A journey of the block by TomekS | LudumData

A journey of the block by TomekS

made by TomekS for LD 41 (COMPO)

Description below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di1IJRqIRRs *The lag comes from recording [;

This game is a preludium to a one of the most popular game in the planet (Tetris). In this puzzle/adventure game your task is to assemble the blocks before they get dropped from the top of the tetris game canvas. **Controls walk - arrow keys jump - space

**Gameplay your task is to assemble the block which ends in tetris game, you have to find the right block spawner to form a shape requested, upon ending first territory the block is verified by a very restrictive system. Then you just need to pass a few more obstacles and end the round by jumping into tetris game (don't worry you don't need to play it).

**Known issues -Sometimes there is a physics bug and a block will collapse inside player (hard to reproduce and therefore fix)

**Used software - Unity 2017.3 - 3D max 2015! - Photoshop - Ableton Live 10 Trial - Ms Paint - Source Tree

**Final remarks - all sounds and music were first I have ever done so please have mercy :) - source code is game jam style, I cut a lot of corners due to time constraint, do not consider any of it's parts as a right way to code. - due to heavy post processing the web version might lag, shall this happen please try Windows or macOS version

My poor main theme can be found here https://soundcloud.com/user-952032345/a-journey-of-the-block-main-theme/s-rA3Ib

And here is the timelapse video of developing this game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOXbXiOYQxQ

Windows	https://tomeks.itch.io/a-journey-of-the-block
macOS	https://tomeks.itch.io/a-journey-of-the-block
HTML5 (web)	https://tomeks.itch.io/a-journey-of-the-block-webgl
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/a-journey-of-the-block

Ratings

Overall	130^th	3.765⭐	51🧑‍⚖️
Fun	290^th	3.367⭐	51🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	87^th	3.878⭐	51🧑‍⚖️
Theme	220^th	3.847⭐	51🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	15^th	4.408⭐	51🧑‍⚖️
Audio	120^th	3.49⭐	50🧑‍⚖️
Mood	35^th	3.894⭐	49🧑‍⚖️
Given		57🗳️	51🗨️

Feedback

22. Apr 2018 · 21:07 UTC

I really liked the graphics and the sound effects! I can't believe that this was your first time making sounds. Good job :3
I could not play test the game since there was no Mac build, I would appreciate if you can build one or I can try to play it from Unity project (:

23. Apr 2018 · 06:34 UTC

@Kusaihana Added macOSX build, enjoy.

Jackson Frankland

23. Apr 2018 · 08:41 UTC

Definitely the best game I've played so far

23. Apr 2018 · 08:45 UTC

Thanks @Jackson Frankland your comment made my day.

23. Apr 2018 · 08:45 UTC

Thanks a lot!! 🙃 @TomekS

23. Apr 2018 · 08:51 UTC

Really loved the graphics and the sounds and the overall atmosphere! I also really enjoyed figuring out the gameplay, however, I could not get past those conveyor belts.
Solid entry, really enjoyed playing it. :)

23. Apr 2018 · 08:55 UTC

@Apace the belts are easier to beat using jumping (space) so just press direction arrow and space and block will move much faster. Thanks for good comment.

23. Apr 2018 · 09:40 UTC

The game stopped responding at some point, even though the trees were still swaying in the wind, and the music played, there was no response. It was hard to gauge the height of the incoming blocks correctly. Great graphics though, with all the effects.

23. Apr 2018 · 09:48 UTC

@blubberquark thanks for the comment, estimating where exactly you need to go is actually part of the puzzle. I am sorry about the "crash", did not have enough time to fully QA.

23. Apr 2018 · 11:56 UTC

Controls are too hard to position the block correctly in my opinion, but overall very good.

23. Apr 2018 · 20:38 UTC

Wow! That graphics! That animation! That LEAVES ANIMATION! I absolutely loved it! The only problem I see is that it is frustrating to wait for matching colors at all this block spawners. At first haven't noticed that color must match. I tried to attach blocks of wrong color and for a moment I thought that the game is broken because blocks were not attaching.

23. Apr 2018 · 23:47 UTC

It's fun, but very hard, also laggy which doesn't help

24. Apr 2018 · 03:53 UTC

@Jima Thanks for review, yes I would need to write another algorithm for the blocks, pure random sometimes makes you angry :)

24. Apr 2018 · 04:42 UTC

Wow, first time doing the audio? That's awesome. Everything is really good, the graphics, the processing. I want to learn how you did it, I will check the source later, it's amazing the blur and floating things, and it's less laggy than my game that has no post processing at all.

Couldn't beat it yet (died in the "frogger" part), it took some time for me to understand what's going on, but I felt it's really creative after I got it. I didn't like much that the direction he could go wasn't the same as the one the bridges go, I needed to zigzag a bit so I don't fall (and then I got stuck with an almost complete piece doing that). But overall, really great.

