Beautiful

I really dig the artwork. =] While this, I thought of portal. Was it an influence? My only problem was the way the camera jumped around.

:'(

I cried. You pulled off the end of this so well...

Love this. It's not what I expected. Though I would have preferred scrolling to the jumpy camera.

Magnificent! I take it from your journal the world is partially randomly generated?

Also, good story :)

Yes sorry for the poor camera system : I hate it too. I had to do this choice because of my render technique : the game world is a 400x100 single bitmap. This bitmap is then scaled 4x (using a scaling algorithm like SuperSAI in emulators), which I implemented in a simple but dirty way...

Therefore, no scrolling permitted :(

Love it, very dark!

This is very beautiful and very cool. Where do I score some appy?

Like others mentioned, the camera was probably the only issue. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this. I honestly didn't expect it to be the way it was. =P

Wow, this is beautiful.

@Septi > the world was generated at first, but with the idea of a more story based game came the necessity for a carefully crafted level design. So I finally imported a bitmap map which I created with Photoshop...

I love the ambiance and visual style. Scrolling is strange but not a problem.

incredible, really top notch

Wow. Pretty and sad. I got stuck because a platform got blown up but I'll definitely give it another go after sleep.

The Myst Exile soundtrack is a good complement as you suggested :)

Okay I finished it. The Myst soundtrack added so much and ended up strangely in sync with the action :D Beautiful work.

I said in joke, "woah this game is about taking drugs to forgot your problems", then I remember the title...

Awesome game

THIS. WAS. AMAZING.

I'd love to see a video explaining your rendering style. Or something. Maybe it's in your blog. I'll go read that right away, but WOW. I loved this.

It had FEELING. And man, it's so gorgeous.

I LOVE IT!

Excellent, excellent work! followed you on the blog, and i must say im not dissapointed after a litle play.
Dont feel bad if i ever try to recreate this render style (*whistles*)

Loved it. Fantastic aesthetic

Awesome work. I couldn't stop watching the graphics. Well done.

@Manuel777 : feel free to re-use :) This would be great!

I may post another message to talk about techniques on this engine.
About me, sorry, I don't have a blog (yet!)... ^^

Beautiful! The camera did not bother me much. I wish there was music.
Would love it if you wrote more about your technique!

Great game!

Wow, just wow.

Posted the timelapse & the enhanced version :)

Stunning visuals. Gameplay is pretty good. I like the randomly generated world. Character design is nice. I liked the story too. All around a good job.

Nice concept and beautiful graphics, but I just couldn't get along with the platforming - kept missing jumps without the jetpack when it looked like they were possible, and the jetpack itself failed to fire sometimes. Hope you do a version with sound, I'm sure it'll add a ton :)

Very very very beautiful. Love the pixel style, frame-rate is smooth as silk, and effects / blurs really compliment the entire game.

Excellent!

Wish I could of have my headphones with me to test the Audio, but I was blown away by just the visuals alone :)

At first I was like: Awesome graphics, but what else there.

But later I was just blown away, by everything ( although I really wanted to hear something too).

Very awesome. Good job

That's magnificent! Visual style, and the dark humour of figuring out what's going on, bravo!

Very nice game

10/5 for the graphics. it looks soo fantastic, mind if I "get inspired" by yours for my next game?

Breathtakingly beautiful, my god.

Stellar, if totally depressing game. If you can find a solution for the jumpy camera, the platforming would benefit from it. Maybe just make sure leaps can be started and completed on one screen? Awesome awesome awesome anyway.

@TomK32> feel free to get inspired :)

Very, very nice! Wish I'd entered myself now, so I could rate it as high as LD would let me (except sound, of course :P).

The camera jumping caused me to die frequently.

Awesome apart from the camera jumping around.

Also... it seems like you crammed the perception/reality theme into this one. ^^

One hell of a game :)

Appy 1000mg-haiku:

Excellent artwork.
Robot is sad and alone.
Excellent ending.

Very artistic. The explosions were good too. I really appreciated this game.

Oh, and just one more thing. Like a lot of other people, not much of a fan of the camera. Maybe if you had more time you could think of a solution to the scrolling problem?

