Glitch
A singleplayer platformer game created for the 2022 Minetest Game Jam by Wuzzy.
You’re One, a bit who’s lost in cyberspace after a mysterious distortion interrupts a typical data transmission. Can you figure out what caused this and get back on track?
Explore the System, collect electrons to unlock new sectors, learn new abilities to become more powerful and maybe you will find the path to your true destination.
Basic controls
- Move mouse: Look around
- Place key [right mouse click]: Interact with beings
- Movement keys [WASD]: Slide on flat ground and small slopes
- Aux1 key [E]: Use gateway (hold key pressed)
- Inventory key [I]: Show your electrons and abilities
You will learn more abilities along the way. Check the tooltips in your inventory for a reminder.
You can change the music volume with a setting in Luanti.
Version history
See README.md.
Credits
- Idea, design, coding, graphics, sounds effects, story and testing by Wuzzy (2022).
- Music by Visager (2016).
- Translations by various people (see
README.md)
(Detailed credits and license notes in README.md)
Nice parkour
(I only am partway through the game so take this with a pinch of salt)
The story aspects are very intriguing, and I like the integration of the different powers into earlier rooms to make visiting earlier rooms have a purpose.
Something I found somewhat frustrating however is the controls feel somewhat difficult. Especially for dashing, triggering the dash feels somewhat inconsistent. I also think it is very difficult to control; combined with the aforementioned inconsistency, getting the dash distance correct is at times frustratingly difficult, though this is subjective and depends on a matter of preference and skill.
Overall, I like the story and level design.
Parkour? In my computer cables?! It's more likely than you think...
This left such a cool impression, it felt so complete and fun, wow! The intro sequence is cool, and its story is engaging right from the start. It was clearly well tested: I didn't find any obvious bugs. :) It features a secret level, and the game soundtrack is neat and varied. The abilities you learn along your journey all help you in different situations, at various points in the game: awesome!
Collecting electrons while power-sliding is a bit finnicky, I found, but this is really the only complaint I have for the Jam version.
Well done, the experience was really refreshing for a Minetest game. Totally recommended!
My Review [JAM VERSION]
I played until around ~170 Electrons, but the ability lag, which was slowly getting worse as the game went on, has reached an unplayable point (10+ second delay from holding/pressing the correct key(s)). I hope you can fix this, because I'd really like to play this to the end. Here's my world file, if that helps
Collecting the electrons can get a bit repetetive, but I think that's mostly due to how I play.
Review:
Fun parkour-like game with a great story
This is a game that really feels complete! The storyline is great, the characters have varying personalities, the levels are well made, the textures are consistent, the sound effects, documentation, and texture effects are incredible - and best of all, it's quite fun!
The quality opening sequence is also something that I believe defines this game and makes you feel part of your own character. Well done, Wuzzy!
I wish that this game was longer, because it is really a joy to play (being a parkour fan myself :)). As mentioned, the slide controls are somewhat erratic and it takes a bit of experience: after a while, it becomes somewhat consistent if you use Shift (Sneak) in combination. It can also be somewhat confusing when you can use E to 'dash' and when you can't: on slopes, the dashing often doesn't work but (if you glitch? :)) it does work from time to time. On solid blocks, it usually always works in the right areas. If you get going downhill, you probably won't be able to stop yourself, as velocity increases like crazy.
EDIT: After finishing the game I have nothing but more praise for it: this is extremely well polished and has a wonderful ending that is amusing and proves a very difficult puzzle! This is my personal pick for the best game of the Jam. I enjoyed it immensely, thank you Wuzzy!
Good polish, world building, and dialogue system
Very well polished. There's a cool intro cutscene. I like the dialogue system and jokes. Good progression, although I found it hard to work out how far powerslide would go and kept dying :D
Gamplay: 10/10
Innovation: 9/10
Audiovisuals: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Theme: 9/10
Awesome Parkour Game!
This game is really fun to play. The collectables were too compelling for me, so on my first save I got all 833. The plot is interesting with some small laughs, and I really love the idea. Great job! After getting all the electrons, I speedran the game a few times, and got a time of 58 minutes (Any%). I also enjoyed the music a lot.
