Synostelia
The PROTOTYPE of the game can be played on the widget above this page as a WebGL build.
The prototype build is rather short, but is enough to give you an idea of the game and story, there will hopefully be more mechanics and puzzle oriented gameplay.
Currently, the build acts as art style and storytelling survey so I can work more on those before the main core mechanics and gameplay.
SYNOSTELIA is a visual-based narrative driven platformer game that tells the tale of a dying moonlight in a quest to relive a twins' memory and find out how they returned the moon's light back to him. The visuals and story are inspired by games like GRIS, RIME & Limbo.
The game is planned to have FIVE levels which all are meant to introduce a different mechanic and expand the range of the levels.
- The Mushroom Cliffs
- The Decaying Core
- The Forbidden Cove
- The Sunken Fountain
- The Golden Hill
Story, Art & Programming - halconix
Music & Sounds - Eric Matyas | www.soundimage.org
This project is created as part of the "I can't write but want to tell a story" jam by Charlmes. The game is currently in development and has finished the first level of the game so far, please stay tuned if you want to know more about the project!
DISCLAIMER:
The game is made within the span of 10 days. I am an artist and a beginner in programming so I decided to mostly focus on the assets that the game will make use of. The game might have inefficient programming, problems with physics or simply just bugs for the sole reason that I am learning, if you find some - please consider reporting them to me and I will get them fixed in the next demo!
Development log
- DEMO Update 1.1 & 1.2Aug 13, 2020
Comments
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Written as I go!
I know the starting animation feels rather slow for me, and I get slightly frustrated how long that takes
At the beginning of the Mushroom Forest you have two animations practically right after eachother, so I would recommend taking out that tiny bit where you play
Maybe change jump to W? I had some difficulty here and there due to clicking the wrong buttom to jump
God the animation is amazing. It can be bit hard to tell what's happening sometimes, but very pretty to look at
Alright I've gotten used to the jump button and will forever be grateful that you can re-activate past moons. I have fallen so many times...
The background, all the art really, is amazing! The background gives great depth, and I never had to guess what I could and couldn't touch! Also, smart choice to have the character and moons white! Stands out well
Finished! I loved this, and am gonna make sure to keep track of this game ^^
Thank you so much for trying it out and giving feedback!
The cutscenes being slow were already told by a lot of people so I actually already plan on making it shorter and faster as soon as I get to it (I originally wanted it to feel like an actual slow flashback but I guess it really gets boring after a while, so definitely will be changed!). The placement of the cutscenes in the current stage is mostly placeholder since I wasn't able to finish enough levels but managed to make cutscenes already for them, so I just dropped all three in one testing stage, I will surely make the cutscenes rarer and more level-oriented as some sort of reward when I get to it soon though, thank you for letting me know!
People also already mentioned the jump should be W (I mostly used space in games so I used that as primary control for this but will definitely make the option to have it W or space in next updates)!
Thank you so much for the feedback on the art! I mostly focused on the art itself and storytelling mechanic on this prototype so I could know what people think of it and change it before I work more on main gameplay mechanics and I think people liked the style so I will be moving on to core mechanics now! There's already quite a few mechanics I already have coded but I wasn't able to put since the level is too small and scrunched up as a testing ground, and would feel really overwhelming to drop all of it in there.
Really, thank you for giving your feedback once again! I definitely will keep those in mind and improve as I go on!
Your palette is absolutely phenomenal! The music also really helps with the vibe. I would really play this if I wanted to relax. You did an amazing job at evoking childhood memories of innocence and exploration. I really hope you continue to build off of your ideas. Good Game!
(You are a beginner? ... 0.0 woah ...)
Thank you for trying the demo! I'm glad it was emitting the vibes I wanted it to feel like! I will definitely be continuing with this, thank you once again!
This game really gives off a unique vibe in a good way. Really like how the art looks simple yet great and pleasing to look at the same time, which i think is the reason for the unique vibe. The music chosen was well matched too.
The mushroom was fun yet frustrating at the same time for me lol cause u need to start from the very bottom again once you fell down and im not really good with that so yeah i keep falling down lol. I hope there'll be something like a checkpoint? or maybe the save game will do the part. Btw, i love that the memories can just appear after you reach a certain point and it doesn't need to necessarily occupy the whole screen and can still exists within the same frame. It really looks like the character is remembering and seeing those memories right in front of him/her.
Anyways, you said you were just a beginner in programming? REALLY? Welp i think u did a good job *claps*. Looking forward to the completed version <3 Good luck!!
Thank you for those nice words, I worked really hard on the environments and visuals in general and I'm glad it is paying off!
I will definitely keep checkpoints in mind! I only decided not to add it currently since this is the demo and it is already a pretty small area from the entire chapter so I thought the checkpoint wouldn't be much use, but I will definitely add the feature soon!
The memories system is essentially the core part of the game so I'm really glad you perceived it just how I wanted it to feel!
Thank you! There were lots of bugs people managed to find and encounter due to my messy programming but I tried my best and I'm fixing them currently! Thank you so much for trying out the demo once again!
When I first entered chapter 1 I was not able to move. And then suddenly it went back to the start screen after a few seconds. I wanted to report this. I started again and was able to complete the first chapter though. Great art though and the music sets a good mood.
Thank you for reporting that! I'll try and see if I can replicate the problem and hopefully fix it, thank you for trying out the demo as well!