Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD44 → Reaping Riches
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 585 | 3.40 | 23 | |
| Fun | 496 | 3.33 | 23 | |
| Innovation | 558 | 3.09 | 23 | |
| Theme | 169 | 3.83 | 23 | |
| Graphics | 717 | 3.26 | 23 | |
| Audio | 593 | 2.80 | 22 | |
| Humor | 762 | 2.44 | 20 | |
| Mood | 777 | 3.00 | 21 |
Maybe have some enemies with less than 3 lives would be cool (or, a colorswap/something to say bullet do something) The delay between two shots is maybe two long, with these two thing, I only avoid enemies and don't kill them at all
@moi93101 Thanks for your feedback! Having enemies with less than 3 hits was part of the plan initially, but unfortunately we couldn't get around it. I didn't think too much about the length of the delay at the time that i programmed it, but looking back i do feel that it is a little too long and my discourage players from shooting all of the enemies. Then again, killing every enemy and collecting every coin is meant to be impossible so that players are given the challenge of quickly assessing the most logical way through the level, and what is worth skipping. I haven't had the time to play and rate games lately, but when I get around to it I promise I'll play yours. Thanks again!
Great game man. It was an interesting interpretation, and I enjoyed it. However, I think that it could've benefited from having some music, maybe just a little thing in the background. The arts not that great, but it's better than what I can do so... Loved the sound design as well
Nice interpretation of the theme. I agree about the delay between shots, it feels a little long. The enemy designs are varied and each offer a unique challenge. There are plenty of places where you can take an extra risk to get an extra reward of coins which is pretty good.
This was a fun interpretation of the theme! It's not the first game I played using the theme this way, but it executed it well.
I managed to survive without shooting at all until I got to the first boss, which was pretty challenging. Having the large balls drop gold made the fight much more feasible. (Though certainly not easy!) I quite liked that you showed what was required for a checkpoint as you progressed through the level. (Bonus points for changing the color based on whether you had it or not!) The tutorial area was also a nice addition, as well.
Congrats on a fun entry!
Thank you for submitting your game to be played on my stream!
Once the stream is finished you can find the video here: https://www.twitch.tv/ursagames/videos If you want to know when it was played you can find your game in the queue here: https://tinyurl.com/y5rdokvp
@shakierheart53 Thanks for playing! I know that the game could have benefited from some music, but the thing is... we aren't any good at music. Glad you enjoyed the sound effects, Will designed them all in bfxr himself. I know the art isn't really the best in the world, i'm not much of an artist, although I am really happy with how the playable character came out. Thanks for your feedback, and i'll be sure to check out your game when I get around to it!
@firepit-games Thanks for checking out our game! I'm glad you enjoyed the variety of enemies, it was tough to figure out new ways to make them shoot things without making them feel too much alike, and I was a little scared that there weren't enough. Also happy that you enjoyed the risk-reward system that i incorporated into the level design. While I was designing it, I wasn't sure how well it would work in practice. Thanks again, and I promise to get to your game as soon as I can!
@ursagames Np! Thank you for playing my game on your stream!
The game play is simple, fun and difficult. It seemed like enemies weren't worth spending the money to kill so I did my best to just avoid them. Overall, good job.
@sherlock527 Thanks for playing! You're not the first to mention that killing enemies wasn't worth it. Since they were all 3-hit kills, it likely may have been too much risk for too little a reward. A few people have played this game on stream, and the ones who beat it often just tried to avoid enemies. Thanks again, and I'll check out your game as soon as I can get around to it!
Excellent presentation, controls felt great, enemy patterns felt readable and fair which is a really big deal for scrolling shooters. Awesome work!
Pretty fun game - quite forgiving - a nice shooter, but I found that it was too easy to dodge the enemies and run away rather than trying to engage all of them. That said, I was pleasantly surprised when there was a second level with the additional laser mechanic, but I didn't really get the green/purple distinction, but it was pretty enjoyable all in all!
Having bosses also was a nice touch :D
The movement was really good! My favorite part of the game was collecting the coins and hearing the coin collect sound. That's why at the 2nd boss fight I was just farming the coins because it is very spiritually rewarding. XD I think the difficulty scaling/ramping is a little ridiculous at first. Some visual feedback that the enemy is taking damage would make it feel better. The player is expected to conserve their ammo carefully, however the game doesn't make it clear when I shoot a bullet where exactly my bullet spawns(vertically-wise) and the enemy collision hitboxes on them compared to their sprite is a little annoying(when you use your well-earned money bullet carefully to clip the bottom part of a octopus's tentacle, and it just goes through because that doesn't count as hitting the octopus RAAAAAA XD) Also it's a little unclear at the beginning that you're just not supposed to kill certain enemies, narrowing different approaches to your levels and undiversifying gameplay a bit. (Like how do I kill the pyramid enemies without dying? "You're not supposed to kill them" "oh okay") xD All in all, great progress was made during the jam! :D
@cppchriscpp Thanks for your feedback, and I'm glad you like our interpretation of the theme! I do think looking back that the killing enemies may have been too unforgiving, which may discourage players from shooting things. I'm also grateful that you played at least up to the first boss, as there were quite a few people who played my game on stream and didn't get that far. Also, the toll gates don't actually change color depending on whether you had enough for not, it's based on whether or not the next toll is a boss toll or not (regular ones are yellow, boss ones are red), but it's still a good suggestion that I may consider if I were to ever create a post-jam version of this game. Thanks again!
