Heart of the OHR Contest 2020

Make games! Discuss those games here.

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Baconlabs
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Post by Baconlabs »

Brilliant! I'm a few days late, but I've been eagerly waiting for the full list. I'm going to do that blitz-stream I briefly mentioned months ago before the end of January, where I go through every game back-to-back with like 5-20 minutes spent on each. (Might have to do 2-3 in a week, though!) I'll try to play them all a bit more on my own time so I can solidify my thoughts for a final vote, but the livestream(s) will be my first impressions on everything. Then I'll pick up where I left off in my save files when the winners are announced, and do full playthroughs on my channel later this year. I guess I should hurry up and get in touch with the Discord, uh, page, or group or whatever it's called, so I can ping someone when I'm live with their game.

I hope to see a few of you later; my channel is www.twitch.tv/achinlabs
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Post by Spoonweaver »

MY VOTES!
I'll edit this as I play and judge games.


Alliterative Abbreviated Adventure :: 3/10
There's some good parts in this. There's a large variety of things to see and fight. The npc's were interesting
Some negative comments now!
The game is almost unplayable. The palette hurt the eyes. The battles are close to impossible. There's a large number of things in the battle system that go completely unexplained and deviations from the rpg norm that don't add anything and in fact take something away from what I can see.
The game seems pretty aimless. The plot didn't draw me in and I honestly couldn't find a reason I'd play this outside it being a contest entry.
I don't really get the concept. Seems like a game thrown together in order to use the screen scrolling script and nothing more. It achieves the bare minimum


AXE COP :: 9/10
First, this is a great game and a lot of work went into it. By no means do I think this is a perfect game. But by normal OHR standards it's amazing. An OHR classic to be sure.
Some negative comments now!
I think the color palette could be better. The first area is very red and dull. Some of the dungeons get incredibly boring and tedious. Some of the gimicks aren't very well explained and I think if I hadn't watched the play-troughs I would not have understood what to do. I suggest writting a game walkthrough and posting it somewhere.


Blood Ledger :: 5/10
Great scripting. Really fancy mechanics and interesting gameplay. There's some good stuff here. Really surprised at some of the things being done.
Some negative comments now!
Not fun. Boring story. Big empty maps.
I've never seen a game with such an elaborate tutorial area that left me with so little knowledge of how the game worked. The long pauses between textboxes and long blank screens made me feel the game had broken and I almost restarted it a few times. It did not portray the drama I think they were meant to portray. The most fun I had playing was when I found out I could jump into the fountain and die.


Christmas Stars :: 3/10
This is a charming little game about a starfish. Its like reading a nice Christmas kids book. It kept me interested till the end, I even went back to see more than 1 ending. I really like how the whole game is sort of framed in.
Some negative comments now!
The graphics are pretty poor quality. The game is really short. Honestly, there's close to no game here at all. Other than the short story about a starfish on Christmas, nothing else in the game was interesting at all.


False Skies :: 8/10
It really feels like a polished and complete gaming experience. The dungeon design is interesting and graphics are pretty decent. There's a lot of really great stuff here. I love the encounter gauge.
Overall a solid game.
There's a ton here and I only scratched the surface of this game. It's one I can actually see myself playing outside of this contest judging.
Some negative comments now!
I'm not a fan of the dull palette and lack of color in the sprites battles and some of the menus. The very first battle is a great example of this. The slimes have a hard black outline but then you get into battle and it's like something happened to the game file and the slime graphic was corrupted. Also, if the battles are suppose to be this other art style, why aren't the player characters different too so they'd match?
Also, the tan menus are an eye sore in my opinion. It's not a very neutral color and it's used everywhere. Tan background and dark grey text just doesn't make for a good reading experience.
Graphics aside, the battles are a bit harsh. It's definitely better than a lot of the other "retro" styles rpg's that are like this though, so I want to give this game a pass on that aspect.


