Oscillation by MaddeStudios

[raw]
made by MaddeStudios for LD31 (COMPO)
====!EMBEDDED VERSION LOOKS WEIRD!====
!Yup, I know. Text is unreadable. It's a scaled down version in order to fit on this page. All other external versions are twice the total resolution, so text is readable. Most of the text in this game is not needed, but helps, so don't worry too much.!
UPDATE: - Linked the game to the full size version now.
It doesn't fit right on the page, but if you use LD's new Fullscreen feature, it works pretty well!

====A LITTLE NOTE====
Some people are saying the robot moves very slowly. This is certainly true at first, but if you hold out, you very soon get a wheel which makes you move fast. kthxbi.

====SHORT DESCRIPTION====
You play as a robot. You are in a derelict factory. With the aid of some computer AI thing, you are going to get out of the factory. That's all there really is to it.

Anyways, give it a try, and tell me what you think.

====THEME====
I think I cheated a little on this theme, because I didn't like it much. Instead of going all out on it, I made a game the uses a feature to show the "Entire Game on One Screen", rather than everything using that. I added zooming in and out on the world, which enables a handy feature in order to make life easier.

====CONTROLS====
Controls are all explained in game, but here they are anyway:
Any: Start the game.
Z: zoom in/out.
X: interact.
Left/Right: Move.
Up: Jump.
Sadly, I didn't have time to setup keybinding fully, as I was wracking my brain on the theme for too long :P
No saving, no pausing. Saying that, there are no major hazards, and the game is very short, so these features are sort of unnecessary.

====OTHER OPINIONS====
I disliked this theme. That's my opinion. I struggled to come up with a good idea for it (That wasn't too obvious or already done), so this is what I've got. I Don't think it's as good as my previous entries, but in building it, I did come up with some new techniques and methods -- Basically, my best coded platformer yet (for the basic stuff, at least). I also decided to delve into recursion and got those dang wires working, which I'm quite pleased about.
I'm still rubbish at composing, but I did make some music in the end.

====NAME/TITLES - WHY ARE THEY CRAP?====
I spent too long programming an trying things, I never thought of a name, and was too tired to design any form of title. The name 'Oscillation' I think came from the fact that you end up going round in circles in this factory, as well as being stuck in a loop of dying and returning to life until you leave. I don't know. SO MANY OSCILLOSCOPE SCREENS

Overall, I did pretty bad on the game itself this time round, but did learn some good stuff, so I still kinda win ;)

THE CURRENT LINKS USE MY WEBSITE. SOON, THEY WILL BE MOVED OVER TO GAMEJOLT AND ITCH.IO. JUST A HEADS UP

Ratings

Coolness 62% 3
Overall 3.69 140
Audio 3.24 237
Fun 3.27 379
Graphics 4.05 69
Humor 3.09 224
Innovation 3.10 576
Mood 3.78 52
Theme 3.26 937

Feedback

johnbrynte
08. Dec 2014 路 10:40 UTC
My favorite so far! The zoom is really fitting to the theme while also adding an interesting mechanic to the genre. The sweet jump controls and the great level design made you really curious to continue playing. Nicely done!
lion123
08. Dec 2014 路 15:02 UTC
Great game with great controls
馃帳 MaddeStudios
08. Dec 2014 路 15:17 UTC
Thank you, peoples! I'm glad you liked the levels, I would have ideally had WAAY more features and mechanics to this game, but I didn't really have time :(
sharpcoder
08. Dec 2014 路 15:51 UTC
Awesome game! I love the clever theme usage here, haha. This game is frustratingly unforgiving though. Awesome job though, I played it for quite some time :)
RedPanda
08. Dec 2014 路 19:11 UTC
Great Game!
FredericRP
08. Dec 2014 路 21:39 UTC
Good mood ! I found that the robot was way too slow, but that's the point at first, right ?
I like the oscilloscope screens :)
Cheshyr
09. Dec 2014 路 07:21 UTC
Nice platformer, with some personality. Great work!
JFern
09. Dec 2014 路 08:29 UTC
Great platformer with sweet graphics and a clever take on the theme! Dug the overall feel (plus robots are awesome)
Krisjet
09. Dec 2014 路 09:01 UTC
Cool little metroidvania. Impressed by the scope of what you managed to put together! A little bit too much backtracking made it a bit frustrating at times, especially when you missed jumps and had to climb all the way to the top again.
pjchardt
09. Dec 2014 路 10:23 UTC
Very nice game! I was expecting it to be a jam entry while I was playing it, then saw it was a compo. I have a few criticisms about level design but take them with a grain of salt as they are only apparent because of the high level of polish of the game. Some of the pits right after entering new scenes and or having to jump to platforms between scenes were a bit frustrating, as was backtracking from errant jumps. Great overall though!
Paperscraps
09. Dec 2014 路 12:00 UTC
Solid platformer gameplay. I really like this take on the theme. Some of the sound was a bit grating after awhile. Nicely done overall.
HUMANICS
09. Dec 2014 路 13:59 UTC
didn't get far... takes forever to walk anywhere... But quite nice from what I've seen!
sepharoth213
09. Dec 2014 路 13:59 UTC
Very polished game, great job! I think the level design was pretty frustrating, the first section would kill you and send you wayyyy back and the robot doesn't move very quickly. At first I thought it didn't fit the theme at all, but it worked its way there.

