FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD56 → Slime Party!

Slime Party!

By william-corrin

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall224.1736
Fun643.8336
Innovation304.0436
Theme694.0136
Graphics344.2736
Audio304.0136
Humor1193.2834
Mood1153.5734

Comments

nickhellquist 2024-10-06 23:33

Really, really good! That formation system was flawless

william-corrin 2024-10-06 23:41

@nickhellquist thank you!! its funny you say that because before I published I was trying to make it not buggy and I felt like it wasn't working well for me lol :laughing: glad it worked well for you!

What I mean by "not buggy" was I found myself having to press each button more than once to get it to align properly, instead of just once.

guadalupe-murgo 2024-10-07 00:14

Everything looks very pretty with those colors, good game!

ariast 2024-10-07 01:32

Bravo! This is a solid entry on every metric.

william-corrin 2024-10-07 01:39

@ariast thank you very much!

xsil 2024-10-07 02:53

There are tutoring and checkpoints so 3d platforming gameplay feels really good. Chilly mood and pleasurable audio, very nice entry!

william-corrin 2024-10-07 04:01

@xsil thank you, I'm glad you think so!

ejunegao 2024-10-07 09:19

Style point is definitely a 10. The slimes are so cool! The mechanics are bold and kind of reminds me of my Chinese kindergarten and elementary school. The teacher would lead all the kids in a line, just like these little slimes haha. It's impressive that you could make the mechanics work in such a short amount of time, plus the coolest slimes!

braulio-jg 2024-10-07 09:56

It's just perfect! Great in every aspect. Almost no bugs, innovative, good graphics, aligned with the theme...

svenerik 2024-10-07 10:57

Woah, what an excellent one! Superb game, specially for children and it's so solid, marvelous work on it!

arscene 2024-10-07 11:10

Really cool concept, congrats !

dogesquad 2024-10-07 12:14

What a lovely game. Havent played 3D Jump and Runs in a while and this definitely scratched my itch for it. Lovely character and world design (:

ariast 2024-10-07 13:17

I came back to play this again just because it's so good. This deserves to win and get fully funded on GoFundMe.

olddog 2024-10-07 14:27

this game is so cute and interesting !!! love this slime so much. platform jumping feels so smooth,and the game design are so smart,the knife cutting system seems a little bug,wish for more content : )

sviborg 2024-10-07 14:53

I really enjoyed this unique take on 3D platformers. The character creation system works flawlessly and the game looks absolutely gorgeous with those vibrant colors! The platforming elements are super fluid and the atmosphere is just mesmerizing. 🐌 And the tearjerkers are so cute! 💖 Although I noticed a few minor bugs, it didn't ruin the overall experience. Great job!! 👏✨

kernon 2024-10-07 15:18

A clever game! I enjoyed trying to control the multiple slimes at once. I kept trying to treat a singular slime as the leader but the camera seems to want to try and focus on a midpoint between all available slimes which forced me to use the formations. Unfortunately switching formations got me killed several times. I wonder if there's a way to have the formations form up on the most forward slime, or perhaps at least show where the formation is going to go before sending all the slimes to their fiery doom?

custodi 2024-10-07 16:12

Awesome game for 48 hours, especially in 3D! The split/merge mechanic is done very good, has too addictive behavior. Had bug when i stucked on the edge of platform, but it not so critical. Great entry!

franklyn01 2024-10-07 16:58

I'm extremely impressed by how polished each part of the game looks. Big props as well for providing such a detailed and fun tutortial, something that often gets scratched with these kinds of time constraints. Had a lot of fun playing!

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:12

@ejunegao Lol, that is an awesome comparison, thanks for sharing your anecdote! I'm glad I could help recover a core memory using the slimes haha.

This was a weird jam for me, I normally focus on graphics a bit later, but this time I wanted to make the slime shader and character almost immediately. My strongest point as a dev is my programming and gameplay skills, so I guess it makes sense to put more effort into the characters since its one of my weaker areas...

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:12

@svenerik @braulio-jg @arscene thank you all very much! I honestly felt like it was missing something when I submitted it lol but I guess thats how we all feel when game jamming, isn't it? :grin:

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:13

@dogesquad thank you! I put the cloud models in like, literally 15 minutes before the deadline ended lol. I'm glad the world felt cohesive.

