Shadowbright
2022: It took my 4 years but I went in and fixed the input bug.
It should perform better too. I updated to a more recent Unity version, and they've made improvements to the WebGL build. I won't be making more changes. Eventually I would like to re-write the thing from scratch... maybe in 4 more years...
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An experimental puzzle platformer game where structures are only solid when illuminated. I hope you find the puzzles innovative, challenging, and entertaining.
UPDATE.
I went in and fixed up the controls, switching the jump button to space and using up (or down, or ctrl) for interacting with items. Now it's difficult for me, since I'm used to jumping with up, but more sensible for ... everyone else, it makes wall-jumping much easier. I haven't yet fixed how input handling is wonky and occasionally misses a press, sorry about that! I hope it doesn't mess anyone up in too frustrating a situation. I'm working on it. :)
Even more important is there is music now! (It might take a minute to load while you start playing) The amazing Zach Heyde took it upon himself to compose original background music! You can mute it with m, but why would you? It's really phenomenal. If you need music for your projects, you should check Zach out. Commission him for everything! You can find the OST here: https://zachheyde.bandcamp.com/track/shadowbright-ost
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Use the LEFT/RIGHT or A/D to move, SPACE to jump, and UP, DOWN, W, or S to pick up/drop items and switch switches. You can also use a gamepad. Your objective is to get the character to the dotted rectangular goal for each level. The music can be muted with M.
Enjoy!
I'm proud of this little game and I want to show it off, and get feedback. Is it done? Nope. There's so much I want to improve! But it never will be 'done'. I've moved on to other things, and I am happy with what's here. I believe the core ideas are interesting and inspiring, and the execution at is least competent. This little game was fun to make and I hope you enjoy it.
Development log
- Input bug FixedJan 14, 2022
Comments
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Hi Hunter Dyar,
I hope this message finds you well. I recently discovered your game Shadowbright on itch.io. I was incredibly impressed by the shadow and light manipulation features you’ve implemented, it’s truly inspiring!
I’m currently working on a project that involves similar mechanics, and I was wondering if it might be possible to access the Unity project resources for Shadowbright. I understand that this is a significant request, and I would be more than happy to give you full credit for your work in my project. Your contribution would be acknowledged in the final game.
Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your response.
An inspired fellow developer, Genzer
hi. Shoot me an email to hunter (at) dyar.email, and I’ll follow up! Happy to share the techniques.
In one of the levels I got stuck in a wall and there was no restart button
couldnt have had up be jump?
Hi, your concept is really interesting and lead to clever puzzle. Maybe you should work a bit on your jump as it feels a bit weird for now (don't forget to add some juice to game too). Congrats !
Walls that aren't affected by light should be a little bit brighter.
innovative game :) enjoy the gameplay and atmosphere :) not possible to have a windows built to avoid to play online and maybe more fluid ?
fantastic game, only complaint is that the later half has huge lag spikes in browser
Excellent game, really interesting mechanic. I would add hints texts, like how to use the sticky lights. Also a bit more animation on the guy, especially a wall-slide animation so that you have a visual clue that you can wall jump.
Really cool game, the idea is innovative and the gameplay is smooth and the little quirks in the controls don't hinder the experience in my opinion.
thanks for sharing this :)
I liked trying this concept. 💡👏
Feedback: I was using a keyboard and found it very frustrating to have to use the space bar. Perhaps the up key can jump and the down key can lift/drop?
Really fascinating puzzle platformer. It's a really genious idea to use light source as a key and you can use it in so many different ways too. The mechanics aren't perfect, but you learn to use them after a while (like the wall jump). The music fits the theme too.
I'd like to invite your game to our annual Game Development World Championship!
I really like that mechanic.
one of the great puzzle out there. i made a walkthrough here for those who confuse or just enjoying watching
the jump control is a bit wonky and the grab control sometimes didnt grab in the right time. please fix this :DThanks for the kind words! Yeah input handling can wonk out sometimes in the web build... which is the only build. I'll do my best to try and fix it haha. I appreciate you taking the time to make the walkthrough video!
goodluck!!!
