I honestly can't really get this game. The physics are really, really weird. You kinda get used to them, but they seem very different from pretty much every other platformer game. Some levels are fine and teach you the mechanics well enough, some are just pure pain. Especially the starting one, where your momentum gets murdered by a hitting a ceiling slope.
Also in terms of tutorials - the camera is very, very weird and the text is barely readable. Camera movement gets you very close to being dizzy, but doesn't cross that threshold, so that's a plus.
I think a more gradual tutorial, one mechanic at a time, would do wonders - because right now the levels seem kinda out of order (the order of switching levels with directional keys, I haven't completed too many). Also the 45 degree angled slopes do not help with understanding the physics.
The physics do seem weird at first, the ceiling killing your momentum is purposeful since you're hitting the ceiling with backspin. Its a physics simulation and sometimes physics are counter-intuitive.
For the stuff I do want to fix, how do you suggest i deal with the camera? should I remove the slight zoom out when you speed up? I am teetering on that already.
As for the tutorial, I got a lot of feedback on that, and I plan do do a few more shorter advanced tutorials on momentum before hitting the ice, such as a safer and more easily repeatable jump to teach about killing your backspin before hitting a ceiling. I also plan on changing how the tutorial text is displayed by means of an interactive sign that shows a big text bubble instead.
I didn't know about the spinning, and never figured it out, so I guess it's not obvious. I might've understood it if I could see, but I didn't.
>how do you suggest i deal with the camera
I don't think zooming's bad in general, but the pixels act weird when you zoom in and out, and it's really noticeable, even more so when you have text - it affects text on the level a lot. That's what made it noticeable and not pleasant to the eyes. Maybe it's a problem with the shader - it seems to me like you're trying to rescale the drawn scene to still be pixel perfect. Or at least that's my first guess.
Ah thank you for clarification on the camera! Yeah it IS scaling to be pixel perfect, ill try using that to fix it, but when I move text to the GUI it should fix the text readability issue.
The movement is something that takes getting used to... seeing the rotation of the slime better would be useful. Ducking helps a bit. But man those sticky ceilings are awkward with the momentum reversals.
The stick cielings are meant to do exactly that if you arent paying attention to how youre rotating. But I agree that I need a better indicator of rotation, any ideas?
Can’t manage to fullscreen it. The slime feels a bit unpredictable and I think part of it is not being able to see its rotation that well.
Can’t quite get used to the way momentum (gaining) works. I can make it work but I don’t feel fully in control (yet?). Didn’t really get how the W key works either.
Got to level 9, gave up on the first ice jumps. Probably need to use the wall towards the left to somehow gain momentum but the spikes underneath feel like a guaranteed death and the frustration of getting there again.
Hey, i fixed a typo in the tutorial text, thanks for testing it out and giving it a full playthrough. I have had another mention the rotation beign a bit hard to see, any suggestions on how i might be able to fix that? I tried using his face as an indicator.
Didn’t think much about it but some I would try are bubbles inside of him (think hair gel) and particles/debris/objects sticking to him and sometimes flinging off.
Finished most of the levels - the controls are a bit hard to use since most platformers of this type use a two-hand on keyboard format (arrow keys + z/x), maybe it was designed for controllers?
Either way, the double jump mechanic is slightly un-intuitive at the start but after getting used to it, the fast motion is satisfying and I can see potential when the art/juice is fleshed out more.
the double ball level seems almost impossible to me, not sure if it's meant to be beaten lol
Comments
I honestly can't really get this game. The physics are really, really weird. You kinda get used to them, but they seem very different from pretty much every other platformer game. Some levels are fine and teach you the mechanics well enough, some are just pure pain. Especially the starting one, where your momentum gets murdered by a hitting a ceiling slope.
Also in terms of tutorials - the camera is very, very weird and the text is barely readable. Camera movement gets you very close to being dizzy, but doesn't cross that threshold, so that's a plus.
I think a more gradual tutorial, one mechanic at a time, would do wonders - because right now the levels seem kinda out of order (the order of switching levels with directional keys, I haven't completed too many). Also the 45 degree angled slopes do not help with understanding the physics.
Thank you for the feedback!
The physics do seem weird at first, the ceiling killing your momentum is purposeful since you're hitting the ceiling with backspin. Its a physics simulation and sometimes physics are counter-intuitive.
For the stuff I do want to fix, how do you suggest i deal with the camera? should I remove the slight zoom out when you speed up? I am teetering on that already.
As for the tutorial, I got a lot of feedback on that, and I plan do do a few more shorter advanced tutorials on momentum before hitting the ice, such as a safer and more easily repeatable jump to teach about killing your backspin before hitting a ceiling. I also plan on changing how the tutorial text is displayed by means of an interactive sign that shows a big text bubble instead.
I appreciate you giving it a go!
I didn't know about the spinning, and never figured it out, so I guess it's not obvious. I might've understood it if I could see, but I didn't.
>how do you suggest i deal with the camera
I don't think zooming's bad in general, but the pixels act weird when you zoom in and out, and it's really noticeable, even more so when you have text - it affects text on the level a lot. That's what made it noticeable and not pleasant to the eyes. Maybe it's a problem with the shader - it seems to me like you're trying to rescale the drawn scene to still be pixel perfect. Or at least that's my first guess.
Ah thank you for clarification on the camera! Yeah it IS scaling to be pixel perfect, ill try using that to fix it, but when I move text to the GUI it should fix the text readability issue.
The movement is something that takes getting used to... seeing the rotation of the slime better would be useful. Ducking helps a bit. But man those sticky ceilings are awkward with the momentum reversals.
The stick cielings are meant to do exactly that if you arent paying attention to how youre rotating. But I agree that I need a better indicator of rotation, any ideas?
Gish and Bounce (Nokia) had a “kid”? Nice
Can’t manage to fullscreen it. The slime feels a bit unpredictable and I think part of it is not being able to see its rotation that well.
Can’t quite get used to the way momentum (gaining) works. I can make it work but I don’t feel fully in control (yet?). Didn’t really get how the W key works either.
Got to level 9, gave up on the first ice jumps. Probably need to use the wall towards the left to somehow gain momentum but the spikes underneath feel like a guaranteed death and the frustration of getting there again.
Hey, i fixed a typo in the tutorial text, thanks for testing it out and giving it a full playthrough. I have had another mention the rotation beign a bit hard to see, any suggestions on how i might be able to fix that? I tried using his face as an indicator.
Didn’t think much about it but some I would try are bubbles inside of him (think hair gel) and particles/debris/objects sticking to him and sometimes flinging off.
Thats a good idea, i am gonna add a few internal bubbles and add some slime particles that get flung off just a bit
i'm probably a brainlet but i can't even get past the first level.
i clear the jump and then i have nowhere to go
the goal is to collect the onigiri
It's hard, at least to me.
Got to the level with the quicklime.
Finished most of the levels - the controls are a bit hard to use since most platformers of this type use a two-hand on keyboard format (arrow keys + z/x), maybe it was designed for controllers?
Either way, the double jump mechanic is slightly un-intuitive at the start but after getting used to it, the fast motion is satisfying and I can see potential when the art/juice is fleshed out more.
the double ball level seems almost impossible to me, not sure if it's meant to be beaten lol
Oooooops, I uploaded the wrong file, thanks for letting me know.