Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD39 → Artax
By flaterectomy, daanvanyperen and meatmachine
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 39 | 4.14 | 91 | |
| Fun | 117 | 3.74 | 91 | |
| Innovation | 126 | 3.63 | 89 | |
| Theme | 57 | 4.13 | 90 | |
| Graphics | 34 | 4.55 | 91 | |
| Audio | 101 | 3.83 | 87 | |
| Humor | 160 | 3.19 | 81 | |
| Mood | 63 | 4.05 | 88 |
Hey there. First of well done with this game. It is very well executed. I am most impressed by the fine detail such as the instructions which forms part of the background. This art style is also very well done. Audio and mood is cool. Oh yeah and the controls feels perfect.
Love the pixel art, very nice work. I can't play it smoothly on my regular browser (Safari for Mac) but is working fine on Firefox. I really like the birds.
Very impressive work, the gameplay is great and fits the theme very well. The graphics are beautiful, giving a nice mood. The controls are very well tuned for the various platforming challenges and puzzle this you are presented. Awesome work!
Very nice game , i like the idea behind it, the companion was nice. The controls feel good, overall it's a polished good game. Congratz !
Very polished and lots of content for a LD game! Minor critique: the platforming section at the very beginning seemed a bit hard compared to the rest. (or I'm just bad at jumping...)
Fun gameplay, nice graphics, great audio, good idea and fitting the theme. Really great game!
I don't know if this could be much better, visiuals, gameplay, audio, theme. everything just works super well. Amazing work!
Well done, neat main mechanic and high quality pixel art! Jump mechanics are a tad too hard though imo, played a lot of platformers before and here it's like the controls are a bit less responsive than usual. Still a great job though, that's just a suggestion on what I'd change to make the game even better.
Its practically impossible to so anything bad about this game. You guys put a lot of love into this entry and it shows.
Simply fantastic work on this one. The graphics are cute and stylish, the robot is lovely, and the controls feel good. The whistle is adorable, and the music is decent. Seriously awesome work with this one, can't believe a game with this much polish came out of a jam. Hope to see your work again for the next LD!
Very nice platformer. Just amazing what you did in 72 hours!
The sprite work here is phenomenal, and I love the escort mechanic. Out of all LD39 games I've played so far, this is my favorite! If I had to criticize anything, I think the platforms you jump on are a bit too small for the distance between checkpoints.
I can't believe you did this in 72 hours, very impressive!
First off, the art music and sound were all great. The robot was really cute. I liked most of the levels. Waiting for the liquid stuff to stop got a little boring at times. It might have been better to make that not last as long. I did like the use of particles on that though. On a lot of the levels I had to stop and think about what I was going to do, which I think is a good thing. The first level was a little annoying. I like how simple it was but the platforms should have been longer that one block to make it less hard to land on.
I really like how the robot and the girl immediately like each other. Fun game to play and very nice job on the art work!
Nice graphics ; the sprites are small but expressive! The main character is a little hard to control at first, especially the jumping, which isn't triggered by keypress transition but by keystate, meaning sometimes you re-jump just because you landed too early.
I only wish there was a downloadable version, my browser is too laggy for precision platforming.
The control and movement in this game is absolutely superb. And the art is stunning. Very impressive.
I'm bothered that I can't jump with space though.
I like the robot, nice game idea and graphics.
Oh my god the art is just amazing in this. I think this year there will be lotsa competition for the art category, and I certainly think that this one will be up there in the top 5! Gameplay is very fun, the one and only criticism I have is that the girls movement is a bit hard to control sometimes. And I don't know why the robot can fly lmao!
Beautiful art and heartwarming idea. At times I was going for the unnecessary batteries, just to please my robot companion. Cooperation mechanics are clever and satisfying, some levels are getting a bit too repetitive after a few deaths, but mostly level design is of high quality. Miss the ability to control jump's height by holding button though. Sadly, in my browser game performs with regular stutters, dunno if this is fixable. Still, a splendid entry, guys! Surely going to replay this if there'll be an optimized post-compo.
Thanks for all the comments everyone! Hope some of you reach (and beat) the end, it's our favorite bit!
This game is so cool!! Great job! Tiny pixel art animations are just awsome :heart_eyes:
Great game, though I do wish it was a bit more forgiving. I got stuck on the level with the wall of wolves, and I felt that the acid traps made the timing a little too difficult. I loved the art and audio, and the overall presentation was amazing. I would also love to see a downloadable version, as it might help make the controls a little more precise.
Looks beautiful, sound and animation are great, music and visual theme are very cool. I love the little birds taking flight and the particle effects. I swear, though, I have gotten to the point in my life, after playing video games for 30+ years, where I never again want to have to jump a character onto a tiny, unforgiving platform and risk starting over a whole level because I miss one jump. Dying 40+ times like this, often with 30+ seconds of play lost, killed the game for me. On the very first level, I had to land the same jumps perfectly a second time after getting the battery, and had to start over AGAIN and AGAIN when I missed. No need for it to be this hard - a pointless challenge that doesn't advance story or anything. Instadeath from the brown shower, with no warning, losing me a minute of painstaking play I had to repeat, was likewise annoying. Just way too hard. I really wanted to like it, and I love the art, the character ideas and interactions, the theme implementation with the batteries, and the environment, but the game was not fun at all for me.
