Enliven by Patacorow

[raw]
made by Patacorow for LD34 (JAM)
Unfinished game about planting seeds in a forest.

Controls:
Arrow Keys - Move
Z - Jump / Accept
X - Menu / Cancel
R - Restart

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 4.31 9
Audio(Jam) 4.06 53
Fun(Jam) 4.07 26
Graphics(Jam) 4.60 34
Humor(Jam) 2.92 354
Innovation(Jam) 4.06 35
Mood(Jam) 4.03 68
Theme(Jam) 4.29 57

Feedback

grama
14. Dec 2015 · 23:30 UTC
great game. lovely art and mood. congrats!
teamross
14. Dec 2015 · 23:37 UTC
Really good game!
I like the concept using the seeds as helpers to reach some places.
Cool art, controls and mechanics. sooo good : )
tgrehawi
14. Dec 2015 · 23:40 UTC
Beautiful game. I love the sprites and animations, and the sound effects fit very well. I urge you to add more levels post-jam, this already amazing game could be even better!
NirabazGAMES
14. Dec 2015 · 23:42 UTC
Very nice game, I like speed and dynamic of gameplay, but I often confused in controls, too many buttons.
crafteverywhere
14. Dec 2015 · 23:45 UTC
My favorite entry so far. Look forward to try the post-jam version. Congrats!
Luke
14. Dec 2015 · 23:47 UTC
Fantastic game! Really love the gameplay mechanics.
YinYin
14. Dec 2015 · 23:52 UTC
If you had just realized this a tiny bit earlier and started to wrap up what you had. A little intro and ending would've done the trick. Level amount and mechanics were all juicy enough - even if you had to perhaps cut one level/mechanic.

Overall it looks, sounds, plays and feels good enough to me. Lots of stars shall rain either way.

The only thing I would wish for in a final version would be short hops (jump low for a tap, normal height for a hold) as well as respawning seeds instead of being forced into a level reset.
SineGlitch
14. Dec 2015 · 23:54 UTC
Love the mechanics! Cute artwork but I couldn't get any audio. Overall a very solid game!
Galvesmash
15. Dec 2015 · 00:01 UTC
Really really good game! Every aspect of the game is 5 stars!
batmanasb
15. Dec 2015 · 01:16 UTC
Wait why does going to far right reset the level?! The beanstalk growing is a little too quick, so many restarts because I missed by 1 tile!
Peekotus
15. Dec 2015 · 01:32 UTC
The fall sound is pretty repetitive but otherwise the game is great!
oxysoft
15. Dec 2015 · 02:00 UTC
very peaceful game, makes me feel serene. graphics reminded me of Mother 3, very colorful and simple. could have been a very solid entry if you had started in time!

