mappel6

Year	LD	Theme		Game	Division	Rank	Ov	Fu	In	Th	Hu	Mo	Co
2015	34	Two Button Controls / Growing		Omega Arena	jam	455	3.38	2.96	2.22	2.32	1.88	3.05	52

Clara Stirzaker and the Crypt of Time by vidarn 2015-12-18T21:22:00

Seemed pretty fun at first. Still a hard puzzler, and one that one day I may find myself hard-pressed to beat. But as for now, it's got a combination of fast-pacing and slow-pacing that I really don't like.

I must admit, it's really polished though. I like that, and the graphics are amazing. The gameplay is simple, but again, the pacing is off. I'd like it more if there was at least an option to have the game advance one turn at a time, perhaps by pressing a button, because, to me, it's hard to keep track with all that's going on a few levels down.

So yeah, that's what I think.

Two Buttons by ahnt 2015-12-19T02:15:00

Nice art, nice gameplay! Fun little infinite runner, but it does have some bugs I'd like to address.

One, grabbing spools of thread will sometimes cause you to stop for a short period of time. Two, shielding while falling and landing at the edge of a platform, when two enemies hit you (that's what happened to me, anyways) forces you to stop in your tracks, and you won't start running again. At all. It made me stop, which then made me write this review.

Other than that, it's pretty fun. And, nice themeception there. :D

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-15T07:34:00

*flips the nearest table*

I used the wrong script call. Knew I shouldn't have rushed the game out. This has gone on my mistakes to remember list.

I'm rolling out v1.0.1 right now, and it'll be uploaded as soon as my computer starts to cooperate. Thanks for reporting this to me.

To future players: If the download link does not say "Omega Arena v1.0.1.zip" then it is the broken version. Do not play that one. The new one will be uploaded in a few minutes.

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-16T06:29:00

@ninjascript, RPG Maker MV, with it heavily relying on Yanfly Engine Plugins.

A lot of the art and effects came with the engine, but, in a few cases (such as Zantetsuken, if you've gotten that far, or some boss skills) are effects that I either mashed together from other effects, made slight alterations to other effects, or for Zantetsuken, made it myself.

The characters were randomly generated from within RPG Maker MV, with slight alterations after, and their classes were based off appearance. I made Johnathon an Engineer because he looked like a military engineer to me.

So yeah, I guess this just goes to show how powerful the newest RPG Maker (with plugins, of course) can actually be!

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-16T22:41:00

It only uses one of the themes, but which one should be relatively obvious if you think about it. :D

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-16T22:46:00

NOTE: I changed my name from mappel6 to Masuno to be more consistent with what's in game.

Just in case that causes confusion.

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-18T04:10:00

A bug has been reported with the final boss. I am rolling out a fix to it right now.

Please give it a moment. The bug fix should say "Omega Arena v1.0.2.zip" when complete.

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-18T22:53:00

@lawendt This has a lot of premade assets--all stuff in the scope of the Jam. It was mainly a lot of plugins that facilitated the process (and a couple that, in the end, just complicated things and caused bugs! D:) I put everything together within the 72 hours, starting the new project on livestream shortly after Ludum Dare began. Approximately 8:10 PM CST, if I remember correctly. While credits were given where credits are due, they were all premade and free-to-use assets. In the end, I put it all together on livestream within the 72 hours. You can see some of the later streams at http://www.twitch.tv/psimarth23/, as well as a couple of silly gameplayings I did after *cough undertale cough* :D

@Xgor, The 3-4 second animations is probably the product of lag. Lag is a huge problem with the engine that I used for this, since it is very resource-heavy on its own. It's nothing I can control--some computers just play it better and faster, though.

@Hot Box Games, thanks! It really means a lot, seeing as this was my first complete game. I'll do my best to keep this up!

I've found out a problem with the game--mainly, that the maximum level is not enforced. The maximum level is supposed to be 20, and the game is supposed to be very hard in the end. The new update (v1.0.3) will enforce the Level 20 cap.

