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A jam submission

Now And ThenView game page

Shane has committed a heinous crime, and awaiting a death sentence, or is he?
Submitted by HisHighness1 — 2 days, 13 hours before the deadline
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Now And Then's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creative use of art assets#3742.8642.864
Engagement#4012.8182.818
Overall#4042.7422.742
Overall polish#4342.5452.545

Ranked from 22 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted

I can only say what others have already said. Interesting story, (although the info dump tutorial was a bit tedious to read thruogh) but the controls and the lack of sound makes it a hard experience to get through. Clearly your strong suit is writing so maybe you should team up with a programmer or someone who can help realise your ideas.

Developer

Thanks, I appreciate your feedback, its my first game jam, as well as my first publicized game, and I didnt have enough time to implement sound.

Submitted

The story was interesting and got me engaged, but I had to stop playing very quickly. The controls are weird, the character is very very floaty (it feels like the game takes place on the moon), and my bullets went to the upper left corner of the screen if the vfx are to be trusted. Plus, the very first challenge (the spikes with the cannon shooting continuously) is so hard (but maybe it's because I couldn't use my gun to shoot it). 

It's too bad because I really wanted to see what happens, even though there was a bit too much dialogue at the very start (for that I recommend spreading the tutorials over the first level instead of giving all this information from the get go, players will have a better chance to memorize it).

Developer

Thank you for feedback

Submitted

Nice dialog, the movement was very floaty and kind of felt like you were on the moon. Also at one point you need to drop down without actually seeing any of the platforms which was kind of annoying and the spikes do way too much damage (maybe push the player up when they hit them). Other than that it was pretty engaging and had a nice story!

Developer

Much appreciated fellow gamedev, thank you

Submitted

I liked the dialog, and the platforming was nice. I struggled a bit with w as jump and not space, and the jumping felt a bit floaty and inconsistent (sometimes I could jump higher than other times). But overall it was a good game, well done.

Developer

Thanks for your feedback, hope you enjoyed it

Submitted

I like your writing style. I found the control scheme to be a problem for me. I'm really used to using the spacebar to jump. It's really hard to do a tutorial level correctly for a game jam, but since you asked for feedback, it is generally better to dole out the control/mechanics one at a time rather than all at once upfront. 

Also, silly thing: I thought the spinning red circle at the beginning was a custom level loading symbol, so I sat there for a long while just waiting for something to happen. (LOL!)

Developer (1 edit)

Oh, thanks alot for your feedback and playing the game

Submitted

I liked the dialogue/story in this. The controls and stamina felt a little weird, I kept wanting to jump with space but maybe that was just a me problem. I found myself running out of stamina a little too fast. Overall creative and nicely polished game!

Developer

Glad you liked my game, thanks for the feedback!.

Controls are in the starting dialogue. Press W to jump

Submitted

Love the dialogue. The platforming is a little janky, the rope is a cool idea. With some more time fleshing out the movement this could be a very solid game

Developer(+1)

Ok, appreciate it! I will work more on better jumping and plaforming

Submitted

I really liked the story of the game! The dialogue was very creative and funny! It would be nice to see a full game like that! Here's a few tips that might help if u want to continue this project:

  • The player has no invencibility, so when I hit something more than one life was taken away. 
  • I felt like if the player horizontal velocity was a little bit faster, i would feel more controll over the game. The jump is floaty, so maybe increasing gravity value would fix that.
  • Sound effects and player feedback like screenshakes or knockback would be nice.
  • Every time that i shot, a line was formed behind the player, and no feedback that the bullets were coming out from the gun appeared. That made me think that maybe the game was trying to teach me to shoot looking to the opposite direction. Not sure if that was a bug that appeared only for me thought.

But good job! You are very creative.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for your feedback and playing my game. Alot has been asked about more effects. And a less floaty jump. I will work on fixing that, thanks.

Submitted

I loved the dialogue you wrote, it was really funny and all the self references in it made for a good atmosphere, including the guide being a floating watch xD The gameplay was fun and I found the jumping to be almost futuristic moon like, but it added to the challenge of trying to cross the level without getting hit (Jumping over all the bullets and the spikes at the same time was pretty rewarding). Maybe add some music and sound effects for a more full experience, although not sure if my sound just wasn't working or not haha. One of the guns didn't seem to do much damage and had a low amount of bullets though, unless that was intentional.

