Xyloctopus by iterative deepening

[raw]
made by iterative deepening for LD27 (JAM)
Puzzle action musical game in which you discover an octopus life with a succession of 10 seconds musical partition composed and recorded by yourself. Live or die, it's simply a matter of time. But what's the value of your brothers life ?

* Gameplay explanation : Octopus isn't supposed to be slow, you must quickly tap on ctrl or alt to "run."



PS :
* There are still a few bugs that will be fixed over time.
* The game has been tested with Firefox, it's better with it but you can also try with chrome or safari for example but with sometimes loss of framerate.
* We are currently working on a controller version.

* We're French... so help us to correct English sentences.

Update :
-A new version with a new loading system is currently on testing, sometimes you have to refresh the page 2-3 times.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.14 282
Audio(Jam) 3.58 78
Fun(Jam) 2.35 503
Graphics(Jam) 4.46 28
Humor(Jam) 1.98 396
Innovation(Jam) 3.56 75
Mood(Jam) 3.48 100
Theme(Jam) 2.88 396

Feedback

oxysoft
27. Aug 2013 · 05:17 UTC
This seems like a really interesting work but the game is too complicated, I can't seem to understand it :( Graphics are astonishing though
1fir3
27. Aug 2013 · 05:52 UTC
Good idea , but so hard controller )
bitserum
27. Aug 2013 · 07:26 UTC
unresponsive octopus makes it hard to compose anything and have fun with music, but still its possible to beat the level.
graphics and audio are awesome though.
FireZenk
27. Aug 2013 · 13:33 UTC
Strange concept, but good overall. Just FYI cntrl + arrows may cause issues on OSX devices (this is used to desktop swiping)
Emilien Gorisse
27. Aug 2013 · 17:59 UTC
Great work, beautiful for both sound and graphics. The gameplay is strange, winning/losing conditions are not very clear, but I had a good time playing it. Congrats!
🎤 iterative deepening
27. Aug 2013 · 21:09 UTC
@oxysof : Sometimes the tutorial doesn't appear. To pass levels you have to record a melody (push shift) and play it (press space) when octopus is above the white squares. But your life time is counted, so you will found solution to steal 10 secondes life's to other octopuses.


Furthermore check if your browser zoom is normal (ctrl 0) else the game will be slow.
🎤 iterative deepening
27. Aug 2013 · 21:11 UTC
@FireZenk : Thank you very much for the advice, i'll make an alternative control to mac user.
gene-z
27. Aug 2013 · 21:23 UTC
Great graphics, congratulations
ObscenelyTrue
27. Aug 2013 · 21:24 UTC
Good concept.
onzephyr
27. Aug 2013 · 22:13 UTC
Great visuals , interesting concept.
flavio
27. Aug 2013 · 22:15 UTC
Great graphics !
Hard to get the concept but i liked it !
Impossible to use the ctrl key on mac because of some shortcuts for the system, but I liked even if it tooked me some time :)
AaronGordon
27. Aug 2013 · 22:20 UTC
Looks fantastic. Love the idea although i didn't really understand what to do for a long while, and the key combinations to record are hard to remember and use. Also i didn't get any sound on chrome.
KeithE.
27. Aug 2013 · 22:23 UTC
Wonderful graphics and audio. I felt a little confused about what I was actually trying to achieve. Still a very interesting idea and that is what LD is all about. Good Work!
Andrew
27. Aug 2013 · 22:24 UTC
Sounds don't play on chrome and firefox nightly(latest). The octopus seems too hard to control as well.
Anachron
27. Aug 2013 · 22:31 UTC
Nice presentation, and figuring out the concept was a good brain tease.
Lidfrid
27. Aug 2013 · 22:35 UTC
i really like the graphic in this game, it's a bit frustratin because of the protagonist movement
Vavassor
27. Aug 2013 · 22:54 UTC
Looks gorgeous and the idea is really cool. I wish the controls weren't so sluggish, but it works well enough. Great work!
CuberToy
28. Aug 2013 · 00:58 UTC
Great concept, I have a hard time making the game work (no sound for the first try). Really like it overall, a really nice game which looks and sounds great !
davisan
28. Aug 2013 · 01:30 UTC
Very beautiful. The controls are a bit complicated, but it's fine.
Monoquartz
28. Aug 2013 · 10:20 UTC
Bravo, les graphismes sont vraiment beaux et soignés! Le concept est vraiment original, j'ai beaucoup apprécié ce jeu. Je trouve juste que les contrôle du Xyloctopus sont assez complexe de part la faible vitesse et l'inertie.
Encore bravo à vous tous!
ArcturusDeluxe
28. Aug 2013 · 14:26 UTC
Bizarre concept but cool. The mechanics are a bit obscure, I had trouble figuring out what to do. Really like the presentation.
osthekake
28. Aug 2013 · 14:29 UTC
Great graphics and Audio, but the octopus moves far too slowly to hit more than one key in the 10 second period..
(Firefox for Ubuntu canoncial - 1.0 v 23.0)
It might be my computer is just too slow..
timothyolt
28. Aug 2013 · 14:29 UTC
Great graphics, amazing idea, but hard to control.
Diptoman
28. Aug 2013 · 15:09 UTC
Pretty confusing on how to win and some unclear mechanics, but the graphics and sfx are radical.
🎤 iterative deepening
28. Aug 2013 · 15:11 UTC
@osthekake : maybe the both :-)
Many player give the same feedback, so we try to fix it (for exemple, currently on my PC it's slow on chrome but fast on firefox).
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
29. Aug 2013 · 08:37 UTC
Very contemplative, congratulations!!!
Lovely, my french friends
paulmcgg
29. Aug 2013 · 14:20 UTC
I couldn't play. :( In my verions of firefox (latest: 23.0.1), chrome & opera the character moved extremely slowly at normal zoom (or at least what I presume to be slow), in IE moved fine but there was no sound. I will check back again, as I love the concept.

