Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → anarbitrarymustache
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 38 | A Small World | Small Kingdoms | compo | 410 | 2.96 | 2.76 | 2.64 | 3.04 | 3.72 | 2.66 | 2.36 | 2.83 | ||
| 2015 | 34 | Two Button Controls / Growing | The Cube of Zanigriv | compo | 377 | 3.36 | 2.68 | 3.43 | 3.79 | 4.45 | 3.83 | 2.24 | 3.51 | 68 | |
| 2015 | 33 | You are the Monster | Pushy Monster | jam | 564 | 3.17 | 3.33 | 3.30 | 3.30 | 3.92 | 3.04 | 3.52 | 42 |
I really like the AI on the lumber jacks - the the rock trajectory wasn't too predictable. Though I wanted the player movement to be a little faster, it felt very much like a large lumbering woodland troll, and added to the difficulty. Great job. I like the way the lumber jacks collect around the fallen troll in the end.
Nice premise and execution. Loved the laugh.
Liked the visuals and "auditory experience". Controls need some work.
Loved the visuals.
Great interpretation of the theme. Loved the visuals. The controls need to be tighter, maybe consider snapping the movable pieces to a grid to allow for easier/predictable sliding/placement .
My family thinks I'm crazy with the noises coming out of my office. I had fun just playing around with my "monster" voice. Most unique/original experience so far.
Great interpretation of the theme. The game mechanics are well executed too for just 48 hours.
I like the concept. Took me two tries to get a decent production going (never got past creeps on my first try). Some thoughts if you plan to continue the idea: I think some more visual queues for the connections would help. Also it appeared each factory could only produce a set number of units. Displaying the remaining count would help planning/management. Or remove the count and make it resource based, so you have a single pool of "blank" monsters. So if the pool is empty, your factories aren't producing. That adds another building type to increase the rate your "blanks" generate. Basically something else to spend money on. Need to communicate the reason for losing (or about to lose) a contract better. Also, the ability to re-connect a factory to a different game if the contract is lost would be nice too. Good job on the idea.
I now wish I had just called it "Pushy Monster".
@Team Klappermann - thanks for pointing out about the sound rating. I didn't really catch that when submitting. Made the change.
@Aelius - time ended up being the main reason. I ended up trying to change some game mechanics near the end of the compo and had it so broken within the last hour that I gave up, thinking the extra day would allow me to get it working smoother and finish out the rest of the levels. Unfortunately I was only able to put a few hours in on Monday, so the game wasn't really any better off. I think I will have a much better approach for the next LD.
Have had a busy week, so I haven't looked at my code since my submission. Finally sat down to take a look at the "R" bug this morning - took less than 10 mins to fix. It's easy when you aren't running around panicked. I now wish I had fixed it sooner. Pressing "R" when the player is already out of the room will no longer freeze the game; at least within the conditions I tested ;)
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I had a good laugh at the crying sound-effect. There were also a couple times I got caught when I was in the back of the closet (pretty sure out of sight).
I loved the visuals. The textures had a great retro aesthetic. The controls for jumping and climbing didn't feel consistent. There would be times it would respond exactly how I thought they should and others times where I could not get him to stick to the walls. I didn't mind the camera perspective. Added to the feel of being a small, creeping alien. The human AI, could benefit from some line of sight. They seem to just know when you are in their radius and start homing in (even though they aren't in line of sight, so you haven't seen them). Like someone else had mentioned - a footstep sound effect for the humans would be nice. Overall, great job.
Good game. I liked the the player would hit the blocks the reveal the contents, but it would have been nice if he could have picked them up as well (adding the the feel that he's the "hero" of the game playing through). I think it would have been nice if the meat replenished life as well. The hero AI on the platforms and combat was really good. Great job.
Great job! I played the compo entry and can see why you'd make keyboard camera control. The camera control was my only complaint.
Enjoyed the graphics and music. Loved the text and different labels for each "score" between levels. The "attack" sound effect seemed too loud in my headphones.
