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A jam submission

DeterminationView game page

Without confidence, you are nothing.
Submitted by Raiku (@Raiku29) — 1 day, 8 hours before the deadline
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Play this B&W world

Determination's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity#633.4443.444
Gameplay#812.9632.963
Visuals#893.2223.222
Overall#912.9702.970
Technical#1052.7042.704
Audio#1182.5192.519

Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Message from the creator(s):
Remember to stay confident! :D

Rule

Rule A

Only used the colors black (#000000) and white (#FFFFFF)

Theme

Yes

This game follows the theme "You only realize the value of something when it's gone."

Original Art

Yes

Created own art

Original Audio

Yes

Created own audio

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Very nice game

Submitted(+1)

Very nice game

Submitted(+1)

Had fun playing this one! It took me a while to figure out the "just stand still" strategy and the upside down level was a real challenge. It also took me a few tries to figure out the final boss fight. Overall, it was a fun game.

Developer

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I wanted to try and add a challenge along with completing the levels.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I enjoyed what I did play of the game but just feel confused most of the time. I can’t quite grasp the mechanics.

So often in order to remove the confidence enemies on a ledge it’s necessary to take damage from them beforehand. Then it’s a mad dash to the next section hoping the spikes don’t pop up but as soon as I hear them, stop dead in my tracks or risk dying again.

Again, I did enjoy what I was able to play and even came back to the game to try again (and I’m sure I’ll come back to try it once more too.) So the movement mechanics are good. :)

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! I see now I should of explained how the mechanics worked a bit more through the tutorials. Glad you enjoyed the game though!

Submitted(+1)

Nice game, and I liked how the mechanics were interwoven with the theme.

I must admit I didn’t really “get” how the spikes were working (and why I was dying so much!) until I read some of your replies here; so I think the tutorial could have made that clearer.

But once I did I enjoyed the challenge of getting to the end :)

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! I should of put more emphasis on the spikes but I was really tired. Thanks for taking the time to try and get to the end!

Submitted(+1)

Game could use some more level design, but overall it was simple and interesting.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Excellent submission to the jam! I like how responsive the player feels and the way you "mirror" the physical elements in the game with the metaphor of self confidence and determination.  The visuals also do a good job of matching the uncomfortable vibe that can accompany self doubt. Nice work.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! I wanted to try and give an NES feel with the controls and the music as well and try to include the concept of confidence as well. Glad to hear you liked it.

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Nice  visuals and sounds,  just remind me those old games I played  in my childhood.

Developer

Glad to see it reminded you of that. I like to give that kind of feel in my games. 👍

Submitted(+1)

This is a pretty cute game! I gotta admit, I really enjoy the pep talk from the narrator. The music is charming and everything works from a technical level.

Okay, so while this game was fun, I noticed some areas it could improve.  managed to get to the key level before stoping, so I'll only adress what I seen up to that.

One minor thing I noticed is that the game leans a little hard on show and tell. I'm being told how the character is feeling, but the character themself doesn't react in any meaniful way. I know you did try, like with those mirrors, but at the end of the day, I, the player, shot those mirrors to proceed, not becuase I was in the character's shoes. If I was allowed to jump over the mirror, I would. Basically, there could some better ways to show what the character are feeling through their actions becides from telling the player what they are feeling and forcing the player to do things to proceed. Though that said, the elements worked for what it is, and they do ive the game some charm. So at the end of the day, this point is really monor. I did a great job for the time you had!


That said, the gun play could use work. This game seems to be more of a platformer then a shooter, and becides from plot items like the mirror, I don't know what purpose the shooting serve becides from thinly representing the character's destructive tendacies. Oh, and the rain drops that come down and damage you, sometimes they are random, and they would some times kill me at no fault of my own. I thought the shooting would get rid of them, but nah. That could use some work. Though it mainly becomes a problem in the doors level, where you started setting the check points back. On a side note, when you die when your getting the second key, you reset the entire level, while the other check points spawn you where you died. I'm not sure if that was intentional or a oversight. I'm gonna asume it's a oversight since the nariator doesn't say anything about it.


Overall, good game!  Thank you for sharing!

Developer

Thanks for the amazing detailed feedback! 

I guess I didnt think too much about how I can evoke the players feelings there. I'll make sure to keep that in mind nextime.