24. Apr 2018 · 05:44 UTC

@sohakes Thanks for the comment, the frogger part is easier to beat using jumping. For the performance: I did not really pay too much attention into optimizing it, I enabled the mesh instancing on all materials( which did a lot of work) I still end up with few hundreds of draw calls (lots of gameobjects are scaled so no chance for batching). On the other hand I almost entirely use flat colors, so my RAM usage is moderate. Also I added time-lapse video to the bottom of the page, you can check it out to get some idea about the process.

24. Apr 2018 · 06:26 UTC

Very cool concept! Nice attention to detail, too. Plays, looks, and sounds great!

24. Apr 2018 · 11:08 UTC

Cool game! Movement is a bit wonky cause you can get stuck on weird geometry, and mashing the button constantly to get the right colour can get annoying, but everything else is top notch! Love the concept, it's super neat

24. Apr 2018 · 17:36 UTC

Wow graphics are very well done :o
Very clever concept.

Good job!

24. Apr 2018 · 22:04 UTC

Good job! The game is fun and beautiful. At first I don´t understand what I had to do, but later I understood and it made me happy.

25. Apr 2018 · 03:40 UTC

@Lazlo319 @cowa @Imanol Pina Thanks for commenting and good word <3

25. Apr 2018 · 07:00 UTC

Pretty impressive, well done. Great idea wrapped in a very nice visual style. Seems really polished too

25. Apr 2018 · 07:08 UTC

pretty laggy, needs a little more explanation on the block making stuff, i feel like the platforming is more of a timesink than a puzzle. feels very nice though c: the music was super chill too btw!

25. Apr 2018 · 07:17 UTC

Man this wind on trees are amazing. Blurry effects on sides of the screen amazing too. Stunning look. Very good entry in Ludum Dare. GG Man!

25. Apr 2018 · 07:18 UTC

The music and sounds were great! And what a fun idea, very challenging, I did a lot of jumping failed blocks off the edge. I just love the little blocks wandering around, it's very endearing.

25. Apr 2018 · 07:21 UTC

@Axe I am aware of the lag especially on the webGL build, I also provided other platforms because of that. Thanks for reviewing. @dimaswift , @Kensou , @cincodenada thank you for good word :)

25. Apr 2018 · 07:25 UTC

The visuals here are absolutely gorgeous. It took me a bit to figure out how to build a piece, but eventually got it. Well done!

25. Apr 2018 · 07:27 UTC

Overall a very chill and aestetically good-looking game. I didnt have any problems with the controls, I think they are made just right. Audio is pleasant as well. Definetely one of the better games I've seen this jam. Although kinda wish there was a bit more to the gameplay besides moving between places in order to build a shape (maybe some roaming enemy, dunno). Good job!

25. Apr 2018 · 07:31 UTC

That was quite an enjoyable experience, and the graphics are really amazing too, especially for being part of a compo entry.

I would've loved some kind of marker on the ground where the blocks spawned by the spawners are to end up, positioning for that was a bit messy.
Personally, I'm also a bit peeved with games where the movement keys don't perfectly match the camera angle, but that might just me.

25. Apr 2018 · 08:25 UTC

@Ananace Thanks for your kind review. I actually planned to fixed the camera angle as well as level itself i.e. the bridges are not aligned to player so you need to zig zag a bit. I just run out of time and therefore was not able to fix it. The lack of markers was actually intended as I thought of it as a part of element so you need to figure out where exactly you will need to go, of course when playing after I find it a bit annoying in times (especially for the top block spawner).

25. Apr 2018 · 11:11 UTC

I really enjoy the visuals of this game, clean and clear to play. Also you managed to make the full game so complicated in only 48 hours is quite impressive! Only I catch the block wrong I have to start all over is a little annoying since it takes a while haha. This is definitely one of the most complex and polished what I've encountered so far! Awesome work Tomeks.

25. Apr 2018 · 12:26 UTC

A lot of fun to figure out what exactly you're supposed to do. :) Is there any way to recover from getting a block stuck on in the wrong position other than jump off the cliff?

I didn't see what having the different colored blocks added. There is always only one color that you actually need, so it's not really affecting gameplay.

Overall though a great entry.

Slashee the Cow

25. Apr 2018 · 12:55 UTC

I'll be honest: when I first saw your game my thought was "how the **bleeeep** did they make this in two days?"

Said thought was borne out by playing it. It's a great concept, the graphics are gorgeous, the background music is whimsical and the sound effects fit perfectly.

I just have a few minor niggles (but *please* don't take these to think I don't like your game, it's quite possibly the best one I've rated so far, I'm just a world class nitpicker)
- The controls: they seem to be a bit stiff when you're on the ground, but a bit floaty while you're in the air
- The physics (I know physics are hard, so this is less "you did bad", more "you probably didn't have time to fix this one): a couple of times I got stuck on the edge of a bridge (both times it was the bottom (side closest to the camera) edge of the bridge between the bottom islands)
- Instructions: I got that I was supposed to build a block that fit the hole, but I didn't get that after that I had to jump down (until I came back to this page to look at the video), since everywhere else in the game, jumping off the ledge is a :japanese_ogre: bad idea
- Colours: it just seemed arbitrary that I had to activate the block spawners until my colour came up. Why not just let me build a block made out of multiple colours?

