FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD47 → Danger Beat

Danger Beat

By rhoff95

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall843.86183
Fun563.92184
Innovation514.00184
Theme1793.88183
Graphics1853.69184
Audio164.17183
Humor2792.61157
Mood1293.61172

Comments

2020-10-04 22:38

Love the game, great job!!

xacur 2020-10-04 22:53

Great! I really love bullet hells and the theme for this is very well executed.

tulipekoni 2020-10-04 23:20

I really dig how responsible the controls are. The game keeps your interest up since you really want to know how the music evolves as you gather more discs. Really nice touch to add different BPM options too! Great entry, good job!

gironimo4 2020-10-05 00:03

Wow that was fun, I'm grinning like an idiot playing this!

p-brighenti 2020-10-05 00:03

Loved it! Although it took me a couple of seconds to realize that the game used WASD controls! I was trying to click the highlighted vinyl with my mouse.

Edit: Never mind, I hadn't read your itch page. My bad!

superunknown 2020-10-05 00:06

I really enjoyed this game. The loop theme fits perfectly with beat loops! Collecting the records and adding/subtracting from the beat was an innovative touch. Perhaps a sound fx for when you get hit would be nice...sometimes I didnt realize that I had been hit. Very well done...especially for a compo!

firegamer3 2020-10-05 00:06

Really interesting, great music

dinosire 2020-10-05 00:12

I looooved the style of this game, and getting all of the music going was so satisfying. Really interesting take on the theme, great work!

ausstein 2020-10-05 01:08

Enjoyed playing this. Keeping all turrets active is hard. I think the longest I lasted with all turrets was something like 20s. The Audio is really well done!

spiderhead20 2020-10-05 02:00

My favorite so far. I dont see the need of a score displayed or a system to restart the level each time you get hit. This game takes it to another level by rewarding the player with awesome generated sounds to resemble a song by lowering the instruments if you get hit.

smilewood 2020-10-05 02:04

This is a game that makes me wish I was better at bullet-hell games. I really enjoyed playing through it, the combination of ever-increasing rhythm and difficulty was really fun. I would also like to thank you for adding difficulty settings, it is a great touch that a lot of jam games don’t get. I was thrown off the first couple of times when completing the track, the spotlight went to the center and I tried to follow it onto the central turret, not having read the instructions, and immediately got blasted on a ‘hey’. Lots of fun, great job on your first jam!

listonos 2020-10-05 02:41

The reward of building up a song instead of some enforced health system is really awesome. The art style goes well with the music. Very nice entry.

bookerbluejay 2020-10-05 02:59

That was pretty dang cool, Liked the music loop take on the theme and health being tied to score like that is cool, keep up the good work!

michael-parrish 2020-10-05 04:53

Nice job with the idea that you're stuck inside a music loop instead of a physical one. I like that the motivation to not get hit is because you want to hear the music get more and more layered. Good job!

rhoff95 2020-10-05 05:00

@tulipekoni Thanks! I almost didn't add that. My experience is showing me that a game balanced by me is always way too hard. Glad I had time for that.

@superunknown Great idea! I had thought of that, but concluded that it may mess up the nice feeling of just the beat playing after trying some other ideas that made the gameplay worse. I should try it out and see how it goes!

@smilewood Thanks! See first reply^ about difficulty, glad someone is enjoying it! Also, I did have a framerate-update issue that may have made the spotlight look like it was highlighting the center, rather than fading away super fast. I made a fix for that, and hopefully now it works as intended.

frogravity 2020-10-05 09:52

Very good game! I really liked the concept of the game punishing you for succeeding instead of rewarding it, and how integrated to the gameplay the audio was. I didn't notice the controls until after reading the other comments, so maybe add it to the game/Ludum Dare page? Also, winning was a bit lacking, so maybe add something? A visual effect, time with full instruments etc.? Other than that, it was a great entry!

chickencastle 2020-10-05 10:00

Really really cool game. Really love how it feels and the sort of rhythmic hum you get into while you're playing. Well done!

masaru 2020-10-05 10:17

Super interesting concept and very well done. A timer would have added a win con as it seems that once you've reached the full song there's nothing to do outside of just lasting as long as possible. Very interesting to have gone with a musical loop as the interpretation of the theme !

