Not Enough by Toccio94
Warning: includes flashing lights and screen shaking
A short game about being not enough.
TL;DR:
PICO-8 is amazing!
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What a rush! I needed all those 72 hours to complete this. At about 40 minutes from the end, I had the game completed and for god’s sake, it worked and was ready.
It has been a lot since my last solo Ludum Dare (like 4 years probably) but I'm so happy that this is the game for my comeback. I thought about this concept just a few hours after I went to bed (LD started at 00:00 where I am) and I've fallen in love with it. I believe it truly resonates with how I feel and have felt and this is why I think I've managed to make it conveys those feelings to the player.
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I decided one month ago that I would have used PICO-8 for this jam, and I'm glad that I've chosen it because I had so much fun with it! The editor is so lovely and very well packed. I did all my work with it (except using notepad to reorder PICO-8 code tab) and I think that it helped to keep me focused, not having to switch to different programs and stuff.
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PICO-8 has a few limits to make the game feel like a true retro one, like palette color, sprite sheet, sound, and most of all (for me at least) code. The last day, at about 12 hours from the end and the game ALMOST completed, I reached PICO-8 tokens limit (a token is more or less a code word), so I couldn't write any more code! I totally panicked and had to refactor all my beloved copy-paste code.
Three hours later, I had the same game but with more or less another 1000 free tokens, the rest of the day was pure anxiety since I had to be sure I didn't reach the limit again, which I reached a few times nonetheless, needing to strip away debug code and some other refactor.
That said, PICO-8 limits are what makes it so satisfying and charming. They helped me focus on the important things and without them I wouldn't have made this game as it is.
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This time, thank again to PICO-8, I managed to do all by myself: code, art, sfx, music, levels and stuff (ok PICO-8 Celeste I’ve copied your shake camera code but never mind). I am very proud of this but, most of all, this helped me to create the vision I had in mind in the best way I could within the 72 hours.
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This Ludum Dare has been an incredible and important experience to myself, one that I hope will help me going on towards my path.
If you managed to read this far, I hope you will also manage to play my game and also leave some feedback! I'll love to hear what you think about it <3
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Thank you for your time...but
NOT ENOUGH
Warning: includes flashing lights and screen shaking
Ratings
| Overall | 396th | 3.792⭐ | 86🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 413th | 3.669⭐ | 88🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 730th | 3.4⭐ | 87🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1246th | 3.135⭐ | 87🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 348th | 4.052⭐ | 88🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 569th | 3.435⭐ | 86🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 321th | 3.458⭐ | 85🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 180th | 4.006⭐ | 88🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 90🗳️ | 137🗨️ |
I like the character spinning behind every level, overlooking what you're doing and having the end-buttons turn against the player in a way. Love it!
I love how it seems like there's an underlying meaning to everything the antagonist says. Is this a metaphor for life, with the antagonist being an authority figure of sorts?
Had fun both playing and speculating :thumbsup:
From a visual perspective I like the character in the background, he is very nicely done. Feels like the the one from the movies 'Saw'. For the level it would perhaps benefit you to extend your color palette. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish different elements in the level, because they all share a similar color Palette. (if this was your goal tough, you did a very good job on it:P)
Overall, a fun game to play. Well done!
I didn't know about PICO-8 but now I definitly wanna try it :smile:
Very good graphic consistency and mood.
Congrats !
@anguish-bucket Thank you I'm very proud of how polished it is
@tammukka @tylerkealy he is always watching you
@smoothie I'm glad you had fun speculating on it and I could say that you maybe right,but who knows! ahah
@hderue the game is supposed to be alienating, but it is a bit too disorientating cause of the palette as you say. Sadly I'm not skilled enough and did my best, also PICO-8 has only 16 colors so I also haven't much choice and preferred style and coherence over clearness!
@Asimov @nohua the connection with the theme is very strong to me, one that made me chose this concept almost instantly as I thought about it, but it may be a bit more subtle!
@smoothie @wakobu If you are curious about it you must at least see a video about the editor and you will fall in love 100%!
the wording, of "Not enough" and the "puppet master".
you are being trapped in constant trials of the puppet master, and him never being pleased by your "work", he keeps giving you more trials. stuck in a loop of trying to keep the master pleased or to finaly be free of his string.
i might be wrong but that was atleast what i got from it while not looking that deep into it.
so the theme do fit realy well in that regard, but its not that clear if all you do is look at the gameplay. ill give you a bonus star on theme if i could.
I liked it very, very much. Good job.
;)
I thought it was wonderfully executed, the abstract pixel art feels like home, and I found the player controller very well-made. I thought the mechanism of the yellow traps becoming consumable was fresh and made for a cathartic change of perspective at the end of each level (especially the final ones). The game had a nice arch and pace, and I really dig the Portal-esque shapeshifting levels effect. Congratulations for this wonderful piece, and good luck. :)
I make sure to download your cartridge and learn a thing or two :grin: :thumbsup:
@lombax thank you for having put so much effort in trying to understand it <3
@hamus the shake and flash are supposed to disorient, but I'm sorry it was too much for you!
