FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD48 → Captain Zapdash

Captain Zapdash

By nazorus

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1453.8534
Fun414.1234
Innovation3323.4334
Theme5423.4234
Graphics1993.8434
Audio384.0734
Humor1533.3833
Mood2923.5032

Comments

phthalogold 2021-04-26 07:45

Fun and engaging and elegant game. I played all the way to the end and never felt bored or like it was too difficult. The progression and audio too are great. However, why does Captain Zapdash moan. Every time he dies he moans. I mean, I'm not really bothered by it, I'm just wondering why. Overall great game.

fabighindaru 2021-04-26 07:47

Simple yet good, I really enjoyed it. The laser was very satisfying and the dash very useful. Great job! :D

drom1x 2021-04-26 09:39

Very fun. The music is awsome

charliegray 2021-04-26 19:33

Wow, love the sound and graphics. And the gameplay is really fun too. Good job!

nazorus 2021-04-26 19:40

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I'm glad you're having fun :smile: I'll be sure to check out your games as well!

@phthalogold perhaps death is a moan-worthy experience in this universe, who knows!

geckoo1337 2021-04-26 19:45

Dear Captain ZapDash, I would like to write to you a letter, just to say that I love what you do. I love your songs, mood, aesthetic and the way you destroy orbs. all works fine with you. When I will a big boy, I want to be too a Captain ZapDash. Cheers.

stuartc 2021-04-26 21:54

Even though its not a rhythm game, because of the sound design it felt like shooting on the beat was the right thing to do. Lots of fun, nice snappy movement, and I love the SFX

chensu 2021-04-26 23:03

Love the graphic and the particle system, brilliant! 5/5!

chesschaser 2021-04-27 10:15

Fun game! Very entertaining!I love the music!

morg 2021-04-27 12:47

Absolutely A for Cool

2021-04-27 14:30

Cool style! I included it in my compilation video series of a bunch of LDJAM games! https://youtu.be/R25_tXZwmbw

sheinxy 2021-04-27 14:56

Four things: - Tons of fun - Quite good looking - Great audio - Did I mention it was quite fun to play?

For real, it's a pretty simple game, but one that is quite enjoyable, it feels so smooth to control and play (and the audio and music help greatly on that matter!)

Awesome :D

adamphoebe 2021-04-27 20:02

Really fun to play! Really nailed the controls, and the simple graphics feel just right! One of the best I've played.

secret-magic-404 2021-04-27 20:08

Awesome! Super smooth game!

Great intro/tutorial.

Challenging gameplay... however it didn't take long for me to find out I could move to the edge of the screen and avoid all the obstacles :smile:

kassanu 2021-04-27 20:10

Really fun game!

airwaffle 2021-04-27 20:30

On of my favorite games so far! Love the soundscape and atmosphere! Would be nice with a bit more variation between the levels, otherwise a 10/10!

nazorus 2021-04-27 21:07

Thank you for all the positive comments, I really appreciate it! I'll find some time to play your games as well.

@stuartc I found myself doing that too during testing and I was tempted to add a rhythm mechanic, but decided it would be too risky to implement :sweat_smile:

@secret-magic-404 Obstacles can still get to you at the edge of the screen, so this approach requires some luck :stuck_out_tongue: but I guess you're still less likely to get hit ^^

@airwaffle I agree that more variation would have been great, I had a few ideas but ended up spending more time on audio instead ^^

exofrenon 2021-04-27 22:07

This was brilliant. Not only was it fun to play, but it also had a great sense of humor (I LOLed at the what I assume is a recorded sound effect when you get hit). You obviously have some music background, because the music is legit, and the fact that it was not fitting at all made it even funnier. The graphics were serviceable. I enjoyed the "juiceness" when zapping an orb. Overall it was great for what it was, not much nitpicking to do.

The only thing that has room for improvement are the graphic. I see you used the classic "primitive shapes + high gloom" trick, but having pretty graphics was not really necessary in this case since they added to the humor. The game was also quite short (it was repeating every 12 orbs I believe) which is probably because it is as far as you can go when you have a fully procedural "level design" before becoming boring or getting out of hand, so if you wanted to make it longer you would need a more sophisticated algorithm to generate a more interesting placement of obstacles.