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:15

@ariast That is far too kind of you :bow: I'm just glad you like it! I think most of our goals as devs is to make games people want to play, so you just made my day :)

If I wasn't working on a new project for my small indie studio, maybe I would consider it - the last thing I need is more distractions right now LOL

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:16

@olddog Thank you so much! Yeah, I tried to get everything mostly bug-free, but the blade splitting is a tad bit wonky for sure :sweat_smile: that and the camera when you have more than like, 4 or 5 slimes, it starts to get hard to control when you align the slimes in a line.

Thanks for playing and for the feedback :smile:

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:18

@sviborg Thank you so much! I'm glad you think it looks good, graphics have always been my weakest area of development, but ever since opening up my indie studio I've been working hard to get better at it!

I know of a few bugs too lol, I'm glad they didn't ruin the vibes though.

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:22

@kernon Thank you! Hahah, you have discovered the #1 design issue with this game (IMO) which is the camera system constantly in a battle with controlling multiple characters...you are very correct also that the camera attempts to focus on the midpoint of your squad.

Your idea of having 1 slime as the leader is interesting! And yeah, having a preview system of some kind before immediately aligning the slimes would absolutely be better than the way it works now, lol! I died myself many times that way, but I didn't really have time to address the issue properly. I barely made a functioning level in time :laughing:

Your feedback was awesome, thanks for taking the time to play, notice the issues, and relay them so well. :grin:

dropmania 2024-10-07 17:24

Wow! Great game. Really impressive for 48h. Really interesting platformer idea.

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:25

@custodi Thanks for the kind praise! I spent a decent amount of time making the splitting and merging feel good. At one point, my fiancée walked in while I was sitting making popping noises with my mouth into the microphone like a buffoon and we both laughed :laughing:

I know the bug you're talking about lol. I tried a bit to fix it, but I couldn't get the step heights to feel good for all sizes of slime in time. When I got it to work for the bigger mass slimes, the smaller ones started to behave weirdly...so I just left it in :bug: :bug: :bug:

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:27

@franklyn01 Thank you very much! Tutorials are overlooked, you're definitely right - I feel like its always tricky to tell when you need a full-blown tutorial, when you need a smaller one, or if you can skate by with just a fluid mechanics introduction.

I figured for something like this, with a limited time frame, that I would just sprinkle the tutorial throughout the whole first part of the level lol. I mean, the entire game is kind of a tutorial in a way :laughing: if I had more time, I probably would have spent a lot of it making more levels, or at least more sections to this level.

Thanks for playing!

william-corrin 2024-10-07 17:30

@dropmania Thank you very much! I didn't sleep very much, and barely left my office. That's how it goes with these things usually, I usually take a decent break in between Ludum Dares, and I always wonder why, and then I remember its because I starve myself of sleep, eat like crap, and am constantly stressed out and being a perfectionist the whole weekend lol

But then enough time passes and I'm like...yeah lets do it again!

rickylee 2024-10-07 18:26

awosome game! ^^ loved everything about it

image_2024-10-07_192640158.png

william-corrin 2024-10-07 18:40

@rickylee thanks!! I’m glad you liked it! :grin:

Also 181 is really good, I almost always lose some guys on the last section lol

rynti 2024-10-07 19:57

Amazing how you made such a fun and polished experience! Really enjoyed the mechanics, they seemed so easy at first but then I was surprised by how hard these jump mechanics get when you manage multiple slimes.

This could definitely be a real game if it had more levels (and maybe a few more mechanics with that).

Really enjoyed it, great job! =)

dooskington 2024-10-07 21:36

Really cool game. Graphics looked awesome. I was able to glitch through a wall with the whistle but the mechanic itself worked really well.

ulysselenglen 2024-10-07 22:05

nice game, great ideas

william-corrin 2024-10-07 23:14

@rynti Thank you! Yeah, not gonna lie, that part kind of just worked out lol, I hadn't necessarily planned on the difficulty scaling naturally like that!

