FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD26 → Defender.

Defender.

By tainted_code

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Graphics224.43
Coolness299
Audio613.74
Mood1383.40
Overall1403.48
Theme1973.48
Fun2083.06
Humor2452.26
Innovation3002.88

Comments

milktoast 2013-04-30 02:05

This is incredible! Great game.

jah2488 2013-04-30 02:11

Love the retro feel. The graphics, the difficulty, the sound, all go together great.

tainted_code 2013-04-30 02:11

Thankyou!

cinnamonmelonpig 2013-04-30 03:28

wow good thing i got my gaint slingshot set up before I went to bed in my tent ;) super creative and the art is stunning!

jpverkamp 2013-04-30 04:11

Couldn't figure out how to actually hit what I assume was the enemy, although I think I knocked down one of the towers myself. Is that a thing? Still, the look and sound of the game is amazing, given the constraints. Your graphics artist did do an amazing job.

Pre-post edit: Yeah, now I read that you can't hit the boss while moving. Why not?

tainted_code 2013-04-30 07:00

Ahaha - glad you enjoyed! @jpverkamp if you look carefully, he spins very fast when moving so the bullet if deflected. Didn't have enough time to implement the reflection!

robotic 2013-04-30 07:53

Great graphics.

aymes 2013-04-30 07:54

Defended! Great stuff, enjoyed that and really loved the style :)

Not too hard once you know how to aim. Could have done with a restart option after being defeated the first time (or even when I won).

airrider3 2013-04-30 07:56

Nice! The first time was difficult. The second time easy. But I liked feeling impotent the first time, even helping the enemy destroying the towers. (stahp!)

timtimtimtim 2013-04-30 07:57

loved the graphics and theme and ominous spinning death cube. gameplay is promising but a little slow, i would like it better if he destroyed the city faster but took fewer hits to kill.

aquilicoco 2013-04-30 07:57

Incredible pixel art style.
Good work.

matthias_zarzecki 2013-04-30 07:58

This gets the Defense-feel quite right.

derosa 2013-04-30 07:59

Man, I couldn't hit the boss not even a single time! xD I even completely f*cked up a building myself :D

Pretty nice game, a Game Boy frame would have been awesome :)

Thanks!

ncgames 2013-04-30 08:00

great style. straight from a world where the original gameboy had touch controls

edocentrique 2013-04-30 08:03

So i think i helped the boss a lot by shooting at buildings instead of him ! For adding fun i think a second catapult or a better reload time would have been great !

tainted_code 2013-04-30 08:39

Thanks for your feedback guys! I would have added restart button but this entry was JUST in time with a few minutes to spare - sorry!

Thanks for all your kind words, means a lot!

darkhunter 2013-04-30 08:40

Awesome game! Enjoyed the graphics and the theme in the game itself. Is this even possioble for such simple game?!

tainted_code 2013-04-30 12:05

Cheers ;)

yoni 2013-04-30 12:40

Super hard but amazing graphics. Like an alternate dimension gameboy game

aestheticgamer 2013-04-30 12:48

Loved the graphical touches in the game 9the spinning, the passing by tumbleweed, the building decay when being destroyed), and this was extended to gameplay appeal (hitting your own buildings to hurt them). The music was catchy, and while difficult at first, once you had a grasp it was a good time. I would say it might be cool to see this extended with more mechanics, but the simplicity was also appealing. The curve of the aim felt a bit off at times (either in favor or out of favor), though with the 2D structure it was a bit understandable.

noa 2013-04-30 13:45

The game boy retro style is very pleasant, but it's too damn difficult to aim the cube. Overall it's good program but not a game :D

tainted_code 2013-04-30 14:03

Again, thanks guys!
@Yoni, that was the style we went for! :)

@AestheticGamer, thanks for the kind words and yeah, I had a big problem with this perspective!

@noa Thanks :) It is intentionally difficult, and what do you mean by it's not a game? It's by definition a game :)

psenfilip 2013-04-30 15:05

I really loved the overall aesthetic on there. Game Boy!
The game is certainly hard even after playing it for quite some time. The aim is just... well.. plain hard
Core mechanics are simple and effective.
Wish I could easily replay the level since I got beaten so bad several times.

hardycore 2013-04-30 15:25

Great simple game. Found it hard as hell to aim at first, but finallllly got the hang of it near the end. Love the gameboy art style look. How do you do that?!

tainted_code 2013-04-30 15:36

@Hardycore - Its a simple CRT effect :) The game was designed with 4 shades of one colour only!