Windows version live. Should perform a bit better (if it launches ;).
Fantastic entry! I absolutely loved the art and sound. So much care was given to them and it most definitely shows. There are so many little details, from the adorable whistle sound to the fact your robot emotes and hungrily opens its mouth when you come near it with a battery, to the smooth animation. It's all really simple sounding stuff on the surface but it creates a wonderful and caring relationship with the robot almost immediately without having to say a word. The sound while simple sets the perfect mood for the game from the aforementioned whistle to the soundtrack itself which is playful but still gives off a bass-y underground cave sounding vibe. The main mechanic was very well executed and I liked the puzzles. They weren't super hard, but they were satisfying. One of the only critiques I have is that the pacing could have stood to be a bit better. I realize the robot is supposed to be slow but dying via a bottomless bit due to a slip of your finger only to have to slowly make up your lost progress isn't super enjoyable. Still, I could just be bad at the game lol. Perhaps a larger amount of checkpoints could fix this issue. Addressing the lag spikes and allowing the player to use a dedicated jump button rather than W would be fantastic as well. Regardless, absolutely superb entry!
For those interested in the graphics, I will be releasing a **pixelart timelapse video** somewhere in the next few days on my [youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/flaterectomy). I'll also be [tweeting](https://twitter.com/Flaterectomy) about its release if you'd rather keep an eye on it there.
Great colour palette and I love the little birds :) I think the relationship between the girl and robot was sweet. The game is too hard for me though - the platforming is very unforgiving.
Overall though, its really impressive.
Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments and feedback! If anyone enjoyed the soundtrack, I've uploaded it to [my soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/theectocosm/sets/artax-soundtrack) for you all to listen!
Art is beautiful, game design is very well done (your tutorial part was perfect). The sad smiley when player died is a nice touch too. It also fits very well with the theme. Impressive work.
I realy loved your game. Audio, graphic, amazing! Nice work!
Top notch pixel art. The subtle details were also pretty nice. I found the first jumping sequence disproportionately difficult though.
Wow, it's hard to believe you managed to to so much in a long weekend. The pixel art is great, the gameplay is intuitive but with plenty of opportunity for complex puzzle-solving, and the mechanics are tight and responsive. It feels good to play, and I'd love to play more. Thanks for sharing!
nice graphics
Really Awesome game, Great Graphics and Overall Amazing. Great Job
loved the art and the music! good job team!
very well done, my favorite I've played so far! my only criticism is the movement could use some tweaking/polish.
So cute! I love the way that the protagonist calls for the robot; it's super charming, and adds a whole level of puzzle gameplay that wouldn't be there otherwise. Love it! Also, the art is fantastic. Great job all around!
Lovely! Robot buddy is adorable. Sadly I left him behind and had to face the consequences in the end. One of my favorites so far!
I loved the pixel art and the unique take on the theme! Unfortunately I couldn't complete the game. The game started lagging slightly for me when I got to the vertical stage with acid spray, and got progressively worse. By the time I got to the chase scene I simply couldn't beat the stage cause my game would start lagging so badly when the dogs spawned for the chase. I was using the WebGL version on Firefox 54.
Regardless, I enjoyed what I played and saw so far, good job!
Hi guys! We know many of you didn't get the opportunity to play Artax all the way through, so I've recorded a full playthrough from start to finish (including the final cutscene) for your enjoyment; [Youtube link here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWOmjc0tlMI) Thanks again for all the wonderful comments :)
Meat
What a concept! Having to keep the robot full of power is a nice idea! Art is beautiful, very polished and full of small details. You game has a spirit, which is awesome. Doors / power etc... gives a lot of place for puzzle, which you exploit well.
Here are the things that could be improved: - Acid drops are really unforgiving, just one pixel fading can one shot you.. it adds unwanted difficulty whereas the game is already difficult. - I had to play the windows version because HTML one had few lags (so unplayable, if you miss one jump, you die) - A lot of time the robot is stuck on "flying" mode to the edge of a cliff when it obviously doesn't need it, which adds more unwanted difficulty.
Keep up the good work :)
Really loved the detailed, classic style art, and the robot seemed to have a connection to the player character, which was cool (those little emoji speech bubbles were fun) Felt like it wasn't far off from being a polished game from yesteryear -looking forward to playing more :)
Superb sprite work and flawless chiptunes (especially the hectic piece when first encountering the enemies)!
Sadly I fumbled a bit got myself stuck and had to start all over again since I can't die here and there is not respawn key (tried everything, found profiler and alternative interact button). artax-stuck.png
Platforming was spot on. I felt 100% in control of the character at all times. The controls had some issues though. First of all, would have preferred if I wasn't forced to only play with my non-dominant hand. So arrow keys as alternatives and also adding a separate jump button would be a major improvement. It was kinda weird that you couldn't call the bot mid-jump unless you were carrying something. Standing on top of the bot and calling him always made me glitch through him unless I kept jumping.