Forget-me-Not 6/10
The graphics and style in this game are amazing. It draws you in and makes you want to learn more. I enjoyed playing this game and did so outside of the contest judging process because the hype got ahold of me.
Some negative comments now!
The game is pretty lacking overall. There's an ok amount of maps to explore, but most of them are pretty empty of things to actually do. It turns out most of the mystery and unexplained things are just unexplained things with no meaning.
I also found it hard to distinguish a lot of the things that were being portrayed on the maps. Like the staircase that I guess was broken and like just fading into nowhere and the wines covering the doors tot he left and right that weren't just strange objects on the walls, to the left and right. It became a game about trying to distinguish what things on a map were suppose to be and then seeing if I had to do something with that thing. I guess that was a bit fun, but in a way it's hard to tell if that was even intentional. I think some of the other games like this work better because the objects on the screen are very intentionally designed to not really make sense. But here, it's like there's a half attempt to have them make sense and it comes off as a bit like shabby work rather than mysterious design.

Gay Savage and the Enigma Rip 5/10
I loved this game. The hand drawn backgrounds were fresh. The story was humorous. The characters were memorable. The gamplay kept me guessing throughout. This thing has very high point and click vibes.
Some negative comments now!
The graphics, though hand drawn and neat, were very rough. Almost unrecognizable as what they were suppose to be a lot of the time.
The wallmapping is terrible. It's thrown together in a way that made it seem randomly generated. The character size is way too small for the background size, this could benefit from the walktall script ( someone help the maker with using that ). [do pixel walker too while you're at it]
It was not very impressive overall. The story was crass for seemingly no reason. I would not recommend this game to anyone.


Katja's Abyss: Tactics 10/10
Amazing game. Tons of polish. Great concept. It deserves a perfect 10 from the OHR community.
Some negative comments now!
There are a few spots where I think the graphics could be improved.
I think the gameplay is a bit overly complex.
I think the actual challenge could be improved, as I found it pretty easy ( than again I watched the game several dozen times before ever playing it).


Slimes World 4/10
Interesting character creation. I like how the sound affects pop up when you're mining or chopping trees like an old bat-man and robin episode. The graphics aren't too bad.
Some negative comments now!
Does this game even have 30 minutes of content? I mean, unless I just spent a half an hour chopping trees and mining coal I don't know what else I could even do. It seems very incomplete. From what I can tell it's shaping out to be a basic ohr newb game. There's nothing here that seems all that interesting concept-wise, besides the character creation. And even that is very janky.


Tim-Tim 2: The Almighty Gnome 11/10
We can vote for our own games right?


Tough Girl Gina 7/10
Holy crap! I didn't see this game coming at all. I was wowed from start to finish. The custom HUD, the mapscrolling, the voice acting, the writting... ALL GREAT. This is an instant classic.
Some negative comments now!
The palette did not do this game any favors at all. It's hard to look at and takes away from the game as a whole. If you're going to do a funky retro game palette, get one that doesnt make eyes bleed.
Also the game is a bit too aimless. There's far too many empty pointless map sections that when you get to one where something is going on, you're not actually sure if you have or it's just more nothing.


TutOHRial 5/10
I think it's very commendable that Nathan made this. I hope it helps new people coming to the community. It seems to accomplish what it sets out to do very well. So much so that I almost increased it's score.
Some negative comments now!
This isn't really what I'd call a game. It's not that much fun. And it's a bit clunky overall. It is what it is, for better or worse. I hope people get a lot of use out of it, but I don't think many people really will.

Vikings of Midgard 9/10
It's viking's of Midgard. It's like the standard when it comes to OHR games. And here it is, fully completed.
Some negative comments now!
Not furry enough.
But honestly, I feel like a lot of the maps, mostly in the first half, are really bland and empty. They're amazing in ohr standards and I know that they are comparable to snes and sega rpg dungeons, but I don't see any elevation here. That's really the main gripe I have with vikings. It's a basic rpg, but not much more. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table.


Walthros Renewal 6/10
Charming, funky, and neat are how I would describe this game. There was a lot going on and it was interesting exploring everything. There's a solid game here with a good amount of detail and content. The large walkabouts are pretty fun.
Some negative comments now!
I think the large walkabouts are both this games greatest strength and it's greatest weakness. Since everything is bigger the empty space in design shows more than it would have otherwise. The result is whole screens where there is only 1 npc or otherwise almost nothing going on at all. Then there's the character's themselves. I know that Surlaw is the OHR hero we all love, but through the game he seemed less detailed than a lot of the npc's you meet, which seemed backwards. The biker bunny looks like he's got more going on, why am I not playing that guy's game?

