Lightning racer

ashment 2017-08-01 05:37

Visuals are pretty cool, even though some of the obstacles don't exactly mesh together in terms of style, Lightning sound effect kind of jarring.

That said, the game itself is enjoyable. However, I often felt that the obstacles were impossible to avoid and were cheap in their frequency, and the lack of ramps and the inability to charge without sufficient velocity made it really punishing to miss even a single ramp. I also found myself losing score after the game has ended. Either way, it was reasonably fun game. Good Job.

nbitsstudio 2017-08-01 05:41

Hey, it's an interesting concept needed to jump at the center. Of course the game has some adjustments to do, but I think the core of this game should be "beat the score". The score could be bigger on the screen. And the recovery from hit maybe could be faster. As a tip, the game need a new type of ramp, with a "boost" to give a chance for the player recover if he is loosing. The "car", as you said (haha), don't even pass the yellow ramp at slow speed. Other tip is introduce the different obstacles one at time, for the player learn, and then you can mix and even let be harder.

surovyi 2017-08-01 05:42

I liked that like almost everything in your game is moving - it gives you a sense of presence. Pretty hard to avoid bubble, but I liked this mechanic.

martintristan 2017-08-01 05:48

Great graphics and effects. Pretty enjoyable too!

toadietechnika 2017-08-01 06:08

The game was visually appealing, but when you play it, it's a different impression. It lacks some intensiveness that would blend to the graphics. It was kinda convincing at first too, because when I see the game, it would actually feel like Thumper. And at first, I thought I would die in an obstacle and try again but it certainly added the point for the theme like let the energy deplete before the game is over. Good job with this game though :D

thetatautau 2017-08-01 17:11

Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I'm aware of most of the problems mentioned, lot of polishing is needed, but yeah, it's a 72H jam.

However it's possible to go really far, it's about anticipation (when you see a ramp far away, in the other side of the tube, you can manage to catch it) and speed managment (dont go on ramps if you are going too slow, it will slow you down and you won't recharge). I scored more than 30000 several times (but I trained a lot).

atomicdad 2017-08-01 22:47

Overall it was a good concept. As you said, it needs some polish and some balancing. For a 3 day project, it looks pretty good.

mordokay 2017-08-02 17:40

Very nice graphics and a fun game to play indeed.

I would have likedd it more if the player could turn left and right faster. There are some obstacles that are impossible to avoid even if you anticipate them.

Overall very nice game!

matkubik 2017-08-03 01:15

Really enjoyed your game ! I played about ten minutes and I had fun on it ! Good controls, great ideas, efficient ! Good job !

furesu 2017-08-03 18:17

Yeah, race game! Nice, pretty good concept, it has a future. I like it. You even predicted that part when you may suddenly fall through the wall by returning car back to the tunnel :smiley:

anglain 2017-08-03 21:45

Nice entry, definetely good in terms of graphics! And well done race game, which fits the theme! Although it has some problems with the balance, i think, and the collision system is a bit frustrating to me. But, anyways, good job :)

rac-games 2017-08-03 21:49

What I like about your game is the fact that it is pragmtic. In my opinion the puristic design of your game elevates the gameplay. Every input you make reinforces the importance of energy, which is running out^^.

Your assets are nice too. How did you texture them? Basic textures without any bump or height maps?

Please play, rate and comment our game aswell: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/disaster-on-nebula-one

thetatautau 2017-08-04 05:13

The textures have albedo, normal and emission maps.

I already rated your game, and it was very good, one of the few 5 stars I rated so far :)

srolfe657 2017-08-04 22:03

I liked this quite a bit. The gameplay was simple but it was still challenging. Those dang stationary blocks were always the ones that got me haha. Nice little game with great looking aesthetics.

maesen 2017-08-05 06:31

I think this was mostly nailed in terms of presentation. The music was nice and the graphics were all good. Most of the mechanics meshed together well and jumping at the center is a very cool idea. However, I feel that some adjustments could be made. There's the typical problem of getting stuck in geometry, and either getting sent out of the level when caught under one of those capsules or being stopped completely. Those two are minor bugs that can be ironed out later, though. The main problem I had was that getting stopped was very punishing, in a way that was not at all fun. Hitting the front of a block would catapult the player backwards, and it would take several seconds to start moving forward again at a decent pace. I feel like the game could have used some thrusters when the ship is under a certain speed threshold in order to make the game feel just a little bit better to play. A very solid showing overall, though.

thetatautau 2017-08-05 08:30

Thx for you feedback Maesen, adding a booster is a good idea, if it cost energy, it would'nt even change anything about the game balance and it would have make the game funnier.

remzo 2017-08-05 10:16

Cool game! The music fit really well and the gameplay was interesting. My only issue is that you seem to need to be going fast in order to successfully hit the ramps, which kind of defeats the purpose of using the ramps to recharge. I also would've liked to rotate around a little bit faster since those green walls seemed pretty random whether I would be able to pass through it or not. The lightning sound was also too loud I think. Overall, fun game! My best was 8684

nyckos 2017-08-05 12:19

Heya! :) I just wanted to say that I tried your game and I loved it.

The graphics look insanely great, and I really liked the concept. Also, I liked the variety of obstacles and ramps. This game will stay on my desktop for a while, I will definitely give it another play!

Overall, a nice little game that deserves the high score I gave it. Out of the games I’ve played so far I played this one the longest! Seriously, great job!!

reiv 2017-08-05 14:40

It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but when I did, I love it! What a fun and challenging game. The only thing I would have preferred is to rotate the car a little bit faster and to have more space between some obstacles. Oh! and would have been nice if the ramps were the same color(a bright one) so you don't confuse them with other obstacles.

randomphantom 2017-08-05 14:59

I'm not sure if the ramps actually help as (1) by the time i see them its usually too late to navigate myself to hit them - in particular the curvy ones and (2) if I'm lucky enough to go onto one I get stuck on the geometry and it doesn't "jump" like what was mentioned. There doesn't seem to be a jump button as well. So I have zero clue on how to get to the centre of the tunnel. Got clipped through the objects through some collisions as well. I think having to dodge obstacles with some form of power pickup would make this game more fun and easier to pick up and play, now its just a bit obtuse.

thetatautau 2017-08-05 17:21

@randomphantom : yep, the difficulty is a bit too high, it would have be better to have a progressive difficulty curve, with less obstacles on the beginning, but we didn't understand that it was needed during the jam because I was the only tester and felt that the game was approximately balanced (it is, but only when you are use to it).

If you get stuck on the ramps, it's because your not going fast enough.

hbocao 2017-08-10 00:55

The visuals are very impressive and the music and sound effects helps a lot with emersion! I missed more sense of speed, maybe a little more visual effects. I needed a few tries to get used to it and then was very fun. One nitpick is that when you start getting slower, it's almost impossible to recover. I rode two ramps, but didn't have enough speed to reach the center, so maybe the ramps could speed up a little bit. Very cool entry! Congratz!

manumeq 2017-08-19 01:32

Pretty impressive visuals and effects. Gameplay is good and fits well with the theme. The only thing that I would change would be the obstacles, which are too big for comfort, both graphically and in terms of gameplay, you don't have enough time to figure out well where the next gap between obstacles is and neither you can see it because the other obstacles are so huge. Nevertheless, really good work, congrats.