Abandoned by Noel

[raw]
made by Noel for LD22 (COMPO)
You're alone on a space station. An Abandoned space station. With no where to go.

Use the Arrow Keys + X to play.
(Or alternatively WASD + IJKL)

UPDATE 1: Uploaded a new source, with cleaned up and properly commented code.

Ratings

Coolness 46% 262
Overall 4.16 2
Audio 3.00 118
Community 3.18 100
Fun 3.89 3
Graphics 4.26 7
Humor 2.03 263
Innovation 4.13 12
Mood 3.47 57
Theme 3.46 101

Feedback

WITS
18. Dec 2011 路 23:18 UTC
Amazing as always Noel!
Jesse Freeman
18. Dec 2011 路 23:21 UTC
This was amazing... great job!
IQpierce
18. Dec 2011 路 23:21 UTC
I was really impressed by this, especially for a 48-hour project from a young developer! You're really talented, great job with this game!
Ian Morrison
19. Dec 2011 路 05:04 UTC
Really impressed by the level of polish! Getting stuck behind boxes was annoying, but otherwise a good puzzle game. With some additional mechanics to play with (like, for example, objects which fall downwards without having to be towed) it could get quite involved. I was also really impressed with how finished this game felt... my own feels hacked together by comparison!
馃帳 Noel
19. Dec 2011 路 05:56 UTC
Thanks guys! I appreciate all the feedback and comments :)

Definitely agree it could use some more mechanics to make it interesting. I plan to continue work with this game, so I'll definitely be adding more than just the crates/lasers later on.
mooosh
19. Dec 2011 路 06:26 UTC
still awesome!
devwil
19. Dec 2011 路 06:36 UTC
i was about to write an anti-level design rant (and still may) after playing a number of other LD48 entries, and then i play this game and its greatest strength is satisfying level design.

the story/connection to the theme was kind of unsatisfying to me, though. =\ not saying it wasn't there, but the game just didn't make me feel 'alone' or even 'abandoned'.
austinbreed
19. Dec 2011 路 07:35 UTC
This game looks great! I don't think it did much to honor the theme, however.
cjke.7777
19. Dec 2011 路 08:21 UTC
Great stuff mate!
xilefian
19. Dec 2011 路 14:45 UTC
Brilliant, however it was rather dull near the end, nothing really changed it was same-styled puzzled. Got a bit confusing with the amount of screen turnings that occurred.
TaintedFork
19. Dec 2011 路 15:46 UTC
This is great! It's all very smooth and things seem to work really well. There were some cases where I would get trapped, and a reset button would have helped.
Jeremias
19. Dec 2011 路 17:55 UTC
Was fun to play. Good job!
Rolpege
19. Dec 2011 路 20:10 UTC
Gameplay is kinda fun and original, puzzles are challenging, art is awesome and really lovely + cute.

Sfx were ok... they did the job basically! :) - but no music. This would have also helped setting the right mood. Really, just one simple, sad loop would have improved the experience a lot (although I cheated a bit playing adequate music of mine on background haha :P)

Overall, neat experience, specially considering Ludum Dare conditions - also, fantastic polishing! :)
binary_girl
19. Dec 2011 路 21:24 UTC
really liked this.. good sfx/sound :)
Daniel X. Moore
19. Dec 2011 路 21:31 UTC
Great job. I look forward to seeing more levels and puzzles.
ASTERISCUS
20. Dec 2011 路 00:21 UTC
Fantastic! Even Metal Storm and VVVVVV didn't think to bring grappling hooks into the mix. This one's a strong contender in a few categories!
Matt Rix
20. Dec 2011 路 02:00 UTC
Great game Noel! Love the art, love the feel of the game and the mechanics. Once I got the feel of the grappling hooks, it felt really good. Smart puzzles too, lots of potential here.
Randomasta
20. Dec 2011 路 05:35 UTC
Very impressive for a 48 hours of work!
keenblaze
20. Dec 2011 路 10:31 UTC
Great idea!
Dark Acre Jack
20. Dec 2011 路 14:14 UTC
Nice pixels.
wgemigh
20. Dec 2011 路 14:31 UTC
A good game, especially given the time constraints. The art is great. I especially love the guys floating in tanks in the background. I found the controls really frustrating until I figured out that you grapple in whichever direction you last pressed (I might have missed a screen) and that grappling while holding a crate throws it forward (I kept expecting to grapple out from under it, dropping it).
iansnyder
20. Dec 2011 路 22:58 UTC
Incredible! For a 48 hour game I really can't give any serious crits :D
ladron
21. Dec 2011 路 02:10 UTC
Great game mechanic, solidly implemented. Really good.
ncannasse
21. Dec 2011 路 11:23 UTC
Enjoyed it a lot, but got stuck into a wall at some point (because of two blocks one on my left and the other on my top). Couldn't get out. Still very nice
馃帳 Noel
21. Dec 2011 路 19:58 UTC
Thanks for the feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism everyone!

