POLLY by Spica

[raw]
made by Spica for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

PollyFHD.png Polly is a game about a girl who got the power to summon water spirits to paint all over the world.

Use water brush to PAINT your story.

Water — life

Cut.gif

b.gif

Ice — death

Cross.gif

Steam — uplifting

Steam.gif

Shrooms. Yes.

output.gif

What you see is not what it is

3images.png

--- CONTROLS --- - A/D: Move - Space: Jump - Q: Toggle drawing mode - Left mouse hold: Draw while in drawing mode

--- CHEATCODES --- - N: Next level - R: Restart the level

v1.1: Fixed broken collider v1.2: Fixed bug where cutscene would not disable player controls correctly

Twitter

Ratings

Overall 515th 3.621⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 789th 3.242⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 192th 3.848⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 944th 3.167⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 9th 4.742⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 879th 2.5⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 134th 4.091⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Given 17🗳️ 42🗨️

Feedback

Xer0bot
15. Apr 2024 · 08:58 UTC
I drew a circle and held and pressed Q and nothing happened
🎤 Spica
15. Apr 2024 · 09:22 UTC
@xer0bot sorry to hear that! Could you please share with me the screenshot of the circle you tried to draw? I tried to make sure it counts even very rough shapes resembling a circle, but there was not enough testing done. You could alternatively try again by re-entering the drawing mode with Q, or even skip the first scene with N to see what's next!
vidim888
15. Apr 2024 · 12:10 UTC
Wow, graphics are very beautiful, great job! The theme of summoning is a bit weak, I like the concept though for sure! Creating a pattern recognition in such a short time is admirable, would be curious to know how you implemented it if you ever do a blogpost or something similar
Liu Pa Yueh
15. Apr 2024 · 14:10 UTC
This graphic is amazing... how on earth do you do it in two days...
Congeesetador
15. Apr 2024 · 17:58 UTC
The fact that you were able to make this game in such little time amazes me, the detail on everything is so amazing, the character has such an adorable design along with the bunnies! It was a very relaxing submission, you did an amazing job at this!
fumybulb
15. Apr 2024 · 18:06 UTC
Really great artistic style!

It would be excellent for a more immersive experience if the game had some relaxing music (like in your trailer video, for example).

By the way, the game prototype is not ready to run on 21:9 monitors.
Consider using letter-boxing or something.
![2024-04-16_00-05.png](///raw/6b0/31/z/61f7c.png)

Also, the girl's movement doesn't seem to work (freeze?) at the top trunks of the tree:
![2024-04-16_00-02.png](///raw/6b0/31/z/61f66.png)

I can't wait to see how far you get with your work. Good luck!
stellarnightmare
15. Apr 2024 · 19:27 UTC
This game is one of the best looking I've seen easily, don't even have much to be critical about. A fantastic job.
ShinigamiKishi
16. Apr 2024 · 07:54 UTC
Very Beautiful game! I found a bug. When quickly switching to drawing mode and back, the walking animation is gone
YoruVII
16. Apr 2024 · 08:07 UTC
Extraordinary art super cozy and cute love it the transform into other creatures feature is so cool.
🎤 Spica
16. Apr 2024 · 08:09 UTC
@shinigamikishi thanks for the bug report! Just to understand the issue better, is it gone forever or just for a short period of time?
Enver Arco
16. Apr 2024 · 09:17 UTC
The mood was great and I can tell you put a lot of time into tutorials and guiding the player and the UI. My only complaint is I found the Q to draw and Q to stop drawing a little clunky! Art style was great and cover art was great too.
🎤 Spica
16. Apr 2024 · 09:23 UTC
@enver-arco thanks for the feedback! The only motivation for "Q to stop drawing" was to allow for multiple strokes. Do you think that's unnecessary, or do you wish you could exit drawing mode automatically once it recognizes a shape (regardless of how many strokes it took)? Please let us know!
Sargonius
16. Apr 2024 · 11:06 UTC
Great art style and the overall mood of the game!
I wish there were more gameplay and content :(
PromZona
16. Apr 2024 · 11:10 UTC
Art is just amazing. One of the best art-wise submissions this jam!
Brandsma
16. Apr 2024 · 11:17 UTC
Beautiful art and like the mood of the game. Also like the drawing mechanic in general, so nice game!
LDJam user 237261
16. Apr 2024 · 12:05 UTC
this game has great vibes! i wish there was some music/atmospheric sounds like in the very beginning to go along with the nice art, could've gone a long way in terms of mood!
ShinigamiKishi
16. Apr 2024 · 13:07 UTC
@spica Until the next switch or location change
LDJam user 250824
16. Apr 2024 · 14:08 UTC
This entry is looking insane! Would really really want to play it, but mac gaming strikes again (sob). Watched the video several times and scrubbed it frame by frame and I love everything I saw. Indeed, gesture recognition is a surprising sub-theme of this jam, it seems :D
Timur_Bahadir
16. Apr 2024 · 19:17 UTC
Beautiful visuals and a cool mechanic with the drawing.
Shawn Beck
16. Apr 2024 · 19:24 UTC
That's a lot of art and animation for two days! Drawing mechanic is on theme!
Luis Priego Cuenca
16. Apr 2024 · 19:39 UTC
Amazing art, animation and very imaginative mechanic. In the begining I took a moment only to apreciate the detail of the background and the animation. This game gives me a beautiful atmosphere, and I love the rabbits too.
Noona
16. Apr 2024 · 19:44 UTC
Bouncy shrooms were extremely satisfying! I am very satisfied.
Macbarette
16. Apr 2024 · 20:03 UTC
Cool gameplay idea i wish i could see a little bit more
NiceKot
16. Apr 2024 · 21:25 UTC
Yes, I liked the prototype :)

