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A jam submission

Off-Brand HeroView game page

Vimjam Game Jam entry - 9th place
Submitted by MightyJor (@Barelyevengames) — 11 hours, 49 minutes before the deadline
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Off-Brand Hero's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun/Design#64.3524.352
Music/Sound#84.1974.197
Overall#94.1724.172
Technical Implementation#173.9723.972
Theme/Limitation#174.2254.225
Graphics/Animation#294.1134.113

Ranked from 71 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game utilize the limitation and theme?
Character completes the hero's journey having grown in strength and power to ultimately return and defeat the starting boss. Character collects money and a substance called collectoplasm in order to collect costumes which unlock abilities.

What was your team size?

Solo

You worked alone

Affirm you have followed ALL jam rules. (Select all below or your entry will be disqualified.)

We have credited all assets used in the game including our own name(s) or team name(s)

All original game code and original assets were made during the jam period

The game does not include NSFW or hateful content

The game works on the web or as a Windows 10 download

We have answered all submission questions honestly and completely

If your game includes any of the optional challenges, select them below:

Theme Party

Use a theme and/or limitation from one of the past 8 Bits to Infinity jams in addition to the main theme

Hidden Secrets

Feature secret items rooms or features in the game

If you did any of the optional challenges, explain how they were used:
*Theme Party*
I used the additional theme of "Exploration" from the retro platformer jam. The game has a focus on exploring hidden areas to find the coins necessary in order to progress.

*Hidden Secrets*
There is a hidden room in my game with an easter egg sound file from when the music was being composed. There is a hint on how to get to it in my description.

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Comments

Viewing comments 56 to 37 of 56 · Next page · Last page
Submitted

Wow! There really isn't much to say because it's just a really fun game!

The ninja needed some time to get used to as I kept dashing into the laser even at quite close distances when I thought I had it. I don't know how it could be improved but I had some trouble guessing the appropriate dashing distance.

The second problem was much bigger. At one time I wanted to pause the game because I had something to do in another room. It was more out of habit because there really isn't a point in pausing this game. The usual button to pause a game is the Esc key which closed the whole application for me. When I opened it back up I realized that it doesn't save my progress. So a heads up for anyone playing, don't hit Esc.

Because I really liked the game I went back to it and eventually completed it. It's certainly a pretty big flaw if you can lose progress this easily. Especially that I was quite far.

All in all a very good entry! I will check out your devlog after the jam is done. Really cute game with great sounds. The camera shakes are just right too. It felt really good to get the final costume because of the ability effects. The not-shovel-knight was really satisfying  to use when breaking a lot of blocks or jumping on the circle-enemies one after the other. The slight variations in jump height and speed between the costumes was great too. Loved the costumes idea with all the off-brand characters. And the level designs were fun too. (The hidden rooms were a great addition too)

Good one!

Submitted

its fun! level design in decently good, cute characters! its gets a little tedious as i progress further and the camera bugs me a little when i don't quite make the jump on transitions but all in all you did a lot in the time frame and its pretty solid!

well done!

Submitted

I really liked this game! One of my favorites from the jam!

Submitted

Nice game, but some of the paths you were supposed to take weren't entirely clear

Submitted

This was really fun! I like the music and sound design too and switching abilities with costumes is a great idea. I'm in a bit of a rush, but I'll have to come back to see the ending later. Very cool, well done :)

Submitted(+1)

Amazing game. I was already hooked the moment I heard the music from the title screen. The game itself is cute and kinda funny, but in a good way.  Kinda felt a little reference from Shovel Knight which I'm a huge fan. I also looked your Credits, looks like you even have a cool and supporting family.

Overall, it's a good game and a good entry for this jam!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It was really hard picking who I wanted for my final costume and I originally had Batman with a grapple, but then I thought I didn’t have nearly the indie representation I wanted. And shovel knight is basically the mascot of indie games for me. And yep, my family is awesome! Though one of them happens to have the same name and is actually my best friend and not related, they are all hugely supportive. My wife especially has been a saint dealing with me cooped up in the office alone. So yeah, I’m a lucky guy :)

Submitted(+1)

Funny game , i enjoyed playing this!

Game mechanics for each character are cool and game runs smoothly. Interesting idea to change habilities according to costumes.

Congratulations!

Developer

Thanks so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Submitted(+1)

Amazing game!!! speechless, I like everything on it! really awesome!

Could you check my Jam entry? I'll really appreciate it, Thanks!

Developer

Thanks so much! I’ll check yours out for sure :)

Submitted(+1)

Hi! it’s a really fun game! I loved the reference to shovel knight!

Your art is really cut and i really liked the level design, good job!!

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much! I think you’re the first person who’s mentioned shovel knight...I was wondering if anyone even caught it! Not that I didn’t make it super obvious haha.

Submitted(+1)

Great game! I really loved playing this one :) Some feedback I have to say the camera was rather confusing at times so a second look into that would really help the feel of this. Other than that the controls felt smooth & it fitted the theme really well! Keep it up :D 

Would be great if you could check my game also <3

Developer

Thanks a lot! Yep I’m definitely working on improving the camera for the next patch. 

