The Button by Puzzlem00n
"How simple a moment it was. All that was left was for me to press the button. That was all. The work had all been done, it was just the button. And without any hesitation, I pressed it.
And that was all it took."
Guide a man through his old facilities as he experiences flashbacks of the day he ended the world.
Yup. That's him.
Featuring RPG style messages, some realistic spikes, basic platforming mechanics and a refreshing lack of goats.
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NOTE 12/18: The original version of this didn't work on slower computers. I've modified it post-compo so that it should work the same on them as it does on mine, at least enough to get through the game. I've included a copy of the original source for you to see my modifications if you want. I hope no one minds.
NOTE 12/19: Ack. The post-compo fixes for slower computers switched up some of the story. No one would have known that, though, so those who played it before today aren't too bad off.
And that was all it took."
Guide a man through his old facilities as he experiences flashbacks of the day he ended the world.
Yup. That's him.
Featuring RPG style messages, some realistic spikes, basic platforming mechanics and a refreshing lack of goats.
____________________________________________________________
NOTE 12/18: The original version of this didn't work on slower computers. I've modified it post-compo so that it should work the same on them as it does on mine, at least enough to get through the game. I've included a copy of the original source for you to see my modifications if you want. I hope no one minds.
NOTE 12/19: Ack. The post-compo fixes for slower computers switched up some of the story. No one would have known that, though, so those who played it before today aren't too bad off.
Ratings
| Coolness | 62% | 3 |
| Overall(Jam) | 2.78 | 219 |
| Audio(Jam) | 1.78 | 251 |
| Fun(Jam) | 2.41 | 246 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 2.47 | 263 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.10 | 237 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.63 | 217 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.52 | 42 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.53 | 111 |
- Walking animation (I know thats hard, but it flickers a bit)
- Tweaking the jumping (height, jumping speed, falling speed, response to pressing the keys etc.). It's a bit too slow paced.
- The "hunted by a good one" is a nice gameplay mechanic. Perhaps you should focus on this and try to program a little AI which follows the player through the level?
- Try to make save areas after entering a screen. I jumped through a screen change and landed into spikes ^^
Oh, and if either of you read this comment, note that you missed out on the right screen at the beginning (see note 12/19), but it's the same thing quoted in the description, so you get the idea. =)
-Rob
Ah, and anyone who can't figure out the boss: Don't think about pressing the button. That's not an issue. You've got to get rid of that blond goody-goody so he won't kill you as you just after you stop to press it down! (The fact that the button wasn't as important as the enemy was meant to be made more clear, but you know, near-the-end cuts.)
I saw all those X's and I kept thinking that my X key must be the button.
An elegant boss battle.
"In reality, spikes, despite what the traditional platformer will tell you, do not kill you from any other side than that of the point."
The gameplay does leave more to be wanted. It might be more compelling a game if there was more of a challenge to causing doomsday.
To sum it up:
+ unique, mysterious atmoshphere
+ interesting storytelling (leaves questions open, maybe space for a second part?)
- the spike mechanic was only really "abusable" by killing the boss, so a few more uses might have been implemented
Sum up: Great entry that stays in the head of the player for a bit. Well done!
I liked your theme decision. A villain's reflection after the end of the world sounds interesting. It reminded me a bit of the "war of the brothers" series of Dragonlance books.
* The sprites are nice, but the animation is a bit messed up - it looks that they are just twitching while walking.
* The lack of sound works to set the mood of the game, but maybe some appropriate musical score would have been a better choice? But I know how hard that is to pull off.
* The platforming part was pretty solid.
* On the last room, to make people realize that they don't need to press the button, maybe you should make the button less proeminent? Maybe a very small (2-3px) button on the top of a small pixel pedestal? Then the hero would stand out more.
Thanks for the game!
Oh, and the animation twitches more the slower the computer is. I think it all has to do with the collision.
As others have said, the movement was very floaty which means it felt a bit slow to control sometimes but they really came in handy to beat the final boss because I could float for a bit over the spikes and lead my nemesis to his doom.
The mechanics of being able to sidestep spikes was really cool! Forced me to think outside the box when trying to get past them sometimes.
Great work Puzzlem00n :3
Still, it was a very interesting take on the theme, and I felt a little inspired by it. Good going!
First off there was the fact of the graphics, the games level design consisted of either one type of block or another or just spikes. That's it, no background nothing. Just rusted blocks or chrome. Kinda bland and disappointing. Second was the game itself. There are points in the game where the blocks are placed in such a manner that the only way for me to advance was by a glitch. Not the best level design. Third was the failure of alternet endings, of course, since this follows through flashbacks, the ending will be the same. But if, just if, you miss that button, and outsmart the enemy in such a way that he falls to his death it just gives you the ending where he pushes the button, when he really did it. Can't say much more, so good job.