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DEATH STRING
DEATH STRING
By miziziziz
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 74 | 4.17 | 109 | |
| Fun | 52 | 4.16 | 109 | |
| Innovation | 7 | 4.46 | 109 | |
| Theme | 92 | 4.29 | 109 | |
| Graphics | 350 | 4.05 | 109 | |
| Audio | 235 | 3.85 | 108 | |
Comments
seth-tal
2020-10-05 23:09
Hey @miziziziz, Really really enjoyed this entry. This is one of the first actual original takes on the theme that I have played, and I think from a gameplay standpoint this concept is fun enough to become its own standalone product. A puzzle action game of sorts? Anyways, here is some feedback, as I experienced a lot of technical problems with this game.
Performance wise, I do not think a webGL build on its own was the best option here as there are severe slowdowns when certain conditions are met. I have not done extensive enough testing for you to quickly debug and fix these issues in a reasonable manor, but here are some conditions that cause frame drops: * when the electric coil becomes long enough * when too many enemies are destroyed by the coil at one time * when the coil stays active (electrifies) for too long * all of the above, combined (thats when performance gets really really bad). These issues made playing certain stages a very slow process. Honestly, being a fan of your channel it didnt actually negatively impact my experience of the game, however, bias aside I think this is a serious oversight when considering a webGL build as the platform for this entry.
As a side note, I noticed that the player character's position is updating at a different rate than the in game camera? This causes some strange ghosting on the player character that makes them appear blurry.
Overall, this was a fantastic little game, thank you!
Edit: I see now there is more than just the webgl build, so my harsh criticism is was a little unjustified here, my bad
@seth-tal glad you liked it, I included downloadable versions as well on the itch page, just haven't made the links here for that
svntax
2020-10-05 23:18
This game has such a unique and fun mechanic, it definitely has a lot of potential to be expanded on.
I was also having issues with slowdown in the web version like @seth-tal was, but I also tried the desktop build (Windows here), and while I didn't do thorough testing, I did notice the desktop version also had lag and camera issues when too many enemies were destroyed at once. Specifically, the camera would be offset extremely far away, then lag, then go back to normal.
Hi Miziziziz! Another fan of your channel here :D
This is a really original idea, and the mechanics look really polished.
I think the artstyle could get some improvements, it looks to me like the characters and the environment styles do not match. Some more VFX could also be a good addition.
I couldn't finish it because I encountered a bug (I think it happened when I died, but the UI still showed a heart of health left), the character seemed to stop colliding with the string and with the enemy bullets, so I could not progress.
There is also a bug related to the screenshake when the string is long enough, but you probably already noticed that one.
That aside, I really love the concept and I think you could definitely finish polishing it and release a bigger version, this could end up being an awesome game. :)
aditon
2020-10-05 23:49
I love the idea, very creative! I played the HTML5 version and had no issues. Thanks for submitting! The only criticism I would give for this one is the ability to control the volume :)
Hi @miziziziz! First off I wanted to say that I love your Godot content. You've been a big inspiration for me to start upping my efforts to get my own YouTube channel growing.
I loved the game. The mechanic was original and it was very satisfying to get a bunch of enemies in a loop and destroy them all. Audio and visuals were great.
I will say the loop mechanic felt a little out of my control at times. I think it might be worth looking at ways to tighten that up even further. But overall it wasn't difficult to use effectively.
Awesome work, I enjoyed it a lot!
@svntax I added some performance options, could you try with low graphics on and see if it gives the same issues?
6smith
2020-10-06 00:36
awesome game, fun and difficult to master mechanic! the screenshake seems to be very broken though
svntax
2020-10-06 01:06
@miziziziz Played again on low graphics and tried multiple runs. No more issues!
pinneh
2020-10-06 01:24
Pretty awesome take on the theme. Was actually enjoyable to play, beat it twice. I really enjoyed coming up with little strategies on how to best form my loops. On bug (maybe) was when the loop is too long and then hits some stuff the screen shake turns up to 11 and camera flies away from play area.
This is great! I also experienced the screen shaking off the map issue, and in the HTML5 version the shock wasn't happening (but the download worked ok), but besides that I was having tons of fun. My only other piece of feedback is that I wish there was a more obvious indication (like a sound) that you've been hit. In the heat of battle it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of your HP because you have to glance up at the hearts vs counting your hits.
quoclon
2020-10-06 03:14
Amazing. I ingnored your warnings about performance and played on WebGL... and yeah, there were some camera issues on the last level.. but... The game was awesome!!! Honestly loved it. Nice difficult curve. New enemies were introduced in controlled ways. It felt satisfying to shock enemies. The end boss brought it all together!
snowinn
2020-10-06 03:31
This was pretty cool and fun ! I found myself more trying to use the loop as a whip against the enemies rather than getting them stuck in the loop, but that’s make it interesting that there’s multiple strategies to try out. It was a nice difficulty curve with a variety of enemies and a cool end boss. On webgl, the last boss wasn’t playing any music, but I don’t know if you had that problem or if it was intentional, but it could’ve used a cool boss fight song.
