Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → mintman
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Cm | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 20 | It's Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This! | Armageddon Moochery | compo | 112 | 3.09 | 2.79 | 3.55 | 2.75 | 2.97 | 2.39 | 3.53 | 2.43 | 6 |
Neat little game. I like the idea. Throwing items felt a little weird - like they should have released faster, and after pressing shift five times my sticky keys manager thing came up - I'd probably avoid that key, it felt kind of awkward. The puzzles were good.
Great work! Very nice graphics: the filters and eerie lighting are a nice touch, and the animations are pretty solid. Sound is solid. I like the gameplay idea.
On the other hand, the game can get kind of frustrating. It felt I was walking too slowly, and that I had to be very precise with my aim. The game could have benefited from some music. Some more downtime so I'm not constantly shooting (unless it's like, the final run back to the ship) would be cool too.
Even with the flaws, it is the best game I've played so far.
Sucks about the bugs. I like the way you took the theme, and it would have been neat to see a complete and polished execution of the idea - though any strongly content-based games are hard to make in 48 hours. I call it content-based because, in my opinion, it needs many levels and monsters to feel complete.
That being said, the scrolling text works well, and the graphics are functional. The health bars on the fight screen are a little ambiguous, and a more polished game would have that a bit cleaned up.
Like the way you took the theme. It gave me a few laughs - they may be lost on some people who aren't familiar with the reference material. Some more graphical and menu polish and some music would go a long way.
Good job.
Cool little game with excellent graphics.
The gameplay needs a bit of tweaking - some AI would make it more exciting - as it is, it felt like a bit of a chore to keep circling around to kill the turrets. Perhaps the slow nature of the game fits with the story better, but weaker turrets with longer levels could help pace the player's sense of accomplishment. It also felt weird that I couldn't turn when idle - it felt like I was driving a car rather than piloting a space craft.
(Some minor story spoilers follow)
I thought the story was neat, and I appreciated that it was trying to be subtle. It wasn't clear enough that I could totally fill in the blanks, but I got the lovers torn apart by war idea.
It didn't really work as a motivator for me though. Perhaps because it felt too deliberate in it's attempt to create mystery - just a load of mysterious text that all points at something, but I didn't know who the characters were who were talking and felt little connection to them. It also sounded like a memory, so I felt like I had no ability to change the outcome, and was just grinding through to get a smaller piece of the puzzle. At least it wasn't as frustrating as watching LOST across the six years it took for them to finish the damn story. XD
(/Spoiler)
All in all, good graphics and promising gameplay. Neat story idea that could have been executed a little better.
Good game. Very well polished and put together. One of the most "complete" feeling games I've played.
I like adding the direction you're facing as a gameplay factor to a platformer.
Starting at the beginning of a level after dying is kind of a bummer. I tried to destroy a spike block by jumping up into it after getting the spike on my helmet, but it ended up killing me, and it sucked to be thrown back to the beginning of the level. Wall climbing with the headspike is tricky.
Very clean graphics. Nice sounds. Music is a good addition, if a little repetitive.
Great work!
Holy balls - this *is* tough.
I like the idea, taking control of the enemy - the connection to the theme wasn't clear though. It has a good in-game tutorial, but there is an extreme learning curve, and, like you've said, it needs to be balanced.
I think the multitasking nature of the game needs to be streamlined - there's a ton going on right now, it would be nice if there was a solid interface for starting research or switching control.
OR, you could simplify and focus the gameplay drastically by removing the switching-control action - the unique gameplay idea is something like a twist on a reverse-tower defense where you take control of enemy towers and stop them from hitting your dudes - or something - whatever. Point is, having all the abilities and verbs focussed on affecting the enemy would give the player a clearer metal model of what's going on.
Anyway, cool idea.
Stellar, if totally depressing game. If you can find a solution for the jumpy camera, the platforming would benefit from it. Maybe just make sure leaps can be started and completed on one screen? Awesome awesome awesome anyway.
Liked the basic platforming elements, but it was almost too simple. First game I've played with music. In Ludum Dare 20, not like, ever - that would be silly. Liked how the theme played into the story, and how the story was used as a motivator. Would have liked a more epic finale.
Fits into the theme well - I really like the idea of using an enemy as bait - it's like it's dangerous to go alone, but take this thing that could potentially kill you if you aren't careful. I would like to see a better execution of the idea in the future. Graphics are functional. Controlling with the mouse is kind of weird, and when the wolf ate the rabbit on level two, the game froze for me though.
Nice work on getting it done in 7 hours, though.
I really like the mouse controls to swing your sword, it's a neat twist - but it kind of works against the narrow corridors of the environment you picked. It would be cool to have the ability to do other mouse gestures to perform like... spells or something. Maybe apply this mechanic to a totally different environment, even if it's more abstract.
I liked how you played with the theme - am I wrong to read a subtext about gun control here?
Gameplay is kinda neat, and with some polish you basically have Super Box Crate. Anyway, the graphics are a little more complicated than they need to be, and I found them a little distracting. Games on here rarely have any music, so that's a plus.
Neat game.
I like the cooperative concept as far as the theme goes. The levels didn't really play into that aspect - Why am I bringing a buddy? - although that might be partially by design, such that a single person could judge the game. That being said having at least some non-trivial puzzle for each level would have gone a long way.
There is actually a bit of a strategy to it, but I'll admit it isn't very clear on the first few playthroughs - each person gives items of varying qualities. Poor people will give you something like a comb or a pat on the back, and rich people might give crowns or a golden staff. I think since there isn't a wealth counter, this isn't apparent - I wanted to add a wealth counter, but ran out of time. Thanks for all the input - I might revisit this idea in the future.
Interesting idea on the user controlled tower defense. The graphics are functional. Next time it would be cool to a stronger connection to the theme, either through the story, or through the gameplay.
Nice visuals. Gameplay idea is pretty neat. There wasn't much of a connection to the theme though. Could have used some tweaking on the platforming controls - I got a little bit frustrated figuring out when to jump with my dude being all slidy.
I think this game could go somewhere with some polish.
I like the spin on the classic helicopter game (or whatever it is). The twisting frame makes it challenging - which is good. Not sure if it's just me, or if you just copied a template index.html, but I didn't hear any music, even though the keys listed include "M" for music. With some interface polish, some music, and better graphics this could be great!