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A jam submission

A Ghost Story - GBJAM 7View game page

A story driven RPG with some puzzles to solve
Submitted by Sleeping Panda (@__sleepingpanda) — 1 day, 5 hours before the deadline
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A Ghost Story - GBJAM 7's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Gameboy-ness#164.1904.190
Fun#223.5713.571
Overall#263.7743.774
Audio#343.5243.524
Graphics#363.8103.810

Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

That policeman is such a jerk ! I think I ran into all the bugs that was mentioned previously and some areas like the code of the rock pushing could use a bit more polish, but what you have here is still pretty impressive with the length ! (I think the sprite for the ghost maybe shouldn't be smiling considering that it knows its dead, and the scene with the mirror, but that's just a little nitpick, also that ominous ending though ~)

Developer

Thank you for playing, and taking time to comment/rate it!

Yes, as you read I ran out of time so I tried to focus on building levels, and providing a story that could end by teasing what could be next instead of something like 'I ran out of time, sorry but this is the end..' 🤣

I'll consider your feedbacks for the full-game version. I'll probably try to make it during upcoming months.

Submitted(+1)

Really cute game! I loved playing catch with the officer hahaha your tiles are super well done too. I think this is one of my favorite tile art in this jam. A couple of times I felt betrayed by the collision system, getting stuck on corners. but not too many that it ruined the experience. overall a really fun game!

Developer

Thanks for your kind words.

I'm really glad you enjoied my tilesets. I did spend most of my gamejam time on it.

Oh, yes! I struggled a bit with collisions. I think I would rework it all if I had to restart this game from scratch. But you know.. We learn from our mistakes, haha.

If you are curious, you can press [i] key at anytime during the game,and you will see my debug stuff as well as collisions stuff. I didn't remove the feature since it was so useful for debugging.

P.s.: It's such a shame I couldn't play your entry.. I don't own a PC for now, but I bookmarked it for later.. Once I got my desktop back.

In the meantime, if you have any gameplay video I'd love to see it.

Submitted(+1)

This was such a cute and fun experience! Despite the movement being continuous instead of by "chunks", it all felt so gameboy-ish! I loved the music, the sounds, the cute graphics, the puzzles, the story... Everything! 

Very great job!

Developer

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoy it! ♥️✌️

Submitted(+1)

I was pretty sure I already had scored this, because it was one of the first games I played, but I guess I didn't! Anyway what I had to say before is what I've to say now is well done! The game's feels something like the GB and is nicely done!

PS: Feel free to try my game out! Cheers!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your kind comment!

I wanted to play your game, really. Because I saw some screens, and I'm curious to try it. But it's Windows only.. I don't own a PC atm.. I'm on a Mac 😥

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

It's fine! Winning it's not my objective, it's to play new ideas and concepts and also receive some feedback on which things I can improve to make my game better. Either way, I released also a .jar file which comes with the linux pack. Although it's quite hard to run it for some reason. But since it's a .jar file, if you have Java installed on your Mac, give it a try through the terminal, you might get something out of it ahaha! I think I have to get into Javascript or something, make and engine that can load Java code or code packs, for the future. Perhaps an engine that runs lua code. Thanks, anyway!

Developer(+1)

Oh, I didn't know about that. That we can run .jar files. Java is already installed for work purposes, so I will give this a try once I got some free time.

Thanks for the info!

Submitted(+1)

Very gameboyee ^^, I like it !

Developer

Thx! Glad you like it :-)

Submitted(+1)

I like the mood of this game, and I think the graphics are really cute! The controls are a bit wonky (diagonal movement is not allowed, but when I involuntarily press 2 directions at once, the player just stops), and when I got stuck because I left a moving rock in front of the cat, (R)esetting the level didn't allow me to move again. But other than that, it's a great game. Good job!

Developer
I got stuck because I left a moving rock in front of the cat

Oh, man.. I forgot to reset controls once the rock hit the cat.. This is me forgetting to include the cat into a 'resetControlsOnCollision' function.. :-( S'ry about that.. I will fix this in upcoming update.

The controls are a bit wonky

I wanted to keep controls as seen on the gameboy, so 4 possible movements max. I had a mirroring issue when moving horizontally, and I decided to take the 'easy' fix which was like "don't allow players to press more than one directional key at the same time". This is mostly because I ran out of time, but I will consider your feedback for the full game version.

Thanks a lot for playing. :]

Submitted(+1)

Cute game! The graphics are mostly accurate to the Game Boy, you do mention potentially making a proper GB ROM version in the description, I can see such version being fairly uncompromised if you know what you're doing! Well, except for the sound, I'm sorry but that doesn't sound at all like a Game Boy...
Good job anyway!

