A **furiously** difficult platform game inspired by some of my absolute favourites. My take on the theme is to take the concept of looping in level design to absurd extremes, constantly reusing sections of the level in order to maximise the gameplay.
Once you can do it, it takes about 9 minutes to complete.
Instructions Which No-one Reads:
There are two exits: You must go between each exit until you escape from the screen. Sadly each time you try to use an exit the world becomes much, much worse. Makes you wonder why you even bother, doesn't it? Discover what lies beyond! Or fail to!
Platform:
- This is a WebGL game so it should run on any computer with a decent browser and a non-terrible GPU without plugins.
Controls:
- Cursor keys.
- More Cursor keys.
- Any cursor key you like.
- Although WASD also works if you're one of those rare right handed people.
Tips:
- YOU CAN ONLY JUMP ONCE YOU'VE STOPPED BOUNCING. Takes a lot to push away from the ground.
- You're a big thing far away, not a small thing. You're a lot heavier and have more inertia than you might expect. Anticipation is the ...
- The longer you hold 'up' when you jump, the higher you'll jump. Mostly you'll just bump your head on things though.
- For the final obstacle, try coming to a stop before jumping over those...things. Whatever they are.
- This game is totally possible to beat. Full video playthrough to come.
Agh it doesn't work:
- Not loading: It seems to take a while to finish loading for some people. If it seems to be taking too long, try reloading it. No idea what's causing this!
- WebGL being a bit experimental and new, if it doesn't work in Chrome try Firefox. If it doesn't work in Firefox try Chrome. If you're using Internet Explorer, try Chrome! Or Firefox! Thank you for being patient.
- On Linux: There's a problem with Intel GPU drivers, apparently, which is breaking WebGL.
OMG MY FPS!:
- Built in Intel GPUs on old and/or cheap laptops are absolutely horrible. Luckily you can make it a little easier on your computer by reducing the size of the browser window and reloading the game. The game's playable between 30-60fps, but below that you're going to struggle a lot. Again, thank for you for being patient. See above re: "Experimental" and "New".
Making Of:
This was made in Javascript using the lovely Three.JS for help with the WebGL stuff, my own game library and lots of open source code. Blender was used for the level design, Reason for recording the music and sound effects, and the number of the day is 42.
UPDATE:
I've changed the audio so that it's using an HTML5 Audio tag instead of the Web Audio API which means the game doesn't need to wait for the music to download before starting. Hopefully this will fix loading problems. *fingers crossed*
UPDATE 2:
Ported the game to support right handed people by adding WASD controls. Sorry.
UPDATE 3:
Added a post-compo version which is basically the same game but the bounce and inertia has been toned down a lot so some people made find it a little easier to beat/get used to. Tweaked the graphics a bit to add support for retina displays and a few other things that don't make a huge amount of different tbh.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 100% |
| #67 | Graphics | 4.06 |
| #81 | Mood | 3.66 |
| #149 | Theme | 4.01 |
| #166 | Audio | 3.41 |
| #212 | Overall | 3.58 |
| #468 | Fun | 3.17 |
| #610 | Innovation | 3.06 |
Comments
Unable to play :(
keys do nothing :/
Long time loading and seems at a low fps rate.
Agh I will have to try to do something about the loading times. It's only the music causing these delays...
I couldnt progress on the blue saw level >.< but the game its hard and looks really nice :)
The graphics are awesome, the game is a bit to hard but still fun.
Really hard, but easy to understand, gread colors and music,
initia killed me but it's a great element
Answer to you comment in my game page - ( does the "play button" appear ? - did you try to update your unity webplayer )
The feeling the game gives is good. The game is hard and the graphics are nice. I personaly did not like the controller of the player. it felt to laggy to be good. You needed to think 0.5 seconds ahead of where your char was when you had to press buttons. But it matches the looks with the trail behind you
Nice graphic, there is a lot of details that I like. Disturbed music fit the level perfectly.
Level 2 is too hard, I tried about 20 times to pass it, people might drop it faster. I end up on level 4. Nice entry!
