Proelium. by Markram

[raw]
made by Markram for LD 41 (JAM)

Our game talks about the effort that takes go through living, you'll incarnate " ✨THE HERO✨ " and, as usual, your fate is to defeat the evil that menaces this world... over, and over, and over, and over again. But careful, remember that even " ✨THE HERO✨ " is human and the time will weight over her as it weighs over you.

Proelium combines a 2D action sidescroller and a Life-simulator clicker.

Proelium1.gif

Proelium2.gifproelium3.gif

Ratings

Overall 447th 3.566⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Fun 812th 3.051⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 732th 3.179⭐ 69🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1044th 2.843⭐ 69🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 208th 4.103⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Audio 112th 3.9⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Humor 547th 2.944⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Mood 250th 3.691⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Given 61🗳️ 45🗨️

Feedback

OscarTrevejo
23. Apr 2018 · 23:49 UTC
Nice work lads! We also did a very original too, ye mid check it out?

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/hype-time
Ripter
23. Apr 2018 · 23:53 UTC
There are no download links yet. How did OscarTrevejo review it?
nina
23. Apr 2018 · 23:57 UTC
@Ripter he didn't review it, he's just spamming the same text in every game.
🎤 Markram
24. Apr 2018 · 00:03 UTC
@nina @ripter We have one voting since this morning, i asked the manager of the ludum via-twitter but get no answer....
BlazeDragon
24. Apr 2018 · 01:40 UTC
so a few things threw me I'm not sure what is going on...not sure how to fight the big eye dude as it basically resets. I didn't realize to load i had to click with the mouse. Now the good stuff the music and sound effects are spot on and feel like the old sega games. not to bad.
daniFM
25. Apr 2018 · 08:07 UTC
@blazedragon The animations of the boss were buggy on the launch day, sorry. I've updated them and now you get much more feedback about what's going on. You can give our game another try if you want :)
smallboss
25. Apr 2018 · 14:16 UTC
The art work looks amazing in this game but it has a game killing bug in the boss. I tried the win i don't know about the browser one. regardless it looks great.
daniFM
26. Apr 2018 · 11:12 UTC
@smallboss I'm sorry to hear about that bug. What was it exactly?
JackLeHamster
26. Apr 2018 · 17:25 UTC
Nice work! I got a lot to say, but as you know, one image is worth a thousand words. So how 'about you watch my Let's play video of your game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKZ-GMNkk6I

And let me know what you think about it 😉
daniFM
26. Apr 2018 · 18:42 UTC
@JackLeHamster Thank you so much for your video and your feedback! I'm glad you liked our game ^^
Guilhem
27. Apr 2018 · 12:26 UTC
Funny concept! The art is trully awesome!
Mathiouza
27. Apr 2018 · 12:35 UTC
Really cool concept ! I liked it ! I have no really things to add ^^

Really good entry :) Keep coding :) And making games, and art ... and all of this you know ^^'
Alex_Moralo
27. Apr 2018 · 13:00 UTC
@Mathiouza Oh! Thank you so much for your feedback, and glad you liked it! We'll keep making stuff for sure ;)
VeryEvilTomato
27. Apr 2018 · 13:03 UTC
Pretty cool entry, the low movement speed starts getting a little annoying, the jokes of the Immortal Evil are a bit bad lol, but overall really cool, also I can quite understand why there's little artwork from the main content, these sprites are detailed as hell!
K_Fou
27. Apr 2018 · 18:17 UTC
Pretty good game, I loved your graphic style and your story!
Skosnowich
27. Apr 2018 · 19:46 UTC
I like the audio and the art style very much. The text is a little bit hard to read in my opinion. You had a nice idea for the story, but I didn't really like the gameplay, it was too repetitive (I know, it fits the story, but it just wasn't my game). But you guys did a really good job overall.
Jupiter_Hadley
27. Apr 2018 · 23:01 UTC
Lovely art! I included it in my Ludum Dare 41 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXJupUD8gt4
Bentekiller
28. Apr 2018 · 13:41 UTC
I was just playing along like a blind mouse all along! Nice loking game, but one thing bugged me when I
attacked and the screen shaked, you would see a white outline at one off the borders(Web version), like your background doesn't extend any further then what you see on the camera! It just seems like an obvious mistake, og maybe I'm mistaken!
Latrabili Noctu
28. Apr 2018 · 14:26 UTC
Nice concept. Liked the boss desing and the endings. I don't quite find the theme tho.
Alex_Moralo
01. May 2018 · 13:41 UTC
@Jupiter_Hadley Thank you very much for including us in your video!!
dmanzano101
03. May 2018 · 18:33 UTC
Aunque se vean pocas pantallas lucen preciosas. La música y la historia acompañan al jugador a caer en vuestra trampa. Gran trabajo.
Shivur
06. May 2018 · 05:35 UTC
Very good animation and music.
Pond Loach
06. May 2018 · 14:29 UTC
nice one but didn't understand it i've only reached the second level i guess
joemid
06. May 2018 · 15:16 UTC
WOW! Like Prince of Persia meets Zelda meets Berserk meets Shadow of the Colossus- fabulous little game- a complete story with catharsis and so much love put into the art and animations. I know it took all you had to get this out- but if you continue to work on it- in addition to the character I'd love to see how the passage of time changes the environment. Simple short and effective! Thanks so much for the game!
🎤 Markram
06. May 2018 · 20:25 UTC
@joemid Thanks for your feedback! We actually think about that and about making some addition to the character abilities relating the enviroment as a sign of becoming wiser as you get older, we even had another section progrramed with a mob and everything, but we discarded it midway.

