Too Late, Too Bitter by JackDegree

[raw]
made by JackDegree for LD33 (COMPO)
e: interact/progress in dialogue
enter (when available): action

Arrow keys for movement

My objective was to make
1) a 2d game
2) a game which would successfully blend good quality art and good quality writing.

1) is done. We'll see how 2) fares.

UPDATES:
24/08: small tweak to the colour of the helper text to avoid more people getting frustrated!

Ratings

Coolness 87% 2
Overall 2.91 669
Fun 2.41 833
Graphics 2.93 544
Innovation 2.74 628
Mood 3.38 211
Theme 2.98 701

Feedback

Flygamer101
24. Aug 2015 路 13:02 UTC
Nice little turn based game. not too shabby, but it could use a little work. I didn' know how to move until after the dialogue.
aprotasenya
24. Aug 2015 路 13:11 UTC
Nice work on the stained glass! I've made a black-n-white game myself, but the color elude me, and you seem to be really good. Also - decent writing. I guess, #2 from your goals also went alright. :)
Filecreation
24. Aug 2015 路 13:13 UTC
Ah, I think I understand what makes you the monster in here.
Nice and moody!
馃帳 JackDegree
24. Aug 2015 路 13:15 UTC
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, the whole player control and animation could do some improving :-) I'll add something in the description for future players.
馃帳 JackDegree
24. Aug 2015 路 13:16 UTC
@Filecreation @aprotasenya Thank you :)
mickanio
24. Aug 2015 路 14:22 UTC
I think you accomplished your task. I really like this writing! Graphics were great too. Awesome way to make something within the constraints of 48h. My one (hopefully constructive) criticism: I didn't like the line "enough to break the glass utterly" - if i'm getting it right. Other than that I thought the writing was spot on!
馃帳 JackDegree
24. Aug 2015 路 15:02 UTC
@mickanio haha well if that's your only criticism, I'm quite happy! I'm not sure what you don't like in that line though? Is the word 'utterly too pedantic ^^?
ezombort
24. Aug 2015 路 15:41 UTC
Cool little game. Took me a minute to see that I had to hit enter to pick up the hammer but I finally found my way out :) Good job I enjoyed it!
andreymust19
24. Aug 2015 路 16:01 UTC
Not bad. But problems with display of text.
馃帳 JackDegree
24. Aug 2015 路 16:05 UTC
@andreymust19 hm, sorry you experienced that. If you could send me a screenshot of what you are referring to one of those days, I'd appreciate :) (you can just send it to my twitter, @chesnaisa)
orukinawa
24. Aug 2015 路 16:30 UTC
Great writing. It really helps setting the mood of the game. And nice work on those stain glasses too.
increpare
24. Aug 2015 路 16:52 UTC
the interaction prompt (press enter to pick up hammer) was reaaaally faint for me. wasted some time looking for the hammer.

i really enjoyed the art of the windows, and the story of breaking out.

good, and memorable :)

S
MrDave
24. Aug 2015 路 16:54 UTC
I wish this game was longer, as soon as I was getting into it it finished.

The main room doesn鈥檛 need to be so big. I know you said you didn鈥檛 want to put vanities in it but a little bit of furniture would have been nice.

I really liked just having the small window.
馃帳 JackDegree
24. Aug 2015 路 18:02 UTC
@increpare I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'll update the build to make the prompt lighter, wouldn't want anyone else getting frustrated on this.

@MrDave 鈥撀爕es, making the room smaller is on my 'improvements' list. This was my first time making a 2d game with graphics so I learned a lot about the dangers of not scaling things properly! As for the length, I just didn't have that much time to write more, but I'd like to make it (just a bit) longer too!
cxsquared
24. Aug 2015 路 18:17 UTC
Really liked the dialog and how many lines where presented at each object. It reminded me of the dialog in dark souls. I also really liked the story and how it fit the jam theme. Controls could use some work but good job.
Deadpan-Gamez
24. Aug 2015 路 19:16 UTC
Loved the game, the amount of detail you put in... was really cool!
Draknek
25. Aug 2015 路 12:35 UTC
I found the interface a bit awkward: maybe would have preferred a single interact key that would sometimes give a choice about what to do?

I didn't realise enter was a used key until I read the description below.
馃帳 JackDegree
25. Aug 2015 路 18:28 UTC
@Draknek hm yes, maybe I should explore that. I was also thinking of letter the player try to swing the hammer and display some message to say that it's useless, unless they're in a place where it has an effect?
magenta
25. Aug 2015 路 19:04 UTC
As someone who practises & appreciates similar ancient knowledge, it broke me to break the glass. I guess now I'm "free" :/
n42k
25. Aug 2015 路 20:03 UTC
It's very fun, but too short, it ended right when I was starting to get into it!
馃帳 JackDegree
26. Aug 2015 路 04:28 UTC
@n42k you're not the first one to make that comment. Maybe in my post-compo version I'll make it possible to break the glass and not leave yet, maybe even break all the glasses. I don't know.
veoviscool12
28. Aug 2015 路 20:24 UTC
Not bad. I liked the inevitability of using the hammer to smash the works of art. The jerky movement was a little jarring, but it works to the game's advantage. Good work :)
Jod
29. Aug 2015 路 17:05 UTC
I really liked this game! The story you tell is compelling ,saying much more with the words it doesn't say, then with the words it does.

I would've loved a little bit of ambient background music, and maybe a crashing sfx when I smashed something :D.

Great work, keep on going!
馃帳 JackDegree
29. Aug 2015 路 17:07 UTC
@veoviscoll12 @Jod thanks guys! Yes, I've got a lit of improvements I'd like to make for a final release, and sound effects are definitely part of it!
KhaoTom
30. Aug 2015 路 17:08 UTC
I actually didn't realize it was top down at first, due to the initial player placement and wall color choice, the wall actually looks like the floor in a platformer! The story is interesting and the descriptions are nicely written. I played through multiple times to see if there was a different outcome.
kalinova
31. Aug 2015 路 04:46 UTC
The top-down perspective is interesting, particularly since you can see the sides of all four walls and yet the character appears in a totally different, head-on perspective. Ultimately, this unconventional viewpoint works well for a game that seems to examine the allure of the fragment, whether a fraction of a sentence removed from its context by ellipses or a shard of glass fused into a stained-glass window. My instinct, as a player, was to attempt to fuse these textual fragments into a cohesive narrative, but ultimately, like the game's stained-glass windows, any cohesion was brittle and easily fractured by the slightest touch.
Pierrec
11. Sep 2015 路 07:26 UTC
Controls aren't very smooth, but the idea is great, and I kinda felt bad