Nihility by ChronusZ

[raw]
made by ChronusZ for LD31 (COMPO)
[IMPORTANT - Some people seem to have a bug that prevents them from moving. The tighter controls version MAY fix this. - IMPORTANT]

Nihility is a narrative platformer about an entity trapped inside of a computer screen, searching for its identity. The story is told through a succession of haiku.

Controls -
Move: A & D
Jump: W/Up/Space
Crouch: S/Down/Shift
Interact: E/Z

I added a "tighter controls" version after the deadline ended. If you're struggling to get through the story because of the controls, try that version.

Ratings

Coolness 56% 3
Overall 2.81 943
Audio 3.07 338
Fun 2.13 1151
Graphics 3.10 555
Humor 1.65 919
Innovation 2.94 698
Mood 3.32 231
Theme 3.55 626

Feedback

Chris Delta
08. Dec 2014 路 03:04 UTC
I really wanted to play more of this, but I was actively fighting with the controls, which I wasn't sure was meant to be happening..
馃帳 ChronusZ
08. Dec 2014 路 04:22 UTC
@Chris Delta

In what way do you mean?
JohnGalt
08. Dec 2014 路 04:52 UTC
I can't move...
salmonmoose
08. Dec 2014 路 04:55 UTC
The controls seem very broken, walking is tediously slow, and after the first interaction the only way to move horizontally was to jump (which also became stuck on). It's a shame, it looks like there's some depth.
馃帳 ChronusZ
08. Dec 2014 路 05:00 UTC
The slowness is intentional. The game is built around text that I want people to mull over for a bit rather than just jumping ahead and ignoring the plot.

It's weird that you say you can't move after the first interaction, though. It works fine on my end.
GreenyUk
08. Dec 2014 路 05:14 UTC
I appreciate the slow story-telling, but also have reservations about the controls like those before me pointed out. I found jumping to be pretty difficult and not natural. Unfortunately, that pulls you out of the deep, meaningful experience I presume you want to achieve.
mahalis
08. Dec 2014 路 05:16 UTC
I can't walk at all - the only way I can move is by holding down a direction and Space, and even then the jumps only sometimes move me sideways. I got to the first "I", read the haiku, and eventually got over to the second "I", but hitting E there does nothing and it's not prompting me to do anything else. I'm pretty much stuck. :(
geartech0
08. Dec 2014 路 05:49 UTC
I love everything about this game. This is a unique way to accomplish the entire game on one screen. Amazing. I am in awe. I love the story, abosolutley amazing. The music was amazing. The only complaint i have is that after the wheel thing killed the character, i came to a black screen, but trust me, im showing this to my friends. You hit this right on. I understand that their are problems below with moving and stuff. aside from those, i think the game was perfect. tenouttaten
igneousmoon
08. Dec 2014 路 05:53 UTC
love the mood and graphics, couldn't quite get some things to work but, I really like this game! well done :)
DXsmiley
08. Dec 2014 路 05:58 UTC
I really wanted to enjoy this, but I found the controls too painful, and there were many bugs. The themes explored were interesting, although the setting (i.e. the windows desktop) was questionable. However, the writing was very good.
rincewind_cz
08. Dec 2014 路 07:39 UTC
Can't run this on my linux desktop as I'm getting NullPointerException.. Interesting lines from stack trace (seems like you're setting window title incorrectly):
java.lang.NullPointerException
...
at org.lwjgl.opengl.Display.setTitle(Display.java:541)
...
at game.src.main.Main.<init>(Main.java:48)
at game.src.main.Main.main(Main.java:171)
Andrew Adams
08. Dec 2014 路 14:40 UTC
+1 for the jumping requirement. May have to do w/ ground friction, maybe?
Zolkren
08. Dec 2014 路 16:08 UTC
The game's controls are broken, the game looks reaaly cool to play.
fleegle2000
08. Dec 2014 路 17:24 UTC
I like the concept but I did find the controls a bit odd - particularly how you move faster horizontal while jumping. Maybe that was intentional but it felt weird and unresponsive (even in the tighter-controls version, which I tried after playing through the compo version). Also, without spoiling the ending, I'm curious if that was intentional - if so I think you still need to provide some cue that the game is well and truly over and give some method of restarting. Graphics and sound are nice. Mood is suitable and the quotes are an interesting way to mask gameplay hints. I wasn't sure if those were quotes from other people or just things you came up with, but either way they were a nice touch.
pjchardt
09. Dec 2014 路 01:21 UTC
I downloaded the windows exe, but when I try to run it nothing happens. Is it getting an error and closing itself? Not sure what is going o :(
Rene Damm
10. Dec 2014 路 00:46 UTC
Nice concept. Like the graphics. And nice audio. Unfortunately, I found the platforming to be pretty frustrating due to the controls. The response is pretty tight but the character skates around a lot which means that even if you hit that platform perfectly, chances are high you will simply slide right back off it and tumble down into the enemy.
EquipeJAM
10. Dec 2014 路 20:30 UTC
Good Work ^^
Boracho
11. Dec 2014 路 09:38 UTC
Awesome use of the theme! Art is decent, fits the mood well. Sound doesn't really match the mood of the art and music but it works well enough. Very interesting. Good work!
AkirAssasin
11. Dec 2014 路 09:41 UTC
I can't play, for some reason. It opens then closes without showing anything.
DarkEngineer
12. Dec 2014 路 18:00 UTC
You should fix this movement problems
01rafael
14. Dec 2014 路 21:00 UTC
This is great concept! And super windows style!
L0N3 W0LF
24. Dec 2014 路 19:21 UTC
Interesting computer desktop abstract game. Great work :D