UPDATE!

This posting is closed while I attend to the various applications that I've received!

Thank you for your interest! ^_^

UPDATE!

This posting is closed while I attend to the various applications that I've received!

Thank you for your interest! ^_^

~~~~~

Specifically, I'm seeking two people:

• One visual artist
• One audio engineer

The intended duration of the project is about two years.

Please note, however, that right now I'm only asking a "soft yes": actual contracting (and thus start of work) is intended to then occur once publisher support has (hopefully) been gained.

The details (including how to apply) should be found here:

http://thaumaturge-art.com/index.php?/pages/contractPositions.html

As for the game itself:

Moons in Crystal is a top-down fantasy "space" metroidvania!

Fly a brass-and-crystal vessel through crystal-sphere solar systems; explore strange moons; avert a devouring doom.

You should find the TIGSource dev-log here:

https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=72259

Some screenshots should be visible below:

And an early (and now a little out-of-date) trailer-video here:

Ooh, let me second that recommendation of playing at night!

Thankfully I did, and I do think that it added to the atmosphere! ^_^

(Disclaimer: I am a friend of the dev.)

This game is...

It's bittersweet, and chill, and comfy, and affecting.

And the concept is such an excellent match for the story!

Combined with some really good writing and a lovely, comfy art-style, this is such a good, and intelligent, and empathetic experience, I find. ^_^

... Or, I should say, for me it was: as the description says, each player only gets to play it only once, and for me that once is completed.

And I'm sitting on the title screen, unwilling to close the game, just listening to the (beautiful) music as I type this.

But in due course it'll be time for my ship and that of this game to complete their transit, and pass by each other in the night...

So let me say more only this: if the game sounds good to you, I suggest that you take the time to cross your path with its, and see where the journey might take you...

This is a really lovely game! Short, impactful, affecting--and wonderfully poetic.

Perhaps most saliently, it's a game possessed of an interestingly eerie and melancholic atmosphere; a feeling of being adrift and uncertain in a world that seems empty.

Indeed, narratively the story is of an unspecified weight; an unnamed, burdensome sadness.

This narrative is conveyed primarily through poetic descriptions of the things present in the scene--but also through short snippets of interstitial poetry.

One thing that I found neat is that those descriptions change with each stage of the journey through the story, keeping things interesting and adding to the atmosphere.

On the visual side, I love the minimalist art-style, in the vein of hand-drawn illustration. It's a significant contributor to that above-mentioned atmosphere, I feel.

Audio is sparse, in a way that I feel supports that melancholic mood and those minimalistic visuals; that impression of a world that seems empty. The sounds and music that are present are, I feel, well-chosen.

And at the end--a resolution unexpected, but not unwelcome. ^_^

So overall, a short and well-wrought experience, I find! ^_^

Hmm... Both good ideas, actually--thank you both! I'll experiment a bit and see which option works best for me, I daresay! ^_^

In short, I have a page set up for a work-in-progress game of mine, and I want to allow limited access to that page.

To that end, I have the page set to be "restricted", and per the instructions I've generated a download-key link.

However, it appears that this link only grants access to the actual files available for download (i.e. to the download page)--attempting to view the actual project page (e.g. by clicking on the "Game page" button on the download page) is met with with an error.

Is there a way to grant restricted access to the project page itself (including its downloads)?

(I do gather that it might be possible via setting a password, but I really don't want to put additional hurdles in the way of those to whom I give the link gaining access to the page.)

I appreciate the thought, but the technical deadline only exists for the sake of things like internet outages and technical problems, I believe; my project legitimately ran over time. To my mind, it would not be honest for me to submit, and so I intend not to.

It's my pleasure, and I'm glad to have so helped! Enjoy your jam! ^_^

Aaah, then the deadline has passed! (And since my power went out at about midnight, I was over-time already! Thus I feel that I can't claim the buffer in honesty.) :(