gevernus 2020-10-05 10:28

Cool game, but a didnt really understand what i need to do, Maybe you need highlight goals

namidasai 2020-10-05 11:10

Wow, that was so cool. Removing life and score system and replacing it with the punishment of not being able to progress the song was a stroke of genius! The aesthetics are nailed, the sound is on point, and the gameplay is interesting. I thought the bullets were a bit too big which made it really hard even on a lower bpm, but maybe I just suck. :shrug: Awesome work!

justuspan 2020-10-05 11:52

Really cool concept! Have lot of fun from it!

hadryel 2020-10-05 12:28

Well done! I wish I wasn't so bad so I can hear the whole song (if it's just 1). Not ending the game after many hits definitely helps! Maybe downscale the shots aswell (and scale up with the beat). Good match with the theme! :smiley:

kazatan 2020-10-05 13:29

Very very good. I'm not that bad at bullet hell and I couldn't beat the 90bpm mode though :confused: Could do with toning down the difficulty slightly I think.

Music was very good, and the graphics were really nice too :thumbsup: :grin:

nick-rafalski 2020-10-05 13:40

This is a really fun concept! The graphics are very pleasing, and the whole game reads very intuitively. It was a very nice touch to include different BPMs. I got to hear the whole song on 90 and 120, but died too quick at 150.

aterlamia 2020-10-05 14:20

I like how you used the sound here. For me having to use wasd here was a bit harder as my right hand is much faster i would have liked the option to use the arrow keys

meek-bits 2020-10-05 14:21

Great idea. The beat / song the player creates is very pleasing.

I thought for a moment what I would change and I think the part that doesn't click for me (except many that do) is that the player's input is not in sync with the beat. Maybe the gameplay should be slightly different. What I mean by that - check Necrodancer if you haven't already. Aligning players input with the beat would enhance the experience.

Still, I had a lot of fun playing it.

aarimous 2020-10-05 14:22

I found the chach cha hard as heck to dodge

rex64 2020-10-05 14:26

Brilliant concept. I loved how well integrated in the game play is the game mechanic of scaling the difficulty in real time depending on how well the player is doing. It's a concept well worth exploring. Also, awesome graphics and sounds!

rhoff95 2020-10-05 14:30

@frogman Good suggestion, I will add that. Thanks!

@masaru I considered getting points or going for time once you complete the track, but decided against it since I assumed people would only be playing for a minute or two. I added a faster speed option for anyone who wants more "winning" than the default. Thanks!

@kazatan Thanks for the feedback! It would be cool to adjust bullet size and other stuff as a part of the difficulty selection.

@aterlamia Sorry to hear that! There actually are key binds present for arrow keys, I just forgot to mention that anywhere. I am updating my LD and itch page to make it clear. Thanks for the feedback!

@meek-bits That is an interesting idea that could definitely be fun. I don't know how that would work in a bullet-hell vs a grid based game, but would be interesting to explore more way to tie the music into the gameplay. Thanks for the feedback!

coding4rtist 2020-10-05 15:12

I really enjoyed playing this! Cool concept and amazing music. At times it's just impossible to dodge all the bullets, maybe you can downscale them or the player

rustywolf 2020-10-05 15:22

Incredibly fun. I love how you tied the music to the gameplay, it's something we dont see very often.

indiequest 2020-10-05 15:46

Amazing game! I love how the difficulty level is built in to the performance of the player, it is such a smart design. Thank you fo the lesson and for the fun time playing.

joskerdu 2020-10-05 15:53

This is fantastic. I love how the beat builds and the way you addressed the theme. I would love for this to somehow be a twin stick shooter -- or at least to be able to use a controller. Maybe have some limited shield resource or power ups to shake things up. Solid entry and quite an accomplishment for a compo.

neonjeff 2020-10-05 15:55

Nice idea! It seems really cleanly made and I like the energy of the track as it gets harder. I also like the screen shake on the bass.

infraxion 2020-10-05 16:09

This is a genius concept - there being no hard fail state and instead relying on the player's enjoyment as the "score" is such a fantastic idea.

indiedevdan 2020-10-05 16:15

Something oddly addictive about needing to get all the tracks playing. Great game! Maybe a little too many bullets being shot at once, but that would be my only criticism!

