Gelda (TVGameJam Edition)
Drop into the wilderness and explore as Gelda, a young girl with a penchant for adventure, and often trouble.
Created for the 2019 TVGameJam and inspired by Hilda the series on Netflix.
All assets were made from scratch during the game jam’s duration (12 days of actual production time), by two people, Rachel and Richard Marks.
The jam game was developed during the same time period.
Controls: Move left or right with the arrow keys, or A and D keys. Jump with the up arrow key, or with the space key. Press down while running to slide under obstacles.
Gamepad controllers are only partially supported and are buggy. (we didn’t have time to sort this out sadly)
Thanks to our son, Adam, for playtesting the levels!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Updates and more updates! Post Jam BugfixinFeb 24, 2019
- Mission: Gelda Submission - Complete!Feb 15, 2019
Comments
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Hi This game crashes and is unplayable on the latest Mac OS and computer (M1). Thankfully the browser version works, but not the downloadable files.
Oh no. Good to know. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to rectify this situation due to our current financial situation. We've had to cancel our Construct3 subscription (What the game was developed with) and do not have the ability to provide any further updates or re-export the game.
Thank you for letting us know. We would love to fix this and if the situation changes, we'll see what can be done.
A game I truly needed :)
idk why, but this looks weird. but i'm not gonna judge on a well looking developed game that is conseterabally inspired by "The Netflix Original (Hilda)"
Very nice experience, thinking about speedrunning it. Is there a discord or social media for this game?
Glad to hear you enjoyed the game. A speedrun would be interesting to see.
We have a facebook page, and twitter account. We have a discord, but there are only 3 people on the server.
https://www.facebook.com/ramblingindiegames/
https://twitter.com/ramblingindie
can I enter the discord? I dont have facebook or twitter
https://discord.gg/BDBMQm
please :)
very fun
Thank you :)
i dont know what to do after the tree chasing scene (i must admit i am really bad at this stuff )
You will find a fox that tells you what you have to do.
I saw this game and thought it was beautiful. I ended up showcasing this on my Indie Game Showcase last week. The graphics are great and I can truly say I was sad when it ended because I wanted more. I hope there will be more to this. Minus a little bit of an issue with the controls, I thought it was fantastic.
Thank you! Were you playing with a gamepad or the keyboard? The gamepad controls are very much broken and are being rewritten for our next update. So glad you enjoyed the game. There will be more levels in the near future.
That was awesome, a bit confusing at first but then it was fun.
It made me feel curious and need to know more about it, I would love if this game can turn into a full game, with more precise controls and more smoothness into it. also art, animations, music were amazing and well made, the text was very nice too.
9/10 would play again if you released a full version in the future.
Keep up the great work :)
We are so glad you enjoyed the jam edition, and are indeed going to be extending the game.
Beautiful game~ I loved it the whole way through!
Thanks for playing! We're glad you enjoyed the game!
I played this game twice because I realized after watching a fellow streamer that you can slide. So here's both videos! :)
Haven't had a chance to play the update, unfortunately.
Watch Weekly Game Jam 83: Remote Control | !submit !queue from MrJoshuaMcLean on www.twitch.tv
Watch TV Game Jam feedback | !submit !queue from MrJoshuaMcLean on www.twitch.tv
Please play the updated version, you will like it much more.
Also... the textboxes in the game that popup when you're playing contain vital information.
To answer your questions you asked during the play:
All graphics were created by Rachel Marks, and all Music and game programming was done by Richard Marks.
There is one more level in the jam edition to get through, and there are 3 sketchbook pages to unlock by collecting all the sketches in the levels.
Thanks for playing. We really hope that you like the update.
Gameplay video
Okay, so I played Gelda.
I admit, Hilda have been on my watch/read list for a very long time, and I still haven’t crossed it off. I am absolutely in love with it’s visual style, and Gelda plays into it amazingly. I will play the hell out of it, if it ever becomes a full-length game (assuming everything else is polished).
This visual aesthetic is very consistent thoroughly the whole game, and besides a few clippings/tile gaps it is flawless (for a Jam).
One thing that bugs me about visuals are the branches. They merge with the background and it’s kinda hard to distinguish them while running from a troll. They definitely should be more visually distinctive.
Gameplay. It’s nice, but it suffers sometimes from small bugs and inconsistencies.
As others have said, the death seems too punishing. Delay between death and respawn could have been 2-4 times shorter.
Game features a lot ‘leap of faith’ jumps. You jump blindly and hope the level design catches you. Granted, it does, but considering death delays, it feels very punishing to experiment with blind jumps. And I don’t mean only Mistfox jumps, even the regular in-level jumps often times require lots of faith into level design.
Then, you have these huge leaps with Abi. They seem very inconsistent. I know they are predictable, but because of how big the distance is, they feel ‘leap of faith-y’ as well. Flying through the whole level into the unknown basically.
And to top all that, not all checkpoints are well-placed. Some require a bit of strolling until you reach the troll-sequence (which you’ve died at a few times already).
Conclusion:
Now, I make these downsides seem huge. They are a big deal, but everything good about the game really outshines them. But the experience can’t be whole with these things present, in my opinion.
You see, it seems like I rate this game as a standalone finished product at this point. Which I really shouldn’t. It’s a Jam entry made in a tight time limit. But I can’t help it, cause I really like it))
Wow, thank you for the very in-depth review of our game! We acknowledge that there are many small issues (and a few less minor issues) that we need to fix, and several things were discovered after we released the game for the jam. We have every intention to fix all the issues that have been pointed out, and add quite a bit more content for the player to consume. There will be more environments, creatures, and things to do overall in the game. New mechanics, and minigames to break up the gameplay.
