Rift of Time by martinbussy

[raw]
made by martinbussy for LD24 (JAM)
Rift of Time is a game in which you and another player will take control of a Scientist and an Australopithecus. Your only hope will be to roam the corridors of a gloomy research complex in order to reach the surface.

The Australopithecus' main strength is his powerful voice, so you must have a microphone at your disposal. The Scientist uses traditional controls to trigger various mechanisms, and he'll have to use his head to progress along his companion.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.53 45
Audio(Jam) 3.35 66
Fun(Jam) 3.20 74
Graphics(Jam) 4.13 33
Humor(Jam) 2.77 82
Innovation(Jam) 3.82 16
Mood(Jam) 3.32 48
Theme(Jam) 2.94 105

Feedback

Spotline
28. Aug 2012 · 01:15 UTC
Excellent game, with a strong concept, a great audio and visual mood, and a surprisingly very high level of polish => well done !
TinyHat
28. Aug 2012 · 11:34 UTC
One of the most advanced entries I've seen so far. I really dig the microphone thing, it really works well (my gf had fun shouting in it while I was trying to beat the game :p) Congratz :)
Ragzouken
28. Aug 2012 · 11:45 UTC
Really cool idea! The microphone didn't work too well for me - I had to put it right next to my mouth and make a buzzing noise to reliably kill things :P The sound effects are great, and the graphics too :)
AdricZero
28. Aug 2012 · 12:32 UTC
Great audio and atmosphere with graphics. Don't have a microphone so couldn't get very far.
Zoomyzoom
28. Aug 2012 · 12:33 UTC
Very nice! seem very complete!
quill18
28. Aug 2012 · 12:35 UTC
No source code?

I believe that's a *requirement*, yes?
martinbussyparis
28. Aug 2012 · 12:50 UTC
Thank you all!

@ Ragzouken: The Audio Input don't work perfectly with every microphones. It depends of the signal gain and fluctuations! If I had more time, I would have made a calibration step before the player starts playing in order to set precisely the shout power according to his microphone signal.

@ quill18: No, in the Jam Rules, "Source code is not required" :)
chumez
28. Aug 2012 · 12:58 UTC
Great art, fun at first, but becomes a bit stale. Nice use of the microphone, but it's easy to cheat by simply blowing into the mic (or is it just my headset?). Anyways, nice work in such short time. On a side note, there's a bug when moving up in the elevator. If Australo is standing halfway in, the lift won't go, and the characters freeze.
quill18
28. Aug 2012 · 13:23 UTC
@martin -- Sorry, I didn't realize this was a Jam entry!
kevincorrigan
28. Aug 2012 · 14:17 UTC
Unfortunately I couldn't find my microphone:(, The graphics are nice and the audio is good, I do like the Idea of screaming into the microphone. I only wish I could find mine.
Kayelgee
28. Aug 2012 · 15:00 UTC
mircophone doesn't work for me :/
Qaterknan
28. Aug 2012 · 16:36 UTC
I had a hard time controlling both characters at one time and instant kill by zombies was a bit annoying. Also I got stuck in elevator. But I really liked the microphone idea. And graphics and audio are superb. Maybe I will give it another chance. ;)
sev_inf
28. Aug 2012 · 18:53 UTC
Awesome idea, but would be bice to have alternative control scheme for Australo. Its a bit inconvinient to play at night when your neighbours are sleeping:)
RARoadkill
28. Aug 2012 · 20:19 UTC
I think you should have another option instead of making people use a microphone. Other than that very cool game
Mach60KAS
28. Aug 2012 · 22:36 UTC
The control mechanisms were very interesting indeed! It's great to see such a unique, polished game - I think music could have made it even better though :)
BrothersT
28. Aug 2012 · 22:47 UTC
Nice game, although we couldn't really play at night with others in the house sleeping!
martinbussyparis
29. Aug 2012 · 11:37 UTC
@ chumez: "Nice use of the microphone, but it's easy to cheat by simply blowing into the mic"
--> [SPOIL] The shout power depends only on the signal amplitude (ie the volume of your voice). So, you are right, blowing works almost as well as shouting, but it is less epic![/SPOIL]

@ Qaterknan and chumez: I don't manage to reproduce the bug of the elevator, so it's difficult for me to fix it :/
When freezing (both characters?), do the feet's characters touch the ground or not?

@ Kayelgee: What do you mean by "microphone doesn't work for me"?
If your microphone makes signal in "recording devices" in Windows and if it is configured as "Default Device", it will work in the game.

@ Qaterknan: You don't have to control both characters! It's a two players game! xD
Alone, it's pretty hardcore, but some guys manage to finish the game like this ^^

@ sev_inf, RARoadkill and BrothersT: I will NOT propose an alternative digital control for Australo's shout. The team and I think that will kill the gameplay, wich will be common, and far less fun.
[SPOIL] Tip: Instead of shouting, blow! [/SPOIL]

@ Mach60KAS: We unfortunately haven't had enough time to create in-game music, but there is an ambience wich, in my point, makes the job. I'm not in favour of invasive music.
imef
29. Aug 2012 · 11:58 UTC
Couldn't get the game to work after the first cutscene...
goerp
29. Aug 2012 · 12:08 UTC
It looked great, sound effects were funny! For me controlling two characters at the same time didn't work an it was buggy and could only be stopped from the taskmanager.
martinbussyparis
29. Aug 2012 · 12:37 UTC
@ imef: What happens exactly? Is there an error message?

@ goerp: I don't understand your problems. Please be more specific. You're not allowed to close the game by clicking on its window's close button and I can't change that (Game Maker doesn't allow me to do so). To quit, use the Escape key.
raarlac
29. Aug 2012 · 15:52 UTC
Great time! the microphone thing is really funny when playing with someone
infernet89
31. Aug 2012 · 13:13 UTC
Best game played for now, but not everyone can do the microphone thing, so it's better add an alternate key for that..
SaintHeiser
31. Aug 2012 · 15:17 UTC
Can't play game because I have not any mic. But here is awesome gameplay idea! Really amazing! Nice job!
csanyk
01. Sep 2012 · 15:00 UTC
This is awesome. Great job!