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Researcher's Trail's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #2 | 4.076 | 4.076 |
| Use of the Limitation | #2 | 4.174 | 4.174 |
| Presentation | #4 | 4.348 | 4.348 |
| Concept | #4 | 4.174 | 4.174 |
| Enjoyment | #8 | 3.609 | 3.609 |
Ranked from 23 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Team members
Dominic
Software used
Godot v4.3 Stable
Use of the limitation
This game revolves around uncovering the fate of a missing wildlife researcher. Players interact with objects by clicking on them, potentially revealing hidden items or clues that piece together the story. For example, clearing a patch of grass might uncover an important item that deepens the mystery. Furthermore, the limitation is also incorporated in the story itself, where the player encounters a narrative mystery in this searching game.
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Around 20 ritz crackers
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Comments
Wow, awesome game man! Love the music, what did you use to create it?
Thank you very much for playing!! I used Beepbox to make the music. Godot to make the game :p
super awesome! i love the execution, it was a bit laggy in the web build though and the audio got borked. The art was so charming, i loved the simple story of finding a missing person through hidden objects, and crumpling obstacles added a fun twist to this style of game. super polished, great job in the time limit of the jam!
Thank you very much for playing the game!!! Really appreciate the feedback :D
I really did mess up with the audio haha. Apparently there is this new thing with Godot web exports, where they use samples instead of audio streams. This became an issue for me because that meant I couldn't change the pitch of sounds :(
So I changed the setting to use streams instead of samples. By doing that, all the audio is now being mixed in one thread, hence the lag.
I will try to find a fix for this as soon as the voting period ends :D
Thank you again for the kind words :D
It's neat, I found the crumpling bushes and plants to be cool at first, but it started to get tedious after sometime. It might be better if it was just a single click to crumple.
I also thought the twist at the end was interesting, however, I feel like the ending just comes out of nowhere. It would have been nice if there were clues in regards to the twist, even if to just be able to look back and be able to see how it all fits together. As it is now everything you find is just a red herring, which makes the work feel a bit pointless in the end.
Thank you so much for the feedback! The crumpling mechanic definitely could use some tweaking to keep it from feeling tedious, I will look into improving it after the voting period :D
The ending is definitely what I am most displeased with myself. I was writing it in a big rush to not miss the deadline haha. And it's probably the first thing I will improve/change after the voting period.
Wow very awesome game! I really liked the idea! The whole detective searching thing really works well here. Also being able to interact with objects in the environment to uncover things is awesome and adds a lot of room for hiding things.
The art is also great! Reminds me a lot of those picture books where you find hidden things. It's silly and has a lot of charm. And overall the polish on this game is great! Feels very polished for the amount of time given.
I do wish the reveal was done a bit differently cause it did take me out of it a bit. I do really like how the verdict will always be wrong and there is a set story but it would've been cool if the reveal was from Mr. Shnook instead of some text. Although it could also be done differently cause that might ruin the narrative you had setup but I think having the game be super interactive then suddenly explain everything through text does take the player out of it. But understandably this is probably due to the time constraint of the Jam anyways so it's not too big of a problem.
I do think the music could be a bit better. More specifically the music in the main big level. It does start to get very monotonous very quickly with little variation. I think it definitely suffers from this very 'choppy' stagnant feel. For the melody, all the notes are the same length and all have the same timing. Thankfully there is a bit of a pause between measures so its not too overwhelming but it does feel choppy. And when the music picks up I do feel like some of the notes clash. I do also feel like the bass doesn't deviate enough and also feels very monotonous. Overall the music isn't terrible here but it does start to get repetitive which can be rough since this is a very time consuming section of the game.
Overall the game has very few flaws and is very good and impressive for the time given. The art and polish of the game is really good and the concept of the game is great too! Amazing job!
Thank you so much for playing the game, and thanks a whole lot more for the detailed feedback!!!
Extremely glad to hear that you like the game and art style :D
I 100% agree with what you say about the ending. Honestly it is what I am most unsatisfied about the game myself. I was writing that ending at 4AM trying not to miss the deadline (and trying not to fall asleep xD). I think the ending is the first thing I will change/improve after the voting period :p
I totally agree about the music too haha. I'm definitely not well-versed in music theory and it's one of my weakest skills at the moment. But I really really appreciate the feedback since now I know what I can do to improve it :D
Thanks a bunch again for taking the time to play the game and writing this feedback!!!
I love it!
Thank you very much for playing! Glad you like it :p
Great game! The art looks awesome and its very satisfying to clear up the environment.
Thanks a bunch! Very happy to hear you had a good time :D
This was great fun. And it's nice to see another detective game
Thank youu!!! When I heard "secrets included", detective game was the first thing that popped into my head haha
This is a fun and stylish Where’s Waldo type game! I admit I couldn’t find the glasses. But, I chuckled quite a few times due to several things: the crocodile wearing the hat, Lenny’s face, the monkey in the teepee. All around great job!
Thank you so much for playing!! I have to say, I really made a few of those items too hard to find and its all my fault haha.
Glad to hear you had a fun time :p
After the voting period, I will definitely take some time to rethink the object positions and place them at more sensible locations :D
Well done! Just some funny mouth sound away from greatness.
Thank you for playing!!! Haha I definitely thought of adding some mouth sound effects when making the game but unfortunately I was mostly at uni while making this game so it would have been a little awkward recording sounds haha :p
Feels like it was all built around subverting for that final narrative which is fun. Liked the grass chopping sound and feel too lol
Thanks a bunch for trying out the game!!! Really glad you had a good time :
Wow this is amazing! The plot twist at the end too.
Would have said it was very calming but, yk...
Thank you very much for playing :D Glad you liked the plot twist.
I honestly think I could done better with the ending, you know, adding some visuals and stuff. Unfortunately I ran out time haha.
Very Where's Waldo-esque game. I really like the dark twist you add, the visuals are very good, and the sounds too. One of my favorites of the jam.
Thank you so much for playing!!! It means a lot that it was one of your favorites from the jam, really appreciate you taking the time to play and leave such kind words!
No problem! I could really see this as the jam winner, it's visually better than most games in here. Congrats for the game!
Really nice game.
SPOILER ALERT!
Team members scattered around the forest, daughter being held as a hostage, the researcher himself went crazy. That's bone-chilling.I wish there was some good ending. There was a moment when the narrator said that he cannot act by himself just yet, so I though that as the story progresses we will be able to help everybody. Maybe you just didn't have time to make it. There was also this moment that I didn't see being explained: "what could these deers do in that specific part of the forest?"Thank you so much for taking the time to play the game :D Really glad you liked it.
I do agree, I was really rushing it with the ending. I was writing it at 4AM trying to hit the deadline haha. I think it's one of the first things I will change/improve after the voting period.
And you were definitely right about some of the plot points not being seen through to the end. I had a bunch of ideas and I only had time to finish a few :(
I will try my best to provide explanations for these after the voting period and improve the ending :p
Love it all around, from visuals, use of theme and use of limitations. Audio was a bit stuttery, might have been due to my browser though.
Thanks a bunch for playing!! Happy to hear you liked it :p
The way I exported the game may have had something to do with the stutter too :(
Shifting the pitch of my sound effects wasn't working on the web export so I had to make it so that all sounds were being mixed on one thread. Should have seen it coming :/ There wasn't much I could do to fix it because I was running out of time.
I will definitely find a fix for this and apply it after the voting period ends :D
What could be better than hidden folks with a funny story
and nice ending? Very fun and clean !Thank you so much for playing!!! Really glad you had fun :D