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A jam submission

trail_rView game page

a platformer where you are the platform
Submitted by Ryan — 2 hours, 50 minutes before the deadline
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Play 2D platformer

trail_r's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Innovation#3393.4293.429
Theme#7623.0483.048
Game Design#8392.8572.857
Overall#9102.7462.746
Fun#9232.6192.619
Graphics#10622.5242.524
Audio#11892.0002.000

Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

In what way does your game fit the theme?
Create platforms using your past self to reach the end of the level.

Did you write most of the code yourself and made all the assets from scratch?
Yes

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

great concept, although the the movement is too slow and the sprites are missing for the environment...

but still, i enjoyed it!!

Developer

Thanks for playing, glad you liked it!

Submitted(+1)

Cool idea but there are some issues. For example: you are way too slow. It´s just frustrating to walk for minutes just to place some new clones. I also found a bug that you can´t create a clone while standing on another. Is this intended? If you fix this it should be more enjoyable.
I like the ideas of Iwday and I also had the issue with the ramps. Another solution for this would be to make two or three raycasts (one left, one right and one in the middle).
Tip: Do not change the "texture" of the T-shirt. It looks a little bit weird to see it every frame in a different look.

Overall it´s a really cool idea with a lot of potential. Good Job!

I´ve submitted a local multiplayer game: https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-4/rate/722755. I would be happy to get your feedback on it. :D

Developer

Thanks for your input :] The movement is going to be a lot better once I can update the file, and a lot of the bugs like the one you mentioned will be fixed! I also checked out your game and it was an enjoyable local multiplayer experience

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

It's very amusing to watch as tons of clones of my character get placed everywhere and then to walk on top of their heads to use as platforms. Perhaps you could add some character customization to make the player feel like they're actually creating clones of themselves.

It's a cool attention to detail having the clones copy the movement of my character when they are placed on to the play area. Maybe one idea you could implement is that the clones mimic your movement when you create them: If you walked as you create a clone, your clone would continuously walk. If you jump, your clone will continuously hop in place. If you jump AND move in a certain direction, your clone would walk in the same direction while hopping.

I can imagine using this idea can make it interesting to solve many different kinds of puzzles. One example could involve using multiple walking clones to push a heavy metal box out of the way. Another could involve a puzzle with a button that brings an elevator up when pressed, and down when released. The button would need a clone that would constantly hop up and down in order to bring the elevator up and down for the player

While the graphics do look plain, the neutral grey palette seems to contrast well with the bright and colorful palette that the player-character has. This really makes the character and his clones pop out, which makes them easy to find when looking around the level. One thing that could be improved is that the graphical style of the character and stage don't seem to match. What can be done with the graphics is to either change the level's graphics to look pixelated and match the character's retro look, or change the character's visual design to a bright-colored square (or any kind of pointy shape) to match the level's shape-ey look.


The movement is way too sluggish. It takes around 10 seconds just to be able to walk from one side of the stage to the other. I actually timed it to show how long it takes:


This can probably be fixed easily by increasing the speed so that walking to the end of the stage only takes 2 seconds.

The player can't seem to jump whenever they are on top of a ramp. This is a huge problem since there are way too many times where the player-character gets stuck between two clones. I'm guessing you used a raycast for ground-checking since my character can't seem to jump off a platform whenever they're near the edge. I strongly recommend you use a boxcast for groundchecking purposes instead. It works the same as a raycast, but it detects areas within a square area instead of just a singular point.

As for the player getting trapped, perhaps you can include an undo button that deletes the last clone that was created previously. This would make it much less punishing for the player to make a small mistake instead of forcing them to start the level all over again. You could probably make a List that keeps track of each clone that gets created, and each time the player hits the undo button the list will delete the most recent clone and iterate backwards.

It also seems the cloning button needs to be pressed multiple times before it creates another clone, even when I'm not on top of a ramp. Was this input method implemented in FixedUpdate()? If this is the way it was programmed, it should be set in void Update() instead. The reason to use the input detection in Update() is because FixedUpdate() can either run several times per frame or not run at all. I've had this problem occur in the past, and placing the input detection in Update() always seemed to fix this.


