Well, apologies. I did finish the game but despite working in the editor it doesn't work in the build. I'll try and get it fixed tomorrow ASAP.

Alright, should be playable now! (I hope)

I like the growing and shrinking gimmick. It's nearly identical to a game called Specter Spelunker Shrinks. Look it up if you haven't heard of it.

The controls are kind of awkward. Growing and shrinking should be S and D instead of z and x since your thumb naturally rests on the spacebar instead of having to contort your hand to use it. Using up to jump should be an option as well.

Some of the jumps are frustratingly precise. Partly because of the level design and the controls but also the spikes should either not be lethal when touched from the sides or should be much shorter and be designed so you can jump over a block with spikes on top while hugging the wall and still clear the spikes.

The visuals are charming. Using a giant backpack to make the character have square hit detection is a really quirky trick that I've never seen done before.

Very interesting concept! I got a little stuck on some bits, particularly a hole in the middle where I couldn't find a way out... I love the art style though :)

Thanks guys! You're right about the spikes Ghostbomb.

And I may have gone a bit overboard with the difficulty (I love difficult games) but I guarantee it is possible to get to the end!

GAH to anyone who played the version where you could grow like 8 times from the very beginning, that wasn't meant to happen. Just left it in from the last bug fix :(

Should be fine now.

That was really cool, the main character sure can run fast for someone with a backpack that big. The extreme movement speed made things a bit tedious in a few places.
I should've come up with a name as good as "Temple of Gh'ro" ;)

Quite nice, I like the little bit of animation, I wish there was more. The growing idea is cool, but the controls are not very smooth, the gravity seems very high ?

I can get to the first two grails just fine, then there's a vertical shaft I fall down, and a checkpoint at the bottom. I can't reach the grail to my left there, and the jump to the right is unrachable as well, at any size.

The jumping itself is very clunky. It seems like you move upwards at a set speed, then fall back down at the same speed. A more natural jumping animation should start at a certain positive vertical speed, then decrease that speed every frame.

If you change the download link from www.dropbox.* to dl.dropbox.*, you can skip the dropbox UI.

The title is cute.

*Spoiler* With that jump you have to shrink in mid air, in order to get enough space under your feet to land on the platform. :) I promise you it's not impossible to beat this game :)

The jump speed was because at very large sizes the jump start to become very slow in comparison. but perhaps it could be a little less extreme at the small sizes.

Cheers!

and the jumping is solved with rigidbodies so it's a natural arc, just very high gravity at small scales. Cheers!

I really liked the graphics and the general idea. However, gravity felt a little weird. Also I got stuck after the third cup.

Controls are very speed, and not smooth at all. This is weird to play. However the idea, and the arts are good :)

There are heavy differences between the jump and the running with also some problem with the colliders, past the second "cup" there nothing more to do. Nice try, though.

There is something to do, there's a trick to that jump on the left. I've already revealed it in the comments if you'd care to have another go :)

Very interesting concept, and I love the art style.
The game is really too hard though (and yet I like difficult games in general). It comes from the weird inertia and issues in level design. Maybe you should add more checkpoints and resize spikes colliders.
I played 45 min, reached 5th grail but after that couldn't find a way to continue.
But all in all, great entry for a 48h work.

I am finally exploring the infinite abyss!!!

Very impressive compo entry, the graphics are perfect (I love the square backpack idea), the gameplay is really well explored and the level design is well done.

The game is really hard, but the good thing is that in most places its difficulty is indeed fair (except for a couple specific spots, like http://marwane.kalam-alami.net/ld34/misc/coll.png). I also found pretty impressive how almost each step during your progress requires a new skill from the player.

I can understand though that it the platforming can feel a bit annoying, mostly for instance that "Jump" + "Arrow" doesn't yield the same thing as "Jump" => "Arrow when at max height". Once you acknowledge that, the controls get easier to grasp, but until then it can feel frustrating and random. Also, the keyboard mapping hurts a bit!

Overall you're right, the game's not broken, it's a brilliant entry that brought me the same kind of satisfaction as Super Meat Boy. And like Super Meat boy, the game was much easier to play on the second playthrough, so you definitely got me better at platforming games :)


BONUS: I dare you to watch this whole thing without skimming trough it. Get a taste of my tears working my way through your game: http://marwane.kalam-alami.net/ld34/misc/watch-me-die.mp4

I like the core growth mechanic but I feel like it doesn't feel great to control because of the movement speed and how quickly you fall after you jump, and some of the jumps are a bit too finicky for my liking.

Although I love the art style and the presentation in general and it's damn impressive for the 48h allowed.

Thanks guys! Especially for those who persevered! I will learn from my mistakes for next time but I hope you genuinely had fun despite the crazy movement speeds :)

Manu & Wan - Amazing! Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly check out my game, your feedback was great, I agree with it all. And I watched the video, I had no idea I was such a sadist until I started almost maniacally laughing as I watched you die :D

There's actually a way to solve both of those parts that you pointed out, though I admit they are a little brutal. I'll upload A video of the intended method so you can see :)

Cheers guys!

Posted a walkthrough video :)

Has lot of issues with collision detection (floating above gaps where I should fall until I jump). Some of the parts require blind luck to get the timing right for shrink and grow. Would benefit from jump apex being about double it is right now.

Very original idea, and nice plateform/puzzle game.
+1 for the funny ending, nice job!

I really like the concept you have going on here. The main pain point for me was that most of the jumps felt too unforgiving. If I have to struggle to nail the jump with pixel precise height to progress in the game I'll quickly be moving on to another one. But I think with some iteration on the level design and a slightly nicer control scheme this could be a lot of fun and pretty engaging. Thanks!

Really nice mood :D but it has kinda hard :D

After your post I replayed this and could finish it! Hovever controls still feel weird. But my overall experience was much better after understanding your mechanic. I re-rated this game!