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Thank you!

Me, too -- laughing at the dancing zombies! Sometimes, I would just keep jumping up there to buy me a bit more time just to stay there a bit longer to watch the dancing! What makes it funnier is that the dance is not just any dance -- it's Micheal Jackson's Thriller, in which he and the background dancers were some kind of zombies, too. Now, the zombies are dancing to the iconic classical Waltz, which surprisingly matches the dance moves pretty well.

Thanks for playing my game!

Thank you! And thank you for spending extra time playing my other games, too!

Thank you for playing my game!

I am a non-gamer noob and have never played crafting games. So this was new to me... I followed the popup instruction to get the mushroom and stuffs from the shelf ok. I could drag them into the 'carrying' panel. But then I could not figure out what to do to put them into the box to brew.

Yea, those sharp turns and u-turns can make one dizzy. One of the things I am experimenting with such a 3D side-scrolling "rail-runner" game is how to make the camera following the player character while she is turning in the 3D environment. For the jam, I only started with the very basic Unity's Cinemachine camera follow. I definitely want to look into having more control over the Cinemachine camera, and there are many choices and parameters.

Thanks for playing my game!

Haha...got stuck under King Kong! XD I want to experience it, too! No, it's not intended. Very curious... because King Kong does not even have a collider.

Yea, the control is not conventional WASD movement because the character is on-rails and it's 3D side-scrolling. I have to get creative and experiment with some non-conventional controls.

Thanks for playing my game!

The way the car bounces after hitting walls or racing on the mountain feels so satisfying. I think it would be fun to have a rough terrain and enemy cars (perhaps sent by the giant robot) with the same physics trying to intercept the player car. :D

Very cute! Nice cutscenes. Simple enough for a noob like me to play.

Whenever there's a dog in a game, players would want to pet them. I want to pet the dog! :D

Yea, it's just I decided not to spend time fixing some issues I had planned to. So I used the remaining time to look for a better sound.

It's very subtle, as I think the footsteps sound should not be louder than the background music. I can notice it only when the music is in the softer part, or with headphones, and also the last part when the character is doing the happy skitter.

Interesting... I actually tested on Edge, though in Windows 11. Have never seen or programmed the auto jump.

I will try to find a Windows 10 laptop to test it.

Thanks for reporting it.

Kinda like a music video, isn't it? :D

Thanks for playing my game!

Thanks for playing my game!

Thanks for playing my game. And, thanks for the comment in the Discord about the footsteps sound. This gave me a little nudge to actually to find a better footstep sound to replace the old ones. :D I think the footsteps sound much better now.

Interesting... Do you mind telling me which browser and OS you are using? And, is there a particular location that the problem happened?

I have tested it with different browsers in Windows on different laptops . My laptop does not even have a separate GPU, and it plays at high 50 fps (except the Kaiju's in the City, which is mid to high 40 fps). It does chokes for a second before transitioning to a new scene/room because of the scene loading.

Thanks for playing my game.

Interesting... Mind telling me which browser and OS you are using? I have tested it everyday on Firefox, Chrome, and Edge on Windows on different laptops, even with a gamepad as the controller, without such a weird problem.

Oh, btw, the character is designed to constantly running to the right, and the camera follows the player. It's a side-scrolling "runner" game; there is NOT a movement control using WASD. But the CAMERA should NOT be spinning like crazy.

Ah...yea, I should have turned off the cursor-hiding function that came with the controller I am using, because I am not using the features that require cursor hiding anyway. I hate the cursor hiding causing the browser to lose focus, too.

On my laptop, which is not a high-end at all, only chokes at scene loading for a second. But...weighing choking for a second in a browser vs. only a few people would play a downloadable, I choose the browser. :D

Thank you!

The current state of the game is more like the "moments" and visual style I want to have in my game. It's more a "concept art" and experiment of the idea and mechanics of a "rail-runner" type of a 3D side-scroller. As I mentioned on the game's page -- to avid gamers, my current game is just no more than a music video with optional clicking.

If given more time, I would add in more variety of actions to perform in capturing the items, more rooms, more branching of the route, actual boss fights, and actual usage of the collected items, such as for boss fights and abilities/mana.

The route branching can be random or the player's choice. I already have one random branching in the Library scene, which is at the end of the rows of bookshelves. I ran out of time to add more. I had experimented with letting the player choose which branch, but had not found a solution that's not confusing to players within the jam time. So, it's just random now -- the player may randomly go to the left or right staircase.