Xoo: Xeno Xafari 7/10
An interesting idea and a fun experience. There was a lot going on here. I liked finding all the xeno aliens, there are all pretty interesting to read about and look at so the act of finding them was something I found myself wanting to do.
Some negative comments now!
The map seems pretty aimless. I don't know if that's completely on purpose or not, but I felt lost for the entire time I was playing it. I also think the single 20x20 tiles for every single thing makes little to no sense and brings me out of the game. There's also a big of not knowing what is something to investigate and what's not, because everything blends together a bit, which isn't really something I want for a game about exploring. The game's menu's are also pretty complex for a game is suppose to be a chill experience. When I think of chill game menus I think of things like animal crossing or maybe pokemon. Both of those games have a lot of menus going on eventually, but they do a good job of introducing the player to them and starting the player off with 2-3 at first so they arent overwhelmed when they first start playing. The last thing you want to do when you're trying to play a chill game is be overwhelmed.
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:31 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Thanks, Spoon. Remember that voting is on a scale from 1 to 10, not 5.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

Thanks. I was looking over your rule post and didn't see where it said that
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Spoonweaver wrote:Thanks. I was looking over your rule post and didn't see where it said that
I had a link to the voting system prior to 2014, which isn't helpful. So, I amended the main page's voting information with a link to 2018's voting rules (which is the same system we're using this year). This should make it really easy for everyone to rate fairly and accurately while adhering to the voting rubric:

https://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewto ... 280#134280

To everyone, please consider this scale and method when casting your vote. It'll make the process much better for everyone.

And a reminder: Although I'd appreciate votes cast in private this year, I still encourage discussion and feedback for each game, as that's what helps authors improve. Because I'm allowing minor fixes and small important updates during the voting phase this time around, pointing out fixable flaws to authors will really help them out.
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Post by The Wobbler »

I really enjoyed Forget Me Not and Christmas Stars. Tim Tim has the best movement I've seen in an OHR platformer. Looking forward to playing more games, especially Xoo.
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Post by Spoonweaver »

The Wobbler wrote:Tim Tim has the best movement I've seen in an OHR platformer..
Finally! Someone said it. Thank you!
It took a long time to get it working that way.
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Since I've already played everything (up to 30 minutes) to get the footage for the trailer, I'll give some quick feedback for each game.

Alliterative Abbreviated Adventure:
Definitely concise and to the point. Seems to exist for the sake of using the Zelda scroll, but hardly uses it. The obvious continent names made me laugh. I wish it had used layered graphics better. It was hard to find some NPCs when they disappeared behind trees.

Axe Cop:
I playtested it up through the third chapter, then got too busy with life. But it definitely shows its time and polish in its tight design and responsiveness to the controller. Feels like a true NES game. Does just enough right without overdoing anything. Seems to also know its source material well. I'll probably never get used to switching characters to solve puzzles.

Blood Ledger:
An ambitious game that pulls off many interesting tricks, but also exposes the engine's limitations at doing them well. Animations are smooth, and features are plentiful. It just feels like it does everything slowly. Not sure if it's the frame rate selection or the engine's inability to multi-thread. It just doesn't move as quickly as it seems like it should. Controller is better than keyboard, but both require getting used to. I also echo the sentiment that it needs more to do in the early areas to justify the space it takes up. Maybe that's all coming? Good idea that needs more meat on its bones (at least early on).

Christmas Stars:
Simple game with a simple objective. Giving it four endings keeps it interesting. Seems like each ending is bittersweet to some degree. The happy ending leaves you wondering what you've missed, and the FOMO ending makes you a little sad. Interesting mix of emotions at display, depending how far you take the game.

False Skies:
New beginning from the 2018 iteration, and an interesting one at that. This version is more lived-in and interesting than its previous version, and captures the heart of the classic RPG well. This is a title I hope gets finished, and I'm looking forward to playing more. Polished, balanced, and off to a great start.

Forget-me-Not:
I'm surprised this is the OHR. Looks and plays like a Unity or RPG Maker game. Quite impressive. Like Blood Ledger, movement is a bit slow (probably due to the scripted pixel movement that isn't native to the engine), but unlike Blood Ledger, it can afford to be. Weird game, but atmospherically appropriate and almost Tim Burton-like. Short yet interesting.

