FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD53 → Super Special Delivery

Super Special Delivery

By nathan-franck

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall4042.2133
Fun4051.7231
Innovation4042.0032
Theme3872.6632
Graphics2103.5236
Audio1323.5435
Humor2372.6832
Mood2982.9234

Comments

linus-lindberg 2023-05-01 06:45

That's a cool menu system! Shame you didn't manage to get a game done but I guess that wasn't your focus. Started watching the live-stream and it seems super interesting, the kind of workflow you are using.

kylethecoder 2023-05-01 13:10

Pretty good graphics and menuing system, all things considered!

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 17:10

Thanks @linus-lindberg and @kylethecoder it's heartwarming!

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 17:15

@linus-lindberg Ultimately I'm mad I didn't get the game done. Sadly probably my best hours on Saturday before supper were eaten up trying to get my C# code environment to give me autocomplete and breakpoints so I could debug my behaviours, railroaded me and threw off the entire schedule. I was hopeful I could pull something out in the last 1 hour, but it just wasn't to be. The livestream is definitely the best in the first 20 minutes, the rest is just for commiseration of fellow human suffering 🙂

Has definitely made me hungry to try more, as long as my family and job is willing to tolerate it.

fargred 2023-05-01 17:43

Unfortunate that you couldn't finish it - the menu, general atmosphere. music and the dancing stork all look very cool and engaging and I'm very intrigued to see where this would have gone! But there's always next time, right? :)

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 17:46

@fargred Definitely, for a first attempt, I'm satisfied. Happy you're intrigued, next time with a new character design and less railroads I think I'll be able to really get something nailed down, honed and submitted 100%.

yorsh 2023-05-01 17:53

That's kind of funny that you have made a great menu but no game. It's a great menu tho, fun and dynamic.

For next time, I wouldn't worry about menus that much. If you can save some time at the end to make it, great, but if not it's ok to just start with level 1 directly.

fnkee 2023-05-01 18:22

I know all too well the feeling of the deadline creeping in. And man, your intro sequence and menus are the best I've seen in any game jam submission ever before. I can tell you've put a lot of thought into the transitions!! (I felt like I was playing Stork Persona 5)

Had a look at your stream - it's impressive work, and the soundtrack you made for it is rad! :)

tomas-selmeci 2023-05-01 18:39

Well, the menu looks great and really gives the feeling of a full game :D The music is relaxing too, you will finish the game next event for sure! :)

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 19:04

@yorsh @fnkee @tomas-selmeci Thanks so much! @yorsh Good advice. I know that I spent too long on the menus and transitions for sure. I feel like if I don't have as many dev disasters I will have the time next time to get from the menu to the game levels and back again. Ultimately having a really nice menu flow was pretty much critical to the game's success in my mind, which is why I didn't back off from polishing it. Ultimately I needed more time and fewer disasters to complete it.

@fnkee You can see me start hyperventelating near the end of the stream almost, it's nasty, but I'm glad it's recorded, better than to suffer alone 🙂

@tomas-selmeci Thanks for visiting! I loved making the music. My drum kit is getting lots of love 🥰

decadedecaf 2023-05-01 20:31

As far as menus go, this one makes me want to play the game very badly!! Impressive stuff regardless, and good luck with future endeavors.

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 20:34

@decadedecaf Me too 💔 Next time!

sam-butterworth 2023-05-01 21:32

I'm sure our storks would be friends haha! loving the models and music

bit-flipz 2023-05-01 21:35

Highlight: Menu

Lowlight: Gameplay

It is shame you didn't have the time to finish the game, but I've got to give praise to the menu. The artwork and transitions are fantastic. In particular I love how the blanket swings around as the stork moves when you navigate the menu.