While the game isn't perfect, you have that right amount of energy to push yourself to make graphics, code, and to learn the features of Unity within one week. This kind of work effort is the exact motivation that a game designer needs to succeed.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

This is immensely helpful, thank you so much! I love your ideas and your feedback is spot on. I will be using these reviews as a guide to update my game and yours is at the top of the list.

I especially appreciate the coding advice since this is obviously my first serious endeavor into unity and it was tough but a lot is starting to make sense after one week. I understand what you are saying about using boxcast instead of raycast, great idea btw, and also about the undo button using a list of clones. Super helpful.
Thanks for playing and leaving a thoughtful review, hope you have a great day today!

Submitted(+1)

Hello Ryan, this seems to be your first game. Good job on making this. This is a really good first game for your age assuming you're young.

Please take this feedback as your guide in game development journey (if you want to, it's your choice after all).

Game Design: 

You had the a really good idea of making a clone of yourself from the past and incorporating this to a puzzle-platformer. This is a really good implementation of REWIND  and it is better than I and the other games have which took the REWIND literally.

The only thing that is unfit in your game are the controls, but I know that you're only starting so good job. Here are the things that can be improved:

  1. Sometimes I press Q and it doesn't respond when I'm standing on a platform (diagonal/slanting).
  2. The jump is floaty and it isn't high enough. If you wanted to know more about this, just take the Jonas Tyroller videos on platformers.
  3. Collision detection / Hitbox must be improved.

Fun:

The puzzles you made are really good, not that "really good" but enough for the jammers to know how this game works. You must work on the puzzles you made and continue to create intricate puzzles that ramps up the difficulties as you go.

Innovation:

You made a really innovative game. The ideas are unique and you can improve this game even better in the future, but I think for now you should learn as many things as you can to improve and prepare yourself in this game.

Theme:

As I had said above, the REWIND of your game is really unique, innovative and better than I and the other games have which took the REWIND literally.

Graphics:

Pixel art is good but it could be improve. I know that not all people are artist but you can be a good pixel artist someday if you practice. The only thing is I think for now you could use some assets to guide and help you in the developing games.

Audio:

I think it is just my laptop on 0 volume or muted, but I didn't hear any sounds in your game. I think the fault is on me.

Hey thank you for playing my game, have a nice day!

Developer

Thanks so much for the thorough reply!! That is exactly what I’m looking for to develop my game further, I really appreciate you giving my game your time and feedback. I’m going to take all of this into account when revising my game. 
You are not at fault for the volume, since I was crunched for time I didn’t add my chip tune beat to the game, but sound and music is coming on the other side of the jam. All your other comments were very helpful and though I didn’t respond to each one, I’m going to use your review as a guide for sure.

Thank you very much!

Submitted(+1)

good idea generation it is actually fun to play and nice art style
keep doing the great stuff <3

Developer

Thank you, and you too friend :]

Submitted(+1)

I like the idea and I have no problems with the controls, but the character feels a little slow and you can't jump on the slopes. The main idea is solid I just think it needs more polishing and juice.

Developer (1 edit)

I fixed the slope-jump problem after the deadline and will be updating, feel free to come back and check it out post-jam. I have much more juice to put into this bad boy

Thank you so much for your play & feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Original concept, never seen this one before!

I liked the concept a lot, however I didn't appreciate the controls & the levels much. I felt really slow and the clones sometimes didn't appear while on the ground.

The lack of music/sound effects makes the game a bit empty of life. Same for the art style.

With some improvements I would really enjoy playing this game :)

I'd appreciate if you play and rate our game too :)
https://hadilepanda.itch.io/corewind

Developer

Definitely needs more life, I agree.

Thank you for playing and leaving your feedback :]

Submitted(+1)

I loved the clone thing that you did! I feel like it was super innovative! Loved the gameplay as well! The controls felt a bit wierd but it's alright! I feel like there should be more challenging obstacles, etc. Anyways loved it overall

Developer(+1)

More challenges to come, that is for sure.

Thanks so much for playing and your input!

Submitted(+1)

cool idea but gameplay need more improvements

Developer

I plan on adding more gameplay elements to the levels like more complex obstacles or items. Thanks for playing!

Submitted(+1)

that will be awesome

Submitted(+1)

Good job!