But as I said, please please *please* don't take those to think I didn't like it. I didn't like it - I :two_hearts: loved it.

25. Apr 2018 · 13:34 UTC

Awesome, your game seems preaty cute, and I'love the music. I play it for 30 min and its great! But as in all LD games this has little issues.

- The movement its to slow in my opinion.
- I wish you had put a reset button. I would really enjoy it :D
- Sometimes, you get bugged on islands' edges.

I criticize a bit, but I liked it :)

(One of the best i've try in this LD)

25. Apr 2018 · 13:40 UTC

@Marchmain Thanks for a nice review, At first I missed this part of losing block or reset without having to commit suicide, this what happens when you design the game as you go :) haha. Later I thought of some block remover that would require some agility etc but just simply run out of time. Same applies for block color logic, I wish I had one more day or didn't have the need to sleep haha.

25. Apr 2018 · 13:43 UTC

@Slashee the Cow thanks you so much for detailed review and good word. On the bottom of game page there is a timelapse video which pretty much demonstrates the development progress :). I agree with every single flaw you pointed out, I even had a 3d text instruction to jump down after verifying the block but removed it later because it wasn't matching imho. Cheers.

26. Apr 2018 · 11:03 UTC

The graphics are really nice and we would like to do more after building our block, as doing the same thing over and over is quickly boring. Overall a nice experience and I loved the background story :smile:

26. Apr 2018 · 11:08 UTC

Very nice entry! I really loved the art. The background music was not really my thing, but the sound effects are really nice.
I think it is a bit to hard to create the correct shape. It is so frustrating when you almost have your block and then you mess up and have to start over. Amazing entry though, good job!

26. Apr 2018 · 11:43 UTC

@NoNiMad , @AllesKapaul thanks for good word, and your time to review my game :).

26. Apr 2018 · 14:58 UTC

Super concept and very solid realization, I like the totally revisited gameplay & the overall ambiance, could be a bit more rythmed imho. Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

27. Apr 2018 · 13:08 UTC

Very unique concept. The art was amazing and the gameplay worked quite well. It was a bit hard because you needed to be very precise when building the blocks.

The style of the game made for a quite relaxing mood but sometimes that turned into frustration because of the difficulty of the game.

I encounterd a strange bug when I jumped onto a bridge and landed on the edge and was stuck and couldn't move or jump.

Overall very cool game. It felt very polished. :smiley:

27. Apr 2018 · 16:23 UTC

I have to agree with earlier commenters about that there is no reason for multiple colors. That actually confused me for quite some time. I had to read couple of the comments before I realized that I was supposed to push the button multiple times until right color. Also aiming to get the blocks in right place difficult. Maybe a mark where block would fall so player could figure how position themselves. Game is in its own simple way pretty, and your sound design and music fits it well. Being tetris related game I was hoping some traditional russian folk tunes, but that's bit too much to ask;)

28. Apr 2018 · 13:09 UTC

Game feels like AAA game to me. So atmospheric, simple and fun. Absolutely fantastic entry, 10/5

28. Apr 2018 · 17:44 UTC

@mintarcade thank you for lovely review <3

Rodrigo Denúbila

30. Apr 2018 · 03:58 UTC

This is really a great game. It was a very nice approach on the theme. The graphics are beautiful and the game is pretty challenging. Good job in this one.

Please, take a look at my game too: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/confessional

30. Apr 2018 · 04:41 UTC

@Rodrigo Denúbila thanks for nice review, I reviewed your game too <3

30. Apr 2018 · 15:55 UTC

Very nice graphics, with a music that caused me to get that "Cure" song stuck in my head. See for yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkAX-t63kqM

01. May 2018 · 07:06 UTC

@JackLeHamster Wow thanks for taking your time, after seeing someone else playing I see all the flaws of the game :) (definitely not talking about the music which was my first ever created and would take months to get better quality :)). I definitely need a checkpoint at the second part of the game so you don't have to start all over, and change the block spawn logic. The last piece for red Tblock you collected via jumping was epic :). Thanks again.

RockhopperGames

02. May 2018 · 13:51 UTC

An intriguingly frustrating platformer! You've obviously put together some interesting ideas here, and the difficulty playing into the main theme is something I appreciated. I'd add my voice to the people asking the colours to be simplified, and also adding a spot for removing incorrectly attached blocks, and making block shards not collide with the player could make the game easier. Of course, the problem there would be messing with the feel of the game. By making the blocks be such a chore to create, you have made something interesting here.

02. May 2018 · 18:45 UTC

Easily the best game I've played. It was difficult but it was good. I would suggest maybe adding checkpoints though because after making it through the first gate and dying I didn't want to do the first gate again.

03. May 2018 · 10:44 UTC

@CaldwellYSR thanks for advice and review, I didn't play test the game enough to figure out the check point is a must.