Small World by JimmyBG

Small World, a place of peace, puzzles and precision.
*Download at itch.io: Here *
* Software Used: * - GameMaker Studio - Blender - Audacity
Xbox & PS Controllers Supported :joystick:
Music by Erokia
If you get an error when trying to play, you need to download and install this http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34429
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/small-world-6 |
Ratings
| Overall | 171th | 3.745⭐ | 49🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 328th | 3.267⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 34th | 4⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 371th | 3.457⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 102th | 4.326⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 613th | 1.938⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 143th | 3.756⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 2🗳️ | 0🗨️ |
Feel like I've been too negative here, it really was a lovely game concept and execution.
I liked the mechanics (hooking the blocks around for puzzle solving was a neat move) though there were some bugs where the player could get stuck inside a block (or blocks inside each other), but those are to be expected in a Jam entry.
Having no Controller available I did find the keyboard layout a bit unintuitive, maybe next time include keyboard options in your .ini file if you have the time so people can set their own preference. Not a very high priority as it can be played fine without, but just a thing to consider.
- Rather than forcing a diagonal movement (player must press two keys), shift the movement direction 45 degrees (so Up Arrow = Up-Right Movement, Right Arrow = Down-Right, etc.).
- Lock the player on a grid (where direction is chosen and then "Spacebar" executes the movement or jump to next) OR lock tiles to a grid, make gravity a little more forgiving, and only allow movement at exact 90 degree angles on a grid (so a player can't deviate from the "middle path" of a given cube).
- It wasn't very apparent which tiles fell away and which ones were just brown.
Or don't take my advice and try something else :upside_down:
Love the art-style and atmosphere, good job!
Maybe it's my spatial perception but I was deceived many times by the perspective. I think it needs to give information on the tile height, maybe by incorporating some mist at the bottom which makes the lower ones foggy, for example.
Overall really nice work!
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in Vertex Shader compilation
ShaderName: shdr_depth
D3DXCompile failed - result
at gml_Script_xl_depth
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_xl_depth (line 0)
gml_Object_obj_camera_Draw_0
Not sure if anyone else has had this happen, but I thought I'd leave you a comment and let you know!
Other than that, I found no issues and the gameplay itself is very pleasant. Ambient music makes the mood very dreamy :) Levels progress very naturally, which I really liked.
I haven't played many entries this LD, but this one is the best for now. Well done!
But nice game ;)
Other than that the graphics are really neat and coupled with the music, make a great ambience for the game.
Also, I got stuck when pulling a block on a higher level towards me, and `R` apparently restarts the entire game rather than just the current level..
However, I got quite frustrated at level 6, because the random levelgeneration just generated unsolveable maps. :/
The isometric view looks really nice, but also has its flaws, i often thought i could land right there but fell into nothing. ^^
But besides that, really nice entry there!
Would totally love to see this expanded more :D
Just a minor thing: I don't like the camera movement for the jumping part. Its to attached to the player and feels a bit odd.
I got the feeling that you optimized the game for controllers, as I found the keyboard layout to be a bit fiddly. This could be due to the fact that German keyboards Z and Y are switched, so I had to hold my hand in an awkward position and often fell to my death because I hit the wrong key.
Control-wise I would say the jumping mechanics are the weakest part, as I found the jump arc to be too steep and the jumps a bit too short to feel comfortable. On the other hand, I loved the way you visualized the shovel action. The way that you move the platforms by wedging the shovel in the crack and leveraging the landmass to the next location worked really well vusally.
I think the game may have worked better with discrete movement patterns where you have to decide to which side you want to jump and you jump exactly one square without having to time the jumps. That would change the character of the game from a more skill-based to a more puzzle based game, but I think it may have worked better.
I stopped playing the game in the randomized level, as I found it hard to re-focus on the new configuration all the time instead of repeatedly trying to figure out the solution to a constant level. On the other hand, I generally enjoyed bits of randomness, like the placement of the crystals and the trees.
Overall I think you made a very atmospheric experience that for me was marred a bit by fiddly controls. Nevertheless a very good, graphically impressive game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNjIIPVrvYI