Hi Ludum Dare.
This is a rage-inducing game about rejection. About being a stalker.
The goal of the game is to collect bits and pieces of notes left by a lovely fish you've been endlessly wanting. There are about 2-4 in each level.
This time around I wanted to try something new. Something a bit out of my comfort zone. I wasn't very cool with the theme this time around so I tried interpreting it a bit differently; I didn't use it as a foundation for a game concept or set of mechanics, I just used the words and gave them some meaning. But I still took it kinda lightly.
INSTRUCTIONS & CONTROLS (READ BEFORE PLAYING):
You can use WASD to move, Space to progress dialogue, and Escape to pause the game. The game gets progressively harder really quickly as there aren't a lot of levels. Once you die, you go right back to the beginning of the game. This game requires Java 7 or higher. I also don't recommend playing if you get annoyed very easily \o/
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 67% |
| #130 | Audio(Jam) | 3.69 |
| #222 | Graphics(Jam) | 4.00 |
| #266 | Mood(Jam) | 3.48 |
| #355 | Fun(Jam) | 3.29 |
| #378 | Overall(Jam) | 3.38 |
| #461 | Humor(Jam) | 2.91 |
| #614 | Innovation(Jam) | 2.89 |
| #1014 | Theme(Jam) | 2.49 |
Comments
*requires Java 8 or higher
The first time I went through a door, I had no idea that's what I'd done, I thought that it was just one of those games where you go past a certain point and when you come back there the path changes behind you (because I went over the door initially, and only hit it when I was coming back up from the dead end). That's all the feedback I have so far.
What I said in the IRC - it's goddamn beautiful, it's a pleasure to listen to, just add save points damn you! :D
Loved this beautifully simple game. Few glitches - swim left and up at the start to see four random fish, levels seem to pop in and you can't go back. Not so much of an issue but at first I wasn't sure what was happening.
Would have liked some way to skip intro given how many times I died lol
Spent way to much of my life on this... needs addiction warning
@Zammalad, I've just fixed that glitch you mentioned with the four random fish. Just uploaded it now. I'm glad you like it!
The game is gorgeous. The music is very fitting. I agree with what others said about skipping the intro after the first time and transitioning to other rooms.
Great graphical setup. I truely felt like i was looking at a terminal. Felt a lot like VVVVVVV. (which has been said) Annoying is hardly the word. 1 hit frustration start at beginning megaman annoyance? herpaderp frustration. but, you already warned me of that. so, yeah. haha. nice!
this game is too hard for me. i tried many times but never made it past l3. collision detection is kind of wonky.
i enjoyed most other parts of it. wish i had been able to make it all the way through.
Progressively harder ? :p
It's hard but I still want to play again, good job !
Nice art and music, as always expected from you Kaype! Quite a challenge to get past the shooting fish. Not sure what the point of the little papers might be (or whatever you intended them to be) but I will try again!
The art is simple, but consistent. I'm always a fan of the retro looking stuff. Kudos to the old 'inflated' CRT look, I totally dig it. Music is good and gameplay fits well. The timelapse was cool to watch, too!
Nice little game , didn't make it very far and got smushed
Wow, this game is crazy difficult, haha! Solid game though. It looks great and I love the main theme song :)
I liked this one a lot. Also was playing it while hooked up to my sound system and the beats are hawt
I love the graphics and the audio! The difficulty makes me rip out my hair, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Wow! Pretty cool. I like the screen effect. 10 points to you and i go thinking green.
The hitboxes on most of the hazards are obnoxiously big. I couldn't keep playing after the 6th thing killed me from several pixels away... which is unfortunate, because I generally like these sorts of games, and I was curious how you were going to handle the "You are a stalker fish who doesn't know how to take no for an answer, and possibly collects other people's journal entries" angle.
Save spots would help, and some tighter hit-boxes would help. Groovy soundtrack. Thanks for putting this together!
I played about 7-8 times and got reasonably far (I think). Just too much to have to start over each time. Dug the music, loved the retro monitor look and shader. Wanted to catch her! This is a really good effort and just adding a key to skip the intro and having you spawn back at the last note seems it would help a lot. I add those 2 things and re-submit it. great effort though and overall very good, with minor tweaks to take it to 11!
Although the game was fun, I would have preferred something more rewarding for my many repeated runs.
Wish there were checkpoints. Maybe I missed that? Good mood, audio, and graphics though.
This is damn tricky, I could only make it to the third screen or so through repeated attempts. I still had fun but some checkpoints would definitely be appreciated. I love the graphics too, the CRT effect is downright beautiful and you did a great job at minimalistic graphics. The way everything is slightly rounded makes it very easy on the eyes.
