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Hello Orbyter, I played your game and from what I've it's pretty good. The art and animations for the game are amazing. I love Scarf's design and he's well animated. I also love the NPCs and found each of them to be adorable. I also love the music, and fit well with the game. Aside from some placeholder assets, and the animation on the robots glitching. The aesthetics are amazing. I also love the inclusion of the adventure log, as it helps bring the theme of the jam by providing background to some of the issues relating to climate change, and how to possibly combat them. The story itself is great, and I enjoyed seeing what the NPC's would say by interacting with them multiple times.  

However, there are some issues I came across gameplay wise that I need to mention to you, as they hinder gameplay and made had to restart the game multiple times. There's a glitch I came across twice where I somehow glided or dug into through the wall, getting me trapped either in a platform or the walls of the cave. This became problematic as without an option to restart from the last checkpoint, I had to close the game and reopen it which meant having to start all over again. I attached an image of one of these instances to show what I'm talking about.

 I also came across a glitch involving a broken dialogue box. After I put out the fires on Scarf's ship, I went to talk to the other NPC's. Once I got to the salamander, however, the dialogue box broke, and only Scarf dialogue picture popped up. I couldn't skip through the cutscene by pressing spacebar, or use any other inputs besides opening the adventure log. So I once again had to close the game. Below is an image to show what I'm referring to. 

I enjoyed the gameplay, and the inclusion of checkpoints and extra lives are greatly appreciated. However, some of the extra lives don't apply to Scarf's health upon picking them up, and I noticed that not having full health seems to negate the effect of picking the orbs up. I also found some of the platforming segments to be a little too unforgiving, as either the finnicky controls or the hitboxes on the spikes and flames tend to make certain segments unforgiving. That being said, I still enjoyed the various abilities were fun to use, and I was able to find other means to move around the environment because of it. Seriously, getting the combination of the spray, dig, and glide is so satisfying. 

Overall, I still enjoyed your game despite the hiccups. The visuals are amazing and I see a lot of potential in Orbyter. You do a great job using the themes of the jam and I can't wait to see what comes of the game. I do recommend you address the two glitches I mentioned above, as these can hinder gameplay. Aside from that, you did a great job I enjoy following Orbyter every step of the way. 

Hello Cow Cutter, sorry to hear you won't be continuing this project, but it's nice to hear that you will be holding onto the idea of the game going forward. I know you're fairly new to the Unreal Engine and Paper2D system, but this isn't bad for what you were able to do. I like pixel characters and the rooms are fine. However, I do have to agree about the movement, the jump is still floaty and having to start from the beginning is not fun. Still, you did fine, despite the game's issues. While it saddens that you won't be continuing with this project, you should still revisit this idea in the future. 

Hello again BluEyes, I enjoyed playing your game every sprint of this Jam, and enjoyed watching it evolve every step of the way. Thanks for listening to my feedback, as I see it was taken to heart and included several details which I appreciate. The Rocket Arm ability was greatly improved from the last sprint, and I greatly appreciate the option to toggle the shoot direction and  angle center in the options menu. The ability to change how to aim the rocket arm was really helpful in playing the game this time. Once again, the art and music is spot on, and love the new additions you made, such as the billboards reading "Thrive" and propaganda in the tower advertising how BlueEyes is "helping humanity prosper" all amazing additions. One little detail I especially loved, was the new NPC dialogue you added, with the lady talking about BlueEyes purchasing the coffee shop outside your house, and I especially love the man with the supposedly thriving garden only to see garden dead when turn off your Blueyes. I would love to see more of this in the future of the game. The new cutscene at the end is also nice, and hints that there's more to come. I love the game so far, and can't wait to see where you go with it. 

Hello again Orbyter, I tried out your game and had some thoughts. I like how you used the themes of the jam, and the little book that shows the problems of AI is a compelling call to action. The music is bop and I love the animations you have so far. Scarf is adorable and I love the earth background. 

However, I started to notice some things with animations that make me a little concerned. I noticed the walking animation is a bit delayed, with Scarf sliding around a bit before starting the walking animation. I also noticed that the water spraying animation has Scarf facing the wrong direction when they do it. I also noticed the robot glitching a bit while it was moving. The last real nitpick I have is that the claw dash ability was hard to figure out, I had no idea that I could climb basic walls, but I was able to figure it out. I did find it odd to see pngs of a lever and fire, but I'll let that slide as I art of those will likely be added later.

