krynxx 2022-10-03 09:46
If you are still moving when the timer resets the character keeps his velocity and moves somewhere off screen. It's really difficult to get him back into the view after that without dying.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD51 → The Other Side
By dafan
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2.50 | 3 | ||
| Fun | 2.50 | 3 | ||
| Innovation | 2.50 | 3 | ||
| Theme | 3.00 | 3 | ||
| Graphics | 3.00 | 3 | ||
| Humor | 1 | |||
| Mood | 2.50 | 3 |
If you are still moving when the timer resets the character keeps his velocity and moves somewhere off screen. It's really difficult to get him back into the view after that without dying.
I think the concept is good, but in execution it doesn't work as well. On the other hand, you want build as much as you can but that would make your job as the human (?) as much harder. And with the limited space and the ability to move your building (?) things get tricky and you will die fast.
Other than that, I like the traditional look and presentation and feedback is good overall. I kept trying to shoot with left mouse button (probably because the aim is done with mouse), so considering it as an alternative control could help some players.
Nice job!
(I am now in a rush to test as many games as possible to help, so please do not mind the cursory reviewing style.)
1. "Use WASD to move around, use Q and E to switch weapons, aim with our mouse, and move your turret with your mouse." -> both the controls and concept of independent aiming turret remind of [*HURTEC*](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/hurtec)! 2. simple hand-drawn homemade graphics including for the button, I like the spirit :) 3. Controls are QWERTY-only instead of layout-independent (I have an AZERTY keyboard), BUT arrow keys are enabled; still, since you also use Q and E as in *HURTEC*, this may get complicated for me! :s Yet, it does XD 4. the action gets quickly on! I think giving the player some pause at the beginning to figure out what is happening would help 5. funny music XD But what the heck is happening?! 6. funny and effective weapon sounds, I like them 7. got it: the game alternates between an on-the-field action phase and a ‘tower defence’ buying phase 8. I like how the health bars have the same crosshatched drawing style as the buttons :) I also like the grey-coloured style 9. weird, buying more towers still only displays one? Is it more like upgrading the only tower, actually? 10. the fact that the player character can leave the screen makes is sometimes hard to get the action; there even seems to be some kind of bug where the character will keep moving in some direction, so I have a hard time keeping him on the screen! Apparently, this bug happens to me every time upon the second on-the-field phase 11. the rifle seems not to shoot! (contrary to all other weapons) Is this a bug? 12. getting a sense of when we collide with / get hit by the enemies is somewhat hard; I think some other indication (in addition to the nice health bar) would help, including a sound (and perhaps a visual cue) 13. the ‘tower defence’ phase seems to lack a bit of strategy: if I am not mistaken (but I may be…), mashing the buying button is pretty much the optimal strategy 14. I often die at the second on-the-field phase (actually, I think I only survived it during my 2nd run XD) 15. managed to survive for several rounds, but the fact (bug?) that the player character is put somewhere outside the screen each round makes things very difficult! :o @krynxx I think this happens even without moving at all: I tested staying still, and the translation was still triggered at some point 16. I noticed earlier that the building/castle seemed to move a bit, but am unsure as to what happens. Suddenly realize: this was caused by my clicks on the button, you can actually drag and drop it! 17. tried putting the castle to the right, it was quickly destroyed at the next round. Not sure how we are supposed to use this feature 18. am I attacked by my own tower?! Wait, you can actually shoot the tower (which would make sense since its health bar turns red), and also the castle (is this friendly fire?)… There seems to be some ‘contrarian’ mechanic, that would match the title, but I am still unsure how the game really works; maybe a counterbalance/counterincentive to buying too many towers, which would respond to my previous remark. Destroying the castle from the start: yes, lost, so, feels like friendly fire X)
**Takeaway:** the concept of alternating between live action and ‘tower defence’ with (if I understood correctly!!) the catch that your own towers become enemies sounds original to me, and a good idea, but as CodeRaurus said, I think the game lacks some clarity in what happens. Also, I advise you to fix the positioning bug, it does massively hinder the player! Agreed with CodeRaurus on graphics and feedback, although just a little something when elements get hit is missing in my view.
Thank you, especially for the concept and hand-drawn looks. :)
PS: I realize you opted out of ‘Audio’, but I think the music/jingle and sound effects were nice. :)