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-20T19:27:00

@brandloose, originally, I planned to have each boss have a pre-fight monologue explaining more about the Arena and how they got there. However, in the end, setting everything up, all the weapons, animations, skills, and what-not, took most of the 72 hours. I didn't really have time to put all the story I had planned in. However, that's what PostLD is for, huh? :D

@TheMonsterFromTheDeep, I realized that much a bit too late. I wanted to throw some music in, but I'd been a bit burned out, so I didn't have enough motivation to go through the entire library of music that comes with the software (it's more than you might think) and put some fitting music in.

@lawendt, It's Masuno. :P But, thanks! I'm glad to know you enjoyed it.

@Anshul Goyal, When I started the project, I thought I'd give the explanation, but for some reason thought it'd be better to explain after the choice was made, and give them a chance to turn back. Obviously, that wasn't better, so after everything's done, I'll probably go back and throw a lot more polish and user-friendliness on it.

As for the acronyms, I'll probably throw in an NPC after LD, but here's a quick explanation:

AP stands for Arena Points, which serves as a kind of currency. The more enemies you defeat in the arena, the more the arena attendants are willing to do for you. They aren't a tangible currency--just a kind of system that lets the arena attendants know you're worth giving better stuff to. :D
HP is, of course, Hit Points/Health Points.
MP, of course, Mana/Magic Points, used for spells.
TP is the one that's gathered the most confusion, for some reason. It stands for Technical Points, and is gathered in battle. It's reset every time a battle endss, and randomizes (though the software controls that, and i'm not entirely sure of the algorithm or maximum) at the beginning of every battle. Everyone requires it for the Ultimate Skills they get at level 15, but Max also uses it for his Rally and Blade skills, as a kind of anti-spam control.

All of this will be explained by an NPC after LD's voting phase is done, but here's that quick explanation for now. :D

Omega Arena by Masuno 2015-12-28T02:16:00

@Christina, it is possible, even if that means some grinding and strategy in item use might be necessary. That doesn't mean that, even without item restrictions, I've actually beaten the game, but I know some who have.

The items are definitely expensive and prices need some balancing. I didn't have true "standards" when creating items like I did for spells and abilities--which is why some items are ridiculously more efficient than others.

As for the healing... well, I'll have to see if I can make the script take a fractional price. I didn't want the healing to be that ridiculous, but I also didn't want it to be "pay 10 AP for limitless healing" either. I wanted costs to grow as the game went on--which is why I used that script.

As for innovation, well, I wasn't really aiming for any innovation in particular. If I can put some in on terms of innovation, then I will.

Space Wars (browser game) by AntonyBaasan 2015-12-16T06:06:00

Honestly, not much to do here. Just your regular old building sim. It has some potential, I'll give it that, but in this state, it's not something I'll be playing much.

By the way: When you collect Minerals, it says 'Stone' in the popup, and when you collect Energy, it says 'Wood' in the popup. You might wanna fix it if you can so it doesn't look entirely like it was built on a template. :D

In the beginning by Liam :D 2015-12-16T06:52:00

Pretty decent game, though I'm afraid I'm gonna have to order the seed of animal life now. XD

Keep working on it is my suggestion. This can be a nice, entertaining web game. Maybe, if it got more on the gameplay side, it could *grow* past that, too.

OVERGROWN . UNDERFED by Almax27 2015-12-21T02:38:00

Good start, but just a start to me. It's kinda boring without a goal, and I feel as if the enemies were a bit too powerful. Still, with some work, this could be better.

The aesthetic's very nice, I'll give you that. But games are not all aesthetic.

Let's Grow Mr. Bubbo by tigerrenko 2015-12-21T00:31:00

Sweet, a Ren'Py game.

Although there's not much to it, I'm sure that this was a learning experience for you, and I think it's a wonderful story behind it. I'm sure that this little story can go a long way in the long run.

Two Button Takeover by fauge 2015-12-19T02:21:00

Uh... huh. So, that's a thing.

What exactly does pressing H do, anyways?