The level with the long way down and those goop pipes was annoyingly time consuming considering how easy it was to get killed near the end. The goop was pretty hard to see and it lingered on the ground too long. Some goes for the first level with enemies and the final level. They both had this needlessly long bot walking section. Dunno if I just suck but I died on those so many times that I probably spent majority of my play time on those three walking sections.
The final level started off pretty hard with the bot and all those enemies flying on your face so it was quite easy to miss a jump. But it got a lot easier after managed to get a bit more distance for the enemies. Actually had to wait around for the screen to catch up with me. Those platforms on the water could be made a bit more visible.
Was about to ask what this icon was (everything was so small on the web version since no full screen) but after zooming the image a bit, I guess it's a flower, it looked more like some weirdly colored turnip cutman in actual game size. Still dunno what it's supposed to mean though...
artax-icon.png
Awesome job overall!
This game is so beautiful! The graphics, the audio and the animation made it a really great experience. The controls are very responsive and I got the hang of it very fast. Congratulations to the team!
Wow your game is amazing, the sound, the graphics and the controls.
1 thing i noticed, at second screen, i fell on the pit after the waterfall, and couldn't get away from there, the robot was not with me, i pressed E and it doesn't came rescue me :( haha Anyway, nice entry!
very polished platformer. really good job!
Very nice variation on the Last Guardian system. I love the graphics and the sound The overall quality of the game is very impressive :thumbsup:
Have you tested mine, it also feature **a giant robot** ? - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/titan-defend-earth-before-its-too-late
Great work, I really like the idea.
Thery Cool! See trailer and went plaing! Cool! Nice Robot i concept
Lovely graphics, neat idea! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk50HLqX0cU
Absolutely beautiful pixel art! You have made extremely jealous. The mood was amazing and, yeah, not really anything that hasn't been said, but it was incredible. I have no idea how you managed to make this in just 3 days. Well fucking done!
Beautiful looking game, and the gameplay is there too. I plan to go back and finish when I have time. Really great looking game. Not the most original idea (helping a character who does stuff for you), but that is probably my only minor critique.
Hi! Looks very nice. Could we possibly get a Linux64 or just a jar version?
Great looking game! Beautiful graphics, a bit heavy on the CPU usage sometimes. Nice gameplay but needs more checkpoints.
Also, is there any chance to use arrow keys instead of wasd? This game has too many pixel perfect/timing stuff and i'm not good at playing this with left hand.
I hope to come back playing this later.
The idea and technical stuff is nicely implemented.
Is there a mute button? i like the music but the i dont like the chirps (just a personal thing).
Still, one of my favourites this LD.
Really liked your game, great job making it. The artwork was amazing, really liked the particle effects.
The last level was a bit difficult, the dog sprites were making it difficult to see when you were on the left side of the screen, and the robot sprite was covering some of the platforms while he was floating.
Lovely pixel art and audio and an excellent use of the theme to power your gameplay. Loved the details like those little birds that fly away when you get near to them. I did feel like some parts were quite punishing - even the first platforming section felt frustrating after missing the jumps a few times. Otherwise great job!
This game is great. The game mechanics is very innovative and well-done. The art is fantastic and the music and sounds were great. I wish I could have reached the end but it was hard so I gave up (and I am so bad at jump to narrow platforms). Overall, I liked it a lot and will give it another try later.
Controls weren't working well in firefox, the jump lagged which made landing on the platforms a difficult task indeed.
Luckily chrome did not have this problem and the controls felt much better. Gameplay is fun, love the art, the sound, the concept behind the game etc.
Definitely one of the best games i've played so far this Ludum Dare.
Lovely art style. Interesting companion design mixed with 2D platformer concept. The controls were a little sticky for me. I wished spacebar was also jump.
I'm not sure if it was because I was playing the web build, but it felt laggy (my jumps would start a fraction of a second after I press the W key) and the game would periodically freeze for a moment at times which would mess up my jumps. I liked the concept of powering up your robot companion and being able to call it to help you. I got killed by the mud coming out of the pipe which was hard to see, which seemed a little bit unfair. The platforming on the first stage seemed a little bit too difficult for an opening stage. I liked how the music started after you pick up the first battery, but I wish there was some music playing when the game started.
Whoa this game was really really fun! Thank you! I love the mechanics and the graphics! The music is nice too! The small hearts and smileys when I give a battery to the robot are really cute! haha! I had a little problem with the controls in the level where it goes down, somehow I wasn't able to jump and I fell through the floor... but this could also be a performance problem of the laptop. :0)
You have done a really nice job here. :0)
Thank you for this really nice game! :0)
Wow, i love it! The style, mood, animations and sounds are top notch, very polished! The music reminded me so much of a great old NES game, "a boy and his blob" - only after that i realized my robot friend also behaves like the blob. The set back when dieing were a bit disheartening, when i already "solved" the area but got killed by mud that i only saw when walking beneath it. Controls were good, after i learned in the first level that i basically stop lateral moement immediately in the air when i release the key. I also love the robot and the emotions going on!