Great game @miziziziz! The rope physics were super fun to play around with and it was super satisfying to try to coax the bad guys into walking into my little electric whip.
Big fan of your channel, actually watching your videos for the past few months convinced me to try to participate in this LD (this is my first actual game jam)
Keep up the good work and great submission!
very satisfy game mechanic. at first i was skeptical but you really made it work. it was so fun. and yeah, i had to sopt playing on last level with webGL. really awesome game. GO GODOT!
@snowinn that's definitely a bug, the boss has music with it, maybe try the downloadable version?
snowinn
2020-10-06 05:11
@miziziziz I just listened to the boss music from the source code and it was really cool, it fits with the rest of the game and amplifies it for the boss, nice job dude
@snowinn well that works lol. Music was made by Prahlad Das: https://www.youtube.com/user/pjboy25762 he'll probably make a video on the behind scenes of that soon
dinosire
2020-10-06 05:47
Man this is a really impressive entry. I thought I was clever coming up with "sticking enemies in loops, not you", but my solution seems a looooot less cool and polished than yours, the rope physics are really cool, and the sound / FX are super juicy, I had a blast playing.
That being said, I did find the controls a little weird, as I kept holding the left click thinking it would cast the rope farther. Using the same button to throw / pull back didn't click with me, but that might just be my personal preference. I'm not sure if this was a deliberate design decision, but it would have been nice to be able to retract the loop when it was electrified, although that might make things too easy. I also think some kind of visual indicator to know how much rope you have left would have been helpful.
Anyway, I think this is really the most polished, complete, innovative, and on-theme Jam game I've played so far, great job!
The screenshake seems very broken but otherwise it's actually really fun
Solid gameplay mechanic but took me a few tries to realise that I can't control the string with mouse after I have shot it. Great execution and the boss was pretty cool.
kisk
2020-10-06 07:39
pretty fun game, love the concept, I recommend it.
Very fun and novel concept! I had some trouble in the beginning to figure out how it works, but after I got it the combat got so much fun!!
this game is so cool! very fun gameplay and unique concept
it absolutely brought my computer to its knees though, especially during the final boss. the screenshaking kept sending my camera outside of the map for several seconds, although i was playing on the webgl build. this is awesome though, great work!
3mpty
2020-10-06 09:12
Really nice concept, never seen a lasso used as a real weapon in a game before so that was pretty sweet Combat was mostly tight, some enemies were annoying to fight (ranged enemies backed against a wall are really hard to pry loose) The final boss was really cool and exactly what I was hoping for, a nice use of the mechanics coming together for a challenging fight. I had some huge lag issues on the last boss which I assume were due to some kind of leak? It seemed the more I used the lasso the harder the game lagged to a point it was unplayable. After a bunch of retries I got there using the lasso less and didn't encounter the lag.
The sound and art were great, overall an incredibly strong jam game that was really enjoyable
3mpty
2020-10-06 09:13
FYI both of the links to your teammates are 404ing for me
@3mpty ludum dare website does something weird with the links and completely breaks them. Check the itch page for working links
Very solid entry. It was fun. The weapon is very versatile. The enemies are unique. The screen shake moved out from the level sometimes. Nice work.
int
2020-10-06 10:30
Grat game! Love the inovative idea with the tring, it makes the player want to master the mechanic. Few things that didn't work/I didn't like: the sound effects of the blue enemies were disturbive. The camera shifted randomly? at times, especially in the boss fight, as seen in the pictue. ps.png
WebGL build ran fine for me (Chrome on Mac). I have noticed WebGL games do tend to run poorly in Safari. Love the lasso mechanic, very original. The lightning effects are really well done.
Awesome!
ryzy27
2020-10-06 12:57
Web version worked fine for me, exept for boss battle (already reported). Trying Windows version now.
Awesome game. Feels great to move around and throw the rope. I will have to take a look at your code :)
Keep it up!
eldogg
2020-10-06 13:24
Satisfying weapon to use. Sound effects work well to make annihilating enemies fun. Gibs are great too.
You definitely made it satisfying, great SFX and the loop concept is cool, although I don't think I was able to use it skillfully, it might be nice to have more control over it. There was a perfect amount of content and it felt really complete and polished.
