FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD46 → Virtual Pet: No escape from Life

Virtual Pet: No escape from Life

By mickm

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall7743.1433
Fun7483.0133
Innovation9002.7933
Theme1834.0333
Graphics9822.5033
Audio5423.0032
Humor2053.4631
Mood7172.9633

Comments

joannetteg 2020-04-20 01:43

Loving that 1999 GeoCities aesthetic and really cool concept too ! Keeping it alive is quite a chore !

mincemeat 2020-04-20 06:25

Good work on the music, it was simple but wasn't annoying.

rakowu 2020-04-20 06:26

Ok i killed my baby by age xD Great man but what are the weights for? Like the checks you did like by representing them with animations (for example that he goes thinner when it is starving).

mickm 2020-04-20 06:43

@joannetteg Ha thanks - it does evoke that a bit eh. Hopefully chore as in challenge and not painful ;)

@mincemeat Cheers - not my strong suite so tried to just keep simple notes on a loop!

@rakowu It is mentioned briefly in the start but the weights are for a hidden "work rate" stat - the more you train the faster you work (and eat/play) so you get resources faster but also get less of the hunger/happiness penalty relative to how much you earn (penalty is a constant rate whereas income is affected by work rate)

Glad you appreciated the sprite changes, tried to make as much information obvious to the player as possible (such as the starving belly and SFX, facial expressions, icons updating based on your resources etc).

Thanks all for checking it out and leaving feedback!

kubeec 2020-04-20 10:28

Nice work!

thooom 2020-04-20 11:33

Nice work on the visualization of the different states (hungry etc), not just the bars at the top. An eye for details is under rated. Musically this was an improvement compared to the Tamagotchi, that really hurts ones ears. I would love to see some keyboard shortcuts however. I also think maybe a check so that items don't overlap would be good to see.

My TimTam died after 93 days. That's like 93 in human years.

joannetteg 2020-04-20 14:41

@mickm Haha chore as in challenge, yes !

itskdog 2020-04-21 00:07

It was fun balancing the different activities.

kirbloid 2020-04-21 00:15

I can't believe I had to sent my poor little virtual pet to work! Great little game, the balance between making credits and buying stuff was good and the random placement led to little strategies to keep the plates spinning.

erebus 2020-04-21 09:25

Fun tamagachi game! Thanks so much for bringing it by the stream!

sageware 2020-04-21 09:30

Tamagotchi flashbacks, but at least I was able to keep TimTam alive longer than the old 90s virtual pets. I enjoyed the game, and you art too.

megamiley 2020-04-21 13:37

Work, work, work, eat, work, play, work, work, eat, work, eat, work, play, play, work, work, eat, work, dead

Challenging but fun :)

mickm 2020-04-22 00:31

Ha was hoping the priority juggliing would come out ok @kirbloid , thanks for checking it out. Loved your take on the virtual pet thing too!

Thanks for checking it out @erebus , glad you got some enjoyment from it.

Thanks @sageware , I was very iffy on the art so thanks for the kind words! If you like the Tamagotchi thing you should check out @kirbloid 's game too!!

@megamiley Ha that is life eh, glad you enjoyed it!

purpledartfrog 2020-04-22 09:02

:smile: cute entry :thumbsup_tone1: never did those Tamagochi things - but they are rather self explaining :wink:

:purple_heart: :dart: :frog:

snesgaard 2020-04-22 20:12

Best sound effects in all of Ludum Dare ;)

fryer 2020-04-22 23:08

The tutorial was well done, I didn't feel like there was anything I didn't understand how to do in the game after going through it. I did manage to keep my TimTam alive into old age, but managing everything was quite stressful, and I couldn't find time to train it. Maybe extending the play time a bit and making it easier at the start would help ease new players into the stress that comes later.

As for the graphics and music: I think the crunchy backgrounds in the UI were a bit over the top, I'd tone that down a bit. The music seemed to stay on a single chord forever, which I guess added to the feeling of stress somehow, but more movement there would be nice so it doesn't get too repetitive.

kent-reese 2020-04-22 23:42

You don't give yourself enough credit, this is a good game! Really like the aesthetic you chose, and the game play elements fit well with the theme. A solid entry!

thedoctoroftime 2020-04-23 05:35

Deceptively fun, reminds me of old flash games I used to play but this one despite looks is really responsive in a way. I also like how fast paced it can get.

knason 2020-04-23 10:01

reminds me of old school flash game, well executed tutorial. The music added nicely to the whole experience! Good work!

2020-04-24 19:15

Good start! I included it in my Ludum Dare 46 compilation video series, if you want to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/rlppIbg4aVI

100th-coin 2020-04-25 19:48

Well these are certainly some... interesting designs for the pet. haha! I love its goofy face. Great work!

meelo 2020-04-27 20:05

This seemed like a solid entry all around - the gameplay was sufficiently fun (though I think that the pet might not have actually needed to play? At least, I forgot to let it play for quite a while and it was fine. It was fine on the outside anyways) and the graphics were not exactly beautiful, but I enjoyed the style nonetheless. The audio was nice. I really felt myself caring about my little pet while playing.

frank-gevaerts 2020-05-04 18:33

I am clearly not meant to keep a pet :) The graphics may not be the very best around, but they're consistent and I like them. The sound and music are pretty nice too. Well done all round!

m2tias 2020-05-10 20:05

Funny little tamagotchi. A bit weird to have him work for you though...... Anyway sound department was pretty good. Music wasn't annoying at all and most of the sound effects were nice. The training sound effect hurt my ears a bit. I don't really get the training mechanic without reading the explanation. Some indicators for that might be nice. Current day number might be nice to see as well, then you could really understand if you are doing better than the last run. Nice job!

sockyman 2020-05-12 16:49

Fun game! I like how easy it is to pick up.