No, that would be silly. Took me a second to figure out how to advance.
Tags: timely, lol
Still figuring everything out. I know that the number at the end does not correspond to time as I’ve had really long games with tiny numbers. The more you move your cursor, the more inner circle expands. If wisps hit the top of the screen, the circle expands. If the expanding circle reaches the outer one, the game ends.
Still figuring out the dream numbering.
Two quick bugs: whenever I change tabs, the music cuts out. At the end when I’m moving the text with my mouse, if I mouse over it too fast, it doesn’t register.
Forgive me for spamming your comment section, Nathan =) After figuring it out, I wanted to give you my thoughts.
It’s a surprisingly cool game. The gameplay of not moving too fast almost forces you into a meditative trance. I think if there was an easier way to replay the game, the trance would be complete and the game would be more awesome. I think it’s important you make replaying the game easier because people need to replay this game a few times to figure it out and the game over screen brickwalls them a bit.
Another thing: this game is quite difficult! It only takes 10 wisps simultaneously going through the top to the end the game which is tricky cuz there’s about 100 wisps on screen. It would be a bit easier and slightly more enjoyable if the wisps didn’t expand the circle as much when they hit the ceiling or if there were half as many wisps on screen at once.
Nice work, Nathan! Thanks for letting me contribute!
-John
The theme for the design of this game was “trying not to wake up” – a deliciously paradoxical effort of non-exertion. I tried to work out mechanics that emphasized that boundary. If you move too fast or too slow, if you are too attentive or too relaxed, you fail. The EGP theme for August is “zero buttons”, which meshed brilliantly with the feel that I was going for.
What is slow about the restart? From a gameover I have no trouble restarting in less than a second. I could perhaps tighten up the “sliding” action a little.
I definitely get a lovely “trying not to wake up” feel. It honestly feels that I’m using the same parts of my brain as when I’m trying to stay in a dream state.
In all, I think if the game were less opaque, though, I would be more willing to share it around, if that makes sense.
The restart … I’m not sure why, but it really drives me out of my zone of concentration. Maybe if the score just floating away like your motes, rather than being stuck on a rigid up and down track.
Good job!
yrs–
–Ben
P.S. Another game that’d be awesome on an iphone or ipod touch or droid.
I’m sorry to say so much negative stuff, I realize that it comes across like I don’t like the game. It’s actually one of my favorites of yours (maybe my absolute favorite, although I’d need to make a list in case I forgot any.) It’s a really fantastic work.
When’s the submission for the EGP contest? Does it count with me doing the music? Will you be recognized like you were the countless other times =P
I had an idea that’s probably really impractical but I wanted to tell you anyways. What if the volume of the track affected the inner circle as well? The louder it got, the more it expanded and the quieter it got, the more it contracted? You’d have to turn the wisp count down a lot so that you wouldn’t be constantly owned by everything. I think it’d be pretty neat cuz you’d feel when you should move and when not to. Food for thought =)
Thanks, Ben for the kindness. Making hot shit is what I’m here for.
-John
Heh. I still haven’t seen Inception yet (though I don’t know if John has). The extent of my specification for the music, well before I had the design of the game sorted out, was “Something dark and sleepy, probably in a minor key, with a mechanical-sounding rhythm in the background”. I think John Axon understood what I was asking for better than I did.
Okay, so I finally got around to playing this. So, if I’ve got this right, you want motes to hit the top, just not at a very fast rate, that’s how you get a high score, right? (currently 43) Midway through, they start to spawn to quickly for me to keep track of and I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed. Maybe the motes should separate a little more the closer they get to the top? I think you should add the instructions on how to restart quickly to the main screen, because I pressed every key trying to find the “restart” button, and then had to go back and read the comments.
I agree the score should be wispy, like have it float to the top just like the motes, so it will restart automatically in time, nothing evokes “play forever” like a self restarting game. I wonder if a second score, a timer, should also be added? It’s kinda disappointing to not know how long you lasted. I do love the music! thanks John Axon.
