FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD54 → Swear Jar

Swear Jar

By steffo, sensei and Kappadacqua

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall5993.5427
Fun5633.4627
Innovation1923.8627
Theme3603.9427
Graphics4263.8529
Humor5542.9125
Mood8893.0626

Comments

steffo 2023-10-02 23:06

this... went badly

steffo 2023-10-03 01:26

post-jam bug-fixes to the rescue!

[Post-jam 1 · 75 hours](https://github.com/Steffo99/ld54/compare/ld54+build.4...pj54+build.1)

- **Fix entities not despawning (significant performance improvement)** - Remove random values from gems and diamonds - Fix artifact collision shapes - Fix entities getting produced twice - Remove debug tooling and unused scripts - Add gravity emulation with arrow keys for possible future PC port - Fix crown size - Make entities sleep when inactive for too long (*buggy, will be reverted in the next patch*) - Fix gem hue not being randomized - Fix artifact hue being overwritten with a random color

steffo 2023-10-04 00:21

more bug-fixes!

[Post-jam 2 · 97 hours](https://github.com/Steffo99/swear-jar/compare/pj54+build.1...pj54+build.2)

- **Add score submission mechanism and [scoreboard](https://viewer.arcade.steffo.eu/?board=ld54)** - Prevent entities from going to sleep when inactive for too long - Fix converter coloring when selecting which ones to delete

minjutin 2023-10-04 17:54

Hehe I can move the coins with my phone. Woop woop. Great fun. Though, I got stuck after trying to buy an update I didn't have enough money for

steffo 2023-10-04 18:04

@minjutin You can undo purchases from the shop! (However, you don't get your money back...)

nadia-pixel 2023-10-04 18:47

Art looks amazing, so I would like to play it! Please make html version!

christian-zommerfelds 2023-10-04 19:46

Haha fun little game! Congrats! It was a little infuriating though when I was missing 7 coins and had to start collecting from scratch... (Actually that was before I realized that you can buy the automatic generator, this could be more clear with a different shop design). Other thing I had is that if I misplaced an object I couldn't change it anymore.

I recomend you make a video maybe, for those who don't manage to play on the phone? But that wouldn't capture my favourite part, which was finding the best angle to leave the game running :D

Congrats again, I liked this game. Publish it :)

pabloabraham 2023-10-04 20:32

Hey, I just checked out 'Swear Jar'. I love the gyroscopic twist on the incremental game genre! Filling the jar with coins and buying upgrades felt rewarding. The post-jam tweaks show dedication. The idea of crafting a Holy Crown or finding diamonds is intriguing. A bit of clarity on some mechanics could help, but overall, it's a solid and fun game. Great job!

harksa 2023-10-04 20:41

What an interesting idea ! I have to admit it is very bald to create a game only for android because not everyone will download and play it. I like that you had your idea and stick to it !

The visual is charming and the game is some sort of cookie clicker but it is still very enjoyable. Sadly, it runs poorly on my phone (20 fps or so I'd say).

The sfx and graphics are quite nice and I did enjoy seeing the gears of the "converters".

Great job, it's nice that you keep updating it.

Keep up the good work :smile:

zimny11 2023-10-04 21:43

Interesting idea for a game! The graphics looks great. Couldn't play it for long because my phone couldn't handle it well. I kind of wish there was web version, but I get it would defeat the purpose and most of the fun would be gone. Awesome job with the game!

steffo 2023-10-04 23:10

@nadia-pixel Thanks! :smile:

I don't think it will be possible to make an HTML version, as without a gyroscope half of the fun of the game is gone :sweat_smile:

Maybe it might work with a controller, but we'll need some testing to do that.

steffo 2023-10-04 23:13

@christian-zommerfelds Thanks! I definitely agree with your comments about the shop and related mechanics; sadly we didn't have the time to implement them in a more straightforward way! :sweat_smile:

Maybe I should record a short GIF, just as a preview... I wonder if ldjam.com supports animations...

steffo 2023-10-04 23:17

@pabloabraham Glad you liked the game!

What mechanics in particular you felt were unclear? It would be useful to know for potential future versions!

steffo 2023-10-04 23:18

@harksa Uh, interesting...

What version of the game did you play and what device did you use?

