This is actually a pretty good game, and an original one at that!
I like the music too. I think that the animations/graphics were fine, but even if this is an office, I could've done with a slightly better background :p
The gameplay is pretty challenging at points. I don't know if there's already a way to do this, but I would've liked a way to cancel accidental cuts!
Anyhow, well done!
Thankyou Lucid.
I agree that the background looks bland, even for an office theme. I'll have to fix that.
There actually isn't a way to cancel cuts now, but the feature will be there when I redo the game.
Cheers!
Oh my, I thought I reviewed this weeks ago, but it seems I forgot. Sorry for that!
Thoughts? This is actually a really good game. The art style is good enough, and the music is quite fitting.
What I really like though, is the game play. Not only is the idea quite original, but the level design is usually really good! Those helpful texts were pretty funny at times too :)
I played until level 26, before I got bored (I might play more later, we'll see). I think that adding medals would have been a good idea, and that it would've kept people playing for longer.
I honestly have a difficult time understanding why the score is so low compared to how good te game is; it deserves much better.
May I ask (I've done no research) where does the name come from :p ?
Overall, a pretty solid game.
Good job!
Wow thanks so much! I'm glad you thought so highly of my design choices :) I feel like I did make the game too hard, which puts a lot of people off. but i did intend for the game to be played by non-casual gamers. I definitely wanted this game to be an insane challenge. unfortunately some people think it's way too unforgiving. Which is not for me to deny.
And wow I totally thought i put in what the name means on the first level. Seminia is a combination of 'semi-' and 'minimalistic'.. because it is semi-minimalistic :D and i added an 'a' to make it sound like a name.
Thanks again for that awesome review!
Heyy, this is actually a pretty good game!
I was so into playing at first, I didn't even notice the powerups :p
This game made me remember the good old Crash games, when a boulder would be chasing you :3
I must especially compliment you on the art and music!
I also think you did pretty good with most of the programming :)
However, I had some issues with the medals. After I got the first medals, the rest would not unlock, for some reason (I got more than 10 karma points, and so on). I don't know if this is because I used the heart power up, or what, since the first medal I got worked just fine :/
Also, it took a while before the scoreboard recognized me, but oh well.
All in all, this is a pretty solid game; good job!
Thanks for your review. I'll check the medal & scoreproblem now, maybe I messed some blocks with the update. Anyway your survival time is very good. I might think about lowering the difficulty a bit, since there are 5 difficulties to handle :). By the way D-Pression is a great project of yours. I had a hard time at the scene where you have to wall jump many times.
Edit: Yes you were right about the medals. I accidently moved the medal blocks, thanks for finding this error, this is fixed now.
Although I don't think this is the most original game I've seen, I won't hold it against it. Also, I'm aware you have an older version of the game on you website, so I guess it is pretty original still :)
This is a great improvement from the last installment, good job! And good job on getting a sponsor too :'D
I think that the animations for this game are great! They are very likable. Also, I'm impressed by how well the controls work. Although the movement differs a bit from what you usually see in games, I think they work well, and in the way that you intended.
Your choice of music is also good.
I like the fact that you decided to include a local multiplayer option. For a game like this, it is a very smart idea!
The shop was a nice addition too; it makes you want to play for far longer times.
I'm probably pretty stupid myself. You see, I played for a while and bought some stuff yesterday, but I never realized that there was a save button! Oh well.
Otherwise, an auto save function could be quite good, but really, you showed that face button in my face without me noticing it, so it's my bad!
Anyhow, this is an entertaining game. Good job, and good luck in the contest! (sorry for the late review).
Thanks for the review, yeah this is actually I remake of the first proper game I made, So wanted to improve on it and do all the code and art.
Sorry about the save situation, it did have automatic saving but you probably noticed Or haven't noticed :P when you save the game is not responsive for a 3-4 seconds which a lot of people did not like when it was automatic so switched it to manual sorry!
I liked your game as well but couldn't get past the first angled bit. Sorry for the review in a review :P
Alright. This is a pretty cool game. I like the concept!
I especially like the art/animations (and as we all know, the scissors rock! [get it?]) The other two characters are cool too.
The music is okay too :)
Also, the story, short as it is, is funny :'D
Although I liked the game, I have a few things to point out!
- The character animation doesn't switch (mirror flip) in the air when you switch direction, after a certain point has been reached
- If you change wizard a millisecond after a death, the character (that is dead) is reborn as one of the other characters, although the level restarts as normally (and if you're really fast, you can get back the wizard that died for a millisecond, by switching twice).