Neat ideas, Nathan. Not only does the self-restart lend itself well to playing forever but it totally fits the dreamy aesthetic.
The timer’s an interesting idea. Wii Fit has a meditation exercise where all you do is sit cross-legged on the board and stay still. They give you a timer score at the end for how long you didn’t move. You feel really accomplished if you can keep your zen for like 200 seconds rather than just 20. I think the same thing could work here too.
Thanks for the love, Nathan (Wilson). John Axon smiles =)
High score of 58, my strategy is to force single dreams to the top in slow moments when they aren’t all surging upward, for a few extra dreams. Besides that, alot of it feels very chance based. What usually ends the game, is that 2 or more big wisp balls decide to KEEP surging to the top, and not moving very far back down before going upward again. Even if I was just there pushing them down less than a second ago. Maybe they should have a higher minimum distance they will retreat when stopped by the mouse? Not all the way to the bottom, because then it might have too much of a “breakout” feel to it.
I can also have moments when they are all hovering at the bottom for a while, so you really need to use your time wisely and force singles to the top while you can. (keeping your mouse at a nice slow speed.)
Is the game supposed to end after a few seconds?
If the conditions that end the game are met after a few seconds, then yes. Otherwise no.
You can shove the game-over out of the way in order to play again.
No, that would be silly. Took me a second to figure out how to advance.
Tags: timely, lol
Still figuring everything out. I know that the number at the end does not correspond to time as I’ve had really long games with tiny numbers. The more you move your cursor, the more inner circle expands. If wisps hit the top of the screen, the circle expands. If the expanding circle reaches the outer one, the game ends.
Still figuring out the dream numbering.
Two quick bugs: whenever I change tabs, the music cuts out. At the end when I’m moving the text with my mouse, if I mouse over it too fast, it doesn’t register.
I’ll be trying it out some more now =)
I think I figured it out. If I understands the score correctly, this is going to be mad difficult to get a high score.
Interesting game. It took me a while to get it, though. Perhaps smoothly animating the expanding circle would make the game more understandable.
That is tough as nails! 23 was my high score.
Huh indeed.
Takes a bit of time to figure out how to play it, but once that is over with, it is a rather challenging and enjoyable game.
Current high score is 42
Forgive me for spamming your comment section, Nathan =) After figuring it out, I wanted to give you my thoughts.
It’s a surprisingly cool game. The gameplay of not moving too fast almost forces you into a meditative trance. I think if there was an easier way to replay the game, the trance would be complete and the game would be more awesome. I think it’s important you make replaying the game easier because people need to replay this game a few times to figure it out and the game over screen brickwalls them a bit.
Another thing: this game is quite difficult! It only takes 10 wisps simultaneously going through the top to the end the game which is tricky cuz there’s about 100 wisps on screen. It would be a bit easier and slightly more enjoyable if the wisps didn’t expand the circle as much when they hit the ceiling or if there were half as many wisps on screen at once.
Nice work, Nathan! Thanks for letting me contribute!
-John
Hey, John, good on the music. That shit is hot.
Like John, I would love a faster restart.
Now that I’ve figured out the scoring, this game is damn fun. It’s a genuinely non-twitchy action game.
The theme for the design of this game was “trying not to wake up” – a deliciously paradoxical effort of non-exertion. I tried to work out mechanics that emphasized that boundary. If you move too fast or too slow, if you are too attentive or too relaxed, you fail. The EGP theme for August is “zero buttons”, which meshed brilliantly with the feel that I was going for.
What is slow about the restart? From a gameover I have no trouble restarting in less than a second. I could perhaps tighten up the “sliding” action a little.
It just feels oddly clunky.
I definitely get a lovely “trying not to wake up” feel. It honestly feels that I’m using the same parts of my brain as when I’m trying to stay in a dream state.