However, I do have a few problems. For one, the powerslide trick felt very weird to control, and it felt like some challenges, like in Powerslide Playground, were out of my control. Also, during my speedruns, I kept on running into problems with electrons. Sometimes I would launch up and travel through one, but I wouldn't collect it. Sometimes I would just walk through it and it wouldn't register. I'm not entirely sure how you could fix these problems, as I'm not very familiar with the engine, but maybe some indicator showing how far you'll go with powersliding would be due? I played in Minetest 5.6.1, game version 1.1.0.
Once I had finished the entire game, I went into the code and unlocked editor mode. I was really impressed with it. I really liked how there were blocks for everything, even the things that ended up being entities out of editor mode. It was fun trying to build my own level. I couldn't figure out how to get launch pads that could launch you higher than one block, and I couldn't figure out how to get gateways working either.
Here's how I think this game could get even better: I would love to see something special for getting all the electrons, maybe a secret good ending. I also think it would be cool to have more levels and electrons. I also think more abilities would be fun, although I know that isn't likely to happen. Also, bouncers deserve more than being stuck in the farlands, so if you make more levels, include them.
Overall, this is a great game, and I recommend it to anyone who loves parkour. Thank you for reading through my comment.
You made an undoubtedly greater parkour game than what I made
Late review. I made a parkour game for last year's game jam, but it was lacking of features and documentations (c55 stuck on the ground as he cannot find the
/restartcommand!), and lack of creativities. This game, may or may not be inspired by my game, did a way better job than I.The textures are all simple, which matches its theme of a sci-fi game. My parkour game also uses simple textures (because I am not good at art at that time), leading me to think whether this game was inspired by my game or not.
The plots are brilliant; The idea of letting the player (the One) travelling though the network interfaces are really innovative. Apart from the mainlines, there are also Easter eggs (e.g. the Powerslide Playground which was my only discovered Easter egg) which allows the player to pick up more electrons.
At the end of the story, in which I've entered the Core and is pending to be deleted, I was stuck. It was “designed” to stuck players inside, and it turns the parkour game into a puzzle game. This combination was something I've never thought of, and is definitely bringing more fun (and more “pain” as you will be exhausted) to the game.
By inspecting into the source codes, I know that there do have an ending (and is a happy ending), but I still can't reach it. I will not reach it today, but probably within this week.
A well-designed parkour challenge with a compelling backstory.
Glitch is fun to play: there are skills to unlock, electrons to collect, and secrets to find. The story is not tacked on but integrated into the game. It is compelling, starting with a cutscene that eases the player into the narrative. The levels are well-designed, with easy-to-reach electrons and hidden ones that give you a dopamine rush when you discover them. Finally, the game does not expect one to collect every single electron; it is easy enough to collect all you need to enter the endgame without too much effort. Without giving spoilers, I will say that the endgame is a great addition to the story and is very satisfying. Its levels are slightly frustrating, but that can be expected on a final level-set.
Thank you for this game, it deserves the First prize!
Cute, impressively polished platformer
Rating Scale:
1-10 for each of the 6 categories, 1 being a thumbs down, 10 being a thumbs up. Max total being 60.
Gameplay: 7 | Innovation: 9 | Graphics (Content): 9 | Music & Sound (Content): 9 | Theme: 9 | Stability: 10 |
Total: 53
This one's tricky for me. I'm not a very patient gamer, and I don't enjoy platformers or 'skill based games', which is the direction that Glitch seems to be aiming for. But I will review this objectively, with the perspective of whether I would recommend this to a friend who I know enjoys this type of game.
In the time I spent playing this game I could see that a lot of work went into it. An impressive amount actually - it really feels like a proper fully fledged game, not something frantically assembled while racing against the clock. It has a cute aesthetic, it has music, a unified feel (even the UI fits the theme), it has unique gameplay mechanics and it's engaging enough (if you like this genre) that you kind of forget about the whole 'Minetest is an engine' thing and just think of something as a game in its own right. Arguably, I think that's the most important thing. Too many games rely on the 'strengths' of the engine, e.g. that you can play tons of other stuff too, instead of just standing on their own right. With some more development after the Jam ends, this could probably be one of those rare titles worth playing even if you don't know anything about Minetest as an engine.
