FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD47 → Inferno of Espantalho

Inferno of Espantalho

By gustavo_jendiroba, gustavo-christino and Bakabal

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall16622.1633
Fun16382.1632
Innovation15762.3833
Theme16562.1032
Graphics14792.2733
Humor11971.9631
Mood15182.1633

Comments

cole-and-jordan-studios 2020-10-25 00:31

Interesting! The jump behavior was a bit confusing. I think you could have extended this a lot. Also what was that thing about a genetic algorithm? How does that work? Anyway, thanks for the submission!

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 01:30

Hi, @cole-and-jordan-studios. Yes... We should have increased our features. Unfortunately the game engine failed and only worked in the middle of the second day. In addition to having two other major events on the same weekend.

But we are very happy to have delivered at least the basics. We focus on results in the "procedural" generation of scenario and enemy units.

We use an Artificial Intelligence paradigm, within the area of Computational Intelligence, called Genetic Algorithm (which tries to simulate populations of entities that cross and undergo the process similar to the "evolution of species").

raptorofaxys 2020-10-25 02:07

I will never look at grasshoppers the same way again!

tolmera 2020-10-25 02:10

Any chance of an HTML Version? I know it's pretty close to the deadline, but I only have my work Mac and I can't install stuff on that.

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 03:58

@tolmera, we added the WebGL/HTML5 version.

mz-dino 2020-10-25 04:21

The game felt too easy, I just went around the map spamming attacks. I was taken by surprise though when the grasshopper actually jumped away. I have mixed feeling about the game, hope you guys had a good time.

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 04:30

Yes, @mz-dino; the game is really very easy. I hope you got to see what happens when the days go by. :)

We will work on improvements to have some difficulty in the project (currently there is only damage from touching the locusts (in the head area), but that was not the only damage condition we had imagined).

:) Thanks for playing our game.

pedrocoden 2020-10-25 05:39

Nice game!

sevenlevelgames 2020-10-25 08:38

Jumping a bit confusing in this game but overall pretty good game , Great Job !

chispalbc 2020-10-25 13:27

The idea of implementing a genetic algorithm for a jam is really cool. I have to say tho i think that the days are too long. But it is pretty original so good job!

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 13:33

@chispalbc; we agree that the days are too long. Especially without what we intended to add to the gameplay (movement of enemies, interaction with training dummy, rest (that would skip time) etc.).

:) Thanks for playing! \o

blacktarus 2020-10-25 13:42

Really Easy, but it's a good concept for a full game. Good Job !

jesus-gonzalez 2020-10-25 14:58

Other people already pointed up everything about the game. Except for these: - In the web version, if the game tab loses focus the game pauses. So you have to necessarily keep it active while you wait for the day to end. - I love that you have a "Game designer assistant" in your credits.

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 15:04

Thanks, @jesus-gonzalez.

I will study about web version stuff. :)

ashkman 2020-10-25 16:25

Interesting game, I feel like if you just invested more time in couple of things it would've turned out much better. Here's some suggestions I have:

-Since the player always walks on the same Y axis, you can just set a limit for the jump Y axis so it doesn't go up forever, of course there are better ways to do it but this way would be pretty easy to implement

-Add some sort of impact on hitting grasshoppers, maybe a simple particle system or a very subtle screen shake

-X key is a kinda weird choice for attack since most people probably use WASD to move

-Some simple sound effect for attacks and jumps would go a long way

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 16:51

Thank you for your suggestions, @ashkman! :)

Our jump is limited, but we leave a "hold to reach a little higher" effect (but it was bad, we will make corrections, thanks again).

We planned to implement shake screens and some other effects in the case of grasshoppers (making them blink, having hit points for a while when attacked and stuff).

We left both ASDW with J to fight, and ↓ ↑ → ← with X (we were thinking about keeping X to universalize the joystick too).

Yes, we miss sound effects a lot (one of the first things we should implement, even if basic).

midorimelody 2020-10-25 17:04

Good job!

ale 2020-10-25 17:37

Sounds like a really cool idea to use a genetic algorithm for the generation of creatures and environment, although it wasn't evident from playing the game. A quick write-up of how it works would be interesting to read!

The game itself was pretty easy, and I don't know if there was a win state. I thought I'd be able to gain some super-grasshopper-killing powers when I leveled up, but the effects seemed to be relatively minimal.

geckoo1337 2020-10-25 18:28

Interesting platformer game with a strange aesthetic - maybe too minimaliste. Grasshoppers are just ugly - like I expected for bugs. Mechanics work well, but game is a little bit too repetitive. It could be more enjoyable with more features and sounds. Howver, you did something interesting in les a few days. Thank you for your kind feedback. I really appreciate your advices. Thank you ++

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 23:01

@ale, we will definitely work on making the gameplay fun. Thank you so much for playing!

gustavo-christino 2020-10-25 23:02

@geckoo1337, thank you for your comments too. :)

ranjan 2020-10-26 01:16

The concept is cool! It'd be great if the genetic algorithm implementation was more evident through the actual gameplay, but I understand that's a lot to do for a game jam. Overall, great job! :D

silurus 2020-10-26 16:38

the idea is good, I liked the graphics of the scarecrow, but I did not take any damage by the locusts :( Good continuation on the game! :)

angiekatneko 2020-10-27 04:42

Loved the scarecrow so much ❤️ It’s easy but charming, keep up the good work :)

gustavo-christino 2020-10-27 13:06

@silurus; damage can be taken if you touch their heads, we are working on moving the insects. Thanks for playing our game. \o

gustavo-christino 2020-10-27 13:07

Thanks, @angiekatneko (I will tell our artist). :)