sirred 2020-10-05 17:05

Awesome game. A notification for when you have completed the track and are just trying to survive would have been nice since I was confused on when I actually had completed the entire track as I thought I would go to another level or be prompted with something once I finished the goal.

extar 2020-10-05 17:47

Great concept and execution here. I love the neon graphics. There's a nice ebb and flow with the difficulty as you pick-up records but then take hits, it makes for a nice difficulty curve when you're learning the game. Cool groove in the music too. :)

convg 2020-10-05 17:52

Nice! Very well polished, good description of objective on the itch page and the rhythm was cool. I like how intensely difficult it was!

yeti-kid 2020-10-05 18:32

Really Great idea delivered excellently. The music as it builds is great and really drives you on to do better and fill the track up!

arscene 2020-10-05 19:16

Awesome take on the theme ! Really good game !

fumybulb 2020-10-05 20:00

Wow.. My game is very similar in concept!

donamougou 2020-10-05 20:00

Really cool idea for a loop entry ! Reaching further in the song is very satisfying

fumybulb 2020-10-05 20:14

I mean I also implemented touching different bullets to add and subtract background music tracks!

fumybulb 2020-10-05 20:20

Great job!

I agree that adding a [touch_sound] is a good idea.

remzo 2020-10-05 20:46

This was great, nice one! Very clever to just go back one step every time you are hit. My one complaint is that it was a bit short and not too clear when I had completed the track - I was still looking for records. Great entry!

thegamerasd 2020-10-05 21:13

Great game! I like how the beat is made from the guns firing at you.

milestone-games 2020-10-05 22:28

This was so fun to play! Desperately trying to avoid getting hit while activating more layers of the song was so challenging! I only got to the "hey" part and then I started losing bad. Great work!

darkhex 2020-10-05 22:28

Wow this sure is entertaining. I agree that later on there are too many bullets. But hey, youre not being punished too severily so you just keep going.

cleitoneldorn 2020-10-05 22:33

This game is awesome! Wish I have the skills to beat it!

ale 2020-10-05 22:38

That was awesome, looked great, quick to pick up, fun to play, and with some sick beats to top it off! Excellent work!!

gale-swift 2020-10-05 22:57

Enjoyed it quite a bit, I wish when you finished the song that it had a better payoff though (like saving off the current track and starting a new layer on top of the other one)

karl-erik-saks 2020-10-05 23:05

I love this. I wish mouse controls would have been available too! navigating in 4 directions feels clunky.

potatopancakes 2020-10-06 00:05

This game is very cool. Nothing like what I have seen today. Well done! It is very difficult but I like it!

belleartsi 2020-10-06 00:23

This game is amazing! The music is awesome and the gameplay is unique, its a bit difficult for me but I'm not really a gamer... Overall very enjoyable :)

nobleboy 2020-10-06 00:27

Really fun bullethellish game, always absolutely love it when rhythm is implemented in some way in the gameplay itself.

kyle-o 2020-10-06 00:46

New favorite for this jam, great execution on the theme

barelyevengames 2020-10-06 00:59

Super cool, though I can't figure out. If I get to the green missle guy in the middle, is that the end of the game? Very cool!

rhoff95 2020-10-06 01:16

@barelyevengames That is the end! the only win condition is getting to hear the music, and you definitely want to avoid the missile launcher!

@karl-erik-saks Can you elaborate on that suggestion? You are bound to using 4 directional keys, but can move on diagonals as well. The input is restricted, but not the actual movement if that makes sense.

@gale-swift I have hear that a lot! I chose to leave the win condition open, and let the player just go as long as they felt. Maybe I will add more than that after the jam.

@milestone-games You reached the end! the HEY is the 4th and final layer of the track, and after that the only goal is to survive and enjoy the music.

@remzo Sorry about that! Any suggestion on how to make it more clear?

@sirred I tried to focus on just making the single level as well as I could, and left it without a hard ending to let players go as long as they were having fun. Will definitely look into adding more to this and making that more clear.

