Dimensional Shift by shared

[raw]
made by shared for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

Dimensional Shift is a game where you have the power to switch to another dimension. Be careful though ! As this dimension is very unstable. You can switch back and forth as much as you like, but be careful, would you stay too long in the alternate dimension, you will be stuck in it and have to find your way out. Some paths will only open during this event, but you will be met with adversity.

UPDATE (during submission hour): fixed a level oversight and fixed a possible softlock

UPDATE 2 (10/05): - Fixed the tombstone sometimes being misplaced - Slightly moved a key/portal in level 2 - Added a couple hints in the tutorial level - Changed monster riding physics - Changed lava visuals to spikes in one area for the sake of consistency

Ratings

Overall 249th 3.518⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 165th 3.643⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 206th 3.518⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 412th 3.143⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 485th 2.661⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 338th 3.056⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 52🗳️ 41🗨️

Feedback

Richard Jiang
04. Oct 2021 · 07:02 UTC
This is such a cool concept to a game! I love simple and easy graphics as well. However, I got a bit stuck during the warning sign barrier. It took me a while to figure out that I need to fill my bar to pass through them, and I thought I would die directly once the bar fills out. A little hint on that part would be appreciated!
UkuleleFury
05. Oct 2021 · 04:46 UTC
:) Very cool! I was a bit stuck when I got to the room where I _had_ to let the dimension-swap timer elapse, in order to break the wall blocks. And the sword swipe vertical positioning is a bit fiddly--sometimes it was hard to jump at just the right height to break a wall. But very fun gameplay! And good concept!
LDJam user 263516
05. Oct 2021 · 04:50 UTC
interesting puzzle, executed well :)
i like your twist (getting stuck in the dimension) to an otherwise familiar concept. good work :)
Sieghart
05. Oct 2021 · 04:51 UTC
Cool Concept of Dimension Switching
Guilherme Alt
05. Oct 2021 · 05:04 UTC
Insane game dude! I love how you managed to explore the mechanics like in the part where you have to change the dimension while doing the parkour to get into the upper room.
Feesh
05. Oct 2021 · 05:06 UTC
Unique graphics and concept it just felt a little rough figuring out how to move correctly and use everything
ubershmekel
05. Oct 2021 · 05:08 UTC
What a fun little platformer. Oh my god that rhythm stage was TRICKY! It took me a while to figure out how to even progress, then I there was another "aha moment" where I understood that I only needed to be in the black dimension for just the one moment I land and re-jump. There was a bug when I was riding the monster that caused me to suddenly show up in the middle of the pool and die. I think for some reason I wasn't able to jump off of the monster either and had to walk off. The theme was there, it definitely felt like the black dimension was broken and unstable. Maybe one thing I would have wanted improved is some musical effect for the different dimensions, just to shift the mood. Though maybe that would also sound busy with all the switching going on. Really cool platformer level design. Good job. Thank you for the game.
Iori Branford
05. Oct 2021 · 05:11 UTC
Solid idea and nice platforming challenge. I agree with @richard-jiang I wish the blocks that open when the meter maxes would fade gradually towards that state as the meter rises.
🎤 shared
05. Oct 2021 · 07:01 UTC
Thank you everyone for the kind messages ! I was very sick the first day of the jam so what you see is mostly Sunday's work.

@ubershmekel trust me I would have loved some music too, but sadly for now it's not one of the things I know how to do.

@ukulelefury @richard-jiang @iori-branford I originally planned for there to be drawings on the wall telling you to fill the bar in that tutorial room, but I kinda ran out of time.

@ivysly @sieghart @guilherme-alt Thank you ! I put a lot of effort in making a main mechanic, and building around it. I designed the main level around having different kinds of challenges, I wanted the level to have variety and freedom in which way you go first
CrescentOdyssey
05. Oct 2021 · 16:09 UTC
Being someone who's also sick on the first day...I can understand your pain (physically 😄?!) that cannot get the game more polished! If you are going to iterate more please post an update!
ultrarat
06. Oct 2021 · 04:19 UTC
Fun puzzle platformer, I for one love your next level programmer art :smile:
Checkpoints would really up the fun factor in the more timing heavy sections.
🎤 shared
06. Oct 2021 · 05:10 UTC
@ultrarat Glad you like it ! As for the checkpoints, the fact that you don't lose your keys upon dying does the same effect.

