wolfier 2023-05-02 03:24
I like the idea, but the game really needs a stop button, its super easy to crash into things since you don't know which way you are facing when you start going and can't stop.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD53 → Careless Couriers
By python-b5 and Sam Gorman
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1056 | 3.04 | 55 | |
| Fun | 1095 | 2.74 | 54 | |
| Innovation | 787 | 3.11 | 55 | |
| Theme | 735 | 3.76 | 54 | |
| Graphics | 750 | 3.42 | 57 | |
| Audio | 436 | 3.44 | 53 | |
| Humor | 802 | 2.72 | 50 | |
| Mood | 984 | 3.02 | 52 |
I like the idea, but the game really needs a stop button, its super easy to crash into things since you don't know which way you are facing when you start going and can't stop.
@wolfier Thanks for the feedback! The goal of the game is not to stop moving - look to the sparks by your wheels to tell your direction. If you desperately need to stop, you can spin out by turning a bunch. But we'll keep this in mind for a post-jam build.
Really hard. Couldn't figure out how to turn right away. Maybe start the player on a straightaway, then have them gently turn. Also might help if the player could turn any direction rather than the 4 directions only?
Good looking and fun controls after you get the hang of it, but it would be really helpful if the character was facing the direction of movement. Also couldn't score any points, and it gets very confusing
Really nice style, the game is hard though. Overall the game is pretty good.
I feel like an old man yelling "slow down". It's a cool concept and style. Kind of like crazy taxi meets T&C Surf Designs. I couldn't get any points. The learning curve is a little steep for me!
@patrick-abernathy Thanks! This game could definitely use some balancing, but that's something for post-jam.
Music and aesthetics are really nice. Controlling the skateboard was very difficult, but I slowly started to figure it out. Unfortunately the mouse controls (aiming, swapping packages, throwing) didn't seem to work for me. Overall, I really like the concept, feels like a great lunch-break style game.
@originaloregano Sorry to hear the controls weren't working properly! If there's a bug I'd like to fix it if you have any more info on it.
Graphics and UI look great!!! controls are a little difficult to get used to though haha
AAAaa The graphics look so cool, sadly I can't play it bc I use Linux, please tag me if you add a HTML5 Web version so I can try it!
oh the controls are really really hard
it is a good idea the concept of skate board delivery and the music fits this theme well
but this was how far I got after a long time :laughing:
Captura de tela 2023-05-03 002001.png
Controls are very hard I don't really know how to even move :/
@nuin I agree they're sort of confusing. If it helps, the turning is relative to the direction the player is facing, like a steering wheel in a car.
@noam-blei I just uploaded a native Linux version---let me know if that works for you!
Took me a bit but once I figured out the controls, it was real fun to play! I think a good amount of the confusion comes from the fact that the sprites dont update until you fully turn, but you really need to keep track of where you are currently facing to not crash. Great game though, just needs a bit of polish for it to really shine :slight_smile:
很难操作但是这种玩法还是挺有趣
Like previously mentioned, took a bit to figure out the controls, but overall a jolly experience. I loved the graphics style, very nice & minimalist, but everything fit together really well. The music accompanied it nicely too~ Though perhaps on the effects side I would have liked some sound with "oompf" when the player is dazed/knocked out. Good work on it and thanks for also having a linux version!
@svenerik Glad you liked the graphics! We were going to add sound effects,, but I ran out of time, so it was that or a title screen song :( Feel free to check out the post jam, we’ll be balancing and adding sound!
I really like the art style!
I liked the art and music, they were cheery and nice. On the gameplay, it was a little funny crashing into things and trying to control the courier to not run into a building. Maybe I'm just bad at the game but I had a really hard time figuring out the controls and when I did I still wasn't very good. I found it more fun having a hard time trying not to crash into things and getting a good laugh but I think more responsive controls would have made the game give more than laughs.
@stellarr2 We'll be trying to make it a bit easier to play after the jam, as a lot of people have had your issue. In the meantime, it gets a lot easier if you imagine turning the steering wheel of a car - it's all from the player's perspective, if that makes sense.
Ooooh I really liked the idea and the overall mood of the game, reminds me of Bart's Nightmare and the old GTA's lol. Loved the art and how natural the people walk around the city! Was really hard to control the character but when you make it work it's really fun, still, a better movement would be perfect for this game! The mouse controlls did not work for me, I couldn't throw any packages. Still, congratz!
Hah, you also made a city driving kind of game! Thanks for the linux build btw :)
I like the idea and music. But the game is very hard because of controls. When you stop you don't see particles and don't know in which direction it will start to move.
