Love the art, an the fact you managed to tutorialise in such a nice way. I understand controls need to be slow, but due to the lack of feedback, they can feel a bit unresponsive and frustrating, maybe if you work on this after the jam consider adding some extra feedback?
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Book of Life (GameDev.TV GameJam 2022 Submission)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Aesthetics | #9 | 4.632 | 4.632 |
| Theme | #10 | 4.368 | 4.368 |
| Story | #19 | 4.053 | 4.053 |
| Music | #38 | 3.947 | 3.947 |
| Fun | #221 | 3.368 | 3.368 |
| Mechanics | #227 | 3.316 | 3.316 |
| Sound | #375 | 2.632 | 2.632 |
Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How many people worked on this game total?
1
Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
Three songs which are listed on the page and one font which is also listed
Link to your source?
https://sandinshorts.itch.io/book-of-life-gamedevtv-gamejam-2022-submission
Comments
A very pleasant and thoughtful game. I liked how you presented the tutorial messages, and how did you do the water surface effect - was that a particle system or something else?
Submitted
Clone ShipVery original concept, I liked it a lot. A similar concept of death and rebirth, although in mine you're being more figuratively eaten, by a hail of big fat laser bolts.
All I was going to comment on was the slow movement but the game is short enough that that is no issue. I liked the exposition via animated text (something I wish I'd got in).
Congrats on what I guess is your first game released to the modern interwebs and wow, Allegro - been a while since I heard that one :) Great job. I only got my first game out last year in the GDTV2021 jam... Life begins at 40 (something) for me it would seem.
Submitted
Lost in the StarsLovely story and artwork. I love games that make you think deep thoughts. Music was perfect and I enjoyed progressing through the game as essence that moved on from one life to the next.
Submitted
Find The HeroBrilliant music and atmosphere. Makes a lovely feel to the game. Nice one!
Submitted
Procedural Bunny DungeonA beautiful and calming piece of art that illustrates the idea of the circle of life. I love the minimalist aesthetic and the hand-drawn quality. Visually stunning, and it is exciting to see which creature will take the essence next. I wish there was more! :)
To make this game even better, I think in the initial protozoa stage, the move speed can be increased as it feels a bit sluggish. Movement in general needs some refinement, especially the collision box of the vegetation. More variety is of course better, so you should absolutely expand this post-jam!
Very good game. Would be a great game if diving beetles were featured! :D Great work!
Submitted
Escape InfernoThanks. I'm toying with the idea of adding a boost swim to the amoeba or just making him faster in general. The vegetation colliders should all be pretty good except a couple in chapter 1 I had to mess with because I didn't have time to implement the bubble/plant combo in a more seamless way. I originally had 3 full chapters planned with multiple transfers each and new critters but I was a bit ambitious and ended up with half a chapter and a prologue. Will definitely expand out after the jam just considering whether to do it in the current iteration or go back to square one and rewrite the code.
I think whether to rewrite the code from the ground up or not largely depends on the size of the final game. If you plan on adding a level or two with similar complexity, rewriting is probably unnecessary. But if you intend to add more mechanics, more creatures with different behaviors, and a more complex level design, then a rewrite is warranted. Since we don't usually consider upgradability much when writing the code during a game jam.
For the vegetation, I'm referring more to the positions of the vegetation relative to the whole level and the unexpected collisions when moving. Perhaps I'm bad at navigating, but it should help to see whether there is a problem if you can ask your friend to play-test and look at how they move their character.
I look forward to the complete version. Cheers!
I loved the look of this game. It was definitely a fun experience. Well Done!
Submitted
Rising SpiritsI love the hand drawn aesthetics of this game, it has a really nice relaxing feel to it :) Great job!
Submitted
Duel of DeathYou sir, deserve this jam! Such a beautiful game, with great music. The concept is amazing. Found some bugs, but it is expected from a game jam! Congrats!
Submitted
Reencarnation LabYeh I really like the feel of the game but I'm being very thick and not understanding what to do, will try again.
Submitted
[2022/Jam] GDTV - OzballThe prologue is like a training level. I may have been less than direct with those instructions. The chapter 1 is really quite buggy. You can get to the end but avoid the buggy frog (no pun intended). And the fish is a bit buggy too. A tip is that the amoeba can be eaten when you are a crayfish to get more essence. That is in no way obvious. There should be some kind of visual clue but again just ran out of time. Glad to hear you still liked it though
I am honestly astounded by this, very good game, gameplay is a little slow to take off, but the music and the chill vibe more than make up for it.
I would love for the essence to be inside the animals, for instance with the lobster, it was sort of offset to the lobster between his claws, and when the sprite flips, it's basically in his tail. Consistency and keeping it inside would be a nice enhancement.
Fantastic work though, I'll be back to complete this once I've been through a few more games.
Submitted
InfernoThis game is amazing, really good idea. I love the art and music.
Submitted
Powerful Peasant
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