@Psenflip Cheers man - means a lot!

alcazar 2013-04-30 17:19

Ahah !

When I launched the game, it reminded me that gold old GameBoy... I mean the ratio, the 4 shades and the sound...
I wanted to check for sure so I printed screen to paint and checked the resolution...

640x576... the same ratio as the gameboy's 160x144... magnified 4 times :)

Anyway, a very nice game : 4 stars

tainted_code 2013-04-30 17:26

@alcazar - I know, it was designed for the original screen size then we scaled it x4 ;) Thanks!

benjamin-soule 2013-04-30 17:29

Hey I really like the graphics style but it's really a pitty that the rope from the slingshot and the text are high resolution. I think you should have work on a small resolution ( the bg size for example ), draw your game in a BitmapData then scaling it to the display size you want. By doing so, the drawn lines pixel would fit the bg artwork. Nice entry, I had fun playing it. I spend my whole first game trying to land one single damage without success. After that my first hit in second game was a misclick o_O. Difficult but fun, especillay when you crush your own city.

tainted_code 2013-04-30 17:37

@Benjamin - Yeah. I know, it was my fault. I should have also made movement snap to 4 pixels but I just didn't come prepared I guess! We're remaking this outside of Ludum Dare and making it complete :)

kyyninen 2013-04-30 18:25

It's bloody hard, that's for certain. Who outsourced Earth defense to Rovio?? Would have loved some kind of indication where bullet is travelling depth-wise, shadow or something... That being said, graphics and audio are pretty much pitch perfect if nostalgia was the aim. Song is catchy as hell!

tainted_code 2013-04-30 18:29

@kyyninen Ahaha! I'm sorry - I've mentioned before how close to the deadline this game was submitted, that was indeed on the feature list! A nostalgic feel is what we were aiming for though, so thankyou! :)

hume 2013-04-30 20:34

EPIC. Difficult, as you warned. Great music, art. As mentioned, the shadow indicator would be nice. In trying to get the shots initially, it helped to remind myself that despite the artwork, this is probably a 2D game internally :)

Minor gripes: Didn't see any way to get back to the title screen after a defeat. I had to exit the game and restart. As mentioned, the shadow on terrain would be nice, but I understand how that could take some time. You might have to mask and draw two different versions for the different elevations.

Minor art gripe: the perspective on the buildings looks like you swapped the order at the last second. I approve from a gameplay standpoint -- that last tall building is a kick in the goolies -- but, well, when a game looks so good, these are the flaws you notice.

griz 2013-04-30 20:45

Wonderful music and demanding gameplay requiring the player to get hang of the aiming system. After couple of tries I finally got the annoying flying square boss thing.

umu 2013-04-30 21:35

I like the look, I like the sounds, I like the polish (the string does look weirdly clean compared to everything else. Your right, it was hard and I did feel good about finishing it. Two sort of things that got to me:

A)It's hard to tell when you have screwed up so badly that you should just restart. Maybe this was deliberate, so take that with a grain of salt.

B)If the theme is "old games are hard", the best old hard games were ones that had very tight and clear controls. They just gave you really difficult challenges. Aiming in 3 isometric dimensions with only 2 dimensions of information and input is much harder than the actual goal.

I think that the overall structure of timing your shots against the enemy attacks is very well executed.

pighead10 2013-04-30 22:00

Limit gameplay. You were right about it being difficult, I don't think I hit him once! The soundtrack and sound effects were great as well as the feel of the game and graphics.

ysty 2013-04-30 22:02

Nice, although the perspective is a little odd on the catapult so it takes a while to figure out how to aim.

tainted_code 2013-04-30 22:04

Thanks guys!

I've previously mentioned about the restarting - the game didn't have enough time to implement that at the end - sorry!

I wanted to add a line-of-sight sort of thing. It would allow better gameplay but once again - time got in the way!

holofire 2013-04-30 22:07

Nice game. Pretty damn fun. Catapults are always the way to go.

toonheart 2013-04-30 22:28

Awesome!
good music, good graphics.. I love the way it crashes down with mass :)

maxgun 2013-05-01 01:05

Nicely done. Defended on second try after two building destroyed. I really enjoyed the retro style and the physics.

kunonooni 2013-05-01 03:33

I totally felt like I was back in 1989 playing on my Nintendo Gameboy! Awesome use of theme. 5 stars!

cappagames 2013-05-01 04:16

Liked the art style and the challenging gameplay.

vaelzan 2013-05-01 07:30

Nice game. I found that it took a little while to get my first hit in but after that I found it a bit too easy to line up my shots. Love the gameboy style feel to it and I think you worked the theme in pretty well!

