Rated 4. Pretty good idea.
Need some better sound wave implantation.
Like always seeing yourself(at least some blurred version) and some kind of memory of environment that will fade out in some time.
Play game
No i in Platformer's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Design | #600 | 2.475 | 3.500 |
Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
While it's not the first time I've seen a game based on echolocation, this is a well-considered take on it, and I like how it addresses the prompt. Leaving the area at the start 100% visible was a good call, and I found myself wishing I'd taken more advantage of that area to get used to my jump arc once I was deeper into the dark area. It might not be the most polished game, but I can tell those man hours were well spent elsewhere, massaging this concept into a playable state.
If I were to change anything about it, I'd have to agree with what some others have posted about the windows of visibility. It's not impossible to parse, but it is a bit more struggle than it probably should be, and it was hard to feel confident in my jumps even after scanning them many times.
Submitted
DroneThanks for playing!
The jump arc / movement in general is something that I need to address. One big issue with it is how if you hit the side of a wall it will cut the jump short, which I noticed causes players to miss a jump that they otherwise should have had the height to make, which is very unsatisfying.
As for the windows of visibility, I will be tweaking some of the variables involved such as the duration and speed of the sound wave. Honestly I had intended to have the waves last a bit longer and fade out slowly, but that seems to require a shader which I am not yet familiar with. Spent a couple of hours trying to create a shader but I think I need to learn them from the ground up to understand why mine didn't work and how to make it work.
As it so happens, I also have the task of learning about shaders hanging over my head like a dark cloud, so my deepest of sympathies.
I've never worked in Unity, but in my native homeland of Game Maker: Studio i'd probably approach your particular visualization of the echos with an application surface, where we essentially draw a big black shape over the room on its own special layer, and then poke holes in it as necessary. I know it's how a lot of GM:S games do things like fog of war and light halos, and it seems like they would suit this nicely.
This game is really cute. I love the concept, and I like how you aren't completely blind when you shoot soundwaves. It isn't always clear where you're supposed to go, and the low visibility makes finding your way even more difficult. The layout of the level isn't the greatest, but I can say this is the contest game I enjoyed playing the most so far.
The level's layout was cobbled together in the last couple of hours. I wanted to create a level where it highlighted the idea of using sound to find your way through, but of course I knew the layout of the level. In the future I think I'll need to ask someone to work their way through the level for me. A couple of my friends pointed out that if you could shoot the sound in multiple directions it would allow you to get a much better idea of what was going on.
Thank you for playing!
Good idea, could use some fine tuning, though. The visible areas don't stay lit for nearly long enough, making the game just a bunch of flashing lights and blind jumping around (which I guess is what was intended...).
Submitted
ArrhythmiaThank you for playing!
Most of the feedback I've received was regarding the visible areas, it definitely needs the most improvement. I think it should have a lot more persistence so that it doesn't feel just like blind jumping around. You'll still be jumping blind, but with knowledge of where the level actually is. It'd be a bit weird after all if a bat used echolocation and forgot where everything was after a second.
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