Tabula Rasa by Dis0rder
A simple but challenging platformer with photo-based "point 'n' click" -segments.
♦ CONTROLS: ♦
``` Arrows: MOVE ♦ Space : BOOST
R: Reset (counts as death) Q: Quit
Enter/L.Mouse: Advance the story segments ```
Your goal is to gather all the shards and return them to the mask.
Some players may need a little adjusting to the unusual control-scheme of the game.
You'll be better off by TAPPING the keys, instead of holding them.
Also by pressing down you can both fall down faster, and slow down your momentum when knocking upwards from the ground.
It gets a lot easier if you get the hang of it. :)
Hope you like it!
Software I utilized to develop this game:
OS: Ubuntu-Studio / lubuntu & Android
Development: Clickteam/Multimedia Fusion 2.5 (using Wine)
Graphics: GIMP
Sound & Music: Audacity, SooperLooper, Calf-Plugins (Ubuntu) / Loopify-BETA, Voice Recorder (Android), Leshy SFMaker (Browser)
And here's most of the Hardware/Equipment that helped in bringing this project to life:
Elysia Griffin and Tech Valley Game Space were cool and featured my game in their respective streams.
Here are the links with timestamps:
Intro and some gameplay with commentary by ElysiaGriffin (10 minutes)
Full playthrough and commentary by TechValleyGameSpace (40 minutes)
Ratings
| Overall | 22th | 4.056⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 142th | 3.519⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 40th | 4.019⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 191th | 3.577⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 29th | 4.232⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 38th | 3.907⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 174th | 2.833⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 3th | 4.357⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 24🗳️ | 14🗨️ |
Regarding the platforming part, I loved the presentation and the audio. The controls felt a bit strange at first (having to deal with the physics of the square was not easy, and I did not get immediately that I had to mash the arrow buttons to steer the cube), but I quite enjoyed playing this part. However, it was a bit hard for me, and after several tries, I did not manage to collect the 40 gems, which is a shame, because I am sure that we get to see more after this part is over.
As such, I join @ekin in her request for a video. But really, great work, once again !
Unfortunately I don't have necessary tools to provide a Mac-version (at least not yet). I've also been planning on a HTML5-build so you could play it in a browser, but there's some technical aspects that need to be taken into account first, so don't hold your breath...
It's probably possible to run the game on Mac using [Wine](https://www.winehq.org/about) though. In fact I developed this game on a Linux-machine using it! :D But that method might be a bit of an hassle for a casual user.
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As for the video, I might record a more high-def clip later on, and it's entirely possible someone will eventually stream this game. But in the meantime, here's a few little lo-fi GIF's for your enjoyment :D
Thank you once again for your detailed feedback and kind words! :)
Yeah, the controls of the game are quite quirky, and it takes practice and effort to master them.
I was planning on making a "tutorial"- stage where the "button mashing" -technique would have been elaborated on. Also considered 2 difficulty levels, since the current iteration is quite challenging. But as always, time was limited.
There's a little epilogue segment after you retrieve all the shards. It's not much content-wise, but I guess seeing it feels slightly rewarding after you've gone through the trouble :)
If I ever find the time and motivation, I might go about developing a post-mortem version with the originally planned additional stages and a chance to tweak the controls and difficulty.
Thanks, folks! I'm glad to hear my stylistic approach works for you.
also the style of the flickery color-quantization in the animated gifs you shared imo would look fantastic and super atmospheric as an actual visual aesthetic that could be written into your game as a shader! you should totally consider messing with that in future projects, it would go great with your style
The narrative and theming were interesting and engaging, held together by great sound and music design too.
Also worth noting how unique those platforming controls are, really satisfying and fun once you get the hang of them.
You were requesting a video of the gameplay earlier. The game was featured in two twitch-streams, and I've put the links up in the description.
Thanks, man! It's really nice to hear it worked for you.
@jjoeyay
Yes! Nice observation. The exactly same thing came to my mind when I was rendering those GIF's.
At first I downgraded the resolution and quality to make the content fit in the 4mb limit set in these posts. But the more I fiddled around and compressed the material, I came to realize that this style could work perfectly as is in the actual game! :D (This isn't the first time I've come to notice that limitations and necessity breeds creativity)
I've come to love lo-fi aesthetics in my previous artistic efforts, but haven't really utilized it to the fullest potential in my game-projects. Thanks to your encouraging feedback I got more assurance that this could be a direction I should be heading in some of my future works.
Thank you! I really appreciate it.
It's nice to hear that in the end you find the controls satisfying, because I'm still not entirely sure whether or not the gameplay is too frustrating for some players. I guess in a more polished/finalized iteration of the game, it would be ideal to have multiple control-schemes/difficulties to choose from.
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The background of the mask is a mystery to me.
I recently bought it from a second-hand-shop I work as a dayjob. My best guess is that someone bought it as a gift/souvenir way back, and years later it ended up for sale at the store (and finally to my Compo-Game :D)
It says "Made in Italy", and has a sticker with someone's hand-written signature with the date 31/7/93.
I'm pretty sure that the mask has traveled multiple times from fleamarket to another and changed owners. It would be interesting to know all the things it has witnessed during its journey!
I loved also the way the actual game runs in a vertical notepad page.
The way the "character" moves added a spice. It was quite difficult to manage to go where I wanted to, but this made the game more interesting.
Looking at the mask, I can hypothesize it was some kind of cheap souvenir/craftmanship inspired to some neoroman-baroque sculpture. The label is unreadable but i'm sure it is not in Italian, 2 words enting in "n" in the same sentence would be almost impossible in Italian.
The only thing I think could improve is the sound effect from pressing the keys, since it's easier to move around while tapping.
@lexyvil Theres a black hole below the medusa head east of the dropdown on the right side of the map. After going in you'll trigger the ending sequence in a forest with a creepy pickup in the final frame.
The gameplay was a little bit hard to get at first, and even after I understood the controls I struggled a little moving the player around. But I persisted cause I wanted to see the ending, and I feel it was worth it. Cool entry!
The best part of this game is, without question, the presentation.
The image based intro, the music, and the illustrated style are all excellent.
Given the amount of time that we spent in the game, the music proved a bit too short and repetitive.
I definitely think that the best part of the game is the unusual control scheme.
After playing it for a bit, I do think the game's mechanics work. They are however, very hard to learn. Still I think that they are inspired and interesting. I hope to see this game developed further.
https://youtu.be/No9PjQTpi0s?t=9526
If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/494941552?t=3h27m36s
Hope you got some valuable feedback on your game and looking forward to seeing you next LD jam if I dont catch you before then! :D
💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady
https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin