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Strange Transmission's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Enjoyment | #1 | 4.111 | 4.111 |
| Execution | #4 | 3.444 | 3.444 |
| Overall | #4 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Metroidvania | #5 | 3.222 | 3.222 |
| Sensory | #11 | 2.556 | 2.556 |
Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team/Developer
pacorp
External assets
Music, sfx
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Comments
This was one of the most enjoyable entries I've played so far! I've played to the end, something I rarely do.
I've found the level design very original. At first I was impressed by the fact you could see the rest of the level in the background, which builds anticipation. But then the first corner took me by surprise, it was a nice fakeout with the platform on the other side. This is an interesting layout, though it can be hard to wrap your head around it and sometimes other parts of the level would obstruct the view. But all in all it was a net positive.
The music was good, though it doesn't loop too well. The spider is nicely animated but I think speeding up the animation a bit would make it more believable. I encountered a few bugs where the spider's sprite was flipped horizontally compared to my direction.
I only encountered the same softlock TeePeeDee did, so I had to restart the game. I also lost a bit of time near the end because I couldn't identify the way forward (I needed to take a corner) and instead fell back to the beginning or so. Being able to move the camera forward a bit with the right stick would have been helpful in this situation (it's already nice that this entry has controllers support!)
Good job again, I thoroughly enjoyed that one!
Thanks for playing, glad you liked it enough to finish it, especially having to restart after the bug. No disagreements on any of your points, not that my entries ever have much polish but this one get even less due to life stuff and concerted effort to get Blender into the workflow. Despite that, I’m really happy you got all the important beats I was trying to get across. Maybe this will finally be the jam where I actually keep working on it…
such an interesting entry... really ambitious on the mechanics and it could be odd with the 2.5d to know exactly where the spider was going to attempt to go next with the jumps... I seemed to manage to trap myself (in the picture posted) I couldn't get up here and think I had messed up the machine above, to not get past the path to the right... I think if I was rating just on potential it might be my favourite entry, but feels like it needs a little bit more finessing before it becomes what it can become... I hope you continue with this game because more work could raise this from very good to a truly great game.
Please take my criticism about lack of polish in the spirit it is intended... because the fact you managed to get such a complex mechanic (mostly) working in a Jam is seriously impressive.
Thanks for the bug report and feedback, it’s hugely motivating! No disagreements on the lack of polish, I always want to do more but haven’t figure out how to manage my time well enough yet.
Sorry you got stuck, in the final hours before the deadline I found 2 breaking bugs, one of them lead to a quick “redesign” of the section so I didn’t have time to thoroughly test it.
RE: knowing where the jumps are going; I want to put a marking on the ground so you know when it happens and hopefully that will keep the player oriented. My intent was to have “obvious secrets” where you can see the goal, you just have to realize you can jump there. Though, I really did screw up with one of the turn jumps because if you don’t make the jump, you have to go around again and redo a jumping puzzle, I should be keeping the “context window” small for that stuff you so can try again.
Thanks again for playing!
It's fun to exploring a 3D map with 2D control, but some location hard to know where the route is.
the most confuse point is last corner jump after maze, I fall once before realise I can jump to the platform on the background.
except that point, this is interesting metroidvania game.
Just want to know, what's visual your 3D map suppose to be ?
is that a big machine ?
Thanks for playing, glad you found it interesting. Yes, the idea was that it’s supposed to be complicated machine, I was inspired by vehicle engines and transmissions but I’m obviously still working on my art skills so almost none of that comes across. I had a vague idea on “transmission” as a pun for “message” and “gearbox” but I didn’t leave enough time to make the intro scene.
My intent is to actually have more of the jumps at the end, where you can see the target but have to realize you’ll jump around the turn but I definitely should have made it so you don’t have to go ALL the way around again, big oversight on my part.
I made the blocks different colors at the last minute to help make the areas more distinct but as you noted, I still need to figure out a way to navigating a little better. My current ideas are letting you angle the camera or I might try doing a “unrolled” map but I think I’ll just have to experiment.
Very solid design and attractive level layout.
Bug report: I got stuck when I jumped from blue are to red and landed in a skew angle, the character wouldn't move in any direction.
Thanks for the feedback and bug report. I spent soooo much time trying to make sure I blocked things off but completely missed that one!
I love the concept of combining 2D and 3D in this way. Theoretically, it could be completely 2D without losing any gameplay elements, but this way you can easily see where the upgrades are. You just have to figure out how to get there. This makes the game feel like a big puzzle, which works great with Metroidvania-style exploration. I had a lot of fun playing this game!
Glad you liked it, that’s what exactly what I was going for. I wish I had more time to get the other mechanics in but I even though it’s very incomplete, I think the idea has legs.
I would like to know what final ability you had planned :)
I really loved the 3D movement, very nice touch. I managed to break the game at some point and jump off the map falling infinitely as there was no death plane. After restarting I still had the wall jump ability.
The platforming was pretty solid. Not sure about the wall hold ability, I couldn't find a use for it. Also, that final sequence jumping between falling platform...brutal :D.
I'd love to see more of this.
L.E. oh, and submitting 1 minute before deadline, crazy tight!
Thanks for playing! If you wall hold on the final section, which was my intent, it should not be hard, I’m impressed you managed to do it without it! The wall hold is also the wall jump but it doesn’t require you to actually “hold” onto the wall, it just needs to be close enough. The other ability I implemented was as you wall slide, it charges a dash. I wanted to upgrade visuals, making the back section a gear and coil spring but didn’t get to it. I also wanted to have some “switches” where you slide on the wall to activate them.
Do you happen to remember which area you fell off the world? I tried to find all of them and wanted to implement a failsafe but ran out of time, though maybe after work I can figure it out before the fix period is over (which I forgot existed).
Also, thanks for the noting the restart bug, though I think in this case it actually helps a little since I didn’t finish save/load.
PSA, don’t be like me, submit earlier, it’s very stressful!
Ah, so that's what the hold was for. I found the wall jump tight enough without it.
I went to the 3 pistons blocking the way and wall-jumped between one of them and the wall. After getting on top of the piston I jumped left. It took me between the white and pink gear mechanisms but instead of moving left when I pressed the key, the spider moved towards the camera, and fell off the map.
I submitted with 40 minutes on the clock (sic) and found it stressful enough.
Thank you again for the bug report, that section is where I did a change 1hr before the deadline to fix something else but then introduced that new bug. Fixed now, hopefully that’s the only one but I also put in a an out-of-bounds volume.
This game is actually playable, and I quite like the 3D mechanic that this game has.
Though, The game is not competed
I’m glad you found some of it enjoyable. Yeah, some life stuff happened mid-jam so it was a real scramble to get an experience together at all. I fully implemented another ability and some additional mechanics but didn’t have time to properly design around them so left them out entirely instead of putting in a bunch of half-baked ideas.