Came back to edit cause I forgot to praise the music too! Very vibing

nathan-franck 2023-05-01 21:59

@bit-flipz Thanks for taking the time to check it out! Definitely would have loved to finish it. ✌️

qusk2 2023-05-01 22:11

I'm willing to check out the full game if it ever comes out!

balgorode 2023-05-01 23:31

I didn't read the description before I start playing, so when the super funky menu popped up I was quite excited to play the game. xD

Needless to say after my confusion wore off I read the description, and man, that's the funniest thing I've seen all day.

Keep up the great work!

candlesan 2023-05-02 01:38

Music and menu fx are fantastic! I played the settings menu button about 5 times trying to see how you did the super cool swipe-in / swipe-out effect. All the motion makes the game feel alive.

candlesan 2023-05-02 01:40

Might I suggest - if you were able to get the game working - it seems like you came so close - shift the game over to the "Jam" entry and submit a playable version there!

nathan-franck 2023-05-02 05:58

@candlesan Totally get it. I was just too burnt out by the 48h mark I knew extending to 72h would be bad for me. Gotta have some energy for my joband family after all

torolchuk 2023-05-02 08:16

That music is fire! Love the animations of everything, gives me some fun vibes from the start. Would like see an actual game Cheers!

astrocookie 2023-05-02 09:50

The menu is so cool!​ ^^ I was so hype to play. Took me some time to finally read your description ^^

answer21 2023-05-02 11:26

I did not really understand the essence of what I need to do, but I enjoyed the process of learning) very cool graphics and very touching that you dedicated it to your daughter!!!

bridgeonastick 2023-05-02 12:24

The menu really makes me want to play the game! Really liked the animations.

nekowei 2023-05-02 12:52

Very cool music. Wish to expierence the full game someday;)

zombiebust3r 2023-05-02 13:56

We also had a team member that has a baby at home and had to come and go over the weekend. Such a shame you had to quit at the end, the menuing is cool though, would have loved to see what the game looked like finished.

weirdbitgames 2023-05-02 15:50

This looks like it really could've been something special. I'm sorry you didn't get to finish it. Look at yourself (and your family!) <3

zenbreaker 2023-05-02 15:54

Sad, this didnt get finished looks promising, maybe next time :smile:

zungryware 2023-05-02 21:50

This is why task prioritization is so important in game jams. Even when making the game, you should add features in order of how much ability you have to cut them if you start to run out of time. Making the menu before the game is like putting the cart before the horse. It's an easy mistake to make though. In my first Ludum Dare I had the benefit of working with a friend who had done several of them before. And he was constantly talking me down from the overscoped ideas I was pitching. :P

Here is a flowchart of the order in which I do things if I'm unsure of whether I'll finish in time:

Base game with minimum mechanics -> content -> polish -> menus, sound effects, music, etc.

It is legitimately a really nice title menu though! Slick animations and funky music! Great job on that.

nathan-franck 2023-05-02 23:30

@zungryware It's good advice!

For my part I was basically setting the survival of the project on having a super slick intro and main menu, since that was the thing I consider would set me apart and give me some edge. The game itself was Wayyyy out of scope, I actually cut a lot of the scope down in order to try and make it more feasable, but ultimately it wasn't to be.

The main thing that broke the flow for me was on Saturday my code editor wasn't doing auto-complete, breakpoints or debugging. I spent probably 4 of my BEST hours on that one, which threw the whole system off. By Sunday I was already fully aware I probably wasn't going to make it.

This was my first attempt on my own --- 48 hours is REALLY short for Design, 3D, 2D, Music, Sound, Scripting, Testing, so I'm proud of what I have 🙂

Thanks for checking it out!

zungryware 2023-05-02 23:47

@nathan-franck You don't need a super slick intro or anything flashy to get attention. In my experience, it doesn't matter how attractive your thumbnail or title screen is, it matters that you rate and comment on other people's games. If you have given significantly more ratings than you have received, your game will show up on the front page and someone is bound to play it. So eventually it will balance out. I think the only people who get their game played without rating other people's games are people who have a following outside Ludum Dare.