also I found a secret lonebot!!! http://i.imgur.com/DOwa3xF.png
NirabazGAMES
15. Dec 2015 · 02:09 UTC
Great potential!
LandoSystems
15. Dec 2015 · 05:16 UTC
Great work, its a lovely art style with great animation. Absolutely solid platformer execution; the controls feel good and responsive, jumping and landing are satisfying, nice non-intrusive tutorial elements, rich sound effects and a very fitting soundtrack. Amazing job!
Caspila
15. Dec 2015 · 05:22 UTC
That was incredible. Great work on every aspect of the game. It's an impressive feat for a game jam. Great use of the theme. 10/10 certainly.
timeshapers
15. Dec 2015 · 05:24 UTC
One of the best entries. Love the mechanics, the art, the music.
However, I'm sad to say the third level frustrated me to the point of quitting.
I couldn't get the second beanstalk to grow in a way I could go up it.
I really would have prefered a plant that grows straight up and places leaves sideways in climbable distances, or that the beanstalk will pause in a position where you could reach it if you grew it sideways.
If you fix it, I would love to give this another go.
wilsk
15. Dec 2015 · 07:47 UTC
An interesting and pretty platformer.
ianh
15. Dec 2015 · 09:14 UTC
Absolutely beautiful graphics. I'm blown away! The camera is a little fidgety: if you move and then stop it jerks back and forth.
Pixel-boy
15. Dec 2015 · 11:10 UTC
Really great game ! love the mechanics also music and art are nice
Drauthius
15. Dec 2015 · 11:32 UTC
Really cute game. The thud when landing was annoying though.
TeamEagle
15. Dec 2015 · 12:22 UTC
nice, I would've liked to play more but the jerking camera gave me an headache. If you do a post jam where you just center the camera or do more subtle easing I'll be back to finish it. Other than that still a great game! (From what I've seen :))
Webravenz
15. Dec 2015 · 12:43 UTC
Amazing game, well done !
love the animations and gameplay
CustomPhase
15. Dec 2015 · 14:22 UTC
Amazing game. Not many complaints about this one. Tight innovative mechanics, great artstyle, fitting music. One slight thing that i dont like is the landing sound - its way to bassy, way too loud, way too annoying to hear it all the time.
Leuthil
15. Dec 2015 · 16:36 UTC
Wow there's so much to love about this entry. Charming graphics, innovative gameplay and mechanics, nice soundtrack. Shame it ended where it did. Love the addition of the sandbox mode at the end though. Top notch entry!
Berserker_Chris
15. Dec 2015 · 17:48 UTC
Great Game.
crucknuk
15. Dec 2015 · 18:24 UTC
Pretty cool ! Very nice concept !
local306
15. Dec 2015 · 18:31 UTC
I got confused by the controls probably far more than I should've. I found myself accidentally planting multiple plants instead of jumping :(
Tipyx
15. Dec 2015 · 19:23 UTC
So cool *o*. Very cute (the jump of the character <3) and relaxing :)
hiki911
15. Dec 2015 · 21:22 UTC
like this game, want some more and on Steam =)
Chubb1337
15. Dec 2015 · 22:18 UTC
Very splendid game! Had a lot of fun, too bad it was so sort, haha, would have enjoyed more of it!

The art, graphics and mood (music and colour choice) really fit well together, great job!
sergicollado
15. Dec 2015 · 23:10 UTC
the best I played in this LD34.
Thanks for your game!
SaintHeiser
16. Dec 2015 · 01:14 UTC
Wow! This is fantadtic game!
Like the graphics and audio in this game. Game mechanic looks very cool level design useing it with interesting puzzles. Nice job, man!
Elemental Zeal Games Studios
16. Dec 2015 · 01:52 UTC
Very solid entry, great job. :)
Evergreen Games
16. Dec 2015 · 05:40 UTC
Wow really awesome! Sad its unfinished :(
LxStudio
16. Dec 2015 · 11:16 UTC
Very well done. Nice mechanics and fun to play.
ncannasse
16. Dec 2015 · 12:39 UTC
Great, too bad there was not more levels
Rfdshir
16. Dec 2015 · 12:39 UTC
Very nice game with meditative gameplay. I just think controls is a little bit tricky. May be it will be better to use z to grow and x to jump.
GoodwolfStudio
16. Dec 2015 · 14:06 UTC
I like it. Very good art style and smooth animations. My only gripe is the jump behaviour, because it's not executed sometimes which causes me falling down pits when I wanted to jump but the character didn't...
VladRusu
16. Dec 2015 · 14:53 UTC
Old school, amazing art, care for details, fun..everything! Congrats peeps!
Tapehead
16. Dec 2015 · 18:29 UTC
this is a fantastic game! realy cool idea. WOW!
newbeings
16. Dec 2015 · 19:59 UTC
Such a great job! Worth continuing for sure.

I'd love to be able to cancel growing if i realize i've done the wrong thing. I know the short levels kind of achieves this, but it'd be nice to have a way to restart a seed if i know its going wrong (especially for the platform and tunnel seeds).
DonEngland
16. Dec 2015 · 20:37 UTC
Fun, looks great. Just wish controlling the bean stalk was a bit easier? Slower? That the tiles were more obvious maybe? Maybe if you could land on the leaves it would avoid the off by one tile reset the level issue. Excellent concept.
Dayko
16. Dec 2015 · 21:19 UTC
Amazingly well-finished game with clever ideas, congrats !!
LeafThief
17. Dec 2015 · 08:57 UTC
Love the game <3
Lullaby
17. Dec 2015 · 10:40 UTC
This is so well polished, really really great, love the audio too, perfect job =)
Oddly Shaped Pixels
17. Dec 2015 · 15:46 UTC
Great entry, nice graphics and good mechanics.
The only part that bothers me is to have to reset the level if you do something wrong. It cuts the gameflow a lot.
Maybe if the player could rollback what he does or if the level design was a bit more adapted (climbing on the green growing beens instead of jumping on it a la Plant Cat), it could help.

