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The Doki Bullet Swarm's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Creativity | #1 | 4.655 | 4.655 |
| Gameplay | #10 | 4.034 | 4.034 |
| Overall | #13 | 3.972 | 3.972 |
| Theme | #14 | 4.103 | 4.103 |
| References / Humor | #42 | 3.483 | 3.483 |
| Ambience | #49 | 3.586 | 3.586 |
Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit into the theme?
Your bullets create more bullets who in turn create more bullets, which immediately gets out of control the moment you run out of energy, causing them to go haywire and hit more objects causing more mayhem! Try to keep control of the mayhem and help Doki save Mint!
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Comments
The game was fun to play!
I like the art, the silly storyline and the swarm controls.
There are some elements that confused me:
- The main menu operation is very unusual. It made me think the only available options were the ones shown at the beginning (but there's also an options and a shop button, which I know are not implemented, but it seemed like they didn't exist). Using the keyboard arrow up/down or W/S keys to change the selected option would be a nice thing to have.
- It was not clear from the start that the bullets go where you click on the screen. The bullet path in Doki's first shot made me think I could only use Doki.
- It was not clear from the start that the yellow boxes are "bullet sponges".
- It was not explained that the green buttons can only be activated at certain energy levels. Or maybe it was, but the way it was written was not clear.
I would suggest adding a small instructions screen when starting the first level that shows each game element and a short sentence describing what it does. For example: A picture of the swarm of bullets and a mouse icon with text "Click to order the swarm where to go". A picture of the bullet sponge with text "bullets disappear when they touch this", a picture of the green button with text "Use it to open doors. Energy bar must be more than half full."
Overall a very unique game! Well done!
Thank you for playing my game! For your notes, the main menu took 18 hours straight to code and was a nightmare. I wanted to include arrows keys but it became too complex. I should have accounted for them from the start and built around it, that was my lack of foresight.
You are not alone in not knowing that you can control the bullets. I should have been more clear on that, and it stems from the game changing direction. (You used to be able to only control Doki) and should have had more thought.
The idea was between the sponge texture and gamer knowledge that it was a play on bullet sponge. But you are right I should have added clearer indication, my apologies for the confusion.
It was explained about the buttons actually, though I could have done more this is true.
I did include a short tutorial into the dialog, but my code was too rough to implement anything more. Pictures for tutorials sounds marvelous though! Most people are visual learners, so I will keep this idea in mind, thank you so much!
THat was a really, really fun concept, I think I've never seen something like it.
Took me a bit at the start but it was really fun.
I am glad you liked it! It was supposed to be "shoot one bullet and make a chain" but magnetize was added and was TOO much fun. Thank you for playing!!
This was a super fun concept. The story was cute and I loved the tallgoon bullet sponges.
I kid you not, those tallgoon bullet sponges took like, 4 hours straight to make look right. I have it all on my art stream. I am so happy you enjoyed the game! I put in an enormous amount of work to stand a remotest chance against the 5 man teams haha!
That's incredible. I would've never expected you weren't one with how the game came out.
That is the hugest compliment. Thank you! I sunk an enormous amount of time into it haha.
This was a very good game! Personally the screen movements were a bit hard to get but I understood after a bit og play. Defiantly a top contender!
Thank you! I am somebody who played a lot of RTS games with edge-scroll movements. So it came naturally to me, and I did not consider that it might not for others. I will be sure to take my own skill into account next time I make a game!
Your own game is IMO the most relaxing one I played all Jam. I wish you luck for your game too!
Very interesting and unique concept for the gameplay! The energy bar mechanic is a great way to limit player's actions to keep things interesting and tense. Mint and Doki banter was very well written and I like how you utilized core mechanic at the final boss!
However, I found it really annoying to have to replay the first part of the boss level. It took several tries to beat the boss and every run you have to spend some time to go through the first room which not interesting or challenging.
And unfortinately I did expirience the bug where barrel doesn't drop during the boss fight on the Windows version of the game. But once I restarted the game, everything was fixed.
Overall very nice game! I would never guessed everything was made by only one person, that's truly amazing!
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Sorry that the final boss bugged, I have YET to figure out whhyyyy it does that. (The pain of programming.) And as for the first part of the boss level, I really shot myself in the foot with how my game system is designed. I unfortunately didn't have time to create an alternate start position after failing an attempt, even though I wanted to. I worked extremely hard on all of this~ I take your feedback to heart, next time I make a boss it will certainly have faster re-try's because it DOES suck even if the level is simple, you are right. This has been an important study!
Just myself and an excessive lack of sleep made this haha. Gotta do that to come anywhere close to the 5 man teams level of quality.
Took me a bit to realize that Doki could only shoot one bullet, but once I did, I had a lot of fun with the magnetize button. Great puzzles!
Yeah, perhaps I could have been more clear on that. I have a lot to learn as a game developer! But when I added the magnetize button early on, it was so fun that I based the whole game around it.
The concept is interesting and uncommon. Nicely done.
Awesome to hear! I haven't played your game yet so ima stop by soon! Thank you soooo much for the time of day! My first jam has been so fun haha!
