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A jam submission

VIVIDLOPEView game page

interdimensional wall painting simulator
Submitted by Jaklub (@jaklub_) — 2 days, 23 hours before the deadline
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VIVIDLOPE's itch.io page

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

This game is just awesome. 

It definitely feels like a dreamcast-era game. It took me a bit to get the hang of it but it's very rewarding. 

The perspective can be a little disorienting at times. A pause feature that lets you look around the level a bit might be a good idea. Some of the areas I entered bonus time and had no idea where to even go. 

The music and visuals are top notch. The whomp-like enemies might want to be a little bigger(or maybe just their shadow?) and closer to the ground so that it's easier to see them. 

Absolutely charming. Glad I got to try it out!

Developer

thanks for playing! in case if you haven't tried that, if you play on the gamepad or rebind the keyboard in options, you can click the right stick and use it to rotate the level around to a limited degree, it helps with orienting yourself during the bonus phase.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

This is an incredibly well polished game, you'll make a lot of money.

Maybe it plays better with a controller, but I found it a little annoying I couldn't select stuff in the menus with A or D. It broke the game flow for me every time.

I can see it being really fun once you master it, but it's really fast to start with and hard to precisely jump like I want to, would be interesting if you implemented a slowed time mode just to relax it a bit. Would be an easy difficulty implementation imo.

Footstep sounds got a little annoying, maybe different sounds per level could be fun, it'd be easy to make each level feel a little more distinct with color and texture changes, don't be afraid to evolve the style a bit and stretch it in new directions.

I found the level endings opaque; why do they seem to end randomly? I want to fill in the entire board, let me do it, my OCD is begging you.

I was also never able to clear a stage without an enemy getting me once. Probably just a skill issue because I've never played it, but I found them very aggressive in the first few stages. It'd be nice to have a chill mode without enemies too because I'd legit just try to fill the board without repeat tiles as a challenge puzzle. You also don't make it clear in the tutorial that stepping on already cleared tiles will lower your stats, you only mention it in regards to the bonus mode.

Developer

thanks for the feedback! footstep sounds can be disabled or changed in audio options. stepping on already cleared tiles doesn't lower the power by itself, just not marking new ones does - you can make little detours to dodge enemies, quickly get back on track and lose little to none power in process if you're nimble enough.

Submitted(+1)

Really cool game. It feels like something you would first find at an Arcade or a fifth generation home console, in other words, it feels professionally made. Great job. 

For the love of shit, get some SOUND in this game!!

When moving through menu options, the selected menu option changes too fast, I try to go to the next option in the menu and I get the one two options down.

Fun as always, though a bit more frustrating than I remember. Maybe not in a bad way, but I think some sound would help because I would hear the stars coming.

Developer

thanks for playing, idk how that happened but i think you played the oldest demo from a year ago, that one had no sound and had stages with stars

(+1)

Ok yeah I couldn't get the latest thru the itch.io app, I had to use my browser.

This game is crazy good! I struggle to think of any criticism. The only thing I can think... is probably something you can do nothing about because it's how the game is. But I felt like the best strategy was to just run in a line, go one space over, run in a line, so I'd paint the whole area. But that started to feel sort of boring. Maybe I need harder levels where I'm forced off my path more?

Missing MF.dll and MFPlat.dll

Has the same issue with Shipwreck game, so it might be something on my end. What are you using to build this?

Developer

gamemaker:studio2, from a quick search it appears it might be a windows n edition issue. maybe check this page out, let me know if any of this helps.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/63tw0j/windows_10_pro_n_mfplatdll_missing...

(+2)

Ok great, that was the problem. I had Windows N (to avoid a lot of the MS cruft). Here is the instructions that actually fixed the problem for me:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/media-feature-pack-for-windows-10-n-...

Might want to hold onto that in case others have the issue, because it took some digging in the MS cesspit to find the right answer. Anyway, here is my thoughts as I play through the game:

  • Style is excellent. Feels like discovering some sort of obscure PS1 gem.
  • Tutorial text moves way too fast. It explains something, so I try and look at the screen to take it in and get my bearings. At which time its already moved onto the next chunk of text. I'd make it so that the tutorial text only goes to the next segment when people click. Or better yet, when they prove they understand the concept being presented by executing it. I know making an interactive tutorial might be too much work, but it's something to consider.
  • I was a little unclear if the "targets" on the ground were good or bad. I assumed they were bad, but then when something fell on my and hit me, it looked like I got a power up.

Anyway, I really fucking stink at these sort of games hahaha. It was fun, I'm gonna send it to some of my friends who are really into this sort of thing.

(+1)

It felt like i played some cool n64 game, love the musics and the pace of the game even though that's not the kind i would usually play

Submitted(+1)

This will largely be nitpicks, because the game seems done and polishing is the only thing left.
- thanks for zipping it properly
- the "work in progress" screen feels like an insult to all the other submissions here with the state of the game that this is in
-  always support WASD, even if the intended way is to play with a controller (you're already accepting space instead of enter)
- if the intended way to play is with a controller (suggested by the pre-start cutscene), then say it explicitly, so that  I don't bother with the keyboard first
- you have an option for the "step sound", make the sound when I toggle it, so I know what is being switched to
- music is early gran turismo
- at the end of a level, show "next level" as the default option above level select
- the realistic backgrounds seem out of place if you focus on them
- not sure about this, but consider highlighting the target tile (option?) when you are about to do a 3D fall down
- the colors of the stage seem to hold no meaning (?) could be nice to be able to select what color to paint them if that's the case
- death seems like a heavy punishment that spikes instantly and you feel like shit, it would be nice to have a warning sign (say a yellow triangle) on all the dangers when you are 1 tile away from them to emphasise the danger, especially the tiny patrol spheres, which don't seem threatening at all other than for their color

Overall good job, feels like a AA PS2 game. Even thought it's not my type of thing with how "simple" it is, it has no real roadblocks that would have easily excuse dropping the game early. PGDG awaits.

