Play Area by Halleflux

[raw]
made by Halleflux for LD31 (COMPO)
Play Area is a game where you decide what is and what is not part of the game.

I am interpreting the theme more as 'Entire ACTIVE game on one screen', as 'Entire game on one screen' is far too limiting.

Left click and drag to set the Play Area.
Right click to reset the camera.
Spacebar to play the game within the Play Area.

I think it came out fairly well for my first LD.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.75 102
Audio 2.75 536
Fun 3.45 247
Graphics 2.38 1003
Innovation 4.54 7
Mood 3.02 464
Theme 3.67 459

Feedback

MegaMasterX
08. Dec 2014 · 03:42 UTC
I've got to say - this is a very innovative entry. Given the restrictive theme, this turned out really nice. Congratulations on your first Ludum Dare, and here's to many more!
JohnGalt
08. Dec 2014 · 03:43 UTC
If there are more graphic instructions, it will be more fun.
Vulture Tamer
08. Dec 2014 · 03:44 UTC
awesome puzzles :-)

good implementation of theme ;-)
daviosmash
08. Dec 2014 · 03:45 UTC
A lot harder than I thought, but once I got on and learned the gameplay, surprisingly fun. Nice game.
woodecker
08. Dec 2014 · 03:49 UTC
Very innovative sir, congrats! Maybe a more intuitive interface (with less descriptions) would make the game more fun.
ianb96
08. Dec 2014 · 03:52 UTC
Very innovative!
shyupuff
08. Dec 2014 · 03:53 UTC
Amazing mechanics. Wow. Just stunning mechanics. That was really interesting and captivating. Sometimes a bit much on the text side, but I guess it's necessary to teach the player how to properly play the game... Otherwise, nice! :D
Laddo D
08. Dec 2014 · 03:53 UTC
insanely clever
Pinpickle
08. Dec 2014 · 04:38 UTC
Really quite cool, and a very different approach to the theme. I was very happy to finish it to the end and wished there was more! But that's what post-game work is for.

I agree with the sentiments that things may have been better explained without words in-game.
deathray
08. Dec 2014 · 04:48 UTC
Very innovative as others have said! I appreciated the instructions written on each level.
Just Tom
08. Dec 2014 · 04:53 UTC
Super innovative idea! I really dig it :)
Honestly, it I had to peck at anything, maybe the screen shouldn't zoom in when you select an active area? It's a little confusing for me, but I might be over looking something.

Regardless, I LOVE the mechanics, it is balls to the walls crazy clever. If you took this further, it'd be sweet if the mechanics did more of the explaining on their own, but I get the time restraints you had.

Very clean graphics, very readable and the audio was perfect for the mood.
jarry
08. Dec 2014 · 04:53 UTC
wow... best game so far but not realy in the theme (in my opinion)
Andrea
08. Dec 2014 · 05:25 UTC
Incredible puzzle game, really!
Groydis
08. Dec 2014 · 07:07 UTC
Wow, great work!
Snuux
08. Dec 2014 · 07:52 UTC
It's hard and innovating. Continue develop this game on mobiles, tablets tv and other))
Sh1rogane
08. Dec 2014 · 09:27 UTC
This is a very innovative entry and fun! Really good first LD!
fueelin
08. Dec 2014 · 10:15 UTC
Really liked it! Other commenters have covered the details pretty well already :)
Jupitron
08. Dec 2014 · 13:57 UTC
Awesome clever game, really well made!
Resonious
08. Dec 2014 · 17:25 UTC
Really cool, actually. The theme was a real hard one to truly satisfy, and I think you did an excellent job at that.

My only complaint is that some of the puzzles felt kind of slow and frustrating to have to restart.
Andynonomous
09. Dec 2014 · 03:42 UTC
This was a very cool concept. I didn't get it at first, but you really made a unique puzzler here.
Homletmoo
09. Dec 2014 · 19:27 UTC
A nice idea for the mechanic, although I felt the way the camera zoomed in on the play area was quite jarring.
rottenmage
10. Dec 2014 · 16:44 UTC
Very innovative mechanics!
KilledByAPixel
10. Dec 2014 · 16:45 UTC
Cool idea! I found it somewhat annoying that the screen zooms in, but I guess that was to make it fit the theme better. Also I think you should show the connections between switches and objects automatically without requiring the player to push a button
mrexcessive
10. Dec 2014 · 17:32 UTC
Hi there. Interesting idea for game-physics. Like the drop block out of active area it stops moving. Nice and appropriate sounds. Might be nice to use mouse-wheel for zoom out camera (not changing active area) cos that's a pain when working through bits of a level. Bookmarked for a return visit. Good job!
Liam :D
10. Dec 2014 · 17:44 UTC
Really cool game idea! I want to see this in a properly fleshed out and polished retail game!
grimgraybeard
10. Dec 2014 · 17:57 UTC
great innovative puzzler, had some good "oh, so its meant to be done"moments.
🎤 Halleflux
10. Dec 2014 · 18:38 UTC
Thank you everyone for all of your feedback!
I just thought I should take a moment to respond to to some of it, so here we go:

I do agree that the instructions are poor. At least, by comparison to what visual instructions would be. I haven't actually done much in the way of creating instructions before, so it caught me off guard when some people I had playtesting couldn't learn the game. At that point, though, all I could do was refine the text, as i couldn't make visual works at that point to teach the player. Sorry about that. =\

I do understand the screen instantly zooming is a bit jarring, but I felt that it would help my game fit the theme a bit better. As for whether I was right or not is a matter of opinion, I suppose. I personally think the best way to handle it would be to have the option of scrolling in and out on the selected area via the scroll wheel.