Gay Savage and the Enigma Rip:
I probably shouldn't laugh at its jokes, but some of it is so absurd that I can't help it. Definitely the funniest game of the contest. It knows exactly what it is and revels in it, committing to its ugliness and raw humor. If it has a badge of shame, it wears it with honor. Arrived at the last minute (actually, after the last minute), but it's not easily overlooked. Fun, funny, utterly stupid, and exactly what it aims to be. The puzzles make sense, and even have their own jokes attached. A great game that has no right to be, yet every right to be. A true enigma.

Katja's Abyss: Tactics:
Probably the slowest-paced game of the contest, but it's the kind of game that should be played slowly and methodically. Takes some getting used to, as it relies primarily on the mouse and pressing small buttons. Once you know what you're doing though, it becomes easier to plan a strategy. Another example of a game that pays attention to detail and shortcuts nothing. It's not necessarily an exciting game, but it is a well-designed game that plays almost exactly like a good SNES strategy game. Another one I hope to see finished (and with more unit options).

Slimes World:
I like the concept behind it: a world where the slimes are the heroes. But it does little to develop it. The village is nice but mostly empty. Some interactive items work while others don't. Its only other gimmick, crafting, is a great idea done with minimal effort. I'd at least like to see some character animation paired with the strings text and changing tiles. But as it stands, there's very little to do, with too many empty or inaccessible places, and too many silent characters except for the one that curses at you. Needs more development across the board.

Tim-Tim 2:
Maybe it's been too long since I've played a Nintendo, but I'm definitely getting worse at playing platformers. I found this game difficult to start because I had to learn the buttons, but very well-designed once I could get the hang of it. I like the choice of taking high roads and low roads when Tim-Tim's power runs out, and the whole Zelda II feeling works well. This is another game I'll likely play until the end whenever I get the time. It's fun. Doesn't mean I'll be any good at it, though.

Tough Girl Gina:
I think this game wins the award for best sound effects. It's weird and confusing, yet its style makes it a standout. The combination of Zelda and RPG elements somehow works. However, the text elements are tough to work with. I love the scrolling text design (like an old Infocom text adventure), but it's easy to lose track of them, especially when hitting Enter just repeats the last box. You have to move to exit. It takes getting used to. Regarding the side text for stats, I don't think I ever paid attention to any of them. I wish it was clear at the start that it saves your progress as you go. I spent way too long looking for a save spot (I quit without finding one, then came back the next day to see that it had picked up where I'd left off).

TutOHRial:
I still think this is a great idea, and well implemented for its idea. The true heart of the OHR. Not much to say other than it works exactly as intended.

Vikings of Midgard:
Shows its age at times, but it still captures what the OHR is all about, and it doesn't shy from its original intention: to welcome new users to the OHR. It is well-paced, structurally sound, and somehow remains fun in spite of its attempt to educate new players how to make an RPG. Juggles so many objectives, yet handles them all gracefully. Even apart from its "Welcome to the OHR" tether, it tells a good story and delivers on interesting characters. Fun game.

Walthros Renewal:
One of two remakes this year, this game remembers what made the original fun while stripping out much of what didn't work before, focusing on telling a good story with well-developed, three-dimensional characters. It crams the world full of small details to make it lively, that it's hard to want to leave. It knows its lore and lets it breathe. It also makes fine use of the large character model that the OHR is now capable of producing. Probably has the best world-building of any game this year, and developers can learn a lot from it.

Xoo: Xeno Xafari:
The other remake, this game is simple in its design while complex in its world-building. Its charm is in its ever-deepening layers of discovery. If you like scavenger hunts, then you'll like this, because this is basically Scavenger Hunt: The Videogame. But it's also quirky, which is a huge plus.

Okay, so that's my short take on this year's releases. I think we have a good crop this year. Thanks to all who submitted or volunteered an entry.
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Post by The Wobbler »

I am insanely impressed by Katja's Abyss and it's my top pick of the contest so far
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Post by kylekrack »

First person to post a screencap of the secret shop in Katja's Abyss gets a special thanks mention ;)
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Post by ArtimusBena »

@Pepsi: Just to check: did you learn how to run / sprint?

If not, I think a replay would be a lot more fun :D
Last edited by ArtimusBena on Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Eonhetwo »

@Pepsi

Your critique of my game is so heartwarming and motivating! I've watched all your 2018 hotohr content and know how straight you try to sail on your channel.

