heatdev 2024-04-16 13:43
Nice police chase mechanic
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD55 → Summons Racer
By paulhocker
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 805 | 3.38 | 32 | |
| Fun | 754 | 3.28 | 32 | |
| Innovation | 843 | 3.08 | 32 | |
| Theme | 983 | 3.10 | 32 | |
| Humor | 651 | 2.91 | 30 | |
| Mood | 753 | 3.40 | 32 |
Nice police chase mechanic
I really loved the idea of the game! The controls are super simple and intuitive and art is really well made! And it feels like a complete game, meaning that you had time to finish what you imagined.
Nice entry, congratulations! If you want feedback, here's what I'd change:
- The font (especially with the antialiasing) doesn't really fit the aesthetic of the game art I'd say. I would suggest going full pixelart here (using https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Press+Start+2P, for example). - This also extends to the other UI elements like the timer-container: I think sharp edges and no antialias would really complement the main games art here. - Using Godot as well, I'd use an audiostreamplayer2d for the police sound: When the police is on screen just have the sound play dead center (maybe even a little right when in front but that might actually be a little much - worth a try though), while panning it _slightly_ left when they are offscreen. If you want to go really crazy you could also check the distance of the closest police car and tween the volume accordingly to give the player auditive feedback on how much they are closing in which would be pretty cool. - I'd just go with full seconds in game, maybe opting for showing a more precise time when a job is finished. It being a fast game where you deliver things I thought I was looking at the distance to the location, only realizing its the remaining time after a crashed into something and realizing it was still counting down. I think going for full seconds would mitigate this since in a fast game you probably wont mistake a relatively slow countdown for anything else but time.
But that are just my two cents on how I personally would try to polish the experience a little more. It was still a fun little experience, thanks for providing it! :)
Writing this part of my comment before I even play the game: Immediately hooked by the soundtrack.
"Why dont I just go as fast as I can?" Because of a really cool police chase mechanic! :D
The game is simple and fun. Really intuitive and a nice little spin on the theme "summoning". As far as I could tell, the exp and money doesn't yet do anything? Would have expected to have some "upgrade" mechanic after day 1.
Overall, cool game :)
I found hanging out at the top of the screen going around 50 left me hitting few obstacles without attracting cops, and I successfully completed a number of jobs this way. Then I tried speeding as fast as I could and moving around, with cops chasing me. They never seemed to stop me, even when I hit another car and came to a stop, so in the end they were just there without affecting my delivery.
The art is well chosen, the only issue there is that the cars are side-view, and the background is angled top-down, making it awkward to gauge whether I would or would not hit cars that were ahead.
Overall very nice work, I just wish there was a clear fail state to make things more interesting.
Quite polished entry! It lacks a bit of depth in the mechanics but has a lot of potential :slight_smile:
@flaterectomy yeah it happens from time to time. more balancing is needed for sure, thanks for the feedback.
Thats definitely nice! I wish there was something to do with the money but a hilarious take on "summoning" and some great mechanics.
I like the idea, but something about the way the background moved made me nauseous.
That's a cool idea. I don't understand the progression a bit. But overall it's pretty good.
Nice and simple game with a really fitting soundtrack! I like the idea of adding police cars, however they kept just hovering near my car doing nothing even after a crash, and sometimes their sprites would bug near the player car. Feels a bit underwhelming, I thought they'd try to stop me or push me off a la GTA / NFS.
The car sprites feel off in a perspective way, they are viewed from the side while the world has a more from-the-top view angle. This also makes it harder to judge if you'll collide with someone or not. If you add some depth to the cars I think it will feel and look much better! :)
Lastly, some distance-o-meter would be nice, right now you have no idea how close you are to the goal.
Was a fun game! :)
Love how you though outside the box while interpreting the theme! The idea is really cute and also fun and ironic that someone who is trying to protect the law is getting in trouble with the police!
The art style is lovely - I am a sucker for pixel art and yours is really well executed! The UI could use some minor improvements, but overall really solid look!
I made it to day 6. I would have been nice to have some variation, at some point it becomes very repetitive. The police did not really do much, besides being noisy. At least they made me feel like an awesome criminal (being surrounded by 7 police cars at some point haha!).
There should be something to do with the experience or money. Also it would have helped to have some idea how much distance is left to travel, so that it becomes easier to deicde whether you should press full gas or take it more easy.
I don't think it is beatable once you arrive around day 5/6. The available time becomes really short, so there is almost no way to NOT bump into cars or being fast enough.
Overall it was fairly fun and endearing for a solo project! Also loved the soundtrack variation on the game over screen! Too bad that I was not able to see what happens once I beat it!
For the next jam, you could try to accomdate some time to play through the game yourself. Keep it up!
Screenshot 2024-04-18 194313.png Screenshot 2024-04-18 200648.png
I think my favorite aspect of this game was how fast how you were able to go. It was a bit of whiplash at first but I found myself able to navigate the level at around 60 mph which is ridiculous but a fun challenge. I think maybe adding some sort of heads up for when cars are coming would be a good addition, especially for cops. It would help give the player some more time to make a decision which would help a lot in a high speed game like this.
A fun little driving game. The music and visuals is pretty good. Speed felt a bit high, epecially when the car is suppose to drive at slow speed. An upgrade system would have been fun. Overall a pretty well made little jam game.
Great art. The controls were a bit too fast, maybe if you could make it so the faster you are the faster you can go up and down. Also would be cool if I knew how far I am from the goal.
Really enjoyed the game! Police mechanic was cool , i love the idea of moving out of the way and leaving the police to rear end the vehicle in front! Very well done! Great entry
This was a fun challenge to try and react quickly enough to drive at the max speed and not crash. Everything felt quite polished actually, if the progression and UI was fleshed out I could see this being a really fun arcade type game!