Great art. Liked the concept. I too wasn't sure about why the hearts were changing. It appears you were supposed to find something for each of the "in need" villagers, and when you didn't you lost a heart maybe? That could have been clearer.
I enjoyed this as well. The simplicity just made it fun. I felt the timing and speed difference in the bunnies as you play added some nice difficulty. I had to play in fullscreen though; couldn't keep the cursor in that small window otherwise. Good job.
Like the concept. Really enjoyed the art. I couldn't play the web version. It loaded up all the way and then just sat there. Probably an issue with me (or browser - Chrome), but thought I'd mention anyway. Playing the windows build, the deathbook was halfway off the screen. If I pressed alt-Enter to go to window mode and then pressed it again to go back to full, it moved to the correct spot. Great job.
This is one of my top plays so far. Love the sound effects. They are perfect. Great arcade fun. Simple use of the two buttons. Just works. Great entry.
Great loop for the two button controls. It just works. Liked the look (would have desired something other than a "cube" for the protagonist), the sounds, animations and effects were all nicely done. Great entry.
This was more satisfying then it probably should have been. I love the graphics and the water running in the background was a nice touch. Maybe you could have had the zits grow and the goal is to get to them before they pop on their own. Nice job for only 6 hours.
A great start. I had the same issue of posting a "demo" for LD33 - didn't have enough time to make levels.
Great look and great execution. I initially wanted to do a rhythm game for my entry. Unfortunately, lacking a music background, it did not seem a good fit. You had no problem pulling it off though.
I noticed you don't seem to check for the wrong key, just whether or not the correct key was pressed. I found you could press both keys to the timing and not be penalized. Great entry though.
It's a nice entry. Liked the art. Wasn't a fan of the inverted controls, though I adjusted pretty quickly.
Overall, I liked the idea and the execution. Unfortunately, I had to play it by myself. However that did leads to some fun new challenges I created for myself.
I like the look and feel. It seemed intuitive at first. I combine numbers to create stacks, and then If I moved a stack into a light with a matching number I'd move on to the next level? But then I wasn't sure if I was advancing or just teleporting elsewhere (and if that was a bad or good thing). Pressing spacebar didn't do anything for me and the controls didn't seem to work in fullscreen mode. I still like the idea, it feels like with a little more work it would be a game I'd easily find myself playing.
Great use of the theme. I found myself playing this much longer than I had intended. Personally, I would have liked to see some failure conditions. You make mention of an office "breaking" in the tutorial, but since workers never seem to leave, that isn't really a problem.
Great artwork. The user interface looks really nice and polished. Agree with some of the others, could have used some music. The penalty for not totaling the enemy's defense didn't seem to work the same way the tutorial explained - or maybe I just misunderstood.
I will never come up with anything as witty as "Row, row, Row your goat." The controls definitely take some getting used to, but I feel like the boat/goat handles exactly as it would/should. Looks great!
Really hard. Loved the graphics and the sounds are great. I'm particularly found of the menu graphics with the snack conveyor belt. I didn't like how often I'd get stuck on a couch and there were a couple close together that looked like i could get through, but wouldn't fit. Also, I think the end tables need more contrast if they are going to block movement. Fun challenge though.
I like what you were doing with the handcrafted artwork. Creates an interesting atmosphere/world. The controls didn't handle as well as I would have liked. Made platforming difficult in parts. Really liked the music. Great job.
Nice job. I'm a fan of the choose your own adventure game style. If there aren't going to be visuals, I'd suggest more detail of each room/surroundings. Also, a couple of the branches get stuck in endless loops. They should really allow you to either back fully out or have an ending.
I really liked the concept. There was a brief learning curve on the controls but they worked just fine. Who knew you could have multi-directional running and jumping with just two buttons? Brilliant!
You really didn't leave much room for error with the timing near the end. Thanks for the checkpoints though - they were the difference between a challenging experience and me rage quitting. Also, I hate you for those last two clam things. The island "growing" sound effect could use some work. Great entry.