@indiedevdan Did you try turning the BPM down in the pause menu?

seth-tal 2020-10-06 01:19

This is such a great concept. Definitely deserve to be up there in the top 100 games this jam. Nice work!

bubbadubc 2020-10-06 01:54

Very good. IT was just the right amount of challenge. There was no loss condition or win condition though.

snowinn 2020-10-06 01:56

I really like the idea and the execution of it is great! The music is bumping and it’s a great take on a bullet-hell style game. It gets pretty tough to avoid all of them once the song gets going ! Nice job.

albuquerque 2020-10-06 02:02

SO MUCH GOOD VIBES 5/5

rein 2020-10-06 02:16

Fantastic idea and execution. My only complaint is that keyboard controls just don't do it for a bullet hell game - you really need to use mouse input.

blue05 2020-10-06 02:48

The idea of this game is very unique and I had a great time with it! I like how it progresses, and the difficulty options lets people enjoy the game regardless of skill level.

antaresvaldemar 2020-10-06 03:39

Great concept to make a musical bullet hell. I'm guessing when the turret turns on, you have completed the beat? Some extra mechanics such as a score and a win and lose condition of some kind would have been good additions but what you have done is great, nice work!

johnwayyyne 2020-10-06 04:08

concept is amazing! Super good graphics! Wish there were some power ups or something to help me get through the level! I would play this as a full game fosho!

worblir 2020-10-06 05:21

Loved the whole atmosphere of this game! It was really pleasant and the artwork suited it nice! Great use of the theme

nerdytopic 2020-10-06 05:22

I *hate*(read: suck at) bullet hells. Especially ones where the reward is cool sounding music. I wish I was better at this game because I really want to hear the whole vibin beat, but I found it gets really... difficult to avoid all the bullet spray as you go on- which makes sense. It's a bullet hell. Graphics were good(consistent). And I *LOVED* the fact that you can turn of screen shake. That's huge from an accessibility standpoint. Good work!

cyphyrgriffon 2020-10-06 05:40

I'm not great at bullet hells, but I still had a blast bobbing in and out of bullets. Good work on the submission!

pizzasgood 2020-10-06 05:59

This is my favorite so far. It's great. It also really drives home for me how important lighting effects are. I always forget those.

enes-ayyildiz 2020-10-06 07:01

I liked the sounds and graphics. After activating all destroyers stress is getting high.

dezom 2020-10-06 08:25

Really cool game! I love the idea, and I like that you don't lose lives after getting hit but rather just lose some instruments. Makes it a lot less stressful. If I had a suggestion, it would be to be able to control the player with the mouse.

stormboyyy 2020-10-06 11:02

thats soo cool and addictive! i could probably play forever

appoxgames 2020-10-06 12:05

Really well executed and you really get in the zone after a while. I was initially thinking that it really need somekind of score but i think this game is better suited to just relax and get that vibe going on.

Great work!

danae 2020-10-06 12:12

Nice game! It was pretty hard for me to figure out movement in the beginning, but I reached the end of the track eventually. Those clap guns are tricky!

rewzu 2020-10-06 12:46

That is really great idea and execution. Music is simple but effective. I like how all of it adds up. Good job!

tyrael 2020-10-06 13:19

The music was super cool! I liked the idea of your game. To my mind it was a bit too hard even on 90bpm. Snappier controls would have probably helped a lot!

rhoff95 2020-10-06 14:16

@bubbadubc That was my intention! The losing and wining is solely determined by how much music is playing. Thanks for the feedback.

@rein Did not even consider that, good idea and thanks for the feedback!

@dezom See above^. Definitely something I'll need to add.

@danae Can you elaborate on what was confusing? Did you read the description?

@tyrael What do you mean by "snappier"? There have been many suggestions for mouse controls, but do you mean come change to the keyboard controls?

todd-mitchell 2020-10-06 14:35

Highest rating I've given so far. Outstanding!

tyrael 2020-10-06 14:54

@rhoff95 Mouse controls would maybe feel better. I dont know how i would change it on keyboard. They just didnt feel right.

vivien-fargette 2020-10-06 15:34

I love the game, great take on the theme. All the ideas that I have to improve it have already been said: a mouse control and some better feedback when being hit (I have difficulty finding ideas about this one, I think a visual one would be the best way to integrate it without messing up with the game). Overall, an outstanding game (also, can we get the music finished, I will never be able to finish the game, even at 90 bpm, I am far too bad, maybe at 10 bpm I could succeed but then the music wont feel the same :p)

rhoff95 2020-10-06 15:38

@vivien-fargette Follow my itch.io page and I will be sure to do all of that after the jam!

saymon 2020-10-06 15:45

Neat concept and take on the theme, great job !

danae 2020-10-06 17:23

> Can you elaborate on what was confusing? Did you read the description?

