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THIS IS INFINITY

A very abstract game about exploring rules, graphics, goals, behavior and interaction. Created for Ludum Dare 16 with the theme "Exploration". Made in about 36 hrs... I started kinda late and finished late as well.

(http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/wp-content/compo2/11816/1404-shot0.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TONcq_PGxs <- Semi-spoiler trailer

>>>>> http://cactusquid.com/games/infinityv101.zip <<<<<

WASD + Mouse

Is the game too hard?
http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/2009/12/explanation-of-this-is-infinity.html

Woah. I felt like I was drunk while tripping while having a seizure. I never managed to beat the level with the 5 dots that I had to control, sad. Very interesting game though, and very disorienting. How many levels were there? I think that one is the 5th or 6th. Anyway..

really love the aesthetic and the general atmosphere of the game, but i have no idea how to get past the second level. i tried drawing the symbol for infinity, no luck. spent a while hovering there, drawing random things, then closed the game.

Nice, I thought I had wasted my time (I hadn't seen "cactus", so I clicked), but it allowed me to spot this cool-looking GAME on the youtube sidebar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76oV5iCLtxY

First it was like my eyes were on fire. Then it was like my computer was on fire. Then it crashed.

ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object objCamera:

Trying to use non-existing surface.

I beat it...!

I think this is a really fantastic idea. In places, it's executed to its full potential, while in others it could do with some more work. For a 36-hour job it's very impressive.

(sort-of spoilers)

Level 1* was my favourite, the way it seems like abstract noise at first glance is very enjoyable.
Level 2 tried my patience a bit. I think it would work better with maybe half the number of items to collect. Also, I got the impression that the walls in level 2 didn't kill me, whereas those in level 1 clearly did.
Level 3 I didn't really understand, except that I wasn't allowed to move while the blocks were moving.
Level 4 was frustrating, I worked out what I had to do fairly quickly but it was very hard to do it because the target sphere is so small, and if you look above or below yourself to see where it is, you're likely to get disoriented.

The final scene, with the ladder, was very compelling. It was a shock when I looked down and realised that I couldn't even see the ground any more. However, I think the text at the end detracts from the experience rather than enhances it. It's jarring because the rest of the game is completely non-verbal (except for the 'CAT').

*Assuming that the open field sections aren't counted as 'levels'.

Glad someone figured it out haha. I didn't realize I should've said that the game requires a bit of patience and deciphering to get through. Basically, don't move around too much if you don't see where you're going. Try to look around and see if you can figure out what's going on in each level if you feel stuck. There's details in each level that tells you what to do.

You can actually pick to play the levels in whatever order you want. And I agree about the text, and that some levels were kinda rushed. I actually had a really cool puzzle planned that I didn't have time to finish, that would've replaced your "Level 2".

There was also supposed to be a vague story in the game, where more text would appear onscreen, but I didn't have time to implement it well enough. I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing.

hurts my eyes

This

I beat one of the levels (the one with the big flashy tower in the maze), and I'll try out some of the other ones later. It's fun trying to figure out what all the visual cues mean, and how things that look abstract at first gain meaning once you know what to look for... but my eyes are bleeding... so... yeah...

DLing. Be back later.

Yeah I couldn't play it due to the beating my eyes took. May give it one more shot know that I know there are objectives? Yeah.

Playing this made me feel like I was on Speed and DXM, at the same time. Couldn't get past the second segment, unfortunately.

Seems like the game is a bit too abstract for most people, so... Here's an explanation and a walkthrough:
http://cactusquid.blogspot.com/2009/12/explanation-of-this-is-infinity.html

Hope this will let more people enjoy the game :whome:

totally... mind blowing. absolutely "enjoyed" this one,
i've actually never played something like that before...

these hints are definitely helpful, if not even needed...
it's such a strange place, i had no idea where to go first,
some, maybe cryptic hints could have kept me playing for longer at first try, i think...
still, i already enjoyed it's aesthetics,
and the strange sense of space. also, the colors drew interesting
pictures into my framebuffer, but i wasn't able to beat the levels,
i wasn't even sure if there's a way to do that :)
strange presentation -> unknown logics, i thought... not true after all,
spatial perception can be altered, but rigid space keeps rigid...
seems to be a good key concept to make new types of games.
after getting it now, it's even better! i like how the backgrounds
and the movement and everything gets distorted more and more when progressing, and
how it's structured, with a proper ending, and a set of different small levels... really cool,
i'd like to play more things like that...

keep it up!

Reading the walkthrough, I realize I had gotten to the last stage when I gave up  :facepalm:

This is one of the most confusing games i've ever seen .
i have to beat it first though ><"

I thought it was quite good, although rather confusing, particularly before I figured out that those things where portals that took you to the levels (but you addressed that in your blog post).

I've beaten two of the levels so far, although one of them was sort of on accident.  I figured out the pillar one, but the cone one I wasn't sure whether or not I was progressing in it, until finally it turned out I succeeded.  I think a bit more feedback that you're doing the right thing would be helpful in that level. 

This
The game doesn't tell you anything at all , maybe cactus meant to give the "lost" feeling to it , but still confusing .

I did mean to give players a feeling of being completely lost, but I was hoping that they would figure out what to do before they quit the game :droop:

XD , yeah , not everyone has 200+ IQ scores , you know .
i think the problem is that the player don't know which objects he has to interact with , i was chasing one of these CATs for a while thinking it would lead me to something XD , maybe a unique color would've done the trick .

I really like this game, it's an interesting idea.

I think something that would help is more sound effects for achieving objectives within levels. On the cone level it was clear to me that I should keep collecting these cone things once I got one of them due to the little noise that happens once you get one. The spheres were not as clear about this, once I got one of those it didn't seemed like anything really changed at all. I'd walk out and see a scene that looked almost indistinguishable from the last and think that the level had just been reset or something, an audio cue of the right kind could clarify this.

Same with the turning boxes. Once I got right up next to them, they started moving away from me, and since I was gauging my position based on the boxes rather than the floor, it was very confusing. After a while, I believed I was navigating through some kind of abstraction of 4 dimensional space (as in 4 spacial dimensions). I thought the boxes marked some kind of 3D centerpoint that my arrow keys navigated me in relation to, whereas as the mouse let me rotate my view through the fourth dimension. Again, this is something that may or may not be fixed with audio cues, but it's worth a shot.

The pillar level I thought was pretty clear though, and definitely my favorite.

I also thought that the rotating boxes represented some sort of mindblowing four-dimensional realm beyond my comprehension. Maybe save that for the sequel?

I beat it.:laughter:
And it proved something. Who needs drugs when you've got good ol' cactus?