Fun to play, great artwork and sound. The background noises were a great touch. I found it so satisfying to just juggle the guys in the air sometimes. Great job.
The crayon art visuals makes for a very unique and creative style. Nice first attempt.
The Windows version wouldn't run, so I used the Web version. I like the idea and especially like that you kept the two button controls through-out, including the menu. The music did start, but eventually just stopped on the web version. I'm assuming that's what you meant above. Liked the look. Didn't like the feel of the jump, the gravity wasn't to my liking - but that's me. overall, great entry.
Great little entry. A little bit of audio would have helped, but it's was still really enjoyable.
@rogual - I agree, the concept is not very intuitive. I think when I got started the concept seemed so simple to me that it wouldn't need an explanation. My final design however did not work that way. Next time.
I tried to clarify the instructions at the top of the description. The fact that I couldn't easily do it in like 3-4 bullets shows just how badly I failed at the overall design. Hope this helps at least a little.
Thank you all for the kind words so far and thanks for playing!
@GagaPete - yeah, the disappearing enemies are annoying. I haven't had a chance to really look into yet, but it appears to only happen on the web version. I'll see if I can find a fix.
I didn't have a second player, so not much of a challenge, but I had fun leveling up my monster and watching him crush the baby egg. Nice twist on the "catch the falling item" mechanic.
Fun little entry. Feels cohesive and pretty polished for just 48 hours. Loved the "cute" style and the "success" and "failure" sound effects were really gratifying. Great job!
Simple but fun idea that fits both themes well. Like the graphics and humor. Nice entry.
Unable to run. "MSVCR120.dll missing". At work right now, so will have to wait till I get home to give it a go.
I'm all for competitive button mashing and local multiplayer! I agree with Jimbly, a little sound would really help. Need to work out the resolution issues as well.
I like the root concept and enjoyed the artwork. I think the "random" aspect could have been better applied to something other than the controls. Also, the screen wrapping was a bit jarring. Had your level size and camera viewport been the same size I don't think it would have been as bad, but having the camera jump from one side doesn't help, especially with the controls contently changing.
And the baby cats are still burning in the forest. Perfect.
Love the idea. The backstory was also a wonderful touch. I felt like the difficulty jumped a lot from medium to hard. I didn't have the patience to finish hard, so I can only imagine Insane. Maybe have the shadow of the tablet adjust based on its distance from the water - would help aiming for the player maybe. Some sound would go a long way too. Great entry.
The snake controls really well. One of the better left-right steering I've played so far. The fluidity in his movement is nice. Fun game play that fits the theme well. Great entry.
Great look and feel. It's a little shameful how long it took me to get past the menu. Cleaver control scheme though. Another ingenious way to use the two-button rule for a platformer. I keep watching your animated GIF above and wonder why I too couldn't "ground pound" with that kind of skill. I couldn't get past the long pit with the two spiders, but loved every minute of trying.
No Mac, so haven't been able to try, but really like the look of the screen grabs. Looks like a good first entry.
I liked the look. Except I think some better cues to distinguish what was a platform and what wasn't would help. The music, though not bad, didn't invoke "Run" to me. Great job for a first entry.
I've always wanted to learn how to make a GB or NES ROM. Great entry.
Great audio and I liked the visuals as well. All of it was very cohesive and felt well put together.
I like all the entries that gave a single button multi-function - probably because I didn't think of it. In this case, I didn't use the change direction very often because I found it easier to just keep going in a loop, but I liked that it was there. If I had to nitpick anything, it would be the title "Synergy" as you aren't really synergizing anything.
I liked the concept and great execution on the assets. The music made me think old Lucas Arts adventure days. Loved the poster designs in the town. A little more precision or ability to aim would have made some of the puzzles a little less frustrating. Great entry!
This was a lot of fun and a great implementation of the two-button theme. Assets were great. It's painful how bad my first attempt was.
