Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD38 → There shall be light
By furiouswitch
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 729 | 2.57 | 30 | |
| Fun | 721 | 2.32 | 30 | |
| Innovation | 482 | 2.92 | 30 | |
| Theme | 633 | 2.82 | 30 | |
| Audio | 1 | |||
| Humor | 421 | 2.48 | 27 | |
| Mood | 661 | 2.60 | 27 |
I did not really understood how to play the game : I don't really see the effect of the torches it seems to keep the "beasts" away but yeah... I don't know :) I was able to kick them out of bounds so I did that to prevent them from taking me out ;)
I enjoyed the graphics though that are quite funny. It's disappointing that there are no sounds to let you know you are cutting tree or crafting torches.
Good work though especially if your are the only coder :)
I did not rate in graphics and audio as you said graphics are not yours and audio is not there, so I am assuming that you will opt out of those categories.
Interesting concept, but without the win/lose conditions or at least knowing what they are, the game is a little lackluster as I'm not sure exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing. If I am supposed to keep all of the "body-less creatures" from getting to the portal, then it is way too easy as none of them ever made it there.
I did like the use of light as a weapon, though, and assume that you modified an idea for one of the other possible themes. This was a good recovery if that was the case, or maybe you just came up with ideas that fit multiple themes to begin with.
Finally, it was not clear that I could move the camera with the mouse on the edge of the screen. This was not necessary as the entire world fit on the screen at one time and actually led to me not being to see part of the world since I did not realize this at first.
Hey Sarah, great first LD entry you made there! The gameplay mechanic feels good, almost like being a shepherd. This mechanic could be extended upon easily, probably resulting in a very interesting game. The lack of a proper goal dragged the whole experience down a bit though, it would've been nice to have different levels / map layouts and if you beat one level you advance to the next, which has a higher difficulty, because like James said, it is very easy to keep the enemies away.
Also, the game seemed to run rather slow, not sure if this is due to framerate or if everything just has a low move speed. Apart from that, I did not notice any bugs and the game felt well programmed.
Even if very short on time, it's always a good idea to add some basic audio, because this increases the feel of the game tremendously. Tools like bfxr allow for quick sound effect generation and there are also tools out there to make some simple music quickly.
Good job overall though! Looking forward to your next entry :)
@gozz Thanks a lot for your encouragment. I know a lot was missing. It was my first time in Ludum dare and I didn't manage my time very well. I totally agree; the sounds would have added a lot to the game :)
@james-dunlap Thanks for checking out the game and your feedback. I know forgetting to add the winning and losing condition was really crazy. It kind of killed the game although it was very easy to implement but I totally forgot until it was too late. By the way the creatures would have reached the portal if you didn't surround it with the torches because the magic barrier gets smaller every little while. So ye don't underestimate those devils :D
I'm so happy that you like the light as a weapon. I didn't adapt it from another theme idea that was my idea for this theme. I actually never try thinking about the idea before any game jam.
I added the camera controls because some objects would have been too small if the camera was zoomed out to get the scene together but I think next time I will add a page with the controls before the game starts to avoid confusion. Thanks again :)
@erkberg Hey Erk, really great thanks for the kind words. I thought about using the portal to go to other scenes and increasing the difficulty but the problem is that the scope was bigger than the time so I guess what I learned is that I need to think with smaller scope in mind the next time to be able to finish it.
I guess the movement could be faster. I noticed that now. I will fix it after the results of the jam in sha' Allah.
Yes the sound is one of my greatest regrets :( I see how it could make an impact on the game play experience and I will be careful with that in later jams and will add it as well after the results in sha' Allah.
Thanks a lot Erk :)
@FuriousWitch : yeah I understand the time problem as it's my first LD entry too and we had so much to do ! By the way great entry and I hope to see you on the next jam to get some more work done !
See you soon buddy !
This was a really cool idea, and I liked the basic mechanic of creating torches and expanding the play area. Obviously you didn't get the chance to finish, but that could be the basis of a pretty good game with some more stuff thrown in.
The p key is hard to use as a main key, even if it sounds logical to use for "Place". it's far away when holding a mouse and keeping your other hand on wasd
@garethiw Thanks a lot for your kind words it keeps me going. I am currently extending the game much more than it is but I can't replace the versions until the judging is done but I think it will turn out to be something much better :)
@gama-croma You are absolutely right. I will be changing that in the future versions in sha' Allah. Thanks a lot for your feedback :)
Very nice graphics and effects. The movable zone to defend is a innovative idea. The controls were not enough comfortable in my opinion. The ia was not smart enough to make the game challenging...
@louspirit Thanks a lot for playing the game and for your feedback. Yes the AI is very dumb at the moment but its not really about fighting the AI as much it is about being efficient in blocking your enemies. But I guess I could make some minor changes to the AI. I will see about that. Thanks again :)
I felt the controls were difficult swapping between mouse and p. I liked the idea of using the torches to expand the play space. Would be interesting to see how this evolves if continued to be worked on.
If you wouldn’t mind having a quick go of my entry and letting me know what you think I would be super grateful. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/space-pow-collins
It's an interesting concept, you should develop it further into a full game.
Nice idea! In its current state it ends up being a bit repetitive once you get it (and you read the instructions to find the trees can be chopped, which I missed at the beginning :sweat_smile:). Basically, after a while no new enemies spawned, and the existing ones were cornered, so I didn't have much left to do.
