frankd0331 2014-04-28 04:30
Could you update this entry with some instructions about the controls? Nothing moved for me... Actually looking at your blog this isn't done (yet?)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD29 → Alamogordo
By csanyk
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolness | 1 | 100 | ||
| Humor | 71 | 3.60 | ||
| Theme | 109 | 3.70 | ||
| Mood | 427 | 2.97 | ||
| Audio | 550 | 2.53 | ||
| Graphics | 584 | 2.80 | ||
| Innovation | 594 | 2.52 | ||
| Fun | 655 | 2.33 | ||
| Overall | 666 | 2.58 |
Could you update this entry with some instructions about the controls? Nothing moved for me... Actually looking at your blog this isn't done (yet?)
I can run the game, but nothing happens, no matter what buttons I smash..?
What's uploaded currently is an alpha build that has no functionality... I'll have the finished, playable game up by Jam deadline.
OK it's functional now, but still buggy.
Fully functional and debugged now! Have fun and give me ratings!
Jam final submitted 5:53 PM 4/28/2014:)
Fantastic interpretation of the theme in light of recent events! I also liked the mechanic of switching between digging and picking up.
I really like the look of the game, nearly matches old Atari games perfectly. Would have been nice if you could have matched the aesthetic with the objects you pick up, but they may have made them hard to distinguish from one another.
I also expected to get points once I moved the items to the top of the screen, but I had to move them all the way to the right.
Great idea for a game though, especially with the recent finds of all the ET cartridges a few days back.
Thanks, Managore. I told you already but I don't mind saying in front of everyone here how great your game is. I really hope you medal in a few categories this time.
Thanks RyanNielson. I would have liked to be able to spend more time on the pickup items sprites to make them more like atari graphics, but for lack of time I settled for shrinking down images until they became very pixellated and tiny. If I had to do it over with more time I would have liked to do those more properly. Your comment just confirms that my hunch is correct.
You can actually take items out of the pit on the left OR right, and I had thought about putting some kind of visual indicator there, and almost did so about an hour before deadline. I have added a post-deadline enhanced version with this feature, because I do think that it makes for a clearer goal.
Oh man, so many points for that E.T. The functionality and use of theme are very impressive considering how quickly you put this together. I did find the "move all the way to the right to win" mechanic a little difficult to grasp though. Was that an E.T. game reference? (I haven't actually played the worst video game ever made)
I have a soft spot for old Atari games, and this captures the aesthetic almost perfectly. As RyanNeilson said, it would have been nice for the buried items to match the graphical style, but it's understandable why not given the time/resolution limitations.
Otherwise it's an enjoyable little homage, and a fun twist on the theme :)
Garris: To be honest, I don't remember how E.T. exited the pit. I think you just floated out through the top of the screen. I did play the game over the weekend, but only long enough to fall in to the pit and grab the screen. I never made it out! lol. The enhanced version now puts blinkers up where you need to take the item when you are grabbing something, so hopefully that will communicate it better.
i like the mechanic and idea of theme, but maybe any instructions about gameplay,,, the artwork is great
Really captures the feel of the old Atari games. Now because of you, I'm so nostalgic for my 2600, that I'm going to have to dig it out of my closet tonight and play E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a little Barnstorming! Great job!
Ha! nice
haha nice.
This is more fun than ET!
@Kate Kligman, that's not saying much! :)
This is the closest I've come to playing an actual atari game and legitimately the funniest entry I've played up to this point.
Nice retro feeling. This is how the games where more than 30 year ago. Luckily the game development has evolved in the meantime. But solid work. It has the neccessary part of humor.
A nice take on the theme to incorporate the news of the weekend. The only thing I think is a shame is that the items you can dig up aren't authentic to a 2600 game ;)
But it's really cool for 10 hours work, and more people should make games that mimic those from the 2600 era!
Is funny, and I really like the dig mechanic. Because I saw some dig in this LD that requires you to hold the shift button or that kind of stuff. This is simple and works!
