and want to give it another shot, maybe this time it'll be better.

Regarding your game, yes no worries about the theme. It was still nice gameplay. All I meant is, if you wanted to be more 'faithful' to the theme, and show the theme more (even if you didn't take it literally - that's totally fine!) you could have some how "linked" the gameplay a bit. I understand the backstory... but maybe ... I don't know, you have to go in and actually find and save some imprisoned kids or something that are 'hypnotized' by smart phones and can't leave the building haha. Or something like that. Or or! you're chased by giant smart phones, that everyone thought was a good idea, but guess what: "not all that glistens is gold" ha ha. You know what I mean? Otherwise your theme interpretation (which is totally valid by the way) remains in the very background in your backstory before we play the game, and then we don't really see it, that's all ;)

Thanks for playing! Yes I admit, there's a lot going on and it's not most obvious initially. If I had time I would have done a smaller more manageable tutorial map with more UI prompts and messaging explaining things! ;)

Nice game, simple. I think you could have done a little bit more to connect it to the theme more properly. I think you were going for portraying the trade-off between gold and safety but somehow it didn't quite show as much it felt. Mining for Silver instead, was probably not the answer. It could have been something like, an extra incentive if you mine the maximum gold you can, but there is a clock ticking before the mine collapses? So you decide, what do you do? is it worth getting the gold? Also maybe throw a spin in there, maybe you risked everything to get gold, but it ends up being fools gold. 

Anyway, obviously we all didn't have enough time to think of everything, but still this game was well crafted I thought, no major bugs etc, good mechanics too. 

Yup, critical bug with ball speeding out of the screen and also no way to safely quit the game if you want to.

Yes, good implementation of the classic brick breaker, but.... how does it fit the theme? Would have liked to see a connection to theme somehow, otherwise, and even though this was technically speaking a good achievement for two weeks, this is just a copycat of a well known game?

haha, this was fun. 

A couple of comments:

• The crosshairs for our aiming should definitely be LARGER! With all what's going on in the screen it's too hard to see where we are aiming
• The difficulty curve is a bit steep, too many robo-balls spawn too quickly I feel like straight away
• Also a bit unfair that they spawn randomly near you and can kill you right away. They should spawn off screen or near the edge to simulate the effect of being alerted to your presence and coming to get you (from somewhere else - we don't care)
• I agree with the comment about the 'vanishing' wall pieces so we can still see the character. I kept thinking I'm opening a door I'm supposed to walk through
• Also... LOL I know everyone is supposed to interpret the theme freely as they see fit, but still... the adherence to the theme I felt was quite 'weak'

But anyway, good effort, I'm also a UE4 user and it was enjoyable to see what others could come up with using it!

I can't even get across the first gap where the instructions are... what am I missing? Game is not playable for me at this stage :(

I like the pixelated style, but perhaps not so suitable for FPS because everything looks really blurry. The instructions on the walls are barely readable. Also... I would tone down the sensitivity of the mouse look (I admit I didn't check if there is a setting) because the look action is too fast and combined with the pixelated blurriness, it wasn't as pleasant.

But I don't want to give an unfair rating here, how do I move on past the first jump in the beginning? I want to start digging! :D