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A Woman Named Mariella's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #458 | 3.259 | 3.259 |
| Gameplay | #469 | 3.222 | 3.222 |
| Theme | #534 | 3.519 | 3.519 |
| Enjoyment | #604 | 3.222 | 3.222 |
| Overall | #610 | 3.185 | 3.185 |
| Innovation | #744 | 2.963 | 2.963 |
| Visuals | #1035 | 2.926 | 2.926 |
Ranked from 27 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
(Spoilers) The game features points where you have to make choices based on what the narrator and others have told you and you don't know who to trust.
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
The music and sfx
How many people worked on the game?1
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Comments
alright so
i love the idea of having 2 narrators one being the dev that is wonderful and fits the theme, the flying ability bit is a funny bit, something i feel glados from portal would do
also the use of scripts and folders being rummaged was delightful
however the game (especially early on) is incredibly hard, partially due to level design but mostly due to controls
the level design: its actually not bad, and very creative at times, but could use some more forgiving obstacles, and probably could behave more predictably, like the falling files and spikes are hard to avoid sometimes and could get frustrating, maybe a small telegraph like letters from code lines fall out from when something is about to fall
the controls, for a 2d platformer that is focused on precise movements, like to bait the traps out, it itself needs to be more precise, so lowering the deceleration or making the player stop instantly could help
also i noticed the collisions acting a bit gittery, there is an option in unity's Collision box 2d called detection mode, and setting it from discrete to constant fixed that issue (it makes detections more frequent), i would recommend doing that for the player and the traps since they are moving fast
lastly the screenshake, it gives impact but having it trigger on every fall is too much, i would say make it trigger only on long fall lands instead of every landing
overall well done on the submission!
It gave me so much joy to hear that the flying ability reminded you of glados as the writing in portal is my all time favorite :)
I'm planning to restructure the levels to at least move harder gauntlets to optional endings closer to the end of the game and not open with them as this has been reported multiple times. I like the idea of having a bit more warning on the falling objects, I'll definitely look into that.
I wholeheartedly agree that having a more precise controller would be better and will put it on my to-do list.
On the collision detection could you have meant the setting in the rigidbodies called collision detection? I forgot to set to continuous on the fake scripts and files which I just changed on my local build. The player already had this but if you could tell me if the collisions felt iffy elsewhere that would be great.
I did try to limit the screen shake and tied it to player downward momentum so they would not get it when stepping down or something. I'll look into decreasing it further.
Thank you so much for playing and for the kind, detailed and constructive feedback! It really means a lot<3
Although I wasnt able to clear the first level (skill issue) I really like the evil narrator idea and had a great time! :)
Thanks for trying it out. I definitely plan on putting the skill heavy gauntlets closer to the end in future games ;)
I’ve already posted this on Discord, but I’ll repeat it here now.
I like it. Funny game, I love all these meta jokes. I came across a couple of bugs when transitioning to new scenes, but nothing too serious.
It's a shame there's no secret ending, when you return to previous scenes having unlocked jumping.
The game was a bit difficult in places, but for me it wasn't as difficult as some people say in the comments.
I also liked the fact that the "bad ending" is probably the best ending, but the developer deliberately called it "bad" to encourage the player to try the game again and, this time, fall into the developer's trap
Hard but fun, Well Done
Thanks!
Hehe, really cool game, full of surprises! ;) Currently studying the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. 😂
I love the characters and audio as well!
Thanks so much for playing, and that's really nice to hear. You would really get along with the narrator😂
Got to all three endings. I liked the pit the best, but something bugged out in the scene transition to the sad ending so i didn’t really get to see that one fully. The part I liked the most was the narration, though it was a bit hard to read the way it was presented. The platforming did feel a bit slippery and stuff moved super fast. After closing down the recording I realized that indeed the game scales incorrectly when in fullscreen so that the bottom gets cropped.
Very nice entry though!
