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A jam submission

Goats Gorge: Dusty Descent 1.5View game page

Descend into the Devil's Maw to save the town of Emerald Creek from damnation!
Submitted by Joseph_MorMar, Ryr, EelShep, Living VideoGame Music Composer (@jomamabeats) — 19 days, 5 hours before the deadline
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Goats Gorge: Dusty Descent 1.5's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Metroidvania#34.4004.400
Audio#34.0004.000
Enjoyment#63.6003.600
Overall#63.7203.720
Execution#63.4003.400
Visuals#83.2003.200

Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Team/Developer
Joseph MorMar, Route126, Ryr, KK, LivingGameMusic, Leo Constantinides

Reference info
Discord joseph_mormar

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

I've spent about two hours on it, and I've had a great time. I love the music and all the sound aspects. Also, the old-school aesthetic reminds me of some PC games I used to play in the early 2000s.

As others have commented, the game feels somewhat labyrinthine, especially because many paths (maybe too many) are blocked until you find the necessary upgrade to pass through. Perhaps the issue is that the rooms could have more distinctive features, like different enemies or different types of blocks. Maybe making the aesthetic of the map change as you progress downwards, so everything can be more identifiable. It's appreciated that you can walk while looking at the map.

I like that it has a story and the part in the city, although I would like to be able to return from time to time; I don't know what upgrade is necessary to do this. So far, I've only obtained the dash and the double jump.

Anyway, it's a great entry, with some things to polish but quite fun.

Developer

Hello,

Thank you for playing and for the feedback: we are noting down your points. We plan to add to future projects aspects like aesthetics for different biomes, and unique enemies for each sector. We are aware that this prevents monotony and helps player's orientation.

You can indeed go back to the Town once you find an elevator serving as Fast Travel point.

Thank you for your comment on the level design. That was my responsibility. Indeed you may feel funneled at the beginning until getting the second ability (Double Jump). I could have opened the map more from the start. After getting Double Jump, the level design opens up with more branching paths and several routes to get to the following abilities.

If you finish the game: in which sequence did you acquire the abilities ? Normal sequence is: Wall Jump, Double Jump, Dash Upgrade, Gun Upgrade, Roll.

I designed the levels to include 2 sequence breaks to acquire the abilities in several different orders, and one sequence break allows to complete the game 100% in less than 18 minutes.

Cheers

Developer (2 edits) (+1)

Hello again,

We took your feedback seriously (level design, separate biomes with different aesthetics) and I am happy to share the new Metroidvania we have published for the MVM23 Jam Session.

Would you give it a try and let us know what you think? That would mean a lot to us.

I encourage you to try and finish it,

Cheers

https://itch.io/jam/metroidvania-month-23/rate/2538832

https://eelshep.itch.io/meteora

Submitted

Sure, I'll definitely check it out! :)

Submitted

Not bad, its overall a fun game. There are a few clunky moments, but nothing that puts you off the game. 

The graphics give off a quaint retro feel and the music seems fitting for the setting.

Control wise jumping is a bit floaty but easy to get used to. The biggest issue however is a lack of 'coyote time', this resulted in me often falling off ledges instead of jumping as you cant be even a frame late with the button press.

The game starts off very maze like at first as there are many blocked paths you don't have the upgrades for but starts to open up once you get a few upgrades.

Overall decent level design, but until I got double jump I kept feeling like I was slowly being boxed in as all the paths would end in a dead end in which I needed another upgrade. This left me feeling lost until I finally stumbled upon the upgrade. Afterwards however, the level design seemed to naturally lead me to the next upgrade and even the upgrade after that.

As for the ending, I'm not sure if I sequence broke as after getting the roll upgrade I teleported to the top then dropped back down to the small hole you fall past at the beginning. From there I shot a wood wall blocking my path and the mine began 'collapsing' requiring me to climb back up which triggered the ending.

finally a small bug: Not sure of the exact timing but I shot a wood wall as I jumped into it and continued to float midair as if clinging to the now non-existent wall. Wasn't hard to revert to normal by jumping.

also the bats kept just getting stuck on nothing.


Anyway, good work and thanks for the fun game.

Developer (1 edit)

Hello,

Thank you for playing and for the feedback: we will be taking good care of the points you raised in future projects.

I appreciate your comment on level design, which was my responsibility. It is true that it may feel funneled until getting the second ability (Double Jump); after that the level design opens up with more branching paths and several routes to get to the following abilities.

Your sequence break was a possibility indeed planned in the level design. Not many players have found it. I am glad you explored the beginning of the map by using the teleport. Indeed, shooting that wood wall after getting the Roll ability triggers the ending. You can load your previous save and continue exploring.

In which sequence did you acquire the abilities ? Normal sequence is: Wall Jump, Double Jump, Dash Upgrade, Gun Upgrade, Roll.

I am glad to say that I designed the levels to include 2 sequence breaks to acquire the abilities in several different orders, and one sequence break allows to complete the game 100% in less than 18 minutes.

Cheers

Submitted

That sounds like the order I found the upgrades, I believe I was at 92% or something when I finished, only did the ending backwards using the sequence break which briefly confused me.

Glad my feedback may be of some use to you and the team.

Developer

You did some great percentage!

In fact, to be fair, I should clarify and correct myself.

What you did is not really a sequence break properly speaking, considering the way the game is designed.

You don't skip any content by doing that, or you don't change the order in the sequence of events.

In all cases, to do that you need Roll, which is the last ability whatever real sequence breaks you may have previously taken to access other abilities in different orders.

What you did is just an alternative way to trigger the ending. The usual way is to come from the left. You did good exploration after acquiring Roll and ended up coming from the right. It may have been confusing tough.

Nice insights from for part!

Keep in touch

Developer

Hello again,

We took your feedback seriously (jump too floaty, coyote time, level design, flying enemies) and I am happy to share the new Metroidvania we have published for the MVM23 Jam Session.

Would you give it a try and let us know what you think? That would mean a lot to us. I encourage you to try and finish it.

Thank you for your time,

Take care

https://itch.io/jam/metroidvania-month-23/rate/2538832

https://eelshep.itch.io/meteora

Submitted

Good looking entry!

The visuals are nice the cowboy theme is interesting and art style is very unique, and the audio fits the theme as well.

I like the level design of the game the game mechanics are designed very well.

The UIs have the cooldown for the ability it's very good, it's nice to have mini map but it's a bit too small.

Control: the player character can fall a bit faster, and need to limit the fire rate currently I can spam the input very fast and get a ton of bullets!

Monster: the bat stuck to the wall very often, and the mole? an enemy that hides in the ground can lower its attack delay.


Congratulations on submitting the entry!

Cheers

Developer

Hello,

Thank you for playing and for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed. Your points are very valid and are well noted. It's appreciated.

In which sequence did you acquire the abilities ? Normal sequence is: Wall Jump, Double Jump, Dash Upgrade, Gun Upgrade, Roll.

There are 2 sequence breaks to acquire them in several different orders, and sequence break allows to complete the game 100% in less than 18 minutes.

Cheers