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Spuds of Gold's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Completeness - Is it an unfinished tech-demo, prototype or a complete game? | #61 | 3.581 | 3.846 |
| Gameplay - How fun is it to play? | #65 | 3.294 | 3.538 |
| Theme - How well does it incorporate the theme? | #86 | 2.864 | 3.077 |
| Graphics - Is the game aesthetically pleasing? | #124 | 3.223 | 3.462 |
| Overall | #130 | 2.807 | 3.015 |
| Audio - Does the game have nice sfx and music? | #170 | 1.074 | 1.154 |
Ranked from 13 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Simplistic. Also, me getting simplistic low rolls.
This was very fun. Nice and clean and simple. I did not manage to unite the realm, but I did kill Gorlab the fire demon, so that's a plus. Good job!
Thanks for playing!
There is something really pure about this game that I really liked. The simplicity of it combined with strong nostalgia feels for me (I played crawlers with a similar aesthetic many decades ago). Also thank you for including the map, this isn't a game that I would consider particularly playable without one. For this title I think BFXR would have been a great choice for audio.
I encountered a Wyvern when I had 26 health and despite casting death spells every turn until I had 3 health, then trying to run away for the next three turns I still ended up dead.
My suspicion is that you can create a lot of quality content from this engine.
Thanks for your kind comments, and for the tip on BFXR, I'll check that out.
Re your experience with the Wyvern, I suspect a problem with the random generator as it seems to produce long sequences of high or low numbers. Certainly the chances of failing to kill a Wyvern after 26 attempts should be vanishingly small. Choosing a better generator will be on the list of post-jam revisions I'll be making to the game. I've put a warning in the game description for now.
Re the engine, yes I hope to make use of it for other games. Problem is knowing where to publish very retro stuff like this that has niche appeal. DCJam is great but its only once a year and the prospect of releasing stuff ad-hoc here, or even on Steam, feels like that scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark!
I really like the look, runs great on linux. The mini-map is a nice touch. I also like the clear 'roll a 12' on 2d6 scale. I got murdered by an adult black dragon - so that's fun!I wish there was some sound effects and a little exploration music. Overall its a great start and I hope you continue working on it or it's descendants. Thanks!
Thanks for playing and for the kind comments.
Sorry for the dramatic increase in difficulty at the end. If my school boy stats knowledge is correct, defeating the adult black dragon costs an average of 36 lives, minus two for each kill spell you have. Plus there's 'Gorlab the Fire Demon' downstairs with the same stats! I realise now I should have given out a LOT more powerups :-(
Will certain give serious consideration to audio for future projects. Sound design isn't in my skillset, but I guess even basic sounds could be effective.
The vintage aspect of the game was fine. Though I would have expected a some beep sound to increase this feeling of retro aspect.
As for the rest, well, it was kept simple, but the game is pretty much redundant in its gameplay and dying is a huge punishment as it ryhms with starting all over again and with such a big goal, I admit I ended up pretty much frustrated ^^'
But gonna say the navigation was neat and the DDOS look is successful
Thanks for taking the time to play and for your honest feedback. I do appreciate it, and sorry for your frustration. This is my first first-person-perspective game: were I writing it again today I would keep the engine but take a different approach to the gameplay.
Glad you like the visuals. I'm hoping to use the engine again in future for another game with a similar look.
My fingers hurt from pressing up arrow key, I love it.
Thanks! Sorry about your finger :-)
No sounds, so that's a thing.
A few technical hits. Yer windows app is configured as a console app, which is why that console window shows up. It also went right to the top left of the screen, which means that yer call to SDL_CreateWindow specified a 0 x and y?
Anyway, I found the visual of this game incredibly compelling, as I did the interface. So minimal. So retro. So delightful.
Thanks for the tips! On reflection, I realise that console programs are not the best way to distribute games on Windows. Also yes I did specify 0,0 for the window location thinking that safest, but as a courtesy to the user I could have centralised it (and perhaps automated the window scaling too).
Thanks for the nice compliments on the visuals, I hope to use this engine for a more substantial game, perhaps an RPG, in future.
Liking the DOS-like vibes!
Thanks!
I had to stop playing with only 93 potatoes, the feeling of failure is big, I may have to start again when I have the time.
The game is fun, I like the clean presentation and the resource management.
I guess whatever gameplay twist could have distinguished the two realms but I enjoyed my time with the game.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.