bladesides 2018-08-13 09:15
I think I played it enough to figure it out. The game is bad at explaining itself, but after a few plays, I managed to get enjoyment out of it. With some bug fixes, I believe this entry can do a lot better.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD42 → Laser Rails: Chase!
By alex-adedge
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 533 | 3.09 | 48 | |
| Fun | 565 | 2.83 | 49 | |
| Innovation | 553 | 2.79 | 49 | |
| Theme | 722 | 1.84 | 47 | |
| Graphics | 117 | 3.88 | 49 | |
| Humor | 376 | 2.29 | 42 | |
| Mood | 475 | 2.69 | 45 |
I think I played it enough to figure it out. The game is bad at explaining itself, but after a few plays, I managed to get enjoyment out of it. With some bug fixes, I believe this entry can do a lot better.
Fun idea. I love the look and graphics of the game, very well executed those. I think simplifying the colliders of the train would help a lot with wonky physics.
(By the way, how does the game relate to the theme? :sweat_smile:) All in all, good job!
Lifehack - get under the train :) Screenshot at 2018-08-13 12-46-30.png
Yeah, robot cowboys! The visuals are very nice, but the movement is a bit awkward and the scoring is a mystery to me. Still, for a 48h compo, this is a mighty fine entry in terms of overall quality.
I really like this, honestly, I reckon you should take the jetpack mechanics you've made and make it into some proper racing game or something along those lines because it was reaaaally fun to just jet around stunting off of stuff.
@bladesides Yeh I agree it doesnt convey the mechanics/aim that well, I threw that text in right at the end in an attempt to add some level of direction. The chase/points mechanic was pretty last minute because I originally wanted it to be a chase & heist game. So had to pivot right at the end to make something worth playing! Thanks for the feedback :)
@psychead Cheers! Yeh something I didnt get around to implementing was a bigger scarier 'hazard zone' - I had a better canyon in mind and a zone with robots that would chase and attack you. So along with the chase you were meant to have a countdown timer to each hazard zone which would warn you that you were 'running out of space' until that zone came up! Or something like that :)
@alexey-akulovich Haha damn you! XD I dont even know how you managed to fall there so perfectly. I had to do it in-editor. Should have added a pointed collider on the plow...
@suve Thanks heaps! Yeh walking is pretty rough, I'll have to go with some other setup rather than using colliders to smooth it out in a post-jam version. Scoring simply takes place when youre close enough, depending on the exact distance youll slowly get points. Could have been conveyed a lot better tho I agree - Ive got some better ideas like having a number appear above you whenever you get points. Then at least theres something to go by.
@dangogamedev Yes the jetpack turned out really nice! I actually originally planned to have a laser whip, which youd use to attack enemies (adding it to a post-jam version) AND to lasso robot horses to ride. But the jetpack worked so well I didnt bother with the horses (not that I had time anyway) And yeh you can use the area as a halfpipe if you get fast enough, Ive cleared canyons that way ;D Thanks for the feedback!
Graphics are cool but i didn't get fun with overall gameplay and game goal ... :-(.
I don't understand how it fit to the theme neither.
Since audio is not by you, it couldn't fall in compo competition if i'm not wrong ?
@mgsx Sorry you didnt like the gameplay! It would have fit the goal better if I'd gotten around to implementing a hazard warning system, but I ran out of time :/ I think audio is ok - given I opted-out of that category and it was still allowed as a compo entry. Not ideal, definitely my main weakness when it comes to gamedev so planning on working on that!
The music and the graphics are nice, but it took me a while to figure out exactly how to use the controls as the other robots keep shooting me down. Once i could understand more or less what do do i could go on with the train for about 360 points.
I kinda went to fast. And fell off the Map 2000 "Distance" from the train :3 that was fun xD
For some reason, I only get a black screen and the UI elements. I can die however. Playing from macOS.
The controls here feel really loose, and at times I felt I had no idea what I was doing. That being said holy cow these graphics / lighting / shaders are so good! I am loving the visual look of the game. The music doesn't feel like it pairs to the visuals as well as it could, but I see you've opted out on that. Seriously love these colors though I'm really impressed with everything visual!
If you keep working on this, you might wanna explain in the game that you're supposed to chase the train.
Nice game, the controls are sometimes weird but it made fun in game
Fun idea
Great job! I love the art, it really looks great! The gameplay is a little lacking though, and it's really hard to know what's going on and what to do. I got stuck on zero points for about ten tries because I didn't know that the jetpack has LITERALLY unlimited speed. Unfortunately, it's really hard for me to make the connection between this game and the theme. Overall, great job, and maybe try the jam next time (It's a LOT easier to get a game done with more time).
