A lot of effort has been put into the various sprites in the game as well as the player. The player has a simple walking animation that helps contrast an otherwise still environment. A great detail is how the left sprite is shown crushed after the walls close in. The background tiles as well as the walls closing in are very simply designed and the focus is on the rising tension of not being able to find the key. The first item being picked up is drawn in a way where it is possible to think it is the key but ends up being a rock. A significant amount of effort has been put into the end room in the game. The sun is animated, and the tree is very detailed. The grass swaying with the wind has a very peaceful feeling to the ending. The tree trunk is composed of many different tiles together and it follows a different style compared to the minimalistic style of the walls and background of the previous rooms. I think the limitations of bitsy’s rooms being the same size is one that the designer fights with in this piece. On one hand it shows the first sprite being crushed outside the walls but on the other hand the room itself shrinking with the walls would have been a cool experience. Another place where the designer is fighting with bitsy’s limitations is in the color limitation. Several tiles are limited by the 3 color limitation that bitsy has.
Next to the use of very saturated colors in the background tiles and sprites, I noticed how the space shrinks as a result of the players actions. The game is dependent upon the player walking around the space in order to progress to the next space, in this case the shrinking of the room. To move around the space and to simultaneously avoid the shrinking of the room is unavoidable no matter what. When the player is initially dropped into the world, the space around them will almost immediately shrink by a space in the matter of about 3 steps. By having this occur, enacts a sense of urgency in the player to hasten their search. But, by doing this the room will still continue to shrink. The pace at which the player randomly walks the perimeter of the room, is the pace at which we see the room shrinking around them. Its pacing it at first slow, and then as the player is faced with the realization that they must find the key in order to leave its shrinking seems to quicken. The player is both given all the control in their walking, and yet none at all as the room confines them to less and less space to walk. In my playthrough of the game I first made my way towards any sprites or objects that I could individually interact with or pick-up, and then rightfully back where I came from to try the exit again. Only to discover that the object that I had picked up was not, in fact, the key and that my search must continue. Seeing as I had run out of things to interact with, my next measure was to try to see what exploring more of the space would do. I had this same mindset once the room confined to nothingness and I was left to a room with a tree.
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A lot of effort has been put into the various sprites in the game as well as the player. The player has a simple walking animation that helps contrast an otherwise still environment. A great detail is how the left sprite is shown crushed after the walls close in. The background tiles as well as the walls closing in are very simply designed and the focus is on the rising tension of not being able to find the key. The first item being picked up is drawn in a way where it is possible to think it is the key but ends up being a rock. A significant amount of effort has been put into the end room in the game. The sun is animated, and the tree is very detailed. The grass swaying with the wind has a very peaceful feeling to the ending. The tree trunk is composed of many different tiles together and it follows a different style compared to the minimalistic style of the walls and background of the previous rooms. I think the limitations of bitsy’s rooms being the same size is one that the designer fights with in this piece. On one hand it shows the first sprite being crushed outside the walls but on the other hand the room itself shrinking with the walls would have been a cool experience. Another place where the designer is fighting with bitsy’s limitations is in the color limitation. Several tiles are limited by the 3 color limitation that bitsy has.
Next to the use of very saturated colors in the background tiles and sprites, I noticed how the space shrinks as a result of the players actions. The game is dependent upon the player walking around the space in order to progress to the next space, in this case the shrinking of the room. To move around the space and to simultaneously avoid the shrinking of the room is unavoidable no matter what. When the player is initially dropped into the world, the space around them will almost immediately shrink by a space in the matter of about 3 steps. By having this occur, enacts a sense of urgency in the player to hasten their search. But, by doing this the room will still continue to shrink. The pace at which the player randomly walks the perimeter of the room, is the pace at which we see the room shrinking around them. Its pacing it at first slow, and then as the player is faced with the realization that they must find the key in order to leave its shrinking seems to quicken. The player is both given all the control in their walking, and yet none at all as the room confines them to less and less space to walk. In my playthrough of the game I first made my way towards any sprites or objects that I could individually interact with or pick-up, and then rightfully back where I came from to try the exit again. Only to discover that the object that I had picked up was not, in fact, the key and that my search must continue. Seeing as I had run out of things to interact with, my next measure was to try to see what exploring more of the space would do. I had this same mindset once the room confined to nothingness and I was left to a room with a tree.