Deeper and Deeper by minibobbo
You are an un-named individual exploring a ever descending tower for un-explained reasons.
Everything created by me (Dave: Minibobbo) in 48 hours.
Featuring
2D Dynamically Lit Pixel Art
Fiendish Traps
Other Random Things I crammed in, like waterfalls that put out your fire
Over 7 levels included! (there are 8)
| Link | https://minibobbo.itch.io/deeper-and-deeper-ld48 |
| Link | https://github.com/MiniBobbo/LD48 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/deeper-and-deeper-6 |
Ratings
| Overall | 99th | 3.967⭐ | 92🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 224th | 3.694⭐ | 92🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 287th | 3.517⭐ | 91🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 377th | 3.706⭐ | 92🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 44th | 4.278⭐ | 92🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 77th | 3.92⭐ | 89🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 35th | 4.178⭐ | 92🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 46🗳️ | 91🗨️ |
And like the style of the game
Great job
and animations are great
* The keys are different from the instruction text I think? I had to use K for the torch instead of Z.
* It would be fun if the torch had a game mechanic, like you have to grab them from the walls.
* The ghosts are pretty hard to see, and I definitely died to one hiding behind a waterfall once. Maybe remove their alpha when in radius of the torch.
* The chasers need a game mechanic to deal with otherwise they can just trap you and get you. Maybe they run from the torch in their face?
* I had a lot of trouble getting torches to go where I wanted them to. Maybe a throw arc that you can control by holding throw and tapping move keys?
@prof-suarez Every level should be playable in reverse. Some would be trivial :smile:
@tomeks :blush:
@pixelportalz That is a great suggestion. I actually have that exact feature partially implemented in the code but it wasn't playing nicely with some of the other features so I shelved it. Maybe in the post-jam version.
@liam I was very torn. 8 hours before the jam ended I had the game 'complete' but only 5 levels. I had to make a call if I wanted to polish everything I could or if I wanted to create content. I decided on the polish instead of the content... I've added some more levels already and cleaned up some of the previous ones, so there will be a post jam version. :smile:
@appelnonsurtaxay I'm particularly happy with the transitions this time around. That kind of stuff is why there are few levels :smile:
@peter-jonsson I saw some tearing also. My normal solution is to extrude all my tiles an extra 1px in each direction which will hide it well, but now I'm using normal maps and the extruded pixels screw with the normals. I'll have to come up with a solution, but didn't have time during the jam :frowning2:
@kraemahz Thanks for the detailed feedback.
- Yes, the key label is wrong in the first level. I noticed that today and fixed it for the post jam version. I blame lack of sleep and end jam crunch...
- I have the unlit torches that you can light with the flame coded, but not implemented in any levels.
- I really like the idea of the light removing the alpha from the ghosts!
- My original idea was that the chasers run away from the light. There were going to be other enemies that are attracted to the light, which gives you this risk/reward system for keeping it vs throwing it. The other enemy types got cut, so now the light does nothing to the chasers.
- I'll have to think through this and do some experimenting. I want the throws to be simple and intuitive, but later on I have some ideas where throwing will be more important, so this is good feedback.
@superpokeunicorn Thanks! There was actually a lot on my "if I get time" list around objects interacting with the flames. Enemies that are attracted to light, burnable objects, stealth, but they all got cut in the spirit of making what I had as polished as I could. Maybe in the post jam version!
@lectvs Level 7 is the only hard level, but it is hard for frustrating reasons :smile: The ghosts need to be reworked.
The graphics, audio, and atmosphere are awesome!!
I really like the idea of using the torch to see ahead, in fact I've seen many platformers so far with the theme "Deeper and deeper" they have the player jumping down and I really don't like the "Leap of faith". So tying the touch to the camera to allow the player to scout it out is perfect.
I noticed you use Phaser for your game (I did too). I will need to dig into your source to see how you did all this :smile:
I really like the idea of using light as your primary tool. It was nice being able to get your torch back any time you needed. I imagine you could play around with limiting it to some extent to create more challenge.
I wanted to keep playing. I wish there were more levels! Great work, I really enjoyed it.
@cary-stanley Thanks! Let me know if you have any specific questions about my Phaser structure. Having one helps a ton and mine has evolved over time to something I'm happy with. The only problem with reading my source code is the later in the jam it went the less of the structure I applied!
