RatJar by PolyOrbit Studio

[raw]
made by PolyOrbit Studio for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

Here is RatJar

The rat in the jar !

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The main character is a rat, and this rat tries to escape through a city by being inside a jar, and you have to keep him alive by controlling the jar and avoiding obstacles !

Make sure you will never break the jar !

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But this city has a lot of surprises for you, and a concept that seems so simple risks to bring much more challenge than expected !

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We've made within the 72 hours delay : - All models. - The music. - All game mechanics and source code.

Download the game on Gamejolt or Itch.io at the end of the jam :smile: !

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[Itch.io] https://polyorbit-studio.itch.io/ratjar

[GameJolt] https://gamejolt.com/games/ratjarld46/487795

Ratings

Overall 143th 4.081⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Fun 180th 3.944⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 115th 4.024⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Theme 601th 3.952⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 145th 4.444⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Audio 128th 4.089⭐ 64🧑‍⚖️
Humor 700th 3.31⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Mood 542th 3.767⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Given 37🗳️ 42🗨️

Feedback

20. Apr 2020 · 22:47 UTC
Amazing 111/10 on Metacritic OMG the GOATY is here
SpaceGuy99
20. Apr 2020 · 23:27 UTC
The graphics are fantastic, the gameplay is pretty fun. But I don't want to have to install a gamejolt client to play it, so this was quite a lot more difficult to install than other ldjam games.
alessia-ip
21. Apr 2020 · 00:23 UTC
This was really fun! I did have to turn the graphics settings down considerably to avoid the lag, but I found the controls challenging and interesting! And the environment was really well crafted! I have to say, most of all I enjoyed the way things broke!!
Alklord
21. Apr 2020 · 00:25 UTC
Nice game! amazing graphics, music, and very original use of theme! Congrats!
mike09123
21. Apr 2020 · 00:27 UTC
Looks cool, no html5 option though? :(
PolyPickle
21. Apr 2020 · 00:50 UTC
@spaceguy99 I was able to run it without installing gamejolt using the itchio download.

@developers
Great one! Looks and sounds good, and the camera is pretty sweet. Overall, one of the most aesthetically pleasant games from the jam in terms of look and feel.

A few places where the path forward was not very obvious, like when you go right at the two arches and the wall explodes I was very confused and the camera did not work well in that location. Just past this point, you have to go off to your right breaking through a fruit stand, but I thought you could go down the stairs if you go slow enough. I get that that was meant to be a mini-puzzle, but maby thats not the best core gameplay.

Often, you have to go slow and steady, but I feel like a more fast pace with more focus on destruction would be a better match for a rat causing chaos in the bazaar, and just be more fun to play. I don't think difficulty is important when the main appeal of the game is the sweet aesthetic.

The palace approach is also super sick by the way. Overall great job!
🎤 PolyOrbit Studio
21. Apr 2020 · 01:03 UTC
@mike09123 Here it is https://polyorbit-studio.itch.io/ratjar, i recommend you to play in fullScreen and to set your quality settings depending on game performances ! Have fun !
Gno Evenimente
21. Apr 2020 · 01:14 UTC
Awesome game Love it, The controls are great, and the music fits the game perfectly. Love the pitch shift effect on rewind. Camera seems dynami and behaves fantastic.
🎤 PolyOrbit Studio
21. Apr 2020 · 01:16 UTC
@gno-evenimente We had a bad time making this camera working x) but yeah the effects are kind of fun <3 !
Juan Hust Novella
21. Apr 2020 · 01:17 UTC
Very nice game! fun and with nice graphics. The audio evolution with every try is also memorable. GJ!
Team-on
21. Apr 2020 · 01:56 UTC
So cute exploring game. Especially I love how camera follows the jar. For me camera moving + bricky floor + amazing postprocessing already create a good atmosphere and experience
Daniel Cox
21. Apr 2020 · 03:03 UTC
You guys really thought of everything here, I love it
Epsil
21. Apr 2020 · 03:10 UTC
This is a standout. I thought there were going to be a few wonky cameras, but they fix themselves at just the right time. My only gripe is that the break sounds for things that aren't the jar seem a bit sharp compared to an actual failure, but that's incredibly minor. You made something REALLY fun.
No Grapes Games
21. Apr 2020 · 03:50 UTC
Cool game! I liked the graphics and atmosphere, and the death animation was always managed to make me laugh. I loved the physics gameplay in general.
I did manage to get myself stuck a couple times, and there wasn't a good recourse that I could see besides quitting and restarting.

