Bezier Challenge by Travis Irby

[raw]
made by Travis Irby for LD26 (JAM)
My first Ludum Dare was awesome fun! Bezier Challenge is a physics based puzzle game. Collect the dots by adjusting the landscape of the levels.

*Instruction:

You can only drag the curves within the semi-transparent purple shapes. You have a certain number of shots (shown on top left) you must collect 80% of the dots to unlock the next level. Good luck!

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.57 115
Audio(Jam) 2.39 373
Fun(Jam) 3.22 154
Graphics(Jam) 3.40 221
Humor(Jam) 1.85 350
Innovation(Jam) 4.35 3
Mood(Jam) 2.82 305
Theme(Jam) 3.66 137

Feedback

Ty Taylor
30. Apr 2013 路 02:44 UTC
Interesting, but it doesn't work well on a low-resolution screen.
FiveThumbsDown
30. Apr 2013 路 02:44 UTC
Brilliant, took a second to realise I could only move things in the purple area though.
Prelucid
30. Apr 2013 路 02:56 UTC
Very cool, challenging, but satisfying when achieved.
馃帳 Travis Irby
30. Apr 2013 路 03:04 UTC
Thanks for the comments! Yea sorry about the resolution, I realized right at the end that shrinking the resolution messed things up :( Try right clicking and going fullscreen. Also the desktop versions coming soon might work better for you.
馃帳 Travis Irby
30. Apr 2013 路 03:06 UTC
Also apologies on the lack of a good tutorial. Like FivethumbsDown mentioned, you can only drag within the semi-transparent shapes.
Jan Marcano
30. Apr 2013 路 04:42 UTC
Really well done! Had trouble learning I could move the dots only inside the area of the shapes, it's a little non-intuitive even though you say it in-game.

The idea was really original, and the implementation was good.
The art and the game have a minimalist feel, could've used some music though.
vladimirdlc
30. Apr 2013 路 05:03 UTC
This is like the angry birds for math geek haha.
ddionisio
30. Apr 2013 路 06:24 UTC
Beautifully made and fits the theme well! I have to agree that showing the control points for non-interactive dots can be confusing.
AdventureIslands
30. Apr 2013 路 06:28 UTC
Whoa this was interesting, really original! Hmm, perhaps there could have been some music. But it's enjoyable. mathematicians will probably like this a lot.
orangepascal
30. Apr 2013 路 06:58 UTC
bit hard to play it on smaller displays/resolutions.. but it's a great concept!
MartianWatts
30. Apr 2013 路 07:19 UTC
Very good game, a little nerdy.... XD.. Good concept and funny
馃帳 Travis Irby
30. Apr 2013 路 07:59 UTC
Thanks for all the positive comments, you guys are awesome! I uploaded a new version of the web player that is small resolution. Hope that is better for everyone. No other changes made :)
Jubjub.
30. Apr 2013 路 09:02 UTC
Super duper beautiful and smooth. Had a lot of fun with this one. I love the sound effect when you shoot! Little ticker, is satisfying.
manabreak
30. Apr 2013 路 09:03 UTC
Awesome! So original and compelling. :)
Ragzouken
30. Apr 2013 路 09:12 UTC
Very cool idea!
Eternal_Rest
30. Apr 2013 路 10:14 UTC
Took me a while to figure out what to do. The arrow doesnt quiet line up with the areas they are supposed to point to at my res.

Cool idea once i figured it out.
Hypnohustla
30. Apr 2013 路 10:58 UTC
This was nice. :) Really challenging for me, but thats just how my brain is wired. A bit polish here and there and I can see this becoming very popular :) The feedback from hitting the dots was very rewarding.
Dabuuker
30. Apr 2013 路 11:27 UTC
Nice! It looks great and is quite addictive!
AndyBumpkin
30. Apr 2013 路 12:08 UTC
Really nice, very much appealed to my programmer brain!

Got very tricky very quickly though! Would help to see the initial velocity of the stream as I kept forgetting the angle it would start at!