Graphics are really good and the audio is great too, although the background music can get a little annoying. Almost as it was taunting me for failing so often :)
The way of using the level over and over again is very creative and fits the theme well. I like how seeing the things to come terrifies and motivates you at the same time. The only gripe I have are the controls.
Absolutely fantastic. Hard to 'win', but really addictive and fun.
This is neat :D. Love the music, effects and the camera-tilt. The line "I wish I didn't make the world difficult" is great
Very good. If you hadn't opted out of "Humor" I would have given it ★★★★☆
LOVE this game! the design, the mechanics, and OMG the music! Wonderful! :D
Gorgeous visuals, I have a love for shiny things and particles though haha. Music was kinda grating in places but totally fit the feeling of the game. The movement controls are going to be a deal breaker for people but I loved the floaty-ness to them and the need to adjust to exactly how this game works. Excellant job on this one!
You mentioned the player 'size' it in the tips, but the controls feel slightly sluggish. This hasn't stopped me from playing though.
I loved the particle effects and the scan-line effect. The music fit the game just fine, and all together it felt pretty solid.
Very good interpretation of the theme, and I loved the music.
It was a bit difficult though, both myself and my son tried and we only arrived to level 3 :)
Runs fairly slow on my box, but there's so much to like about this entry. Excellent achievement.
The music is ahhhhh so great! I wish to know more about its creation :D
The game itself is quite hard, I'm going to try again!
This is gorgeous! And good music, too. But it's way too hard for me! I'm probably not the target audience. For what it's worth, it loaded plenty fast enough for me.
Thanks for rating my game, Four Seasons!
Great concept, very pretty! I like the subtle use of hte circles in the background. Really punishing though, I couldn't get used to the loose controls. I'm really happy to see that WebGL games can be this good! :D
The pulsating graphics and particle effects are a little too much for me. Quite solid, hard platformer, though.
Very hard game. I like it very much but I would tweak the controls because currently part of the difficulty seems to be coming from the somewhat sluggish controls. The theme is used in a cool way and though it's always the same level you get quite some different challenges. And as a super meat boy fan I just have to like this game ;) I also enjoyed the music.
I liked it, even though its hard and can be frustrating at times. Especially hard to get a feeling for the jumping mechanics. Sometimes it "just wont jump".
Visual style is great!
Well it sure is difficult! Lives up to it's description, I think the reason I found it a little hard to get past any obstacles was the bouncing physics off the ceiling...off the ground was kinda cool and fun but the ceiling bounce just made things way too impossible for me.
Anyways, enough about my lack of skills...I enjoy those CRT scan lines on the orange objects! And all the movement and glowing makes things feel so foreign, well done!
:D no worries. this is something you just have to test with people and there is just not enough time for that in 48-72 hours I think ...
This game is really good. No really. The controls take some time to get used to. Learning how long to hold up button and such. The level design was excellent, the music was good the effects were really cool. Job well done!
Nice touch with the meta-narrative, might be the first Ludum Dare game I've played that broke the 4th wall! Found it a little too difficult to control for my liking, that's one of the few types of difficulty I'm not keen on, but I like the visual style, and I like the overlapping level concept.
Rob, thank you. The narrative was actually the main inspiration for this game. Once I decided I wouldn't have a title screen it made sense to fold the credits and titles into the narrative too, I just wanted the player character to express the same frustration as I had with the theme!
Very hard!!!! love the trail on the character and the art in general. the music is harsh but it fits the game. cool theme interpretation. i rage quit XD
Really nicely done. The controls are a little floatly and bouncy for a precision platformer, and the terrain could use more contrast with the background. This is a really impressive, challenging platformer. Awesome work!
super hard for me but very interesting. I manage to only did the first two layers.
Nice concept and graphical style!!
Hi there. Looks really great. Did level one ;) Took about a minute to get first jump on level two, about two minutes to give up on first buzz saw... I'm bad at playing platformers, but this seems very harsh/pixel perfect to me. Loved the sounds and animations/pulsing. Good job!
