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Merlin's Musickal Machine's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #72 | 3.212 | 3.212 |
| Graphics | #82 | 3.485 | 3.485 |
| Innovation | #112 | 3.061 | 3.061 |
| Overall | #182 | 2.945 | 2.945 |
| Gameplay | #239 | 2.727 | 2.727 |
| Theme | #383 | 2.242 | 2.242 |
Ranked from 33 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Challenges
Open Source
Deploy to Wavedash
GitHub repository url
https://github.com/wwsimonkalimanus/MerlinsMusickalMachine
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Comments
well made environment and loved the ambient music. graphics also fit well. Hope you continue developing this!
The world is so captivating! I also really liked the vibe of the intro (ツ)ノ
Love the look of the game! I was slightly lost at first and explored the island. Reading the comments it seems like you're supposed to find an instrument or two(?) but I never found one. Was a pity since I really wanted to start jamming!
The "instruments" are conch shells, turtles, and coconuts. I'm sure you found plenty! Just walk up to one, hit the Action key (down arrow or A button) and you'll pick it up. Then you can use A/down arrow to play random notes on it or hang it up on something from the environment (Windy Trees, Drippy Branches, or Bubbling Brooks) to make it play on loop (it will make a different type of sound depending on what you put it on) or hit Y to go into Music Mode. In music mode, all the keys on your controller face or WASD and up down left right arrows will control the music, and TAB or SELECT will escape.
I hope you try it again with that knowledge, and now you'll be able to enjoy it a million times more! I will be adding a tutorial mode after the jam to make sure everyone can fully enjoy Merlin's Musickal Machine!
Loved the Intro. Great concept. :)))
Thanks so much!
Really cool gameplay. To be onest I could play for hours in a full version, after the jam, with more mechanics.
Tell me some of the mechanics you might be interested to see!
I don't know, like varying with the instruments or challenges like friday night funkin.
Really interesting gameplay mechanics. Excellent execution, I give it a 5/5 score without a doubt.
Lovely, thank you so much! I hope the lack of tutorial didn't detract from the experience... Once the voting period is over I definitely plan on expanding this, and a tutorial is top priority!
i liked the exploring aspect and discovering things by accident. unique visuals!
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it! Keep an eye out because I'm really looking forward to expanding this.
I like the music idea, but a small tutorial would be great! I walked around the island everywhere, but I still didn't know what I was supposed to do.
Thanks for trying it! I hope you save it to a list and check back, because I definitely plan on adding the tutorial and expanding with more instruments. There's nothing to do but create music and enjoy the island! You can either play instruments or attach them to the environment to play loops. If more than two are playing at once, the birds will join you!
That sounds great! I will wait for the update. I really want to see more different instruments in the game. Also, the graphics you made are already very beautiful. Good luck!
Hmm, I think this game would really benefit from a tutorial. I had no idea what to do, so I explored everywhere, but I still couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do.
I was trying, but I ran out of time, so I posted all over the page and the comments about the controls. I know that's not sufficient and it would benefit from a tutorial, and I absolutely plan on expanding this, not just with a tutorial, but I really enjoyed this and I think it deserves to get made into a full, real game. I hope you save it so you can come back and check it out, because everyone who has figured it out has really enjoyed it! There is no goal outside to make music and relax!
I like those types of experiences where you just explore and you don't have any goal at all, reminded me of other games like Pineapple on Pizza.
Was I supposed to keep walking when I pick up an instrument? I tried to click B and other keys but my character just got trapped and couldn't move anymore. Anyways, I also loved the concept of sharing an Island. Nice game!
You must have hit the Music Mode button. Once you pick up an instrument you can carry it around and play random notes with the Action key or you can hit the Music Mode/Whistle button to enter Music Mode, where you use all the controller buttons to play music or hit select/Tab to go back to walkabout mode. You can also attach items to the environment (Windy Trees, Drippy Branches, or Bubbling Brooks) to play a loop unique to that particular combination!
Interesting game! Is the bird just a regular critter? It doesn't seem to react to the music. The achievements are a great addition, but I couldn't find any clues about how to unlock more of them. Good work overall!
The bird reacts if you have two or more items attached to environmental objects playing automatically, at which point they will start to sing along.
Oh, I din't know I could do that :D
Yup! Every item you can pick up can be attached to Windy Trees, Drippy Branches, or Bubbling Brooks to make its own musical loop!
I really wish I'd had time to add a tutorial!
