itch.io

I just started working on my first plans for a long term project. The game is a physics-based puzzle game where you have to tilt the level to guide a ball towards a hole, avoiding various obstacles. Right now, I only have a prototype design for the first level.

I'm still figuring out the best control scheme. Trying to decide if it works better to have the player tilt the level around using the keyboard/dpad or with the mouse/joystick.

I also have a world select screen in the works. Each world will have its own theme, unique gameplay elements, and a little diorama that will eventually replace those grey squares.

When it comes to supporting multiple devices, I try to design UI with smaller screens in mind first (in terms of physical size, not resolution. 1920x1080 is a fine base resolution.) Scaling a compact, minimal UI up to desktop size is easier than having to squish a complex scene down onto a phone screen. You want to make sure players can see everything in your game clearly, even on the smallest screen size you plan to support.

There's a button in the DevTools panel on Google Chrome that lets you see how a page looks on different devices. That might help you judge how big to make the room.

Also, since it's a pixel art game, make sure you scale the graphics independently of the screen resolution, or else things will appear smaller on high-dpi screens. How you do this depends on the engine you're using.

I look at generative AI the same as any other kind of tool that an artist can use as part of their workflow. Computers have been automating large parts of the creative process for years, with tools like Photoshop filters, Blender scripts, Substance Designer nodes, etc. Naturally, some programs like these are starting to implement AI-driven plugins. I think using AI tools is perfectly fine as long as they're used as just that - tools. I don't see much value in trying to sell or expect credit for something where an AI has done the majority of the work. That would be like generating some Perlin noise in Photoshop and putting it up on an asset store.

As far as the issue of plagiarism goes, I think it really depends on the individual images. The way people discuss AI, it seems like there's this assumption that if copyrighted artwork is involved in the generation process in any way, then the output necessarily must be considered plagiarism. I don't believe this use of the term is appropriate. The first requirement to claim plagiarism is that the art actually looks like an existing piece of art in the first place. Human artists are influenced by other art all the time (it's impossible not to be) but that alone doesn't make the results of that influence plagiarism. You have to demonstrate that what they made bears meaningful resemblance to another author's work. By "meaningful resemblance" I mean elements that are unique to the original author, and not just "both images are a picture of an apple".

Is AI guilty of this sometimes? Absolutely. As mentioned here before, some models are capable of reproducing artists' signatures, among other things. In these cases I believe it's the responsibility of the user not to use such content in ways that would infringe upon the rights of the persons being imitated.

This is great! I love the minimalist approach to both the function and the presentation.

Took a while to figure out how things work, but there's a lot of interesting interactions between the different mechanics. I like it! Wish it was easier to control which direction the parts are pointing though.

Interesting concept. I would like to see it worked on more. There really needs to be a way to close that text box because it keeps getting in the way of me seeing where I am.

Very nice work. Didn't expect to see a full roguelike game loop in a jam like this. Look and sound is amazing, trying out all the different parts is very fun too. I think the big thing that needs work here is making the jumping physics feel more natural. The player's weight just feels off, and sometimes you drop to the ground a lot faster than you should. The double jump shoes also don't seem to work 100% of the time.

Love it! The changeup of the gameplay at the end was really cool.

The default controls seem a bit awkward to me. Definitely needs an option to remap them, as well as volume options.

Fantastic game! I really liked the idea and the design of the office. I have a few bits of feedback I'd like to share:

• It's very difficult to prioritize tasks because you can't see how much time you have left to complete each task. It's obvious from playing a while that some things are more urgent than others, but there's no way to tell until the mission text turns yellow, and if you aren't already nearby at that point then it's essentially lost.
• The quest markers on the minimap are very helpful, but once a certain number of tasks are active it's hard to tell which markers are for what. It would also be nice to have some sort of indicator in the world itself. Maybe a highlight around the object that you need to interact with?
• Changing the camera angle is disorienting because it's a sudden change. If there was even just a very short animation of the camera rotating to the new angle, it would be easier to use that feature.
• It's very annoying how often NPCs get in your way. One guy decided to stand in the middle of a doorway and trap me inside a room blocking me from doing any of my tasks!

I also noticed some bugs:

• Sometimes the sound for failing to complete a task gets stuck playing over and over.
• The game seems to crash a lot due to running out of memory. There might be a memory leak somewhere? Seems to run fine otherwise though.
• The X buttons on the windows for the virus task don't seem to play nice, I usually have to click them twice to get them to close.

Not sure all the quest solutions made sense, but I liked it! Very nice artwork and sound design. I will say I would prefer a way to interact that isn't based on bumping into things, because I ended up accidentally talking to people quite a lot.

Liked it a lot! I had to spend a while figuring out a strategy that didn't leave all my knights dead without enough money and food to buy more. The music gets a little grating after a while with the lack of other sounds in the game.

I had some issues with the controls, it seems like the direction the player moves doesn't match up with the camera. I also kept getting stuck inside the furniture and unable to move. Overall though, the game is pretty fun and has a nice sense of humor!

A nice little experience, very tranquil. I think you could add a message that pops up when the player has brewed all possible potions.

I like how stacking the same shape multiplies the amount you earn from clicking on it. I would think the line would make more sense as the highest tier shape, since it has the least clickable area. The game could really use some sounds or visual effects for money being generated, that's what really gives clicker games their addictive satisfying feel!

Thanks! I put a lot of effort into making the presentation feel nice. So happy you enjoyed it!