I liked the torch placing mechanic, it has potential for additional features to give it more depth.
Well done!
Congratulations on finishing your first Ludum Dare!
The core mechanic has potential, and with higher movement speed I could see a frantic defense game coming out of this. Best of luck on your next jam!
Congratulations on making your first Ludum Dare game!
Too bad you didn't get to put the win/lose conditions in, but it already works reasonably well.
The torches are a little weird. If I try to pick up a torch and I change my direction fast enough, I'm able to carry the torch on my side or on my back. And if I try to drop the torch close to other torches, the character plays the "dropping" animation, but doesn't drop the torch.
The enemy's movements are hilarious! :D
I could "push" them out of the walls, though. I don't think that was intended.
It was rare, but I was able to "kill" some of the enemies. At least that is what I think happened when they "unfolded and vanished". Most of the enemies squeezed out of the walls before I could kill them, tough.
You said you were making an improved version, right? Consider putting some animation for the enemies spawning, instead of just "poping" them into existance. Maybe make them falling with parachutes or something?
Anyway, good job, and keep at it! :)
@wisstopher Thank you for your feedback and kind words. Yep, the p key was a mistake :) I'm currently working on it and will send you a link to see latest version soon and hear your feedback on it as well. Thanks a lot for your interest :)
P.S I rated your game. Cool style :)
@ithildin Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I know there was a lot to be done and so a lot was left out :D I actually fixed all that stuff and the game now is much more interesting but I will upload the new version after the judging is over. As for the torch mechanic yes a lot will be added in this department in sha' Allah. Thanks again :)
P.S I rated your game. Very nice and well polished :)
@riker-greenslade Thanks a lot for your kind words, I really appreciate it :)
At first I thought I was being clever by just carrying a torch around all the time and not putting it down adn then just running in circles. But as I sit here writing this, haveing the game run in the background... I can just not seem to lose? Maybe it's because I also placed a torch *inside* the portal.
I like it when you get really close and they just scoot off to the edges of the map very quickly, for some reason this struck me as funny, but maybe I'm just tired :laughing:
Anayway! Certainly not bad for a first-timer! :grinning:
Objective was a little unclear at first but as soon as I found out I started losing interest. I started to attempt to break the game and ended up climbing a robot to jump off of the level, and succeeded doing so. Maybe it's a bit my fault for wanting things my way but I just didn't understand why I was able to cut trees and move torches. Moving and holding torches helped keep the enemies away but honestly they didn't seem very threatening, I could have left for a bathroom break to come back and see my bunny unharmed from the darkness. The trees seemed like they worked as a barricade... but why? Overall it isn't a bad game and the graphics are actually really appealing but it was just too confusing and the required actions lacked a sense of urgency.
@tex-killer Thank you for your feedback and your kindness. Most of the bugs are fixed now in the latest version that I'm working on. Yes killing them was intended and part of the original game although I removed it in the latest version. As for the enemy spawning I already came up with something although not parachutes (That would have been hilariuos though :D) Thanks again. I also rated your game. Good work :)
@furiouswitch, thank you very much for rating me back! :)
If you have the time and disposition for it, can you please tell me what is the model of the graphics card you were using when you played Little Scout?
@tex-killer You are welcome :)
It's Intel(R)HD Graphics Family. It's my built in graphics card. My laptop has two cards the other one is NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M. I just tried opening the game using the later and it shows the character fine. And I found out the music was affected badly as well when using the Intel card.
@furiouswitch, those are some highly valuable feedbacks. Thank you very much, and good luck with your games and your blog! :)
@tex-killer You're welcome and thank you. So how did you know about my blog?!:) And in case I need your very helpful feedback again is this your twitter account: steve gonzo @texkiller
@furiouswitch, I have no idea who that is. I do have a Twitter account I created recently, but I don't really use Twitter. I created the Twitter account I'm talking about just to send one tweet, and then never went there again. I've used your blog's contact form to send you my contact information, though.
Your user page here has your Twitter, and your Twitter had a link to your blog. That is how I knew about it. :) Maybe you should put a link to your blog on your user page here, and I recommend you link to your Twitter URL directly instead of using the @ notation, as that conflicts with the LD user notation.
Really great job for your first time! You implemented a lot and I'm sure learned much to help you for your next Ludum Dare. It can be a challenge to manage your time, so feel proud of what you've done and I look forward to seeing your next game!
@tex-killer Yes, I saw that. Really hope we keep in touch. Silly me! I was worried my blog has gone viral :D I don't want people to see it at the moment because I need to redesign the bg and some other stuff. I am kind of ashamed of it a little at the moment :D I will put Twitter URL instead and thanks for the advice I wasn't aware of the conflict that could cause.
@daisychubb Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I really appreciate it :) P.S I rated your game. Very cute. Good job :)
@remco Thank you for your funny words :D You won't lose ever because unfortunately I forgot to add the winning and losing conditions in the first version. So I guess the best thing to do after placing the torches around to keep them at bay is what you did; Harass them :D Yes, it's pretty funny when they scurry away from the torch. Come get some fire you little ... things :D
@calzep Thank you for your feedback and let me say to you; you are entitled to your in game suicidal thoughts and actions :D (That gave me some laughs) The good thing is all this stuff is fixed now in the latest version that I will share after the judging in sha' Allah. I will be working afterwards on adding new content to the game to expand it too in sha' Allah. Thanks again :) P.S I rated your game. Great work :)