Great entry anyway!
Husky
18. Dec 2015 · 08:28 UTC
Nice polished platformer!
There's so many details in the character animation.
Riftpoint
18. Dec 2015 · 17:21 UTC
Great game. I really enjoyed playing it.
wine
18. Dec 2015 · 20:47 UTC
Love it! Good idea, nice platforming, cute character :)
Very well done!
VersatileBox
18. Dec 2015 · 21:45 UTC
So cute! 5/5
PieChronicles
18. Dec 2015 · 22:43 UTC
this is a very well polished game, well done! the animation was lovely and i really enjoyed the mechanics.
i did find the camera movement a little jarring.
ssodelta
18. Dec 2015 · 23:02 UTC
It's amasing that you made that much with a day less ! Really a awesome game !
jsmars
18. Dec 2015 · 23:17 UTC
Great oldschool platformer, nice work and great seed mechanics :)
BoxedMeatRevolution
19. Dec 2015 · 02:08 UTC
I would have continued playing. The game has great atmosphere, and I bet the mechanics would have led to some really cool puzzles if you guys had had the time.

Though, if the game and puzzles got harder, I can imagine being annoyed by having to restart every-time a mistake was made... Maybe some kind of undo mechanic would have been nice?

Overall very polished, and good clean fun. Great entry -- I'll rate it highly.
publicidadeba
19. Dec 2015 · 02:28 UTC
One of the best entries that I have seem so far. I really dig the mechanics. Well done
TheMeorch
19. Dec 2015 · 05:07 UTC
Just super impressive work. Beautiful art, beautiful music, and an impressive bunch of mechanics. I only wish the beanstalk moved more slowly. Amazing all around!
Jwatt
19. Dec 2015 · 16:07 UTC
I wonder what kind of unrealistic expectations you had if you call this "unfinished", it's an order of magnitude more finished than most entries. This actually utilizes the mechanics pretty thoroughly, and as a package stands out from the average game. Real good job all around.
LeReveur
20. Dec 2015 · 05:36 UTC
Unfinished do not mean unintersting. Great "unfinished" game, I wish to unfinish games like you do ! XD
Wayward
20. Dec 2015 · 10:58 UTC
Really enjoyed playing it!

Next time consider that not everyone has a qwerty keyboard, i have a qwertz keyboard, making my fingers hurt because y and z are swapped, would have been nice if y would do the same as z.

Also tried with the tunnel seed if the portal "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out" thing applies, if you will be working on it after jam consider adding this, i can imagine some awesome puzzles with it!
Tselmek
20. Dec 2015 · 11:14 UTC
Really good job on finding those unique mechanics, it feels great playing the game. Nice soothing atmosphere as well.
managore
20. Dec 2015 · 12:21 UTC
absolutely fantastic game! I wish there was even more of it!
Gunzil
20. Dec 2015 · 22:10 UTC
Cute puzzle game about planting seeds to progress. Love the art style. All the plant types had interesting uses. I found the pipe flower to be the most interesting.
mike.cullingham
21. Dec 2015 · 04:46 UTC
Really frustrating to have to restart the level when you grow a platform just a little too high for my jump range. But I like what you're trying to do here with the theme. Nice job.
inbetweengames
21. Dec 2015 · 07:28 UTC
Cute plant growing!
karlipoppins
21. Dec 2015 · 08:49 UTC
Best game I've played so far in this LD. Every single detail was top notch. I'm blown away! Perfect score.
scorched
21. Dec 2015 · 16:14 UTC
Good, if only the game was less trial-and-error (especially not very clear where one can plant seeds), and more puzzle... :-)
ztiromoritz
21. Dec 2015 · 20:24 UTC
Charming.
spotco
22. Dec 2015 · 00:55 UTC
Lovely, super polished.
Do wish I didn't have to restart when messing up.
lurils
22. Dec 2015 · 01:17 UTC
really nice hope to see a full polished version one day
Skywilly
22. Dec 2015 · 16:50 UTC
A fantastic little game. On of my favorites !
Imagos Softworks
23. Dec 2015 · 00:39 UTC
Beautiful game especially knowing that it was started a day late. The various seed types and levels added a lot to the game and kept me playing until the end. Solid game!
gokottastudio
23. Dec 2015 · 21:47 UTC
Fantastic game!
Tamiks
25. Dec 2015 · 01:56 UTC
Hey Larry, I don't know if you'd be interested, (or if anyone reading this is) but I speed-ran Enliven in 1:28.069. If you'd like, try beating my time.