Because the player is "on rails", I also have to get clever about how to give the player choices to touch the items that are not perfectly on the path of the rail. An obvious solution is to place them higher at different heights,  just like in 2D platformers, as she can double or triple jump. As for the items off to the either side, after having experimented with different strategies, I added an expanding Aura (the blue bubble -- the collider, which had actually helped me visualize the collider volume for debugging). If given more time, I would experiment with those previous ideas more extensively, besides other new ideas.

I will definitely revisit Star Fox 64, which, if I remember correctly, is kind of a rail-shooter. It is definitely an excellent example to learn from, let alone the fun of replaying it. :D

There will be boss fights, which will be in an enclosed arena, where the player will be released from "rails" and become free to roam. In fact, I had already picked an arena from the Dungeon Map pack but did not have time to implement the idea for the jam.

I am not much of a gamer, so not sure how the common jump is in most games...but the jump in the Unity's sample 3rd person controller and the character controller I am using are all in-place jump, without forward movement. In my other game, I did have to add code to add in the forward movement for the jump, though.

And it's not just any dance, it's Michael Jackson's Thriller!  :D  Now dancing to the classical Waltz.

You captured the original meme and Gene Wilder's big forehead pretty well! :D

Capture the original meme and Futurama's Fry pretty well--the thick dark eyebrows version of Fry :D

Wow...look at the facial expressions!

Aww...I'm honored that you have used my last jam entry as your wallpaper. When I made that entry, I thought it looked like a wallpaper, too. But you beat me to it--actually use it as a wallpaper. :D  haha Now I have made it wallpaper on my laptop!

Really like the light in the portal, backlighting the giant creating the rim light. And the beautiful light reflection on the water, too. Just can't keep my eyes off  these two. Which asset is the water surface?

I like the cinematic feel. I can see you have put in thoughts in details for the scene to create the mood of doom -- there are even creepy hanging men at the top.

I like it better without the text. Also, It took me a little while to figure out the lower legs of the king. At first glance, I didn't see his lower legs, and he looked like a dwarf. :D

Really like the epic film feel. Wish the image were not as fuzzy -- at least be able to see a sharper focal point (perhaps the dark character in the foreground) that could be sharper and in focus. It almost feels like the screenshot was resized from a lower resolution or the depth of field setting is off.

Feel like a comic -- very fun to look at, or "read" each character, almost like looking at Where's Waldo. It also gives a feel of the movie Shrek -- not just the ogre-like characters, but the color scheme and the crazy atmosphere of a chaotic crowd.

Does this reference the room where they mentioned "prophecy" in Harry Potter - The Order of the Phoenix? I have just seen it on TV that's having Harry Potter re-run and thought it looked familiar. The screenshot looks pretty close to the scene. :D  I like the lighting.

Ooo... I learn a new term from you... "dutch angle"! :D  The horizon was initially aligned with the bottom of the frame until only a day or two before the submission. I added two extra images on my project page to show some early experiments of ideas. Those were... hmmm... not "dutch angle". Is there a term for non-dutch-angle? :D

Wow, you really picked out my design decisions of this piece -- the composition, camera placement and angle, and color choice for the knight! Thank you!

I am basically a total noob non-gamer with slow reflex. I am not a good playtester to tell you about new features as I am not really the target gamers of your game. You may want to take my feedback with a grain of salt. It's just that only money and different weapons make it feel like yet-another-space-shooter. Ok, here you go…

I could not play at the level to experience any special weapons. Maybe you have already implemented these... To make your game stand out, I think the weapons should be able to do things beyond just causing more damage or requiring longer cooldown times. Maybe some projectiles could fly around in loopy directions, unique patterns, and not just straight lines? Or, allow the player to lock on to a specific type of enemy and it will chase the enemy automatically after being fired? And maybe some fired projectiles could spawn bullets or have a blast zone, either at random timing or upon the player's key press, to help cause more damage?

And, maybe instead of money, it's some specialty weapons you can pick up after destroying a certain enemy? The player can use the newly picked-up weapon immediately to get out of a tight situation. Any accumulated unused picked-up weapons can then be traded for upgrades later. This way, the player can use the picked-up weapons as either instant or delayed gratification; it would be the player's decision. Players will enjoy the game more if they feel more empowered and in control. But money is delayed gratification only. If I can't live through the wave, money is meaningless to me.