Very pretty, very cute, much like! Will follow you guys to see more. Great entry!
Kirass
16. Apr 2024 · 22:53 UTC
I like this game! You guys are great!
Saprina289
16. Apr 2024 · 23:50 UTC
I loved the game! The mechanics are solid and even took my messed up circles! Super cute and I absolutely loved the graphics. I think it would be really great as a full game :)
Axodo
17. Apr 2024 · 15:09 UTC
Dang how beautiful this game is, and dang how I wish there was more to it!
It's a very very solid start to a chill adventure game. It reminds me a bit of Gris.

Keep it up, it's beautiful! :)
🎤 Spica
17. Apr 2024 · 15:28 UTC
@axodo I am humbled by your compliment! :blush: Gris indeed had a big influence on our vision in this project!
MoebiusMeow
17. Apr 2024 · 17:09 UTC
Gorgeous art style and mechanics! You've been really effective that you made such much progress in a short period of time!

A very impressive and potential demo. I can't wait to see the whole game. XD
Yanato
17. Apr 2024 · 20:16 UTC
You already know what to do. The groundwork for a full-fledged game like Limbo or Crayon Physics Deluxe.. Something like that. Good luck!
Alexandru Barbanoua
17. Apr 2024 · 22:18 UTC
And you wanna say you did that in 3 days ?
Alexandru Barbanoua
18. Apr 2024 · 16:02 UTC
Hey Alex! jam rules (as opposed to compo) dont forbid usage of prepared code and assets. We were initially determined to not participate in the Jam because our artist didnt have possibility to participate, so the only reason we did was that we got lucky with the theme. We never claimed we did it in 72 days, so our intention is just to reach out to people. Please, no need for a drama in the comments. I really like your game, you did a very good job. but not in LudumDare, I hope that you know the main rule of the gamejam. This is how you increase the quality line for other competitors and lower their rating. In your case, it would have been better if you wrote once about the conditions of creating the game, how much time you spent on development and other information, which would welcome your participation. A game jam is **an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch**. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours.
Paulsams
18. Apr 2024 · 23:59 UTC
Cool ideas. And it seems to me that it would be possible to go out after drawing the right shape so that it would be more understandable. But overall, I really liked the visual style and it was nice to play such a game.
LDJam user 139668
20. Apr 2024 · 19:10 UTC
Game looks insanely good but no Mac build makes me sad :(

If you need any help in building it (probably you are using some engine which is easy to export) I would be glad to help you!
🎤 Spica
21. Apr 2024 · 09:48 UTC
@13x666 @yogurtthehorse just uploaded the mac (intel 64 + silicon) version to itch! I have 0 ways to test the build, so I hope I didn't write any Windows-specific spaghetti that will just break the game. Wish we could just upload a web version for everyone, but apparently custom shaders are not friends with web builds...

On the off chance the build works, be prepared that the actual gameplay is no bigger than what you could see in the gameplay trailer, it's a really smol prototype :D
LDJam user 139668
21. Apr 2024 · 10:16 UTC
@spica I was able to make it work by removign space from executable name and running chmod +x on it. I would play your game later today <3
TheBookSnail
21. Apr 2024 · 18:55 UTC
Graphics were stellar, loved the intro. The ice break effect felt and looked great in game. I did keep forgetting to press Q to start.
Starlight Glimmer is best poney
22. Apr 2024 · 14:11 UTC
Cute and giving off a Child of Light vibe (a great vibe) but it's hardly a game as of now. Even as a prototype there is not enough content to put your mechanics to a proper test. I think pressing Q again to release the wand is unintuitive (would be better if the game instantly detected I have drawn a circle) but it may just be a matter of getting used to. The tree level is beautiful but could have been more visually clear about where the platforms are.