Developer(+1)

I do understand your feelings about the sounds. I totally agree those don't sound like a GameBoy, and I'm sorry about that. I was about to use Starlight song by Nicole Marie, but I removed it since it was against the rule to use assets that were not made during the jam. It's probably the biggest mistake I made during this jam. So, one day before I submit my entry I had to find someone who would make music for me in such a short time. I do agree it doesn't fit to GameBoy, but I didn't want to release the game without music.

I should read rules more carefully next time..

About the ROM version - Yes, I wish to create it for the full version of the game. I need to find out how I will make similar puzzle mechanics in GB Studio first. Thanks for the good vibes, and motivation!

Submitted(+1)

The game is fun and the is so big and complex, congratz :)

I want to see the final, but it's crashed.



Developer

Yes, I'm really sorry about that..

The game got stuck when a rock hits another rock. I forgot to reset the camera and to enable controls while this is happening.

I may update the game with a fix if moderators agree. I'm waiting for their answers.

Developer(+1)

Ok, update with bug fixes is here (regarding rocks colliding).
At anytime if you still can't move, you can press R to restart a level.

Have fun!

Submitted(+1)

Ok, thank you :)

Submitted(+1)

Loved it!

Developer(+1)

Thanks, buddy! 🥰

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Cute game. i like the push puzzles. Controls could be a bit better ( vertical and horizontal input at the same time does not moves the ghost) Very cute graphics! Music is fine too!

Developer

Thanks! I like to build cute games, so if you feel like it was one, Then it's yet another personal achievement. ♥️

vertical and horizontal input at the same time does not moves the ghost

Yes, I forced it this way right before the submission.

At the beginning of its development, players were able to move to a direction even if two keys were down at the same time. This resulted with an annoying animation issue that I couldn't get fixed quickly so I kind of took the 'easiest' solution.

Also, I did the movement logic separately for the Ghost which I thought doesn't make sense because I had to repeat code for NPC's. So I reworked his moves this way.

Ofcourse I may consider later to improve controls to allow multiple key down.

Thanks for your feedback ✌️

Submitted(+1)

That game is pretty, impressive that you did everything in few time. Congrats o/

Developer (1 edit)

All time during this jam I was afraid of creating a game with a poor time of gameplay so I tried to focus on creating various levels, and dialogs.

I have a couple of WIP puzzle mechanics that I left out so I was able to create a temporary ending for the jam. Like a teasing ending.

Anyway thanks for your time and playing ✌️

Submitted
Deleted 4 years ago
Developer(+1)

PERFECT COMMENT 😝♥️

Submitted
Deleted 4 years ago
Developer(+1)

Oh, man! 😱🥰 Thx!

Submitted(+1)

I am very impressed that you were able to make such a complex and complete game in such a short time. The story hit me in such a way that I had to restart 4 times because of bugs during the game (the cat got stuck or the game crashed). I really wanted to see the end of the game. I loved everything! Mostly the music. This modern half-samba was very good! And the chase music really makes us eager to get away. Just a tip about the sounds: the first Gameboy didn't use samples. Look for GB tone programs to be more like the original. The only question I tell you is: How could the cop arrest the ghost? This made me more curious than the ending.

Congratulations!!!

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thank you for such good vibes! I can't tell how much it means to me to read such positive comments. ☺️

Previous weeks were busy, but I tried to work on the game as often as I can. I did a lot of sprites during my work/home travels in the subway, and development late at night.

How could the cop arrest the ghost?

I'm glad you're asking this, hehe.

I thought about it during play tests. And I wanted to add some more animations like you can see in Ghost Busters 2 GameBoy game where you see a character throw a small box that catches ghosts. I didn't work on sprites for that, but I kept the idea. I think it would be cool if I can add this to the full game version. It'd not be a police man anymore. It could be a ghost buster instead.. This gives me yet another idea for the story that could fit, I think. 😊

Submitted(+1)

Go on!!! i wanna know who is this ghost!

:D 

Submitted(+1)

I liked this game but like mithul I also got stuck.  It was in the area with two rocks next to each other and I pushed the left one into the right one.

Developer

I'm so sad and sorry you had to restart the whole game because of this issue I forget to test.. I guess we all learn mostly by doing errors.. I will provide a fix, and update the game once rating period is finished.

Thanks anyway for playing, and your comment.

Submitted(+1)

Loved the game, till I fell into a hole and the game wouldnt reload. I think its a corner case. Nice game

Developer

Thanks! I'll try your game once I'm back from holidays in a few days.

I'm sorry you couldn't reload.. After the voting period ends, I will release an update with game saves, a pause/unpause feature + a restart current level button probably. For now, if game freezes you can't restart a level. You have to restart the game and loose your progression.. I'm sorry about that.. I didn't got enough time to work on save game feature.

Submitted

Loved the game, till I fell into a hole and the game wouldnt reload. I think its a corner case. Nice game