That being said - some very minor critiques: I found it very hard to tell when an ability had recharged (like the sliding mechanics). The stopping distance also was quite hard to judge. Lastly, I feel like maybe the game could use a tiny bit more personality and liveliness of the kind you would find in nostalgic 3D platformers. Maybe little emotes over the characters heads, occasionally changing expressions to emphasise events, a tiny bit more humour, maybe some secrets to find, etc.
Fun game with a great atmosphere
I love the ambience you built! The intro sequence was really good (maybe even a first among minetest games?), the helpers are super cute (even though it's a parkour game I wish there were more optional interactions!), and the maps play well. Good choice of soundtrack too. In general the game looks very polished for a game jam entry, congrats!
The controls surprised me at times (long slide, unexpected momentum when jumping off, abilities not working at the edge of blocks), but I quickly got used to them. Maybe I’m supposed to play in third person? That would explain the slide distance.
Very polished!
OVERVIEW - Glitch This game was pretty fun, and surprisingly polished! I'm not too far in the game yet, but o far it's been pretty cool.
RATING SYSTEM:
1 - Not a fan 2 - Meh 3 - Okay 4 - Good 5 - Love it!
GAMEPLAY - 4
GRAPHICS - 5
PLAYER-FRIENDLY - 5
PERFORMANCE - 5 (So far it has not lagged)
SOUNDS & MUSIC - 5
THEME - 4
TOTAL - 28/30 (Love it!)
Very fun platforming game.
The story was very well written, I really liked the ending, The only thing that infuriates me is the lack of NG+ content.
awesome game
i just beaten the game now my next goal is to 100% beat the game i love the concept and the music great job
Very exciting, even although nobody's shooting at you
I tried this out of curiosity because nowadays it is so easy to try and add new games to Minetest. This game is really amazing. It will give you entertainment for several nights and sweaty hands. The difficulty starts low and keeps growing as you gain new capabilities. Many of the items and ways can be found by logical thinking, sometimes trying and guessing is required. And there are always a few extra challenges which are not exactly required to master, but .. well .. challenging :)
The key recognition can be sluggish now and then which can lead to frustrating moments, e.g., when the jump pad just won't fire when you cross it and press 'jump'. But all in all it works pretty well. Especially when you think about that this is a one-man show for a gaming competition.
Also for the second guy in this one-man show: cudos for the great music! This is how my Atari 2600 should have sounded like 8-D
Very enjoyable
this isn't like a lot of other MineTest games. It is a thoroughly enjoyable collect-a-thon platformer game. The plot is pretty minimal, but the game is very fun, and the progression is very satisfying. You start out with basically no abilities whatsoever, and as you progress through the game you are able to collect new abilities. There are few if any enemies and the game is very relaxed while also being challenging.
Very good game!
I really liked this game, can I get a sequel? I love how cute the bits and helpers are, its amazing how i'm saying that about a white cube with 4 black pixels lol.
The controls were a bit frustrating at times (dash not going off or not being able to get any speed up before jumping on a launchpad), but I think that's more a limitation of the engine than anything.
The puzzles were for the most part good, although I'm pretty sure there's some electrons that are actually impossible to get, such as the one at the bottom of the transport pipe, the one with the cables? Like there's a red cable meaning you can't go up, and as far as I can see there's no other way to get back up)
Overall I'd rate it a solid 9.5/10, I can't believe you made this in 21 days only lol.
Fun, polished, immersive
This game is a platformer featuring good music, stylish levels and a simple story that makes it feel like something fresh. Jumping, gliding, climbing, this game has it. It also features a nice HUD and an in-game tutorial that makes it user friendly and discoverable. Each level comes with custom nodes, music, different obstacles, puzzles and new abilities to unlock so it's never boring. There are also simple NPCs you can chat with that make the game feel more alive. A cool example of what you can do with the Minetest engine with some creativity.