(I thought that I had April 1st, too, based on the wording on the jam-page.)

*sighs*

Ah well, I suppose that I'll finish and upload the game, but not submit it, then. I'm a little sad about it, but so it goes.

Well, thank you for the answer nevertheless! I appreciate it. ^_^

*ahem* So, what time is the official deadline...? (And in what time-zone?)

I'm close to done, I do believe--but it's getting late where I am, and I'm wondering whether I should push for a late night (tomorrow is Saturday, at least) or whether I have time to come back to things tomorrow... ^^;

[edit]

Actually, I've just been reminded that there are some limits to what I can do late tonight, as I have a scheduled power-outage coming up at midnight (around forty minutes from these edits). And while I can still use my computer for a while thereafter--it has a battery--I won't have internet access, and thus won't be in a position to find new ambient music, make builds, or upload builds.

Those last three may have to wait for tomorrow, depending on how things go...

The question is still relevant, however: at the least it may tell me how much time I have tomorrow, if called for... ^^;

Eeeexcellent, and thank you! :D

A question, if I may: In brainstorming, a few lines of potential text for the project have come to me. (Albeit that I haven't written them down.) Does that then disqualify the concept that I was working on? Or should I perhaps make a point of eschewing those lines? Or are those few okay...? ^^;

This is a fun little game--well done on it! ^_^

I do think that I may have managed to somewhat break the simulation, however: I've found that placing the propeller on the front, and then one door just to either side, the doors rotated to tilt up at the front and swept slightly back, produces a vehicle that seems to sort of helicopter right to the edge of the play area. ^^;

Is it acceptable to work on framework and editor elements (i.e. the components/structural elements for building a visual novel, and editor-tools to aid such building), given that those elements are not specific to any visual novel?

To explain, I have a "visual novel framework" that I developed for a third-party non-visual-novel engine (that engine being Panda3D), which I used to make a VN for a previous jam into which I entered. At the moment I'm working on a visual editor for that framework, and have it in mind to rework some elements of the framework itself. Is such work okay, or does it disqualify me from entering this jam?

This was a fascinating--and strangely meditative--experience. ^_^

The errors in the archaeology feel plausible, and reflect uncertainty in our own understanding of the past (which is indeed yet developing, I believe)--and further, provide a curious window on our own time.

And all this aided by a lovely and appropriately-calming voice-over by the voice-actor.

Very well done, all involved in this! ^_^

Thank you for letting me know! And indeed, the issue does seem to be fixed, and I've now completed the game! It was a fun little experience, and thank you for it. ^_^

Good good! I'm glad to read it! ^_^

This seems like a fun game as far as I've gotten, and with a pleasant theme. ^_^

That said, I fear that I may be stuck: I'm on level three, and I'm finding that sometimes a single movement takes two points to enact, instead of just one. As a result I'm consistently running out of points before I manage to get my bee back to their hive. :/

This was impressive! ^_^

The visuals were appealing and intriguing; the puzzles were clever, unusual, and impressively varied; and the mechanics were elegant and effective.

Very well done, I do think! ^_^

Eeeexcellent, and thank you! :D

I hope so!

But indeed, I shall await royal decree! ^_^

Oh! I wanted to ask something along these lines myself!

Can we use this technique to apply the sound effect to different types of event?

To give my specific case, I'm thinking of using my sound effect to convey footsteps. However, if I start with a longer, deeper effect, then I can additionally use it to convey a character falling to the ground, and speed/pitch it up to then serve as footsteps. Would that be okay?

Thank you very much for your comment, and for playing the game! And I'm glad that you seem to have enjoyed it, and like the snippets included! ^_^

Ah, yes, I do like that "footsteps" snippet. And it is a sweet and precious thing that it describes, I feel. ^_^

I can definitely believe that the hit-boxes could be bigger: generally speaking, I think that it's better to provide larger hit-boxes for things that it's positive for players to collide with (and smaller ones for things that it's negative for players to collide with).

Ah... I'll confess that I didn't manage to pick out a "glowworm" sound from the music that plays in that area.