We do plan on making something more about this specific game in the future, when we have some time to spare i guess!:)
Hisfantor
12. May 2018 · 13:45 UTC
that was great, the story is interesting, the graphics are awesome, especially the animations are outstanding, also the evolution of the music fit in so well
niterich
12. May 2018 · 23:53 UTC
This is a fantastic game, but I don't think a single weekend is really enough to give the concept the attention it deserves. A lot of it can be summed up as "great idea and mostly great execution, but there's something off about it and it's really bringing the rest of it down". The graphics were great and the player's animation is beautiful, but I found the boss's sprite to be jarringly too static and his attacks were too jerky. The story was interesting but I felt some of the wording was iffy and had too much of a "tell, don't show" vibe about it. The music choice was poignant but the footstep sounds were just awful. Again, an overall great game, one of the most memorable out of the 100+ games I've seen at this jam, but its flaws are very noticeable and very detrimental to the whole experience.
🎤 Markram
13. May 2018 · 03:27 UTC
@niterich

Thanks for your time spent playing and giving us feedback!

It really mean a lot to us, we will take notes in order to polish a future version of the game!

(We are thinking on doing something bigger actually, we like the concept we came up with but, as you said, we've felt kind of limited by developing it in that short amount of time )
Alex_Moralo
13. May 2018 · 07:59 UTC
@niterich thank you very much for your critique, truly inspiring to read. As Markram said, we´ll do our homework and learn from it, so thanks for your time!
Hybitous
13. May 2018 · 15:16 UTC
Great artstyle and music! The experience was coherent and fun.

The dialogue with the monster could benefit from a click to continue function, as it was sometimes a little bit too fast to thoroughly read.


I'm looking forward to future version of your game :)
Beebo Studios
13. May 2018 · 16:35 UTC
Wow, what an intense journey! Everything fitted together so nicely! Well done! The only thing I would change was an option to click through dialogue. It was sometimes a little slow. Apart from that, an amazingly polished entry with really strong design!

May I ask, what font you used?
Jin9310
13. May 2018 · 17:17 UTC
Really like your pixelart and the overal mood is very good. You have managed to create really nice story on such a 'small place'. Really great job!
🎤 Markram
13. May 2018 · 17:25 UTC
Hey @Beebo-Studios ! Thanks or your nice coment!

The font we used on the game is called "Lucida Callygraphy", the one of the banner is the same edited by our artist @Alex-Moralo ! :D
Paul Avallone
13. May 2018 · 17:55 UTC
I really love the pixel art and animations. The music also sets the mood really well. The idea of this game is great. The different endings, the aging character, the speed of the loading screen, and the dialog are all genius. Fantastic Job!
antvelm
13. May 2018 · 18:10 UTC
Story was a wow moment for me, good job!
Mau
13. May 2018 · 21:49 UTC
Nice work guys!...
DDRKirbyISQ
13. May 2018 · 23:44 UTC
Great concept, this is truly a memorable LD game. Like others have pointed out, there are a few questionable execution choices that I'm sure could be improved and/or reworked if you so desired -- pressing up to enter the tower wasn't intuitive for me, and the "fight" didn't carry nearly as much significance as it did after I learned that you can never "lose" -- also that there is a "safe spot" on the right side of the screen (?). The loading screen seems to trip people up; I think the "traveling..." text that you replaced it with later might be more appropriate, though I also sort of see what you were trying to go for there. Not sure what the best solution is, to be honest.