Great job with the music! Liked you choice in art theme as well.. Wanted to find the lady-fish so bad, but needed checkpoints
Great game on everything, it is really funny! Maybe it is a bit hard, but that is not bad, I personally like challenging games. Graphics and audio are the best.
I guess it's the finest positive critique of your game's audio to say I found myself singing along and didn't hate it. :)
Great game! I loved the retro aesthetic and the CRT look. The monochromatic color scheme I think added to the whole mood of a deep dark and lonely sea. Everything felt smooth and polished. Loved it!
Minimalist aesthetic - a good choice. I like it. A cool entry. Thank you ++
Fun game but the collision became frustrating. Could have also used check points.
Looking like an old television really gives the game some oldschool charm and reminds me of my good old gameboy. It would add a lot (I think), if the notes revealed some story upon collection.
Dude, forget how many fish there are in the sea, I think I'm in love with this game!
Awesome effort, love the art style (the go-pro style effect, as I like to call it as I don't know what the real name is, is freaking awesome) and the mood and innovation is amazing.
Issues:
Not sure why it's being shown on a monitor, unless that's just to show off your fancy filter abilities.
There needs to be save states, seriously.
Well done! :)
SO FRUSTRAAAATEEEED
But finally made it till the end \o/ Offset on the hitboxes was annoying as hell, but eventually managed to live with it. Checkpoints would be very, very helpful though :P
There's plenty of fish in the sea, but I haven't seen a single fish during the gameplay.
Finished after a dozen trials. It was a nice atmosphere. Good job.
An interesting game, I would've loved to see how it plays out in the end. Unfortunately, due to the lack of savepoints combined with what seemed to be a pretty unfair collision detection I did not make it past the third level.
Neat graphics, cool game! I included it in part 31 of my Ludum Dare 33 Compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/ZV7CU8j_StI
You must sign in to comment.
Mini Submission FAQ
TEAMS: Teams entering the Jam should pick a single representative to submit your game, or create a team specific account you can share. We currently do not support Team Voting, but sharing an account and together playing and rating games is acceptable.
CAN I ENTER BOTH EVENTS?: You should pick 1 event, whichever you think it’ll do better in. If the idea is strong, and everything plays well enough, you can go Compo. If you’re a perfectionist, and would prefer people to play a more polished game, do the Jam. Historically, more games are entered in the Compo, but with more people and more time, Jam games have the potential to be better (that doesn’t mean they are). Many solo participants do enter the Jam.
If you made 2 games, unfortunately, the website doesn’t support multiple submissions per user. To submit your 2nd game, you will have to make a 2nd account. Only do this if you made 2 games. Alternatively, if one game is better than the other, then consider just entering the better game.
CAN I KEEP WORKING UNTIL THE DEADLINE?: Yes! Immediately after the 48 or 72 hours, we do something called Submission Hour. As the name suggests, it’s an extra hour for you to package, upload, and submit your games. If there were catastrophic issues trying submitting your game, or you misunderstood how submissions work, that’s okay. It happens. We’re flexible. If you need advice, check with the folks on IRC. If you need an admin, get in touch.
CAN I KEEP WORKING ON MY GAME?: Oh definitely! You should! But for the sake of judging, keep the Compo or Jam version around. You can include a link to the Post-Compo/Post-Jam version of your game on your games page, but sure your main links are the original version.
PORTS: Ports to other platforms can be done after the deadline. That said, the sooner you finish your port, the sooner people can play your game, improving your chances of placing in the final results. For best results, provide a Web version of your game, or a Windows version with no dependencies. Also be sure to rate at least 20 games to improve your visibility (Coolness).
MY GAME CRASHES, IS UNBEATABLE, OR I MADE A TYPO: We allow you to fix crashes, win condition, or tiny bugs after the deadline. In a sense, this is like “porting” to support more players. We leave this open to interpretation, but generally speaking your game should be identical to the game you submitted. No new features, just fixing mistakes you should have caught had you been better rested.
MY GAME DOESN’T SHOW UP: If you can’t find your game, it’s usually because the URL to your downloads are missing ‘http://‘. Fix your URLs (http://mysite.com/mygame.zip) and you will show up. Alternatively, if you just posted it, wait a minute. The cache may not have refreshed yet.
NOT LOGGED IN?: If you get a message about not being logged in, even though you are, it’s because your web browser cached the non-logged in page. You can fix this by either refreshing your cache or clearing your cache. CTRL+F5 in many browsers. Chrome is a bit more work. Press F12 to enable Developer Mode, then you can right click on the refresh button and select “Empty Cache and Hard Reload”. This option is unavailable if you are not in Developer Mode.
Is this fish VVVVVV?