Overall had fun playing!

Developer(+1)

There were a few bullets in one of the guns which I wasnt worried about since if you look hard enough there are ammo pickups ;). But Im glad you liked the humour in the game. Thanks alot

Submitted

This was a very fun game to play.Jumping just felt a little off, to me that is. More player feedback to make it clearer what is happening on screen and you are set.I am able to imagine streamers playing a well developed version of this jam game.

Developer

You have no idea how constructive that was! Thanks a million for the feedback

Developer

NOTE FROM THE DEVELOPER

I apologize if I have caused you problems, as my game had spawn point issues that spawned the player in the middle of the level. 

Thats fixed now and you can check it out. Let me know if you find more bugs.

Submitted

Cool game. You put a lot of work and love in it. I played it two times now both times I got stuck up the moving platforms. I couldn't jump off of them. The jumping is also a little but floaty. The stopwatch that makes you move faster is een fun idea and work for me (I didn't mind the floating very much if I m manipulating space and time). And the rope worked really well.


Some tips/ideas/things you could think about:

- having stronger gravity and stronger jump-force would help making the character feel less floaty.

- make the hit box of the spikes smaller or have the spikes away a little lower then the platform you want to land on. It makes it a little bit clearer when they would hit you.

- have a little visual effect (on the player character) when you get hit. Have him flash red or loose some blood. You can do that on the enemies as well. This makes it clear that you get hit every easy and is fun.

- have the enemies change sprite if they change direction.

- Jonas Tyroller made a video with 5 tips for indie platformers. Maybe there is something in there that can help you. 


But take my advice with a bit of salt. You put a lot of love into your game and should always make the way you think is the best.


Keep on the good work!

J.W. Veenman

Developer (1 edit)

Sorry for the trouble I have caused you with my bugs. The game is fixed now and the platforms work. Thank you greatly for pointing out the bugs

Submitted

I'm happy I could help.

Submitted

cool game but it has a lot of bugs and gameplay doesn't feel satisfying

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks for playing and for the feedback

Edit: Tried to fix a few bugs, maybe take a look now if you want to

Submitted

I enjoyed playing, but I sucked. It always felt fair, though. The only thing that I would say is a little unfortunate is the camera. I felt like I was always too far to the left, so I couldn't see ahead of me (to the left). That may be intentional or it may just be on my computer. It was overall fun, though!

Developer (1 edit)

The camera is positioned a bit to the right intentionally to make it easier for the player to see what is ahead. But Im very happy you liked my game and I appreciate your feedback

Edit: I am getting your game right now

Submitted

OH, I'm dumb! I was trying to go left. Oops!

I personally liked this game it has a pretty cool story I like the grappling mechanic and it was pretty nice, the game is challenging and it's pretty fun to play. Overall it's a pretty cool game and I rly liked it, so if u haven't tried it yet I suggest u do  : )

Submitted

Other than the floaty jump, really good and challenging game! Loved it!

Submitted

The jump seems too floaty, and I cant seem to jump on the moving platforms. Game is really nice apart from those though

Developer

I appreciate your insight. The moving platforms were tough but doable according to many people but very sorry if it doesnt work on your device

Submitted

Really interesting story. For the game play it's not bad the movement feels a little bit to floaty for a jump and the ground sometimes has clipping issues. Besides that pretty cool game and well done for 48 hours :D.

Developer

Thanks for playing and for your insight. 

Submitted

I dig this game a lot! I really suck at 2D platformers so take my feedback with a big grain of salt because these are not my forte: 

- I wish the jumping was a bit snappier. The weightlessness of it made it harder at times than I think it needed to be. 

- I LOVE the rope mechanic. I'm a sucker for games where you can swing like Indiana Jones. That to me was just so fun. I'd go so far as to say that should be the main conceit of the game. 

- On that note, I'd even say that the whole combat/shooting system could be removed, which would sync up better with the narrative imo: if he's trying to not be an awful person, instead of blasting his way through time cops, having him maneuver and navigate around them would make more sense. 

- The humor is awesome. I like how the watch breaks the 4th wall. 

So yeah, I think this has all the makings of a really cool game. Great job!! :) 

Developer

Delighted that you like my game and I absolutely love feedback as deep and detailed as this. I made the shooting system for the player to defend him self from enemies in an already fairly tough level. I wish I had more comments like yours, thanks a lot.