@rhoff95 Yes, I did. I was meaning more like how to dodge all the bullets and get to the records at the same time. Was moving just straight through everyting at first, but of course that didn't work.

madbookstudios 2020-10-06 18:11

This is so good - the music is literally stand out. Incredible job, well done!

thejohnyfeed 2020-10-06 18:14

Loved it! Great bullet hell game.

coryru 2020-10-06 18:29

At first I was like " umm ok what is going on" Then I collected the first record and the music kicked in and I fell in love with this game. Super good work here. Building up the music while dodging bullets felt so smooth and fun.

tort60091 2020-10-06 19:09

So cut. I really like this game. It's also have a good balance Great COMPO! :star2::star2::star2::star2::star2:

lombax 2020-10-06 21:43

woaaa, that was a realy good game. spooked me abit when i first heard the clap sound xD. it was realy difficult to light all the things.

dharby 2020-10-06 22:12

Top notch on the art and sound here. Great job on that. Pretty hectic at the end!

I'm also a fan of how responsive the movement feels. It's a nice amount of acceleration and I feel in control, which is really important in this style of game.

Nice work!

dotsquare 2020-10-06 22:20

Great job ! It works fine, and the music is very cool. I like the way the beats grow as you play ! Graphics are very minimalistic but it looks cool this way. I also made a game based on a rhythmic loop, interesting that we did it so differently haha ;) Congrats for your creation, one of my favorite at the moment !

snailrhymer 2020-10-06 22:34

I'd just started worrying how much health I had left and wasn't looking forward to starting again when I realised how the health worked. Great idea, and really well executed!

quentin-wittevrongel 2020-10-06 22:38

The hud is difficult to see in the first glance. Good game overall.

jcourt 2020-10-06 23:12

Nice job! I like your interpretation of the theme, and the game is really fun.

isac 2020-10-06 23:17

Enjoyed the game and the music! I like the beats and graphics. One thing I would like to see added would be a timer or score to try for more replayability. Otherwise great game!

mohmehdi 2020-10-07 01:12

it was soooo hard but fantastic game

lanalux 2020-10-07 01:35

Why was that so hard!? I wonder if the creator can beat it haha. Very fun game. Great work. :)

tengusheath 2020-10-07 03:02

Really interesting concept. Gets really hard the further you get.

mellobacon 2020-10-07 05:32

Nice! I like the musical element to it

raks 2020-10-07 07:20

really cool game!

arad-hamidsamiee 2020-10-07 07:38

This was too hard man, but neat game. I had a little bit issue in performance tho

pradhuman 2020-10-07 09:21

Wasn't able to play game it shows WebGL 2.0 require

eldelhas 2020-10-07 12:07

And ytou did it alone ? wow Great job : original idea, fun to play, balanced, easy mechanics, nothing frustrating, nice sounds !! 5/5 mood and fun for me !

squimmy 2020-10-07 13:08

This is a neat idea! I'm slightly surprised you took it in a bullet-hell direction. I was expecting a rhythm game of some sort. Either way, it works well.

The aesthetic style is nice, but the screen can get pretty cluttered at times. I suppose that's unavoidable in the bullet-hell genre; possibly it's the entire point!

steventus 2020-10-07 13:32

Heya @rhoff95, As a bullet hell lover, there is something here for me that I quite like! This game is adequately challenging which I do like! Let's go over the best positives:

1) Good bullet patterns/rhythms. It creates for engaging gameplay and as a whole, feel pretty good moving around.

2) Simple art style that serves the arcade feel of the game! I enjoy playing it just as I enjoy looking at it!

But I think as far as bullet hells go, the biggest qualm I have is:

1) The lack of a 'move-slower' button for precise movements. I think that was something absolutely important that you unfortunately did not include here in your game.

