Based on a true story (see post >>468262781), the Kirby-coded Goblorblike counterpart has successfully become a relic of Aggy culture since it was first announced a bit over two months ago. Gameplay-wise, Blorb has the lowest movement capabilities of any platforming mascot that comes to mind right now (not inherently a bad thing). A lot of the stages in the demo are based around building up some momentum before a long jump, mostly through the use of trampolines, and precisely, the most difficult section in the DD56 build comes from certain stage hazards that blow an air current at you, killing the speed you built up over multiple leaps.
Anons can be pretty cynical when it comes to the commercial viability of 2D platformers. Aware of that, I still believe that Blorb has a good chance standing out by further developing its low-mobility gameplay (of course, offering ways to let us accumulate speed boosts via specific maneuvers) and having constant checkpoints, kind of turning the frantic, high-difficulty precision platformer genre on its head. With its plot rooted in bona fide imageboard culture, the game's storytelling lends itself well to the inclusion of metafictional elements. What if it turns that Blorb is a younger Meta Knight in the end? Is Blobbos from Pokémon Clover related to him? You could go nuts with it just by adapting the shitposting the general alone provides.
Suggestion: faster Blorb respawn and invisible checkpoints.
Playthrough: 40+ minutes, maybe, over two sessions. In the first one, unlocked all secret stages up to the snow level (exclusive). The game didn't save my progress, so I used the cheat to unlock the bonus snow level and play the remaining normal stages on the second session.
Thanks for playing, and for the very detailed thoughts! The most recent web version has some altered movement mechanics where the focus is more on bouncing repeatedly to build up speed, but I'm not spending much time on it right now because I don't think improving my "platforming physics" skills will really have any benefit.
Very, very cute. Almost too cute, especially the death sprite (which is a horrible thing to say).
Music is fitting even if it's a bit simple, levels work exactly as they should. There's a bit of a slide after you land, but it's manageable.
My only critique would be - it's a bit too repetitive in terms of gameplay. There's almost no puzzle, just jump over enemies and traverse the levels. Which is fine, but I think it may get boring.
I can't seem to jump immediately upon landing. I can also walk through the Floor Tiles sideways. And I don't like the Graphics very much, especially in the Intro.
The Respawn locks me in Place, which I also don't like.
The flying Enemy floating Platform Section in the bonus Level is bad. If you don't arrive just in Time, you're going to assume you can jump ontop of the Enemies and get confused until you finally stay long enough to see the Platform appear.
They also don't line up their Cycle, so its luck based if you're able to get the right Cycle to pass them or not.
Apart from that one luck based Section, the "hard bonus level" was also incredible easy, especially compared to the first Level where you collect its Orb.
Level 1 and 2 are the same.
Level 2 in the Dark Lands at the End has a really bad Section, where you just kind of jump hoping to land somewhere safe.
The Music is alright.
Why do I start to jump when I walk in under a Trampoline from the Side? And why do you keep using new Elements in the Challenge Level before it is introduced in an actual Level? Overall the Level Design needs work I think.
Controls are also very slidy after a Jump ends, with in my Opinion too little Air control during a Jump.
Thanks for the very in-depth feedback! What do you mean by "Level 1 and 2 are the same"? Also by level 2 in the dark lands I'm assuming you mean the level with the clouds and ocean in the background, since the camera at the end there is pretty dicey.
I think I see what happened, you immediately go into level 1 after the cutscene, so after completing level 1, you might think that level 1 is a different level. That could be made clearer somehow. Also yep, that's the one I thought, it's definitely very bad with the camera towards the end.
Cute game that oozes a lot of soul. I really like the music. I managed to complete all levels except for 2 bonus ones.
Some minor nitpicks:
Controls are kinda weird. You use SPACE to jump, E to read signs and P to pause. But you also use P to progress from the intro cutscene. Wouldn't it make more sense to use SPACE or E to progress?
There doesn't seem to be a point to collecting blue blorbberries but I ended up going for them anyways. Maybe you could implement a level scoring system that's determined by completion speed + number of blorbberries picked up.
Bounce mechanic seems half baked. Blorb will bounce up after falling a certain distance but it never felt particularly useful. I think giving the player more control with a dedicated bounce button could be pretty cool.