So... I was able to beat you game. It wasn't as hard as I expected, after your recent post, but it definitely wasn't easy.
Although, as a fellow game developer, I understand that you wanted the controls to be part of the difficulty, but, as a player, it felt kind of... artificial, maybe? Like, most of the time, I wasn't playing against your game, I was playing against the controls...
After you figure out that you can hold 'up' to jump right after you touch the floor, this stops being a problem. Then, there's the fact that you maneuver better on the air, being able to make a complete stop by jumping and adjusting your speed. So, the only thing left was the slow acceleration/deceleration.
Of course, this is a different kind of platform than the usual (that has more tight controls). Perhaps adding animations to the player and, for example, ice to the floor the controls would be better accepted. This kind of "mind trick" can help make others understand you intent with the game.
Don't take, by all that, that I thought your game was bad. It wasn't!! I only didn't like the fact the most of the difficulty came from the controls, and not from the level design itself.
Still, the game was well made! I really liked all the effects, nice use of shaders, there. I gotta admit that the song loop got tiring after a while, but it was nice, initially.
=D
The art style and music are both amazing, but even though I love difficult platformers, I found your game just too frustratingly hard due to the bouncy nature of the cube.
I think a less steep difficulty curve that helps ease the player with bouncy controls would do loads of good to the game.
Yeah. The restriction of the theme really worked against this particular game :(
I really like the graphic, the audio, and the overall mood of the game, but it's just tooooooooooo hard to control...
Way too hard for me, but what *gorgeous* graphics.
The music was pretty amazing too, but it got a bit repetitive. The high-pitched sound (violin? rusty gate?) would have worked better if it only showed up once in a while instead of almost all the time.
(I was frustrated by the controls, but I see you've fixed that in the post-compo version. Still just as ridiculously hard, but now it feels like a hard *game* instead of hard *controls*.)
rjhunter: Ah that is gratifying to know. Yes, I wish I'd spent more time on the music now, but I panicked and only budgeted myself an hour for it. Whoops :P
the graphics are awesome but it gave me headaches aftere a moment. it's super hard and challenging but i love it :D
awesome game
Great interpretation of theme - awesome how you have the same map, with constant variations. Very cool.
Looks great! So many nice visual touches; really very nice on the eyes.
Found this tough as hell, but action felt very very solid which I appreciate. Will keep at it and see how far I can get. For now, let me just say well done for a great game here!
Nice work on graphic postprocessing.
The gameplay is quite interesting too with the motion inertia increasing the game difficulty, it fis the mood well.
Gnarly. I like the gritty guitar music and the post effects.
Nice entry! The physics is a bit tricky to take in hand but once you get it, it's pleasant!
Good job, mainly with the aesthetics and the mood. The controls may be though; however once you realize how they work, it's incredibly easier :)
I HATE YOU. But also this was really cool, it ran perfectly for me on my gaming rig and the whole mood and feel was excellent. It was super difficult, but I enjoyed the platforming for the most part; mostly I felt like it was my fault when it went wrong. There was one bit with a blue saw on a slope when the jump just wouldn't respond, but other than that it was a good challenge.
That's horribly difficult, you're a monster. The music really suits it, fits the feel of the game perfectly.
Excellent all around. I love the style. The background is a nice touch. Great music. I really like how you reused elements in different levels. The controls are really my only complaint. It's just so sluggish. I know you're going for a difficult feel, but this is ideally done with really tight, responsive controls and a difficult environment. Twitch platformers usually want you to feel in control of your character. So I came close to quitting a couple of times, but I held out because the style was just so great. I finally managed to finish it. Took me a lot longer than 9 minutes, though, that's for sure.
The audio and graphics are great but I was really frustrated with the controls. I get that it's part of the difficulty but it just didn't feel good to move around. Maybe if the character's graphics communicated the weight/floatiness more?
The controls are way too laggy, this is like playing Super Meat Boy on an ice rink... :/
It's a shame because the level design and the theme exploitation look good!
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Really hard, too hard for me, but the mood fits the difficulty.
And wow, impressive usage of ThreeJS :)