Otherwise, pretty good. I like it!

rhoff95 2020-10-07 13:51

@steventus Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. I do not play many/any bullet hells, so I am apparently out of the loop for what control options people like to see. Mouse controls and a slow option are great ideas that I will try and add in post jam.

orange-oceans 2020-10-07 15:05

Super cool !! I just wish that, visually, the track could shine more then the other things, it would be clearer to just follow somthing shiny without having to look directally to look for it!

jusw85 2020-10-07 16:31

Great entry, really well executed! Managed to get all beats, but can't last more than 5-10 seconds on full difficulty. I just want to listen to the sick beat without distractions!

datadazer 2020-10-07 16:39

Fun game! I loved that the game went with the music. Very nice bullet hell rhythm game that had me groovin. The art is cohesive and really setup the mood for a disco party. Great entry!

tamail 2020-10-07 16:46

Oh, this is one of my favorites for sure! The controls and movement were really smooth without any lag or anything - also the idea is great. The music made it even better. Great entry!

pickens-inc 2020-10-07 18:58

Excellent entry! Really enjoyable, even for osmeone like me who is typically not a fan of shooter games. I'll definitely have to remember to use that sampling site for a project sometime. :) The controls were tight and responsive, that melody was great once it built up, and I love that you had time to add difficuly purely by changing the BPM.

Personallly, I still found the game too hard, even at the lowest difficulty, due to three things, I think. The big one for me is that the majority of the projectiles are too big and could stand to be reduced in size signficiantly, as it makes dodging them feel almost impossible sometimes due to the limitations of keyboard-controls and the density of the projectiles, and I think reducing the size would work wonders for the experience. The second is that I believe they start too close or the map is too small. It felt especially punishing when I was hit by a turret right next to the vinyl I was collecting. Moving the possible locations for the vinyl to appear closer to the centre would also help let me gauge and predict my movements ahead of time. The third is just a bit more audio/visual feedback for when you were being hit. Not knowing if I was dodging or not in the heat of the moment was tricky.

Still, I emphasise that I still had lots of fun and that this a great compo entry. Well done!

ribout-horace 2020-10-07 20:26

Work really well ! I was really stuck in a loop because the game always hit me while I take a record, so I stay in the same score xD but I would love to ear the complete music when in full turret mode

lychee 2020-10-08 00:16

I liked the sprites and sound design, I think it would be nice to have an ending and maybe some invincibility frames, but really solid all around for a 48 hour game!

forgeronstudio 2020-10-08 14:13

Wow, this is awesome! I thought the idea was amazing, and I had a really fun time playing it. The music really pushed you to try to get to the next disc, and the tension of the game built up really successfully as you got further.

My only comment is about the movement. I really wanted to get further in the game but had a hard time getting the hang of the controls, which left me feeling like I couldn't improve. My issue isn't that the game was difficult, but that I felt like I didn't have enough control over whether I got hit. The delay after pressing a key was frustrating because it made it difficult to jump out of the way of nearby bullets, but at the same time, the character moved so fast that I couldn't evade things successfully if I always stayed in motion. It's also possible that it was just my computer (I'm on a recent-ish Mac). It looks like many other people enjoyed the difficulty, so obviously this is just my opinion. For me personally, I think I would've enjoyed it more if the controls were tighter, making it easier and more satisfying to avoid things, particularly in the earlier stages of the game. Then, the difficulty can ramp up as much as you want, as long as the player feels that they genuinely can improve at the game and learn to progress further. A good example of this is Enter the Gungeon, which gives you extremely precise control of how you dodge bullets, then ramps things up until you die. No matter how tough things get, you never lose the feeling that, if you just reacted a little quicker, if you could just keep your focus up a little longer, you would win.

Overall, I think this is a really fantastic entry, and that if you manage to find that sweet spot with the movement, it'll be an incredible game. Amazing work!

rhoff95 2020-10-08 15:28

@forgeronstudio Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. Any delay in movement is not intended here, and is probably a result of either performance or code that executes differently on different hardware. I already fixed on bug related to framerate dependent code, and it is entirely possible there are more. I am developing on high-refresh rate monitor and big graphics card, so any problems of that kind end up invisible to me, and hugely problematic to lower end computers. Working now to get native app builds and fix any performance I can.

eugenik 2020-10-08 23:32

Very nice game! :)

madbookstudios 2020-10-09 09:04

Danger Beat was an absolute jam! I had a great time playing it and thought it was one of the cleverest games I played this week - so I thought I'd feature it in my favourite compo games from LD47! https://youtu.be/sQVI534xXs8

jd557 2020-10-09 22:41

This is such a nice concept.

