December 13th-16th 2013 :: Theme: You Only Get One
[ Real World Gatherings | Ludum Deals | Warmup Weekend ]
My original influence for the idea was a game I'd played long ago on Kongregate - Z-Rox - a puzzle game that limits your view to a single 1D plane. I thought a platformer would be interesting with this same type of view, giving rise to cameras that only see in one dimension.
Thank you all for your responses to my game so far. It's always exciting to get feedback. You've motivated me to keep working, and address all the issues you're bringing up. I'll also add more levels, upgrades, power-ups, music, and just generally cleaning it up.
I'll post the newer version to Kongregate after the competition is over. I hope some of you will give it another try then, maybe with more helpful suggestions =D
Known issues/misunderstandings:
1. Static-y blocks sometimes kill you =O
- Level one cameras only show that a block is there, represented as the static-y block, not what it is. The block could be anything, even deadly spikes. I'm changing them to semi-translucent, as per Robinerd's suggestion, to make it clearer. (Thanks for the suggestion!)
2. The cameras don't act as many expect.
- Each of the cameras can only see in a straight line, mono-directional. The right one shines forward, top left shines behind and up from your character diagonally, for example. There are three levels of camera. The Bronze background only can see if a block is in that direction. The Silver can see what type of block it is (spikes for instance.) The Gold can see what type of block is in that direction and then where the next block is behind it.
3. The physics and platforms get a little wonky.
- While running short on time I dropped my own control system and modified Unity's which works well, for the most part, but definitely has some issues. I'll put in my own control system when I re-release the game to address these issues.
Thanks again for all the comments!
-- Changes
- 12/17/13 (Several players were finding the original style confusing and nearly unplayable)
- Changed unknown block texture to include a question mark.
- Range finder camera can no longer see through spike blocks.
- Moved one block on the last level to make the spikes more apparent.
- Added Kongregate API integration for fastest times. Good luck trying to get close to my time =P
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 100% |
| #78 | Innovation | 3.72 |
| #633 | Overall | 2.83 |
| #692 | Audio | 1.94 |
| #693 | Fun | 2.58 |
| #716 | Humor | 1.75 |
| #756 | Theme | 2.42 |
| #815 | Mood | 2.27 |
| #907 | Graphics | 2.02 |
Comments
Really cool ! I love LD for that, you play cool game where concept are innovative and immersive. Great job !
That's a really interesting gimmick! I finished the levels, the last one was really hard. Probably shouldn't rely on tricky precise corner jumps so much.
This one was interesting at first and I actually liked the mechanic. but then it turned into a game of die,memorize, repeat.
It's a really, really interesting concept! I do think though that it should be worked upon. Were the blocks all looking the same on purpose?
Took me a bit to get it, but really innovative idea. Moving from one cell to the next could feel a little buggy, and the platforming was a little too picky.
I like the concept of partial information in a platformer, there's something worth exploring here
I noticed a few collision bugs too. But I really like what you have done here.
Interesting! I had to replay it several times to understand the basic gameplay, but once you got it, it's nice. Only arts need a real improvement :-)
This is a really cool idea that I would like to see fleshed out.
I don't get it the link with the theme, but the idea still very good!
Very innovative game mechanic. Seems like something to build on after ludumdare.
Nice puzzle mechanics!! I had no trouble with understanding the camera system, but I guess the unknown blocks could have been visualized in a more ghost or silhouette-like way to clarify, since the current rock-ish texture looks rather solid.
Great idea. I would have loved to see more levels. The jumps on the last level are pretty difficult.
This was a really great concept, it did feel a little off / buggy but I love it!
i like the concept, and I enjoyed playing through the available levels. Clever. Excellent work!
Quite buggy, but fun nonetheless!
I didn't get to play much because the 'cameras' were acting weird and a spike looked the same as a block :/
But I loved how it was 3D yet in two dimensions! Very nice!
Nice work. But the cameras are not working properly, it shows spikes as solid blocks sometimes.
Hey not bad. Interesting idea to add more player vision with upgrades.
I had some problems playing it though, there is no telling what blocks are harmful and what are goals as they all look the same.
well done man.. interesting concept ..i sure there were a few collision bug but good job :)
It's fairly buggy, but was fun just running around jumping on blocks, kinda like mario :D also quite difficult XD
You got a great concept there! I didn't get the idea of playing after a minute of trying, but I got the hang of it.
Very interesting visual system. It took a little experimentation to understand the level layout and those spikes were my friends for awhile. I'd like to see this idea expanded upon, but would like jumping to be a bit more powerful.
Clever concept, but lacking in execution unfortunately. Keep working on it!
Very clever concept. A bit too difficult for me and it took quite a while to get my head around it.
Very innovative gameplay, I really like the idea of seeing in only "1D", makes the game pretty harder after a while, nice job !
The best thing in this game was a field of vision. It gave this game a unique mood that I've didn't see in any other. Good game overall.
Thank you all for your kind words. Along with playing all the submitted games, I've been hard at work implementing a more fully featured version of the game, including many of your suggestions. I'll host it on Newgrounds as a separate link.
The static looking bean was meant to show that you can only look out, that you don't actually know what you look like. Unfortunately, multiple system crashes during the last couple hours had me cut the story and music.
Cool concept, initially a bit confusing and frustrating though. I did have a bit of fun after a couple of goes though.
The concept is really cool, it made me think about what is the most important info my brain uses when playing platformers. With a bit more work on graphics & audio you'd have a really great game on your hands.
a very good concept! i had to restart many times to test possibilities. very nice!
Seems interesting! But Im very confused about the mechanic..
I like the extra effort trying to do something unique with the theme. The game is fairly punishing.
Very tricky game, but I enjoyed the idea behind it! Something different for sure
I catch the concept very soon and man you found gold. You could make a good and long game with this idea. Please make it, I will play it. Amazing Job!
Great idea! It was fun trying to figure out which cameras to buy so I could make it through the level. The presentation could be cleaned up, but the idea is solid.
It's certainly an interesting gimmick, but as mactinite said, it turns into a game of die, memorise, repeat. Perhaps there could be other penalties for hitting spikes than just dying - maybe you could get changed into an earlier state, perhaps. Now you can't fly, etc...
A really fun concept. Damn difficult to make long jumps. If the player movement was more classic platformer feeling, and perhaps the view was more of a cone than a straight line, this would be really cool. Full of potential; a simple take on the theme that so far I haven't found another entry doing :)
Fun idea for a game. :) Movement felt a bit clunky. It was a nice touch that you could reset the upgrades between levels. This could be expanded to an even better experience :)
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Neat idea! Seems a little buggy. I had visible blocks that I fell into. Had fun jumping around.