@crescentodyssey Thanks for the support, I might update the game with a few more levels after the jam, but for now, I'm only doing small fixes.
Nyles
06. Oct 2021 · 05:50 UTC
The art style is awesome. I loved the mechanic, but be prepared for some serious platforming.
WYL TEAM
06. Oct 2021 · 08:55 UTC
interesting idea for platforming and puzzle, it was a pleasure to play!
GuinyTime
06. Oct 2021 · 09:45 UTC
This monster is also very difficult to fight, I died in a few shots, can not defeat the monster. The purple bar is fun! It just feels like the monster is too strong
🎤 shared
06. Oct 2021 · 19:24 UTC
@wyl-team Thank you !

@guinytime While the monsters are strong and hard to kill, they can be avoided, even in the lava path, by baiting one of them back to the left part of the path. Also, if you die once there, the monsters get positioned in a way that makes them very easy to dodge, which isn't a problem because you don't lose anything when you die.
cirno
07. Oct 2021 · 05:16 UTC
The dimensional shifting with limited time is awesome. This gives each level 3 states instead of 2.

Do you have any hints on the 4th key of level 2? I cannot find it.
🎤 shared
07. Oct 2021 · 05:20 UTC
@cirno In the room before the lava jumping challenge, there's a timing/jumping challenge where you need to quickly switch between dimensions without filling the bar, while going up.
cirno
07. Oct 2021 · 05:29 UTC
Finished level 2. The puzzle of all the 4 keys are unique. Nice design!
🎤 shared
07. Oct 2021 · 05:33 UTC
@cirno Thank you very much !
Wakobu
08. Oct 2021 · 19:11 UTC
Incredible game for a compo ! The grahpics are simple but effective, and we can feel that you fully focused on the level design, which is very enjoyable ! Awesome entry overall !
Arlwin
15. Oct 2021 · 14:45 UTC
This game is cool! I Love the concept and the art style. Makes me miss the classic flash games back in the day :(
Ace17
16. Oct 2021 · 20:25 UTC
Wow, this is such a great idea!

This reminded me of "Legacy of Kain : Soul Reaver", where you sometimes have to alternate between two parallel worlds to progress through the world. However, you pushed the idea a lot further, and made it the gist of the gameplay, ending up with a very interesting (and sometimes hard) puzzle game.

The graphics are a little too minimalistic to my tastes, but they do the job. But I liked the sounds!

You might have a small glitch with the GNU/Linux version : you can see the nearby rooms just by maximizing the app window.

Also, I got soft-locked in the top-left room of level 2 : I stayed too long in the 'black' dimension, and there were no accessible portals to get back to the 'white' dimension.

Overall, great job, (too bad there are only 2 levels!) and by the way, kudos for providing a GNU/Linux version !
🎤 shared
16. Oct 2021 · 22:42 UTC
@arlwin Thank you ! I'm glad the game made you feel this way.


@ace17 Thank you for the compliments, legacy of kain is one of those games I kinda wanna play someday. I'm happy you liked the idea and gameplay !

As for the graphics, I know they're pretty minimalistic, but I did what I could. Glad you liked the sounds tho.

The glitch in the GNU/Linux version is indeed a glitch, since on windows, you can't resize the window, but apparently this doesn't apply to GNU/Linux builds. For the softlock, if you're talking about the one I think, while it's not technically a softlock because you can die to the monsters in the leftmost room to go back to spawn without losing anyhing, it's still very unintended, it's a level design error I intended to fix in an update, but forgot to actually put it in.

Still, I'm happy you liked the game, and hope you had a good time ! And for the GNU/Linux version, it's not a lot of effort with Godot, the game engine I used, to make a GNU/Linux version too.
VarunDevs
18. Oct 2021 · 14:53 UTC
Good
pkenney
18. Oct 2021 · 14:58 UTC
Simple but effective graphics, and a very cool concept! It was a little harder than I was capable of, for example the coordination in the climbing room where you have to alternate midjump a lot (at least that's what I think I need to do), so I'm afraid I didn't get very far! It's a shame because I think I missed some pretty cool stuff by not being able to do it... Definitely my fault and not the game's though.

Very cool concept.
mikouaji
20. Oct 2021 · 12:52 UTC
Very nice execution on the idea :) I like that there are consequences for staying too long in the other dimension