@arancutter Yeah, I had a lot of ideas for the light that I knew I wouldn't get to. Lighting things on fire. Repelling ghosts. Attracting other monsters. Stealth mechanics. Maybe someday.
@sadsmile Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't aware of that. I allowed for both the ZX keys to be used for flame/jump or the LK keys. Either should work. I generally use LK when playing with WASD for movement and ZX when playing with the arrow keys, but there is nothing stopping you from using LK with the arrow keys.
Congrats.
Only downside was that it somehow did not work in Firefox. Stuck on *Loading asset: MA2 atlas.p*. But with Chrome everything worked so no problem :)
There was a bug or feature, after death I was able to go to the next level. It was difficult to read tutorial, I missed how to use torch.
I really love the feeling of character control, was very smooth, good input.
I kept hitting O on accident since two hands on the keyboard controls are very awkward feeling (my opinion), and that was killing me for some reason.
It prompting you to go to the next level when you die was kind of confusing.
Nice work.
Kinda weird controls for level selection and that UI is confusing after you die easily leading you to go to the next level.
In the jam games I don't want people to get stuck and stop playing because I designed a level poorly or something, so everyone gets to go on if they want to in the jam! That option will come out if I make a post-compo version.
Thanks for the comments on the controls.
Some minor feedback:
- I was stuck on loading at 100% in chrome but tried a different browser and it worked.
- I accidentally replayed a couple times by clicking right
You can update the jam version after the deadline for bugfixes (to correct the Z vs K thing in room 2)
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/rules
"if something broke or didn’t work correctly as you were finishing up, you can fix this after the deadline. You are asked to highlight the changes you make in your submission (a short change log)."
Good feedback on Chrome. Not sure why since that's what I do my development testing on. I've fixed that keyboard error on the screen for the post compo :smile:
@ghost-in-the-toast and @karlipoppins Two requests in a row for a fast restart? Guess I better do it... Thanks for the feedback!
Control wise, absolutely spot on. Super responsive and buttery smooth. The torch mechanic is great and the way you handled the shading with the pixel art is nice and reserved. I've seen some lighting systems matched with pixel art and the results are strikingly off/typically just way way way too much bloom making it a visual strain but you really matched the lighting system to the art style!
Level design wise I would have preferred it if the ghosts had a more understandable and defined movement type (the ones that don't chase you). A lot of the time avoiding them just meant waiting slowly for them to move over. I think perhaps a neat thing (and I might be preaching to the choir/you've probably already thought about it) but if the ghosts followed you when you had a torch that could be a good risk reward thing for seeing more but then being a target.
Springboarding off that, unsure if you had the idea but the concept of picking up torches from the background to then use, and throw, and not having one permanently on you/being able to teleport the torch back to you is a possible design change. Not better of course, just a different take.
Overall though one of the most polished games I've played in this jam and one of the most atmospheric! Great job.
Overall a very nice game, also skipping levels is a nice thing to add to a jam game.
I saw some of you devlog screenshots, turned out nicely ^^
I had trouble interpreting the key controls, but I found out pretty quickly that Z and X were the ones I needed. My only suggestion for improvement would be to add a little bit of camera smoothing when the torch returns to your hand. The instant snapping felt a bit jarring.
Throwing the torch was really fun, and the movement controls felt nice. I feel like I play too many LD games where the controls are way too sensitive or jumps are hard to pull off. This game felt like a lot of care was put into the movement speed relative to the level size.
Great work!
Lovely sfx and very nice music. The controls were a bit unfamiliar and I'd prefer a faster respawn, but overall - very nice!
Great work, nice graphics, music, and level of polish!
I wasn't a fan of the level design on 7. Sometimes ghosts would spawn in a way that was near impossible to complete the level, and took me awhile to beat. I also didn't really like the key navigation at the end of the levels, I kept pressing the wrong keys when I wanted to restart, or go to next level. Perhaps it would be better not to tie it to movements keys.
The game doesn't load for me in a Chrome incognito window(`Uncaught DOMException: Failed to read the 'localStorage' property from 'Window': Access is denied for this document.`), FF private window works fine.
@andrewkennedy @corbeng I've reworked the camera and fixed some of the problems. It transitions nicely back to the player when you cancel the flame and if you throw it really far it doesn't split the difference and have both the flame *and* the player off the screen. It should be nicer when I release the post-compo version.
@jusw85 @haztro @exewin I've changed the respawn mechanic so you automatically restart the level without the transition screen. I'm still torn on the best way to choose to go to the menu, next level or restart. I don't want you to have to take your hands off the keys to go to the mouse between levels, so I'll have to think of something.