Cheers! - The Koala Squad
The graphics are really cool, and the jetpack is extremely fun to use. I wish there was a shoot button though.
Flying around in endless space with the jetpack with a calming music in the background is fun. The models and animations are pretty good. I feel the gameplay could have been a bit more polished. Maybe it should be game over if the train get's too far or you struggle to reach the vicinity of the train in time.
Nice graphics, the jetpack is a bit hard to control but maybe that's the point!
The game looks great and the concept is very creative. Flying around was quite satisfying and i liked the sound I think with refined flying and a way to interact the enemies and dodge the rocks would make it a really solid expirience
Really like the look and feel of this one. Nice work. Had a lot of trouble starting it and held boost for so long that I ran out of track BUT, that balance in the middle is pretty cool :)
The controls feels a little slow and like I am walking through mud, But the graphics is so good
Took me a bit to figure out but it's very enjoyable once I did. Amazing graphics too (I played the Jam build)
Wow, I must say that I really enjoyed the feeling of going around with a jetpack! that was smooth and especially when much far from the train going at high speed was great! however once close to the train the enemies were quickly annoying and you couldn't do much. I think if you focused more on the chasing aspect and avoided the player going faster than the train, it would be a great game!
It looks incredible. Great work on all the visuals.
But the gameplay... - There's very little control over the robot, and even just walking a couple of steps could cause it to fall over. - With the jetpack on you can move really fast but with almost no real control. - The train zooms away super quickly and catching up involves turning as little as possible while flying forward. Not fun. - Any bump while you're zooming and you'd go flying off and probably never see the train again due to the bad controls. - The scoring is a mystery. There needs to be some visualisation of when score is added, how much, etc. - Just really the controls man, it's the whole game. And so important. - There's no display of how much life you have? Getting shot doesn't even tell you? - Also... Theme?
@derek-volker Thanks, Im glad you liked the graphics, definitely a part of it that Im very happy with! Music wasnt by me sorry, opt-ed out and just threw it in there last second. And solid score. Getting a few hundred points seems like quite an effort. Its a bit easier now in the post-jam build.
@nightmaresdev Haha sounds like you were playing 'Laser Rails: Race!' perhaps? I should really set it up so the terrain generates for the player as well as the train, then you could just keep going haha
@red-pill Not sure whats going on there. Theres a link for the version on newgrounds. Do html/webgl games usually work for you otherwise?
@tony-redmer Thanks! Im certainly happy with the visuals, but next gamejam I'll be putting a bit more time into gameplay/tutorial stuff cause this one was a bit of a last minute dash in those regards.
But heres an interesting shot, hour 1 vs hour 48, its great to see a game come together and evolve! Compare2.png
@s0rax @astericon Thanks!
@flashviper I had an idea in the works for a laser whip (see my twitter https://twitter.com/Alex_ADEdge), which you would use to whip the enemies and also redirect/reflect bullets. It would have been super cool, but I ran out of time. Buuuut I still plan on adding in a future post-jam version, v1 having just gone online today.
@koala-squad (also @gregklein @bladesides) & @Everyone else for that matter, I added a post-jam version today with a much nicer start area with a mini tutorial in it, it lets you get to your feet with the controls before you start getting attacked, check it out if youre keen on seeing an improved version of the game.
Tutorial03.png
And @koala-squad yeh Ive done the jam in the past, I wish I could have for this one to get it more complete but I'd already taken 1 day off work to do the compo, so I was just out of time and had to make do with what Id made (lacking in the theme was also caused by this). But I'm still working on it atm, theres a few features Id really like to see in the post-jam version. But thanks for your feedback! :D
I didn't find it hard at all to figure out how to play and what the goal was (I played the original comp version) and I found it to be an interesting take on the endless runner genre. Only thing I thought could have been useful was a health bar. I figured out you have 5 hits, but in a long enough run you aren't going to bother keeping track of that mentally or notice every time you're hit. Overall, fun little addictive game.
P.S. Nice music choice.
A unique endless runner with good graphics. The jetpack physics is really funny. Nice game!
I took a while to understand what I have to do, and I missed a lot an weapon to fight back. Graphics are really good, and the game play is pretty fun. Good job!
NIce graphics and train model dude. For me in this concept is challenge missing. Maybe add some dodgy obtacles or somethig to force player be more on the move.
Nice graphics! I included it in my compilation video series of the Ludum Dare 42 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/tG45WDfIQds