KilledByAPixel: I felt that if I showed the connections without having the player to push a button, it might make them think that the connections might be something else at certain points in time, and I didn't want that confusion. Thanks for your feedback, though!

I do plan on making this into a full game at a later point, so please, if you have any suggestions, post them!

Again, thank you everyone for all of your feedback!
alvarop
10. Dec 2014 · 23:53 UTC
I got quickly confused about the game mechanics, but I did enjoy the overall idea. I think there may be ways to make the gameplay a bit more clear without so much text. So, in other words : you have something cool here, but you need to polish it up and make it less text-heavy. Good work!
Kuupu
11. Dec 2014 · 22:35 UTC
amazing game, you can expand this to a lot of other things :)
jpmit
12. Dec 2014 · 19:35 UTC
Good use of the theme. Fun game, well done!
BoxedMeatRevolution
19. Dec 2014 · 22:08 UTC
Very neat puzzle mechanic and calming audio. Congratulations on a very polished game!
Slepice1
26. Dec 2014 · 00:35 UTC
Very innovative and original. Thumbs up.
martial_cantarel_games
26. Dec 2014 · 01:36 UTC
)))))))
Alexandre Szybiak
26. Dec 2014 · 19:51 UTC
I got stuck at the second level with the boosters :/ I really liked it, very clever, one of the most innovative game I've played so far.
Omiya Games
27. Dec 2014 · 02:20 UTC
Very innovative, but the tutorial was really hard to understand. A better, layman-worded version would have helped. I liked that each level introduced a new element, though.
DavidErosa
28. Dec 2014 · 12:06 UTC
Awesome! The mechanic is amazing and puzzles are sometimes really hard to figure out. I liked how you introduced the mechanics via gameplay instead of the classical wall-of-text. Congrats!
Gins
28. Dec 2014 · 12:35 UTC
That was quite innovative. Some brain teasers in there, and really good job on the tutorials.
Insality
28. Dec 2014 · 12:37 UTC
amazing mechanic, great job man :]
a lot of fun
Germanunkol
28. Dec 2014 · 13:14 UTC
Some levels don't work well when the screen size isn't widescreen. Other than that, great game, awesome idea, great puzzles. Well done, especially for a first LD!
Geckoo1337
28. Dec 2014 · 13:51 UTC
I didn't understand all about this entry, but the first levels seem to me interesting yet. Maybe the mechanics could be more explicit or clear. Sometimes I cannot figure out what I am supposed to do. Well done ++
dunin
28. Dec 2014 · 16:11 UTC
wow, clever concept!
Of course, there some things to improve (graphics, ui, instructions...) but the gameplay is really good.
Madball
28. Dec 2014 · 16:17 UTC
I find camera jumps too unfriendly. Well, I guess that's what makes the game theme-related, but other than that, changing camera position is unnecessary. Also, some more on-screen information would be helpful, like telling, how does a blue block move, showing a block that's completely covered by another one.
The idea is great, but it's the only thing spicing the game. Other than that, the game is too simple. Maybe you think of another cool concept, there is room for more.
klianc09
28. Dec 2014 · 16:23 UTC
Really clever puzzle game, it was interesting playing through it. It just was really annoying that the camera would change all the time, it should just show the entire screen all the time.
el-pepi
28. Dec 2014 · 20:59 UTC
Very innovative! Amazing puzzle.
The only things I didn't like were the zooming in on the active areas and the walls of text. Otherwise, amazing game! It only needs some better graphics.
ArcturusDeluxe
28. Dec 2014 · 21:43 UTC
Fascinating idea. It's a bit tricky to get your head around the idea at first, but once it clicks its quite clever. The camera zooming in gets a bit cumbersome at times. Definitely a good baseline concept for something amazing.
Valeour
29. Dec 2014 · 12:48 UTC
Great idea, great execution. I'm impressed that you managed to make a decent physics puzzle in Unity. It actually works well! The puzzles are clever and nicely challenging. Too much text though, it's not fun reading when you've already tasted gameplay.
Otherwise, largely enjoyed.
pht59x
29. Dec 2014 · 22:29 UTC
At first, I couldn't make the damn thing work. After some trials and errors, the ball started to move as expected. The gameplay is quite innovative and clever.