Like last LD, the art is simply phenomenal. So gooooood, well done. :D
🎤 iterative deepening
29. Aug 2013 · 16:24 UTC
@paul: I have try to make a new version with a kind a sound loader. I don't know if it's better.
gre
29. Aug 2013 · 20:24 UTC
Awesome graphics & audio.
good game mecanism idea which still need some polishes to be really playable. I found the controls really hard to play, too much inertia / not enough speed. Also, I barely was able to read the help message and it's the most important part.
Vaughn
30. Aug 2013 · 01:27 UTC
Interesting and complex for sure. I think the complexity of controls hurt the execution a bit; however, the audio, design and visuals are all superb. I could not figure out how to get past the third level, can you please explain what I need to do?
🎤 iterative deepening
30. Aug 2013 · 03:34 UTC
@ Thank's everyone, we currently work on an optimised version (with gamepad for chrome, and with a low framerate system), so please continue your feedback (about the slowing or the lack of sound for exemple). Thank you very much.

@Vaughn : From level 3 you must eat plankton (small tadpoles) and activate new keys by pressing enter. So you will have enough key to record a 5-song melody and more (see later).
ShitAndSon
30. Aug 2013 · 12:20 UTC
Good idea but the octopus is too slow no ?
ratalaika
30. Aug 2013 · 16:45 UTC
good job
Vaughn
30. Aug 2013 · 22:28 UTC
Thanks for the reply. I was pretty sure I tried that last time I played. I tried again today just to make sure, and now I can't even get past the first stage for some reason? For some reason, it would never count my notes towards the goal. I restarted the game, and I was able to get past it once again, and this time, I was finally able to get past level 3. So there must be some issue where it doesn't recognize notes. I'll update you and rate once I am able to complete :)
Mironix
30. Aug 2013 · 23:19 UTC
It's fun to see what webgl and html5 can do. Thank you for a cool game.
ddionisio
31. Aug 2013 · 08:03 UTC
I really love the art and the audio, really gets me in the mood! Once the objective is clear, the game is actually quite simple. But the difficulty of getting all the needed notes got really hard too quick. I got stuck at level 3.

Would be nice to be able to cancel the recording and start over.

Overall, really good game!
Vaughn
31. Aug 2013 · 16:18 UTC
Really innovative idea, unfortunately I couldn't quite finish it - there was never enough plankton that spawned on Goal 8 level. Great audio, art and design. I've already shared my thoughts on the complexity and all that. Overall, a really nice piece!
🎤 iterative deepening
31. Aug 2013 · 20:13 UTC
Thank you so much, I'll make an easy version (with 10 seconds when you catch the plankton)and I continue to correct the bugs.
jordanbloemen
31. Aug 2013 · 20:26 UTC
Visuals are top notch
Crowbeak
01. Sep 2013 · 03:52 UTC
This is an amazing idea, but the control scheme needs work. It's really hard to be mashing one button while needing to push another button with the same hand at sporadic intervals.
sP0CkEr2
01. Sep 2013 · 04:37 UTC
graphics are great but i cannot figure out what to do -- nice effort
Colapsydo
01. Sep 2013 · 07:04 UTC
Concept and art are really great, the idea of this submarine music making game is good. The interaction with plancton create some more action.
But the octopus moves are too slow, it's kind of breaking the gameplay. With some extra fluidity it could be a fun game.
Zerkruemler
01. Sep 2013 · 08:18 UTC
Graphics is really excellent, and it is nice to make your own music by playing the game, but it seems to be too difficult to be really fun for me.
wine
01. Sep 2013 · 10:15 UTC
Very beautiful and interesting adventure. Well done!
juaxix
01. Sep 2013 · 10:20 UTC
Cool concept too, how did you managed to do the ripple fx?
Martin_Monosys
01. Sep 2013 · 12:25 UTC
Cool mood and style, the game itself is a bit confusing... :)
withoutpillow
01. Sep 2013 · 16:12 UTC
looks really good and seems interesting, but it's so hard to control.
psychomonster
02. Sep 2013 · 23:46 UTC
Nice little game. Like the style. Gameplay is a is little to slow.
Antidote
03. Sep 2013 · 03:20 UTC
Don't think audio worked for me :( Controls were kinda weird, pressed ctrl like crazy but he didn't wanted to go faster
as3boyan
04. Sep 2013 · 09:16 UTC
Graphics is very good! Those effects is nice!
Almax27
05. Sep 2013 · 19:21 UTC
Really nice game, great mood. :)
paulmcgg
07. Sep 2013 · 00:59 UTC
I'm so glad I came back to play this. <3

This game is so chilling and beautiful, I love how it plays back the notes again between stages. I got stuck for a bit on the first stage with plankton, didn't realize they let you create more keys for a while. So I got to stage 10 with not a lot of time. Was I close to the end? I will probably play soon again.

I found going the whole way back to the start a bit punishing and the constant timer a bit oppressive generally, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

The movement wasn't as fast as when I played on IE originally (obviously it was a bit broken on that browser then) but much much faster than when I played initially on other browsers. Feels great now, suits the game's pace well. Balletic.

I simply love this game, possibly my favourite this jam. <3 Lovely art, concept, programming, concept & sound. Well done.
Urfoex
15. Sep 2013 · 11:17 UTC
Interesting.
Has a nice flow.