I'm always looking forward to playing your game, you guys have a long way to go, but what I've seen so far is great. Hope to see to comes of this. 

Thanks for providing an update and the walkthrough, I have tried to again with your game, but sadly came across a serious issue regarding the gameplay. The pipes themselves blend into the background, making it hard to figure out that I was supposed to jump on them to begin with, what's worse, some of the pipes are just a pain to platform, including the pipes in the first segment as the character wouldn't reach it on a single jump. The jump itself is really floaty, and there were times I just flew right off the shelfs or boxes because a jump sent me flying for no reason. This just proves that the jump needs to be improved as it made the platforming segments harder than they should've been. The other issue I had involved the enemies, as getting caught by them meant having to start all over from the beginning, making the platforming even more annoying as everything resets. Please provide checkpoints between each section because it got really annoying having to go through the same platforming segments multiple times because a drone suddenly chase after me. The enemies itself had really weird AI, as sometimes I could hide behind boxes to avoid them but sometimes they start chasing me out of nowhere or just appear in really bad places. This topped having to start all over after being caught made me not enjoy playing this game. 

Now for some positives. Like I said, I like the art style, and think it fits well with the dystopian look your going for. It reminds me of Portal with mysterious AI navigating you through tests, only to find that they were the ones behind everything. I like the story and the twist is really well done. I also like how you implemented the themes of the jam, with the robots and ai being a way to supposedly combat climate change only to make things worse. A great way to weave the themes into your game. 

Overall, I see a lot of potential in your game but there's a lot that needs to be improved upon. The lack of checkpoints, and the floaty platforming really hinders the playability and fun of your game and needs to be improved on. However, the story you have so far is intriguing and I want to know more. You have a long way to go, but there's a lot I can see working. 

Hello again, I do appreciate that the art has been improved. I also like the sound of the footsteps when walk. However, I wasn't able to finish the game because the box puzzle is now unbeatable. I was able to find the first four boxes easily but if there's a fifth one it's nowhere in sight. The jump is way too short for me to get on top of any of the boxes or even clear the table in the room, and if there is supposed to be a fifth box it's either not spawning or in a spot that's inaccessible because of the jump. Could you please provide a walkthrough video like before, or at least fix this in the next build? I can't really review the game if I can't finish it. 

Hello again, I enjoyed playing BlueEyes and have some things I want to say. First of all, I love the art and is by far the highlight for me. The pixel aesthetic fits the Celeste inspired style and I love city scape and tower. The tower level reminded me of the summit of Celeste, where I felt my goal get closer and closer. The music is also great and fits well. As for gameplay, I appreciate the additions you added, thank you to listening to the feedback from last sprint and adding the cursor on the jetpack(red) ability, this is a great improvement to the ability and helped me better aim my jumps. I also like the addition of the binoculars, as it allowed me to plan out my routes, and for tower level, figure out which route to take. 

Now there are some things I noticed while playing the game that I found distracting or annoying. The first thing I noticed was that some of the dialogue boxes overlap, which became more noticeable during the meeting cutscene, where some of NPC's dialogue boxes were blocking Handler's dialogue. As for gameplay, there were times where the WASD keys seem to interfere with the other controls. There were times I pressed space bar to jump only for nothing happen because I moved, and momentum from the jetpack jump being reduced because the S key was being pressed. There were several times I felt like I died or failed a jump because of this, and it became really infuriating during the final segment. The momentum in general felt inconsistent at times, especially when launching off a wall climbing. The last nitpick I'm going to say involved this part of the tower level shown below. This part was not fun, the wall jump wasn't reliable and just felt like trial and error. Please adjust this part of the wall jump section as it's way too easy to hit the electric coils here. 

Alright, story wise, I like the improvements, and love the detail of turning off the BlueEyes whenever you switch between the two abilities. I also love the addition of the character in the base who recently had his chip removed. The detail of him talking to rats is a great detail, and I would to see more of this in the game. I would suggest that after you exit the sewers, having some NPC's you can see without the BlueEyes to see how it affects people. If you plan on continue on this game in the future, maybe add the accident that affected the main character. But aside from that, you have a solid game that I enjoyed playing. You doing great. 

I love the artwork you have so far, and Scarf is so adorable. I'm curious to what choices I make and how they will determine the ending I get in the game. One question I wanted to ask was with the unnatural disaster. Is it safe for me to assume that AI is relating to the unnatural disaster, and if so, how will it be depicted in the games. I'm asking because I saw an image of Shadow Bonnie from FNAF when discussing unnatural disasters and curious to how it relates to what will be show in the game. Eitherway, I look forward to seeing how your game turns out. You're doing great!