Execelent game! Very fun to play and the idea is great! Only in the boss level my camera was glitching in both WebGl and Windows build.
arzi
2020-10-06 17:35
Very fun game, though the web version crashed in the boss. I think you should limit the maximum amount of screenshake.
dyroks
2020-10-06 19:06
Really interesting idea and a creative and unique use of the theme, felt pretty good to play too. Great game all around, but maybe the boss is a bit too hard compared to the rest. The game also has a lot of potential to be released as a full version in the future in my opinion!
Neat Lore, Satisfying mechanics, Innovative gameplay, somewhat polished (found bugs unfortunately). overall, good job. _would be glad if you'd test my game as well, I made my game in Godot as well (with zero light sources)_
Managed to defeat the boss without crashing on the webGL build ! That's a nice benchmark you made here ! (jk) Incredibly polished gameplay, music and pixel art, leading to an enjoyable experience. Lasso behavior might sometimes be frustrating as it is difficult to control once the loop is closed. Awesome entry ! Thanks for this
JUST woah ! We need more of that ! Very cool ! :thumbsup: the string mechanic is amazing ! Great idea !
zrepa
2020-10-06 21:52
Idea is great, but a lil bit laggy when you have a long lasso in web version. Good job!
Nice concept, felt smooth to play, great sound and visuals! Main issue I had was with the screenshake like others have said. Also not necessarily a bad thing, but there were enough health pickups where making short loops and intentionally crashing into enemies was a viable strategy for the first 10 levels.
This game is nice and crunchy! and after getting used to it, the lasso mechanic was a lot of fun, especially with the added dimension of being able to move with the lasso. Also like the tribal sounds used!
I will say that my game glitched/lagged out a bit on the final boss fight, I think there might have been too many things going on in the scene.
Overall, great work!
This was quite fun and I am extremely impressed how fluid the "rope physics" are. I think it would have been beneficial to include a way to tighten the rope once you have the loop completed so that it was easier and less random to get the enemies to hit the edges. Either way, great take on the theme and good job.
Good take on the theme for sure. I have to agree that having a way to tighten the rope would have been really fun. I was warned that the game was laggy in browser and it was, but I still got to the boss just fine.
jon-nova
2020-10-07 11:41
Realy cool and challenging game!
The main mechanic is such an interesting idea, and simultaneously very intuitive, but tricky to master! Zapping enemies with perfectly placed loops is incredibly satisfying
Ratings given 0, ratings received 70. Understandable have a nice day.
That's a fresh idea ! It looks nice and even have sounds ! It does not run so well on my computer, but i still enjoyed it !
This game is just straight up goals. What the hell how. Really good. WOW really enjoyed it !
Nice game, i like the idea, the artwork an also the sounddesign. It was fun to play, but the camera was very buggy. It often jump wired around. In Level 11, it didn't return to player, so I wasn't able to finish the game. :-(
jdbuenol
2020-10-07 19:48
Great game, love the artstyle and the Sound FXs, the boss Hellmaw was a bit too hard for me and the camera sometimes become crazy. Overall one of the best games of the jam.
730
2020-10-08 01:58
Pretty cool and innovative mechanic, actually kinda fun to play, nice graphics and ambience. I think this could be really expanded upon into a full game, lots of potential. The boss was a surprise, much more difficult than the rest of the game, but it actually teaches you how to play if you haven't learned so far, and you quickly improve at it. Only part where I died. Grateful that there's lots of lives even if it's kinda unbalanced, otherwise it would've been impossible with just 3 or 4. Didn't understand heart pickups very well either, like some times it'd pick them up and some times it wouldn't. The shock upon killing enemies is very well juiced up and the lightning effect looks cool too, feels good to kill enemies.
Props to the artist and the sound guy, the graphics and audio are SUPER well polished. I love the electric and camera shake effects too, they really add a ton of oomph. The controls felt really good and the mechanic itself is really unique and fun to toy around with. I also really enjoyed the boss fight in the end, since it introduces a different challenge altogether.
Most of my gripes with this game concerns balancing. I found out that once you connect the loop, your character essentially turns into a hurtbox and you can run into enemies yourself to kill them. This trivializes the game, since there's so many hearts and you restore back to full hp after each level. I think it's a lot more interesting to kill enemies by trapping them inside, but what I would've liked to see is the loop close in on itself after you connect it. I found it a little annoying to kill the slower moving enemies since I had to drag the loop myself. I think it'd also be so much more satisfying to trap a bunch of enemies, then kill them all at once by making the loop shrink. The other issue I have is in the final boss fight, sometimes the camera goes wonky after I close the loop. It might be because the camera shake is super high when hitting multiple enemies.
