The Single Block by Static_boy123

[raw]
made by Static_boy123 for LD28 (COMPO)
Find your way through the puzzle of The Single Block. You have to solve multiple puzzles by placing a single block, and making your way to the mysterious yellow portal. As you find your way through different puzzles, just remember, every puzzle can be solved...and in multiple ways!

=====Controls=====
W, Space, Up Arrow - jump
S, Down Arrow - if stuck to ceiling, hold until you fall(should be fixed)
A, Left Arrow - move left
D, Right Arrow - move right
R - Restart Level
Enter - Place Block


This Game was made in 48 hours by Peter Gottesman for the Ludum Dare Compo

Ratings

Coolness 30% 1456
Overall 2.00 989
Fun 1.60 996
Graphics 1.73 965
Innovation 2.07 931
Theme 3.33 248

Feedback

dcolgan
16. Dec 2013 · 03:23 UTC
Very interesting mechanic and good use of the theme. A little glitchy but nice work for 48 hours!
zzzev
17. Dec 2013 · 03:03 UTC
Cool mechanic, hampered a little bit by the physics. Fun stuff though and could easily add a lot more levels!
thegoofromspace
17. Dec 2013 · 03:26 UTC
Almost unplayably glitchy; I would figure out how to solve the level, then find myself unable to beat them because I would get stuck in ceilings or just have trouble moving my character, who would randomly reach extreme speeds.

That said, the puzzles were pretty good. This game can be saved!
HeroesGrave
17. Dec 2013 · 03:32 UTC
A bit too glitchy to be that playable, but the puzzles were quite well designed.
Seigeengine
17. Dec 2013 · 03:36 UTC
The mechanic was decent enough to be a good premise for a simple puzzle game.

However, the game has many problems that prevent it from being enjoyable.

The character jumps way too fast, it can take multiple tries to place the block where you want it because of how fast the character moves, and the poor choice of placing mechanic, and the character interacts weirdly with the environment.

Additionally, some of the puzzles rely less on good design, and more on exploiting the way the game works. For example, level 2. As far as I can tell, you need the block later, but at first it seems you need it at the start. You really don't, as long as you move over while you're falling, but that just feels kind of cheap.

The game has problems, but it also has positives. The concept is solid, the art is fairly pleasing, and playable game out in such short time itself is impressive.

With the wonky movement hammered out, a different way of placing the blocks, and some improvements on the level design, and this could be a reasonably satisfying game.

Also nice to see you used Java!
WojWorks
17. Dec 2013 · 03:45 UTC
Character jumps far too quickly, it seems more like a teleport to get over the fact that there isn't any real gravity and you're just moving at a constant speed downward until you hit another block. The second level is far harder than any of the other levels, and actually utilizes the glitchiness of the game to get through it, rather than mechanics that make sense.

I'm assuming this was something like a first game though, so I encourage you to keep experimenting and get better. At least you got collisions to not bug out too too terribly, that's always one of the hardest parts in a platform game.
🎤 Static_boy123
17. Dec 2013 · 14:13 UTC
Thank you all for giving feedback! I would like to just address the things that you told me.
First of all: Level 2...Horribly designed level, and I know it I would have made a new level, but I just didn't have time in the end.

Second: Collision...This is one of the reasons I didn't have enough time to fix other bugs, redesign levels, and add in actual gravity. I at one point totally rewrote it, realized it didn't work, so I rewrote it again, and realized it was what I previously had. After that I realized a tiny bug, and fixed it. The fixed collision still didn't fix the being in blocks though.

Additionally: Block Placing...I am going to be fixing this very very soon. Will be much better.

Finally: Jumping...Horrendous. I was going to implement gravity so I put in placeholder jumping, of course, I ended up not ever implementing it. I will be fixing this soon also.


Thank you all for giving me your opinion, and good luck with your games!
Custard Games
19. Dec 2013 · 08:38 UTC
It's awesome you got a game made. The movement and jumping feels awful, but the levels are cool, and it was great use of the theme.
VikingJonathan
20. Dec 2013 · 04:52 UTC
Interesting concept! The platforming feels a bit off though.
Would be awesome if the mechanics were refined and the level design expanded upon.
tobbez
23. Dec 2013 · 01:24 UTC
Lots of glitches with collision and jumping. Jumping seemed way to fast to be able to put blocks in useful places. Seems like the only way to beat most of the levels is to rely on jumpglitches.
Harsay
05. Jan 2014 · 22:15 UTC
Good use of theme. But JESUS that collisions...