Hi DyeDuo,

I enjoyed playing the prototype and the platforming reminded me a lot of Celeste, which I remember you mentioning was a major inspiration for your game. Like Celeste, the platforming needed to be precise at times but I never felt like it was the games fault for me messing up. This is something I like when it comes to game difficulty, where mistakes and failures feels like my own fault and not the games, and makes me feel like I'm improving. This is something I think Celeste pulls off well and your game captures this feeling fantastically. I like how simple but charming the pixel art style is, and the concept art fits with your narrative. I can continue seeing the Celeste inspiration.

There were areas I felt the platforming was a bit infuriating, mostly involving two areas of the prototype. Starting with the white barriers, how are you supposed to break them exactly? I'm asking because when I got to the segment where break through three of them (0:25 of the walkthrough), I broke through the first and then got stuck on the second, and I had to mess around with the wall jumping to break through it. The other area I had trouble with was the last platforming segment, as the rocket jump would either propel me right into one of the red x zones, or have run right into one the moment I respawned. This part became infuriating, but was somehow still fun and felt so satisfying to beat. I like Cow Cutter's idea of having an arrow pointing to where the cursor is, as I think this will help aim the rocket jump.  It did take me a while to figure out the controls, and walkthrough on your game page helped, but I think you should probably include something in-game to explain the game's controls. 

I like the updates you made to the story and the use of themes. I like the additional of the AI not only creating a facade to mask all the natural disasters it's causing, but also creating and fabricating natural disasters or its own. The threat of the AI committing mass genocide as a means of population control is a great way to up the stakes and have bit of urgency. I think a good example of showing the effects the brain chip is having on others through the actions of those you come across. For example, to show how the AI is masking a food shortage or famine, you might see people eating garbage because the brain chip is making them believe their eating normal food, or maybe talking to corpses which the chip is making them see as normal people. Sort of like how a Downer sees a Joy Addict act in the game We Happy Few. I can see a lot of potential with a story like this, and can't wait to see what comes next.

I like what you have so far in the prototype, the puzzle was fun and the npc interactions worked great. While there was a lack of theming, I'm going to let it slide as this is a prototype and likely will have more in those categories in the next build of the game. As I mentioned in the survey, and on Discord, I came across a bug involving the small box in the corner near the exit of the prototype. Upon interacting with the small box using the left mouse button, it got stuck to the player character and it wouldn't let me put it down. This broke the game and messed up the collision and physics on rest of the boxes and made have to restart the prototype. I already addressed the speed of the player character, but something I wanted to add was the lack of music or sound. The silence made walking around the prototype feel empty, and I think needs to be added in some form in a future build. 

After reading your devlog, I'm glad to see that you're taking the feedback you received into consideration, especially taking into account of being a solo dev. Talking to friends to help come up with mechanics is a great idea, just be careful to not go overboard on them as it might affect your scope. This is something we warned about yesterday during the overview of the production sprint, so I would highly recommend having a set of mechanics you know for a fact you want in your game and prioritizing those during the production sprint. I like the idea of having collectibles and I think it's a great example of something you know you want to add. Going back to what I said about the lack of music and sound, it's fine if you plan on adding that later, just make sure you have that planned out. 

Overall, I enjoyed your Prototype. the gameplay was fun, and despite the game breaking bug with that small box, I was able to figure out the puzzle. The different ways to approach the box puzzle shows how you plan on implementing player's choice into your game. While there's a lack of art and sound now, I can see that you plan on adding it later and look forward to seeing it. I appreciate that your taking in feedback, but just make sure that you don't go overboard on mechanics and scope. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what comes of Everlasting.

I love what you have so far in regards to your game. Orbyter looks like a cute and lovable protagonist, and I love the approach your going for with the story. The idea of spreading awareness of climate change and environmental issues through education is something I can get behind. I agree that there should be more easier information available to teach people what they can do to help fight climate change. I'm curious about the choices the player can make. What are some examples of these choices and can we see the impact of those choices in the game? Either way, I look forward to playing your game. 