Here are some tips:

-In level one, skip the first two and last leaf sprout, also at the end were you use the flower to boost yourself up, jump immediately after planting it. (The game spawns a static, invisible platform before the sprouting animation is over)

- In level two, pretty much play as normal, but try falling closer to the end of the level. The loading zone is actually slightly taller than the log, so you can land on top of it.

-In level three, after acquiring the first seed, build stairs until you reach the second seed, then start to build a ladder. (It's okay if you make a step un-climbable) Now jump to the second platform, second seed in hand, and plant it. At this point, if you created any un-climbable step in the ladder, intersect the current vine with the old one at the step in question, and finish the ladder.

-In the third level, blow up the first barrier, and then run to the red seed. This next part is important, do NOT pick up the flower, it will only slow you down. To avoid it, stand on the very right of the stump, and jump up and as far right as possible. Now jump to the platform with the second barrier and plant the seed. Make one relatively small step, and then go up and above the barrier to the right. Connect with the bomb platform, and finish the stage as normal.

-And for the last level, the only real trick is that when you pick up the first portal plant, just hold the right button.

If you read all that cutos to you, and I hope you find some cool glitches/exploits.
gkxd
26. Dec 2015 · 19:19 UTC
Really nice game! I enjoyed the graphics and sound.

The camera movement was a bit weird. Also, when I tried to put a seed down with the X key in a bad place, a white "X" popped up, which was confusing at first. I thought I had to keep pressing X.
EvanEGibbs
28. Dec 2015 · 08:44 UTC
What a special game. First off the art and sound are really nice and pleasant, it's a world that I want to be in. The game mechanics are so clever! The effects of the seeds are incredibly clever and cause for some great puzzles. I also love the way the game controls. There is so much potential with this idea and I would love to see a full game made. This is so impressive, especially since you guys started a day late! I am so impressed. Amazing job! :D
euske
29. Dec 2015 · 14:19 UTC
The level design feels rushed indeed, but all the contents are there and it's pretty solid. Superb graphics and audio too. Well done.
Gordy
29. Dec 2015 · 15:13 UTC
Very very good jub ! ;) Nice grabics and music all is good ;)
ragnta
29. Dec 2015 · 15:15 UTC
Finally I found it. :) I didn't find it since end of Ludum Dare Jam.
Nice Job!
Stending
29. Dec 2015 · 15:55 UTC
You got a perfect score from me ._.
Amazing ._.
knason
29. Dec 2015 · 18:51 UTC
Oh I played this for a long time, I loved it! great game! well done!
kmakai
29. Dec 2015 · 19:51 UTC
Wow, this is an awesome entry! Even if it is considered "incomplete" I think it does a great job introducing the mechanics and providing some interesting puzzles to solve. I would definitely play more levels of this.

My only critique of the gameplay is that I wish that the "bridge" plant would grow slightly slower, or perhaps that the jump was just slightly higher -- I found myself creating steps for the bridge that were just slightly too high to jump onto, and needing to reset a couple of times due to this.

Overall an awesome job, I quite like the art/animation and the music. Congrats!
Aurel Bílý
29. Dec 2015 · 20:35 UTC
Very nice! Even though you started late, it's quite a well polished game :) Took me a second to understand the 'make platforms' seed, but figuring it out was part of the fun.
Miziziziz
30. Dec 2015 · 02:23 UTC
Great, very polished entry!
very lovely little platformer, the only downside is the lack of being able to undo beanstalk planting. Also took me forever to figure out how beanstalks worked in the first place
SecondDimension
30. Dec 2015 · 15:59 UTC
This was great, the introduction of the various plants worked really well for me and I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of it. The graphics were nice and all the platforming worked well, great entry!
gallerdude
02. Jan 2016 · 17:29 UTC
That was absolutely beautiful. The soundtrack was AMAZING. The levels were awesome, and the mechanics were great. One of the top 3 entries I've played as of yet.
Madball
02. Jan 2016 · 17:41 UTC
I remember you talking about the lack of levels. Well, I didn't notice it at all. The only thing missing is a little tutorial for each seed.