Amazing art style and really nice presentation. The visuals stand out immediately. Great work!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing artstyle but lack of any directions and alternative options what to do
Glad you liked the art style! There's not much to say about what you're supposed to do... Just walk around making and enjoying music! I was trying to add a tutorial mode but I didn't have enough time. I hope once that goes up you'll come give it another look!
I love the artstyle and the audio vibe of both the music and ambience! Well done!
Thank you so much! I'm happy to have been part of what turned out to be a pretty musical jam, with yourself included!
Very calm cool game. I really enjoyed the music mode, the drawn style and the little details like the island generations and the achivement pop up. Overall I love how you get rewarded for exploring the enviroment. Amazing submission!!
I got called a whistlin’ fool.. fun little game, nice ui and interesting concept. Could definitely be built into something far more intricate and production ready!
what a great experience, trying out every items while listening to the atmosphere and the notes are pretty relaxing. There's also many tiny details found while i explore the island, I had no major complain beside the controls that were confusing at first, but once i got a hang of it it's fun to just mess around in the island and unlocking achievement. Also i don't know what caused it but somehow i encountered a minor bug where conch sound keep playing even after i drop the item. But it fixes itself once i picked up another item though. Fantastic work!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I plan on adding instruments and environmental objects to make it so you can have a whole orchestra on your island, plus the ability to record and loop instrumental performances. I hope you keep an eye on it!
Interesting sandbox game. The achievements are a fun way to keep the player exploring more (add the achievements to Wavedash too could be a good idea)
The controls are confusing unless I open the instruction page to read. I didn’t know how to stop playing music for example. It would be nice to have the instructions in the “Pause”-mode too, or some on boarding to help the player get started. (It’s funny how Merlin taps with his foot in pause mode, haha).
The game has a lot of charm with unique aesthetics and several instruments. Relaxing game, good job!
For people not being able to start a new island, I had to write a longer name, and restart the game once for it to work.
Interesting, I would think a shorter name would work better, since the name is the seed randomizer. I'm not sure why the achievements don't work on Wavedash... some of them do, and some don't, and for the life of me I can't tell which ones work without actively trying to get them all (there's 40!).
And I was hoping to add some control indicators in-game, but ran out of time. I will certainly be adding them as soon as I get a chance. The notes in free Music Mode are probably the most difficult... it's S, A, D, W, down, left, right, up, or on controller down, left, right, up, A, X, B, Y in order from the root note to the octave. Triggers change key, bumpers change tempo. I hope that helps!
Merlin's Musickal Machine has a lot of charm. The visuals are lovely, and seeing the grass and environment react to the music is a fantastic touch.
Unfortunately, the controls are confusing — and as someone with no musical background, I felt pretty lost. I also ran into a technical issue: the island wouldn't load until I spammed the Enter key repeatedly.
Still, it's a creative and interesting submission with a unique identity.
Thanks for trying it out, and for the encouraging words! I wanted to add some on-screen controller help, but I failed to get it finished on time... I will certainly be adding to it in the future though! And, as far as the controls go when you're in music mode... think about WASD as the d-pad on a controller, and Up, Down, Left, and Right as the face buttons (unless you're using a controller, in which case, picture the d-pad as the d-pad and the face buttons as the face buttons). The left side is your lower four notes, and the right side is your upper four notes. In order, the notes go bottom to top, left to right, so the bottom button is the lowest note, then left, then right, then up. So, on keyboard, a full octave is S, A, D, W, Down, Left, Right, Up, and on a controller it's Down, Left, Right, Up, A, X, B, Y. The triggers change octave, and the bumpers change tempo.
I hope that helps you enjoy it a bit more, and in the future I'll definitely be adding on-screen control indicators!
I was able to create the island, the graphics are cool, I think the notes are pre set I would love to be able to create my own music with button assigned notes but I know that imply more development time, good submission
No, no, you can play your own notes! Whistling uses preset notes, and if you pick up an item, the action button plays it randomly like the whistle, but if you hit Y or Up Arrow you go into Music Mode! In music mode, you can use the D-pad (WASD) and face buttons (arrow keys) to control the notes, triggers to control octave, and bumpers to control tempo. When controlling notes, the controls on the left are lower pitched, the controls on the right are higher pitched, and the order on each side is bottom button, left button, right button, top button. So, to play a full scale on keyboard, you would hit S, A, D, W, Down, Left, Right, Up, and on controller you would do Down, Left, Right, Up, A, X, B, Y.
Enjoy!
Sweet, will try it again