Winter 2014 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheets:Insidious

2014 Winter DualStream Day of Zeux Judging Sheet - Insidious

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07729 - They Called Me Mad - Theme Light - Insanity

Theme: 20/20 (100%)

Maybe I'm alone in this assessment but I actually think this might have done
pretty well on theme heavy. The layouts of the levels speak to a damaged mind
and both the pre-game dialogue and the pre-boss dialogue, while quite corny and
cliched, spoke very well to a sense of losing oneself to dementia and insanity
to the point of realizing but not being able to control it. Very well done,
definitely earns top theme marks for Theme Light. Don't be so afraid of theme
heavy for non-story-intensive games, it can work in your favor!

Gameplay: 90/120 (75%)

The gameplay was smooth, fun, and satisfying. However, it was also somewhat
repetitive at times, what with sometimes dying near the very end of a very long
level and having to go back to start. The "infinite number of constantly
improving clones" upgrade mechanic was really fun and I really felt like my
character was getting stronger (characters were getting stronger?) every time.
Towards the end of the game I rarely used the rocks except when I was in a
particularly dangerous situation, preferring to use dash. I will say that the
rats in the final level seem to make mincemeat of even an upgraded-to-full
character in seconds, though I did not apply the "balance patches" on the
hotfix thread, which may serve to fix that issue. Points were docked primarily
for repetitiveness, which definitely made the game wear a little on me towards
the end after I had to run the final level no less than 15 times. This game
could definitely have done with at the very least a halfway-through-the-level
checkpoint system! I was very impressed with the gameplay in this nonetheless.

Graphics: 85/90 (94%)

The level graphics were pretty amazing, though they were a bit dark at times
which, while fitting the atmosphere and mood, made it somewhat difficult to see
where I was going. The enemy graphics were simple but quite effective. I would
suggest for the dialogue graphics that there is really no problem in a medium
such as MZX of having a character who is basically a sketch/outline be white on
black. Blue on white looks a little odd, and lost you a stray point here.
Effects and general graphical smoothness gained you quite a few points, this is
a pretty nice looking game overall, especially for its genre. I would
definitely describe this game as a great example of how to make a MZX game look
pretty and graphically impressive while keeping it simple.

Technique: 45/80 (56%)

This is unfortunately where the entry starts losing most of its points. It was
shipped with a save file, for one, which should only have required a fairly
quick bugtest to realize. For another, to be played optimally it requires
multiple hotfixes. As a judge, I played without these hotfixes applied (save
for removing the save file and another bug marked important for continuation),
and while the game was quite playable, I did notice a few glaring issues.
Before I go into those, I should note that the technique score for this game
would be much lower if it weren't for the skillful way it appears to have been
coded in general, which includes lots of very smooth effects and a very
balanced upgrade system. However, some bugs I noticed included items that could
not actually be picked up, items that were the wrong graphic, occasional
slowdown, inability to tell if my dash had actually damaged an enemy unless
they died, inability to tell if an off-screen enemy had died, rocks not causing
an enemy to take damage when it looks like they should have (bad collision
boxes?), and other such minor but important quibbles. Another issue that partly
comes down to implementation and partly poorly informing the player is the
charge/dash mechanic, which the player is encouraged to use in a hint box...
but not told that this is a fairly costly (at least at the beginning) upgrade
at 1000 coins, and that hitting the button the hint box tells you to use
without the upgrade causes you to stop dead. Indeed, when you do have the
charge upgrade, running out of stamina will also cause you to stop dead.
Personally I think that when the upgrade is not obtained it should do nothing,
and that when it is obtained, running out of stamina completely should cause a
cooldown during which continuing to hold down w will simply allow you to walk
normally, with the expectation that the player let go of w and let their
stamina refresh. In summary, a game hindered by a number of bugs, certainly not
rendered incompletable but somewhat unbalanced and touchy, for sure.

