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[Chyme]

Inconsistency is a short, 30 minute experimental platformer about inconsistent controls.

This was somewhat of a design experiment to develop a game around an idea that seemed inherently bad--in this case tampering with the player’s controls during gameplay--and transform it into a playable, enjoyable experience.

This game is for Windows only, and can be downloaded here:
https://chyme.itch.io/inconsistency









Controls

Arrow Keys - Move, jump, and drop through certain platforms.

M – Mute/Unmute the background music

Esc – Exit the game
Alt+Enter – Switch to Windowed Mode


Saving

This game does not support saving, however you can use some debug functions to act as a level select. See debug.txt in the download for more information.


Feedback

While I'm always interested in hearing player's feedback on the game, I'm especially looking for thoughts on the following:

-How would you rate the game’s difficulty? Would you prefer if it was easier, or perhaps you were looking for a bigger challenge? Did you complete the game?

-Would this be something that would interest you if it was a full-fledged project? (2-5hr commercial game)

-The art style was deliberately minimalist for prototype reasons. What are your thoughts on the bare-bone graphics, and do you have any recommendations for changes to the graphic style of the game? If you are still deciding whether or not to play the game, is it because of the bare graphics?


Lastly, thanks in advance for taking the time to look over this project. Feel free to share any other ideas or critiques you have in mind as well--what you did or did not like about the experience, or what you'd change or do differently. Cheers~
-Matt G.

[Sharmin]

I got to a screen with just a loading bar I think above it and I waited a while and nothing happened

[Chyme]

Hmm.. do you mean you were unable to run the game? Or was this in-game? Would you be able to provide a screen shot?

Also, would you mind letting me know what Operating System you're running? Thanks!

[belbeeno]

Hmm, I tried running this on Windows 10 Home and nothing came up; like not even a loading bar or a window.  What did you use to make this, if you don't mind me asking?

[Chyme]

Hmm, I tried running this on Windows 10 Home and nothing came up; like not even a loading bar or a window.  What did you use to make this, if you don't mind me asking?

Hi belbeeno, I used Game Maker: Studio Pro to publish the Windows executable file. I have heard that Windows 10 complains about the .exe not being digitally signed, which is a huge pain for end users and I haven't found any workaround (other than having it signed, of course.)

It's strange to hear that absolutely nothing comes up when you run the game. I'd like to figure out why. Are your security settings configured to automatically not run unsigned .exe files by chance? None of my playtesters experienced these problems. (So I guess this was posted in the right thread!)

[bynine]

this was a treat! simple, unique idea that you got a ton of creative use out of. the later sections were a great challenge. also, as it so happens, it controls very consistently within its own rules, haha...

minor nitpicks:
the music doesn't fit the aesthetics or gameplay.
the yellow light on the robot's head is near indistinguishable with the background, which isn't a terrible problem but was a little annoying

[belbeeno]

When I try to run it I do get the signature warning, but even when I tell the game to run nothing shows up on screen.  When I try to run it again, it just continues to presumably close itself.  I know I've run GM games on here before, so this is new to me.

[Chyme]

Hi all,

Over the weekend I had a variety of friends test the game on several Windows 10 machines and they were able to run it without any issues (other than the code-signing warning anyway.) So unfortunately I wasn't able to resolve the issue, but will keep looking.

this was a treat! simple, unique idea that you got a ton of creative use out of. the later sections were a great challenge. also, as it so happens, it controls very consistently within its own rules, haha...

minor nitpicks:
the music doesn't fit the aesthetics or gameplay.
the yellow light on the robot's head is near indistinguishable with the background, which isn't a terrible problem but was a little annoying

Thanks Bynine! I'm glad someone was able to play it without tech issues getting in the way! Thank you for your critiques as well. The music was done by a 3rd party composer and perhaps I can take the blame for being a bad director as it was his 3rd piece for the game (the first two being scrapped.) It was tricky, I personally like the piece he did but I agree in that it doesn't fit the theme. In the end I made sure you could mute the music if you prefer. As far as the light, it could probably be changed from yellow so it doesn't bleed into the background. I also didn't want it to be a primary visual element.