Thanks for playing and leaving feedback.
I agree with everything you said and thought the same toward the end of the jam.
In the first level iteration you saw the tower as soon as the lift got to the top and I think naturally tried to get to it but the boost pad was off then looked for the switch ect. Then hopefully it would have made more sense than the current version as what to do once all the switches are pressed.
As the map was made and spaces got larger and changed, I found it really tough to keep it looking like a "real" place and hiding all the boost pads, so that when you are in the air, you only see the next one. I should have defended the "start->see tower->go to look for button" better.
I haven't made 3D space like that before until recently when I made a crypt with mini dark souls esk loop back. The times I had tried to make any 3D space before the crypt, I didnt get very far and got stuck in the logic of it all and bogged down because I wasn't blocking out, or so I learn from a course on Gumroad by Thiago Klafke.
I think what I ended up using as the final level was probably more like someone else's tighter 1st pass block out with a few finished elements.
I know what would have helped me is having all the gameplay elements locked in first before you make the space, not rough out an area , make some dialogue, half make a monster then try to fit everything together by using the limitations set by all the other pieces, like a reverse synergy.
I'm sure everyone feels the same though at this point. Happy we made something, can see the issues and left scratching our head how we managed to cram in everything we made in just 2 weeks.
I was thinking today, how by the time the rating part of the jam is over, we were half way through our time and development.
It honestly feels like someone else must have done it, maybe like in your game, Dev Ghosts helped me while I was asleep haha
Thanks for playing and leaving the detailed feedback. It's good to know that I how felt is being validated by peers. Even if the implementation falls a lil short, my internal "whats good game dev" taste compass seems to be inline with you/others so that's reassuring to know I can trust myself/taste in that regard.
All the Best and Good Luck in the jam.
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Wow! I can't believe you haven't done much 3D work before! I think the layout was good in the beginning. So like you said, with a little more planning and of course more time, then I think you can make a great game. I totally understand the time limitations, so it's amazing that you were able to make such great levels within the 2 week time frame!