FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD38 → Planets of Zoltcon

Planets of Zoltcon

By terryg, Nimgoble, carraka and Python_dragon

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall6152.9740
Fun5712.8139
Innovation2973.2841
Theme2553.6742
Graphics2303.9042
Audio1803.5139
Humor4472.4032
Mood3383.3137

Comments

2017-04-25 07:30

nice arts! is it also on indiexpo.net?

terryg 2017-04-25 09:41

Thanks! No, just on daretogame.net.

btrotter101 2017-04-30 01:56

Fun, but I can't seem to get past the yellow planet. When it gets small, entering the cavern sends me outside the planet, rather than inside, so I just fall forever (or until I get tired of staring at a blank screen, at least).

marek77 2017-05-01 07:16

I really liked the art, Good Job!

technonugget 2017-05-01 12:57

Hey Terry! It's Isaiah from Tinkermill last friday. I'd love to give your guys' game a shot, but Unity's webGL plugin doesn't work on my pc for some reason. Do you have an executable build for windows?

terryg 2017-05-01 17:26

Hi Isaiah @technonugget. Sorry the WebGL didn't work for your setup. Here's a link to the windows exe: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0rDrAN3EYCxMWxYekNaemwxR3M/view?usp=sharing

jcsirron 2017-05-02 04:32

I am in love with the art and music! There seems to be a bug when entering the yellow planet on the left side when it is small, though. Other than that, it was strangely interesting!

occultone 2017-05-02 04:55

I Live-Streamed this game this past evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfvbUFJnui4

The art style was a bit inconsistent, background objects were sometimes intractable, but you couldn't tell. The level design didn't seem to allow me to progress past a certain point. Solid puzzle background there though.

gris 2017-05-04 10:56

Good art and music. The controls were not working perfectly for me in the web version, but again Edge is not the best explorer. Congrats!

terryg 2017-05-05 10:14

Thanks, @occultone . This is good feedback! The tutorial that is missing would have told you that if you stay on the surface of the planet, the planet gets smaller (and you would then be bigger) and that's how you would do the difficult jump. The puzzle is all about changing sizes. When you leave the world or jump far enough away, it returns to its normal size.

bobsleigh 2017-05-06 21:06

The game was nice, good work on the graphics and the music! Really helped set up the mood.

However, I played on the web version and I had som problem with the Escapa to safety button. Everytime, I was stuck on the rocket: no controls were working and I had to reload the game... That a bummer because I really did enjoying it up till then.

terryg 2017-05-07 03:07

Hi @bobsleigh. Yes. The reset was a late feature since we had some "gravity" issues. I'll work on getting a fix out.

terryg 2017-05-07 06:53

@bobsleigh -- I fixed the problem with the escape as well as a few other lingering bugs. Here's the release notes: 1. fixed escape from interior of plane and works in outerspace too 2. once an artifact is picked up, you keep it and can't get it again (but you keep it even after an escape). 3. planets can no longer shrink past small 4. planet size restore works when you leave interior

jk5000 2017-05-08 09:48

I really like the idea for the game, and both the music and graphics is also pretty great. The controls is not the best, and especially the jumping mechanic is not really good.

ponywolf 2017-05-10 18:56

Slow to load, but it did get there. I really liked the planet jumping as a "world map" to get to the platforming. Moving that tutorial stuff from a slide show to in the first level would have helped me figure things out a little better. Whole team liked the music...

Also, nice to see a game closely tied to the theme.

phi 2017-05-13 08:41

Wow, I really struggled with the jumping and walking physics. The gravity and jumping between planets is kind of cool though! :smile: The constant scaling thing is interesting, but I don't really get it in the context of the levels. I ended up just randomly jumping between planets and seeing which gates I could open, and most of the time I was really confused. The graphics and music are a great choice though, greate mood!

behenate 2017-05-13 08:48

very good game idea! Music and graphics were really good. Moving is little buggy (you can get your head stuck in platform for few seconds). Overall very good game!

pascalman 2017-05-13 08:54

Looks great but controls is very difficult and gameplay is not intuitive. In any case good job!

terryg 2017-05-13 16:30

Thank you all for the feedback. This helps me in my thinking for what to do different next time.

damien-remars 2017-05-14 18:03

Buggy but interesting concept. I loved zooming into planets!

namrog84 2017-05-16 02:48

Neat!

Something about the main guy's posture makes me think likes hes peeing off the side of an edge.

I liked the graphics though

creamybacon2 2017-05-16 03:14

I did get stuck when I tried to escape to safety, and had to reset. But that's not a big deal. The game was fun, I was surprised when it turned into a platformer! Good job on the whole good sir!!!

glitchy-pixel 2017-05-16 03:50

I like the game idea in general. The movement was a little buggy. I believe you may be using Update instead of FixedUpdate for moving rigidbodies, that may cause a multitude of bugs. Adn I wish I could move in the air, but each time I jumped I got stuck in the air, which made the platforming a little difficult.

