LudumData

4 Hours by Christian Koch

[raw]
made by Christian Koch for LD 38 (JAM)

In this game you are challenged with some short puzzles. The goal is to get good at manipulating time and rotation of blocks to finally get controll over a hidden world.

Screenshot (32).png

Downloadlinks:

Windows: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6R-dEESuInHdENVTG83MGM1aWs

(This was build with Unity so it should work on IOS and Linux but I have not tested it)

Unlocked Version:

If you just want to play the levels or if you ran into a gamebreaking bug, please use this version:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6R-dEESuInHRzdLQ3U2N1NNT0k

Opt-Out

Audio/Sound

Known issues

Level3: Toggle all in time-mode will cause weird behaviour for all blue blocks. Just avoid it by using E (or whatever binding you chose).

Rewind: Sometimes you start flying. Solution: Some people told me that you just have to press Esc and then go out of the menu again.

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/4-hours

Ratings

Overall 417th 3.32⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 322th 3.28⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 191th 3.52⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 764th 1.917⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 653th 2.64⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 627th 1.85⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 529th 2.957⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 29🗨️

Feedback

county-agent
27. Apr 2017 · 22:17 UTC
First person platforming is almost always finicky and this game is no exception. It's difficult to judge distances and whether or not I'm above a platform. The fact that I can't look directly up is a bit of a problem in the third level. The time rewind mechanic was an absolutely necessity and a very good inclusion. I genuinely appreciate the fact that I could rebind the keys in this game.
simple-blue
01. May 2017 · 07:29 UTC
Really good job on this! Nice getting the controls and everything to work with the different block types. I may have broken it near the end, kind of flying across the map, but I had fun the entire time! Keep up the good work! Good job on getting several levels completed as well, really allowing the full usage of the mechanics and skills in platforming.
szczebel1995
01. May 2017 · 07:55 UTC
The game is really fun to play! I like the switching powers mechanics, Also found a way to cheat in level with the big red cube :P, overall nice entry.
TheSand
01. May 2017 · 08:06 UTC
Its an nice idea, and a fun one too! I kinda broke the game at level 3 at the first part thoo. I could fly across the map. And if i pressed esc i would fall right down again.
All in all it was a good game ^^
GameQuester
01. May 2017 · 08:11 UTC
I liked the game and its puzzles very much. Like others have mentioned, level three seems a bit buggy. I think the music is a little bit repetitive but thats fine. Good job overall.
Aurelien
01. May 2017 · 10:25 UTC
The idea is really interesting. I like the tooltips, it does not brake the flow of the game. Why did you put a button (T) to switch power since you don't use them against the same cubes anyway? (I didn't get to level 4, so maybe it becomes relevant then)
🎤 Christian Koch
01. May 2017 · 10:39 UTC
Hello Aurelien, I added a version where every level should be unlocked. Try it out if you feel like it :) I get your question. I thought about it myself. In level 4 you have blocks which are kind of using this idea of switching your power, but maybe it would have worked with using different buttons aswell. Different topic: Thank you all for your comments and (hopefully) ratings. I really appreciate it. I wasnt sure about my game, because this is my first jam after all. But it feels good to get some feedback and to hear that things I thought was garbage and should be fixed are not important at all and that the idea was more important.
So again: Thank you :)
gamesplusjames
01. May 2017 · 11:09 UTC
A really interesting mechanic controlling the movement of the platforms. First person platforming can be a bit awkward in general but i thought it was handled well here. It'd be interesting to see this expanded into a larger game. Nice work!
Zelos
01. May 2017 · 11:11 UTC
The idea is really nice and I like the atmosphere it's creating. Those tron-like levels look exactly like the game 'Black Ice', and I do like that, so overall good job on the visuals and audio.

The puzzles are really nice, although I'm not sure how it all fits the theme. I had some problems with the crosshair being too dark (black on grey is pretty hard to see), but since you could affect all blocks at once that wasn't that big of a problem most of the time.

I think the jumping needed a bit more momentum to be honest - you just fall down vertically once you let go of the button, which was a bit weird at first.
But other than that I really like this entry.
IDid
01. May 2017 · 11:31 UTC
I found that the controls and concepts were a bit confusing at first, even with the tutorial, but overall I had a fun time. The concepts once understood were interesting and each level felt different from the others. I found that I didn't use the rewind mechanic much though.
Jamesy012
01. May 2017 · 11:41 UTC
I liked the concept but i felt it was very fiddly to use, like sometimes the objects wouldn't start moving even tho i pressed E.