Would have liked some music, but the various sounds made up for it. Very nicely presented :)
paulmcgg
30. Apr 2013 路 13:14 UTC
Fantastic concept & nice art.
Tozy
30. Apr 2013 路 22:26 UTC
Very innovative! It becomes a little hard because a small change in the curve can make a lot of difference in the trajectory of the beam.
cahman
30. Apr 2013 路 23:59 UTC
A very interesting idea! The graphics are gorgeous, elegant, and minimal. I thought the game was quite difficult. It would be nice to have an idea of the initial trajectory of the lin. On level 4, I noticed you can move purple dots between purple patches (maybe intentional?). Overall an excellent entry
pvwradtke
01. May 2013 路 01:46 UTC
Man, this is so cool. So simple, but yet so addictive. Great work!
basspenguin
01. May 2013 路 01:50 UTC
Love it! Nice relaxing gameplay. Love the progressive sound effects!
argo15
01. May 2013 路 01:57 UTC
This is a great game. Very fun.
pjchardt
01. May 2013 路 02:01 UTC
Very interesting and original. I love the visual presentation and mechanics. Had trouble selecting things sometimes. Not sure if you have any logic for clicking in proximity or if you have to click right on the object but I struggled a few times to click on what I meant to. Granted I am using a touch pad. Nice game though. Could work well with touch controls on a mobile device.
Finnegan2100
01. May 2013 路 03:21 UTC
What a cool, original game! Hard, but a lot of fun. Great job!
Jyrkface
01. May 2013 路 08:16 UTC
Fantastic concept, and very nicely executed. I love the visual feel of the whole experience.
OddballDave
01. May 2013 路 08:58 UTC
Nice game. Didn't make it to the end as I got stuck on one of the levels and couldn't figure out how to do it.
saguaro
01. May 2013 路 13:54 UTC
This is really cool puzzle game. It took me a few to figure out how to play, but once I got the hang of it I dug it. There is something so satisfying about getting the angle just right.
PTSnoop
01. May 2013 路 19:24 UTC
Although it's only possible to drag things inside the blue area, it is possible to drag one of the handles attached to a point, then drag the point itself, such that the handle is actually quite a long way outside the blue area. You can get quite extreme curves this way; not sure if it's intended behaviour, but the game still works. And a very interesting game it is!
Dark Acre Jack
01. May 2013 路 22:22 UTC
Wow this is pretty. Is the bezier stuff hand-coded or something available on the Unity store? Either way, great implementation!
馃帳 Travis Irby
01. May 2013 路 22:49 UTC
Really appreciate all the comments and feedback! Dark Acre Jack - the bezier curves are shapes from the Ragespline asset. Highly recommended.
Tom 7
01. May 2013 路 23:03 UTC
Neat game! The physics are good, the graphics are smooth, and I've never quite played one like this before. I got stuck on level 4 though. :(
Tsuki_Usagi
02. May 2013 路 00:55 UTC
wow, this game is cool, but quite difficult (it took me a while to know what do I have to do xD')
guestcheap
02. May 2013 路 04:24 UTC
Very cool idea, and great execution. I liked it!
Jellycakes
02. May 2013 路 04:42 UTC
Was a really cool concept which made it very fun to play and got me addicted. Couldn't get past the 4th level though, oh well. Very nice game!
Tifu
02. May 2013 路 12:14 UTC
Interesting puzzle, pretty fun challenge but I cannot for the life of me beat level 4
FuzzyWuzzie
02. May 2013 路 18:11 UTC
This is a really neat puzzle game!
Sebastian
02. May 2013 路 18:34 UTC
Very clever idea and well executed too!
Hopps
02. May 2013 路 19:30 UTC
Pretty nice concept you have here, Well done!
Tyro
03. May 2013 路 01:37 UTC
I tried the web version, but it crashed after I clicked the first level on the title screen. I'm using Chrome, if it helps to mention (I'm not sure if that affects it at all; quite unfamiliar with Unity's webplayer.)

Once I downloaded the windows version though, I found the game itself both creative and enjoyable. It kept things fresh by introducing new streams of colored light with different behaviors each level. Also, I never got frustrated when misjudging how to adjust the landscape because of the game's forgiving nature. Finally, it's worth mentioning that the presentation is clean and professional.