This is a work of art. I didn't mind the flick-screen scrolling, except for the player and sometimes particle effects lagging the cut by a frame. And movement was a bit slow, but it contributed to the dreamlike effect. The aesthetic is the obvious highlight but I think the interpretation of the theme is the cleverest element. Absolutely top notch!

GG mate !

you're a pixel rock star.

Waow, bluffing... what can we say more ?

perhaps...- " Nice view, isn't it ? " :P

I was telling myself that deepnight couldn't have made an enhanced version without having added... a "special trick" signed deepnight. ;)

This is beautiful mate

Really well done, funny, awesome art style, great mechanics. I'd say we have the winner here.

Awesome stuff. Really enjoyed the art!

freaking. AWESOME.

This is undoubtedly the best LD entry I've played so far. Congratulations on an absolutely stunning game! I can't wait to see what more you do to it post-compo!

Really amazing stuff. And I've not yet played the enhanced version :D

I smell victory for this entry :D

Wow, Really well done

I really love it, found the enhanced device :D, but couldn't find the alternative ending :(

What happened with sounds and music?

Really really great work!! everyone should be appy after playing it.

very impressive and well made, art and story really stand out. I really miss some fitting audio though, a smooth soundtrack that was switched with the worlds would really help the mood.

An impressive work of art!

/fan !!!

I love the graphics. Only the camera was a bit annoying.

Awesome game, I found the wizard again, "it's a nice view isn't it?" I'm now stuck in a platform..

The controls seemed a little jumpy. Most likely a result of the rendering technique you mentioned.

The story was magnificent in its almost mute presentation.

Oh yeah - "Me like bloobies". New internet même? :P

Gorgeous. Excellent work.

I love me my medication.

Wow, this was great :)
I love the graphics and how original it is.

Very nice looking game! Will play it to the end some time soon :)

Great Game, and great ending

It blows my mind how there are some people in this competition that can create something in 48 hours with this level of polish in both the graphics and game play. Even without audio this is great!

:((((

Graphics are incredibly wonderful. Every tiny detail adds a richness that seems impossible in a 48-hour game. Really good going, it almost makes up for lack of music.

I didn't try your enhanced version, but the pre-jetpack platforming was abysmal. Also, scene transitions seemed wrong (leading to disorientation), it probably should scroll or something.

Good interpretation of theme!

WOW. That is all I have to say. Amazing job.

Your game is wonderful. Might I interest you in some music for it? I also love the EXILE soundtrack, but maybe something more electronic and bit-crushed would fit the aesthetic? I have a track that plays with the same notion of duality you're working so well in Appy...I'd love to do a new mix, alternating 'light/dark world' loops to match your gameplay, and stripped down enough to make room for sound effects - which I'd love to give you, too! May I send you a PM on here, if you're interested and that's possible?

@stephenreese: Nice ! It would be an honor for me if you could do a mix for my game :) Feel free to contact me at ludum[at]deepnight.net !

Legendary!

You've made my day. Will send you a note shortly... :)

this game is 48h masterpiece. played it with suggested soundtrack. awesome.

btw, your previous entry - Time Pygmy is awesome too.

keep up the great work!

The graphics are great! However I was slightly annoyed by the engine; the jumps felt a bit too quick and the walls were a bit arbitrarily defined, which combined with the jumps and the jumpy scrolling made reaching some platforms a bit flimsy. Also even though it's a grand achievement to get any story at all to an LD game, I felt that the story was rather cliché and expectable, thus making it less dramatic and interesting. The twist at the end is a nice touch but hardly anything new. Overall I'd say that the graphical style is the strongest point of the game. This is not to say that the overall game isn't good, of course; I'm sure even the number of ratings this has tells enough.

Truly a masterpiece. Amazing.

Love the graphics.

Awesome job. Amazing style as everyone has said. The abrupt camera took me out of the moment sometimes though... and the whole thing was a little slow in Firefox, especially during the Appy transitions. Fantastic overall! (Definitely reminds me of the game Eversion - have you played it?)

Really really great artwork! I love the atmosphere, esp. the dark side.
The only annoying thing is the camera as you said already. And music/sound would've topped it off.
Rock solid entry!

This has already gotten so much respone and it's easy to see why this game is popular, it is very attractive..

*spoiler*
.
.
.