I'd like to say this is an interesting concept, and that it has a good chance of, with some work, being a much better game, but as for now... not so much.

I wanna see where this goes, but I don't think highly of it at all at the moment.

Top Secret Tamagotchi by razzle_dazzle 2015-12-18T20:55:00

It's kinda confusing, but still pretty fun at the same time. It confused me why some creatures with yellow bodies had no electro resistance, why the resistance boosters never seemed to actually boost resistances, and stuff like that, but I'm sure that if I managed to figure it out, it'd be a lot more fun.

Forklift Man by Davision 2015-12-18T19:53:00

I... uh...

what.

net_forget by Os_Reboot 2015-12-16T06:41:00

Wow. This is nice.

Simple and effective, that's all I have to say about this one. The puzzles are interesting and--while they can be bruteforced--it's much more enjoyable if you pay close attention and solve the puzzles like they're meant to be solved.

I think there could be some background music, though. Maybe something ominous to make it feel like the work is very important, and if you fail, then it really is game over for you.

You, sir, just earned 4 stars and a follower on Twitter. Keep it up.

Fellowship by TheMonsterFromTheDeep 2015-12-19T02:34:00

Pretty fun, but yeah, it's hard. I thought the pacing was alright, but I didn't like how small the targets are. When it comes to needing fast-paced action, requiring precision, especially early in a such a game, is not quite... welcoming to a player.

I'd suggest either making the allowed click area for the targets to be a bit bigger, or doing something to be a bit more player friendly in the early game.

I also couldn't give you a high score in the Theme. Why...?

BECAUSE THERE WAS ONLY ONE BUTTON!!!

...Either way, it's a good game, even if it's really unnecessarily hard, and I didn't let the theme screwup (Though, I must say. I didn't catch when it said "One button control," nor have I seen anything relating to that.) affect the overall score in any way. Keep it up.

Fight Back! by ChaosCult 2015-12-18T21:08:00

This is one of those games that I do not quite know why it's so good.

Very short (i think), but very fun and with a nice difficulty curve. You're forced to pay close attention before long. Very nice!

Burger Run by Warxen 2015-12-21T00:12:00

What.
Did.
I.
Just.
Play.

P.S. A way to exit the game from the "You Lose" screen would be nice. Unless I just missed out on something. :D

TAMAGROW by gibrel 2015-12-21T00:06:00

It was kinda nice, but I couldn't quite understand what I was doing. Some visual feedback would be very nice. Maybe a check or X over the option when you press the button until it fades away would be nice, too.

Nybble Nybble by Hybrog 2015-12-20T23:59:00

This is a very nice challenge, but I do not have the patience (nor the Coolness) to try more than a few times... right now. It's gonna stay on my desktop for now though. I'll get much further next time. Promise. >.> <.<

リーソンのゲーム Leeson's Game by Leeson 2015-12-19T01:54:00

This is interesting. And possibly the most entertaining arcade game I've played in recent days. It's minimalistic, but that's why I think it's so good.

This is perhaps one of the few games that really doesn't need anything done to it. I like the difficulty, I like the gameplay, and it's just really addictive.

And, yes. That is how you would write Leeson's Game in Japanese. :D

I got to 50 on my first try, but didn't really bother to try again since I have games to play and critiques to make. You know how it is! But I'm sure that someone like you can end up making even more interesting ideas like this.

Robopocalypse by windwarrior 2015-12-21T02:59:00

I can see this becoming a very interesting resource management sim.

@windwarrior, if you plan to expand on this, perhaps you can make this into a kind of educational (god, why'd that word take so long to get to me) game. Maybe it could be used to teach people binary (maybe, instead of giving us a command list, it could be, "to mine stone, you need a binary value equalling 5 in decimal), or, perhaps, basic programming. Maybe even BASIC programming. Ha. Programming puns are the best.

In its current state, though, it's very understandably lackluster... even if it is fun for a bit. I'd really look into making this bigger and better.