I couldn't quite figure out how to beat the final boss, unfortunately, but everything I was able to play was a lot of fun! The core gameplay mechanic is quite unique, and I enjoyed playing around with a swarm of bullets.
And it's always lovely to get to enjoy some Doki and Mint banter ^-^
You are the one (of five) who made that other awesome game!! Thanks for checking mine out! Like I said in your game, your concept was my same concept until I added a magnetize button. It was too fun, I leaned into it haha.
ANYWAYS the boss you need to wait for barrels to drop and focus on surviving meanwhile. I wanted to write more banter, but didn't have anywhere to put it. I am so honored that you liked my game!
Please tell your team I am legit rooting for you to win. I would be quite satisfied if you did. You took the concept I had and didn't stray like I did. Good luck!!
The magnetizing is very fun, I can't blame you at all, lol.
Hmm, I didn't get any barrels dropping for a good while after the first one - might be a web issue, unsure. I'll try again tomorrow and see if I can make it work. Thanks for the tip!
Selfishly, I wish there was more banter, because you write it well, but I know how it goes...
And thank you very much, it's great to have your support!
I am a writer, I love doing it. I just wish I picked a game to design where I had more chance to do writing lol. That said the barrels have a glitch that I can't figure out. Sometimes, they just flat out never spawn. Ever. It happens less on the downloadable version but I still don't know why it happens because I can't reliably replicate it. T_T
Ahhh that explains it. I'll see if I can find a pattern.
this was a lot of fun! didn't take too long to get an idea of what i was supposed to be doing and the challenge seemed balanced enough (that last boss was a bit too tough for me with having to manage my stamina for the door). One of my favorite entries that i've played though!
Thank youu! I am working on uploading a different version that is easier, while also keeping the old version that is harder, for fans of the management aspect. I am honored that you enjoyed it!! Thank youu again!
This game's take on the theme is really creative! I also like how the bullet "sponges" are literally used for the environmental hazards. I would definitely consider removing the stamina bar because I believe that the fun in this game is managing your swarm, and if the stamina system is taking away from the fun, then perhaps it shouldn't be there in the first place. I really hope this helps and I had a lot of fun overall!
Yeah I was adjusting the stamina bar but ran out of time. I have arthritis and so it rarely affected me, and was worried it might hit other players who enjoy magnetizing. I want to replace it as energy for special abilities. (Such as a ghost toggle that your bullets ignore hazards but it drains energy.) I am absolutely wanting to polish this as soon as judging is up. Thank you for playing it!!
Actually to that end, do you know if I CAN update it for that? Just about remove the stamina? I would love to if its allowed, but I don't have a discord to like, ask with...
Ohhh I would suggest you do make a Discord and join the DokiJam server! Even if you don't plan on saying anything, it's nice to see what everyone's up to.
As for your question about updating the game during the rating period, it's only reserved for major big fixes and not features that would change the gameplay. So I don't think changing the stamina system would be allowed, unfortunately. However, I don't think the stamina system is a major issue and you shouldn't need to worry about that!
I hope this helps!
If you have time, please check again the stamina in my game. I have made an adjustment for people who are not arthritic like me who can click faster and I hope this makes it more fun. Let me know what you think~
I just tried the final level again and it felt way better to play! Awesome work :>
idk how but the exhaust stamina bar made me rage ALOT, whether intentional or not (maybe i just love spammin alot okay). Feels really polished and satisfying when you get tons of bullets (though you can lose em pretty quick). The dang long dragoon can go and s-. I didn't get to the end but i saw the (i presume) final boss. Okay maybe i will go try harder later cus i wanna see the ending.
I do apologize about the stamina system. I was going to massively lower stamina cost so that people who don't have arthritus (like myself) can spam more. But I fell asleep at the keyboard after 18 hours awake. It would certainly probably have been even more fun without had I the chance to make change. I plan to either massively change or remove it the moment I am allowed to post-jam. You are not crazy haha! And thank you soooo much for playing the game! It is an absolute honor that you gave it the time of day! And if it was allowed I would have absolutely already modified the stamina. Thank you for bearing with it!
If you have time, please check again the stamina in my game. I have made an adjustment for people who are not arthritic like me who can click faster and I hope this makes it more fun. Let me know what you think~
i gasp. This definitely makes the game not rage inducing. And its not like its super easy now either. I probably could get through more due to my prexisiting knowledge but i never really got frustrated during any of it. Except the boss cus idk what the actual strat is apart from me camping and wating for barrels to drop until he died. But now i got to the end and thats cool!
Awesome! Again sorry that I tuned it to my spam click. I am sooo glad you like it! The boss all he is, is waiting for barrels and surviving. Wanted to do more but no time sadly.
Solid work! The camera was a bit to get used to, but once I was in the swing of things, it was a lot of fun!
The web version does seem to have a bug on the camera, that it activates easier on the right side than the left. But it is functional thankfully. (I can't edit the game until after the jam) I am so glad you liked it! An honor! Thank you soooo much for playing!