@jusw85 I use the localstorage to store the times that you completed each level in (from back when the game was a speedrun) so the silly thing is that I don't even use the data that I capture anymore. Thanks for reporting the problem in Chrome incognito mode. I'll have to come up with a workaround.
I thought it was very interesting that you could move the camera by throwing your torch. This is a nice way to deal with the 'jump of faith' problem in vertical platformers. It was a shame you did not do more with this mechanic. One idea would be to distract ghosts by throwing your light maybe?
The main point of feedback I have is that respawning after you die takes quite a lot of time. First the menu has to appear, and then you have to press replay. It would have felt better if the respawns were instant, so that you could try again immediately (in my opinion at least).
I did really like that you could skip levels if you wanted to! For a gamejam this is a very nice feature :D However, I did accidentally skip some levels without beating the previous one accidentally. (I had to go back to them via the main menu.)
I thought it was a great little game! It took only a few minutes to beat it, but it was a lot of fun to play. Thanks for making it ^_^
I somehow got stuck here on the first level - the camera lagged behind me, and so when I proceeded any further to the right, I walked offscreen:
I restarted by refreshing the page and it didn't happen again. (edit: I realize after finishing that I accidentally threw my torch here without realizing. I was trying to to use X to jump on a keyboard, because it wasn't obvious that "X to jump" was meant for gamepads)
Honestly, the only concrete polish that I can think of to improve this game would be to animate pulling the fire back to you rather than snapping the camera instantly. And for content, I would've liked to see a level 9 that synthesizes the mechanics I've learned. Some of the levels, especially 5 and 8, felt a little underwhelming in that regard.
I really enjoyed playing through. Bravo! I'll be following you to see what you come up with next :)
Also yay Phaser! I see your IH abstraction, I've got a similar one I call [CommandManager]( https://github.com/sartak/jet-janitor/blob/master/src/scaffolding/CommandManager.js) :D
@viperux @usenrame @coatline @felo07 Thanks for the kind words.
@wuppos You are not the first person to mention the restart time, or the auto snap back retrieving the torch as being jarring :smile: I've actually fixed both of those things in my development area, made some new levels and mechanics, and hope to have a post jam version by the end of the rating period.
@shawn-moore I meant to disable the creation and throwing of the torch to prevent this very occurrence of someone throwing the flame before learning what it did. But I didn't, and you had to refresh :sweat_smile: Glad you figured it out. The "Press X to Jump" actually isn't made for gamepads. It is me just writing the wrong button in the text. I blame lack of sleep and the last minute rush.
I agree with the levels needing one to pull it all together. Level 8 was finished within 15 minutes of the start of submission hour, so there just wasn't time. I've got more for the post compo that should be out around when the rating period is over.
I'll have to check out your Command Manager. IH (short for input helper) is actually a port of the same engine that I wrote for HaxeFlixel a number of years ago. I never finished it though and it is a little rough. Maybe I'll use yours next time :smile: Mine still needs controller support as well as a key remapping screen. One of these days I'll get to it. Maybe LD 49...
@paulhocker Glad you liked the camera movement with the light. It is very simple. Just make the camera look at the midpoint between the player and the flame. It has some problems though because if the player moves too far away then you can't see either the player or the light! (Fixed in post compo)
I love the lighting effects, the graphics are great and the mechanic is really nice... I feel like you could do a lot with this if you wanted to continue with it.
I had a quick scan through your code too - I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back to it in future to take inspiration. I've yet to use an FSM but I think I've probably reached the point where I need to. I don't use TypeScript though, so it's a bit harder to get my head around.
You and @shawn-moore mentioned handling input and I wondered if you'd come across a plugin I wrote to normalise the handling of gamepads/keyboard/pointer? It's really handy for allowing the user to remap keys and handles a bunch of fringe cases for gamepad support. It makes multiplayer _really_ easy to set up too. It's not perfect - I end up updating it a little after every jam - but saves me a lot of time: https://github.com/GaryStanton/phaser3-merged-input
Anyway... really impressed with this, especially as a compo entry.
[Ludum Dare 48 staff picks](https://github.blog/2021-05-19-ludum-dare-48-staff-picks/#deeper-and-deeper) :slight_smile:
[](https://github.blog/2021-05-19-ludum-dare-48-staff-picks/#deeper-and-deeper)