@Wgemigh: I definitely think the controls need to be a bit more obvious for sure. In my eventual post-ludum dare version, I'll work on that. I'm not sure how to make them more obvious, but maybe explaining them in-game a bit better would help.

@ncannasse:
Hmm, looking through my code I realize why that happens, and I've fixed it now (not in the Ludum Dare version though). Thanks!

I think I'll also add a restart button in strange situations like this, in case someone ever gets stuck again.

Cheers!
Gib
22. Dec 2011 路 13:07 UTC
This game is sweeeeeeeet. Sexy concept.
Shigor
22. Dec 2011 路 14:34 UTC
One of the best entries so far, congratulation.
Jonathan Whiting
22. Dec 2011 路 18:07 UTC
Generally very strong entry. Good mechanic, nice art, pretty polished. Controls are quite a way from intuitive (first time I played I didn't realise I could shoot grapple upwards).

After the initial ah-ha of the core mechanic there wasn't much else compelling going on for the rest of the game. It was just more of the same.
volando
22. Dec 2011 路 19:01 UTC
Brilliant. 脺ber alles. 10/10
iFred_QC
23. Dec 2011 路 00:48 UTC
5 stars if this was longer!
Th3dz
23. Dec 2011 路 07:37 UTC
Great game. Creative and fun. I wanted to play more levels!
SonnyBone
23. Dec 2011 路 10:29 UTC
Great core mechanic. Got tiring after a while. Good puzzles... totally crazy that this was in 48 hours. Good job!
Ishisoft
23. Dec 2011 路 11:43 UTC
Brilliant stuff, really enjoyable bit of puzzling. A bit of music would have been nice but obviously 48 hours is a tough timeframe.
JoeCool
23. Dec 2011 路 15:19 UTC
Best entry so far. Absolutely brilliant. 5/5
brenthamel
24. Dec 2011 路 09:35 UTC
Very fun!!
davidwparker
24. Dec 2011 路 18:00 UTC
Great game. I found a bug dealing with shooting up and suddenly floating where there is no platform, but other than that it was fantastic.
Cosr
24. Dec 2011 路 23:54 UTC
Great game. The grappling hook, with changing gravity, is a nice mechanic. Just the orientation and pulling blocks wouldn't really be enough to take the game farther, I don't think, but it's very solid for such a short game.

I think just adding some animation to the player, where he aims up, might be enough to make it clear to the player that they can shoot upward. Adding visual cues like that might be a better way to show the player's capabilities than more tutorial text.
galman
29. Dec 2011 路 18:29 UTC
Very puzzling game ! I like the idea very much!
Good Work!
angrygeometry
30. Dec 2011 路 04:46 UTC
made me a little dizzy but very polished and a cool little game!
Felipe Budinich
01. Jan 2012 路 18:22 UTC
Best game I've tried so far, congrats!
DrPetter
02. Jan 2012 路 01:04 UTC
Love this. You nailed the player animation. Puzzles are perfect, as they're not too hard but still make the player feel clever for solving them. Everything is smooth and beautiful. Desolate music could have raised it all a notch, but I'm not complaining. Inappropriate music would have been worse than nothing in this case.
DDRKirby(ISQ)
08. Jan 2012 路 09:05 UTC
Great job! Having tried my hand at a 2D platform puzzler myself, I have newfound appreciation for good design such as this. My only complaint (besides the short scope/lack of additional mechanics, which is understandable given the time constraint) is that i would have liked to see the end exit goal differentiated a little bit more from the rest of the background elements.
Js5schnitz
08. Jan 2012 路 10:14 UTC
Great Job! Wonderful! I'm still going back and playing this after its release here!
Make A Game
09. Jan 2012 路 01:15 UTC
Another game that I played before the voting was enabled and completely forgot to return to... I really loved this game, though the difficulty jump to the last room was to steep.
I'm commenting in regards to the version you initially submitted, because I noticed that you added more levels after the submission window.
馃帳 Noel
09. Jan 2012 路 22:55 UTC
@Make A game:
Actually, no. I have not submitted a new version since the submission deadline. I had several versions floating around the internet though, which you may have gotten instead of the most up-to-date one.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm taking all the suggestions and constructive criticism and putting them into the new version that I'm working on :)
court-jus
10. Jan 2012 路 08:33 UTC
That's a great game concept, nicely realized. Bravo !
SkullSoft
17. Jan 2012 路 01:32 UTC
Makes me dizzy! Pretty cool core mechanic; amazing that you made that many puzzles on top of the game engine in 48 hours!

PS You can throw crates forward?? I played the whole game without figuring that out!
Majonaise
29. Jun 2012 路 05:33 UTC
Love it. Really tight, satisfying little piece.