Ludum Dare 25
December 14th-17th 2012 :: Theme: You are the Villain
Escuro - azure_nimbus - Jam Entry
Post-compo (web) | Source | Web
Update2: It says 0 coolness, but that's because I only rate with the other account! I definitely rate everyone back!
Update: check the post-compo! And please play my compo entry too! Here it is: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&q=behind+blue+pixels
---------------------------------
This is a game about MURDER!
Suck the color out of the squares and never let them shine.
Made in 3 hours with Stencyl.
View azure_nimbus's journal. | View all entries by azure_nimbus
Ratings
| #23 | Innovation(Jam) | 3.84 |
| #122 | Mood(Jam) | 3.00 |
| #144 | Overall(Jam) | 3.10 |
| #183 | Fun(Jam) | 2.72 |
| #224 | Audio(Jam) | 2.24 |
| #283 | Graphics(Jam) | 2.34 |
| #287 | Humor(Jam) | 1.73 |
| #299 | Theme(Jam) | 2.20 |
| #1150 | Coolness | 10% |
Comments
i agree, the idea is fun and discovering the patterns was interesting,but a tutorial or intro screen with a description would have made it less confusing.
Nice puzzle, don't think I've played one similar. Like the color choices
I really, *really* liked this. It did a good job of making me feel like something Important was happening before I got the rules, and it did a good job of slowly easing me into forcing me to understand what's happening. The fact by a few levels in I actually did (I think) start to work out the rules and was solving puzzles with intent rather than by trial and error was a really cool feeling. I did eventually get to a puzzle I couldn't solve and seems... actually unsolvable?
Some things that would have helped, I think: If the mouse isn't used it would be better if the cursor were hidden, as was it was misleading, I kept thinking, maybe the mouse does something after all?. Also I think this kinda needs a save feature. I'd like to put this down and come back to it but if I do that I lose my place. (I've already replayed once to the "unplayable" level after thinking, oh wait, One More Thing I Didn't Try.)
More thoughts rot13'd for spoilers: V jnag gb guvax bs guvf nf fbeg bs na nofgenpg znmr, nygubhtu gung'f abg fgevpgyl npphengr. Gur bar pbzcynvag V qvq fbeg bs unir vf gung vg frrzrq yvxr nyy gur yriryf jrer "begubtbany"-- gung vf, vg frrzrq rirel yriry V cynlrq, rkprcg gur "haorngnoyr" bar, lbh pbhyq orng ol uvggvat fgevatf bs nyy bar qverpgvba va n ebj, fnl, 3E, Y, 3Q, 5H [jva]. V xrcg jnvgvat sbe vg gb svaq n jnl gb qrfvta n chmmyr jurer V pbhyqa'g jva ol gelvat rnpu pbzcnff qverpgvba va ghea hagvy V sbhaq n fbyhgvba. V'z abg fher vs gung'f cbffvoyr jvgu gur cevzvgvirf lbh unir, ohg vg jbhyq or vagrerfgvat gb gel. Znlor gung unccraf va gur yngrfg yriryf, V'z abg fher.
Naljnl, gur "haorngnoyr" yriry sbe zr unq guerr oybpxf va gur hccre yrsg naq guerr oybpxf va gur obggbz evtug, fgnttrerq n ovg. gurer jrer gjb oybpxf ng cbfvgvbaf, V thrff 2 naq 6, naq uvggvat "yrsg" yvtugrarq bar naq qnexrarq gur bgure naq uvggvat "evtug" qvq gur rknpg bccbfvgr. Uvggvat hc naq qbja qvq abg rssrpg gurfr gjb oybpxf ng nyy. V pbhyq svaq inevbhf pbzovangvbaf bs HYQE gung tenqhnyyl jvcrq bhg gur bgure oybpxf, ohg gurer frrzrq gb or mreb jnl gb rire trg gubfr ynfg gjb bhg orpnhfr V pbhyqa'g pyrne bar jvgubhg rkcybqvat gur bgure, naq beqre qvqa'g znggre fvapr gubfr oybpxf jrer vzzhar gb H,Q.
3 hours! Great job!
Cool puzzle game.
It can be very hard to tell how close one square is to being "over the edge". I think it would be a little more playable if you used numbers instead of colors. Or something like bars filling up/emptying.