I actually really liked the theme. Though it didn't dictate the entire compo like most themes do, it's a nice restriction that allows for designers to get a little more creative without just letting them go free.
HotBoxGames
09. Dec 2014 路 14:02 UTC
Nice style, solid controls - the zoom feature works well and suits the theme nicely, good job! :)
Bernhard
09. Dec 2014 路 14:16 UTC
Another one of those "I can't believe thats possible in 48h" entries. WOW! Really well done!
馃帳 MaddeStudios
09. Dec 2014 路 17:25 UTC
Thanks for all the Digital Love, guys! I honestly thought this was one of my worse attempts. Glad you generally like most of the aspects. But yes, level design isn't my forte.
6DownStudios
09. Dec 2014 路 17:42 UTC
Everything works so well together! Chiptune track, low-rez pixelart (so good!), it all complements the CRTesque mood.
Way to make something brilliant with a tough theme!
Kim Sj枚berg
10. Dec 2014 路 07:17 UTC
Nice with the camera zoom and rooms. Nice art and fitting sound. However I think it was a little bit too unforgiving sending you back to the start each death. Movement was slow enough to frustrate me each time I had to walk all the way again. Maybe a checkpoint at each new room entered or something. Still very good though :)
GAFBlizzard
10. Dec 2014 路 07:25 UTC
The game is suuuuper laggy on Firefox. Opted out of rating since the zoom was laggy and even after wheels, things were very slow and stuttery about once a second. I was playing using the standalone web version instead of the embedded version.

A mute toggle for music would also be really appreciated since music can get a bit old in games that go on for a while. The text was also suuuper slow to scroll.
JavadocMD
10. Dec 2014 路 20:31 UTC
There's some lovely art here and a solid platformer design. The opening section is pretty painful, but if you can make it past that it's pretty fun.
fleegle2000
11. Dec 2014 路 16:25 UTC
Great work! I like the progression and the graphics. The music loop is a little annoying and I found the fog at the screen edges a bit too thick/dark but it did help with the atmosphere. I liked the AI - I was getting a bit of a GlaDOS vibe and I kept expecting it to turn on me. Fantastic entry!
rjhunter
13. Dec 2014 路 01:31 UTC
The darkness, the derelict screens, and text like "still working" all contributed to a build a pretty solid atmosphere.

The darkness was wonderful for mood and visual effects but really got in the way of gameplay a few times (like when the first upgrade station is nearly invisible because it's near the edge of the screen).

I found the music was too quiet for the sound effects.

I mostly liked the level design (apart from some of the long retry times). The game feels surprisingly "big" given the 48 hour constraint.

Great work!
mrexcessive
13. Dec 2014 路 19:10 UTC
Hi there. Like the bizarre music. Couldn't make sense of the game, the slow, very noisy, grinding motion has a certain pathos... but it was just frustrating.
maxmetallica
17. Dec 2014 路 15:02 UTC
really nice game
pht59x
29. Dec 2014 路 18:04 UTC
Walking takes far too much time.
gana0
29. Dec 2014 路 18:20 UTC
Nice submission! I agree that the robot does move too slow in the beginning though. I didn't really want to drag through the first moments of the game, but I found the wheel which improved it greatly. The graphics were pretty good and the dark atmosphere was easily achieved. The music was just ok. Great submission!