Orbicular by metalcan

[raw]
made by metalcan for LD26 (JAM)
A very minimalist game with "music fading effects" for lack of a better description (I'm really tired an in urgent need of sleep).

Phew, barely made it!

I have some regrets:
1. No time to balance levels, had to rush them.
2. I could have done so much more with the music, but had to rush it.
3. Had to start one day late, so I had very limited time.

All in all I'm happy with the result, though.

Ratings

Coolness 54% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.71 64
Audio(Jam) 4.02 20
Fun(Jam) 3.25 144
Graphics(Jam) 3.69 151
Humor(Jam) 1.58 400
Innovation(Jam) 3.17 212
Mood(Jam) 3.65 75
Theme(Jam) 4.25 18

Feedback

Jalict
29. Apr 2013 路 22:43 UTC
Really nice done. Your visual style and audio really gives a great feeling to the game. The controls kinds of feel clunky, but you just have to get used to it.
Hadyn
30. Apr 2013 路 09:45 UTC
Excellent audio and visuals, the mechanic is interesting and the variation in stages is great. What's less great is the one-hit game over. Why!? Why make me start again when I've made it all the way to 37!? Why not just set me back 5 points or something? I kind of lost interest after such a big loss.

Still, the mood is great and for the other reasons you've won my approval overall. Great job :D
bvanschooten
30. Apr 2013 路 09:52 UTC
Fantastic sound! I like the way you use a music channel for the pickup sound. Despite the simple graphics the game looks attractive. It would be nice to be able to start at any level (standard advice for any LD game).
馃帳 metalcan
30. Apr 2013 路 09:54 UTC
Thanks all! @Haydn yeah, the game is brutal like that, sorry.
Pinkerator
30. Apr 2013 路 10:21 UTC
I want such game on my iPad :) Maybe with more different music and not so minimalistic graphics that will be a hit! But as for jam-game it's already awesome ))
Entity2D
30. Apr 2013 路 10:54 UTC
Very cool, if tricky, little game. This would be great on a tablet. I also love the music and minimalism.
RobKat
30. Apr 2013 路 10:56 UTC
Great style and the audio is awesome
Exergy
30. Apr 2013 路 11:04 UTC
Beautiful and addicting. Awesome audio which really set the mood to the game.
Perfect interpretation of the Theme!
nicotuason
30. Apr 2013 路 11:05 UTC
Despite the simple graphics the animations are super smooth! Music and sounds really gives this game a calming effect
caporaltito
30. Apr 2013 路 11:10 UTC
Amazing.
Robotic
30. Apr 2013 路 11:10 UTC
Cool visuals, hitting squares is too punishing for me, since it's long to reach 0.
Conve
30. Apr 2013 路 11:15 UTC
U R an Artist! xD
Greg Power
30. Apr 2013 路 11:16 UTC
Simple, and clean. Really great game. I like your choice to count down, rather than count up. It gives the player the curiosity to continue rather than just, y'know, 'high score'.
Flai
30. Apr 2013 路 11:19 UTC
Seriously the music is awesome. Graphics are very minimalistic yet so good looking too :) The gameplay isn't *that* great, but its still pretty good! Great job!
Winterblood
30. Apr 2013 路 11:40 UTC
Elegant idea, slick execution, but painfully difficult. Needs a lighter penalty for touching squares, or less circles to collect (or a difficulty select). I also found it frustrating to have to pull in the opposite direction you want to go, because that requires you to use the area outside the game screen. Like the dynamic music and colour though!
Roan Contreras
30. Apr 2013 路 11:47 UTC
Simple gameplay and I'll say the music's relaxing... Good game :D
Spierek
30. Apr 2013 路 11:59 UTC
Great and clean art style, but like Hadyn says, it would be better if squares only detracted a certain amount of points instead of forcing you to restart.
pereubu
30. Apr 2013 路 12:11 UTC
great work on the ost :D
RealyUniqueName
30. Apr 2013 路 12:13 UTC
The gameplay and music are hypnotic, controls are smooth. What i didn't like is failing when i had ~30 orbs left :)
馃帳 metalcan
30. Apr 2013 路 12:19 UTC
Whoa, thanks for the encouraging comments you guys, again, sorry about the difficulty. Let's pretend it's supposed to be near-impossible, and dying is being reborn, or some other pretentiousness. ;)
Linus Lindberg
30. Apr 2013 路 13:12 UTC
Love the graphic and music!
Gameplay is a bit dull though ;)
bobiniki
30. Apr 2013 路 13:54 UTC
I like the music and effects. Good job really cute game.
evoker
30. Apr 2013 路 15:05 UTC
Very polished game. I found the movement mechanic quite satisfying. Great music too. I think all the elements fit the minimalism theme perfectly.
Jhelle
30. Apr 2013 路 17:14 UTC
This is a great simple concept, loving the audio in this game. Good job!
ataxkt
30. Apr 2013 路 18:47 UTC
Really smooth! The cubes can look like circles when you don't pay enough attention.
atraxgames
01. May 2013 路 08:41 UTC
Cool style and music, perfectly fits the theme.
SaintHeiser
01. May 2013 路 14:25 UTC
Wow, how it addictive!
Really like the gameplay! Nice work!
TheCze
01. May 2013 路 15:12 UTC
Nice visual style!
Grouflon
01. May 2013 路 20:13 UTC
Really nice entry. Superb visuals & audio design/integration. The overall atmosphere is very relaxing and minimalistic. Might be a great idea to dev a tablet version. Thanks for sharing.
lorancou
03. May 2013 路 14:22 UTC
Smoothly done!
Really easy to get the hang of things.
Though it's a bit harsh and discouraging to get back to 100 everythime on the first 'hit'.
euwaku
05. May 2013 路 20:22 UTC
Finally, a well polished game with so many details that make your game experience unique and deeply enjoyable. Very good work.
brxtr
06. May 2013 路 17:59 UTC
Very tasteful visual style and fitting music to go along with it. The movement mechanic did a great job of making an otherwise boring game quite fun to play around with. However, for some reason I didn't expect the squares to penalise so harshly and this put me off playing any more of the game.
Colapsydo
10. May 2013 路 08:38 UTC
This game is just genial.
The music is awesome, and the variation of the catch-sfx regarding the part of the tune create a unique atmosphere.
Concept and graphics fit the theme correctly.