Looks interesting. I'll have to see if I can track someone down to test it with.
I really liked the take on the theme. Your music and graphics are a great fit. Nice entry!
I really like your aesthetics. Took me a minute to grasp what I was doing, but after re-reading your instructions, I caught on. It appears the "turns" are real-time? Or at least aren't waiting for my input. When I have a unit selected sometimes their interaction menu will just close and I notice the star light moves.
Really liked the idea and execution! I very quickly found out why you had the "change font" button on the menu - good addition. I noticed a comment above about English not being your native language. There were a couple of the puzzles that could have benefited from improved translation. You should definitely continue to explore and polish this idea.
Your "controls" menu lists "UP ARROW" for jump, but it seems it is actually the space bar.
I liked your pixels and the music. Though, I would suggest removing the music or changing to a jam entry since you didn't actually create it. There is a lot of content here for 48 hours. Designing levels takes time and these are a decent size and not just thrown together - good job.
Some platformer engine suggestions. Try adding a forgiveness timer to your ground check. It allows for the player to jump as close to the edge as possible. Also include an above check. If the player jumps and there is a block above, he wont "float" for a moment while the jump is still trying to push him up.
Really liked this entry! Went into it without reading the spoiler board above - enjoyed figuring out the combinations myself. Music and visuals were exactly what they needed to be. A good amount of levels to enjoy the game play mechanic. I would love to see some more stages, especially with increased difficulty. A "par" or "best" number of moves for each level would be a nice challenge and could add some replay-ability. I ran into the same bug that only allowed one tile, but if I backed out of the stage and then went back in, it seemed to resolve itself. Great entry!
It's like a single player agar.io - which for me was a good thing! Loved the Black Star ("Found you!"). Visuals and audio were perfect. I would have preferred a more fluid camera, with some zooming maybe as you grow. I think it would be interesting to play with some gravity effects - much larger objects pulling in smaller ones. I tried both the web and download (Windows), and they both seemed to perform just fine. Great entry!
Nice entry. The visuals and music were great. I loved the setup to have the player "discover" the main mechanic. Would love to see more levels and what kind of mechanic evolution you could come up with.
Great amount of game for only a weekend. Love the tiny pixels. What were the objects near the monsters that could be cleared? At first I thought maybe spawners. The monsters on the lower left always seemed to just "stack" up on the left edge. Would love to see maybe increased spawns as the town gets bigger or a second threat as time goes by - something to force a change of strategy. Having the building cursor actually align with where it will place would be a nice fix. Great entry, would love to see more.
Had a lot of fun trying to build out my world. I've still got a ways to go to reach that record. Could really see this expanded into a multi-level game. Each level the size of the board changes with a goal - like "build two markets" or "build 2 of X, but on more than 1 X". Great entry!
I filled the dome! Really liked the graphics and music. I felt the gravity was too strong (didn't feel like space). There didn't appear to be a terminal velocity - this led to death as it also appears you do not collide with the ground if falling faster than a certain speed. Possibly intentional, but if not maybe put a check for a max velocity.
The music was perfect ambiance for this type of game. I'm guessing I did something out of order at the end. I pressed the button and got the "NO FUEL" message and was then taken to a "cut scene" that didn't do anything. None of the controls seemed to advance or allow me back to the player character. Had fun trying to escape.
Love the visuals. If I could make a suggestion, maybe more contrast or some sort of differentiation between tiles you can interact with (platforms, ladders, etc). Maybe play around with a different gravity when outside.
The theme song was strangely addicting. I really enjoyed the over all feel/look - music combined with your palette. I agree with @avant, movement speed was the first thing that jumped out at me as needing to be increased. Or possibly shrink map so that the distances are shorter to travel. I also felt the dialogue boxes should close when finished. This might just be me, but I found myself waiting a few times and then realized I just needed to walk away.
