I really love the way the handholds are both your source of climbing higher as well as upgrades. I also think it's really smart that they come back as black handholds that have a soft punishment for grabbing them (that can be come back from).
I didn't beat the narrow chimney part of the game (my strength was pretty high, but could have been higher) but the level design was very visually appealing at that part.
I don't love the limbo zone before restarting again. I think it is useful in teaching the mechanic, but I would have prefered to just start again (after the second slow motion limbo zone).
I also had some quite entertaining glitching out when the physics got overwhelmed :)
Again, the handhold upgrades was an inspired idea.
I liked the design of the game. It was a lot of fun to be able to pull all these dynamic climbing moves off.
I wasn't a huge fan of the "hope" grip mechanic though, think it detracts a bit from the climbing experience.
The "Zone of Dispair" was a really nice (and stylish) touch and think also helped tutorialise the game when you inevitably fall the first time.
Tech wise, the ragdoll mostly worked well, though I'm not sure whether it was intentional that the character would occasionally explode if it got too twisted.
I added the "- hope" grip in later because a personal goal I had for this was to try and make moment-to-moment decisions interesting. Without the hope grip, I found myself constantly moving towards the powerup grips without much thought. As soon as I added the "- hope" grip, things felt more interesting because there were also things to avoid. I hear you on the detraction, so that's something for me to think about.
Ragdoll definitely not intentionally exploding... wish I'd had more time to get to the bottom of that :)
climbing out of despair was great. The lighting as you get back to wall was especially nice. Got some funny joint glitches every now and then when reaching up for a big jump. You could have implemented a left-click-left-hand mechanic and vice versa for right for faster climbing, instead of click on hand and drag mechanic, but just a suggestion. Loved this little gem of a game
I played this for quite a bit trying to really get tor grips with the climb mechanic. It was a little tricky at first but once you get the hang it, you start to get a little further. I found myself in the pit of despair most of the play time though and found myself having to climb out of it a lot. I liked the metaphor in line with the theme.
The art style was really cute but the star of the show for me was the sound design. I loved the music and when I was really getting further up it felt like swinging the character to the beat was the real key to getting where I needed to go.
I wasn't able to finish though but it's a really cool concept.
I was really aiming for a "get-in-the-groove" feel once you got higher up. It sounds you like felt some of that, so that's great to hear.
Thanks for the kind words on sound design. I spent more time on it than I'd like to admit :P It always surprises me how sounds (like wind when going farther up) can make a big different to a game's feel.
Loved playing this one, managed to get quite high (just short of the third? area I believe) really a lot of fun once you get a hold of the climbing, one thing I did notice was if you fall far but manage to catch yourself the model starts jerking around and it's difficult to find your hand before dropping. I also really like the despair mechanic of climbing out of the hole to continue climbing.
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I really love the way the handholds are both your source of climbing higher as well as upgrades. I also think it's really smart that they come back as black handholds that have a soft punishment for grabbing them (that can be come back from).
I didn't beat the narrow chimney part of the game (my strength was pretty high, but could have been higher) but the level design was very visually appealing at that part.
I don't love the limbo zone before restarting again. I think it is useful in teaching the mechanic, but I would have prefered to just start again (after the second slow motion limbo zone).
I also had some quite entertaining glitching out when the physics got overwhelmed :)
Again, the handhold upgrades was an inspired idea.
I liked the design of the game. It was a lot of fun to be able to pull all these dynamic climbing moves off.
I wasn't a huge fan of the "hope" grip mechanic though, think it detracts a bit from the climbing experience.
The "Zone of Dispair" was a really nice (and stylish) touch and think also helped tutorialise the game when you inevitably fall the first time.
Tech wise, the ragdoll mostly worked well, though I'm not sure whether it was intentional that the character would occasionally explode if it got too twisted.
Well done! A solid jam game.
Thanks N!
I added the "- hope" grip in later because a personal goal I had for this was to try and make moment-to-moment decisions interesting. Without the hope grip, I found myself constantly moving towards the powerup grips without much thought. As soon as I added the "- hope" grip, things felt more interesting because there were also things to avoid. I hear you on the detraction, so that's something for me to think about.
Ragdoll definitely not intentionally exploding... wish I'd had more time to get to the bottom of that :)
climbing out of despair was great. The lighting as you get back to wall was especially nice. Got some funny joint glitches every now and then when reaching up for a big jump. You could have implemented a left-click-left-hand mechanic and vice versa for right for faster climbing, instead of click on hand and drag mechanic, but just a suggestion. Loved this little gem of a game
<3
I like the left-click-left-hand idea.
I played this for quite a bit trying to really get tor grips with the climb mechanic. It was a little tricky at first but once you get the hang it, you start to get a little further. I found myself in the pit of despair most of the play time though and found myself having to climb out of it a lot. I liked the metaphor in line with the theme.
The art style was really cute but the star of the show for me was the sound design. I loved the music and when I was really getting further up it felt like swinging the character to the beat was the real key to getting where I needed to go.
I wasn't able to finish though but it's a really cool concept.
Hehe, thanks for giving this a real shot!
I was really aiming for a "get-in-the-groove" feel once you got higher up. It sounds you like felt some of that, so that's great to hear.
Thanks for the kind words on sound design. I spent more time on it than I'd like to admit :P It always surprises me how sounds (like wind when going farther up) can make a big different to a game's feel.
Reposting for correct placement:
Loved playing this one, managed to get quite high (just short of the third? area I believe) really a lot of fun once you get a hold of the climbing, one thing I did notice was if you fall far but manage to catch yourself the model starts jerking around and it's difficult to find your hand before dropping.
I also really like the despair mechanic of climbing out of the hole to continue climbing.