Farm by brandloose 2015-12-17T04:37:00

Pretty fun little game! Could do with a bit of background music.

Everyone: To avoid text overlap (except at one specific point) then wait for the text to finish showing up before you press either button.

My high score is 530. Try to beat it. :D

Sweep The World by Shrub 2015-12-21T03:06:00

I don't quite understand what's going on. My brooms seemed to spawn within the trash, and I wasn't able to clean any of the trash... Like, at all.

Still, was a good attempt at a first game with only two buttons. Better luck next time, is all I can say.

1minuteBaby by jeroenwimmers 2015-12-23T01:36:00

This is pretty nice, though I must say that it's very strange. I love how you really don't have time to put everything to max, so you gotta think in what order you wanna grow...

I'd like to see a version of this that goes to show, based on the stats, part of the child's life. Just like a little story would do the trick, so we know how we affect the child. :D

Hijinks High: Orientation (Ludum Dare 34 Edition) by cjmarchione 2015-12-16T01:46:00

Pretty fun, I like it. Though I can't quite figure out what to do in the secretary's room at the beginning. I know it involves the mail slot, but I can't quite seem to do anything to it. Could I get a hint on that?

Astro Cat Saga by Astro Cat 2015-12-16T21:41:00

Cats. Bombs. Space.

In theory, pretty good--but this still has a lot of bugs that keeps it from being fun to me. It fits the theme well, but I've seen this kinda gameplay before. It's nothing new. But it does throw a unique spin on it--the character is always moving, and you have to use the box to send it how you wanna go. So, once again--this can work well, with some work.

By the way. There's a glitch where the cat can randomly float through the box while it's turning, which instantly leads to Game Over. This should probably be fixed.

Fight Boý by ssodelta 2015-12-18T20:05:00

This... is odd. I can see it being fun for a while, yet it seems like it'll get stale before long. But it's really hard, too.

Either way, my scores added up to give it 4/5, so despite my worries for this game, it's pretty good. I think it can be extended (add some bosses, some enemies that take multiple hits to take down? :D) to make a pretty good arcade-style web fighting game.

Jump kicks are too powerful, though, and punches a bit too unwieldy for me to use. I'm able to take down a bunch of enemies using just the jump kicks, and didn't feel a need to use punches at all. It makes the game seem too easy--and in fact it was my attempts to punch (and enemies pulling combos on me) that made it seem hard.

I really don't know what to think of this, in the end. D:

War... by Lapiroxx 2015-12-23T01:47:00

This is a no-win game with a stronger message and darker mood than most games I've ever played. And this was made within 72 hours.

I love it.

White Rose by Kenneth Ng 2015-12-16T06:22:00

My god the graphics.

Too bad the rest of the game is kinda lacking, but it could definitely be something big in the long haul. All this has been said before, but some variation in the fighting--some stronger enemies, some combo finishers, something that just keeps the player from attacking over and over again which can perhaps be combined with the combo finishers--will go a long way.

I'm not sure if you were going for just Growing or both Two Button Controls and Growing, but I didn't see a lot of the theme outside of the "Stop the darkness from growing." I don't really see the arrow keys and one other button as Two Button Controls though.

Was kinda fun, but I don't think it would keep me occupied for a while in its current state. As for mood, I kinda was thinking of giving a 4, but it didn't quite feel there for me. I think that, for the kind of game you were going for, it's a little... light-hearted, maybe?

Suggestion: Add a rhythm element to the game, since the music is important. Maybe make it to where the player can only attack to the rhythm of the song they chose, and have a rhythm indicator near the top of the screen so they know when to attack?

All-in-all, I think this could go far. But let me return to that beginning statement.

My god the graphics.

Scroll Bars by Scipio Xaos 2015-12-21T00:02:00

And it looked so simple, too.

Masuno

Games

Performance over time

Scatterplots

Fun vs Overall

Innovation vs Overall

Theme vs Overall

Humor vs Overall

Mood vs Overall

Comments by Masuno

LD34 — Two Button Controls / Growing