I can see that you planned out this production reasonably well, and that you're already started on the prototyping.  I noticed that this is a solo project, and from what I've read in regards to art style and narrative I can see this scope being doable. I think the pixel art style can work, and the example of Octopath Traveler does give me a good idea for your approach. Although I do want to ask how many levels you plan on having for your game? I'm asking because it'll allow me to better understand your scope for the game, and seeing that you plan on crunching your game does make me concerned. Please pace yourself, it's fine if you're only able to have one level by end of the jam. I will be impressed with how much you can get done either way. One recommendation I will make is to maybe have the background show the current state of the world, or maybe having player looking out on the ruined world. I think this could help flesh out story of what happened to the old world as I believe just telling the player what happened isn't enough to show the effects of geoengineering. I would also recommend adding some stealth mechanics to the game. Seeing how the player can't fight back against the drones, and must start over if caught, I think it would be good idea to have spots for the player to hide from drones so it would be easier to move around without being caught. Aside from this, I think your game sounds fun and I look forward to playing it. I never heard of SRM, and would like to learn more about how it can used for good instead of harming the environment. I look forward to seeing what Everlasting develops into, and can't wait to play the final product no matter what form it takes. 

I never considered the issues of AI in regards to climate change in the environment. As an artist and animator, I hate AI, especially generative AI. So I'll enjoy seeing how you make AI the villain. I think the approach of making a 2D platformer makes sense in terms of scope, and I can see the pixel style fitting a dystopic setting. I'm curious about your production plan. Who will tackle what in regards to your game? How many levels will be playable?  How would you present the effects of AI on the environment? I can't wait to see you tackle a subject not talked about often in climate change, and an issue with AI that is often overlooked.

One of my favorite games in the jam. I loved the art-style, as it reminds me of mix between the Warrior Cats and Secret of Nimh. The puzzles were ok, I liked the ones about fixing the motorcycle, but the one with collecting wood was a bit too easy, and I wish there was more do to at the dam. One thing I was curious about was that I noticed a bush in the first level with a bunch of string in it? Is that supposed to be where the crow lives? I'm asking because it keeps making me curious since I can't get over there. Aside from that, I loved your game and I can't wait to see the full game.

This is simple but fun. The pixel art style is cute and the pink dinosaur is huggable. I'm curious are there going to be extra levels, and will we see more to the story in the future? I just want more of this dinosaur's battle against the time traveling fossil fuel corporation. 

I actually really liked this game, the story was intriguing and I had fun navigating through the level. The only real I had with the game was the combat. The attack animation is great, but its range is too short and it's really difficult to hit the enemies. Plus the enemies somehow can damage me when I'm barely even close to them. It got to the point where I'd rather avoid the enemies more than fight them. I also have to agree with Evan in that the backgrounds occasionally blended with the platforms, as there parts of the background that look like platforms and vice versa. At the end, for example, I didn't realize I could stand on the thorn like platform until I saw the wolf standing on it. Aside from that, I really liked your game and wished there was more. The music was amazing, the platforming was fun, the art style is gorgeous, and overall a really great experience. I can't wait to see where your project goes next.

So I went into more detail on discord, but there's a lot of issues I had with this submission. You mentioned that you ran out of time, which I understand, but there's a lot about this game that needs to be fixed. The main issue currently is with the resolution. For some reason, the screen is zoomed which makes it impossible to read the text upon starting the game and makes it harder to figure out where I'm going while I'm playing the game. I also don't really understand what I was supposed to be doing as all could really do was go around destroying buildings. I understand if you had issues with developing, and I appreciate that you're going to add more content and polish the game. I like your idea and there's a lot of potential. I can see you guys are passionate behind this game, and hope to one day see God Storm become the game you wanted to create.

Hi, I already gave some feedback in the discord server, so I'm going to summarize and maybe add some new things that I came across. 

I do really like what you have so far in terms of the museum and fungus level. However, a new issue I came across while replaying the game is with the enemies spawning randomly in the fungus level. There were times where I was swarmed by 5-6 trash monsters upon starting the level, with two more running towards me when I defeat a few. While I was able to last longer thanks to the enemies dropping health ups, it gets really annoying to be dog piled by enemies just because of they somehow spawned close to each other. There was also an instance where an enemy spawned inside one of the piles of garbage, which made me unable to finish the level due to not being able to reach the last enemy (look at picture to understand what I'm referring to). I also came across a glitch where pausing the game somehow disables the dodge roll. 

As for the visuals and animation, most of them are well done, but it's hard to see the main character's due to much of him being obscured by the mushroom hat. Speaking of the mushroom hat, I noticed that part of the model is stretching, which is shown in another of the images. I also recommend adding a loop to the idle as the child just freezes after a bit.

Aside from that, I still enjoyed your game and can't wait to see the next two levels.