What were those zombie suicide bomber things?
it all seems very well thought out and very clevery thematic

Apart from the jumping (a bit awkward) and of course the "scrolling", it's wonderful. Well done. Love the gfx, transition effects, dialogues :) and the weather effect of the dark world. And the end.

This game is six kinds of awesome. Pretty but deceptively simple at first, the game took me by surprise by transforming to a such a compelling experience. Sounds would be a good addition, of course, but it's extraordinary how well the world sucks one in even without them.

Well, this is beautiful.

But what is "appy"? Is it the main character? Is it his way of saying "happy"? Is ot short for "apply"? Or does the game show up way more at the top of the website if it begins with an A? I guess we'll never know the true meaning of this mystery...

I think what sells it though is the movement of the character. I have no idea wheter this was made on purpose or is just a generous side-effect, but it seems as though the character moves within the pixels of the grid-world, he doens't just slide along the scenery. Subtle, but very important.

Now that the praise is out of the way, time for some contructive criticism :-) :

- The level-screen-jump-thingie is disorientating the first time, but works otherwise. Especially at the end, when it conveys a sense of motion.

- The "old man" is tricky. It is after all the main cliché given with the theme itsself, but he is placed at the best point possible, so it doesn't appear immediatly as a ripoff or an uninspired design-choice, but more of a hommage.

- The level-design is a lot of trial'n'error. As in, you have to die before you figure out the basic rules of the world.

- At first the theme seems completely ignored. It becomes apparent at 3/4 of the game, but doesn't seem tacked on or forced into a character, but rather woven into the game-structure ittself, out of which it evolves.

- The fall at the end and the jetpack don't mix well. It would be a poor design-choice to take the jetpack away from the player, risking the flow of the player. Does the player use the jetpack however, it somehow destroys the scene. noooooooooo WHEE! nooooooooooo

- I have the feeling that once enemies start blowing up scenery it might be possible to get stuck in a dead end. Or there are too few of them to have any impact.

- This is strong Stuff. Drugs, death, lovely blobs that turn into suicide-bombery, creepy ... things, I used to get nightmares from things like these.

Also, I'm not sure if any sounds would have made it better (blowing of the wind? A subtler, slower, benny-hill-esque fun-romp? nah...). It sits at the same point silhouettes and books (and other stuff) are, where the player substitutes the empty space with whatever is perfect in the players mind. Matching that is impossible, and given the timespan of the contest adding sounds would run the risk of destryong more of the gameworld than improving it.

Or you ran out of time and couldn't be arsed. I guess we'll never know... :-)

Also: pressing space to sontinue the chat-windows was kinda unnecessary... "any key" would not only have sufficed, but streamlined the controls more.

Beautiful, especially the trees.
Easy to get stuck/confused due to destructible world.

Very nice :)
I like the graphic style, very neat. The game itself however is a rather off-the-mill platformer game.

This has some of the best graphics I've ever seen in an LD. Nicely done! I am going to look at the source to see how you did this with good performance. Could have been improved with smoother scrolling though. It's possible to get stuck permanently because of the explosions when in withdrawal, for example at the bottom of that deep pit towards the middle of the level. Otherwise, was a pretty easy but enjoyable game. There are some jumps that are barely makeable, but that lead to dead ends, and probably some opportunities for using explosions to get to new spots, too. Would have been nice if those had some kind of rewards. :)

Weird. Pretty cool, but hard to really follow along with what is going on. Kind of as if the game itself doesn't actually care if it makes sense or not, just... adding some twists here and there, and an analogy layer in the end. Makes it genuine, I guess. True surrealism. A bit like some of my games, although seemingly with a design plan somewhere inside it all. I like the tree gfx most. Jumping/flying around wasn't always smooth and comfortable, but ok.

Well now I rather enjoyed that! Weird plot, funky graphics, jet packs, bones and gore, terrain destruction... sorry I didn't get to give you a rating, but CONGRATS!

Nice game! I love the normal and alternal ending :)

FINALLY AFTER LIKE A MILLION TRIES i found the alternate ending ^^

I'm a 16-year-old boy from Chinese.Coinsidently,i met a deepnight's game called "memonto",and i'm deeply attacted.
I love the flash games you've made.Come on,yeah?:)
感谢遇到你们，还有这些游戏！