@tennotako @rgilpt after some feedbacks I think it could have been better with one level less ahah. it's weird to say that but it supposed to be an experience straight to the point, and I think more levels would have made the point of it lose a bit, especially for how LD games are played. I'm very happy tho that you would have liked more levels, I guess it means you really appreciate it!
@netmute This was my first experience with pico (apart for some tutorials) so I was not paying attention at all to the tokens and pasting everything to make it faster! I would have not thought that the limit would have been a problem, but now I know ahah. I was amazed by the fact you instead only needed 2k tokens for your game!
Glad you pulled through despite hitting the Pico-8 limitations a couple of times!
Would have loved some music, personally, but maybe that would have clashed with the glitch-y sound effects a lot? Not sure!
Great entry!
Please visit my game too and rate it:)
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/the-dumb-robot
@etrealjunior @aljon teaching the mechanics of the game in an immersive way is one of the things I care most so I'm happy you liked that part
@arzi @dedicave @rushikesh-charapale I'm sorry music/shaking was a bit too loud for some of you. To be honest, it is supposed to be annoying but I can understand it could be a bit too much. For the shaking, I could have maybe reduced it's intensity during the room changing sequence, leaving the Not Enough sequence disturbing while softening the rest.
@battlerager I couldn't made the music in time, but I also think that the atmosphere is good enough even without it, with only the sounds of the elements and the character moving. Maybe some kind of static noise music or stuff like that could have helped!
@alpacalypse thank you, I also think the twist it's pretty clever, especially how it ties with the narration
@arad-hamidsamiee @etrealjunior @battlerager @aidanmarkham @alpacalypse to be honest I'm wondering why PICO8 is not used more for the ludum dare since it is so well packed!
I really loved the level design :heart_eyes: but for me the transition between two levels is a little bit too long
Everything worked, movement was fun, but playtime felt like it was less than the reading/loading times.
It WAS quite enough! Your description of the game also made me realize what PICO-8 actually is, as I was wondering last LD why those games look so limited. So thank you for that, too! Might try it out myself now :3
The gameplay felt smooth and fun, the transition graphics looked impressive, the antagonist looked creepy enough... More than just enough, from me :D
Also, I have to say I'm a sucker for games with the deconstruction and reconstruction with parts flying-around (and it seems like that can't be easy with a pico-8 in particular).
Hovewer to the result. I should say that it is very good and well done.
...
BUT
...
PRETTY ENOUGH :)
First of all I totally dig the art and the whole vibe of the game. The sounds and animations with screen shaking make it so cool! It's very simplistic pixel art (which I love so much), but with all those animations and effects you managed to make it into really cool feeling pixel art - just the main character itself is great example of this.
And as I said the sounds are just amazing and every pickup was so satisfying.
And the level design I really liked as well, I was expecting the same thing over and over, but you decided not to go there (which was a good choice) and made every level a bit different - having timer in one, being some really easy but having a deeper meaning etc...
Only thing I would wish for, is for more levels, perhaps at the end to give it a twist, it would be great for the main character to decide not to be a puppet anymore and make the player not do what the puppeteer wants - that's just an idea.
As I said, very cool game, I enjoyed it a lot, well done!
The gameplay itself was simple but solid - the character controlled very well, and made the tight action sections fun. The rest of the game... well it was definitely enough for me! Very creepy and an interesting take on the theme!
WHAT.
THE **HECK**.
IS **THAT**?
@acuriosity It's an interesting point of view and to be honest I can agree it can be boring, but being a very short game I thought it was more or less ok!
@trexxak or maybe you are not reading enough into it ahah
@zliebowitz if you already have it I truly advice to try it a bit, it's so easy and rewarding!
@erlioniel I think that if you want you could create the sprite outside the little editor and then import them so if that is a problem for you about pico8 it should be solved (even though one of the charming side of pico is also it's little editor)
@mar3k it could have been an idea to have a "happy ending" but I preferred to give that sense of "not solved" that leaves you hanging and anxious!
I would also like to thank all the other players! Your feedbacks are so valuable and cheerful! Thank you =)
The gameplay is really nice, the controls are just right. The goal is pretty obvious, and the dialogs are nicely done. That said, I don't like screen shakes at all, but that's just my taste, and I also miss some button to speedup the dialogs, as they are fun but only for a while :wink:
Overall, it's a very nice entry, so thanks for making it!
Interesting little "narrative" combined with simple yet clean gameplay.
You know, there's a ton of games I played this time around, but yours DOES stick out a lot for some reason and will surely be remembered! Also saw you giving great feedback everywhere you leave a comment! Thank you for your game and your services u_u I'm glad I crossed my path with you this LD and can't wait too see what the Pico-Magician will cook up next! :D