Simply excellent!
Fun Platformer
This is one of my favorite Minetest games. It's got great story, it's fun to control, the music's great. Everything feels like it fits together.
For an extra hard challenge, run these commands on every game start and see how many electrons you can get.
I was able to get 195 electrons this way. I don't think it's possible to beat the game like this, but maybe someone will figure it out eventually.
I have noticed this game seems to have much fewer views than I'd expect based on the reviews, but maybe it's because Minetest 5.6 is required.
Nothing like a traditional Mine* game
I played through this on the weekend and enjoyed it thoroughly. It's nothing like traditional minecraft games but I think it uses the engine well.
Thankyou for making and publishing this Wuzzy :)
N.B. I don't expect you to like any of my pull requests or want to implement anything I mention here, but I think you might enjoy reading it anyway.
Hub world and levels
Wow this game has a lot of levels. I had to draw a map of the hub to keep track of which is which.
I couldn't help but draw comparisons with Super Mario 64 whilst playing. Jumping into paintings vs using portals with decorations near them.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that the decorations near each portal represented the level on the other side. That... made things quite a bit easier. I still kept using my paper map (especially for keeping track of the few level-to-level portals).
Level: Farlands
Gorgeous faux-reflection either side with the corruption occurring. It's a shame that I spent my time only looking at the central section.
Level: Tower
This is the one level I will complain about. I thought that a light near a jumppad means it sends you higher, but there is one platform of the tower where this rule doesn't apply. Lots of frustration was had from repetitively traversing this layer and trying to remember which jumpads in the almost-rotationally-symmetric room were the good ones and which were the duds.
Level: Cube processing
One of the pathways in this level is a taunt. It shows you something, but doesn't let you reach it.
I kept expecting to be given another ability to finish this level; but eventually I realised that it was a puzzle I had the keys to all along. Cheeky bastard :)
(continued in comments)
Delightful
I find many Minetest games to be lacking... but this one is the real deal. It's a lot of fun and has so much charm. by the end it started to disappoint me but I still recommend it.
I absolutly love it!
it is a very good Minetest adventure/parkour game! I finaly fully complated the game's gameplay and i can't say bad about the game :)
Is one of the best games
Is a great game of puzles and the hub area remembers me to the metroidvanias.
The music is stuck in my head...
A great game with some catchy music, nice concept overall :) Controls a little fiddly at times but hey, can't have it all :P
Cute, Limited-Scope Single-Player Experience
I had fun with this one. The story was simple, but built on realistic principles. The end game could use a climbing puzzle, and a launch eased off on, but overall, it's good.
A good adventure game
It seems to me that Glitch is a good adventure game and its gameplay is very good, I think that since it is open source in the future it can become better than it is today.
Fun platform, although a bit too farmy after a while
I'll start by saying that this is both nice and curated. I'd make dialogues shorter here and there, but overall they're entertaining and you can see the effort the author put in the opening with the cutscene. Collecting electrons has reminded me a bit the first Spyro, where gems where scattered all around the maps, sometimes just to annoy the player, and... well, with the way MT detects keys such as AUX1, trust me it was indeed annoying when 1/3 of the time it didn't read the input in time, making me fall down (nice death transition!)
I like how the author has structured the game, with this hub concept reminding of games like Crash 2. It's easy to navigate and environment elements near teleports help the player surely improves this aspect. My main critique is, the way you have to backtrack basically every level in order to collect all the electrons. I've personally quit after having unlocked the jump ability, all those jumps in that room were overwhelming (after having fought with MT limitations with me falling down several times in the 16 electrons level to gather enough electrons for the 128 one). Which is a pity, I kind of wanted to see the end!
My Review
I use my rating on the 6% system what I used last year, even if this time the rating system works differently. My points:
I hope you going to make Glitch 2. In the IP the game ended there were also the white noises. Maybe you have to escape them there.
game
the game is better than mintest
so difficult
I find the level design too complicated.