Another thing to play with might be some sort of animation illustrating how the "light" is being distributed whenever you press a key, so you can piece together the series of actions you need to make without too much guesswork.
It's a stretch to fit it over the theme, but it definitely has a sort of "vampiric" vibe to it.
For a three hour game, this is great! Much better than I did in five hours anyway!
You have a knack for very elegant puzzle design. Your games are always a treat to play. Loved this entry.
Elegant and simple. It's quite confusing at first but then it gets dangerously addictive. And 3 hours? wow, gratz!
Occasionally it was difficult to tell if the tiles were one step from white - perhaps there could be some kind of indication? Otherwise, I really like this - especially that it's simple enough that you didn't need instructions, and yet very difficult.
Interesting mechanic, however, rather confusing. Could have used a tutorial.
Your games always demonstrate a clear aptitude for design. :)
I don't think an explicit tutorial would add much; the mechanics should become clear through the process of playing. Each puzzle could reveal a truth about the game's mechanics, which prepares the player for the puzzles ahead. The player is then required to bring this knowledge together in various ways as the puzzles become more complex.
I wonder what effect having fewer steps between no colour and shining (is it about 9 currently?) would make.
Love the music. Loved having to work out how to play it but I think it could do with just a little bit more feedback for the player. Different sounds perhaps or something else to hint at what is happening.
It seems like a nice puzzle, and since coming up with the idea for the mechanics is the hard part of this game, it's impressive you got this done in 3 hours. I'm just not that much of a straight up puzzle fan, I'm afraid.
Assuming it ends when 6 blocks come out, I beat it. Thoughts:
Bad:
-Sometimes, things like these drive me up a wall in frustration, but that could just be me.
-The words on the white screen go by a bit too fast.
Good:
+It's got that little puzzlely spark your games always seem to have.
+A nice theme interpretation.
Interesting, and complicated. I gave up at the 6 block puzzle. Also two games for the same LD eh? Crazy.
It's simple yet complete. I like that and that you made it in 3 hours (that's crazy...) :-)
For all the spoon fed modern games, it was refreshing to have to figure this one out for myself. Made each little win really feel worth something.
You must sign in to comment.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to place in the final results, you NEED votes. The easiest way to get votes is by rating other games. Judging lasts for 3 weeks following the end of Ludum Dare. For best effect, rate 20 games as soon as possible. Rating more games is encouraged.
MORE TIPS AND DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
REMEMBER: The “Theme” category is only for the main theme (You are the Villain). Don’t penalize for not using Goats.
TEAMS: Teams entering the Jam should pick a single representative to submit your game, or create a team specific account you can share. We currently do not support Team Voting, but sharing an account and together playing and rating games is acceptable.
NOT LOGGED IN?: If you get a message about not being logged in, even though you are, it’s because your web browser cached the non-logged in page. You can fix this by either refreshing your cache or clearing your cache. CTRL+F5 in many browsers. Chrome is a bit more work. Press F12 to enable Developer Mode, then you can right click on the refresh button and select “Empty Cache and Hard Reload”. This option is unavailable if you are not in Developer Mode.
We’ve identified the problem, and should have the page caching bugs fixed for next Ludum Dare.
PORTS: Ports to other platforms can be done after the deadline. That said, the sooner you finish your port, the sooner people can play your game, improving your chances of placing in the final results. For best results, provide a Web version of your game, or a Windows version with no dependencies. Also be sure to rate about 20 games to improve your visibility.
MY GAME DOESN’T SHOW UP: If you can’t find your game, it’s usually because the URL to your downloads are missing ‘http://‘. Fix your URLs (http://mysite.com/mygame.zip) and you will show up.
MY GAME CRASHES, IS UNBEATABLE, OR I MADE A TYPO: We allow you to fix crash or win condition bugs after the deadline (in a sense, like “porting” to support more players). We also allow “typo” bugs. I.e. A true that should have been a false, a word that should have been a different word, very tiny changes that you would have caught if you had more sleep. We leave this open to interpretation, but generally speaking your game should be identical to the game you submitted. No new features, just things you messed up last minute. Typos.
Fun idea, but a bit confusing at first.