Honestly, the game was kind of a shooter platformer together because I wanted to provide enjoyment to the game by adding some kind of attacking method. The weapon was supposed to be the players power thats hard to control and its shown by spikes rising up a few seconds after shooting.

The rain actually shouldnt damage you at all. If you did take damage, that was either from the enemy or your own spikes.

And I actually set it up to restart the level once you die and restart everything. Maybe I could of set it up to have the key already regained though.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Submitted(+1)

No prob! And thanks for explaining how the spikes work!I was shooting like a maniac becuase it felt cool. I'm not sure that wasexplained anywhere. And since I haven't encountered enemies, that probobly means I didn't get far. I think i'l try again now I know better. Thanks!

Developer

Happy to help! I stated it in the interactive tutorial at the beginning but I feel I could of made it so much better to focus the players attention, but I was really drained. 😂

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I just finished the game and... I loved it! When I first played it, I was very sleep deprived, so I skiped past the tutorial and missed a lot of stuff. But now I finished the game, I realized that a lot of my initional thoughts where wrong. In the first playthrough, I stoped at level 3 where the doors are introduced, and I didn't realized that enimies where enemies. I thought they where obstacles since they didn't move.  Also, now that I know the end game, I think the narrator works very well. I grew to like him a lot by the end of the game.


I really like the final boss! It took me a bit to realize that F is not reset, but it was really fun once I figured it out! I can tell you played OFF. It was a really cool fight!


The message is kina flimsy since loosing confidence or gaining confidence doesn't really change how the player character act in gameplay. Maybe a different idle animation for lost confidence,  or a weaker shooting range could show that better.


The only problem I could find now that I finished the game is that the spikes mess with the flow of the game. I get that they are probably there for a thematic reason, but everytime I shoot a anemy, I have to stand in place for a few seconds to wait for the spikes to go away. Since they cause the most damage, and they aprear right next to me wven when I'm walking, the best way to avoid them is just wait. I got used to it after awhile, but my pataince does were a little thin. In level 8, the one where you have to climb up platforms, I would constantly fall down, but I kept climbing back up becuase it was a fin challange. But then when I got to the end, I ran for the portal and forgot to wait for spikes, so the pined me despite my half health and killed me. Forcing me to restart the level. Thr second time was a lot more frustrating, becuase the wow factor of progressing was gone. But yeah, the spikes are the biggest and probably only real problem of the game. They constantly break the flow of the game. I don't even need to charge them since none of the enemies move, so I don't need them for enemies. The spikes only harm me, and I'm not sure that was the intention. None of them hit the enemies.


But yeah, This is a great game! I had a lot of fun and it's technically polshed! YOu did a great job!

Developer(+1)

Ahhhh no worries! I definitely understand the sleep deprived feeling. Seriously, thank you for taking the time to thoroughly play the game. I really appreciate it.

Im glad to see you liked the narrator now. I had the idea of the story the moment the theme came out.

Honestly, that caught me by surprise there. Im sorry to tell you I havent even played OFF actually, but the from the images I looked up, I can see why you said that. 

For the confidence meter, I was trying to affect the gameplay by having spikes appear quicker when your confidence lowers and it takes longer when your confidence is to the max. I probably could of added more but again I was really drained and I just had to end it there.

Now that you pointed that out to me, I really should of considered that. I did set the spikes as a means of the player not being able to control their powers, but I definitely should of optimized it more. I was planning on adding a notifier for where the spikes was going to appear, but I would of had some greyscale colors. But, I could of approached this more without breaking the limitation honestly.

Thank you so much for pointing these things out and the awesome compliments!

Submitted(+1)

I love the design of this game, especially the eye monster. That's crazy.

Submitted(+1)

Technically and in few game design topics it is very smart!

Submitted(+1)

Very creative narration that I haven't seen in a game before and nice pixel art, especially some of the monsters!

Submitted(+1)

Very cool, the controls are great. Makes it easier on those tricky parts. I like the low self-confidence to the gradual confident storyline. 

Submitted(+1)

Super snappy and responsive controls, loved the feel of the player, one of the best movement scripts I saw the whole jam, until now.

Cool story and immersive Gameplay.

Good Job :)

Developer

Thanks for the feedback! I really liked how the movements came out as well.