Overall though, definitely one of my favorite games I've played. Love the concept, and I had a ton of fun playing it.
This was SO GOOD! Innovative concept on a well-treaded genre, satisfying game feel, and good difficulty balance for a game jam entry. I agree with previous comments regarding the issue with being able to run into enemies to kill them once you've closed the loop, but I think this trade off is a good mechanic once hearts are made less accessible. For a game jam though, I praise the choice of making the hearts so accessible!!! I was expecting the loop to shrink at first, but then realised that the current design choice made me loop around enemies several times to force the 2d physics to stick to the enemies. That's a smart choice as well: killing all enemies inside the loop would have made the game less original. Instead it makes it unique and forces the player to learn and try things out. Overall, a really good entry, I had a lot of fun playing!
Really cool game, its like hurdling monsters to kill them. Its was pretty easy until the final level which was Crazy.
zik
2020-10-09 12:18
I liked the main mechanics, it's somewhat exciting to see a rope simulation being used this way. On the other topic, I'm not exactly sure if it's Web build specific glitch... but I've experienced some bug where retracting the rope doesn't activate the death string mechanic at all, and I wasn't able to interact with other objects such as hearts and exit doors.
But again, considering that this was made in a short span of time I think this might be the most well-pollished and innovative game I've ever seen on this jam.
Cheers for the dev team, y'all did a great job & deserve a whole jug of choccy milk because y'all are epic™
So fun wow. Wish I had even a little more control over the movement of the rope after it attaches, or if the length of it mattered in some way. This game feels so good to play and it sounds and looks amazing. Great work!
joedev
2020-10-11 17:31
This is one of the most innovative takes on the theme that I've played so far, and very cool to throw the really interesting rope mechanics into it as well. I think maybe the end of the rope or player might need a slightly bigger hitbox, but thats personal preference (and maybe because I was pretty bad at it haha)
archgame
2020-10-11 22:05
I like the concept a lot. I wish I felt like I had more control, maybe after the rope is thrown the end could have a slightly bigger hit box, I felt like I barely missed it a couple of times. Also, I wasn't sure how retracting the rope worked? Would be awesome if it could just zip and snap all the enemies in the middle of it.
You could totally make a hard mode where the player gets hurt by touching the rope too. Got to the final boss, but was too hard (that's on me though).
aljon
2020-10-12 13:07
Ahhh yes, miziziziziziziziz does not disappoint. very unique yet intuitive mechanics. One thing I would suggest it to have the string slowly shrink when the loop is closed, just so players don't run out of space running backwards. amazing amazing game from the legend himself
votron
2020-10-12 20:32
I was so enraptured by this game that I forgot my constant anxiety for a few minutes. Thank you! I know you are working on other games, but perhaps you could do a small scale steam release like Theyest Thou?
When I play a top down shooter my focus has always been on the movement of the character, so this game is perfectly suited to my taste in that respect and I think it is a great strength here that the player is not so focused on aiming projectiles.
wish list for a full release: Reel in mechanic , like batman's belt grappling hook, but for murder - could be an upgrade Cross Code style platforming to make the terrain more interesting Dash/ roll mechanic
Amazing idea that was executed really well! Such a unique take on being stuck in a loop, loved it. I found the death string hard to use, I felt I didn't have much control over where it went and was just using it in the general direction of enemies until they all died. Even after using it more, it felt that the best strategy was to run around, looping a bunch of enemies and trying to move around them to get them to hit the string and die. I'm also a fan of the channel and, as a current game programming student, really appreciate your videos!
Such a fantastic entry and what a way to turn the theme into a game mechanic! I really really enjoyed it and I wish it was longer. I ran into an issue where the screenshake just kept on adding into itself and when damaging several enemies at once, the camera went absolutely nuts and out of the level for a few seconds, but that's the only bad thing about it. Awesome work!
joleon
2020-10-18 11:50
Quite a fun and innovative game :)
First of all, I like how you interpreted the theme in the most literal way possible, yet still created a novel mechanic out of it.
The game looks good, and especially sounds good, I really enjoyed the music and all the weird sound effects.
The loop mechanic is fun and super satisfying to use. I like how simple and intuitive you made it to use this mechanic that's pretty weird when you think about it. Although, I found myself feeling out of control at many points - I really wished I could also hold the left mouse button to reel the string back in when the loop is closed. Sure, it would have made the game easier, but I think it would have been EVEN more satisfying and fun to play.
I usually don't focus on bugs with jam games, but the screen shake made it impossible to play in the later levels, so I could never beat the last boss :/ That's one bug I would really consider ok patching, even after the submission time has passed...
Other than that - great job on this game! :purple_heart:
2020-11-08 11:33
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