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[phubans]

Awesome game, I posted my thoughts on the front page. Forgive my one comment that might come off as a bit harsh; I was pretty frustrated with that one area of the game, but the rest is pretty much fantastic. Here is my feedback:

I'm at a point where I *think* I've explored everything I can and everything that hasn't been reached seems like I need some kind of add-on ability like high-jump or float-fall... Not sure if these mechanics are in the game, but I'm otherwise not sure how to proceed through some areas.

Also, I think this game would benefit greatly from a Metroid-style mini-map with 3 states per cell: unexplored, explored, and complete (complete being the state it gets when you've collected the bag in the room/done everything you can there) - Granted not all rooms have a bag but maybe they should? Though that might screw with your current %age complete algorithm.

[J. Kyle Pittman]

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I debated including a mini-map with markers like you described, but I was worried it might make the endgame treasure hunting too easy. Plus I didn't want to steal everything from VVVVVV. 

There are a couple of power-ups that you need to reach new places. The first two activate the "ghost" blocks, and once you have those, you can cross back to the other side of the "Tower of Sorrows/Regrets" rooms, which is where the next leg of the game takes place.

[vinheim3]

Personally, I prefer not having a mini-map. I'm going to draw my own anyway, noting down how paths connect with each other and where obstacles are, so I can revisit them with new power-ups and get the treasure they're hiding. It removes the sense of exploration. Also too many games nowadays are handholdy and give you everything you need to know anyway.

Though if you do put one in, something like Super Metroid (shows a few rooms around your one, can't see the whole map) or La Mulana (have to bring up a menu to see it, shows rooms but not how they connect, no markers, so you have a general idea of where all the rooms are and you still need to explore to get to them) would help make the game more accessible for others.

[Franklin's Ghost]

I liked the difficulty and no hand holding with map too and think it's probably one of the reasons I couldn't stop playing and actually had to finish it with 100%. Not sure if I would have done it or enjoyed it as much if I was guided more.

[moi]

Very nicely done, but this is definitely not my type of game 

[Ninja Dodo]

I would not add a map, or only one that unlocks after you win the game. That way completionists can have an easier time, but it doesn't take away from the exploration on the first playthrough.

[Radiant]

Well, that was fun. I got 100% now, and a winner is me. I haven't noticed any invisible objects, perhaps the % depends on how many rooms you've seen (as well as bags/hearts collected)?

But I had to look in this thread to figure out the magic stuff. I didn't really like how most of the in-game hints are actually red herrings (that the cats don't know; the map in the legend room; stuff like that). How is "arc" an answer to the question "what do you want from me"? Does the hero want an arc?

[eobet]

Saw this on the front page. Looks incredibly cute. But  no OS X version...

[J. Kyle Pittman]

Well, that was fun. I got 100% now, and a winner is me. I haven't noticed any invisible objects, perhaps the % depends on how many rooms you've seen (as well as bags/hearts collected)?

But I had to look in this thread to figure out the magic stuff. I didn't really like how most of the in-game hints are actually red herrings (that the cats don't know; the map in the legend room; stuff like that). How is "arc" an answer to the question "what do you want from me"? Does the hero want an arc?

You raise some good points. I wanted the narrative elements (to use the term very liberally) to be sort of mysterious, but it's definitely a fine line between mysterious and confusing or misleading. If you're curious...

The map on the wall is supposed to roughly show the location of the map room itself, the magic word, and where the word is used, though of course there isn't much fidelity there. Mostly I just wanted to call a room

so I couldn't very well justify not putting a map in there.

"Arc" doesn't really mean anything (other than being a pointless reference to Arc Aether Anomalies, another game I made a few years back). I needed a short word that would read well in the level, and it fit the bill.

The stuff written on the walls loosely ties into the mechanic of losing the game and getting dropped back at the start. The idea is that someone else was stuck in the loop and never made it out, and he started scribbling notes to himself on the walls. Maybe it's the same guy who died after writing "arc"...or...maybe not! DUN DUN DUN.

Oh and I guess this one's not really a spoiler, but since I don't think I've mentioned it before, the cats in the cat level are totally my own real life cats, Samus and Lara. Though after this recent Tomb Raider debacle, I've been debating changing Lara's name to either "Jade" or "Zelda." It's not like she answers to "Lara," anyway. Silly cat. 

[Hayden Scott-Baron]

This is cool, although I wanted to like it more than I did. I got [spoiler]a few orbs[/spoiler] but found myself lost and bored later on.  There were a lot of points in the game where I felt I was waiting a long time for the objects to get out of sync, or just randomly pushing through sections until I got lucky.

There are a lot of one way sections in the game that didn't let me explore or experiment as much as I wanted to.

Nevertheless, I love the art and I think it's a great little game.

[RetsamugA]

this game is awesome !! i played it four hours, but i lost  ,anyway is fantastic, very cool retro style and the gameplay is noy easy,with a nice exploration. This is just a new classic

[Ben_Hurr]

I liked the difficulty and no hand holding with map too and think it's probably one of the reasons I couldn't stop playing and actually had to finish it with 100%. Not sure if I would have done it or enjoyed it as much if I was guided more.

I wouldn't mind a simple minimap, it'd help me remember where I haven't explored yet. 

[BGrater]

Just finished this game (100%).  Wow, that was a lot of fun!

Overall, very polished and felt very well thought through.  I think the room names were a good call and added a lot of humor to the game (like in VVVVVV).

I also appreciated the personal touches such as the cats, etc.  This created a real dialogue between the designer and myself.  When I feel that a designer has some personal investment in their game it makes me much more interested in where it will go.

The magic symbol puzzle was clever, magic word could have be a little clearer though.  I found the word but when I tried it and it said "not recognized" so I assumed there must be more to it (false negatives = frustration).

CRT effect was cool and the whole 3D intro thing was nice.

Great game!

[Kabuto]

There's now also a version for Commodore 64 available here.

[rgcd.co.uk]

There's now also a version for Commodore 64 available here.

Top quality demake work

[Hipshot]

This CRTeffect, combined with this simple and strict game, it's just awesome. The crt effect really pulls you in.