Lys by VPhyre
We recommend playing this LudumDare WebGL version in fullscreen. :)
Hello again, Ludum Dare 51 people !!! After the absence of the LD50, we are back!
This game was made by me and my girlfriend and two other friends, we are from Brazil. Some of us are still beginners and we are participating in the gamejam in order to grow. Hope you like our game.
Controls:
Use the mouse to click on objects in the level.
How to play:
Your objective is to make a beam/ray of light arrive at the portal, with the indicated color. And for that you must manipulate the rotation of mirrors to control the direction of the light, and prisms to control the color of the light.
To interact with the elements that manipulate light, just click with the MOUSE.
But be aware: Every 10 seconds, the color of the light source will change, between red, yellow and blue.
Mirror: When clicked, its light reflection angle changes.
Prism: When clicked, it rotates, and its color changes. The resulting color that will come out of the prism will be the sum of the color of the input ray and the color of the prism.
Example: Blue light with red prism, will generate a beam/ray of purple light.
Colors that can be made: Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Purple and Green.
Some screenshots and artworks of the game:
How the game was developed:
If you're curious, check out the videos of our development lives: https://www.twitch.tv/vphyre
Credits:
UI - Environment Designer: Jesiali M D Souza (@jesiahli) - https://www.artstation.com/desahlign
Character Designer and Screenwriter: Van Guildo (@Guildo) - https://instagram.com/van_guildo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
UI/Narrative Programmer: Cassio Moda (@ModA) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassio-moda-12690a182/
General Programmer and Level Designer / Technician: Vinicius Paulo Aniquiárico (@VPhyre) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinicius-paulo-aniqui%C3%A1rico-063101132/
Musics: freesound.org
Credits art by Picrew: citrus_captain
Changelog:
V1:
- Original Gamejam release
Thank you for playing our game!
Feel free to follow us here at Ludum Dare (let us know that we will follow you back), to continue watching our work closely! :)
| itch.io | https://vphyre.itch.io/lys |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/lys |
Ratings
| Overall | 900th | 3.19⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 923th | 2.976⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 775th | 3.107⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 921th | 3.274⭐ | 44🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 604th | 3.605⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 541th | 2.91⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 811th | 3.188⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 49🗳️ | 63🗨️ |
First off, I really liked the idea of this game, I have never thought about colour changing mirror puzzles. It was well combined with the theme and it's rare to find a puzzle game that uses colour theory. It's amazing how much assets you created, background and character art, UI, gameplay assets... that's crazy! And to have a story on top of it too!
I feel like there're a few things that could help elevate the game:
- I really really liked the colourful background art/cover art you created for the game, it fits the game perfectly! I wish there were posters of it <3 However, I think it was a little busy to use for the dialogue window, as there are white texts on top of it. It was a bit draining to read. I really enjoy the use of multiple colours, the aesthetics stood out in a good way, it just needs some clarity and hierarchy. Same goes for the prisms on the background art, they blended in due to the lack of edge clarity, a brighter outline in white for the prism might help?
- The levels were really fun, I liked how there were "misleading" mirrors that made me think again, I feel like that worked really well. The learning curve was also well adjusted. One issue I had was how the mirrors could only be turned towards 3 angles, but they're in a circle which implied that you can turn them 360 deg. I often found myself clicking on them multiple times to see it's maximum angles because it wasn't indicated already. And like others said, sometimes it's easy to just spam clicks on the prisms to solve that puzzle.
That being said, I think mirror puzzles are some of the most difficult and intricate puzzles to design, so you guys did really well for picking such an ambitious theme. You may have already seen these two games for inspo: Portal & Talos principle. They had some really well designed laser puzzles.
I like the art and the dialog in the game! Overall a very nice entry!
- the next button in the UI blended in, that it wasn't clear it was a next button at first
- the level ends so abruptly and the next one starts, would be good to have a bit of a transition
Keep on making games :smile:
I enjoyed the game. It's a nice concept, although gameplay is a bit too easy. Because the light changes on its own and there are no consequences of making an improper setup, the player can basically click blindly to set the mirrors and then wait for the right color of light to come, without even understanding the mechanics of the light change. In all the levels but the last one - in the last level, the timer plus the amount of portals you have to vanquish add up to fun gameplay (as there you actually have to think about what you're doing). More levels like that one would be cool!
The character art is great, and I will definitely remember Lys. I was voicing over the characters as I played, providing some fun to my husband as well :smile_cat:
It would be nice, if there would be some level transition screen. And some sfx when setting mirrors and prism. The background under the text is a bit too busy and too saturated (drawing attention away from the text and making reading harder on the eyes).
PS. This is the fourth game made by you that I played, and I see you are starting to create a connected universe :thumbsup:. Is Mindy also connected to Lys and Becky, I wonder?
But yes, we agree that most of the levels are quite easy, and many players end up finishing without understanding the mechanics. We tried to find a balance between difficulty and fun, but because of the rush this balance was a little sacrificed I would say.
Anyway, we are taking into account everything that is being said here to improve as game developers. I am happy with this community interaction.
And about the connection between the universe of our games: Glad to ask that!
We like to "play" a bit with the idea of all our games here at LudumDare having some kind of connection. I believe this leaves open some story possibilities and even (why not?), the return of some characters in other games, in other LDs, with other themes. I think this is a way for the player to connect more easily with our games, because he might think "Hmm, I think I've seen this somewhere". Of course, this is not a rule, which will define whether a game is good or not (far from it). But it's something I find interesting to have around.
And answering briefly about the connections between the characters, I would say that they are very superficial connections (for now). Lys is Becky's sister (the baby sitter of the demon baby), and the "demon baby" is the son of Mindy (LD 48), and Sryni (LD 47). If you want to understand these connections a little better, take a look at this post: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/lys/$310630 (in this post there is another link to an older post that I had made during to LD49, explaining about these connections).
Yes, it's a pretty crazy universe! Hahaha :smile:
PS: Sorry for the long answer!
Great color choices and the music makes this game feel awsome.