Alright, the enhanced build now features Atari-like sprites for the soda can and tire Finds. Thanks to all who played and commented.
Love the look.
I was hoping I would find an ET cartridge in there somewhere! Funny idea and well executed to look and feel like a classic atari title.
Very retro feel, nice music after getting the cart
Love the look and feel, but mechanically it feels like it could have used more.
Like the idea, and graphics
Fun to play and humorous. I picked up everything out of the landfill, and the music for finding the cartridge was great. Great work!
Feels (and looks) like an Atari game, but it should really have some sort of time counter that you have to beat. That'd really make it feel authentic.
Kara Jayde: I agree, it's not much of a game, could use something...
NoTrueSpaceman: Yeah, maybe a timed mode would have given it some semblance of game-ness. A lot of Atari games had a no-challenge mode, often indicated with a teddy bear icon, intended for very young children. In retrospect I think this "game" if it can really be called that should have had the teddy bear.
I like this - very timely! The sense of humor is definitely showing through. I don't know if it was intentional to only show 4 digits, so that you roll over if you get the ET cartridge and then get anything else, though. In any case, nice job putting together a great callback in such a short time!
This game is 100x better than E.T., and it gave me a good laugh remembering how bad E.T. actually was. Well done.
I didn't play the Enhanced version so my comment is about the Jam one.
It feels like something's missing, maybe a timer of some sort? That said, it's more relaxed like it is. Doesn't feel like it's complete but the last minute thing explains it :)
You sure did put some thought into it: the reference, the palette, the music... It contributes to the mood a lot.
Considering that the whole game is a joke, it still better than E.T.
mark.goetz: The score being only 4 digits is somewhat intentional, in that it emulates the E.T. videogame. The way the scoring works is not very well thought out. I wanted finding the E.T. cartridge to give you max score and end the game, but I forgot to code the actual ending, so when you "win" you can keep playing and retrieve other stuff from the landfill. Originally the intent was to max your score to 9999 for retrieving the cartridge, so the cartridge isn't actually worth a set amount of points, but rather it sets your score to 9999 regardless of what it was. But if you left other things in the pit and extract them after, you can extract them and get more points, which rolls the score over back to 0000. We might consider this an exceptionally authentic defect, emblematic of the shovelware produced for the VCS which led to the crash of '83. ;-)
01101101: Adding a timer to the game to provide a level of challenge would be an improvement... I think someone else suggested that, and it's not a bad idea. Truthfully as I was making this I didn't have a thought in my head as to how to gameify it. I just wanted to re-create the E.T. pit and throw garbage and dirt in the hole, and a means to dig stuff out of it. That's all I had time for! Although it's hardly a game, it's deliberately bad, and I'm pleased with how quickly and easily I was able to build what's here.
I'm really digging this game.
Collected myself a few tires and an ET cartridge. I played the first time before reading your instructions and thought that I was digging in the ET landfill :)
I'm sure you already know it's pretty basic, but I love the idea and the execution is solid, so, great work for a small time you've spent on it! At first I didn't know how to get points for my findings though, I think it would be better to score points as soon as you bring something to the top instead of moving it to the side of the screen.
I also noticed that you didn't realize that you can choose the current building tool in my game in 1 player mode by pressing PgDown (remappable) which made 1 player mode incomplete for you, so if you want to take another look on the game - please be my guest.
I found the ET cartridge but it didn't give me any points.
HybridMind: To remove a Find from the landfill, you have to take it all the way up and out of the pit. Take it to the left or right edge once you get to the top, and it should give you points.
There are little things in the execution that could have been improved the impression (not actually bugs, but things like the fact that it depends on where you dig how wide the tunnel gets), but interesting idea.
Nice music when you found the cartridge :D
Pretty funny. nice job for such a short time!
The game does mimic well an Atari 2600 game and the mechanic is original, good job. Also, I can now say that I found E.T.. :p
Thanks to all who played and rated! I had a lot of fun playing your games:) See you at LD30!