LOWREZJAM 2021

Hosted by JackOatley, Gurpreet Singh Matharoo · #lowrezjam

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A jam submission

Micro NinjaView game page

Run & Gun with the world's smallest Ninja!

Submitted by ExtraMustard — 3 hours, 17 minutes before the deadline

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Micro Ninja's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Authenticity (use of resolution restriction)	#9	4.895	4.895
Audio	#30	4.053	4.053
Overall	#57	4.000	4.000
Gameplay	#107	3.421	3.421
Visuals	#132	3.632	3.632

Ranked from 19 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Did you work in a team?
I worked solo! This is my first game! I created all the art assets and music myself.

Was the resolution a challenge?
First issue I encountered was trying to do this with Pygame. It seems there was no way to have a native 64 x 64 resolution. You had to build a game larger than the resolution and scale it down. This seemed counterintuitive to me.

So, I switched to Gdevelop. I ran into a few bugs simply because the game is 64 x 64 pixels. The dev team behind Gdevelop told me, they've never tested a game this small before. So they want me to submit it to their bug report page!

Pixel art was fun at this size, and wasn't challenging at all.

What did you learn?
I learned that I really enjoy making retro style pixel art. I also learned how to use Beepbox to make music. Most importantly, I learned how to build a game with Gdevelop.

I also learned to not be so ambitious with your ideas. My original idea for this game was going to be 5 levels with a boss at the end of each stage. I spent so much time making the actual game work, that I only had time to build one level.

Thanks for playing, let me know what you think! I'd love to improve from this experience.

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Comments

NeoN_thrillerSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Great game especially for a first game. Loved the retro (NES) style music and SFX.

Submitted

Snail Trail (Jam Version)

ReabsSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Others have already said the major points of issue. Very excellent game for a first complete.

Submitted

Ted BendixsonSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Love the cover art! It's obviously taken from Ninja Gaiden, but it's so expressive and it gives you an immediate feeling for what you're getting into.

The game controls well too. I noticed that enemies attack you from above, and you don't have a way to attack them back by pointing the ninja star upwards. That would be really helpful.

I also like that you gave me a little play space early on just to mess around and learn about the controls before getting hit with a bunch of enemies.

GistSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I enjoyed the feel of playing and the music~ As others have said, it's a little punishing without having multiple lives. But it's a great entry, especially if this is your first game! Nice work~

Submitted

savioriumSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I liked NES aestetics: sounds and pixel art pallets. The title screen reminded me of Ninja Gaiden. Music is wonderful, and very fitting, good job.

A couple of issues in my opinion - are that although you have a health bar, most on the deaths are one shots from lasers, spikes or ladders. And normal enemies can be tanked, because there are lots of health and bonuses.

Also, I ran to the left at the beggining of the level and fell off the world =)

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Hi! Thanks for the great feedback! I agree about the one shot damage. It’s definitely too punishing without numerous lives to lose.

I had originally planned on the player having 3 lives. But I could never figure out how to get Gdevelop to do that in time. Then I tried to change the damage on my lasers and spikes, and that ended up being too many changes that close to the deadline.

As for the off the screen soft locks, it’s happened a couple of times to other players here as well. The only thing wrong there is lack of an off-screen-wall-tile to prevent the character from going further. Once the jam rating period is over I’ll release the updated versions :-)

But I’m making a short list of the changes to make based on y’all’s amazing feedback and I plan to implement them in my next update!

rujogamesSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I love the graphics (the title screen is actually amazing)

good platforming, it just needs a little polishing (ex. the wrong double jumps when you land on a platform with the jump button pressed)

great entry!

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago (1 edit)

Hi! I’m glad you liked the game! That’s such a nice compliment about the title screen :-) and I really appreciate the feedback about the jumping.

I agree, I only want the Ninja to be able to jump once per input. It was one of the things on my list to fix, but another idea axed due to time.

As it is now he has this weird auto jumping when he’s climbing up to higher platforms, or if you hold down the space key he jumps continuously. If you completely release the space bar before he touches the ground again, it works but it’s not ideal. I learned that attention to little touches in playing mechanics take lots of time to get just right, and if you fix one bug you’ve uncovered another.

Now that I understand Gdevelop some more I’ll probably try to rebuild the game in a slightly larger widescreen ratio, using only JavaScript code blocks. Thanks again!

NorishiopanSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Brilliant! I had a lot of fun playing as this little guy. Scope is always an issue I have too, it's a hard lesson to learn! If you continue and make the remaining levels, I'd love to play them.

Also the music slaps

Submitted

Foul - Low Rez Jam Demo

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago

Oh wow, thank you so much for the compliments! Yes the scope may have been to much for the jam but not for my own project. Comments like yours are definitely inspiring me to continue the development. :-) Thanks again :-)

rwinsteadSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Nice job! You really nailed the NES/ SNES classic platforming aesthetic. The movement and controls felt really snappy and responsive, and I appreciate that the game runs literally at 64x64 pixels. I also grew up with NES platforming – crazy how fun simple platforming can be :). Keep it up!

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago

Wow I really appreciate your positive feedback on the game! Thank you! I grew up with NES platforming too. Really into Capcom and Konami games. Thanks for playing! I had a blast with yours too.

Kenneth DodrillSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Cool game! I really like the music and sound effects. Like others are saying, lasers are punishing, perhaps too much. Spikes were okay for me but I would usually just nick the lasers :(

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by to rate and comment :-) now that so many people have noticed the difficulty of the lasers and spikes I’m looking at tweaking them and some aspects of the stage like a respawn point to make it less punishing. Thanks for the feedback!

YxureSubmitted3 years ago(+2)

Nice game! I really enjoyed the music. Spikes and laser are a bit punishing. I found a bug in this room. If you go in that direction, player disappear and you have to close the game. Also i think a platform is missing at the end of the stair because you fall when you climb.

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Thanks a bunch! Okay I’ll take a look at fixing that. I was debating whether or not the lasers and spikes were too difficult. I’m looking at tweaking them and the rest of the stage based on this feedback. I want to add more levels with different tilesets and maybe a lowrez widescreen aspect ratio too. Thanks for the feedback!

Paul59Submitted3 years ago(+1)

Nice!

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago

Thank you!

MFauzanSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

nice platformer game.

the music and graphics remind me of NES games.

good job.

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks for the nice compliment! I grew up with NES so it's definitely an inspiration. Thanks for noticing :-)

ahintoflimeSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Nice old-school feeling action platformer, it brought back playing TMNT on the NES for me. Could use checkpoints, but very nice job, especially for your first jam! loved the enemy variety.

Submitted

Pocket Volleyball

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

I totally agree! I wanted to implement checkpoints but ran out of time. I tried to compensate by placing more Health Tanks. I LOVE TMNT on NES it’s one of my all time favorites for sure. Thanks a bunch!

jonah-srgSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

A solid little platformer with a nice aesthetic all around. The hazards are all clear and readable, and every screen presents a challenge like an NES action platformer would. The controls are a touch slippery, and I felt that made the laser hazards a bit unforgiving. Well done!

Submitted

ExtraMustardDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks a bunch! Yes I agree the controls are kind of slippery. I want to tweak them now that the deadline is over, haha. Thanks for the feedback! I was definitely inspired by NES/Master System 8 bit style art.