The reason I don't play shooter games because as someone with slow reflex, I can hardly pass the first round, and then everything restarts all over. I forever get stuck at the beginning. In order for me to want to play a space shooter game, I want an abundance of shelters or shields to get me out of tight situations so I can continue -- to see all the cool stuff the developer has prepared for the game. I also want to be able to clear all the enemies within a distance in one blast, which, again, can get me out of a tight situation. Perhaps you could add a no-fail "zero-skill" level that allows players to practice everything without a game over. A total noob like me can just keep playing it with occasional venturing out to the actual level. The game can keep a tab on how many times I would have died, but I could just continue, regardless, to experience all your cool stuff you have implemented in your game. So my motivation could be trying to break my own records to have the least would-have-been-game-over as possible. Yep, it may sound pathetic. :D  Experienced shooter game players could use this as a tutorial or practice at the beginning.

I agree with the other comments that the flying objects are too small. I don't know if there are any non-enemy objects, but I just tried to shoot everything in sight.

I like the way of using the mouse to aim, as keyboard controls will greatly reduce my already-slow reflex. I would like to see unique visuals of the enemies, and flashy particle effects and sound effects of different enemies. Even if I know I won't be able to beat them, at least I'll have something entertaining to see and hear.

The full screen button at the lower right corner overlays on top of the end of the slider, making it impossible to click to set the slider button there, or if I slide the slider button all the way there, then I can't drag it to a different position without triggering the full-screen. When in full screen, the right side of the game got cropped off.

Like the other commented, there were times I clicked through the whole slider and still could not find the station.

Is the game about clicking through the slider fast enough plus with some luck to find that secret position before time's up?

I am basically a non-gamer, so you may want to take my feedback with a grain of salt… :D

I think the story is interesting. It reminds me of a manga called "Delicious in Dungeon," in which the heroes run out of money and food on a mission and decide to slay and eat the monsters along the way. So, I was excited to see a similar story in a game.

I was excited to see a tutorial as I am a total noob for this genre of games. I really appreciate the details to learn more about this type of gameplay, but it feels like a lot of information to swallow in one big bite. I feel it would be best to space out the information and build up gradually. For example, you may first start with the very basics to pass an easy baby-step first round with just two slimes (better yet, just one) as the initial journey. Then, the second round comes with a new challenge that needs new knowledge. You provide the relevant instructions at that point.

Introduce the 3rd and 4th slimes in the later round when the challenge calls for extra members in the team, and so you introduce the new and relevant tutorial information at that point. Maybe the slimes find the others from the previous party, so they join forces and combine loots; or some newcomers decide to come catch up with you. This will also give you a team with unique individual experience or skill levels, basically right off the bat.

In the dialog, it would be nice to add icons/graphics. For example, add the slime color image next to the name, for example, Helen. So, I can quickly identify which one is Helen by the color icon shown in the dialog. A sprinkle of graphics in the dialog helps break up long sentences and helps players pick up key points more quickly.

I played maybe 3 or 4 battles, and felt I want to experience something else in-between at least to replenish the health and take a break from the battles.

And visual and sound effects… You may already have them in your plan. Use visual and sound effects to spice up the attack/defend. Give each type of action a different visual and sound effect to make them more memorable.

About the weapons collected, maybe I overlooked the information in the tutorial… but what do I do with them? Can they be converted to health? When and how do the slimes eat them? Battle after battle, I see the slimes' health decrease but don't see how the loot gives them any instant gratification in return.

I can feel you are excited about your project and have been working hard on it. I look forward to seeing the improved version in the future!

Wow, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to write up such thorough feedback! And there are really actionable items to me.

Yep, I did think of storing the photos. In fact, I already have the code to save the photos to the computer or photo gallery on the phone. Some screenshots were actually snapshots during my playtest. But I disabled it in the posted game for both technical and privacy reasons. I will rethink keeping this feature in the final game.

As for the spyglass, you don't need it to see the dwarf. To use it to see "things," click on the spyglass, it will be placed on the side of McKenzie's head. Then, my secret "algorithm" of scoring the photos will be revealed! The key objects to be scored may be rendered in solid white with a black outline, like an ink drawing. All the hot spots that my code checks for scoring are shown as tiny hot pink dots. In general, the more pink dots are included in the photo, the higher the score will be, although each dot may have a different weight and even directional weight. Note that Grandma gives McKenzie the spyglass when she says she wants to get a higher score. So, the spyglass has something to do with getting higher scores. Player may or may not be able to figure it out, but it does not affect the game flow in any way, regardless.