Levels i agree, i ran out of time and barely even had the content in the only level that is there lol

william-corrin 2024-10-07 23:15

@dooskington LOL yeah I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned that - the whistle mechanic is a bit borked and doesn't really check for walls whatsoever haha

Thanks for playing!

andrewkennedy 2024-10-08 02:31

Clever take on the theme. The game looks really nice, and plays well. There was never a moment where I felt frustrated by the control scheme or camera, which I feel like is a really good feat for a 3d platformer made in 48 hours.

I started it up a second time to see if it was possible to beat without splitting up. I found a ledge near the first small opening and was able to get over the wall.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 192254.png

Of course then there's a part where you have to hit 2 switches. And even though I could get *really* fat, I wasn't able to hit them both.

So I tried to climb up the tree and see if I could jump the gap to the goal. It was possible to get on the tree, but the gap was too big to jump.

Screenshot 2024-10-07 192425.png

Thus ended the dream of beating the game without taking damage. It was quite a bit of fun. Good job!

william-corrin 2024-10-08 02:54

@andrewkennedy dude, that is so awesome that you tried to out of bounds it and stuff, lol! I didn’t even know you could get up on the ledge 🤣 the fact you took my game to these heights makes me really happy, thanks for enjoying it and taking the time to leave the feedback and share!

Also, I’m surprised about the camera! I did my best, but I think it starts to break a bit if you have 5-6or more slimes and choose the line formations - glad to hear it didn’t bother you though!

quasilyte 2024-10-08 12:03

I'm so impressed this game runs so smoothly in the browser, well done. I usually expect some frame drops from a 3D Unity game when exported to a browser.

At first, I was thinking: "Hmm, why do I even need to split?" and the game quickly answered that question. I like the fact that the game also rewards some exploration (although I died in the process and lost all of the bonuses, lol).

It leaves me wondering how to make such a cool game in a compo. :D Do you have any advice? Your game has it all: graphics, clever mechanics, music (!), level designs. It's way above the average polishing one can hope to do in a couple of days. I want to get that good too. :D

Also, the game page is cool, I borrowed the GIF idea a bit.

kirass 2024-10-08 17:33

Cool idea! Super!

nicole-a 2024-10-08 18:45

Wow great game! I love that you managed to add tutorials (not mentioning a complete game with nice graphics and really good game design!). Very good entry!

itsaina 2024-10-08 22:16

Extremely nice game! Very nice visuals, sound design, and gameplay overall. The jumping can feel a bit awkward to use (the whole holding and then jumping), especially to jump over platforms, but I got used to it somewhat quickly still. Had lots of fun.

william-corrin 2024-10-09 05:51

@quasilyte Hey thanks a bunch!! Yeah lol, tbh, I thought of the splitting idea before I thought of ways to make it work...I kind of just take an idea and beat it over the head with a hammer until I can't get anything else out of it lol!

Yeah totally I have some advice! You can friend me on Discord if you would like, DM me on Twitter first (https://x.com/corrtexgames) and I can chat more in depth and give you more in depth answers. But in short, I do have over 7 years of professional experience as a gameplay programmer (and I've been developing games since a teenager, just not very good ones lol) with lots of design work as well - some at a AAA studio - and I was nowhere near this good at making games always. Honestly my main advice is just to keep at it, make lots of different kinds of games, play lots of different kinds of games, don't give up, and really think for a bit before jumping straight into a game jam idea!

william-corrin 2024-10-09 05:52

@itsaina thank you! I totally agree, I was tweaking the jumping a bit up until the end and its definitely not in a place that I would want a platformer to have. I'm glad it got the job done enough though lol

william-corrin 2024-10-09 05:52

@kirass @nicole-a thank you both! :grin:

shakirovich 2024-10-09 22:10

Yo great game, art, sounds, gameplay is on point, not many original 3D platformers on this jam, I made a 3D platformer about tiny balls too, but in mine you can form a bridge from them.

ramchops-games 2024-10-10 15:47

Alright, I finally completed the game! I like the idea of splitting yourself with blades and rejoining with pools. There's also what I consider as a lot of content for something that was made within 48 hours. The art here is also solid, I love the sunglasses on the slime!

I agree with kernon on the camera that it did feel a bit weird when the camera tries to focus on the midpoint between all the slimes. This causes the camera to also fall when some slimes fall while others stay on a platform, which might cause even more slimes to fall from being distracted by the camera falling.