We started working on the game after the jam started, and the levels were designed within only 2 days. We had little time to fully-test everything, and knowing the level design, we didn't end up with as much of an issue of leap-of-faith because we knew what was coming up. That was a miss on our part.
Thank you again for playing, and for taking the time to write up a detailed review.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
I don't know what kept on happening, but that jumping mechanic was really weird
Thanks for the coverage!
You were soo close to finishing the Pit level.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
BTW if you dont mind me asking,...
*was this made with Unity or UE or gameMaker or anything like that?
*Also what programming language was used?
*And lastly, what did you guys use to draw the world?
I admire your game so much btw hahhaah I've spent so much time in it already!
Please continue, Thanks for Making and thanks for sharing, !
We are really happy to hear you are enjoying the game!
There is much still planned for the future for Gelda, so keep an eye out for announcements and if you're not already, follow us on twitter @ramblingindie
I never knew about Construct, it's very intuitive!
Clip studio: I used to have a Wacom Bamboo before it broke, Do you recommend from personal exp. any drawing tablet?
Thanks for your replying, your work is very inspiring, best of luck!
For a drawing tablet, our artist recommends the Wacom Intuos. For something with a screen, the Microsoft Surface, or if you are looking for something with more power, the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro which is what was used to create the art for Gelda.
Thank you very much, I will look into these products.
absolutely stunning work
Thank you!
I like the double jump, art, and music. However, those stupid wood trolls get me every time! I think adding different difficulty levels would be good. Maybe making the wood trolls slower on easier levels for the less talented gamers, shorter spaces between hills, etc. I get easily frustrated though, so this may not be an issue for everyone. I think a different level intro music would be good too. Not a big fan of the scratchy sounds. A reduced death sequence would be great too. I wasted a lot of time dying.
Difficulty setting is a good idea! We will add this to the list of things to consider for the next update. Thanks for playing!
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
I dont know about the glitches that other guys are talking about.. I adapted to the double jump mechanics.. it was a different take on the classic double jump mechanics... The art work is cute..with all hand drawn graphics.. reminds me of cuphead.. and those MistyFurs are bitches...
We are glad you enjoyed the game. We wanted to try something a little bit different with the jumping, but we will probably be changing it to something that is more accessible to everybody, or maybe have some kind of user-options where they can tweak the controls to their own play-style.
And, yes. Yes, they are. :D
Please consider the 'user options' method as to cater to those who are used to your 'new' jumping method and those that prefer an alternative/traditional jumping method.
The possibility is being considered.
Hey amazing game, sadly I couldn’t play it because I was lagging, anyways in like 2 - 3 weeks I’ll play it and give you my opinion
Okay. You said you were lagging, is that the game was lagging, or your system was lagging?
If it was the game that lagged, did you try it on web, or a desktop native build? If native, what platform, and what are your specs?
the restart takes way too long and i xant even get past the first hill obsticle. cute concept though
The death sequence timing will be reduced in a future update. Getting past the first hill obstacle just requires some patience and nimble fingers. Just approach the hill and jump and after your player is falling, press jump again to use Abi to boost yourself high up and press to the right and glide over to the hill.
Thanks for playing. We hope you enjoy playing Gelda more after you get used to the controls.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
cute, fun game! absolutely disastrous programming. the double jumping mechanic is the worst offender, but glitches are everywhere.
Thanks for your feedback.
The "double jumping" is one of the things that the most time was spent on. In-fact, it was decided that the velocity-based mechanic was more fun than a typical double-jump, and opened up more variety in designing the levels and playing them.
The only glitch that we have noticed is with the textboxes/portraits, and these are things we intend to fix later in a future update. The jam schedule was tight to handle all the things on our list of items to fix.
Disastrous is probably a bit strong of a term though.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
level two is too difficult, there's no way to stop the weirdo from carrying you once you start jumping
You most certainly can jump without gliding with Abi. Just don't try to jump when you are off the ground. ;)
As for difficulty, yes level two is difficult, but it has been completed by many players, so you probably just need to practice your movements. Here's a tip about Abi.
She uses velocity to give you a boost, so if you are falling, and you use Abi, you will jump way higher than if you just try to double-jump.
Most of level two's difficulty comes from timing sliding under the branches while being chased by the Wood Troll.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
i swear people put no effort into these things, ugh
Two people put 12 days of nearly 10+ hours each day into this.
I think that was sarcasm lol
The game is awesome!! However there still are a couple of glitches.
Yeah, that's inevitable with a game jam. What exactly did you run into? We are seeking as much feedback as possible for when we expand the game later, ironing out the bugs is definitely a top priority so we can deliver a top-notch product.
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
Nice! Very cool!
I really enjoyed your game.
It has a future! is a very promising game.
Thank you very much for your kind words. We enjoyed making it, and hope to bring more joy to players of Gelda in future updates. :)
Fun game and it teaches you a very important lesson - don't trust foxes.
Thank you so much for creating this video, and for playing our game!
:)
Today we are unleashing an update to Gelda with a bunch of fixes that we hope you will like.
Please give the updated game a whirl and let us know your thoughts.
Quite the changelog, nice. :)
Wish there were more levels! The music is quite lovely btw.
This is a beautiful game. i love the hand drawn animation. Those foxes are hilarious.
Thank you. This was the artist's first time animating as well.
I am glad you enjoy the game.