Heckin' Ants

sarahsprague 2017-05-03 20:23

It's pretty impressive that you made this in 24 hours. It's simple, but you got a lot of good, varied, interaction in despite the time constraint, with a couple different terrain types, more than one hazard, etc. I liked the rain in particular, although I haven't met the lazer demon ant queen yet.

A couple nitpicks: The first time I interacted with an apple I was at full health - but especially without a health bar the lack of interaction was pretty confusing. There's also moment in the first level where you jump down from a platform (where a flag ant was standing) onto the ground, over some hazards that are below the camera view so you don't know they're there until you hit them or get lucky, which I find pretty frustrating.

Overall though, heckin' good game!

tuomo 2017-05-07 15:22

Despite the couple of glitches (not able jump sometimes while running, and some flickering graphics) I enjoyed playing this. Congrats on getting it done in 24 hours!

nedmakesgames 2017-05-09 22:32

Great job! The art is exceptional, impressive in the time constraints! I liked the music. Really only complaint is it's really hard to land on the small platforms with the very floaty physics. Also no checkpoints. Good game.

2017-05-11 17:15

Very interesting game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiOXlTKNb0

kepons 2017-05-16 11:54

That was a pretty amusing experience! The art and music were very fitting although the controls could've been a bit tighter.

urbanhelsing 2017-05-17 19:34

I really liked the background art and I agree, though theme.

karln 2017-05-17 20:31

Heck! I like the art style, reminds me of Braid.

Heck! Also appreciate that (I guess) I heal back up after taking a hit?

Heck! Could really have used checkpoints though, it's annoying having to play through from the start after hitting spikes, especially when I couldn't see them from the platforms above :(

Heck! Very impressive for only 24 hours, nice effort :)

fernandoadolfo 2017-05-17 21:29

This game is definitely better than I expected at first. The controls are excessively hard and the animations aren't too good. The theme is not very original neither, but I like the way the graphics look like a paint, and when you start to play and move along you begin to discover more different obstacles and enemies and when you think you reach the end, there is another level with more different obstacles. Even if it's not perfect, it's really interesting and challenging. Seriously, good job making this in only 24 hours.

yetikatt 2017-05-17 22:31

First things first, I have to say I love the painted art style that you've gone for, I think it was fantastic. If I had to make any suggestions I guess it would be to introduce a few check points for during the levels, as I died a few times along the way and it takes quite a while to get back to where you were. That said, I found the game had a nice difficulty curve and I found it to be a genuinely enjoyable experience, good job and well done :D

kosmo 2017-05-17 23:53

Really nice background image. The gameplay was pretty generic platformer though. Kudos for managing to get it all done in a single 24 hours -- but I think a few QoL improvements could go a long way. For example -- I assumed that the little flag waving ants would be checkpoints -- however every time I died I went back to the very beginning.

Also, some of the jumps seems quite difficult for the control scheme. Difficult platformers need really tight controls. The controls here were fine, but for the level of control you were expecting for a few of the jumps I wish they were a bit more responsive.

Either way, congrats for squeezing it in just in time -- Thanks for making it!

madalaski 2017-05-18 19:02

Aw heck! I like it's style and it's controls. The graphics could use a bit of improvemeny but understand that time restraints had a role there. Overall a good entry! :)

picapica 2017-05-18 20:58

Nice and simple! I likes the background images. If I didn't have to start from the beginning I would have played longer!

megabrutal 2017-05-18 21:13

I liked it! :) What if the flag-holding ants would serve as checkpoints? I didn't like that I had to start over from the very beginning when I died. Nice graphics. I wonder what those enemy creatures are. It's funny when the ant says „heck”! :D

daisy 2017-05-18 21:24

Well this game certainly lived up to it's name! The uh, death cry of the ant was pretty amusing.

I like that the ant loses his I think mandibles on getting hit, it's a nice way to show health if perhaps a little subtle. I think maybe a change in posture would also help.

Those teeny tiny platforms are pretty brutal with the jump being a floaty as it is. The jump was alright for the most part, but I'd have appreciated having a checkpoint near that point so I didn't have to traverse the whole way there again. But it's all understandable given how short amount of time you made this in the end!

Nice job on the artwork, the background was pleasant to look at. And the music is the right sort of catchy but not irritating. I'm really gutted I didn't make it to this elusive laser ant Queen!!

Nice job! :)

thirsty 2017-05-19 13:32

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. We wanted it to be challenging but check points and faster movement with tighter controls seems like it would have been a much better choice rather than slow and punishing. We had a lot of fun making the game and glad to see other people appreciating it!