I also found a minor bug where if you use a whistle in the middle of the blade right when it would cut you, the whistle will get stuck, the slimes will rotate, and you won't be able to use the whistle anymore. I've included the screenshot of the bug here as well.

Screenshot 2024-10-09 171709.png

Overall, though I do like the concept. It definitely should be explored more!

haztro 2024-10-10 20:26

awesome, keen to sift through the formation code

thatsommes 2024-10-10 22:10

Wow, this is pretty F***** good. Love the splitting mechanic and how well it actually works. I split up to very tiny slimes xD

william-corrin 2024-10-14 03:24

@ramchops-games Yeah I totally agree, the camera is a bit wonk when it comes to having multiple slimes. Platformers need to have really responsive and solid cameras and this is definitely a downside to picking this kind of game to make for a 48 hour jam lol :grin:

Oh no! I did not encounter that bug...thanks for sharing, they look totally messed up there hahaha

Thank you for playing and leaving quality feedback!

william-corrin 2024-10-14 03:27

@haztro thank you! but don't expect anything clean :cry: I always write jank ass code for these jams LOL

The bulk of the code is in this file: https://github.com/williamdewaynecorrin/LudumDare56/blob/master/Assets/src/PlayerSlimeManager.cs

``` if (!isrecalling) { bool canrecall = slimes.Count > 1; foreach (PlayerSlimeRoot slimeroot in slimes) { if (!slimeroot.Slime.Grounded) { canrecall = false; break; } }

if (canrecall) { ERecallType recallresult = PlayerInput.Recall(); if (recallresult != ERecallType.eNone) { slimetarget = SlimeTargetRecallPosition(); isrecalling = true; uihappening.Activate(true, recallsprite);

SFXManager.PlayClip2D(sfxrecall.clip, sfxrecall.volume, sfxrecall.pitch.PickValue());

Vector3 forward = camera.transform.forward.NoY().normalized; Vector3 right = camera.transform.right.NoY().normalized;

if (recallresult == ERecallType.eCircle) { // -- set positions in a circle float angle = 0f; float angleinc = (Mathf.PI * 2.0f) / (float)slimes.Count; foreach (PlayerSlimeRoot slimeroot in slimes) { // -- reset local pos on root slimeroot.SetTargetLocalPosition(Vector3.zero);

// -- set angle to target instead Vector3 lpos = right * Mathf.Cos(angle) + forward * Mathf.Sin(angle); slimeroot.Slime.BeginRecall(slimetarget + lpos); angle += angleinc; } } else if(recallresult == ERecallType.eLineForward || recallresult == ERecallType.eLineSideways) { Vector3 linedir = recallresult == ERecallType.eLineForward ? forward : right;

// all in one line float estdistance = slimemasstotal * kOneMassToRadius * 2.0f; float curdistance = -estdistance / 2.0f; foreach (PlayerSlimeRoot slimeroot in slimes) { // -- reset local pos on root slimeroot.SetTargetLocalPosition(Vector3.zero);

// -- set angle to target instead Vector3 lpos = curdistance * linedir; slimeroot.Slime.BeginRecall(slimetarget + lpos);

curdistance += slimeroot.Slime.Mass * kOneMassToRadius * 2.0f; } } } } } ```

william-corrin 2024-10-14 03:29

@thatsommes I'm glad you liked it!! Yeah lol, you can split quite a few times, the game starts to behave a little bit weirdly once you have like 16+ and you try to formate them :sob:

daniel-alhadeff 2024-10-18 01:44

That was extremely well done, and polished. Wow.

I was getting Badland (one of my favorite games ever) vibes the entire time. Seriously impressed that you were able to get so much done in 48 hours.

Also, on one run I ran into a similar issue Ramchops. Except I decided to keep splitting by jumping up into the blade... I was able to get my slimes that weren't null ref'd so small the camera had trouble rendering them.

Had a ton of fun playing it, had a ton of fun trying to break it. 10/10

william-corrin 2024-10-18 04:48

@daniel-alhadeff Hell yeah, Badland is an awesome game! I wasn't specifically thinking about it when making this but I totally see how the feeling is similar :grin:

Thank you - and LOL - I should have made some kind of achievement for getting a crazy amount of slimes, like 50 or something, if I had known people would try to break it so much :laughing:

Cheers!