Overall, I loved it!
RodPraet
21. Apr 2020 · 05:55 UTC
Really liked it!
Fun game. Easy to understand and very fun to play. The camera movement is a little strange at first glance, but it gets easy to understand through the game.
Good job!
Kagerowo
21. Apr 2020 · 07:45 UTC
Incredibly polished, really fun and innovative in both concept and gameplay. Camera transitions were really smooth and the whole atmosphere of the game just felt right. Plus, I never imagined myself having fun by rolling inside a jar in the middle of a city :smile:
FlyingKiwi
21. Apr 2020 · 09:53 UTC
Fun little game with some great art, managed to get stuck after the first drop because I went slow. Keep it up!
Haibo
21. Apr 2020 · 10:45 UTC
That's the best game I've seen since I'm trying games of this edition of the ludum dare. Great job!
PecheDodue
21. Apr 2020 · 11:11 UTC
I really love the idea of beeing a rat hiding in a jar, the graphics are really beautiful and the mecanics are really good, Good Job!
Eryph
21. Apr 2020 · 11:22 UTC
Art is amazing on this one, and the gameplay too !
Sadly i could'nt make it to the end, the 2nd checkpoint killed my joy :(
The downside for me is the level design, which is sometimes really frustrating, and the camera angle make you die too often. Beside that, it's for now the most polished game i tried !
Great job !
LucasP8
21. Apr 2020 · 12:36 UTC
Good game with nice graphics, I loved the idea of controlling a jar. Nice camera work, even though sometimes its still not perfect. The only thing I thought was a bit frustrating is, sometimes you dont know clearly where to go. Also sometimes I died of an object even if I was moving slowly. But the overall is pretty neat, good job!
Xenoxygene
21. Apr 2020 · 14:01 UTC
Best game so far, you nailed the gameplay :smile: The only thing that felt a bit out of place compared to the overall polish of the game was that the collisions weren't disabled on destroyed barrels and such so it was a tad annoying to have to push through collision every time. The level design was amazing though and the graphics were really nice too!
fatPenguin
21. Apr 2020 · 14:10 UTC
Wow so much great games on this LD :) This is by far one of my favourites.
The graphics, post processing effects and camera dolly shots where amazing, the idea was very innovative and awesome, I also loved the little details like when you pushed that cart over and the apples (?) rolled over the floor, simply amazing!
I just felt a bit stuck as soon as I didn't make the slope upwards, maybe have the rat move the jar by itself and you just navigating the direction? :)
and after you get stuck make like a little pause and fade-in of speed until the rat moves in full speed again?
Anyway, this game is a real gem, you can be proud of yourselfes :)
Rionisse
21. Apr 2020 · 15:09 UTC
One of the most fun games I played so far. Very polished core mechanics. Good work!
CamCam
21. Apr 2020 · 17:15 UTC
Soooo fun !
Emblask
21. Apr 2020 · 17:44 UTC
Very nice :)
I don't know why, but I got stuck every time after the first jump, and I can't move anymore.
That's how I discovered the secret rage quit menu x)
Best feature.
I'll probably try to get further.
Magali Mingo
21. Apr 2020 · 17:51 UTC
Love the graphics
ygrichman
21. Apr 2020 · 18:51 UTC
Really good game, had a lot of fun with it, one of the most polished/complete games I've seen on here so far. Only suggestion would be to add controller support.
Maytch
21. Apr 2020 · 19:36 UTC
The pot smash is very satisfying!
a333
21. Apr 2020 · 19:43 UTC
Excellent entry =) I was captivated by rolling and smashing for a good 20 minutes. And just when I thought the level was small, turned out it was just a first checkpoint. Also, you did a great job with the camera.
The difficulty was quite high however. Some glancing light tappings would sometimes smash the vase. Also, despite the great camera work, sometimes the angle made the things unnecessarily difficult (like a diagonal red tent in the beginning of the 3rd section.
But it was a really satisfying and pleasurable experience otherwise! Great job.
ZebraAtomica
21. Apr 2020 · 21:33 UTC
Outstanding 3D assets, congratulations on your beautifull game. I personally doesn't like this type of games that wants you to Rage Quit but i wanted to go further just because of the level design and one thing that bothers me is the camera movement, sometimes it feel random, to close, to distant. I do really like the movement on it, but just some tweaks refining it would be perfect.
LuCecyl
22. Apr 2020 · 02:19 UTC
The game is so beautiful! The mood is really nice! Nice entry and usage of the theme :)
ZEZEL
22. Apr 2020 · 15:02 UTC
Bien joué mec le jeu est grave propre ! La musique est juste insane et le principe du jeu me tue X)
Motley
22. Apr 2020 · 19:36 UTC
Really innovative mechanic!