It's funny that you found my game first, because you were on my "to play" list because I saw hex tiles in your pics :wink:
Fun idea. I couldn't solve the second puzzle with the ball and the blue field that destroyed it :(
The hit boxes for the shrink and expand pads (or maybe it's the player after changing sizes) could use some tweaking. I notice after shrinking the world, it's tricky to line the player up on the same pad to use it again.
I enjoyed the visuals (love the pink dudes) and the music (world 2 in particular). I would have preferred variable height jumping. The rest of the controls felt pretty good. I understood what you were doing with world two and the "sneaky" depth, but I think there needs to be just a little more contrast between the depths. In it's current form it feels more cheap than "oh, i should have been paying closer attention". A lot of content for 48 hours - great entry!
Thanks everyone for the feed back! I completely agree about the AI. You can add "coding a well balanced AI opponent in 4 hours" to my list of Ludum Dare bad ideas :wink:
@homineludens - random objects on the field was actually the next item on my "nice-to-have" list.
@joyfired - you have no idea how infuriating that "flash" was/is to me. I did look into it briefly, but because it was a non-game-breaking glitch, it ended up way down on my priorities list (it took everything in my power not to waste 2+ hours trying to fix it)
@huvaakoodia & @elzach - thanks for the feedback. There are dice rolls in the background! It's funny how I take the rules for granted because they are obvious to me since I programmed them :confounded:
Here is a ~~quick~~ rundown of how they work: * attack value is the combined total of all controlled tiles * the attack value determines how many dice are rolled, the highest two rolls are used * the tile "control" (number on flag) determines how many defense die are used, again only top 2 are used * if an opposing hero is occupying the tile you are attacking, +1 is added to the roll (it's actually the opponents level added to the dice roll, but because I never finished the leveling up system, it's always 1) * if the attack roll is greater than the def roll, then -1 to the tile control * if an opposing hero is occupying the tile, -1 to his life and the opponent is "bounced" back (unless his life drops below 1, which he is then killed - waiting to spawn at their base) * if the tile control drops below 1, then the attacking hero "takes" the tile * if the attack roll is more than 2 times the defense roll - critical hit! This deals 2 damage to both the tile and opponent hero if applicable. If this takes the tile then you start with a tile control of 2 instead of 1. * if the attack roll is less than the def roll, then -1 to the attacking hero * if the attack roll and the def roll are the same, nothing happens - this was a by-product of not knowing exactly how to handle this and it unfortunately stayed blank (this may appear as a bug when it happens, but is just incomplete design)
Hmmm. It wouldn't let me upload an image in my previous comment, nor this one. If you look at the first gif in the below link, you can see that I actually showed the dice rolls in my earlier build. I wanted to display some sort of number exchange during combat (not necessarily the dice), but didn't finish before the end.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/small-kingdoms-1/quick-update-before-bed
Just a heads up in case it isn't me. I can't seem to download from itch.io. Keep getting a file can't be downloaded error. Have tried in 3 different browsers and don't seem to have any problems with other titles.
Loved the pixels and music. I really liked the slide mechanic with the pillars. It was unfortunately tricky for me because my left hand is in a brace. I tried using my right hand, which felt weird on that end of the keyboard. None of that is a reflection on your game, just my own commentary. How is the direction determined when changing pillars? Is it just random? I noticed I never seemed to go past the forth; would always end up rotating between one through four. Or is it kind of difficulty/skill related and I just never made it far enough? Great entry!
Oh, and I had the same problem closing out the game but discovered that Escape would work to exit.
After pressing start from the menu:
*FATAL ERROR in action number 1 of Step Event0 for object obj_reticle:*
*invalid type for -= lhs=undefined (type=5), rhs=undefined (type=5)*
*called from - gml_Object_obj_reticle_Step_0 (line 5)*
As your post says, you didn't finish, but I love the start! Hope to see more.
This ended up being so much more difficult than I thought. I enjoyed the idea though. Maybe fewer intersections on the map or more forgiveness on when you can instruct a person to turn could help with the difficulty.