Overall pretty great and very admirable that you did everything yourself in only 48 hours.

tim77 2021-04-28 02:57

Thanks for a fun experience! Simple mechanic well executed! Would love to see a version that is more zoomed out and you have to dash across the environment in longer distances, perhaps to collect powerups etc. Great work!

eugenik 2021-04-28 12:34

really impressive scope and really funny concept

kunal 2021-04-28 13:21

That was really amazing! loved the music a lot, it just gave the game a different feel :D. very simple and well executed indeed! the only thing I would say is that the camera could be a bit zoomed out, but other than that it was really fun!

silkworm-sweatshop 2021-04-28 13:58

Pretty amazing how these seemingly shitty graphics manage to feel and look so much better with some polished effects and great audio and visual feedback. There definitely room for some added depth but the general game feel is very satisfying.

kepsert 2021-04-28 14:05

Game name checks out!

I think I'm addicted, would like to see more variations to the levels! The graphics were actually amazing, I'd say and the gameplay felt amazingly smooth. Was I supposed to drop down a lot of depth upon getting hit by an obstacle btw? Anyway, would play again!

nazorus 2021-04-28 14:41

@exofrenon Thank you :smile: The death sound effect is indeed a recording of my own voice! I agree that graphical assets are the weakest part of the game, I'm not much of an artist so I make do with what I can. For the record there are actually 4 parts to the game, each time you get 12 orbs the game increases in difficulty, and after the fourth part there is a little end sequence. That said, you're right that I would need a proper level generation algorithm if I were to push the concept further. Thanks again for playing and all the feedback!

@tim77 @kunal Zooming out the camera is a great idea, it would open up a lot of possibilities in terms of level design and gameplay. Thanks for playing and the kind words!

@kepsert Yes, this isn't explained in the game but the depth meter is kinda like a negative score :wink: if you never get hit and never miss any orb, you'll finish the game with minimal depth. Thanks for playing and the kind feedback!

I try to play all your games to leave a score and comment, thanks for all the feedback! I'm glad you're enjoying Captain Zapdash :smile:

last-angle 2021-04-29 11:18

I really like the music in this game. The movement is really smooth, and the game is fun to play! Good job on having the levels gradually increasing in difficulty, although I couldn't get past the red level (which has more to do with my skills than your game). I might come back later and try again :)

fis 2021-05-02 22:12

Really enjoyful game! The soundeffects, the music, the shaders - all together sums up to a nice experience. This also allows to use basic graphics since they are being used very well.

Regarding the game logic - you should expand the spawn area to cover the edges too. I could rush it without moving a finger :v:

zapdash.png

villanelle 2021-05-03 06:50

This is in my top 10 from all the games I played in this edition of Ludum Dare. And yeah, I played a lot, more than 50... The graphics, the colors, the fluidity of the movements, the concept itself, the sounds... All pretty fun to me. Thanks for the entry! captainzapdash1

danmedeiros 2021-05-03 22:37

This game is SO fun. The laser graphic and sound effects were really pleasing to my eyes and ears. The change of music was also spot on. Nice job!

roka-josh 2021-05-10 21:30

Really fun game, cool graphics and sound effects. Great job!

tiffi-gaming 2021-05-14 20:17

That was really cool, colors are vibrant and music is also very good.

matthewrobo 2021-05-15 07:54

1621065163-chrome_jBl9pAVBqQ.png

Didn't score too great, but man, this game is _chunky_. It's crazy you managed to get the gamefeel so solid in only 48 hours.

While I normally don't like having that much inertia in shooty games, the dash gives such a good amount of speed control that it stops mattering and starts being an actual gameplay mechanic.

qyouk 2021-05-15 12:50

The only thing that bothered me a bit was the SFX, they were maybe too loud and felt weird when you zap quickly but other than that the game was solid! Controls felt nice and responsive, the game idea is simple but work very well and the visuals are really cool! Good job!