In all, I think if the game were less opaque, though, I would be more willing to share it around, if that makes sense.
The restart … I’m not sure why, but it really drives me out of my zone of concentration. Maybe if the score just floating away like your motes, rather than being stuck on a rigid up and down track.
Good job!
yrs–
–Ben
P.S. Another game that’d be awesome on an iphone or ipod touch or droid.
I’m sorry to say so much negative stuff, I realize that it comes across like I don’t like the game. It’s actually one of my favorites of yours (maybe my absolute favorite, although I’d need to make a list in case I forgot any.) It’s a really fantastic work.
yrs–
–Ben
When’s the submission for the EGP contest? Does it count with me doing the music? Will you be recognized like you were the countless other times =P
I had an idea that’s probably really impractical but I wanted to tell you anyways. What if the volume of the track affected the inner circle as well? The louder it got, the more it expanded and the quieter it got, the more it contracted? You’d have to turn the wisp count down a lot so that you wouldn’t be constantly owned by everything. I think it’d be pretty neat cuz you’d feel when you should move and when not to. Food for thought =)
Thanks, Ben for the kindness. Making hot shit is what I’m here for.
-John
I quite like the gameplay here!
I do agree that the restart is a little difficult and concentration-breaking. I always end up moving my mouse past the text.
Hooray! It’s in the EGP this month!
I still haven’t managed to decipher the scoring system, however the game is extremely entertaining nonetheless!
The music is quite reminiscent of “Inception”; I’m assuming that was purposeful given the game’s dream-like state. I very much love it
Heh. I still haven’t seen Inception yet (though I don’t know if John has). The extent of my specification for the music, well before I had the design of the game sorted out, was “Something dark and sleepy, probably in a minor key, with a mechanical-sounding rhythm in the background”. I think John Axon understood what I was asking for better than I did.
Lolz. I did see Inception but wasn’t terribly conscious of it when writing the music. Thank you kindly Shawn.
Nathan, your description was more than enough. I think I extrapolated a bit from what you suggested but it was still based off the original ideas.
Okay, so I finally got around to playing this. So, if I’ve got this right, you want motes to hit the top, just not at a very fast rate, that’s how you get a high score, right? (currently 43) Midway through, they start to spawn to quickly for me to keep track of and I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed. Maybe the motes should separate a little more the closer they get to the top? I think you should add the instructions on how to restart quickly to the main screen, because I pressed every key trying to find the “restart” button, and then had to go back and read the comments.
I agree the score should be wispy, like have it float to the top just like the motes, so it will restart automatically in time, nothing evokes “play forever” like a self restarting game. I wonder if a second score, a timer, should also be added? It’s kinda disappointing to not know how long you lasted. I do love the music! thanks John Axon.
Neat ideas, Nathan. Not only does the self-restart lend itself well to playing forever but it totally fits the dreamy aesthetic.
The timer’s an interesting idea. Wii Fit has a meditation exercise where all you do is sit cross-legged on the board and stay still. They give you a timer score at the end for how long you didn’t move. You feel really accomplished if you can keep your zen for like 200 seconds rather than just 20. I think the same thing could work here too.
Thanks for the love, Nathan (Wilson). John Axon smiles =)
Peace,
-John
High score of 58, my strategy is to force single dreams to the top in slow moments when they aren’t all surging upward, for a few extra dreams. Besides that, alot of it feels very chance based. What usually ends the game, is that 2 or more big wisp balls decide to KEEP surging to the top, and not moving very far back down before going upward again. Even if I was just there pushing them down less than a second ago. Maybe they should have a higher minimum distance they will retreat when stopped by the mouse? Not all the way to the bottom, because then it might have too much of a “breakout” feel to it.
I can also have moments when they are all hovering at the bottom for a while, so you really need to use your time wisely and force singles to the top while you can. (keeping your mouse at a nice slow speed.)
I got 68. What is the current high score?
Hey, Dirk. I think the high score is mine, at 87.