Developer

thanks for the feedback. WASD is supported,  just need to remap the controls in the menu and the step sounds can be played by selecting the option. perhaps the latter would be better as automatic on switch.

Submitted(+1)

Surprised you even posted this. it’s so large and finished-looking that you should wrap a bow on it and sell it. the only real advice I can offer is in the form of scoring

I think for casual and even advanced players, the scoring system as-is works great. but I have this urge to tile the entire grid without stepping on a tile twice. I think having a P+ rating for such clears with some kind of subtle indicator that you’ve failed the P+ requirement (no stepping on the same tile twice the entire game) would perfect your scoring system

Developer

thanks. i decided against special rewards for literal perfect play, since it's damn hard and i'm not even sure if it's possible to pull off in some of the late-game stages. idk if i'm gonna go back on that one, if i end up doing that the reward probably won't affect the rank.

Submitted

not talking about some sort of special reward, literally just a barely-detectable indicator that you didn’t play literally perfectly, possibly unlocked after getting P on every single stage already. P+ just seemed to me like the natural conclusion but I can see why you wouldn’t want something that overt. maybe just an extra unexplained sparkle on your P rank would be enough. You make good points against it.

Submitted(+1)

game's very well presented, but I'd say there's a bit of frustration here. maybe just because I'm bad and git hit too much, who knows. I do like the level -> bonus mode thing, where you get more kudos for 100%-ing the level, that's a good as heck idea. and again there's just so much polish it's really good

Developer

thanks for playing. as i mentioned in another reply, this might be a thing with some players misinterpreting the result of stepping on a tile twice and being too afraid to step off the beaten path - it's a thing i need to investigate.

Submitted

oh nah I understand perfectly that you're allowed to re-tread the same ground in the first phase of the game

Submitted(+1)

This game is far more polished than I was expecting. It's fast, fun, and has some sweet music. I'm surprised I hadn't played it before.

(+1)

Tried a few levels. Wonderfully polished, but the gameplay is frustrating. It's compelling enough to try to find the optimal route through each level, or to cover everything while avoiding enemies and collecting the cherries, or to do it all at my own pace... but the combination of the need to keep moving, the enemies that always catch me off guard, and the need to avoid stepping on a space twice is just too much for me. I feel like the fast-paced nature of the action might be incompatible with the slow-paced nature of the puzzle. Or maybe it's just that I can never take a break to think.

Developer

thanks for playing. while staying on the move and getting the trinkets and such is rewarded with higher end-stage ranks, the only thing strictly required to progress is painting the target % of tiles without getting a game over. stepping on a tile twice outside of the bonus phase also isn't punished in any of the demo's stages, so stepping off the perfect path to nab an item or dodge enemies is very often fine even if you want to keep the power high - perhaps this is something that needs to be better communicated. i will be looking into this.

Submitted(+1)

This is my first time giving Vividlope a shot after seeing you in both aggy and /v/ threads for a long time now and I can safely say you'll make bank off this. It's great, really great! One of my DD favorites for sure - especially the music. The default track that plays during gameplay is stellar, some 90s to early 00s relaxing jungle inspired mood. I muted my own music (which I rarely do) to listen to it. Excellent work.

 I seriously can't think of any meaningful constructive criticism, so keep doing whatever you're doing. Everything I'll list will be nitpicks or small ideas, but I think perhaps one or two would be of use

So:

>I'd change the backgrounds. While I recognized a few (NYC skyline), I don't think they fit the aesthetic. I'd go for more abstract visuals, or some fantasy locations instead of what you have now. Really depends on what you're going for, I guess

>Some hints are ordered weirdly (randomly chosen at the start of levels?) 5 or 6 stages in, I get a hint about what the targets mean on the playing stage (red -> baddies show up, blue -> reward). I already learned this myself after stage 2, so it felt weird to have this now. The one afterwards, though, was telling me I could jump diagonally - I had NO idea I could do this and it would've helped a lot to know before, since I'd fuck up the bonus round every time because of poorly aimed jumps.

>Enter/Space to quickly end or speed up the hurt animation? They're good but if I feel like I'm in the zone or something, I want to go NOW

Otherwise you're set. Remember us lil' guys when you make it big

Developer

thanks for playing. though a chunk of the game's backgrounds will remain photo-based, i do agree some of the backgrounds (in and outside of the demo) need spit polish to be sleeker and a few could use bigger changes or a more abstract take.

i am aware there are some things due reshuffling (the damaging cross tiles gave people a lot of trouble in particular), but this is something i haven't yet rearranged before getting this build out. definitely will consider moving the diagonal jump hint earlier, lose animation speedup is also on the list.