My game has no title screen at all and the thumbnail is just a screenshot of the game, but I'm already more than halfway to reaching the rating threshold.

sodoj 2023-05-03 00:02

For what it's worth, that menu got me stoked up to play something amazing. It's unfortunate that you didn't get to finish the game, but it's probably for the best. Take care and see you next time! :)

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 00:05

Thanks, @sodoj

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 00:06

@zungryware I have a 'go big or go home' mentality, just my personality

zungryware 2023-05-03 00:08

@nathan-franck Then it's too bad that Ludum Dare has a 'go small or gome home' mentality :P

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 00:18

@zungryware I'd bet 50 bucks I'll rank higher in aggregate score (add all category scores together and divide by amount of categories) edit: Let me know if we have a deal 🤙 @mods let me know if this is uncouth, I will back off

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 04:45

@zungryware my brother in christ - you tell me how I should do my development process, tell me what is important and what is not, and tell me that I should pack up and 'go home'. I would like you to own up and take the proposed bet or take back what you said please.

zungryware 2023-05-03 04:57

@nathan-franck I apologize, I was just trying to make a joke. Since one of the most common pieces of advice given to people in game jams is to scope as small as possible and expand out from there. I wasn't actually trying to tell you to 'go home', I was just taking what you said and rewording it into advice. 'Go small or go home' just means that if you don't go small (especially when you have real life responsibilities and can't afford to go 34 hours straight without sleep), you'll never finish before the deadline.

When I (and hopefully everyone else on this site) leave feedback, my intent is to help people make better games in the future based on my own beliefs in game design. I'm not trying to demean anyone for those mistakes, especially because many of the mistakes I criticise people for are mistakes I've made myself in the past.

Hopefully that's all clear now. I truly was not trying to be mean.

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 05:06

@zungryware I believe you :) thanks ✌️

nathan-franck 2023-05-03 06:04

@zungrywave Just a shower thought - after all the criticism and comments I recieved, somehow yours stood out as insensitive and demeaning. This might be a good opportunity to observe the others and then yourself and figure out whats different.

I'd like to live in a world where our text generally bears good will and kindness... humility...

I know you mean well, but wording and phrasing tends to get interpreted bluntly (hi, I'm a speed reader), so we need to take extra care to really slam our readers in to our intent to improve others and ourselves with our words.

Maybe I'm an outlier but I sense that you will run into more problems in the future with your current messaging style - yeah text is hard but not insurmountable.

All said, thanks for the advice, and I appreciate your side of the story.

ellaris 2023-05-03 13:53

+ I didn't like the flickering of the text, it made it hard to read and made my eyes feel weird. + The stork animation and the rotations were cool

lady 2023-05-03 18:47

Still awesome you posted something! Always good to learn and keep going. I hope to come across your next games and don't give up on your go big or go home mentality. I believe that even though ludum dare is short it can lead into some great games.

jitspoe 2023-05-04 02:24

The theme was "Delivery", and you failed to deliver. Is this a super meta commentary? 🤔

Loved the dancing stork!

jitspoe 2023-05-04 02:24

Oops, double clicked. I failed to deliver a comment.

debotheaux 2023-05-04 02:26

Never better represented the subject ♥

nathan-franck 2023-05-04 02:33

Thanks, @debotheaux @jitspoe !

olddog 2023-05-06 13:44

nice graphic and music!menu system is nice ,but I cant start this game (just me ?)

thomaslebel 2023-05-08 17:10

I didn't read at first and was desesperate to try the game, that's when you have an awesome menu :p Loved your art and music !

hakro 2023-05-11 13:26

The main menu and music are awesome, now I'm curious what your original direction was, what the game would look like :) What's there still looks very polished and thoughtful. GG

kristinamay 2023-05-16 18:36

The intro to this game really makes me want to play it! Feels so funky. Good luck on your next jam, friend!

nathan-franck 2023-05-16 20:37

@kristinamay Thanks a lot! It's really encouraging to see the interest, helps me convince my wife to let me make more games 😁