Story: 20/50 (40%)

The story, which is quite light, is on its own merits a fairly cliched and
mediocre mad scientist story, with a "quest for immortality" bit added for
further clicheness. Saving this from being completely terrible however is an
element of pathos, wherein by the end you actually come to pity the
dementia-afflicted "mad scientist" because he clearly has moments where he
understands the depths he's sunk to but can do nothing about them. So you
gained a number of points here for approaching a tired cliche from a different
angle. More development of this would have been interesting but probably not
warranted in this genre.

Sound: 40/40 (100%)

The music and sound effects were absolutely amazing, and definitely carried the
game through moments where there were no enemies onscreen or I was having to
redo an area for the 12th time. I would definitely say that the music and sound
kept me playing during moments where I would otherwise not have, and definitely
kept the atmosphere going. Very well done.

Total: 300/400 (75%)

This game was definitely a joy to play, and I hope that comes through despite
my criticisms of some elements of it. I think this game could have definitely
done with its creators using their 15 minute penalty free grace period for a
bit of bug testing, which would have helped push the technique score of this
game into the high-60s where it deserves to sit. As well, don't be afraid of
adding a checkpoint system if you have a "repeated death" mechanic and levels
of this size. If someone thinks it makes the game too easy, you can always give
them the option of turning it off.

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19538 - i0N-DWN - Theme Heavy - Insanity

This game is going to end up suffering far more than it deserves simply because
it is just so woefully incomplete.

Theme: 0/100 (0%)

I don't know how it ties in with insanity because it never got that far. It
seemed like it probably was going to, but no mention was made at all other than
your nameless main character mentioning offhand that he must be "hearing
things". Completely unrelated as far as I can tell otherwise. Like I said, I
have the feeling that it was going to tie it in fairly well if it were
finished, but I can't give you points for a feeling.

Gameplay: 0/90 (0%)

There was no gameplay. There was some touching of objects and description of
them, and other than that it was pressing space to advance text and walking.
There was nothing you could actually do that would count as playing a game. In
an adventure like this was shaping up to be, gameplay ends up being "decisions
made", but none of the decisions you could make had any impact whatsoever.

Graphics: 25/70 (36%)

The graphics were, while not offensive in any way, fairly basic and
rudimentary, and there was little to actually look at. There were some nice
simple effects though.

Technique: 20/60 (33%)

There were only a number of fairly very basic engines implemented here. A
sprite walking engine, a space-advance dialogue engine, and a couple bits of
animation/effect. The inventory engine was not completed or indeed even
started, which seems hard to believe because an inventory engine is both fairly
easy to implement and quite necessary to get anywhere with the kind of game
this was trying to be.

Story: 15/50 (30%)

This gets points mostly because it *seemed* as though it was leading somewhere
interesting and atmospheric. It did not, actually, do so, however.

Sound: 15/30 (50%)

Some pretty good and very atmospheric sound effects. No music to speak of
except for the title screen, though inexplicably two other bits of music were
included in the zip.

Total: 75/400 (19%)

Woefully, amazingly incomplete. A total tease. Started out seeming as though it
was going to be very atmospheric and quite nice, but didn't last more than 5
minutes of actual player control. Less time on the polish, more time on the
gameplay, people. It's better to have an unpolished but good game that you can
polish up after the DoZ than to deliver an unfinished but polished looking 5
minute demo.

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29427 - Subspace Janitor - Theme Heavy - Time Travel

Theme: 95/100 (95%)

Subspace Janitor explores the theme of Time Travel and time paradoxes quite
thoroughly for a puzzle game. The puzzles are based around solving various time
paradoxes, and eventually the player comes to learn that they are the source of
an overall breakdown in time, and essentially has to find their way home and
out of "subspace" in order to fix the time stream. I think this game ties
itself exceptionally well into the theme.

Gameplay: 54/90 (60%)

I'm not much of a puzzle person myself so the gameplay failed to completely
grab me. It was certainly interesting, and the parts where it introduced new
gameplay elements were some of the most fun. Some of the least fun moments were
the punishing timing challenges and the "follow the teleporter" type puzzles.
But where this game really starts to lose points for me is length. At 64
levels, the game really starts to wear out its welcome around level 25 for me,
despite attempts to change things up later on. I simply do not think this game
needed to be this long, and it begins to feel a bit padded.