I can see the idea of your game, and I like the designs of some of the npcs and the design of Bristle himself, but there are several issues that I think need to be looked into. 

Some things I would recommend:

Npcs: The first I saw upon starting up the game was a png rocket clipping into the ground (Refer to image). There's also a realistic looking dog floating in midair. While I do like the designs of the wolf and deer, they seem to be cropped out and the wolf is also floating in midair. Are some of these placeholders? I'm asking because some of these just feel out of place and put in at the last minute.  

Combat: I think the combat needs to be reworked or at least better explained. I have to agree with Me_gan that you need to list the controls somewhere, or at least have one of npcs explain how combat works. I was also confused about the controls, as the pressing left mouse just made Bristle do what looked like a block animation and then a vertical slice after clicking left mouse a few times. I could also only defeat the venus fly trap enemies, while the ants were just impossible to kill. 

I would also suggest adding a reset button, as there were times I fell off the map and got stuck running in place. 

I don't me to be critical, as I can see that you have quite a lot of passion for this game. I love your concept and some of the models you've made are amazing. I just know that you could do better, and there's a lot that needs to be done by the next sprint. Either way, I look forward to seeing how your game develops from here.

It was a bit of a challenge for to protect the reefs from all the incoming fish. I was really intrigued by the story, and the dialogue at night was really comforting. Seeing all my hard work pay off with the reef growing was so nice. One thing that I find odd was why Malcolm was in a different art style compared to the rest of the game, as he's the only pixelated character in the game. He just feels out of place in the game. There was some issues with the music, but that was probably my computer against you. Overall, you did a great job with your game and it fits really well with the theme of the jam. Amazing work!

Hello, you're game was pretty fun, and was easy to grasp. I wasn't expecting to immediately be swarmed by five npc's upon starting the game. There some issues with lag and being unable to interact with some of the celebrities. But aside from that I had a lot of fun with your game. Great job! 

Sure thing, so on the first level the background cuts off near the end of the level. While on the second level, in the part where you push the boxes, I noticed that the background randomly jumps to showing the claw-like arm, which then disappears if I walk a few steps back. I went and took some screenshots to show the areas I'm referring to. I still enjoyed your game either way and it was mostly just something I noticed.

The pixel art style is well done, and I your prototype was fun to play. Fortunately I use Chrome so I didn't have any issues playing it, but thanks for the warning regarding Firefox none the less. The aesthetic and gameplay were fun, and I especially enjoyed the wall climbing mechanic with the platforming. Whether or not this was intentional, as a Hollow Knight fan, wall climbing is such a fun mechanic. I could see how you plan on implementing the theme from your documents, as the main character is trying to Petition to help fight the consequences of climate change, and I can't wait to see how this is seen in your game. I'm a little confused about the timer though, as it doesn't stop even after exiting the tab. Aside from that, I enjoyed your prototype and look forward to seeing the full game.

I love the aesthetic/feel and I can see the plan you have in mind for your game by playing your demo. Although I just wish there was a better explanation for what I'm supposed to do with all the wooden planks I was getting from the forest, because all I could really do with them was stack a bunch on top of each other to the point that they stretched across the entire screen. However, I'll let this slide as this is just a prototype and it's still playable.  Looking at your game design doc, I can see you plan on implementing the theme through hazard cards and can't wait to see them in action. Either way, your game looks fun and kind of reminds me of Catan, I can't wait to see how your game evolves over the jam.

Hello again, I got to check out your prototype and I like what you have so far. The art style is cute, but I still don't understand what the tiki guys and the space teddy bear. Are they placeholders?  The gameplay looks fun, and aside from there being a bit too much gravity on the jump and some weird stuff with the background of the background, I really enjoyed your game and played it twice. I still can't wait to see what comes next.

Your games sounds fun and the idea of a playing as a fox spirit is really interesting. I love the concept art and visuals you provided and you do a great job explaining the idea behind your game. My only concern is that the scope might a bit large, but you seem to have a plan on how to approach development, so this isn't really that big of a concern. Overall, I really like your game concept and did a great job explaining your idea. I look forward to playing your game and learning more about Rue. 

Your art style is so cute and it does remind me of Night in the Woods, which is my favorite games. I also like your choice of tackling the issue of light pollution as that's an area of climate change I haven't really considered. My only critique is that I would like to see more about your development plan so I can get a better scope of how you plan on approaching your game in terms of development. Aside from that, you game looks cute and promising and I look forward to seeing your finished product.