It's such a shame that there's no gamepad support, this is just the kind of game that would (IMO) be so much better with an analog stick.

nethead 2020-10-09 23:17

wonderful entry ^^ the fact that you lose progress instead of dying was a great choice for a compo game, and the whole concept was very unique and memorable. fantastic job :3

zombiebust3r 2020-10-10 09:11

I loved the idea of using the theme for a music loop. If you remake some of the art to make it a little more clean and add a few extra tweaks using other's feedback you will have a very nice game for both mobile and PC. Games that come with great beats like your game does are great for both platforms. If you can add different levels and types of tracks for each level you would have a complete game IMO.

Great job! :thumbsup:

bumdag 2020-10-11 03:24

Great! I really love bullet hells and the theme for this is very well executed.

joleon 2020-10-11 14:42

Hehe, I super enjoyed playing this, even though I don't usually gravitate toward bullet hells :)

Really creative use of the theme, well executed rhythm game, and it sure isn't like anything I've played before.

Beautiful visuals, nice mellow beat.

And was pretty obvious and easy to learn what to do. Also I really love that you lose progress instead of dying instantly, it makes the difficulty curve really organic, it makes your success based on how well you're doing, and taking hits not as frustrating as it would normally be.

Once I heard the smooth AF guitar come in, I knew I had to beat the game :D And even when after I figured out that I'd pretty much done everything there was to do, I kept playing for a while just for the fun of it :)

I think it would be even smoother and even more enjoyable to play with analog stick support, or perfect to play on mobile with that on-screen virtual analog stick.

Good job! <3

wabble 2020-10-11 18:44

No maater how i hard I tried I could not beat it at 120 BPM xD

neowedge 2020-10-11 20:21

Nice entry! I completed the loop and I missed some win condition or score after that. Graphics and audio works well, and feeling is good, great job!

onkel-mo 2020-10-12 14:56

That was a really cool concept! I found it quite hard to control using the keyboard, but it was fun nevertheless. :)

frankarlovic 2020-10-13 13:17

An awesome game that makes progression and award intrinsic to the game and the feel. It's really rewarding to hear the beat construct itself and the floor light up. It's real easy in the start, but quickly becomes brutal.

rikitaner 2020-10-13 13:25

This is a really fun game! The beat is really nicely put together and the concept is simply very good! The game is super fun and I could keep playing for hours! I can see this turning into a full release where you had multiple beat tracks (and perhaps you could add an option to have players make their own beat). My only complaint is that I would like a bit more feedback (visual or audio) when you get hit and lose a beat. Other than that, great work!

duke 2020-10-14 19:41

Not too bad. I liked how to combined the bullet hell genre with a musical progression and innovated a little regarding the health system. The controls worked well enough, but I thought that the character moved a little too fast for my personal preferences. It was hard to make slight movements or dodges without running into bullets by accident. The art is adequate and the colorfulness adds the whole lighthearted atmosphere. Too bad there wasn't really an ending or a score system of some kind? I couldn't last very long after activating the last record so I don't know if anything happens after a while.

All in all not too shabby :) Would benefit a lot from an achievable ending for maximum satisfaction!

msiddeek 2020-10-15 09:05

Cool entry! I would have loved to play with the mouse instead. But nice execution with the beat and the difficulty spikes. Congrats!

japes 2020-10-16 11:34

This is so creative and cool, I love it. One of my favourites so far this LD. Love that the difficulty is self-balancing, it's satisfying.

Two criticisms: it's not clear when you've "won", took me a while to realise I'd completed the track. Also, there were a few times that the records appeared underneath the turret so it was hard to see.

Thanks for this, man. It's inspirational!

joaog 2020-10-17 19:05

I spent some time playing and I really loved it. Great audio and the graphics are very good. Incredible idea, impressive execution, it’s a great game!

enad96 2020-10-22 13:00

Great audio and a well executed idea that fits the theme well. I found it pretty hard.

d-studios 2020-10-25 04:33

The graphics of the game were decent. I especially liked the illumination in the game. I also thought that the audio was decent and liked how the screen shake effect made me feel the beat. Unfortunately, I found the gameplay to be quite boring because I usually do not like games with no end goals. Due to the lack of end goals in this game, there really is not any sense of achievement or gratification I feel when I play the game.

pkenney 2020-10-25 18:10

Very cool concept, and nice presentation. Good use of light and dark to indicate status, and also to call attention to the record even when the screen gets busy. Especially kind was the turbo-slide from last position to new one for the record, which helped me track it in a busy field of bullets.

