Polarity Countdown by Mental Atrophy

[raw]
made by Mental Atrophy for LD27 (COMPO)
Run 10secs.exe to play. Alternatively, if you have Python32 and Pygame you can just run 10secs.py (which is the source).

Controls: Left/Right arrow keys to move, Spacebar to jump.

Soundtrack: https://soundcloud.com/mentalatrophy/sets/ludum-dare-27

Technical Details:
This game was made with Python32 and the Pygame SDL libraries. I started with no pre-existing framework. Music was made in FL Studio using 3xOsc for the instruments. Sound effects, all (three, four?) of them were created with Bfxr (http://www.bfxr.net/). Graphics were made in Corel Paintshop Pro X4 because I am too cheap for Photoshop.

Personal Notes:
This is the first game I've ever "finished," and also the first time I've made a platformer so there was a bit of a learning curve. I barely finished so there's only a few levels and they are designed really poorly, barely taking advantage of the polarity shifting or switchblock puzzles. The stages just loop so, uh, quit whenever. I think I'll revisit this game later, except I'll shorten the polarity shifting to like four seconds instead of ten (or, instead of designing the stages to being timing-oriented, the polarity shifting changes the overall route to the goal). The rush to getting everything complete was a lot of fun. I didn't let it get in the way of sleeping, though.

Ratings

Coolness 63% 3
Overall 3.14 471
Audio 3.21 193
Fun 2.83 626
Graphics 3.31 313
Humor 1.95 742
Innovation 3.08 470
Mood 2.73 553
Theme 3.22 520

Feedback

TheSambassador
26. Aug 2013 · 20:41 UTC
Overall a good try, but waiting 10 seconds for the changes, at least in these levels, just ends up being a chore. It was an interesting interpretation of the theme, but in practice it didn't make for a very good gameplay mechanic.

You got the platforming contrls done very well though! Good acceleration/friction.

The "slow down" sound ended up being realllly annoying. Sounded like you were going for something like Mario, but it was just actually really annoying to hear.

Music was very well done though.
Spit Tex
26. Aug 2013 · 20:43 UTC
The concept was quiet interesting, but the level design left much to be desired,as sometimes if you were to fail at a challenge you would have to wait a while to redo it, which unfortunately breaks the flow of the game and leaves the player frustrated. Maybe adding a rewind feature would fix this problem.
ripatti
26. Aug 2013 · 21:17 UTC
Really good one! I like graphics, music and using the theme.

I stucked on level presented on screenshot. Maybe I return to it later.
Dark Acre Jack
26. Aug 2013 · 23:23 UTC
As far as the "platformers that straight-up use 10 seconds" as a mechanism, this has been by far the prettiest I've come across. A little on the tedious side, might be better if the theme was "5 seconds" instead. Congrats on your 1st entry!
Ninja
26. Aug 2013 · 23:35 UTC
I do like the phase change and puzzle aspects but at times it can be a bit slow if you miss some jumps. The music was nice and I didn't mind the sfx. The art is great!
Venturelli
26. Aug 2013 · 23:36 UTC
I really like the idea, but I feel like the 10-second theme actually undermined it. If it were a faster-paced game you could make some sick levels! As it is, the 10-second theme is dragging your game down
Mr.Greenhat
26. Aug 2013 · 23:46 UTC
Really enjoyed that! The waiting was a bit long, but you already said it yourself. The levels were very good. There was a nice learning curve in the game. I also liked the background music and the other sound effects.
tiagosr
27. Aug 2013 · 03:17 UTC
I liked the phase change, but I think that to relieve some of the hardships that one can find while playing it (apart from the phase changes taking the 10 seconds as for the theme) the coloured platforms could be made one-way, as stage 4 (I think) kinda needed some precision with the jump timing, and _a lot_ of patience to get the transition right.
Dry Tree
27. Aug 2013 · 14:27 UTC
I was going round in circles for a while on that last level :) some sort of end-game would have been nice instead of simply restarting. I really like the player sprite. Nice work
JellyMan64
27. Aug 2013 · 14:48 UTC
It's a fun game for 48 hours.
eckcz
27. Aug 2013 · 14:57 UTC
I loved the that slipping of the character and sound effect :)
Great game. Great idea. Great work.
doonay21
27. Aug 2013 · 15:59 UTC
Nice entry!
Sh1rogane
27. Aug 2013 · 16:05 UTC
Really well done! Only thing i didn't like was the "slow down" sound but the rest was very good
Reverend Speed
27. Aug 2013 · 20:27 UTC
Gahh, another game I can't play. I get the error message, "10secs.exe is not a valid Win32 application". Could this be because I'm on Windows XP?
🎤 Mental Atrophy
27. Aug 2013 · 20:29 UTC
Reverend Speed, it is a 64-bit application because of the way I "compiled" it. Sorry.
LegacyCrono
29. Aug 2013 · 01:22 UTC
The concept is good, but it takes a lot of patience to go through. I also couldn't get past the level at the screenshot, the block always falls through so I can't get it to the switch at the middle. The music is nice, I liked it, and so is the art. Nice job!
Shugor
30. Aug 2013 · 21:42 UTC
This is an interesting use of the theme. How well it works varies by level; at some points it makes the game more exciting by forcing you to make quick decisions, but at other points - especially once you learn how it works - it ends up being a waiting game. The progression of difficulty is nice, but it would be cool if other elements/mechanics could be added in later levels to mix things up. A stage select/menu screen would be a good idea as well, but I still enjoyed the game as it is~
jprogman
10. Sep 2013 · 01:24 UTC
I find one level with the three switches a bit hard to understand. The switches do work, but I couldn't figure out what blocks were switched on.

I could be too tired to think. Maybe. Heh. Very good game!