I’ve had to stop at the beginning of level 10 for now, but wanted to chime in and say this is so great! Such a good idea!
I didn’t understand the win-condition until level 5 or so, having until that point I guess stumbled into the exits moving backwards or while strafing. (I’ve been heavily relying on both to get my bearings.)
This might be obvious to most, but was interesting for me to think through (though totally possible there’s a mistake in my reasoning): at first I thought the novel thing here was the lack of depth perception, but in fact by moving forward and backwards, you definitely do have a sense of depth based on the speed at which isolated pattern areas ‘move’ toward the edges of the screen. And strafing you can get a bit of a sense of depth (assuming you can determine figure from ground, but you can switch to the previous trick to determine that in many cases). The most novel aspect, I think, in terms of affecting one’s ability to comprehend the space and thus navigate it, is that you cannot determine if a solid section of pattern represents a single wall or multiple walls at different depths. That’s a neat limitation.
(To Aquin, I only noticed clipping issues in one level so far, the one called something like ‘the purpose of color’.)
(A last side note, I wonder if this might be more or less interesting without the yellow diagonal pattern and its illusion of vertical motion)
Oh, one more thought: I wonder if this might be improved by having the sound change as you get closer or further from the goal point. I could see how such a system might trivialize some of what’s interesting about the disorientation here, but as-is the least fun aspect is the aimless wandering (if you’re not bearing down and systematically checking all avenues). The level I felt this in the most (and possibly exclusively) was “panic room,” in which I had intuited the structure but was never sure if I was reentering the same chamber or a different one. (Obviously I could have just been more careful.)
(Upon some further thought: I can’t believe I failed to note how the main disorientation effect is from effectively-infinite wall height + no texture scaling when moving closer or further away [plus, previously noted, patterns retaining absolute horizontal screen alignment]. All three combine to rob you of the most common depth cues, with my note about differentiating alike surfaces being a side effect, not the main point of novelty.)
There are definitely clipping issues, yeah. I think I might be able to work around it by making the exits smaller in diameter, but after a week of looking at this my eyes need to rest a bit 🙂
❗ Guess what! If you hold shift, it will show lines that make an x-ray of the space around you, giving you a clear, or at least clearer, guide to the space’s dimensions! (I discovered this by accident when trying to go back to the level select screen.)
It even shows you the exit! 😀
Damn, and I thought Feign was a headtrip. What just happened to my brain? 😯
I’m pretty sure there are unintentional clipping issues (I noticed the exit was clipping in Level 5 when approached from the wrong wall).
Also, for those stuck, the exits are the animated textures. I spent a lot of time wandering off into noman’s land til I got that sorted out.
I’ve had to stop at the beginning of level 10 for now, but wanted to chime in and say this is so great! Such a good idea!
I didn’t understand the win-condition until level 5 or so, having until that point I guess stumbled into the exits moving backwards or while strafing. (I’ve been heavily relying on both to get my bearings.)
This might be obvious to most, but was interesting for me to think through (though totally possible there’s a mistake in my reasoning): at first I thought the novel thing here was the lack of depth perception, but in fact by moving forward and backwards, you definitely do have a sense of depth based on the speed at which isolated pattern areas ‘move’ toward the edges of the screen. And strafing you can get a bit of a sense of depth (assuming you can determine figure from ground, but you can switch to the previous trick to determine that in many cases). The most novel aspect, I think, in terms of affecting one’s ability to comprehend the space and thus navigate it, is that you cannot determine if a solid section of pattern represents a single wall or multiple walls at different depths. That’s a neat limitation.
(To Aquin, I only noticed clipping issues in one level so far, the one called something like ‘the purpose of color’.)
(A last side note, I wonder if this might be more or less interesting without the yellow diagonal pattern and its illusion of vertical motion)
Oh, one more thought: I wonder if this might be improved by having the sound change as you get closer or further from the goal point. I could see how such a system might trivialize some of what’s interesting about the disorientation here, but as-is the least fun aspect is the aimless wandering (if you’re not bearing down and systematically checking all avenues). The level I felt this in the most (and possibly exclusively) was “panic room,” in which I had intuited the structure but was never sure if I was reentering the same chamber or a different one. (Obviously I could have just been more careful.)
Again, so very, very good. I adore this.
(Upon some further thought: I can’t believe I failed to note how the main disorientation effect is from effectively-infinite wall height + no texture scaling when moving closer or further away [plus, previously noted, patterns retaining absolute horizontal screen alignment]. All three combine to rob you of the most common depth cues, with my note about differentiating alike surfaces being a side effect, not the main point of novelty.)
There are definitely clipping issues, yeah. I think I might be able to work around it by making the exits smaller in diameter, but after a week of looking at this my eyes need to rest a bit 🙂
This game is very interesting.. and maybe fun. It requires a lot patience with very abstract exploring. Mmmm…. its good. (got to level 3)
❗ Guess what! If you hold shift, it will show lines that make an x-ray of the space around you, giving you a clear, or at least clearer, guide to the space’s dimensions! (I discovered this by accident when trying to go back to the level select screen.)
It even shows you the exit! 😀
hmm… Maybe it’s a secret feature for when you complete the game, though… 😮