Did have a few bugs, on the first level after the red block I started flying, it would not descend. only got down by using the pause menu, and after clicking play the level didn't load so i pressed quit and it pretty much froze my computer :upside_down:

I would definitely like to see this worked on more and a few of those problems fixed
Kalm004
01. May 2017 · 11:59 UTC
The mechanics are really great!
Good idea, I hope you keep working on it.
🎤 Christian Koch
01. May 2017 · 11:59 UTC
Hello Jamesy, thanks for your feedback. Could you please tell me at which stage the objects werent moving after pressing E? Thanks. I really aprecciate that you took some time to comment here :)
palemachine
01. May 2017 · 12:03 UTC
Really liked this game. Sure, visually it may be a bit simplistic and the controls are wonky, but the gameplay is very fun and I could see more clever uses for these mechanics. My favorite moment was when you had to (or at least that's my interpretation) stand on a red platform and then rotate it so that it propels you upward. Very cool! I also appreciate it that you spent the time to include key rebinding options. :)
The only thing I didn't quite get is the timer at the top. What is it for? When the time runs out you can still continue playing.
🎤 Christian Koch
01. May 2017 · 12:16 UTC
Hello Palemachine. I planned on doing something like a highscore system for beating the levels. But in the end I ended up having some issues with the controls (which I didnt get fixed properly). I thought it would at least be nice to keep the timer so everyone could see how fast they were
Hadik
01. May 2017 · 12:37 UTC
Original idea, it's remainds me QuakeLive with trick jumping. Good stuff :)
Tommyflower
01. May 2017 · 14:24 UTC
This was fun to play. I loved the overall mood. I had some problem at first with the sensitivity but I was glad to find out that I had a way to tweak it. Also loved the tips on screen. Very good job!
Neato
01. May 2017 · 20:33 UTC
Really nice platforming (even if it's harder in first person), but odd controls. Why isn't it just like Q - rotation, E - time and rewind - T, that would be way more convenient.
AJ Weeks
01. May 2017 · 20:53 UTC
Interesting concept! I liked the background music. I think it might've been a bit easier to play through if the controls were different. There are so many keys it's hard to keep track of them all. Also the movement felt a little clunky, which is a super important part of the game.

Still a nice entry! Good job :)
Richard Weug
02. May 2017 · 07:14 UTC
Really original idea, had fun playing this game. Was a bit glitchy here and there and I had a hard time figuring out the controls (might just be me).
Overall, really good job!
🎤 Christian Koch
02. May 2017 · 11:37 UTC
@Neato

Hello Neato, I hear this question more often then I thought I would do. The reason for that may sound a bit weird. I planned on using the function of the Q button for some Puzzles. But in the end I did not build such a puzzle (due to time problems and some design aspects). After that I thought it would be a bit easier if you just (basicly) have 3 buttons where two of them perform the same action for each power and the third switches them out (sounds easier then having 4 buttons to me, but I guess I was wrong about that, maybe I could have reduced it to 2 buttons). If it is hard for anyone to figure it out, then I am sorry but while I playtested the game it seemed pretty fine. It is a good thing to get this kind of feedback.
Doc ill
02. May 2017 · 23:46 UTC
A very original idea. I encountered a few bugs in the third level (blue blocks escaping the large red box room, a weird bug where I started to fly while jittering), but those kinds of things are expected. I wish the controls were a little more simple. Maybe it would be better to focus on the time and spacial block mechanics so the game could free up the mouse click input for manipulating said blocks. Very innovative, none-the-less!
schizoid2k
05. May 2017 · 01:20 UTC
I liked the outline glow effect of the objects... kind of Tron-ish. Although the controls are easy to use, it was a bit difficult to determine perception when jumping to a new tile. I think that this could be a fine game with a little extra polish.
Clickmation
09. May 2017 · 08:10 UTC
It felt more like a control based game than a puzzle game. I think a bit of texture is needed to know how far a object is. The Idea was quite refreshing, and I'm curious how this will develop.

PS. the option was very thoughtful.(maybe a crosshair color choice would have been nice as well.)