ONLY DUST by kato9

[raw]
made by kato9 for LD23 (JAM)
Lost in a mysterious underground cavern, Jasper searches for his crew mates and soon discovers something here is very, very wrong.

Intended this to be a main compo entry but just had too much stuff I wanted to put in. Still not 100% but I hope you enjoy!

Known issues:
-Jetpack smoke doesn't appear after first area.
-Some transitions in second half of the game don't work quite right.
-In one area you can't take damage or be killed.
-Music looping issue if you attempt to replay the game after beating it (Refresh the page instead).

Created from scratch in Flash CS5 w/ ActionScript 2.0. Graphics done in Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. Original music recorded in Pro Tools w/ my trusty MicroKorg.

*If you're REALLY stuck and have no idea where to go take a look at the world map: http://matthewdivito.com/games/onlydust/worldmap.png

Ratings

Coolness 87% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.59 44
Audio(Jam) 3.94 18
Fun(Jam) 3.10 74
Graphics(Jam) 4.09 39
Humor(Jam) 2.03 164
Innovation(Jam) 2.61 173
Mood(Jam) 4.00 6
Theme(Jam) 3.09 106

Feedback

firstrowgames
24. Apr 2012 · 03:07 UTC
Loved the art and the music!
josefnpat
24. Apr 2012 · 19:16 UTC
Aside from the awkward jetpacking, this game was amazing.

A litte more polish, and this would be a brilliant game!
Pixelulsar
24. Apr 2012 · 23:38 UTC
I liked the graphics an music, but I had trouble figuring out what you could go through and what you couldn't.
Terra
24. Apr 2012 · 23:41 UTC
Woah, that was pretty great!

I think it was the third level? The one with the hand, That really freaked me out, haha.

Controls were solid, graphics really great, and the level design was good too. I'm not sure if I completed the level with the rising acid the legit way, though. I fell through the bottom of the acid and all a sudden I was beneath it, and I completed the level with the acid above me the whole time.
Lacutis
24. Apr 2012 · 23:42 UTC
Really good entry. I'm got stuck at one point and couldn't figure out how to progress and there were some animation issues with jetpacking but everything else seems to work well.
You should continue to work on this.
Chtulhu
24. Apr 2012 · 23:44 UTC
This game is amazing. I've tried a lot of games but yours i very good. Seems that this game should be part of the top 10. Seriously.
That's a real professional job.
thatshelby
25. Apr 2012 · 01:04 UTC
Pretty neat game. I was confused as to what was accessible and what wasn't. nice graphics otherwise. jetpack only created smoke in the first room. i would have liked more sounds.
eburn184
25. Apr 2012 · 01:06 UTC
Great graphics and sound! This game has a great ambience and could really benefit with a bit more time put into it
derrickdool
25. Apr 2012 · 01:26 UTC
Really liked the art style, and overlay filter used here. Great job on the audio track as well.
fprawn
25. Apr 2012 · 04:14 UTC
This is my favorite of the games I've played so far. The level design really stands out.
daredevildave
25. Apr 2012 · 11:30 UTC
Nice, I really liked it.

Not sure why I was collecting flower oil as I never ran out of juice and there was no indicator.

Some mild confusion when before I realised there were 'hidden' passages through the background, and more mild confusion when until I noticed that plants move when the acid hits them.

Overall, great though.
31eee384
26. Apr 2012 · 02:43 UTC
Wow. Incredible graphics, music, story. Level design easily makes up for the simple gameplay. Awesome.
jerombd
26. Apr 2012 · 12:43 UTC
Nice atmosphere: the sad music and the desolated areas adds to the (solid) story ;)
PabloAM
26. Apr 2012 · 19:17 UTC
Good graphics, good mechanics and music!
I like it! :)

Just the smoke it´s not showed after the first "scene" and if you play a second time the music overlaps.

Good job!
PabloAM
26. Apr 2012 · 19:17 UTC
Good graphics, good mechanics and music!
I like it! :)

Just the smoke it´s not showed after the first "scene" and if you play a second time the music overlaps.

Good job!
bitbof
26. Apr 2012 · 19:49 UTC
I wish the music loop was a bit longer, cause I like it quite a bit :)
Cake&Code
26. Apr 2012 · 20:11 UTC
I loved the art direction for this game. As the more art-oriented half of my team, I thought this had an amazing atmosphere and the pop or orange against the dull setting was perfect. My only beef was that it's hard to tell where you can and can't go. A visual indicator would be great for that. Jet pack didn't work past the first room too. Great sounds though!
derosa
26. Apr 2012 · 21:29 UTC
Nice one. I didn't even notice that the smoke trail was not showing after the first scene, so I guess I was really immersed into the story :)
kroltan
26. Apr 2012 · 21:52 UTC
Nice game! But it was hard to know what was passable and what wasn't.
bompo
26. Apr 2012 · 22:25 UTC
Jetpacking should have a different animation. But very nice art style!
Daniel
27. Apr 2012 · 01:37 UTC
Great story!
Oye Beto
27. Apr 2012 · 01:57 UTC
- Graphics are cool, it has a dream-like vibe.
- Music is weird but in an enigmatic way.
- I didn't like blindly walking through the walls, maybe you could add a small range of vision around the character.
Fireblend
27. Apr 2012 · 03:38 UTC
Very nice! Loved the art direction and I thought every bit of the game was really a good fit with every other part; really cohesive concept. Nicely done!
alexlarioza
27. Apr 2012 · 04:19 UTC
I actually enjoyed the awkward jet packing. =D It gave me a good laugh in the first area.
brackeen
27. Apr 2012 · 22:39 UTC
Loved it.
Square Particle
28. Apr 2012 · 01:19 UTC
Very creative and fun. The hidden maze made it a bit hard and scary when the acid was coming!
chambers
28. Apr 2012 · 05:40 UTC
The story was quite good and surprising, and graphics are awesome. Even though I loved the music, in some parts of the game I felt it didn't fit the mood very well (example: when the acid is rising)

Nice game! I didn't mind having to find out which parts of the stage were passable and which weren't. In my opinion that was part of the fun =P
oddgoo
29. Apr 2012 · 04:16 UTC
Nice and engaging =). Cool premise and scenery.

When the acid starts rising, I don't suppose this was the intended outcome? http://i.imgur.com/HKJGp.png
Ranoka
29. Apr 2012 · 13:45 UTC
Love the graphic style of the art, but the animation was a little rigid. The jetpack looked more like walking through the air. Interesting narrative, was quite easy but interesting enough to play all the way through. Was hard to tell what were walls and what were passages at time. I loved the music! Good job!
Mesene
01. May 2012 · 20:07 UTC
loved the Mood, good job sir :)
azurenimbus
05. May 2012 · 01:12 UTC
Beautiful, atmospheric, haunting. I feel it's definitely in an unfinished state, with a couple of weird things, especially transitioning between "screens", sometimes you get stuck for no reason as it fades out, little things like that that can detract from the experience. In general, though, great job, played all the way to the end.

I liked the story, and I liked the slow progression of it, as you meet character by character without taking too much time from the gameplay. I felt it was a nice touch that they were all basically looking the same, because of the suits. If you could put a little bit of work to make the text a little more serious and somber, it would help enormously with the mood (just to make it even better), especially the doctor at the end.

Another suggestion was to put in a little bit of diversity, maybe just one different challenge before you power up the ship. Something that feels like a boss, but not necessarily so. That would be cool, and add a nice climax.

All of these are simple suggestions because I'd love to see this game a little more polished, I really enjoyed it. Great job!