Watching others play your game can be extremely insightful, so I recorded my playthrough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS5cDSBk90Q
🎤 Spica
22. Apr 2024 · 14:50 UTC
@alaah thank you so much for recording your playthrough! I've seen new things xD

Here's a summary of what your video gave us

1. We feel bad we didn't give Polly a proper jump animation, we didn't expect it to be used that often
2. We've seen a handful of comments regarding toggling drawing mode with Q. This is a big challenge for us in terms of balancing performance and user experience, and we are considering better ways of handling this mechanic
3. Sloppy scene transitions and invisible walls: something we wish wasn't there, sorry for that! Will definitely improve on that aspect given more time
4. The urge to freeze **everything**: We'll need to think about how to satisfy the need to destroy stuff without breaking the whole world while doing so xD
5. In scene 3 apparently the cutscene didn't trigger for you properly, which resulted in a pretty awkward experience. I thought I resolved that bug...
6. Lack of visual clarity on tree platforms: noted and will be taken care of
7. Girl not moving while on trees: a known bug (unless we explain that she has fear of heights). Out intention is that trees are best climbed with pufelkas, will need to think how to make that more clear.

Completely agree on the lack of stuff. With this short build we basically focused on exploring visual style and testing whether any of the mechanics we have to offer are at least tiny bit satisfying. And in that regard, we're happy with all the positive and negative feedback we've got so far!

P.S. haven't played Child of Light, but definitely will add to my backlog, looks pretty wholesome :D
Starlight Glimmer is best poney
22. Apr 2024 · 15:02 UTC
> In scene 3 apparently the cutscene didn’t trigger for you properly, which resulted in a pretty awkward experience. I thought I resolved that bug…

You probably did, sorry for the confusion. I played v1.1 because I had downloaded it a while back and didn't notice there was a new build.
Kyrio
28. Apr 2024 · 16:36 UTC
Hey, congrats on making something for the jam! The way you came up with a universe and interaction systems but didn't quite have time to develop puzzles that make use of them reminds me of the first time I joined LD :smile:

As a prototype, this is already quite good and really left me wanting to see the rest. The visuals are gorgeous, and it's not just 2D art, as you used various subtle effects to augment it. The animation quality is also noteworthy for a jam: I particularly liked the introduction cutscene, it makes me want to see a whole game with our heroine! It's too bad you couldn't go past the tutorial but I know all too well how short those three days can be.

As others noted, you can get stuck if you transform back to Polly when on top of the trees. I also think you could get rid of the last Q press after drawing: it could be "keep Q pressed while you draw and then release it when you're done", or it could consider the drawing as done when you release the mouse button. I'm not sure there's any point to doing multiple strokes now, but perhaps you were thinking of combining "spells" down the line? Anyway, congrats again!

Edit: Also, thank you for not being one of countless Unity games that hate non-QWERTY keyboards... everything worked fine here ;)
🎤 Spica
29. Apr 2024 · 09:04 UTC
@kyrio hey thanks for the kinds words!

P.s. legit have no idea how I made keyboard-agnostic controls, I didn't even know it is possible to break that xD
I'm kinda curious about your keyboard layout and whether that affects how you position your hand on the keyboard. If you have some spare time, please let me know the details!
Kyrio
29. Apr 2024 · 10:18 UTC
@spica Hey! I have an AZERTY keyboard. Usually, if a game uses scancodes or physical keys or whatever your engine calls them, it means that the QWERTY key chosen by the developer will map to any key that occupies that space in other layouts. E.g. you set W as the forward key, and in your mind that is the W that sits above A, S and D. If you used the physical W, it will become Z on an AZERTY keyboard because that's in the same place as your W. It can make button prompts more confusing if not addressed, but it's much better than the alternative since you're guaranteed that the user will have the same hand placement as you envisioned.

Apparently that's the default in Unity now, but I've seen so many Unity games where I had to change my keyboard layout because they were expecting the actual W and A letters, which aren't adjacent to S and D (that's why French people call it ZQSD, not WASD :smile:). Imagine that + non remappable controls!
LDJam user 277851
01. May 2024 · 12:18 UTC
![polly.png](///raw/b5d/34/z/64e8d.png)
## cute character! yeh!!
(I drew vappy instead XP)
🎤 Spica
01. May 2024 · 12:57 UTC
@thyoi gjhfgkjdfhkyoo this is so cute I can't 😭
Thank you so SO much, this is our first fan art ever received! Makes us wanna keep working on this story :blush:
Ynnon
01. May 2024 · 13:09 UTC
@thyoi woooow!!! it's soo beautiful, you just amazed us!!! thank you so much :333