ASCII 219 by richtx

[raw]
made by richtx for LD26 (COMPO)
Single Button Platformer

** Updated to tone down the background which some found distracting. Level edits to demonstrate that keys toggle the gates on/off. Also, the one button only control is what I intended to be the minimalism factor. ***

The name of the game is "ASCII 219" (cursor block in ascii).

You play as the simple text cursor looking for adventure.

You control this platform game with just the space bar.

Make sure the game window is focused to get key input working.

Ratings

Coolness 73% 3
Overall 3.43 303
Audio 2.35 761
Fun 3.48 173
Graphics 2.71 804
Humor 2.13 627
Innovation 3.43 316
Mood 2.84 584
Theme 3.88 249

Feedback

ThreeUp
29. Apr 2013 · 06:14 UTC
Using Chrome for PC,

NoClassDefFoundError GameApplet (wrong name com/caprockgames/ld26/GameApplet)
🎤 richtx
29. Apr 2013 · 06:18 UTC
Sorry about that. I'll get that fixed. You can try the jar file directly until then.
San
29. Apr 2013 · 06:48 UTC
This is Minimalism. Amazing controls. What else to add?
🎤 richtx
29. Apr 2013 · 19:25 UTC
The Web version should work now.
Dark Acre Jack
30. Apr 2013 · 03:44 UTC
Very nice single-button design.
Cheshyr
30. Apr 2013 · 03:44 UTC
Not a fan of the jump-only games, but this was surprisingly well designed. Nicely done.
biscuitdough
30. Apr 2013 · 03:50 UTC
Surprised how much control you get with just one button, liked the graphical style.
arrogant.gamer
30. Apr 2013 · 03:54 UTC
This was fun at first, but perhaps a little long. The fuzzy background was a little hard to stomach, though I realize it was chosen to add mood. The game reminds me of some Sega Genesis exploration game I played when I was a kid, or of Super Metroid (wall jumping!).

Tricky and fun, though! Good job!
Dietrich Epp
30. Apr 2013 · 04:01 UTC
Fun! For level design, I would put two doors near each other at the beginning, so you can see that the keys "toggle" doors. (By the way, there is no 219 in ASCII -- the block character is from code page 437).
Dietrich Epp
30. Apr 2013 · 04:02 UTC
I beat it, but there was a path that I couldn't quite jump to right at the very end. Is there something hidden on that path? Is it a potato?
🎤 richtx
30. Apr 2013 · 04:05 UTC
I wish I had thought of that. It is a path for misdirection. I didn't want the last key to be as obvious as the others.
🎤 richtx
30. Apr 2013 · 04:08 UTC
Ditrich Epp. here is an ASCII chart. http://www.asciitable.com/index/extend.gif. On windows you can type ALT-219 and should see the block character. Not sure it will show here thought. █
lightnarcissus
30. Apr 2013 · 04:23 UTC
Minimalism in terms of controls.Good job on that.
LionelJitro
30. Apr 2013 · 04:24 UTC
Interesting take on the runner/platformer hybrid.

Having the mini map in the top right was pretty cool as well.

Nicely implemented idea. Enjoyed it.
Arcana
30. Apr 2013 · 04:27 UTC
Interesting level design. I too agree that the noisy background got distracting. I'm not a gigantic fan of 2D scrolling games like this but this one was interesting. The level was amazingly long, but I missed a jump and didn't want to try navigating backwards for a minute to recover my progress. :(

Very cool, I especially liked jumping off of walls.
Alex Rose
30. Apr 2013 · 04:30 UTC
This game is GENIUS. Love it love it love it.

At first I was skeptical; I thought it wasn't going to work as a core mechanic, but you proved me wrong. It's awesome.
LizEngland
30. Apr 2013 · 04:45 UTC
Nice one-button platformer execution. I just could not get past the second pit - too many fails in a row. But the map is a nice touch to give me some perspective!
LoneStranger
30. Apr 2013 · 04:59 UTC
Very well done. Complete game that fits the theme.
moomoo112
30. Apr 2013 · 05:41 UTC
very interesting, worked a lot better running from the jar than running from inside my browser
rxi
30. Apr 2013 · 16:18 UTC
Came back to this one and it looks like you fixed it, as it works now!

Interesting use of the theme. I found it a fun little exploration game with obviously minimal controls and graphics to boot. I did find some parts incredibly frustrating (almost to the point of giving up), when it wouldn't register my jump and at other times would register me hitting a wall when I was simply cruising along the ground!

I did end up giving up, though I think I was near the end at this point:

http://i.imgur.com/scFZLDk.png

My guy just kept going back. and forth. and back. and forth. and there was little I could do about it while the same plink sound kept playing over. and over. and over. I couldn't even leave it unattended for too long, since if it DID manage to escape the gap it would have ran back into it. I do try and play every game through to the end and give it as much of a chance as I hope people do to mine, but I unfortunately wasn't willing to either restart the game or wait for my escape!

Up to the part where I got stuck the game was good and overall I enjoyed the experience. I appreciate that me getting stuck may have been me "losing", but the frustrations with the bugs put me off playing the game from the beginning again.
Kalakian
30. Apr 2013 · 19:23 UTC
Great game, one of my favourites that I've played so far. Well thought out, good level structure, and fits the theme.

There was a few glitches in the audio later on in the game (on Firefox, Windows), but nothing to severe. Made it all the way to the end.
Jellycakes
30. Apr 2013 · 23:27 UTC
Pretty nice game for one key press all the time. Kept be interested until the end. Nice job!
psychomonster
01. May 2013 · 01:35 UTC
Cool Name, Game fits the minimalism-theme very well... I like the gameplay. Good Submission...
oldtopman
01. May 2013 · 01:39 UTC
Decent game, but it is linear and can get a little repetitive.
captainkraft
03. May 2013 · 01:07 UTC
I love the controls. And the simplicity is pretty cool. Well done
killerstarbunny
03. May 2013 · 01:20 UTC
Awesome great game I wasn't very good at it though.
radmars
03. May 2013 · 01:33 UTC
surprisingly fun one-button game! I really enjoyed the level design, I think a tiny bit of color variation in different areas would help you keep your bearings a bit better, but overall really slick. :D
evilDan
03. May 2013 · 01:58 UTC
That's damn clever. Pretty impressive for one button!
Daniel X. Moore
03. May 2013 · 02:38 UTC
Pretty fun. The jump felt a little floaty. The keys were a little confusing that they toggled the doors, maybe switches would have been more obvious.
hi-scor.es
03. May 2013 · 02:49 UTC
That was great!
stqn
03. May 2013 · 02:51 UTC
Fun and smooth, but it would be nice to know where we've already been and/or where the end is! I stopped before the end, not knowing if I was progressing or just running in circles.
miotatsu
03. May 2013 · 03:13 UTC
nice little game, it's surprising how you managed to add a fun twist to a single button game. At first I thought the orange squares did not have a point, but later a few seemed to provide a bit of misdirection. I felt that the mini-map was completely unnecessary. It's an interesting concept overall... good job!
Jan Marcano
03. May 2013 · 04:20 UTC
It was really good! I was kinda bothered that falling of a pit made you start over, but since they were only near the start it didn't matter anymore. Also the box would sometimes sound like it hit something and turn back even if it was clear in front of it.

Great game nonetheless! Nice work
messiano
05. May 2013 · 04:23 UTC
LOVED this game! Great concept and very well done, the gameplay just feels right. Fun!