- You should warn people that your save restarts when you hit the home button; at least that happened to me :/
-Also, some of the level design could use improvement. Nothing too big, but for example, it's hard to predict what will be below you in some of the drops because the camera doesn't reach that far, which can be annoying late in a level :p
Some of the jumps could be shorter and some longer too.
All that aside, I really liked your entry. Very good job, as your first published project too!
I personally always got confused about which arrow key is which character, even if that's written on the screen at all times! Do I feel dumb haha :D
Wow, thanks for the review, very in-depth.
As for the stuff you pointed out...
Yeah I was having trouble with the dead wizard glitch for a while. I decided that since I got the level to restart, it didn't break the game, and as a cosmetic issue I put it on low priority for the bug fixes. I would have liked to fix it if I had time- same with the jump direction switch.
Sorry about the game restarting! I should have known people might want to come back to it after going to home screen- that was an oversight of mine.
The level design was also difficult- trying to introduce some mechanics while making it challenging. There is some polishing needed there, but a lot of the levels are pretty short so I was hoping I wouldn't annoy people with some surprises ;-).
I definitely take your comments to heart, thanks again.
Hahha, I catually think that this is a pretty cool game, although simple. At first I had no idea of what was going on though, so I think you should've had clearer instructions.
Also, I love the graphics. Hoever, I fot bored pretty quickly.
Oh well, good job!
Thank you for trying it, I appreciate your time.
You're absolutely right about needing instructions, I plan on taking it further after the jam is finished. I just started on the 24th and I really didn't give myself enough time to do anything but the bare minimum.
Thanks again!
Alright. Let me begin by saying that the only real reason that this submission only gets 4.5 stars, is becuase this is a more serious review. You're not on the same level as most of the other contestants, so since I'm comparing you to greater creaters of games, you can consider my 4.5 stars as 7/5, were this just another Stencyl Jam game. But since I'll take this review more seriously, I'll also criticise your game more harshly.
ALZ was one of the very first games in the Stencyl Jam 2014 contest, and now this, Pine, is one of the very last ones (although it was posted after the deadline, I'm happy you managed to enter!).
I liked ALZ, and I definitely like this even more! I remember watching your animation around the same theme, late last year, so I recognized you immediately when I saw the title :')
When I kept playing the game, I realized that my final chances of getting a spot among the three winners is wiped out, hahha! I'm happy you uploaded this game though, I enjoyed playing it, and I think you have a good shot att hitting one of the prize pedestals! Good luck!
So... For the actual review...
First, there's the theme, which is pretty interesting. What I mostly like about it, is that it lays the base for a mysterious athmosphere. Which brings me to the music... Precisely as in ALZ, broove really is a perfect choice for you game. I am a musician myself (at least self labeled, haha).
Now, to the art. most of the art is really good, in my opinion, which makes sense, considering you're an animator. However, there's one thing I think you could still improve. Most of the tiles are fine, and I really like the background, and characters (+ other sprites such as gems, power ups, etc.).
But you know that one tile that is just a brown box? nothing fuzzy around the edges/corners, no white dots, just brown boxes. It's fine when you use them in the middle, but when they are edge pieces they simply look slitghtly unfinished to me, but maybe it really is only me :p
However, I shouldn't be complaining about the art, since my art is far inferior to yours!
Well, now for the gameplay. Although I think the gameplay is good, I'd say it's the weakest link in your game; I'll try to explain why.
Firstly, as you've already stated, a map would be nice, but I know you're already working on that.
And I know it can feel a bit dumb, but if you're aiming for higer ratings, I recommend writing out the controls as if you were to try explaining them to a tree, or someone with the same amount of IQ, at least (or lower). People won't care in a bad way if you write them out, but not doing so can result in some low votes, as we've clearly seen. Same thing with the mute button (which I know you said you'll add). Although I love the music, and it helps build the mood, I know that there are inevitably some that will want to listen to other stuff, or nothing, while playing. If you wan't people to have the full experience, you can 'not' add a mute button. But if you're looking for higher scores, a mute button is always a good idea.
Now, as we all know, this was inspired by games such as Endeavor. This is by concequence wery similar to similar games, like Level Up, and many other ones (Not to speak of the winner of Stencyl Jam 2012, which was in the sam style, but if I dare say it, superior to this one). The issue is, as somebody already mentioned, that in terms of gameplay, this game doesn't really add anything that could top them. Now, I realize that Stencyl is limited, and that you didn't have any more time than the rest of us, so I won't complain too much.