@madjackmcmad Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for checking out my game on stream! I was hoping enemy patterns wouldn't end up being to unpredictable, and my method for it was actually to set up a series of various invisible blocks that change a direction that an enemy is facing and can be placed directly in the room editor. That way I have direct control over their movement patterns when designing the levels. Thanks again, and I'll be sure to check out your game as soon as I can get to it!
@aurel Thanks for checking out our game, and, from the things you mentioned in your comment, playing through it in its entirety! There were a few people who found the game too hard, so its refreshing to have someone who finds it forgiving. You aren't the first to mention that killing enemies didn't really seem to be worth it,in fact it seems to be one of the most common complaints I see. This is likely due to all of them taking 3 hits and there being too long of a bullet cooldown. I agree to an extent but it is also meant to be impossible to engage with every single enemy so that the player has to quickly work out what is and is not reasonable to try and obtain. (however this intention limits playstyles, as another commenter has mentioned) I'm also happy you liked the lasers, I added the mechanic to keep the gameplay from getting stale, and it sounds like it worked. (By the way, the distinction is just a matter of only one kind of laser being active at a time, so the button disables one and enables the other) Thanks for your feedback, and I'll be sure to play your game as soon as I can get around to it!
@kimily First, thank you for playing my game on stream, and thanks even more for getting through all of it despite its difficulty! The difficulty curve was definitely something I was scared about, since scheduling meant that I didn't get a chance to playtest it with will, but i'm still relieved that the end result is still playable and somewhat fun. You aren't the first to request visual feedback in addition to audio feedback, and looking back, it would have been wise. For most enemies, the hitbox covers their exact size and is sometimes a pixel wider on each side, but even that is still probably too small. The only case where the hitbox is exceptionally unfair though is, in fact, with the squid sprite. The tentacles not being part of the hitbox was just done to make is movement easier to work out (however thinking about it just now i just realized a pretty simple fix). The thing isn't necessarily that there are certain enemies that you aren't supposed to kill, almost every enemy is killable- the matter of what and what not to kill is something that the player is actually meant to figure out themselves through experience, like if they find that it is too hard to hit vertically moving enemies then they will avoid them. Its meant to be a matter of quickly working out what is and isnt reasonable to try and obtain, although like you said, this approach limits playstyles. Thanks again!
Gameplay and controls are smooth and buttery. I like the coin system, especially the ratchet and clank gravitational pull when you get close to coins. There's lot's of content in just the 2 levels.
I think a frustrating aspect was the size of the coins you shoot and amount of shots it takes to kill something being 3. I just gave up on shooting stuff and tried to get the free coins while avoiding as much damage as possible. The size is frustrating because lining up the shots with the enemies is quite difficult to do while zooming around the screen. It always seems to be slightly off and miss unless you take an inordinate amount of time to perfectly line yourself up. By then, you are probably not going to have time to get 3 shots off.
I felt a very super mario bros vibe off the game, which is fantastic. If you can get a player to feel that warm fuzzy feeling they felt when playing a game as a kid, that's a huge achievement already.
Overall great job!
@madjackmcmad @aurel Sorry I couldn't get to your games! I've been pretty busy lately and, as I mentioned before, scheduling has been harder as this Ludum Dare wasn't during the summer. Last time I was able to rate 60+ games, but this time I've found that I couldn't even get to the recommended 20. Sorry again, and good luck with your games!
@aim Thanks for playing our game! Glad you liked the controls, I actually implemented a super-subtle momentum system (you start at a speed of 1 for 1 frame and then go up to a speed of 2 on the next) and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. You aren't the first to complain about enemies taking too many hits to kill; many have found that often times it really isn't worth engaging in a fight with one, and that it is easier to just try and avoid them all and zip through the level that way. Looking back, I probably should have adjusted the hitboxes, as they are definitely a bit small. A few have also found that the camera was too fast, and that likely contributes to the issue as well. I'm really happy that our game was able to give you kind of a nostalgia kick, it's always nice to hear that somebody felt a feeling of warmth and comfort from playing through your creation. Thanks again!
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/427560061?t=02h40m33s