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A jam submission

Lunar Swimming - XKCD Game JamView game page

Submitted by DennisMac — 1 day, 4 hours before the deadline
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Lunar Swimming - XKCD Game Jam's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun#133.6963.696
xkcd-ness (how well it matches/interprets the comic)#134.3914.391
Innovation#163.6523.652
Overall#223.4783.478
Visuals#343.1743.174
Audio#352.6522.652

Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Link to xkcd comic / 'what if' article the game is based on
https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/

Please list any pre-made art/music/other assets that you used.
Splash sounds are mutated versions of: "Water Swirl, Small, 12.wav" by InspectorJ of Freesound.org
Level-Up created with Bfxr

Team size

1

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Comments

Submitted

I think this concept has a lot of potential. I like the loose Octodad-esque physics as they make it fun in a casual setting and they're easy to pick up. The visuals are well done and in line with the XKCD aesthetic, although some differentiation between which objects were solid or not would have been nice.

The biggest thing holding this game back is the seemingly arbitrary abilities and progression. I couldn't figure out what the abilities did or if they were having any impact at all on gameplay. I similarly was puzzled on how my airtime or flips were adding to the progress/XP bar. Actions should have feedback, so there should be feedback for the actions you want the player to take. You have a good start to this with the level up sound effect and the "FLIP!" text, but I think you could still improve in this area. Here are a few things that I would add:

  • A text popup that lets the player know if they've beaten their longest airtime, similar to the "FLIP!" text
  • A text popup showing how much XP/progress an action has given
  • A tooltip or text description of what each powerup does. I like that they're there, but it doesn't help if I don't know what they do.

All things considered, this is a good start with a lot of room for growth. I look forward to seeing where you take this if you have more than 48 hours to work on it.

Submitted(+1)

Very cool physics on display in this one! One thing that wasn't as fun was having the airtime be stopped when you hit obstacles, as it makes the fun ramps and spinning platforms in the second level less desirable to play around with. 

Developer

Good point about the airtime. Will keep in mind if I continue with it. Thanks for playing.

(3 edits) (+1)

This is an interesting one!  The physics are fun to mess around with; I really liked trying to make flips and big jumps.  Especially when you get to the level with the flippers and bubbles--zooming around that pool is a real blast.  I also like how you get exp with air time and "level up" throughout the game.  And being able to infinitely level up your acceleration time meter is a nice reward, since going through the game at high speeds is really fun. :) (I stopped at x7, btw)

However, I do have a few complaints.  The original 1x speed is quite slow; I pretty much immediately played on 2x, and increased my speed when I got the 4th level up.  

Also, the sound effects could be better.  The "level up" sfx sound likes an alert meter.  And the diving sound gets very repetitive if you play sped up.

Finally, there is no reason for there to be diving boards and slides in this game!  I know you want to make it look like a pool, but the player can't even use them, and the diving boards stopped me quite a few times from making an awesome jump.  Either take them out, or relegate them to the background, or perhaps implement them after the jam?  It would be fun to use a diving board on the moon.  Also, would really like to see a "best jump time" somewhere on the screen.

All in all, a fun little game.  Thanks for making it. :)

Developer

All good points. Thanks for playing.

Submitted(+1)

The game started off a bit slow, but after I got the flippers I had a ton of fun zooming around!

Developer

Glad to hear you had fun. I know it starts off a bit slow but I wanted it to match the article so the beginning is supposed to be normal folks and then progresses through  the levels it suggests, then gets downright unrealistc.

Thanks for playing.

Submitted(+1)

This was really fun to mess around with; a good game by all merits.

A few small things though:

  1. The switch to a new pool was a bit jarring
  2. I would have swapped the final two upgrades; being moved to the new pool seems like a last level thing
  3. I really, really wish I could climb ladders
Developer(+1)

I really wanted the ladders and boards to be part of it, but limited time. Thanks for playing.

(+1)

Hey enjoyed your game the physics were preetty realistic but I wish you unlock the time speed at the beginning or at least sped up movement initially. The rag doll was enjoyable and it matched the comic well. Good Job

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks.

BTW, probably too late now, but you can cheat by clicking the XP bar. 

Thanks Lemme Try again this time with timeslow then!

Dude 2x speed is PERFECT. Since you have a little bit of time I HIGHLY recommend editing to make the game start at 2x it is a MUCH better experience that way IMO. Anyway one thing I do want to mention is I'm doing a review of design on the games in this jam so here's a shameless plug to my channel if you want to be notified of the vid when released: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Vj46GGL9VMUvd4YTMtjXg

Hey took my advice I'm honored iz pretty great now!

My XKCD game jam analysis is out!