It's a bit harsh to come back to 100 when hit. My best so far is 29, but I will arrive to 0, I will.
Good work.
Monxcleyr Productions
12. May 2013 路 11:44 UTC
Sometimes when respawning, you are facing straight into a wall, perhaps a check to keep you facing mostly forward. I liked the burnt rubber trails behind the cars, and how they persisted. Although sometimes chunks of burnt rubber wouldn't be draw after respawning, and it looked odd.
Monxcleyr Productions
12. May 2013 路 12:13 UTC
So ignore my above comment, I was typing into the wrong tab. :D

At first I was using the line drawn from the circle as my direction of travel, and it took me a few times to realize that is more like pulling back a slingshot. The momentum felt a but weird at times, as if I wasn't traveling as far as I felt I should. Having a couple lives would have been nice. But a visually pleasing game, with neat music. Good work.
Xanjos
12. May 2013 路 13:50 UTC
The game matches the theme really well. Loved the graphics and the ambient background music creates quite a calm and relaxing mood.
Madball
12. May 2013 路 14:03 UTC
(What) were you thinking?..
ethankennerly
12. May 2013 路 15:59 UTC
Your interactive art impressed me! Observing the difference between the white squares and white circles interested me. The adaptive loops entranced me. At 66 when the squares started to slow down and clutter the screen, I felt concerned and alert. The color fades and audio transitions influenced my mood. If you continue to develop this, each time I died at 80 and then at 55, the number reset to 100. I felt indignant! My mistake of course, yet I had lost all my progress and would have to repeat the same parts that now would not be challenging to get back to 55 where I was feeling concerned and alert. Maybe have you considered some mechanism to save partial progress, like a checkpoint or when a square touches you, it only returns you to half way between your number and 100. For example, when I intersected a square at 55, I would now be at 73; (55+100+1)/2 = 73. When I intersected a square at 80, I would now be at 90 (80+100+1)/2 = 90.
Orni
12. May 2013 路 19:09 UTC
the audio and controls are very smooth and polish - they also fit touch screen controls perfectly - so please make a mobile version :)

well done :D
mildmojo
12. May 2013 路 20:47 UTC
I made it down to 26 after 3 games. The one-hit restart was enough to keep me playing it to completion, but I don't think it's an invalid design choice. I liked that you essentially reset the game in place, putting the player back into action immediately.

Nice use of plain shapes, color, and lovely music. Very nice overall.
KEFIR
13. May 2013 路 10:30 UTC
really nice one! But squares punishment is too harsh imo :(
kill0u
13. May 2013 路 11:24 UTC
Nice. A little hard to control at first, and very frustrating to go back to 100 at every single square though =/
EggDestroyer
13. May 2013 路 19:11 UTC
Haydn read my mind. Same thoughts.
Sylvain.p
13. May 2013 路 21:09 UTC
Really nice aesthetic. Maybe petter with more move patterns for enemies and orbs.
Sylvain.p
13. May 2013 路 21:09 UTC
petter => better
Catman
14. May 2013 路 07:11 UTC
Cool game, liked the mood!!
captainkraft
15. May 2013 路 13:05 UTC
So many great things about this game. The concept and style are incredible. I especially liked the changing colours. I also thought it was cool how your collecting the orbs affected the soundtrack.

I think the game is a bit unforgiving though. I got down to 40 my first try, and was dismayed to have to start again from 100. Maybe a 3 life system would work better, or have the player "lose" orbs when they hit a square, so they have to recover. Great entry.
Puccini
19. May 2013 路 02:11 UTC
Very fun , very minimalistic, a great game :)