(+1)

Cool game, I like costume/ability swapping mechanic.
I also appreciate the full circle where you end where the game began. Very cool!

Developer

Thanks a lot! I’m so glad you were able to complete it :)

Submitted(+1)

I absolutely adored this! 

Short and very sweet game. The music was great and upbeat and I loved the references with the costumes and the gameplay was satisfying. The metroidvania style gameplay was a real interesting way of implementing the theme and I think you did a great job with it! The ending also made me smile real big. 

Awesome job on this game! :)

Developer

Thank you so much for sticking around until the end! I’m glad you had fun with it!

(+1)

Judged on stream for the "Judges Choice" -award. https://www.twitch.tv/efmi_ Tuesday 29th at 3h 40min

Developer(+1)

Thanks so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed it and thank you for playing it to completion!

Submitted(+1)

Great game! Short and Sweet.

I think I found two bugs

- L was left in
- and if you use the final punch to knock yourself back a lot, the villain doesn't follow the knockback

Developer(+1)

Thanks for catching that! I knew about the “L” key, I left it in if anyone wanted to see the end and not play the game, but I probably should have made it less easy to stumble upon on accident. I haven’t heard about the punching bug so I’ll address that for sure!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I love metroidvanias and this is not an exception loved it!The music is amazing and the visuals are cute :)I  espacily loved when we meet the vilian background music gets altered it was so cool :D Movement controls feels good to handle and on point.My only issue is sometimes cameras movements made me confused.Other than this small issue this game is one of the best i have ever seen in this jam

Amazing work! :D

Developer

Thanks so much for playing! Yes I think the cameras need some work for them to help rather than hinder the experience. I think I abused the camera room locking a little too much in the starting area especially. It can be a little disorienting. Glad you had fun with it though and I’m so happy you finished it!

Submitted(+1)

That was such a complete game! I loved the level design of going around in the world and wrapping back to the start to get more abilities to progress further on. The main boss that kept coming back during throughout parts of the game was a really good theme as well. The squash and stretch animations were solid and the controls were super snappy. Also, that music deserves 5 stars, it was amazing and triumphant as you traversed the levels!

A few nitpicks: the costume changing can feel a bit cumbersome at times once you get so many that you have to cycle through them all to get to the right one but that can also be part of the challenge of collecting them all and sometimes the UI on the top left would cover the player or some important parts of the levels/pickups.

Other than that I loved this entry, very solid game jam game!

Developer

Thanks so much for playing through it! And I’m glad you enjoyed the music, that was absolutely my favorite part to make. And the costume swapping definitely seems to be the most tedious thing for something. I think a costume wheel or even a back button would work great. I appreciate all the feedback!

Submitted(+1)

Really nice game you've created! Downloaded the Windows version as suggested and I finished it. Nice feel to the character movement and jumping. Music and sounds were very fitting. Loved the idea of the costumes and the level design was good. I had no trouble working out what to do next or where to go. 

The only negative I can say is that death came a little too suddenly and had no repercussions but that was a small thing for a jam game really.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for getting to the end, and I appreciate that you took the extra time for the windows version, it has a few extra details I love that didn’t make it to the HTML version due to time restraints. And yeah, the deaths seem to be the biggest problem for a lot people so I’m going to get right on those! I think I’ll have a much better system in version 1.2 :)

(+1)

Yeah it had some bugs but overall it was a great game, i liked the game idea, the characters were cute. Next time you should leave the last day to fix build bugs, they always appear. 


Feel free to check out my game, it will mean a lot to me 

Developer

Thanks for playing through it! Yeah I’ll definitely have to work on making that HTML port a priority in the future. I’ve never had problems getting one to work until this one, but this is also the biggest game I’ve made by far with the most unique code, so it makes sense I would see it here. I definitely learned a lot and I think I’ll be able to create a much more stable HTML port in the future :)

Submitted(+1)

+ Great aesthetic
+ Loved the cute sounds
+ Interesting mechanics
+ Great level design, especially how new areas become available as you unlock different outfits

- Maybe adding hitpoints so you don't instantly die would be nice... I felt a bit punished a couple of times...
- Camera was a little odd at times... I think it just needs a little more polish

Developer(+1)

Thanks so much for playing through the game! So glad you appreciated the level design as that was quite the challenge to get right!

Hit points seem to be a huge thing that people want. I left them out intentionally thinking each little room could be it’s own celeste like puzzle, but it definitely didn’t work quite that way in implementation. There weren’t enough checkpoints I think for that to work the same. And I initially had a smoother slower camera and made it go faster which was probably not smart in retrospect. It’s just a little bit too fast when it updates. Also I think for a future build I would have less “rooms” are more sections where the camera follows the player since I think the camera bothered some people. 
Thank you for all the feedback!

Submitted(+1)

I love this job. I played it for rating first, but i think, i can play it sometimes. Sounds and graphics are good. Animations are nearly perfect. I like the level design. Wonderful job.

Developer

Thanks so much for playing through it!

Viewing comments 56 to 37 of 56 · Next page · Last page