One of the best puzzle platformers I've played in a while! Had some issues with jumping being unresponsive at times, but other than that, I really enjoyed this game!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Awesome game, I'd love to see more puzzle games that you come up with
Thanks!
i wasn't able to get through the whole game, but i really enjoyed it! color scheme is really lovely, and the whole concept is really interesting and fun! loved it! :)
Thanks, I appreciate that!
Really cool game. I had lots of issues with jumping not being responsive. Couldn't figure out any patterns on when it wouldn't let me jump so had to avoid running and jumping just to avoid the risk of it not letting me jump and fall to my death.
I got pretty far (I think—to the screenshot in the middle on the right) but eventually got frustrated from deaths from jump button not working.
I played through the whole thing! I can't imagine this was easy to make.
I'll give you some constructive criticism. I think a menu system here would have added a lot, and a level select to give the player a sense of how much progress they've made. The big thing I learned after making my first game was to think hard about the controls, because what's intuitive to you might not be for other players. Here I think W to jump is a little odd, and its a bit temperamental. Space to jump and E to pick up objects makes sense to me. I think some of the puzzles are a little over designed, for example there is one near the end with two lamps, a button, and an orb; the lamps and button are completely unnecessary to solve the puzzle. Ideally each puzzle should teach the player something new; there was a string of puzzles where the flashing orb was introduced in which the exact same solution could be applied to three puzzles in a row.
Your puzzle with the two sticky orbs (in your screen shots) was the best one. It really made you think. The sticky orbs in general were a great idea. I feel you could make a whole game involving just those orbs; you could make a really interesting level with three or four of them. Also the puzzles involving throwing the orb were dope. I think you have some really cool ideas here and you should definitely be proud of this.
I agree about the controls. I lean back in my chair and one hand on arrow keys, add gamepad support. bing bang boom done, right? right? RIGHT? haha I'll probably go back at some point and make the changes you've suggested, letting left handed/WASD controls feel better and more natural for players who perfer that. (most, apparently?).
I agree with all of your feedback. Menu, of course - I also need to implement a high-contrast/color blind mode, and a way to enable that. I'm glad you mentioned the level design and challenge progression. Being frustrated with the progression and curve, and roughly but not specifically knowing the steps to improve it was one of my biggest blocks. Probably the one major component that kept me, for months, from wanting to 'put this in the wild'. How much should the puzzle be platforming? Timing? Shouldn't it all be the tricky mind-bending parts? I went back and forth with these questions a lot. And still do!
I really appreciate the time you spent to play through this and the constructive criticism. I'm really blown away by how friendly and supportive the itch.io community has been, even for this one little project! I'm seriously inspired and more confident on bringing more of my projects to light here (you know... when they're done). Thanks!
I found the gamepad favorable myself, once I got it implemented. and sound? Sound. The thorn in my side. I actually spent a great deal of time composing 8-bit midi music, designing sound effects, coding it all in, and such. It's funny, I have a deal of experience with sound design, but instead of that helping me, it just led me to be unsatisfied and annoyed by everything I created. One of those items on the to-do list that led to me getting uninspired with the project and working on other things, until eventually I scrapped sound all together and focused on what I had.
I agree with you about the controls, I think I know the steps I can take to tighten things up thanks to the feedback I've gotten from this awesome itch.io community.
I appreciate the time you took to play through the game and get to the end! It means a lot to see people playing this game! I'm glad I managed to stump you, at least for a little bit, on some of the levels :)
I will start out by saying that you made an amazing game, the puzzles have stumped me many times and you certainly need to think about what is stopping you from solving a level. The reason I gave it only three stars is because the controls are, to say the least odd. E should be the key to interact with objects because multiple times I've pressed space to jump and I end up dropping or picking up an item. Also, having W be the jump button makes the wall-jump mechanic nearly impossible to grasp, when almost all games with a wall-jump mechanic use space to jump. If you change these problems that I have that would be fabulous and your game would be an astonishing game. I hope that I didn't come off as whining or annoying
Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it. I'm blown away by the members of this community taking time to provide thoughtful feedback on my little game.
It's very likely I'll go back and change the controls, it's would be a clear and straightforward improvement. I just lean back in my chair with one arm outstretched on the arrow keys to play, and never gave the controls, or how left hand/ WASD feels, another thought! lol. so it goes: for the thousandth time I've been shown the importance of playtesting more.
Again, thanks for playing and taking the time to provide feedback! I really appreciate it.