Save system would be pretty nice. Only realized after I read another comment that I lost my progress :(
Thanks for playing! I'm really happy to hear you found it soulful. I agree with all the things you mentioned, most of them should be complete for Blorb: Definitive EditionTM.
I was blorbing the entire time. Played through it all, except for the bonus stuff. I pretty much ignored the blorberries too. Moving platforms were a bit wonky and laggy. Really nice that all levels have their own tilesets.
If you blorblieve in yourself blorbdev you can blorbcomplish anything.
Thanks for blorblieving! The moving platforms were a true conundrum because the game is pixel perfect, and it's hard to make them slow enough to feel good without having them be very obviously jittery when they move. Thankfully it seems nobody really commented on the background jittering (phew), but the jitter overall is one of my biggest concerns graphics-wise.
The platforming felt right and the character controlled well. I got stuck on the night level thinking there was a golden thing. There wasn't, I cut that part of the video because I was running around like a headless chicken. The game later tell you where they are so I have nobody to blame but myself.
I liked the bounce mechanic, it is a shame it is only used twice and in a bonus level at that. I can imagine it must be difficult to design around it though.
Thanks for blorblieving, and thanks for the gameplay video, those are always very helpful! You are probably the person with the most skill at the demo; I'm impressed you completed all the secret levels, especially the snow one.
It seems like pretty much everyone wants more bouncing. The problem I ran into with it was that if bouncing is based off of whether velocity is above an arbitrary threshold (that's how it works right now), it's unclear whether you are going to bounce or not so it feels imprecise. For the next version I think I'm going to add a dedicated bounce button, so blorb can bounce to his little heart's content.
Controls/physics feel a bit dry/unexciting. Level design is surprisingly good, even though it all looks plain and crap - there are actually many tricks to discover! Some quite delighting - some more annoying, but that is always the case, I think. Music is simple but actually awesome, especially the night level, I loved that.
Also I really like how easy the game is / how there are often optional hard paths. Sometimes I felt like taking the challenge, sometimes I just moved on the easy way.
Comments
Based on a true story (see post >>468262781), the Kirby-coded Goblorblike counterpart has successfully become a relic of Aggy culture since it was first announced a bit over two months ago. Gameplay-wise, Blorb has the lowest movement capabilities of any platforming mascot that comes to mind right now (not inherently a bad thing). A lot of the stages in the demo are based around building up some momentum before a long jump, mostly through the use of trampolines, and precisely, the most difficult section in the DD56 build comes from certain stage hazards that blow an air current at you, killing the speed you built up over multiple leaps.
Anons can be pretty cynical when it comes to the commercial viability of 2D platformers. Aware of that, I still believe that Blorb has a good chance standing out by further developing its low-mobility gameplay (of course, offering ways to let us accumulate speed boosts via specific maneuvers) and having constant checkpoints, kind of turning the frantic, high-difficulty precision platformer genre on its head. With its plot rooted in bona fide imageboard culture, the game's storytelling lends itself well to the inclusion of metafictional elements. What if it turns that Blorb is a younger Meta Knight in the end? Is Blobbos from Pokémon Clover related to him? You could go nuts with it just by adapting the shitposting the general alone provides.
Suggestion: faster Blorb respawn and invisible checkpoints.
Playthrough: 40+ minutes, maybe, over two sessions. In the first one, unlocked all secret stages up to the snow level (exclusive). The game didn't save my progress, so I used the cheat to unlock the bonus snow level and play the remaining normal stages on the second session.
Thanks for playing, and for the very detailed thoughts! The most recent web version has some altered movement mechanics where the focus is more on bouncing repeatedly to build up speed, but I'm not spending much time on it right now because I don't think improving my "platforming physics" skills will really have any benefit.
Very, very cute. Almost too cute, especially the death sprite (which is a horrible thing to say).
Music is fitting even if it's a bit simple, levels work exactly as they should. There's a bit of a slide after you land, but it's manageable.
My only critique would be - it's a bit too repetitive in terms of gameplay. There's almost no puzzle, just jump over enemies and traverse the levels. Which is fine, but I think it may get boring.
But I like it. It's a cute little game.
Thanks for playing and for streaming!
Played for roughly 30m.
I can't seem to jump immediately upon landing. I can also walk through the Floor Tiles sideways. And I don't like the Graphics very much, especially in the Intro.
The Respawn locks me in Place, which I also don't like.