Still, I like how you still manage to add some puzzle-ish things every here and there! And that you manage to build such a large game; I'm very impressed. Sometimes, so large that you get lost, haha :3
The controls work fine for the most part, and I haven't found any real bugs either.
And as has already been said, you should probably include some medals. Examplewise, give medals for the power ups, and make a number game attribute, that counts gems. Every five gems could give 10 points, or something like that. Medals; badges; rewards, are simply things that gamers appreciate.
I could say some other things, but probably nothing that would be all that helpful.
I really enjoyed the game, and I'll continue tomorrow, since I'm not quite finished yet, which is why I haven't commented on any ending, which there probably is. I still think that my score and review would be pretty much the same though. I'm getting really tired, so I'm sorry if my review is full of gibberish and spelling errors.
Once again, good luck in the contest!
Ps. It might be a good idea to make the music drop in volume when the game is paused, or diminish completely :p
Thanks for the review!
as far as your critique goes, I definitely agree with most of it. That one tile you mentioned is essentially a placeholder tile that I never had time to polish. Since the rooms are so big it can take hours to clean up just one of them, and I just didn't have the time in the end.
I also agree that the gameplay is pretty weak. I would have honestly liked to do a smaller game like ALZ, but I felt that stencyl jam would be the best opportunity to push myself to learn how to create something larger. Since gaming is one of the biggest career paths for animators, I felt it important to learn what all goes into creating something that's more than just a press-right-a-thon, hence the Endeavor influence.
Definitely needs some medals. I feel they might make some of the game's goals more clear. For example, right now I don't think it's at all clear that there are multiple endings, so a medal for each one could clear things up.
Thanks again for the review, and good luck in the jam!
Well, this was thought provoking. I liked how you made it so that you had to play a while before you realized what the title of the game stands for.
I found a minor bug: The second time you see the tree, where the character only says something along the lines of "a beatiful tree". In that scene, if you turn back midway, and walk all the way to the left, and then try to walk to the right again, you're stuck. I tried this twice, so I'm sure ;)
Anyhow, great story, although short, and good choise of music!
Thanks a ton for noting the problem, should be fixed now, and thanks for the kind words, as well!
Alright, I played the first 5 levels of this game (AND I BEAT THEM ALL WITH A MOUSEPAD).
I might return for the rest later.
It's definitely not a bad game.
The graphics are of course not the best, but they are quite cute, so you can definitely enjoy the game nonetheless. (Got to love how those bird-enemies look. Btw, the enemies were the most dangerous creatures in this universe; I died like a million times.... Don't play this with a mousepad...).
The music however, is the best. Step is the very reason I came here in the first place :p
Gameplaywise, I'd say this is a pretty difficult game; it takes practise to 'master' the ball's movement. Mainly, this game was very smooth. However, at some parts things became a bit nitpicky, imo.
Even the puzzles were challenging at some points, which is a good thing. I also liked the way you introduce a new item, and thus a new game element in every new level.
This was without a question a pretty original game, so I liked that as well. Of course, since it's a ball/platform game, it bears some resemblance to the pretty old game wOne, if you've heard of it (especially in level 3). Then there's level four, where "Automation" is featured. I think that its structure actually is pretty similar to that of "Slippery Climb" from the Crash Bandicoot game :p
I could go on for ever in this review if I wanted to be picky, but there's no need for that.
Overall this was a good game, and good job winning that award ;)
Thanks. The difficulty was one thing I would have liked to tweak, but the guy I had some plans to work with on that vanished. I spent most time on physics/AI/designing levels with NURBS curves so I was happy enough the be able to include the difficult challenges I wanted, what's needed though is a lot more easy content before starting with the challening stuff, but it would be a bit boring without more interesting visuals etc. The judge of the competition said with some more graphics design it could release commercially and whatnot, but it's not very graphically optimized and the guy I mentioned who disappeared was going to make graphics, so for now I just released like this. I might expand on this later but I am also busy with university and I will probably make easier game (easier to make) before looking into this again.
I exist. That'd pretty much be it. Pictures made on Paint.NET (getpaint.net) and Apophysis 7X.
Age 29, Male
A bit of everything
As a teacher
Finland
Joined on 12/23/13
Control X/V 
Seminia 
Paper Dash 
Super Marshmallow Kingdom 
Rock Paper Scissor Wizard 
Herald Of Nyarlathotep 
Pine 
ALZ 
Lost Ball 
