Hero of Memory
*Some people have been experiencing slow down with the web version above. My apologies if you experience this, I have been told the download does not have this issue.*
This game was made in 7 days for the 8 Bits to Infinity: Text Only Jam.
Restriction: no art other than ASCII characters
Theme: Dragons and Dungeons
Controls (more options on menu):
Default (Keyboard):
Left/Right Arrow - Move
Up - Jump
Space - Throw Dot
Aphantasia is a condition in which some people are unable to visualize mental images. I didn't realize until my teens that when someone said something like "imagine you are on a beach... see the sand, waves, etc" that a lot of people actually see that in their head. This game is a rough attempt to show visually how a person that can't "picture the scene in their head" recalls memories. At times it can feel like sifting through a world of words to put the right ones together. Sometimes it's an easy path to follow. While still others require a bit of a fight for the last little details.
Status | Released |
Platforms | HTML5, Windows, macOS, Linux |
Rating | Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars (21 total ratings) |
Author | Vimlark |
Genre | Platformer |
Made with | Construct |
Tags | 2D, Short, Side Scroller, Story Rich |
Download
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Development log
- Fixed bugsJan 15, 2020
Comments
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Genius concept! Very fun to play through, found myself smiling the whole time.
One word MORE
Haha, genious! Lost an i... :D
Fantastic! This shouldn't be free
^ This
i can't tell the difference between this and a steam release
I WON YAY
Nuts.... I got to a certain point and fell, but the checkpoint was behind a "push" word so I couldn't go forward. And there was no way to reset. I think I'd have to start the entire game over to get through there...
This is a great concept but I think the pacing was really slow and the enemies/platforming was too easy. A bit of challenge would have made each level feel more unique, but this was a great game! I like the boss the best
i fell in "these halls look the same" and cant get back now because the word 'Push' is no longer where it originally was and i needed to start over :(
Very good agme but at one point I died on a spike and got sent waay farther back than I should of, and couldn't get back because to get where the spike was I went on a moving platform.
What a fantastical way to tell a story! I wonder what it would be like to try and add branching paths in a game like this :O
rlly cool and unique idea. well done, Vim.
potatoes are tasty
yes they are my friend
Good.
Cool Game and So Fun
Watch Text Only Jam (8 Bits to Infinity) Feedback Part 2/2 from MrJoshuaMcLean on www.twitch.tv
I'm not good at parkour but haha fun game nonetheless, however I felt no connection to Dragons or Dungeons! :)
The tie in is in the story and the final boss is a literal dragon. I did the best I could with the theme. Thanks for playing.
I a r
g e e but I never played DND
contains death loops thanks to bad spawns
There is a bug that can happen if the player manages to hit a checkpoint trigger before they should. I will be fixing this when I can upload an update. Sorry it happened to you.
Nice concept! I liked throwing my "head", and the way the story was told through platforms. The "platforming" felt a bit unreliable though, and the enemies' hitboxes were a bit too big. I would go next to them and die. The music felt much darker than the rest of the mood. The dragon was funny and cool audiovisuals -wise, but I wish the actual fight was more challenging. The concept could easily be made into a longer experience. Good job!
Thanks for the feedback.
Very cool prototype. I relate to the theme on a personal level - I am statistically prone to developing dementia, as it runs in the family. I have always strived to create a game that encaptures the loss of memory, and while this game is not quite that, it does deliver a similar message.
Aside from that, the gameplay was alright. I agree with another comment about feeling like I needed more checkpoints, but that is more of a shoving-it-under-the-bed solution to the actual problem. It's surprisingly likely how often I'd just fall off of things. Whether it is due to unclear hitboxes, the controls, or whatever, it would happen. And this where the lack of checkpoints would frustrate me; if you're not activating new words as you go, the game is pretty stale. So additional checkpoints could alleviate that, or finding a way to prevent unnecessary deaths.
But overall, I enjoyed the message and the boss fight was funny. Perhaps you could check out my game and give me equally honest feedback - because everyone can improve!
Thanks for the feedback. I agree there needs to be more checkpoints and I think some of the issues people are having is the player is too fast for the small platforms. I will make those changes after the judging is complete. I will definitely check out your game and give feedback.
I finished the game. Pretty cool. I'm curious what happens if you don't collect all the @ symbols but not enough to restart the game.
I have one criticism:
There's a bit after "The light dim from lack of oxygen", "A s" then "nae" grouped together. This makes it impossible to proceed. The N and the E block the A. Previously, you could leap on to words out of order but I just fall thru "person".
Then I discovered you can throw your head with space. I don't remember that being a function because I hadn't used it til then. There's no instructions on the game's page either.
There is just a different message if you don't collect all the @ symbols so you aren't missing much.
The controls are on the menu and there is a hint about throwing the dot in the previous level I believe. Getting "sane" is meant to be a section to reconfirm the use of the dot. But I guess I didn't make it clear enough and I will for sure add the controls to the description for quick reference. Thanks for the feedback.
Very original concept and great execution. The slipperyness of the player character made the platforming a little frustrating for me, but on the balance, it was very good. I loved the semantic tie ins, like "down" and "push", but I think the dragon at the end would have been more effective in the abstract -- i.e. without approximating a particular shape. Check out the entry "Dragon Souls" for an example.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with the slipperyness and will be addressing it when I can upload an update. The dragon was a bit of fun, I'll check out Dragon Souls, thanks.
Original idea in a polished format — good story, fluent mechanics, beautiful transitions and animations. You also nailed the overall atmosphere and the dot mechanics. They are very intuitive.
There should be more checkpoints, maybe after every sentence.
There is a small typo after the predators: "Use the tots."
It would be more comfortable to hit space to continue instead of enter because my finger is already over that key anyways.
I, up, down, and push mechanics are fun, maybe you should add more like these.
The difficulty curve is a little bit jagged, especially in the end.
To summarize, this was a pleasant experience. Good job!
Thank you for the kind words.
Agree on the checkpoints and difficulty curve being off. Ran out of time getting everything finished. I'll fix that up after the judging when I can update.
Space was the next level key but it kept throwing the dot at the start of the next level which was bugging me. Changing the key was a last minute "fix" that was really more of a "don't look at the problem right now" LOL.
"Run Game" (here in the browser) results in a black screen for me.
Odd. What browser are you using? I know IE doesn't work because it doesn't have features the engine uses.
Firefox (latest version, macOS).
Oops. When you are up until 3:30 in the morning to submit, there is always something that gets missed. Thanks for the heads up. I will disable it when I can edit the game again.