Play-through with more feedback:
Nice video! Watching you play really helped me understand what flows well and what doesn't for a new player. I'd also not noticed the sad ending screen not triggering or the screen cropping some of the game out, I'll look at these when I get the chance. I'll also work on making the narrator text more legible. Thank you so much for playing and leaving such detailed feedback!
Well done!
Got all the content, I guess?)
The difficulty curve spikes a little too sharply for my taste. But as fan of IWBTB im fine with that.
Thanks for playing and for the feedback! I'm planning to update the structure post jam.
Nice entry. It reminded me a lot of older flash games like "Give up" or "Depict1" with some "The Stanley Parable" sprinkled on top.
It's a bit of a shame that most of your difficulty is contained within the initial gauntlet, once the player is done with it it's mostly narration until the end. The gauntlet itself is pretty good however, easy to figure out but tough to get through due to Mariella being both heavy and slippery.
I appreciate you having multiple endings. Having to replay the gauntlet every time is fine by me but I was a bit frustrated to have to watch the narrator rummage through the codebase each time. An option to skip this on repeat playthrough would be much appreciated.
Solid job overal, hope you get to 20 ratings
Thank you for the kind words and feedback. I'm planning to build an update post jam, scaling difficulty the other way with some endings being harder. It's really helpful to hear about the dialogue getting repetitive, I'll make sure to either add a skip for it or only have one ending per long dialogue.
Thank you so much!
I thought my game was raging people enough. Seems like I could have try harder lol. Really nice game.
Yeah I probably went a bit to far. thank you!
Rage inducing, love it!
Thank you!
nice and good game
Thanks!
Got all endings! Was unsure of who to trust since they both seem shady.
Really nice and fun game. The friction could be increased a bit though.
Thank you so much. The friction thing was originally implemented to combat player slowing down upon landing but I'll look at reducing it or finding another fix. Thanks for the feedback!
Cool approach! I liked meeting >you<, but sadly my game got kinda stuck after the dialog. When i walked left nothing really happened and when i turned right the game did not continue. It _might_ be intended, but i as the player felt "trapped" inside a bug :D
I'm glad you liked most of it and I'm sorry to hear you encountered this bug. I'll investigate and try to patch after the jam.
Hi ! I like your game. For a solo game you did very well ! And unlike me you're brave enough to make your own visuals <3
Like the others said, the first level felt too difficult for a start. That being said, I think it's just a balancing thing that we have to learn by doing more games (I have similar issues T_T) As for the rest, I thought your levels were clever and fun to play with a clear puzzle at every step. You also managed to make deaths less frustrating than in most games by simply making the player respawn without an upsetting sfx and/or death-screen. That + the music you chose made your game cozy and agreable to play despite sometimes repetitive deaths before understanding + managing to be precise enough to do the thing.
Thanks for your game, I think it deserves more attention than it got !
Thank you so much for the kind words and helpful feedback<3 I'll play yours shortly.
Oh no I killed the narrator! They both seemed a little too sketchy for me. I was preparing to say halfway through that the theme’s application felt like an afterthought, but as it got more meta, it felt about right. Cool puzzles and not too in-your-face with the story. I know you didn’t make the sfx, but you chose and applied them very nicely
Thank you so much!
Hello, I think the 1st level is too hard compared to next levels (almost made me quit but I'm stubborn D:). And there is also some slippery when the character landed after the jump. Other than that, it's still a fun platforming experience! Great job for doing this solo and still get it done!
Thanks for the feedback! I plan to update the level progression after the jam.
Was the visual style inspired by *Celeste*? The character looks quite similar, and I really liked it.
The first level was pretty tough, but the others were really fun. Deviating from the script was pure cinematic gold.
I think it's mostly a matter of balancing the levels to make the experience more enjoyable.
Excellent work. congratulations!
Thank you so much! Yes the character especially was inspired by Celeste, and thank you for the feedback it's really helpful.
Couldn't really finish the game, first level was a bit too hard and confusing, other than that though congrats on getting the game out!
Ah ok. Thanks for the feedback!