tainted_code 2013-05-01 11:08

Thanks guys! :)

dohan 2013-05-01 11:13

I really liked the use of the original Game Boy palette in your game. It's a bit hard to aim in 2D to hit something with depth at the start but fun nonetheless.

vladimirdlc 2013-05-01 16:03

Yay, after the 4th time I could defended it, it was fun, I liked the retro style.

multitude 2013-05-01 21:51

LOVE the retro style. awesome game. more levels plz :)

alvivar 2013-05-02 05:38

i defeated myself :(

georgebroussard 2013-05-02 08:07

Music and art were great. Found aiming frustrating due to the angle and perspective and that hurt enjoyment.

patrik 2013-05-02 19:37

Very nice looking graphics and good sounding sound. The perspective makes it very hard to aim though.

ragzouken 2013-05-02 22:21

The graphics are superb. Whilst it's true I felt satisfaction from finally hitting the cube, it didn't feel fair. I didn't feel like I was learning how to aim in that really weird perspective so much as feeling around in the dark - every time the cube moved I had to start from the beginning.

alucard-j 2013-05-02 23:46

Really good looking game, the slingshot angle is a learning curve, but that's half the fun, all done well for a 2D perspective. A challenge that I enjoyed greatly, well done =]

tainted_code 2013-05-03 00:16

Thanls for the feedback guys! I've only just started to read a huge book on Game Design and I'm starting to see areas where I went wrong! So thankyou all again for your feedbacl! The next entry will be much more promising!

pplo 2013-05-03 23:13

This flying cube is freaking hard to beat!
Good overall performance. I loved the gameboy feeling :)
Thumbs up!

tainted_code 2013-05-04 10:11

Thanks man, means a lot!

klianc09 2013-05-04 20:40

This game feels pretty cool. The first time is a real pain, but once you know where to position your mouse, it's no real challenge anymore. That you can damage the buildings on your own was really awesome.

lightsoda 2013-05-04 20:57

Looks and sounds great, and as you said, it's pretty hard, mostly because you have to figure out the angle to shoot at.

tainted_code 2013-05-04 21:06

Thanks guys, and I know, the angle is poor :(

sudorossy 2013-05-04 21:16

So difficult, but good! Reminds me of the original gameboy games.

loxo 2013-05-05 16:35

I like the graphics and the idea. It's really hard to hit the enemy, it's easier to destroy the towers. If the game window is maximized, you can see the background scrolling outside the striped area.

Jeremias 2013-05-08 16:21

Nice visuals and audio, especially the background music. Nonetheless it is quite fiddly to shoot in the direction where I want to shoot at :D

erunaamo 2013-05-08 16:47

Pretty hard to aim. The art is nice, and I like the surreal scenario, minimalist yet high-stakes: "Ready the slingshot! A cube is mashing!"

badlydrawnrod 2013-05-08 19:50

Loved the visuals and sounds - particularly the sounds - but could have done with some hint of depth.

turbodindon 2013-05-09 07:42

Great graphics. It looks like a mix between Megaman and Evangelion for Gameboy. :D What a pity it's hard to target the cube because of the special perspective.

minionstudios 2013-05-11 21:05

DEFENDED. It is kind of easy, but really freaking cool.

dalbinblue 2013-05-13 02:28

Beautifully simple game. Love the graphics and sound. Targeting is super hard, and I unfortunately was defeated many many times. I blew up so many of my own buildings, and more than once saw my projectile pass through the cube which was frustrating.

tainted_code 2013-05-13 12:28

Thanks ladies and gents :) We know, it's super hard and perspective is off (we didn't have enough time to fix it)

@dalbinblue - You can't hit the enemy whilst it is moving (or slamming) but we didn't have enough time to implement something that would show you that in game, sorry!

kidevil 2013-05-16 01:00

Amazing art style! Had a heckuva time judging whether I'd hit the cube or not. Reading the comments, it may be the deflection thing you were talking about though.

davidpeter 2013-05-16 20:36

The graphics are insanely gorgeous. It got pretty easy the second time since I put a thumb on the screen to mark where my mouse had been last and just kept hitting the cube that way ;)

ilo 2013-05-17 17:55

An interesting concept and executed well. I managed to complete it on the first go with one building left.

Also, insane music! I'm leaving this on in the background. :D

deepnight 2013-05-19 16:19

I ragequit after 10 minutes of hard tries, but the game really hooked me, which is cool :)
Art style is great!