Well... Great game. And very creative, too. Just beautiful.
HacksawUnit
02. Jan 2016 · 21:22 UTC
I love the world you've built: the art and music all feel very alive.
randomhuman
03. Jan 2016 · 00:19 UTC
Great game, I want to play more.
dvdfu
03. Jan 2016 · 01:07 UTC
Fantastic game mechanics, super polished as well! Just about as great as a game jam game could be - I only wish it were longer!
Silvio
03. Jan 2016 · 01:42 UTC
are you kidding me..
unbelievably good game
Doctor_N
03. Jan 2016 · 03:02 UTC
So fun absolutely loved this
Muel
03. Jan 2016 · 03:33 UTC
And you say "unfinished"?

I mean, maybe you just didn't had time to make more levels, but the game core's is there.

It's a fantastic job and one of the best I've seen here.
Didi
03. Jan 2016 · 13:08 UTC
Very good game! Art sound and ideia of functional growing plants to complete puzzles. Awesome. Nice work.
Nega Drive
03. Jan 2016 · 15:48 UTC
Awesome work. Cool mechanics going on here. Nice pixel art too!
Mach60KAS
03. Jan 2016 · 15:56 UTC
Very inventive puzzle platformer. It took me a little while to figure out that you could control the vine plant, and aside from accidentally making the vines too tall most of the mechanics were good fun to use. It's quite easy to jump out of the level in the last area though using the starting flower, which was a little frustrating but not too bad.

I loved your art style and I felt the music added quite a lot to the game, although some of the sound effects were a little loud/bassy. I like your animations, they add quite a lot to the game's cutesy feel!

Overall a very polished entry, great job! :)
klianc09
03. Jan 2016 · 18:14 UTC
Just incredible artwork/animations, and the overall sound design fits together really well.
Only real issue I had: I wish I could recycle plants if I misplaced them. Always having to restart the level when I mess up was a tiny bit annoying.
nosfer
03. Jan 2016 · 19:06 UTC
nice graphics and sound, growing plant grows too fast :(
Archonthewizard
03. Jan 2016 · 19:47 UTC
Great game! Really cool mechanics and animations! The vine was a little tricky, but overall a great idea!
oparisy
03. Jan 2016 · 22:09 UTC
Very nice mood and mechanics. Love your animations too. Sadly, I could not get past the third level, getting the seeds to grow properly was too error prone and tedious.
PixlWalkr
04. Jan 2016 · 01:07 UTC
Great game, I like the mechanics. nice art also.
Brightstar
04. Jan 2016 · 03:56 UTC
Great!
dreamlogician
04. Jan 2016 · 05:06 UTC
It's a good game, and it definitely has the potential to be a great game with just a little tuning to the mechanics and level design.

Certain aspects of it felt extremely unforgiving to me - the rapid movement of the growing vine combined with the extremely short jump height was especially aggravating. Something about the constant restarting led to a sense of frustration that didn't really fit with the mellow atmosphere of the game. Maybe a checkpoint system would help?

Still, it's a really solid entry and the balance issues are understandable given the time constraints.
GAFBlizzard
04. Jan 2016 · 10:22 UTC
Nice atmosphere but surprisingly difficult due to the seed growth speed in certain places. I finished it.
emmes
05. Jan 2016 · 01:23 UTC
Awesome pixel art, great music, and cool game mechanics, I love it! Though it's a bit too hard for me, especially the beanstakes are growing too fast. The growing theme is moderately used, but there are definitely more than two buttons.
One of the best games of LD34!
Krafty
05. Jan 2016 · 01:35 UTC
I really liked this game! The puzzles were neat and the controls were good, the graphics were really good too! Great job, I hope you finish it later! :)
Jupiter_Hadley
17. Jan 2016 · 18:29 UTC
Lovely graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/xIPr3jDQjJ0