Expendabots by dalbinblue 2021-09-28T22:51:23Z
I made it to level 13, but I ran out of time before I figured it out. I like this game!
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → The Lame Brain
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 55 | Summoning | Lonely Hearts Demonology Club | compo | 337 | 2.71 | 2.63 | 3.07 | 3.84 | 2.44 | 2.73 | 2.97 | ||
| 2021 | 49 | Unstable | The Madness of Larry Donovan | compo | 465 | 3.01 | 2.70 | 2.59 | 2.92 | 2.52 | 3.25 | 2.37 | 3.76 |
I made it to level 13, but I ran out of time before I figured it out. I like this game!
Well written. I have a theory that you and your party are not what you think you are.
@zarkonnen You should totally add that as an ending! It turns out that your party are actually mimics, but as part of being mimics you also have mimic-memories from the original party.
Thank you so much for this game! I love the fact that brewing is a minigame and not a reflex test!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I didn't have much luck. I tried to talk to someone, but nothing seemed to happen except that I could no longer move.
I restarted, explored buildings until I found a gun, then murdered the next person I saw. Put up a good fight! I almost died!
I went to pick up their gun, but instead grabbed their dead body. So I dragged it down the street, and nobody seemed to care.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Captain: "ENSIGN! EMULSIFY THE QUANTUM FLOW RATE!"
Me: "Uh, yes sir. That totally makes sense and is not made up at all. Sir. I will do... that."
Made it up to where there were 5 sliders, and then I couldn't quite match the wave form.
This is... Brilliant. The game I have always wanted to play. I just wish that I had a tablet so I could control it on a touch screen... and that you had the ICARS button press sound when you press a button.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/warp-engineer-simulator
Crazy Awesome!
Feels great. Nice juicy animations and great sound.
I don't quite get how to split the elements, but that is a very clever mechanic.
I love word games!
Cheers!
-LB
Not sure what I was doing wrong, but I couldn't make the game work. :cry: Guns wouldn't shoot, and I have no idea what I am doing with the power controls.
Really need a tutorial, or a instructional video.
Music is really nice!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Very well done!
It took me a while to figure out that I can apply the buttons slowly and that is how I avoid cracking the ice.
The mantra for me is: "Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast." (I didn't get very far, so free feel to disregard my advice! :smile: )
EXCELLENT sound effects, but a little repetitive. The ice cracking was especially perfect.
Cheers!
-LB
I really like this game!
I do have some feedback: 1. Buttons to scroll the screen back and forth. I have two monitors, so it was really easy to move the mouse too far to the right and the scrolling would stop until I moved my mouse back, and also, on some of the mini-games (the one with the joystick) it is too easy to pan the screen away from the game when trying to control the diamond-thing.
2. On day four, the reactor melted down and I am not sure why. I moved teh diamond away from the arrows, I emptied the jooce cup, I filled the fuel, and I squished the bugs, I am not sure why my heat skyrocketed?
3. I wish I could hit escape or click on something in the room to bring up a menu with the option to quit the game.
Super fun game! I really hope you make more!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I managed to finish at just over 5 minutes on my second play through, am I supposed to get a different screen?
Trippy game, it looks like you scanned your area in? Very clever, I would like to see more games like this!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I had a lot of fun with this one. My Daughter loves "Devil Daggers", so I recommended it to her.
Cheers!
-LB
What did I just play? Now I feel unstable!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
ARGH! My brain is melting! I just need a second to think!!! I am Old!
No, but really... good game. Fast and frantic, right on target!
Excellent music!
Cheers
-LB
Excellent!
I LOVE how you took out health as a consideration and explored a different avenue of negative reinforcement for getting hit by enemies!
I mentioned to someone before, I am no good at this type of game, but I had a blast anyway! Thank you!
Cheers!
-LB
Hello Eric-Schimel! This is the first game I tried!
Wow! What a concept! This is so well thought out and ambitious, I have no idea how I would have approached this topic in a game! I hope you keep working on it and get it to a better realized state... I absolutely love the meta concept of a stranded astronaut struggling to engage an vast unknowable cosmic force to survive in a game that is stranded on the LD site, struggling to engage a vast unknowable sea of internet people...
I was brutally honest with my feedback. I rated you low on "Fun", "Graphics", and "Humor". However, you get top marks for "Innovation" and "Mood"! Despite rating you so low on these scales, I really did enjoy this entry. true it is not a "Fun" game, but I don't think it was supposed to be, you know?
Cheers! -LB
I grabbed my score! --- score.PNG
I am not certain of all the rules. Do the colors matter? Sometimes the blocks seem to break when I run blocks into them (not when a line is completed) is that because they are fragile? Am I getting points for that?
Cheers!
-LB
@hiisileiri That is normal for downloading Jam games. Antivirus throws a false positive on "unique files".
Be wary of files you download obviously, but also be certain that Antivirus is going to complain whenever you run a downloaded game jam game.
You labelled your game as Sourcecode, but it looks like it is your Windows Download. Might be why it has not been rated yet?
I tried your game out but I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing? I was able to move the little Godot icon around, and the lines whirl around and follow it. This is a cool effect!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I enjoyed your game!
I would suggest a "Mix" button that indicates you are finished, mix the current mix. (Kind of like an end turn button?)
Also need better feed back about what the opponent is doing, it was Round 3 before I realized that this was a fight and I was not just playing with ingredients!
Feedback would also help separate what the ingredients are doing, as it is there is not much to tell what ingredients do.
Cheers!