I'll give it another shot then, I think!

Thank you for the hint! ^_^

[edit]

Ah, I've caught the glowworms now, thanks to your hint! ^_^

That said, I was somewhat surprised by the accompanying sound this time--I'm not sure that it actually played on my previous run of the game. If it didn't, then that may be (part of) the reason that I didn't succeed on that occasion.

[edit 2]

And done!

That was overall a pleasant experience, and I did rather like your use of sound in it. ^_^

I'm enjoying this game thus far, and the music really does add to the atmosphere, I do feel. ^_^

That said, I fear that I find myself stuck: In certain places I've found myself tasked with catching a creature. Attempting to do so results in failure, and the instruction to time my catch better. But I haven't found--either as an in-game object or as part of the audio--a means to time my catch.

(I've tried timing the press of the enter-key to various points or features in the music, but thus far to no avail.)

May I request a hint, please?

Excellent, and thank you! ^_^

Ah, I see--of course! I hadn't thought of its tile-based approach as--indeed--incurring the presence of a number of assets. Fair enough, and thank you for the explanation! ^_^

And thank you for confirming that Panda3D should be okay--and indeed, it has no such requirement, I do believe. ^_^

(The only caveat that I'll mention is that I believe that it handles text by internally rendering the glyphs of a given font to a texture. I'm hoping, however, that this might not count against it in this jam.)

Thank you, on both counts! ^_^

Thank you for your answer! ^_^

Ah, that's curious about RPGMaker! I do wonder what it is that causes it to violate the rules... But no matter!

As to what engine I'm contemplating, I primarily use Panda3D for my development (link: https://www.panda3d.org/), and had it in mind to build a "light VN framework" with it that I could use for this jam.

If I may ask, regarding the following rule:

• use any engine to create a game that is considered a VN first and foremost (e.g. due to the required assets needed, an engine such as any version of RPGMaker would not be allowed

For someone who doesn't use RPGMaker, what assets are required, and how, that it would be infeasible to use it for this jam?

I'm thinking of using an engine that I'm already familiar with, but want to check that whatever it is in RPGMaker that disqualifies it wouldn't also disqualify my engine of choice...

(I doubt it, as the engine in question is a very general one--but I'd rather ask superfluously than find out too late that the engine isn't allowed.)

(Someone else above asked my other question regarding this, which was about developing the mechanical features of a VN ahead of time--I am encouraged that this is allowed!)

This was a pretty neat experience, with a surprisingly engaging (and clever!) central mechanic! Nicely done! ^_^

This was a pretty cool little game! A fun gimmick, some really nice sound, and neat visuals. ^_^

Well done, I think! ^_^

Nope, I'm afraid that clicking on the window doesn't seem to help. (I imagine that I did that when first I played, but I checked just a moment ago in order to be on the safe side.)

As to browsers, I'm using Firefox--I haven't tried the game in another browser.

For what it's worth, other Unity games have worked for me, as I recall--but then, that doesn't always mean much.

In that case, I think that it works well. ^_^

Just to check that I'm responding to the experience as it's intended to be: On my machine, I saw distant trees rendered over nearer ones. If that's the intended effect, then well and good!

And it's an interesting effect! It feels a bit like looking at stained glass.

I'm not sure of how well it would work with other objects present--the background is quite busy--but as it stands it makes for a neat visual experience, I think.

That would do it, I daresay! And I'm glad that it sounds like a fairly simple thing to fix. ^_^

The first one that comes to mind is an old game, "Bad Mojo"; in that game the player-character is transformed at the start into a cockroach.

This is odd: I don't seem to start where the walkthrough has the player starting.

Instead, I seem to start directly in front of a stone circle, at which point I simply hop over a low obstacle of some sort and advance to the crystal within--at which point the game ends.

I see none of the trials, and turning around to the cave at my back doesn't seem to achieve much.

Alas, the game doesn't seem to work for me!

On the initial "controls" screen, I see the instruction to press "w", and I do so--and nothing happens. Eventually the prompt to press "w" comes up again, and so on.