With the spyglass turned on, you may also see some random flying particle trail effect, like what Finn (Grandma's golden retriever) sees in the barn intro scene. (The story in the final game will later reveal that Finn has been sneaking into the game so many times that those magical things follow him out of the portal, and they need to do something about it.)

Click on the spyglass again to toggle it on/off anytime. However, as Grandma tells McKenzie, once you take a snapshot, it will disappear for that run. This constraint makes the player to weigh spending more time watching through the spyglass searching for hot spots vs. just capturing the current fleeting moment they don't want to miss.

But I should (and plan to) add more stuff for the player to see with the spyglass, in case the player never looks in the direction of the photo hot spots. Perhaps some collectibles, like spinning coins.  :D

Yep, I started making the game solely to, as you say it exactly, "be able to just wander and enjoy looking at beautiful things for the sure joy of it." And I even plan to make those worlds into VR for myself to go in to just chill. :D  The photo-scoring was added only to make it more like a game, so it's more likely to be shared with others. Well… I am really glad my game found you!

Thank you for playing my game and giving me the feedback.

I have bought Alba but forgot about it. Will definitely try it out.

Each spawn point in my game does have an objective: to take pictures that look or give a feeling as close to the particular sketch as possible--the sketch that the player has just selected before going into the wardrobe portal. The closer the photo to that sketch, the higher the score. Every spawn point is right at where you could find what's in the sketch you have selected. Once you get at least a score, then grandma will give you a spyglass that can see "things," and then encounter a new NPC, which will be a key character in the storyline that I am going to implement. But the player does not have to follow all this and could just wander around, take whatever photos they want, and admire their photographs, if they so choose to.

Glad you mentioned the zoom and framing feature. I did experiment with adding zoom and pan sliders, but decided not to go forward as it  made the UI quite busy/confusing. But since you mentioned it, I will re-think the design of it.

I will check out your game later today. I didn't try it earlier because words "chess" and "roguelike" kinda of scared me a little, as I am not a chess or roguelike game person. :D

I don't have fast reflex or precision skills that the game requires... (the least difficult option is Normal) and so I couldn't play more than two rounds (waves?) The game certainly has a familiar space shooter gameplay that most gamers can quickly pick up on and start playing. It's responsive to the mouse click to shoot and aim. I think some new and unique features/gameplay besides money and different weapons could be added to make the game stand out.

Thank you very much for playtesting my game.

As the player continues to play the game, they will spawn at different points in the scene to explore--thus overall there will be more time  to explore, just happening gradually.

And, in the photo-scoring cutscene, you can click on the green or orange pagemarkers on the side of the sketchbook to page through those spawn points already open for you. That is, if you want to replay the ice place, you could choose to return to it. But one minute won't get you to explore everything. It's intentional... The 1-minute feels short but intends to make the player wanting to return. Plus, I want to make a game that does not require a long attention span.

Thanks for your comment about the controls. I have got comments about the controls before. I have been scratching my head as I thought the current control scheme was the basic 3D 3rd person type. But to a non-gamer total noob like me, what feels natural does not necessary feel natural to average gamers. So, would you mind telling me if you use the virtual joystick, what feels weird, and what the ideal controls to you would be? I will appreciate that. :D

It's intended for mobile. The keyboard controls are added only because of WebGL that can allow for more potential playtesters, who, I have found out have been expecting WASD and seem to refuse to use the virtual joystick by dragging the handle with the mouse.

The A/D and Q/Z keys use the exact same code as the virtual joystick. So it should feel the same as the virtual joystick, well... at least to me. Note that the A/D and Q/Z keys are for direction control or look only. You have to hold the W key with the A or D key together to control the direction. You press/release the A/D key when needed to change direction while holding the W. Or better yet, simply hold the W key and use the mouse the drag the virtual joystick. :D  Yep, to a total noob non-gamer like me, what feels natural does not feel natural to the average gamers, and vice versa.  :(

Is there any future plan to add some unique gameplay and narrative to make your game unique? :D The current game feels like a beginner tutorial shooter game.