@duke-ua That's a good point! We'll add a better indication of direction post-jam.
i agree with comms above, a 8 direction would maybe suits better the gameplay
Nice entry tho 👍
Nice art and groovy music. The movement is.. well not good. I tried for a while and I kept dying to cars, pedestrians, lamps, random building facades. In the end I didn't make a single delivery.
Music and art are great, but the controls feel sluggish and too difficult. I like the layout of the city but the amount of things to crash into are far too frequent to enjoy.
@nicso Good idea - we might try to add diagonal sprites post-jam! No promises though; I am bad at drawing diagonally, which is why I didn't include them in the first place.
Love how this games look, character sprites and the city itself look great, definitely the kind of place you want to explore. The game is hard though, even after I managed to get a grasp of the controls I still kept spinning out and getting hit with a car (Which was pretty funny at least). Seems like there's a lot going on here though so it's definitely impressive project with just two people working on it.
I gotta agree, the control are very hard to use. I got the hang of it, but still every time I would go into a wall I would usually collide multiple times because it was so difficult to recover, you have to just spin enough to avoid the wall and people around you, but not too much that you spin and stun yourself.
It took me a good bit to understand I had to pick up packages at the start areas, but once I figured that out it only made it harder, as I now had to pay attention to : - the particles to know where I'm going, - every single person passing by to try and match them with the ones at the top, - if they match, I have to make sure the top package is the right color, - and then I have to throw it accurately while dodging cars and people and lamp posts, still taking the turns and weaving in between traffic ?!
I like the idea, but it's just too much at once. Since you die so fast and the people change every time it's extra hard to keep track of what you need to do.
I think the game could've worked just fine by removing just one of : the traffic, the package colors, the near exact match but not quite.
@PatateNouille Thanks for the in-depth feedback! We plan to do a few things to make the game easier post-jam, including:
- lessening the penalty for getting hit - making it clearer which direction you’re moving - (potentially) shrinking the gui to increase visibility
It’s possible we might have to remove package colours, but I hope to avoid that if we can.
Cool game and love the gamemaker lol. It was pretty hard to get used to the steering and particles or an arrow indicator of some kind would have gone a long way to help that. Music was vibing and the art was well made and it was a really smooth experience from a bug etc perspective
@alpalcalad There *are* particles but they might be too subtle to help with direction. Glad you liked the game otherwise though!
Really hard, but funny, I like it.
The controls are hard as hell, but have early 90's sports games feel, I like it.
I love the music too, It's perfect for this game.
Well done!
Looks like a very cute game and quite well polished, sadly the controls makes it nearly unplayable for me. Feels like the player is floating so much, not sure if holding the key or just pressing is better. The fact you start while being headed right in a wall too. I died 3 times before I could even get in the street. Might just be my keyboard I dunno. Still, looks very polished.
@iqoribou We're probably going to change the controls post-jam to make them easier. If it helps for now, A and D turn you from the player's perspective, so just pressing probably won't do much. Thanks for playing!
Hard controls, but loved the setting and the board.
Nice game, but the controls are difficult. It is difficult to recover once you hit the wall. I really enjoy the music that makes the game so pleasant to play. Despite the difficult controls, the game is nice and well-polished.
Excellent work!
I thought for sure at first that I need to deliver the packages to houses with same color :sweat_smile: And the control requires a bit of practice, but once I got it, it was quite fun! I think it needs indication or something on the UI that tells me which direction I'm facing. Also maybe before starting to move we can adjust the direction first, then start going. Overall, pretty solid game!
@ahistyap Those are some good suggestions!
Controls are just too difficult to use. After a few minutes it became so frustrating
First two times I died without being able to rotate because I was expecting Tap = rotate. You should add HOLD A to rotate to the controls. I thought I found the correct person to give the package but she wasn't the right one. I'd start by having 1 target person, and an arrow showing where the person is with arrow matching the color of the box, so that players can find the person. Once you get to used to the controls it's pretty satisfying to move around. Maybe S = slow down, W Accelerate could be an option to add risk/reward and option for people having hard time to have a good time.
@chuckiee Thank you for the suggestions - I’ll change the control page now.
I really like the art and general feel of this game, and I really wanted to love skating around, but the controls felt more frustrating than fun to me. It was so easy to bump into things, and not only does it completely stop your movement, but you can also only survive a few bumps! And maybe that wouldn't be so bad except the steering does not feel smooth or intuitive at all. Even just trying to turn around and grab the 3 packages at the start felt way harder than it should.
Still, I was able to deliver a few packages at least!