Graphics: 50/70 (71%)

This is an odd one to score on graphics, primarily because what is there is so
simple and very "early MZX", but it works in its simplicity. Effort was
definitely put into making it look glitzy and polished, and it's appreciated.
However, in the end there are really very few distinct changes to the character
set, and the game basically carries itself on its animations.

Technique: 59/60 (98%)

People are probably going to argue with me on this score and they can feel free
to, but looking through the underpinning code for this game was pretty
astonishing to me. Underlying a very shiny, very well put together, very
complex game is a lot of very early-MZX style code, running in a small army of
robots near the top of the screen. And yet, while coding this way can often
lead to poorly functioning, unmanagable engines, it's pulled off very well, and
feels and looks very well optimized and thought through. A single point lost
here due to a very very minor glitch in Zone 45 that can be game ending, but
needs a rather simple fix.

Story: 20/50 (40%)

The story here felt a little... well, repetitive, thin on the ground, and as
though it kind of forced itself in repeatedly. Oh no, the time continuum is
getting unstable. Again. I realize this is somewhat par for the course when it
comes to a game about time travel, what with time loops and all that, but what
the story had going for it, its humor, etc, kind of fell really flat by halfway
through the game. This again is a bit of a problem of the game being overly
long.

Sound: 30/30 (100%)

Great, punchy sound effects and great music make this one a joy for the ears.

Total: 308/400 (77%)

A great game that kind of ends up a mixed bag after a while, unfortunately.

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35487 - J52: Quantum Hell - Theme Light - Time Travel

I could actually spend the time to review this disqualified mess, which
essentially relies on ripping off 80 other MZX games in order to work, or I
could simply say that Giel needs to learn his lesson about plagiarism and
indeed about standing on the backs of others instead of standing on his own two
feet in general, and until he does he is going to find that very few people are
going to take him seriously.

The game itself was an unfunny Cans ripoff.

0/400, DQed.

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79428 - No True(n) - Theme Heavy - Insanity

The only game to take the theme of "Insanity" to its true apex, this was hands
down my favorite of this competition.

Theme: 100/100 (100%)

What can I say... this game, this game... Loss of compassion, loss of self
control, loss of consciousness and knowledge, loss of reality, loss of
identity. Striving to regain all this in the face of insurmountable odds. This
game took the theme of insanity and absolutely slam dunked it, while tying an
interesting variation on the "mind and matter are the same thing" trope into
the whole mix. Absolutely killer.

Gameplay: 87/90 (96%)

I definitely enjoy this kind of slash'emup gameplay in Megazeux and this was
done really well! My only complaint is that the amount of possible combinations
became overwhelming. Towards the end of the game I finally settled on one
setup, the second tier "consciousness" sword, second and third tier speed
runes, and all the runes that increased damage. This allowed me to satisfyingly
chew through the final boss. Initially upon release the gameplay was a bit
marred by some noticable bugs, which I will cover in the technique section, but
upon being fixed the game was an absolute joy to play, and in fact is one of
the few DoZ games I've played, let alone judged, where I have ever honestly
thought "I should play this again after the DoZ". Everything feels very fast
paced and overall very fun and rewarding. Some points lost for the bosses
often being very easy to kill compared to the normal enemies, and some
difficulty curve problems.

Graphics: 70/70 (100%)

The graphics in this game were great. The enemies, while certainly abstract at
times, called up a sense of existential horror. The color scheme was great and
it also served a purpose, which is a definite plus, showing you what
swords/shots will damage what enemies, etc. The sword animations in particular
are quite impressive, and each distinct boss area has its own graphical theme,
instead of being repetitive. Absolutely top tier effort, here.

