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Cart #lynxkite_interview_20220218-0 | 2022-02-18 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | No License
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My first PICO-8 game! I've never even used Lua before, but it was a joy. I love how it takes away a lot of time sinks typical in game making. "What palette do I use?" "How do I store the images?" etc. I even enjoyed the built-in text editor for some reason. I will certainly make more carts!

I made the music using all 4 tracks. Now I wonder if this is a mistake? When I play sound effects over it they compete for the channels and it sounds glitchy. How is this usually handled? Use fewer tracks?

P#107158 2022-02-18 10:57

"How is this usually handled? Use fewer tracks?"

Yes. You can use two or three channels for music and leave the rest for sfx.

The music() function lets you reserve channels so that they are never used for sfx (see https://pico-8.fandom.com/wiki/Music).

How many channels you need to reserve will depend on your composition and how often your game plays sfx. For example, in the game I am writing now, I have a three-channel music pattern, where the third channel is used for drum beats. I reserve the first two channels for music, allowing the sfx to drop drum beats if necessary, and it sounds ok.

P#107160 2022-02-18 11:28 ( Edited 2022-02-18 11:28)

I got stuck on the 3rd level because the dog kept overriding the interaction to talk to the interviewer. I'm also not sure what the goal of the puzzles is supposed to be. The pieces seem to have hidden "correct" spots with no reasoning behind them, but also getting them in the "correct" spots isn't the point?

P#107230 2022-02-19 08:05

"I got stuck on the 3rd level because the dog kept overriding the interaction to talk to the interviewer."

That's sort of intentional, but it's possible it's a bad intention. :) The pets are meant to introduce an action element without violence. You just have to dash around to lose them so they don't bother you.

I think I may have gotten too used to this mechanic while making the game and don't notice it enough. I'll try toning it down a bit.

"I'm also not sure what the goal of the puzzles is supposed to be. The pieces seem to have hidden "correct" spots with no reasoning behind them, but also getting them in the "correct" spots isn't the point?"

Precisely! The "correct" spot is the reverse order of the initial placement. A cube in this "correct" spot is worth 100 points. But from level 3 onward you can get bonus points that make some "incorrect" configurations worth more than the "correct" (reversed) configuration.

There is a hint system (talk to the interviewer multiple times) but even so I can totally see why it may be super confusing. How could I improve it? Maybe I should display some hints automatically based on a timer? Or figure out a way to better communicate the task visually. Or come up with a simpler task.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

P#107232 2022-02-19 08:19

The first level had the interviewer say that the task was to reverse the list. After that, I didn't see any indication of what the task was. If the game were more abstract, I would've assumed the same goal, but in context it'd be really weird for that to be the case. The points system then goes further away from what would make sense for an interview about software.

Consider this: why would a physical dog cause a memory leak? Without an answer to that question, seeing the memory leak happen while the dog is nearby doesn't make it clear that the dog is related, because the idea that the dog would be related doesn't make sense.

P#107247 2022-02-19 13:58

Thanks. I'll try to ramp up the realism next time!

P#107410 2022-02-21 17:50

Very cool ! Got 1600 at the end. What’s the maximum ?

P#112876 2022-06-08 06:34

Thanks for playing! The best solution I know is actually 1700. But 1600 is great! So, are you interested in the job? :)

P#112878 2022-06-08 07:27

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