Batteries Not Included

Hey I recognize those graphics!

Man, only a little more than 5 hours left...

And those stupid collision quirks! I keep thinking I have them nailed down when something else pops up. HOPEFULLY this is it, but I'm not sure I should hold my breath. Can I make a level in peace already?

Its about time to enter total crunch mode, isn't it? HRMMMM...

Enough crunch-time mode. Someone hit the panic button already.

*sniff *sniff what's that? Do I smell total fatigue? Ugh! haha, well let's just say that my lenovo computer is in the shop for some sort of problem yet I still managed to provide decent art for Photon given the circumstances. Running on my Macbook right now, too bad I don't have illustrator or anything on it or I'd have continued on that. Is was a interesting experience to say the least but I don't feel like doing a competition of this sort again for a while.

It's done... wow.

It was definitely a pleasure working with Max Glockling Games. Guy can do some great art!

Updated original post.

I got to watch someone play our LD game over a livestream. Its the first time I've gotten to watch someone play it outside of those closer to me, and I must say it was quite liberating. For someone like myself, I think its too easy to forget how important this kind of feedback is. Asking for comments doesn't even come close to watching someone play it live in the open with all their reactions.

All in all, they enjoyed the game a lot (stuck around long enough to see them give it a 5 for fun and innovation.) I got to watch (and cringe) at some of the quirks that didn't quite find their way out of the final product, as well as see the players get stuck for like twenty minutes on a particular level. They claimed it to be a very rewarding game though, even if it did get a little brutal.

I felt this sense of angst over the game's imperfections yet also this sense of thrill over what was working and executed well. It was definitely a good opportunity to take advantage of.

Also, apparently one or more people on the livestream found themselves being "haunted" by the game's repetitive tune.

Post-mortem posted on Ludum Dare:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2013/12/18/batteries-not-included-post-mortem/

Don't forget to replace your logo on the Arcade.
http://www.stencyl.com/jams/ld28/

Reminds me a lot that old game "Lost Vikings" XD
Its made good but  a bit boring and would need a bit more explanation how each robot powers works.

Yeah, it sort of does, except with a lot more restrictions on when you can switch characters. There's a popular game series called Home Sheep Home that closely resembles Lost Vikings and plays to the different uh, body types, of the sheep.

Don't forget to replace your logo on the Arcade.
http://www.stencyl.com/jams/ld28/

Oh! I ran a quick update to fix a typo and the pic changed back. I'll fix it. Thanks for pointing it out.

Reminds me a lot that old game "Lost Vikings" XD
Its made good but  a bit boring and would need a bit more explanation how each robot powers works.

Interestingly enough, some people found it to be quite clever but you aren't the first one to say it was boring. Why is that?

The part about explaining the robots is interesting too because, in contrast, someone I watched play my game over livestream commented on how he appreciated it being a "learn by playing" game.

The part about explaining the robots is interesting too because, in contrast, someone I watched play my game over livestream commented on how he appreciated it being a "learn by playing" game.

Not everybody enjoys that "learn by playing" style, and I probably wouldn't use it in a puzzle game. People get frustrated too fast if they don't understand what they have to do. I actually played your game before it was finished and I honestly couldn't get passed the first level. I had to ragequit on it
All that changed when I played the finished version, mainly because the simple addition of the graphics made me understand what I had to do. There's a pretty good reason why there aren't many games out there with no tutorial. People will complain it's missing one even if they don't use/need it

The part about explaining the robots is interesting too because, in contrast, someone I watched play my game over livestream commented on how he appreciated it being a "learn by playing" game.

Not everybody enjoys that "learn by playing" style, and I probably wouldn't use it in a puzzle game. People get frustrated too fast if they don't understand what they have to do. I actually played your game before it was finished and I honestly couldn't get passed the first level. I had to ragequit on it
All that changed when I played the finished version, mainly because the simple addition of the graphics made me understand what I had to do. There's a pretty good reason why there aren't many games out there with no tutorial. People will complain it's missing one even if they don't use/need it

Yeah, even though I was running out of time near the end, I did NOT want to leave players completely clueless. I whipped up some simple graphics and slapped them in there real quick.

In contrast, I definitely think there is a place for "learn by playing" in a puzzle game. Now, as you saw, something stupid like not telling them what buttons to use is pretty unacceptable (though in my defense it was still in prototype mode), but I would think "learn by playing" isn't completely bad. That's actually the point of the first 8 levels: they don't always explicitly tell you what to do, but I tried to make them simple and straightforward enough that you would pick up rather easily on most if not all of the different things you can do with your abilities.

So now that the LD final product is out, would you say the final game provided satisfactory direction on what to do?

So now that the LD final product is out, would you say the final game provided satisfactory direction on what to do?

I'd say it definitely achieved that
I did enjoy the game. even from the idea stage, I just couldn't enjoy it till after it was finished.

Really great game! You and max teaming was great! The art is amazing, the gameplay was perfect, and th levels were very fun.  At first I didn't know what I was really supose to do, so I think it would have been helpful adding a instructions. Great game though, loved almost everything about it. Good luck.