Technique: 40/60 (66%)

This game should honestly have a much higher technique score than it's getting
here, as it is definitely an absolutely impressive work of MZX code.
Unfortunately, it's also an absolutely impressive mess. Lots of very simple,
easy to catch bugs got through, such as the player being unable to die, enemies
getting spawned in odd places, enemies not respawning, enemies respawning too
fast, music not playing, runes being given without having cleared all the
enemies, the inability to obtain all the runes (necessary for the best ending),
the inability to get to the best ending at all even if you were able to obtain
all the runes, and a number of cosmetic issues. All of these were fixed post
DoZ but unfortunately post DoZ fixes do not help your score here. The game is
playable, even finishable, without the fixes, but it loses a lot of its fun and
its charm.

Story: 50/50 (100%)

The story definitely drives this game forward, and this is in fact one of the
most engaging stories I've seen in a DoZ. I covered a lot of the elements of
said story under theme, but the interplay between your character, Amelia, and
fellow trapped people, Lisbeth and Carol, and the explanatory (and much
appreciated, though definitely reminding me a bit of Half-Life) backstory of
them as a trio of researchers, along with the at times helpful and at times
damning and belittling "Voice" was amazing and carried things in a great way.

Sound: 30/30 (100%)

Some great sound effects and absolutely wonderful music here, which definitely
fit the game and give it that extra punch that makes it feel all the more
professional.

Total: 377/400

Play. This. Game. Get the fixed version, obviously.

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80525 - Texts From the Future - Theme Heavy - Time Travel

This is a great little game and I loved the humor and the way it didn't take
itself entirely seriously, I loved the "simple adventure game" style, where
there's just one item and you need to find what to combine it with. I thought
it was a great DoZ entry.

Theme: 85/100 (85%)

Time travel was definitely explored to great degree here. You explore 3
different eras, and your overall goal is to reverse changes to the timeline
that resulted in your wife and your kids existences being wiped out. Your kids
are necessary to stop some war etc etc, it's all kind of intentionally cliched
and vague from there, but the point is that it's a great exploration of the
traditional time travel paradox mess. And it avoids the issues with exploring
time travel in this way by just... ignoring them, because it's not taking
itself seriously.

Gameplay: 80/90 (88%)

The only points this loses in gameplay it loses for being somewhat repetitive
and simple, but it gains a whole whackload for just being fun. The items and
the way they worked together are all pretty interesting and creative, and the
results are usually worth a chuckle. I definitely had fun in the very short
space of time it took to play this game, and it did not wear out its welcome.

Graphics: 60/70 (85%)

The graphics in this game are pretty exceptional. They suffer a little from the
ambiguity that is always present in trying to make small-but-detailed objects
in MZX, but that ambiguity is outshined by great color choice, smooth
animations (for the few things that animate), and a general very polished feel
to the graphics. In short, simple but eye-catching and great.

Technique: 40/60 (66%)

The points given for this game in the technique section are primarily given for
smooth animation and a very well written, cohesive, and bug-free sprite-based
player engine which incorporates talk/use, item (take/use), and look commands.
In essence, it's a bug-free implementation of a slight variation on a MZX
staple. Nothing ground breaking but you get a fair amount of points from me for
getting it right the first time, as this DoZ has its share of games with bugs.

Story: 30/50 (60%)

I'm kind of on the fence on where to grade this game story wise. The story was
clearly just meant as a justification for the gameplay, and takes itself
not-very-seriously at all, but at the same time that same
not-very-serious-taking serves it well. The story that's there does not
overstay its welcome, and it provides a drive to continue doing the actions
that lead to the game's resolution. So it ends up scoring just above midrange
simply because it was certainly not a detriment to the game, but it wasn't
exactly a draw either.

Sound: 30/30 (100%)

No sound effects to speak of but absolutely beautiful music throughout. Full
points, no further explanation needed. My ears loved this game.

Total: 325/400


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Ranking:

1st - 79428 - No True(n) - 377/400
2nd - 80525 - Texts From the Future - 325/400
3rd - 29427 - Subspace Janitor - 308/400
4th - 07729 - They Called Me Mad - 300/400
5th - 19538 - i0N-DWN - 075/400
DQ (6th) - 35487 - J52: Quantum Hell - 000/400