All in all, a very welcome addition to the LD. Highly recommended.
Beldarak
03. May 2013 路 02:57 UTC
I don't want to know how you got that idea, but it's brilliant !
Alucard J
03. May 2013 路 06:04 UTC
I was both amazed and frustrated by this game. Some levels were very intuitive, some levels were just hit-and-miss spam-it-and-see. My favourite parts were the paths that flowed, rather than ricochet. Also think the non-interactive handles were a distraction. Overall a very impressive idea, the movement flowed very nicely. Well Done =]
lorancou
03. May 2013 路 08:57 UTC
Nice, if a bit slow!
reverso13
03. May 2013 路 10:56 UTC
Very original puzzle-game!
Canyon
03. May 2013 路 11:47 UTC
Beautiful game. Like @FiveThumbsDown I found it confusing that there were handles visible that I couldn't move. I am amazed that this is your first entry, it is super polished well done.

I think if there was no limit of shots I would have been more absorbed in the game.

The game is beautiful!
Greg Power
03. May 2013 路 13:35 UTC
One of the most original mechanics I've seen so far!
MinionStudios
03. May 2013 路 15:41 UTC
This could easily be a skill development tool for Illustrator!
GranaDa
03. May 2013 路 18:12 UTC
Challenging and cool. A bit well polished and could be a nice mobile game. Good job!
Rafael Sales
03. May 2013 路 21:03 UTC
Great game. Impressive solution to the theme. Congratulations!
matthias_zarzecki
03. May 2013 路 21:52 UTC
Solid title!

Love the graphics and the general idea, which I haven't seen before.

It doesn't get quite clear that some of the points can be moved, while others are decorative, though.
Super Hamster
04. May 2013 路 02:00 UTC
Interesting concept and very puzzling, good job! :D
Sylvain.p
04. May 2013 路 03:13 UTC
Interesting idea but the game rythm is a bit slow. Maybe the particle is a bit small too.
GaTechGrad
04. May 2013 路 05:25 UTC
Awesome game! Taking a simple concept like making bezier curves and turning it into a game is a brilliant idea.
Hayawi
04. May 2013 路 19:10 UTC
This definitely appeals to the math nerd in me :D
someone
04. May 2013 路 21:40 UTC
That was awesome. Very original.
Managed to get to the end, but missed a couple of dots on the second to last level.
Split82
04. May 2013 路 22:58 UTC
Very interesting.
dannycalleri
05. May 2013 路 12:46 UTC
Very nice puzzle game, the best I played in this jam! ... and I really like the graphics :)
zkenshin
06. May 2013 路 16:33 UTC
Quite an innovative entry. Challenging too.
EggDestroyer
07. May 2013 路 11:02 UTC
I had quite a lot of fun and the idea is interesting (the "maths nerd" living in my spirit is pleased !). But as the game is very challenging, it could have used more explanations about what's going on (bouncing and stuff).
Also, what a peculiar idea to have different sounds for no reason ! But I liked it !
tankete
08. May 2013 路 03:11 UTC
Wow! Very unique idea. I really liked the first level. But the difficulty spiked pretty quickly. Would recommend a less "steep" progression. Really liked it though.
RawBits
11. May 2013 路 12:28 UTC
Very nice unique idea. There are lots of bugs though due to design I think. But some can be intentional IDK.

You can only move things within the purple areas. This means I can not change intermediate points if they are out or I can if theay are in another purple area. This makes it a little cumbersome to handle. I would do it like having the control points stay in the purple area let the intermediate points move but sign - with an X, red color or whatever - if they are not in the purple.

Another thing is the view can be moved but the text isn't move with it.

Last but the most annoying one is if you select a point and click away outside of the purple area the selected point jumps towards.

Other than these I liked hoe the game plays. Especially the shooting thingamajiggi. I used something a lot like that in one of my real time data analyzing software for finding local minimums. :D
joshimoo
11. May 2013 路 18:53 UTC
Good job.
Interesting Concept, fits the theme very well.
Haette
21. May 2013 路 00:20 UTC
Plays nice, but it feels a little slow or... dry, or something. A little liveliness would do wonders, I think. Nice job on the aesthetic though, it looks like something right out of a math textbook.

Also found a bug, you can drag points from one purple area all the way over to a separate purple area.