That being said, you have my full blessing to exclude playing my game on your channel if you so wish, I don't want you to feel.. pressured or anything in posting it there.

As long as opinions are being tossed around, lemme toss some love too; Wobbler, Bob is an amazing character, he cracks me up. The writing on this game is amazingly entertaining and is honestly the game I look most forward to completing!

@Spoonweaver, Tim-Tim has the best platforming physics I've seen since Super Mario, it's so refreshing. The way the momentum transfers to horizontal movement with hardly and friction when you hit an obstacle above you is what I always look for in platforming, and the animations of the character, his billowing garment, makes every leap feel badass. (I will say, the worm creatures that burrow underground were buggy. I couldn't be hurt by them and when Id kill one, a new one would fall from top screen back into the ground.)

I haven't given the others enough time yet to form an opinion, but so far it's a blast being in this contest, a real honor, and I hope that this strengthens us all in resolve and insight to improve ourselves and our games!
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Post by Spoonweaver »

Eonhetwo wrote:...
@Spoonweaver, Tim-Tim has the best platforming physics I've seen since Super Mario, it's so refreshing. The way the momentum transfers to horizontal movement with hardly and friction when you hit an obstacle above you is what I always look for in platforming, and the animations of the character, his billowing garment, makes every leap feel badass. (I will say, the worm creatures that burrow underground were buggy. I couldn't be hurt by them and when Id kill one, a new one would fall from top screen back into the ground.)...
First, awesome!~ Thank you for saying that. As I said before, I worked on the jumping around physics for a really long time.

Second... right... the worms... I had forgotten about them...
See, they were fine. But they shared a few blocks of code with the hands(which are in the 5th dungeon area). The hands had this really interesting bug where they'd all group together and moved at a speed that equaled all their speeds combined. This resulted in a giant wave of hands coming out of the ground, which made me almost keep it like that. But I ended up[ fixing them. However, fixing them broke the worms.
So what I'll need to do is separate the 2 and likely rewrite a good amount of each of their code, as I did still see 1 or 2 cases where the hands would do some odd things that I haven't fully tracked down yet.
Thank you for this bug report.
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Artemis Bena wrote:@Pepsi: Just to check: did you learn how to run / sprint?


Yes, I think I figured out all the moves--I even managed to jump a couple of times. It's the walking movement that feels sluggish to me. Obviously walking should be slow because it's walking. But the animations don't match the movement, so psychologically it's disjointed. In fact, I think I said that in my playthrough (which I haven't posted yet, but I may). The slow movements are really slow, but the character still looks like he's running, so it ultimately feels wrong. That said, the sprinting mechanic is also challenging because you have to time it, when most games just give you a toggle.

I'd say shorten the character's stride when walking, and the slowness may become less noticeable because ultimately the sprinting aesthetic is fine.
Eothetwo wrote:Your critique of my game is so heartwarming and motivating! I've watched all your 2018 hotohr content and know how straight you try to sail on your channel.

That being said, you have my full blessing to exclude playing my game on your channel if you so wish, I don't want you to feel.. pressured or anything in posting it there.


I actually thought my first playthrough was channel appropriate (mostly), but my screen capture didn't actually capture any footage, just sound, so I had to scrap it. My second playthrough was based on making sure the technology worked this time (I had to put the game in windowed mode to get it to work), but I was so exhausted that I played it without commentary. At that point it was just about getting something for the trailer.

That said, I don't know that I'll be posting any playthroughs this time. It was my goal, but I'm not happy with many of the results from what I did record. Half of it was recorded after midnight, and I sounded like I was slurring half my words. The last few games I played, I did so without commentary and wanted just to get the footage. And with other players streaming the games now, I don't think I've got much new to add.

I may post the best ones in a few weeks, but I don't think I'll be posting everything. Most of them aren't broadcast-worthy, and I don't think I'll have the time to do them all over again. But I'll let you guys know if anything changes.
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Post by ArtimusBena »

Oh... Well it's 8 frames per direction, so... didn't really have time haha.

Yeah, you can sprint any time after the shadow flash. I failed to explain that.
Last edited by ArtimusBena on Thu Jan 14, 2021 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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