| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Music | #32 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
| Sound | #35 | 3.100 | 3.100 |
| Visuals | #41 | 3.700 | 3.700 |
| Fun | #43 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
| Theme | #96 | 2.700 | 2.700 |
| Story | #99 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team Members
Shadow64
I think having to implement a button to lock your movement so it won't effect aiming (which didn't work in the air, that would've been useful) demonstrates that tying both movement and aiming to the d-pad was a bad idea. I think using both analog sticks would've worked much better.
Other than that it's a good game, it was certainly animated well but I don't see the theme being applied at all, unless it uses a very loose interpretation of "scarcity".
Hi there! I appreciate the feedback. Actually, I've tried the control style both ways and I found that dual sticks was really only useful if the right analog stick was ALSO firing when it was directed. Ultimately I chose to go with the lock system - something that is employed in Cuphead and I felt worked fairly well. I agree that it's not a perfect system, but to each their own.
As for "scarcity," there's actually no health in the game and you only have 4 hit points. So outside of the game's concept being that of a city of monsters, using the sound of the theme over the literal meaning, there's also the literal meaning of a low amount of health to make it through.
I do appreciate the feedback, though. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Control schemes are definitely one of the design elements I struggle with most, so I'll just need to work on it. Congrats on finishing and thanks for commenting/rating!
Fun quick platformer. I liked the way the game over screen popped out, had some good punch. Bats will fly up if you hit them from a range outside their targeting area.
Remember to rate https://itch.io/jam/heartjam/rate/238884
Thank you Zen00! Really appreciate the feedback. The bats flying up is a known issue that I just decided not to fix. You're pretty spot on about doing it outside their target area. What's happening there is they are switching to their follow state when you shoot them, but because you've already "left" their follow area, they switch to their unfollow state and return to the sky. Since this is happening all at once it just looks like they're floating up when you shoot them.
I plan to do an update which changes this, so that tactic should become obsolete in the next version. ;)
Thanks again and you're already on my list of ones to play! :D
hey good game.
I used the gamepad, and took a bit to get used to the lock movement button. I whished that holding the fire button could lock the movement without the need of another key.
Thanks for the feedback, verjay! I'll see what I can do about that. I may consider switching it to right trigger instead of right bumper since more people tend to squeeze there naturally. I don't know if I'd want to tie it to holding the fire button because then you can't run & gun at the same time - if you tried to by tapping, the movement would be less free and more jerky with starting/stopping the lock in between.
One possibility I could try is using right trigger to lock AND fire and X to just fire without locking. I'll play around a bit. Thanks again for the feedback! And congrats on submitting!
Cool visuals, simple but enthralling mechanics. Keep up the good work!
Thank you both for the feedback. Unfortunately I didn't have time to add a tutorial stage, but the controls are available on the game's information page:
Gamepad Controls (The Ideal)
========================
DPad - Movement and Aiming
X - Fire
A - Jump
R1 - Lock Movement to Fire in Place
Start - Restarts the Level
Select - Quits the Game
Keyboard Controls (Hey, It Exists!)
========================
WASD - Movement and Aiming
L - Fire
Spacebar - Jump
Right-Shift - Lock Movement to Fire in Place
Enter - Starts the Game (Only from Title Screen)
R - Restarts the Level
Escape - Quits the Game
Hopefully this helps! And thank you again for the positive comments. Incredibly kind of both of you!!!
You have something here, like Garr said need some controls. Not sure if I'm supposed to get as far as possible without dying or if Im supposed to kill the mobs. The art is stellar, music is solid, visually this is a masterpiece, gameplay wise it just needs some clarity. Also the game over effect is a nice touch. Keep working on this idea.
I'm going to hold off on rating this one. I feel like I should be able to attack the enemies, but I couldn't find out how. WASD worked, and space made me jump, R did some crazy thing, but I could not find a way to attack. I'd like to come back to this!
I added a comment that explains the full controls. I imagine you two won't be the only two who are confused. I really appreciate all of the feedback. R actually just restarts the level. The button you're looking for is L. The idea was if you put your right ring/pinky down to hold shift and then aim with WASD you can fire with your index by pressing L and jump with your thumb. I wish the keyboard controls were better. I'll see if I can figure out a nicer layout and update post-jam.
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