I know that the jam version is *significantly* slower than the post-jam one, but if the post-jam version still is really slow we might have some optimization to do to get it working on more devices!

steffo 2023-10-04 23:20

@zimny11 Thanks! Same thing I've asked in the above comment: what version of the game did you run, and on what device? :eyes:

ryrumeli 2023-10-05 00:25

This game was interesting! I tested in my Xiaomi cellphone, and it worked quite well, I loved how the gyroscope worked, it made the game a ton of fun! The graphics are also pretty cute, the art was a high point for me. I echo the voices, even if it isn't as fun, a HTML version with a controller, or just using a keyboard with buttons to keep the balance, I get wanting to stay true to your view but the more people get to play your game the better!

robobarbie 2023-10-05 04:12

Had fun with this one. ADDICTING

zimny11 2023-10-05 07:39

Well to rate the entry I played the original, jam version. I kind of want to try newer one, if I find the time to do so. I tried it on Huawei, I think it is p9, but might be wrong.

harksa 2023-10-05 19:38

@steffo I played on your game jam edition. I'll try again with the debugs because the game is genually fun. I have a Snapdragon 480. It's a middle range CPU.

smiley405 2023-10-05 23:40

just by reading the description the game concept seems really interesting. but unfortunately, it only has the android build. would love to have the linux build aswell :penguin: :man_dancing: maybe in future game jams.

snorps 2023-10-07 12:28

Love the concept and interpretation of theme. Platform and control scheme combo is perfect.

Maybe could be a little more clear that the coins are meant to go into the top of the upgrades, we put ours right in the corner out of the way and it ended up being useless. I do notice the funnel element built into the sprite but maybe that aspect could be accentuated more?

I think there is an issue with the fact you have to pay for upgrades using specific items. If you just changed upgrades to cost e.g $150 rather than 25 gold coins specifically it would get rid of a lot of weird edge cases where you paint yourself into a corner with the order or way you bought things. You'd lose that strict progression from one item to the next, but most incremental games just solve this by having each new item cost an order of magnitude more than the previous, making it difficult to sequence break.

Really enjoy the way you build up from copper coins to precious gem encrusted jewelry and golden chalices.

Overall definitely feel a smoother and more fleshed out version of this game could be a lot of fun.

igor-kingamer 2023-10-07 15:19

Great amount of content there!

I don't really like this kind of games, but it's so nice it kept me well entertained for a few minutes. It's polished and has fun mechanics (mechanics I'd love to play more with). Well done!

[edit] I played it on a powerful device, and the game lagged once, when there was a LOT of coins (before I understood how to spend the coins) and I turned the phone.

woona 2023-10-07 17:42

Very impressive game with creative use of theme and game mechanics! I got to the part with artifacts such as rings and cups but didn't grind any further.

I encountered a couple issues (they were already described in "known issues"), a performance drop when the jar is full of items, and things were getting stuck sometimes. I had an urge to hit the phone real hard on the side like you would hit a jar but that didn't help. 😂

Question: do you have to swear for each coin you produce?

prutty 2023-10-11 11:46

Hi! Great game. It stands out in the ludum dare's bunch of games because it's on android. Great theme integration, and good SFX. However my phone is not too beefy, and it lagged a few times, and when I finally would craft a gem it crashed and it reset me to the start of the game. If it had progression saves, then I think it would be a great app-store worthy game. Nice work!

steffo 2023-10-11 16:11

@ryrumeli Thanks! I think that for it to work effectively with a controller, the gyroscope would need to be used, but I'm not aware of ways to make it work without passing via Steam Input... Do you happen to know something, in case?

steffo 2023-10-11 16:11

@robobarbie hehe :slight_smile:

steffo 2023-10-11 16:12

@zimny11 That makes sense!

steffo 2023-10-11 16:13

@harksa Let us know if the performance is better on the post-jam version!

steffo 2023-10-11 16:25

@smiley405 We have a Linux build that we used for development, but sadly it's missing the core gameplay feature of tilting your device to move and filter coins! We're trying to avoid to publish that before the jam ends because we don't want people to play and rate an incomplete experience, even if it might still be fun :smile:

steffo 2023-10-11 16:42

@snorps

Maybe a big arrow on top of the converters would help!

Upgrades are... not as refined as we would've liked, as we struggled to finish the core mechanics in time and ended up setting all costs during the last hour of the jam :sweat_smile:

Thanks for the feedback, those are some good ideas for the final version of the game!

steffo 2023-10-11 16:44

@igor-kingamer Thanks! We tried to tweak Godot's physics engine to handle the most coins possible, but when too many coins pile up they start to intersecate each other and the game starts lagging a lot...

steffo 2023-10-11 16:46

@woona I... may have tried hitting my phone on the side as well to get some coins to be unstuck. :sweat_smile:

As for swearing... Not sure, let's ask @sensei, who thought of the name of the game!

steffo 2023-10-11 16:51

@prutty The game crashed when you produced a gem? That's strange, it's the first time I hear of it happening. Was it the Jam or the Post-Jam version?

egormnc 2023-10-14 19:15

nice game

rossk 2023-10-17 18:45

I installed the jam version on my phone-- it looks good, and it seems like a fun idea, but after buying the silver-ifier I couldn't figure out how to make it work, it stayed translucent. The only thing I could do was go back to the shop and hit undo.

steffo 2023-10-17 21:53

@rossk You didn't buy it, you entered placement mode for it!

To purchase it you have to remove the necessary amount of coins from the jar! :slight_smile:

rossk 2023-10-18 09:52

got it!