Developer

Thank you!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Nice game! I like the clone system. I think you should make the player movement a little better. It's so hard to move and jump and it feels weird.
Anyway, cool game, I had some fun playing it, and I hope you had some fun building it :)

Developer

I'm glad you like the game and the cloning mechanic! I had a lot of fun making it and it was my first game. Thanks :]

Submitted

Using versions of yourself is similar to our concept :D Tweak the movement a bit and it could be the start of a real something.

Developer

Thank you! I will work on the movement for sure.

Submitted(+1)

I like the mechanic of using yourself as the terrain! I think it's a game that has potential but it does need some improvements:

The character moves quite slow and the gravity seems to be pretty low as well. Perhaps tweak the values.

I want to be able to just walk up these heads instead of having to jump because his hair is blocking me:


There's something happening that stops me from jumping / placing clones when near a wall, not sure what, and I don't mean the black ramp thing that blocks jumping.

Maybe have 3 or more walk animation sprites than just the two, though two may be okay if the character is sped up a little so it switches faster, but at the current pace it would need more to seem more fluid.

Good job on the game so far!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for bringing these details to my attention. I agree that you should be able to walk up staggered platforms of a certain height so you dont have to jump to move. Also, thank you for that screenshot, it is very informative of what you were explaining.

I will look into the glitch where you can't jump at the wall and work out a fix!

Thanks for your play and input, I really appreciate it!

Submitted(+1)

Really great idea for a platformer, I just think a couple tweaks could help improve it. I think the player walks way to slow, to the point where it become almost too much effort to even walk. It makes levels take way too long in a game where you have to do a lot of walking back and forth. Besides speeding up the walk, maybe after placing a clone it could reset you to the default position? My only other complaint is that placing the clone seemed inconsistent, it didn't always work when I hit Q, not sure what kind of bug would be causing that. Overall really cool idea, would be awesome with some polish!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Player movement definitely needs improvement. That's an interesting suggestion, about placing a clone and resetting your position, I'll noodle it around and test some things out with that.

To answer your complaint about clone delays, there is a 1 second buffer from when the clone is created to when its collider is created. This buffer also applies to how often you can create a clone, which is actually a bug that I have been trying to fix.

Thanks for your input and for playing my game!!

Submitted(+1)

Really fun idea, but I think the game should be faster. It takes too long to return back to start after making a clone,  

Also I'd be happy if I were able to destroy one of clones.  I'm placing a clone which blocks my way after playing 3-4 minutes, I would like to be able to destroy it instead of restarting whole level.

I liked the level designs.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you! I agree, it could be faster, maybe increasing walking speed or adding a sprint feature would work.

The fact that you cannot destroy clones was an intended game mechanic and I originally intended to have a rewind feature to allow you to undo clones. However, my thinking was that it was part of the challenge. I appreciate your feedback though and will try to think of ways to make this  more enjoyable, maybe with a rewind feature or undo button.

Thanks for playing and rating!

Submitted(+1)

I also thought the protagonist reminded me of doom guy xD It was fun but I found an exploit that made it way to easy. If you make a clone and then jump you will land on its' head and then create another clone and so on. 

Developer

I think I took some inspiration from the Doom guy actually, like with the helmet and the green shirt. Also, you are so right. I wanted to fix that feature. I think adding some more levels after the jam ends will be a good way to make it fit into the game better as a true gameplay feature (stacking clones), however I also have an idea to just lower the jump height and make environmental obstacles that are shorter than the player height, so that the player must jump on these smaller obstacles in order to reach some higher platform. If you have an opinion on that lemme know!

Thanks for playing my game and giving feedback!!

Submitted(+1)

I really dig the protagonist, reminds me a lot of the Doom Marine. His flickering textures and derpy little running animation gives him a lot of charm IMO. 

Gameplay loop is fun, though the difficulty ramps up quickly and a couple screens in theres not much room for errors.

Above all the game would really profit from some funky chip tunes I think.

Developer(+1)

Thanks Ork. Funny thing is I made a looping drumbeat in Bosca Ceoil that sounds like it would fit your suggestion but decided last minute not to add it. I'm gonna keep working on it and add that funky chiptune beat. I appreciate your feedback!