One thing though, it's weird to me that you can slow down as a vase. I think without it the level design (slope of the ground) would have a powerful tool to modulate the difficulty and pace of the game.
Yubs
22. Apr 2020 · 20:37 UTC
I love this game! Its such a cool concept and it works so well with the art style. Overall this is one of my favorite entries so far and just a really good game, is really impressive for a jam game!
Amazura
23. Apr 2020 · 05:27 UTC
:heart_eyes: love this one.. awesome 3d models, music makes the atmosphere alive and don't forget that cool camera angle. by the way, do the game has checkpoint or something? i kept crashing the jar when i got far. but overall good job..
Lukas TAMAYO
23. Apr 2020 · 09:36 UTC
Hey !

So first of the quality of this game for a jam is amazing. It really is and I feel bad I have to search and think really hard to give constructive criticsm. Saying it's great is constructive criticism but the game is not perfect by any mean so how with such a quality game do you give feedback that can make the game and devs improve ?

I mean the music are not repetitive. The concept is not that innovative but its certainly not a classical, the assets and the works are great and we have something that is very very rare in a game jam : a long game with a dynamic camera.

Honestly that same camera gave me a lot of difficulty to do precise movement wich the game asked a lot. But that's when I might give an idea that I hope for next dynamic cams might help you out.

There is a rule in game design that says to never even hide your character. Games do that by making invisible the view blocker or by making the outline of your character visible through the view blocker. The first one might takes more time than the second one depending on how experienced you are in shading and what software you use.

I think that will have greatly prevent many situation where not seeing you character can end up making him dead.

The second thing I would have done ( unless it was voluntary obstacle ) is once you explode a barrel or table, make its parts simulated physic, that's great, but prevent them from colliding with the player. There's this instance at the end of the game where 3 tables are in front of a ramp you have to rush through and the tables parts derived my trajectory, wich means I have either to do that again or die. And in the die case next time you like sweep around the parts so they do not bother you and then you manage to climb the ramp only to fall into water and having to start again.

Also on a design side, I think that more obvious way to go would have been better. Your character is already so fragile that I feel like dying because you're not sure where to go or what to do because you can't see it shouldn't happen. Understanding tables, looking for possibilities and trying again. Not a problem. But actualy not seeing where to go and dying again and again because of that. I think it might not be what you aimed for as an experience.
A precise instance of what i'm talking about is at the entrance of the palace with the golden jars. The first thing you have to do is climb a ramp in order to go on a crate and from there... Nothing. If you fall you die. I had to try every direction to fall on leafs and then proceed. I really feel like some paint on one side of the crate or anything to say you have to fall this way, even if subtle, would have help a lot. I'm not one to get frustrated but I feel like someone who easily gets would just rage out.

Sorry about this long and precise post but honestly with such a good quality game you can't do an overall criticism and say wich point to improve in general. The game is really good. Maybe a bit too hard. I'll go and rate it now
23. Apr 2020 · 11:04 UTC
Art was good but the image effects made it run slow on the web. The idea is interesting, though.
AstroLabe
23. Apr 2020 · 12:20 UTC
pros: The base idea is very good, 3d is nice, audio too.

cons: The camera isn't perfect, how speed and obstacles kill you is not really clear (I died just by stepping on the first ramp but fell from far higher later without dying) and... a faith jump ? That's a bit harsh
unept
23. Apr 2020 · 14:30 UTC
I absolutely LOVED the camera. The camera itself was its own obstacle to overcome sometimes. Also not sure if this was intentional, but I enjoyed reaching the ramp upward and realizing I needed to back up and actually move forward to get up it. Until then I was just moving left and right. Nice job.
nikchernyakov
25. Apr 2020 · 08:54 UTC
I like this game! Great idea with good implementation! Fantastic camera and physics in the game. I also realized that the jar is driven by the mouse, that's nice! Good job!
Kornel
26. Apr 2020 · 08:49 UTC
Interesting take on the theme. Love how much you've achieved with low-poly art style!
Tom Robson
26. Apr 2020 · 17:19 UTC
Love this take on the theme! The art is great, and just the general presentation is brilliant! Not many games can boast rat ragdoll physics!

A couple little problems though:
-It felt a little bit cheap having a bunch of hay bails be put at drops that the player just can't see the bottom of. Obviously once you die and know they're there it's fine, but the first time it happens is still annoying. It's not really a challenge, and comes off more as a joke at the players expense. Which hey, first time around I actually found it funny! Less so afterwards though.
- When I started I somehow managed to get myself turned around, so trying to get used to the tank controls without knowing which was was forwards was a bit frustrating. Just something to roughly tell the player which was is forwards and back would be a great touch!

Seriously though, I loved this game! Great entry!