I stink at bullet-hell games, but I was especially bad at this one. The farthest I got was to briefly hear the "HEY" sound. The controls are full-tilt - they seem to go from zero to full speed instantly, which makes it quite hard for me to micro-dodge. So I have to take my moves in huge lurches, meaning I have to read more of the field. That may be the style you were shooting for, I just wasn't able to keep up!

It was very nice that the game counter-balanced this high difficulty with a mostly-low punishment for failure, since getting hit just put you -1 record instead of gameover or some other brutal thing. I still found myself getting streaks of hits sending me WAY back, because once you get far into the game there are tons of bullets all over the place, and even if you get set back a few steps and some of the guns relax, those bullets they've already shot still exist for a while and so there's a "buffer" to how quickly the game will de-escalate the challenge.

I enjoyed playing around with it and giving it a bunch of tries, though. Cool twist mashing up a few different genres here to create a unique entry here, good job.

lex 2020-10-26 12:40

Good entry! But when you remove the spotlight and add a green glowing thing in the middle it's kinda obvious that players are going to suicide there. heh

fractal 2020-10-26 20:47

Very cool concept! I just didn’t understand if one wins when one gets to the "hey!" part with the green spotlight in the middel?

bernhard 2020-10-26 20:50

I wish I could keep the YEAH's going! But it gets too hard! Really solid entry :thumbsup:

cg-fred 2020-10-26 22:09

What a lovely concept! Bullet hell meets rhythm game and falls in love. Really nice entry. The only tiny part I would have liked was slightly tighter controls so you can dodge better. It felt like the character move a little to much on each single keypress.

sakura-magika 2020-10-27 01:12

oh wow this game is sooooo good! i love the concept, theme tie in, and execution.

my main feedback is that the feeling of winning is kind of vague, and very short lived. the middle green bit lights up, which i think means i won, but it's still possible to get hit by a bullet and lose parts of the beat, which in a sense is losing. at that point, the screen is full of bullets, so i go back to a state of "not winning" very quickly, especially because i'm tempted to move the character into the green middle area, which didn't seem to do anything and just got me more surrounded by bullets. i was only able to enjoy the full music for a second, or less.

i think it would feel better to become invulnerable when you beat the game, either by getting the last record to add the last musical component, or perhaps, needing the player to make it to the green glowing center after getting the final record as a final challenge. i like the latter idea, because lighting up the center automatically makes me feel like i should go there anyways.

if you did something like that, then i could feel empowered as a player, and also just feel at ease and less stressed out, since i don't have to worry about getting hit, and i can enjoy both the sound of the full music and the pretty visuals of a screen full of bullets, and dance around in them without being punished for getting hit.

without any kind of winning state like this, and so easily getting hit after finishing the song and losing progress, it honestly felt pretty stressful and frustrating. it was hard for me to even take a screenshot.

if you keep working on the game, then more songs and maybe some powerups (shield, bomb) would be fun additions!

edit: also wanted to say that i think the automatic difficulty scaling of the game works really well, where you only go one step back whenever you get hit. however, it also creates an interesting insentive where at a certain it's actually easiest if you let yourself get hit all the way back to zero, then you can very quickly try to build the beat back up before the screen becomes totally full of bullets again.

apart from the stress and impermanence of winning, i think you did a wonderful job! i was able to beat it at 90 bpm.

edit: also beat 120 yay!

win.png

yopox 2020-10-27 15:53

HEY :raised_hands:

I love rhythm games! It was really cool to play but I would have liked some patterns learning to be involved (or maybe there was but it was too difficult to master haha). Excellent otherwise.

Shoutout for using JetBrains tools :two_hearts:

sekol 2020-10-27 16:10

Fresh idea, i like it! One thing I'd appreciate would be more fluid controls to be able to better avoid the balls. Great work.