I truly appreciate the effort into storytelling though! You did a great job of making the player =feel= the character development in the gameplay rather than simply illustrating it through graphics and text and that is something that always strikes me as a unique strength of the medium of games that we as developers ought to pay more attention to. So anyways, despite the flaws, I really did enjoy the experience. I think the ending was =almost= great; I think it would have been a bit more effective if you had alluded a bit more earlier to the true nature of the library, and of the evil. I think it is pretty clear from the onset what the story is progressing to -- that the hero will inevitably age, and fail. And I think what you tried to set up with the very end and the camera pan makes sense, but it comes off as a bit too deus ex machina / out of nowhere, I think because there was not quite enough narrative setup / allusion to it earlier. So...almost!

Overall reminds me a lot of Shadow of the Colossus both in its strengths (unique concepts, storytelling) and weaknesses (awkward play patterns, somewhat clumsy execution).

Thank you also for delineating your derived source usage in your credits! I really appreciate you guys being good LD citizens in that way, it did not go unnoticed :)
🎤 Markram
14. May 2018 · 04:20 UTC
@DDRKirbyISQ
Thanks a bunch for the time you spent playing our game, it truly means a lot!

The safespot on the right it's made on purpose, so the player can unlock the "Good End" safe. (And also to give him that "Hah!" moment when you discover the weak spot of your enemy... But maybe that last point didnt work as well as intended due to the lack of attacks in the move-set of the boss, since we couldnt implement them on time)

We will take good note of the feedback you leave for us behind, thanks again <3
DDRKirbyISQ
14. May 2018 · 05:01 UTC
@Markram Ahh I totally didn't realize you need to attack to get the Good End. Whoops!

Also, for pressing up to enter the door, actually I think the issue is that W works but the up arrow does not! I was using the arrow keys to move so I was very confused!
mango-malarkey
14. May 2018 · 06:50 UTC
Cool idea and very well implemented! The visuals were in particular impressive!
Acuity
14. May 2018 · 06:59 UTC
This is a pretty good game! The sound effects were crisp and satisfying, especially the sword swing! And the music and storytelling are great. I didn't discover the door past the boss during my first playthrough, had to reload to "beat" the game after. Good work!
🎤 Markram
14. May 2018 · 14:38 UTC
@DDRKirbyISQ

I think i explained myself badly haha, you dont need to attack in order to get the good end, you just need to walk about a second or so against the right wall, but the knockback of the boss made it difficult some times, that's why there is a safespot on the right, so you can walk safely :P

And i didn't realize about the arrow thing! i will fix that asap!
Crimson
14. May 2018 · 16:04 UTC
Very artistic game. The graphics are beautiful and the character is full of character, with nice animations. The music fits the game as well. The music tracks are great but have a long beginning. In my first playthrough I didn't get to listen to the whole tracks since getting to the tower and the battle itself don't take much time. In my second playthrough I took my time and was pleasantly surprised that the music was not just a short loop. The story of the game was nicely told through gameplay, and both the hero and "villain" are interesting. Overall great work!
daniFM
14. May 2018 · 16:57 UTC
@crimson Thank you so much for your feedback and your nice words ^^
At first, we intended to make a longer game loop, with more obstacles in the way to the boss. That's why we chose a longer theme.
ghostmaple
15. May 2018 · 04:32 UTC
Dang this is good stuff. Nice work.
acoto87
15. May 2018 · 05:07 UTC
Wow, this is very good! Very polished, love the art and the animations. Maybe the jump could feel a little better (sometimes too floaty) but in general is a very good experience. The story is very nice and interesting. Did I mention that the attack animation was awesome! Congrats!
Gamekrazzy
15. May 2018 · 05:10 UTC
Enjoyable Artistic Experience! There isn't much for gameplay, and there are some obvious flaws, for instance the clicker gameplay isn't exactly obvious, and most people sit there confused why the little guy on the loading screen isn't moving.

As far as graphics go, I thought they were quite amazing overall, although the tiling could use some work for the ground tileset, as I found it a bit annoying (maybe too busy?) to look at for a ground tile.

I also found the music quite great! Overall, great job!
Zombie Virals
15. May 2018 · 05:44 UTC
I really enjoyed it, even for the simplicity of it all, the story was rich, it had a lot of depth. The feel was really good, you guys did a really good job of that. Graphics and sound were awesome, and the dialog was very entertaining. I'm glad I decided to try to go play a few games and rate them during the last few hours, or I may have never found this gem!!
Alex_Moralo
15. May 2018 · 09:43 UTC
@acoto87 @Gamekrazzy @zombie-virals Oh, thank you very much! Your feedback is really meaningful to us, so thanks for taking your time to play the game and leave a comment ;)
Alex_Moralo
15. May 2018 · 09:43 UTC
@ghostmaple Nice! Thank you! :)