BTW, I had to play in WebGL since the zip version still contains the right planet bug and other weird stuff.

I kinda got frustrated when I wasted the jetpack, since there is one level that using the jetpack is a must (the bottom one), and if you have no charges then you can't win (I used it up without knowing what I was dogin and only realized in the end). I checked the level again and maybe the portals are in the wrong place to solve the puzzle without the jetpack?

In the end nice idea, a little buggy though and in the end makes the game feel wonky to handle. But I can see it being an awesome game with multiple planets and ways to solve puzzles inside them.

apostate-games 2017-05-16 04:07

Love the art style and graphics. Good audio. Got stuck on a platform and had to escape to safety where I was also unable to move anymore and had to reboot - also did not realize there was only a certain number of charges on the jetpack. Controls are wonky but could be really fun with a little work and definitely see the potential for a really good game here! Nice submission! :smile:

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Please check out ours: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/plutus

ryte2byte 2017-05-16 04:33

Very impressive graphically, but the controls and collisions are a bit of a mess. I think a little more air control is called for (well, ya know, more than none) for the areas you set up. Had several instances of getting stuck on the sides of the platforms also (and a couple in overhead platforms but, to your credit, the game caught those and respawned me). The music is great. Shame there wasn't more sound. Even a little 'woosh from the jetpack would've been welcome.

Anyway, I'm not great at platformers and didn't finish. If the controls were better, I probably would've toughed it out.

max-cahill 2017-05-16 05:46

Yeah pretty tricky controls-wise but an interesting premise, i thought the gravity was fun and it was cool seeing the same level at different scales and what a difference that made :)

ryan 2017-05-16 07:06

Nice art style, and the planets shrinking/growing to unlock access to different parts of their interiors is an interesting mechanic. It added quite a bit of challenge to figuring out when the right time to enter the interior is in order to get to the areas you need to unlock.

The biggest problem (bug) I encountered was getting stuck in the floor a few times when jumping up onto a platform inside the caves (fortunately there is an escape button).

veksell 2017-05-16 10:17

I like art and music. Maybe need some fix controls. But it's good game.

anubhav-kashyap 2017-05-16 11:35

Good game. The best part is that this the only game most related to the theme I have played till now. :thumbsup::slight_smile:

And don't forget to rate me at https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/survival-game

tuomo 2017-05-16 15:04

I love your art style on character and planets, UI graphics don’t really match rest. Your planet shrinking mechanic is really unique and interesting take on the theme. Gravity felt bit buggy. Altogether interesting concept and nice game!

mikea 2017-05-16 15:19

Cool game!

binaryferret 2017-05-16 15:29

Interesting concept! A very nice job on the art/visual style. I feel with a bit more time, and some polish this could be something even more interesting as I ran into a few bugs which stumpt me for awhile. However this was done in a weekend, and I thought for a weekend in your got the core mechanic and a decent amount of content in which is very impressive.

Good job!

dick-claus 2017-05-16 15:47

This is a wonderful interpretation of the theme. The small worlds and gravity so cool so far.

A little bit buggy in original version. The flying in space and 2d platformer in one game is awesome!

I managed to find only one plant in the cave. But it was fun.

Maybe showing the goal somewhere would make it more clear.

Amazing work.

joseph-benton 2017-05-16 16:08

Great game! I love the gravity effect. Our game didn't quite nail it down like we wanted. I do think that the jumping controls could be a little tighter. It's frustrating that you can't move while in the air.

kfischer-okarin 2017-05-16 16:24

The art style is really nice (the title picture is great!) And the music was also fitting for a space adventure.

Gameplaywise, the planet getting smaller was an interesting idea but it didn't really affect me.... (would have been interesting when it also gets smaller while you're inside and thus maybe crushes you after some point in time)...

I unfortunately never found any alien species or the likes in the caves and I found out about the jetpack just too late and then it was already all empty (maybe refilling it at the space ship would be a good idea)

The gravity and jump controls were quite floaty, which made for a good astronaut experience but also made the controls sometimes very difficult...

Good job in general :) Maybe next time focus more on fluid gameplay

joshuajumbles 2017-05-16 16:29

Great art, and a charming music. Like the idea of mixing planetary with platformer. Could maybe continue with radial platforming/gravity in platformer mode for an interesting twist. The key/door mechanic was a good design mechanic for level creation flexibility, but I felt like it got tired for me by the third planet. Liked the planet hopping but felt a bit like a level select. I think the gameplay here could be embellished to fun effect. Would be nice to integrate the effects of your platforming with the planet hopping (i.e. plants growing on the planets surface from your exploits? that perhaps create platforms in space or jump pads to reach other planets?)

Fun little game, thanks a lot for sharing!

My game, Tiny Dentist, is only a few high fives away from quota. Love ya! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/tiny-dentist