This was super cool! The sailing was really fun and innovative, even with no sailing experience I got the handle of it pretty well. The controls felt snappy and rewarding, when I thought I should be going fast, I was, and when I wanted to go slow, I did. The audio was also really well done, overall amazing job!
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Renegatta's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #51 | 3.423 | 3.423 |
| Graphics | #55 | 3.808 | 3.808 |
| Overall | #66 | 3.462 | 3.462 |
| Audio | #80 | 3.346 | 3.346 |
| Innovation | #124 | 3.154 | 3.154 |
| Theme interpretation | #145 | 3.192 | 3.192 |
Ranked from 26 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
GitHub repository URL
https://github.com/Lanyard31/RenegadeRegatta
Game description
Sail through a windswept archipelago and confront what lurks below.
Theme interpretation
I set my game in the ocean. You captain a sailing vessel. Waves and tides influence your freedom of movement at all times. And below the waves, something is watching you...
Comments
Really enjoyed this!! As someone with zero sailing experience it took me a little while to get used to the controls, but I managed to amble my way through to the end :)
All the visuals slot in nicely with each other and are arranged really well, as is the audio! The highlight for me was the controls, it's a really unique system and is much more complex than most other ship controllers I've seen. The instructions for sailing upwind were a bit confusing, but looking back they did point me in the right general direction. Once I worked it out, though, it was a super creative movement system that felt very complete as far as jam movement goes!
Combat was quite difficult, multitasking the movement of the ship, dodging the rocks and lining up the cannons was challenging, but satisfying when pulled off correctly. I get the impression that's what you were going for rather than simple combat, and it came out really nicely! The whole game felt really complete, it was short but well-contained and I didn't really feel like I was missing anything by the time I reached the end.
Scrounging a bit for some feedback, though, it was a little difficult to read the fullness of the sails, especially when they were parallel to the wind. I'm not entirely sure how to enhance this while keeping everything diegetic and not adding some out-of-place UI, possibly adding some extra wind lines around the sails depending on how full they are? I also had a bit of trouble with the aiming of the cannons at times, it seemed like the angle of fire was changing depending on the movement of the ship but I couldn't figure out what was actually causing that change, and kinda just had to keep trying until it all lined up. I did also notice one minor bug: when a small amount of damage is done to the ship, it won't repair itself until more damage is dealt- you're just stuck with some minor damage until the next hit (though this could be just visual).
Overall, really nice game, very few criticisms! Had a great time playing around with this one :)))
Submitted
pale broadcastThis was fun! I like the aesthetics. Great feel of discovery! The unconventional controls take some time to make sense of a bit more to get a good grasp but feel really satisfying when you do! Could be a really cool sea adventure game
Some weak spots I've met: - camera angle drastically limits your view towards south - once I first heard a tentacle and only then I saw it lol - there are shallow land patches which totally looked like shortcuts when submerged, but they were not -_- And this is how I lost the first time hahaha - the knockback force from crashing the land seems to be a bit too strong, feeling of loosing control of your ship is a bad feeling, I'd suggest nerfing that by some degree
Other than that, great job!
Submitted
Zero Waves RemainsActual Sailing and Discovery were two "pillars" I had in my mind, so I'm glad you picked up on that and had a good time out on the water. Good critique points here. I was aware that the against the wind sailing also featured that difficult camera angle, but I sort of thought it seemed appropriate for sailing close-hauled like that. Besides, also throwing in camera rotation on top of boat rotation AND sail rotation and keeping track of the wind, I thought it was probably doomed to be totally overwhelming for jam players, probably riding the edge of that as it is.
Your first impression was the correct one, there are some shortcuts in the level, but you have to get the wave timing just right to clear them (hint: backwind your sails to slow down), it's not easy but can shave serious time if you master it. And on the last point, I think I agree. I did it that way to prevent the player from getting stuck when running aground and because it makes me laugh, but I think it is indeed probably a bit overdone with a few days hindsight now. Thanks for the in-depth look. I just had a look at your game too, I'll leave my review over there :)
Great fun, difficult but rewarding game play loop. Would love to see this as part of a greater pirate adventure game. Sid Meir Pirates style perhaps. Either way, was a lot of fun and felt great when i downed the last boss. Great work!
Submitted
WAVE / LENGTHThese sails feel like they work how they should work. Good implementation! Since I've worked on another pirate game, I can see where we went different paths. You really nailed it!
Submitted
Pirate WavesHaving played quite a bit of these sailing games during jams over the years, and none of them has come even close to the sailing mechanics of this game. Gosh, upwind sailing and all. And everything feeling so polished and smooth about the movement.
The game is a bit light around the sailing though but I think its superb implementation makes up for it.
I think there could be potential for this game if you add more meat around the bones after the jam!
Submitted
RESOKILLNash, man, really good to read your review. Kinda feels like one I was subconsciously "waiting for". I spent the first half of the jam getting the water, wind, and ship movement all really tuned in and slick as possible. I realize now that I was trying to answer the question if I could make Sailing on the wind an actual core game mechanic. Your review gives me some insight that I might have succeeded and there's something to explore further here. So thank you.
I agree the game is somewhat light around the sailing, but I am curious to ask you, if it were more substantial, a larger project let's say, where would you see that meat on the bones being added? I have my own ideas and fantasies of course, but I'd like to hear your thoughts if you can offer any.
As a sailor myself I'm impressed how well you interpreted the base sailing mechanics to a game, well done! Pretty fun gameloop though it can get repetitive quite fast.
Well polished, I had fun playing it, thanks!
Submitted
The Tale of Cape Lo茂cThanks Zahkros, yeah, I've wondered for a long time if sailing mechanics could translate into game mechanics. Really just the tip of the iceberg here with ideas such as voyage provisioning, dead reckoning, anchoring and exploration also making me wonder. But only so much time to build in one month, so when I saw the theme I thought of Tides and then Points of Sail was the most interesting thing to try and unpack. And then, yeah, wrap it in a pirate theme so its recognizable and there's a little more of something to do than just move. Can you be more specific for me about what you found to be repetitive? It would help me think about how and where this game design might go from here. Thanks for the review.
Its pretty fun. Art is amazing and the controls are very ergonomic. I like the job done here
Submitted
Harmonic Silence
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