The flying Enemy floating Platform Section in the bonus Level is bad. If you don't arrive just in Time, you're going to assume you can jump ontop of the Enemies and get confused until you finally stay long enough to see the Platform appear.
They also don't line up their Cycle, so its luck based if you're able to get the right Cycle to pass them or not.
Apart from that one luck based Section, the "hard bonus level" was also incredible easy, especially compared to the first Level where you collect its Orb.
Level 1 and 2 are the same.
Level 2 in the Dark Lands at the End has a really bad Section, where you just kind of jump hoping to land somewhere safe.
The Music is alright.
Why do I start to jump when I walk in under a Trampoline from the Side? And why do you keep using new Elements in the Challenge Level before it is introduced in an actual Level? Overall the Level Design needs work I think.
Controls are also very slidy after a Jump ends, with in my Opinion too little Air control during a Jump.
Thanks for the very in-depth feedback! What do you mean by "Level 1 and 2 are the same"? Also by level 2 in the dark lands I'm assuming you mean the level with the clouds and ocean in the background, since the camera at the end there is pretty dicey.
unless I selected wrongly, the first 2 Levels you select on the overworld are the same.
As with level 2 in dark Lands, the second Level in the Worldmap on the Dark Parts. The one before the Ice Level.
I think I see what happened, you immediately go into level 1 after the cutscene, so after completing level 1, you might think that level 1 is a different level. That could be made clearer somehow. Also yep, that's the one I thought, it's definitely very bad with the camera towards the end.
Cute game that oozes a lot of soul. I really like the music. I managed to complete all levels except for 2 bonus ones.
Some minor nitpicks:
Controls are kinda weird. You use SPACE to jump, E to read signs and P to pause. But you also use P to progress from the intro cutscene. Wouldn't it make more sense to use SPACE or E to progress?
There doesn't seem to be a point to collecting blue blorbberries but I ended up going for them anyways. Maybe you could implement a level scoring system that's determined by completion speed + number of blorbberries picked up.
Bounce mechanic seems half baked. Blorb will bounce up after falling a certain distance but it never felt particularly useful. I think giving the player more control with a dedicated bounce button could be pretty cool.
Save system would be pretty nice. Only realized after I read another comment that I lost my progress :(
Looking forward to your next project!
Thanks for playing! I'm really happy to hear you found it soulful. I agree with all the things you mentioned, most of them should be complete for Blorb: Definitive EditionTM.
I was blorbing the entire time. Played through it all, except for the bonus stuff. I pretty much ignored the blorberries too. Moving platforms were a bit wonky and laggy. Really nice that all levels have their own tilesets.
If you blorblieve in yourself blorbdev you can blorbcomplish anything.
Thanks for blorblieving! The moving platforms were a true conundrum because the game is pixel perfect, and it's hard to make them slow enough to feel good without having them be very obviously jittery when they move. Thankfully it seems nobody really commented on the background jittering (phew), but the jitter overall is one of my biggest concerns graphics-wise.
I blorblieved. Video:
The platforming felt right and the character controlled well. I got stuck on the night level thinking there was a golden thing. There wasn't, I cut that part of the video because I was running around like a headless chicken. The game later tell you where they are so I have nobody to blame but myself.I liked the bounce mechanic, it is a shame it is only used twice and in a bonus level at that. I can imagine it must be difficult to design around it though.
I had anenjoyable time, nice job.
Thanks for blorblieving, and thanks for the gameplay video, those are always very helpful! You are probably the person with the most skill at the demo; I'm impressed you completed all the secret levels, especially the snow one.
It seems like pretty much everyone wants more bouncing. The problem I ran into with it was that if bouncing is based off of whether velocity is above an arbitrary threshold (that's how it works right now), it's unclear whether you are going to bounce or not so it feels imprecise. For the next version I think I'm going to add a dedicated bounce button, so blorb can bounce to his little heart's content.
Having a button for bouncing sounds nice, kinda like a ground pound.
Hey I found this
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2137186060
Controls/physics feel a bit dry/unexciting. Level design is surprisingly good, even though it all looks plain and crap - there are actually many tricks to discover! Some quite delighting - some more annoying, but that is always the case, I think. Music is simple but actually awesome, especially the night level, I loved that.
Also I really like how easy the game is / how there are often optional hard paths. Sometimes I felt like taking the challenge, sometimes I just moved on the easy way.
Thanks for playing and giving feedback!