itch.io

Hi Dylan_Bee.

Thanks so much for following the progress of Portal Labs. I'm afraid I can't replicate your issue (the danger of self testing your own game). Is the hostage next to you when you attempt to use the console? The final console on level 1 needs a retinal scan from the hostage (hostage next to player when console operated). I think I will place some dialogue at each console to guide the player. Sorry if you are aware of this and it still doesn't work, in which case could you tell me which device/os are you playing the game on?

I have not produced an executable file for download. Its browser only for now. 

Happy Game Dev!

Thank you for your comments. 

I thought I was softlocked on the second board: when I tried to activate the final blue screen (alongside my hostage), nothing happened.  I started the game over, but the second time around I ended up in the same situation, kept trying the blue screen, and one of the times it activated and gave me the portal to the boss.  I wondered if perhaps the hostage needs to be right on top of the blue screen, too?  Making that mechanism less exacting would probably have solved my confusion.

The game is a little buggy in its current iteration, and several people have commented on the portal activators. You are correct in that the player has to be virtually on top of the hostage to activate the console. Once the game has been judged I will update the game as and when required.

  I intend to develop the game further and am considering producing a devlog. I am currently working on the narrative and am excited about the games potential. I hope you will follow the games progress and provide feedback over time.

Thanks for playing.

Hi Dylan_Bee,

Thanks so much for taking the time to play Portal Labs. 

 'Nice job on making the assets yourself! The pixel art is nice, I like the sound effects and the music fits the setting well. Shooting is fun and I like the screen-shake to emphasize the action. I like the combination of platforming, shooting, and light puzzle solving'.

I really enjoyed making all the assets. The pixel art was limited to 8x8 grid, this allowed me to produce artwork pretty quickly and I'm really happy with the results. Originally the artwork was intended as holding images, but with a little more polish I'd be happy to use the style in a larger game. Bxfr was used to produce the sound effects, using a few layers of sound, rather than one individual sound. I used pico8 to produce the classic game sounds. Music is probably the least of my indie game dev skill set, but again I enjoyed making a sort of industrial like sound loop.

'Something I noticed was that the boss at the end can be easily cheesed by standing at the bottom then jumping and shooting when the boss gets low enough. On a similar note, most of the enemies are pretty harmless in the game. I can take them out pretty easily. If you expand on this, I would suggest tweaking the enemies to be more of a threat'. 

The boss level and the enemies were deliberately made to be easy kills, as I wanted more emphasis on the puzzle and portal side of the game. 

'Weird thing I noticed was that activating some of the blue squares can be finicky. I’m not sure exactly what is going on, but some of the blue squares I could activate on my first try, but others were more difficult. It seems I have to move the player around first before the game actually allows me to trigger the blue objects. For example, in the first level, the blue square near where the hostage is, I activated almost immediately when I pressed the down button. After I found the hostage and tried to activate the blue square that ends the level, I could not seem to trigger it even though I was pressing the down button several times. I thought maybe I was missing something, but I later tried to activate the blue square again and it worked. I’m not sure what the issue could be, but it seems like the blue squares don’t detect the player sometimes for whatever reason'.

Thanks for pointing this out. I didn't get the game tested by anyone else, so I fell into the trap where I knew what to do, and assumed everyone else playing the game would know or figure out.  I've now fixed this bug - although it remains in the jam version for now.

'I think this game has a lot of promise. Tweaking the game to emphasize the shooting and platforming elements with more challenging enemies and hazards would take the game even further if you choose to expand on this. Those suggestions aside, I enjoyed playing this and the original assets are great'. Thanks for submitting!

Thank you I really appreciate your comments. I intend to build on the game, using game jams as a way of evolving the mechanics and game play. I hope you follow the game in its development and see it transform into a fully functioning game.

ok cool. I will give it another go.

No the hostage cannot jump. You need to find the path of least resistance and make sure the hostage follows you or go back and get them.

Absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do!

Nice looking game. Found the controls a bit frustrating, but interested to see how it progresses after the Jam.

I have no idea why, but this game is strangely compelling and satisfyingly frustrating.

Nice  game. Enjoyed the graphics and sounds, with good level design. Good luck with the jam.

gamepad support (XBox) play via https://mightypixel.co.uk/abyssXbox/index.html

d-pad Left and Right

d-pad Down activate lifts etc

A: Jump

X:Shoot (when you have bullets)

For those of you wishing to play the game with gamepad support (XBox) play via https://mightypixel.co.uk/abyssXbox/index.html

d-pad Left & Right

d-pad down to activate lifts etc

A Jump

X Shoot

Hi, general feedback for the game suggests that it's too challenging from the start, but the concept is good. I wanted to put emphasis on the puzzle elements of the game and the jam is a way of getting feedback from players on the cryptic game play. I will work on the game and incorporate a less severe learning curve. I hope you will revisit the game as it evolves. Thanks for playing.

Hi Acamaeda, there is a clue in the animated gif that shows you how to avoid the first enemy. I appreciate that it shouldn't be so challenging from the start. I need to devise a way that the player learns that they can use the environmental objects to progress without the risk of death. Thanks for your comments, I hope you revisit and enjoy the game.

just to let you know that I've just purchased a gamepad and will add the feature when I have time.

Hi boqui, The boss is fairly easy to kill, but you have to avoid the bullets. You will need extra health too which is  hidden near the collapsing platforms. Hopefully your wish will be granted. 

Thank you for your feedback.

Hi Fiery51,

Thanks for your comments. I'm regretting not putting in some sfx and a basic audio track. All comments inspire me to carry on working with the prototype and develop it further. I  will be entering the game into SMVM.

Hi Pandoria Falls and thanks for playing. Re sound fx/audio. A majority of the build was all packed into the final week. I wanted to produce everything myself and I just didn't allow enough time, so lesson learned. I agree the game suffers for not having sound. This will be worked on.

I really enjoyed the smooth controls and animations in this game. Will definitely keep an eye on its development.  But maybe rename the zip folder to MM22 rather than wonderjam5 it gives the impression that this game was developed for a previous jam?

I quite liked the art style and you've clearly made a lot of effort to follow the brief with an original style. I cant really make any comments other than keep going.

I like the old school limited palette look and feel but also found it a little hard to work out the areas where the player could jump. I wasn't sure if I could kill the skeletons or whether I just had to avoid them. I look forward to seeing future updates.

Comments so far suggest that the game needs controller support and finding the ammo is a bit too hard. I'll be working on this as the game evolves. I welcome any feedback.

Hi dfritz22 Thanks for your comments . I welcome any feedback. I guess if I develop the game further I would introduce the killing of enemies with environmental objects later in the game and not have the player find their first lot of ammo in this way. I appreciate that it is hard, but it's a concept I can work on. As for the controller support I will look into this. 

Hi raptor9999. Thanks for playing... I realised it would be a bit hard to figure out, hence the clue in the gif. There is extra health hidden some where before meeting the boss. Its my first Jam and my first Metroidvania, so hopefully things will get more spicy over time.

Thank you for the feedback! Its all very encouraging and I will tinker with the game in response to feedback given.