Gotta agree with the above. I do like the aspect of finding the right person based on a picture, but the controls and movement were driving me crazy here. Even picking up packages at the start was hard. I know you want constant movement, but allowing the player to at least temporarily slow down would have helped. Maybe less penalty for lightly bumping into stuff too.
Delivering the packages is weirdly difficult too, as one time it looked like I hit the person (I know it was the right one) and it seemingly just bounced off.
@firespike33 Per your last note, the hitboxes are just too small for the people.
Basically what happened is we ran out of time for playtesting... I was doing art and music basically right up until the end of submission hour. We'll be fixing it up to make the game more playable post-jam, and we'd appreciate anyone giving it another try! Thanks for playing regardless.
I really like the art style and the whole world, but sadly the game was to difficult to control to be really fun :slight_frown:
Unfortunately, the controls are too much of a change for my head. But the graphics look very good and the music fits.
Interesting idea. The controls took quite a while to figure out but I got there. I think the biggest thing is I would like to have had more health. If the controls take a long time to learn I want room to experiment, but I found myself dying right off the start a lot before I could learn what was happening. Some indication as to where people were for delivery would have also been nice. I does feel good once you get the hang of it though!
@Cinterre We'll be revamping the health system post-jam, and plan to shrink the penalty for getting hit. And I like your suggestion about finding people in the city!
(Sorry for the ramble here. I'm not really up for editing this down to a more manageable chunk of text right now.)
When I first started up the game (on Linux) I thought the controls where broken for me, so I also tried to start the windows version via proton, and even fetched my actual Windows lappy to try it out. -- I don't think it got much better, but I did eventually learn to not crash long enough to get out of the street and even turn multiple corners without crashing into anything*. I still can't make it out of the loading area _with_ packages and _then_ roam around though :sweat_smile:
Still, it's an interesting idea, and if the rest of the game where a lot more forgiving (like nothing really kills you, but only slows you down) it might've worked. For example, it doesn't really respond when you get dizzy, and it leaves you right in front of the wall you crashed into, so you just have to intuit when you get control back or you crash into the wall all over again. And then when you steer too fast you get dizzy as well. I could mention all the other things, but it feels like everything is out there to punish you. -- I'd say pick either one or the other; really tricky movement that does have some joy to it when you finally get the hang of it*, _or_ the old-school 'three bumps and you're done for' game design, but not both.
*) The very brief moments when I _did_ sort of feel in control felt good-ish and a little unique, so I can see where you where going with this, which makes it extra awkward to have to tell you the rest.
(Also, are you sure it's equally hard on all systems? Maybe part of the problem is that it runs differently on each PC. It might just be me, but the Windows version felt _slightly_ better to control.)
Anyway, I think the music, especially the in-game loop is really well done. I like the funkiness of it, and it fits the city-scene well. The graphics are decent as well, though they could use a little more character. Its a nice touch that you can see people through the buildings.
@remco Thanks for the in-depth feedback! We definitely plan on lessening the punishment for hitting walls, to allow you to figure out the controls. We also plan on adding an arrow to show where you’re facing. Your point about the stun time is a good one, we’ll see what we can do about that.
I can’t speak on differences between versions, although I can’t imagine the handling would change. Anyway, I’m glad you liked the music!
@remco I didn't test the Linux version very much so it's possible it has some differences. I'll look into it.
I'm glad you liked the seeing people through buildings---it took me longer than I'll admit to figure out how to do that :laughing:
I'm afraid I just didn't find this fun to play at all. It's far too unforgiving - you hit a wall, bounce back a little bit, and then immediately drive straight back into the same wall again. Trying to pick up a package seems to require more precision than it should do, I kept skating through the coloured squares and nothing would happen. Then when I did pick up a package, I could never actually find the person I was supposed to be delivering it to. I thought that the light circle around certain characters meant there was a package to be delivered to them, but it actually just meant that the game was making them visible from behind a wall - which is a neat feature, but I'd also have liked something to help me find whoever it is I'm meant to be looking for. I could probably have found them eventually if not for the fact that, as I said, the finicky steering and unforgiving collisions mean you die in thirty seconds anyway.
The graphics are great, and the music is charming, but the actual game itself is just so much harder than it should be, and it sucks all the fun out of it. I wanted to enjoy this, but I just... didn't.
Liked the visuals and the whole city you have to navigate, but had a hard time with controls. I think RC style controls usually end up with very different opinions, so whatever you stick with has to feel responsive and clear. The hitbox for the player also felt very large when hitting things. I would think about more obvious visual feedback to make it more clear what to do! keep up the good work.