-LB
Music, screen effects, all do a great job of evoking a frantic mood while still letting you carefully aim your shots. I also like how passing through the cursor flips the rocket automatically, in case I slam into something!
Cheers!
-LB
Solid game, but I felt like the hit detection was off a bit on attacks. I managed to wedge myself into a corner that enemies were not able to approach, and so confirmed that you have to run out of hearts for the waves to end, so maybe this is intended?
You have a solid engine here for a bigger project! Well done!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
@metalfox-dioxymore OH! I misunderstood what was happening. Thank you for the clarification!
Well.... it is definitely not Breakout! There is no link, so I don't know what it is, but it is certainly NOT Breakout whatever it is!
-Cheers!
-LB
I really like your game!
You didn't set up the Browser upload on itch.io correctly. You need to check this box:
Capture.PNG
Also: I would suggest that the default position for the three color switches on your Prism shield be set to off. I kept dying and couldn't figure out why until I realized that UP is ON and DOWN is OFF.
I am so glad I downloaded the game and tried it! I REALLY REALLY like it! I don't know if there is supposed to be level 2? For me, it just goes to a white screen and never does anything else but play music, but I still had SO much fun with this game. Easily the best thing I have played from Ludum Dare this year.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
@nikadra When you build in unity, point it at an empty folder. When the process finishes, we need the whole folder. Add it to a zip file, then upload that zip file to Itch.io. You can probably also zip your whole project and attach that to Itch.io too. That way you have your sourcecode for the compo requirement!
Please ping me if you get this sorted! I would love to play and rate your game!
-Cheers!
-LB
I love your music! I love how things just fly apart when you finish a stage!
You should do a VR version!
That last stage was great, just the question in the sky!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I got stuck on the same level as @c64cosmin. I figured out that I had to go from the bottom line to the top, but then I ran out of time.
Great game! I look forward to the next version with the environment features, like birds and bowling-ball-boulders!
I...
I mean...
Wut? :dizzy_face:
I gave you straight 5s... please make more of this.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I have this persistent feeling of the Jet Car from Buckaroo Banzai.
I do wish that e would flip the car over though, I keep getting flipped and then I have to restart
I can't get past the second "SPACE STORY" Really enjoyed what I played though. STRONG atmosphere here!
When you introduce the Toggle buttons, when they are off, I can't tell their color... maybe give them a border?
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I played your game!
I discovered that if you move all the way to the right, you fall through the floor.
The game is very short, and very direct. Maybe you could add some screens? I noticed that jump is never actually used.
Despite this, I really like you pixel art hero, the controls felt smooth and solid, and the meaty gun sound is great!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I beat it twice! I noticed a picture of Jeff Goldblum in your assets folder, but I am not seeing a secret.
The game is fast, but could use some more feedback. It also might be more fun if the blobs weren't SO accurate, but the speed you move makes up for that somewhat.
I like the almost floaty movement, and I think you got the balance of open space and tight corridors just right. It felt short, which I count as a good thing. To be honest you don't have a lot of variety going on here, so I think it was smart to keep it short.
Cheers!
-LB
I put the watermelon in the box, I shoot it at the volcano, but it does not reach anywhere near the top.
Help?
@l30nard0-b The HTML5 does not load. The problem is compression.
here is the console log with the error:
UnS3TaB2Le.PNG
Here's how you fix it!
1. Open your "Project Settings" and click on the "Player" tab. 2. Open the "Publishing Settings" heading 3. Find the "Compression Format" dropdown. It probably says "Brotli". Change it to "Disabled". 4. Rebuild your game and throw it up on Itch.io!
Unity_Compression_fix.PNG Unity_Compression_fix2.PNG
Wow that game is fun!
I have NO idea what my electron bullet is going to do, and so I end up just zooming around hoping it will impact enemies before I die.
This doesn't sound like it would be fun, BUT IT IS!!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I feel like I missed something.
I started the game, it was dark, hands are coming through the walls... Super creepy.
Then I pressed E on the lamp, and the game was over? Did I miss something? It seems like there is a whole house here, am I supposed to be able to do anything else?
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
This is fun! Isotopes go BOOM! Now this is what I call Unstable!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Ran into an error where it started rapidly switching between pause and play I think? This meant that none of my barks could refill, and movement got really bad. This made it impossible to keep the sheep alive.
Still day 7 passed and Day 8 dawned and the game just kept going.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Thank you for this game!
I didn't mind the arrow keys so much, but I am not sure how to get alternate endings. I feel like I interacted with everything? Did I miss something?
What did you use to make the game? It is so cool that it just comes as an exe!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Good game! Very atmospheric!
It would be cool to have a bit more variety in levels. Multiple paths, things to do in the level, etc... Example: The robot has to find a leaky pipe and patch it, or a blown fuse to replace or something.... some reason for the robot to be stumbling around in the dark.
A little weak on the theme. The light flickers and is unstable, so that qualifies, but I feel like you could have driven the theme home a bit better. Maybe the narrator text is more garbled? Platforms that crumble beneath you? Something like that.
Granted, I only played to 2-2, so if you introduce these things later, please disregard my feed back!
Cheers!
-LB
Main problem I had is that I cannot always shoot with the left button, and I am not sure why.
Also, the ending is abrupt. It would be nice if there was an explosion and a bit of time to process when you die, rather than just being dumped to the main menu.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
I like the transformation aspect, especially I like how it changes your perspective. I started as a farmer, was able to learn about obstacles from his height, then became a chicken and the lower camera angle was interesting.
Unfortunately, as the chicken I ran into a bug. I went up a ramp that dropped me on top of a stack of boxes, and instead of ending the run, it dropped me through the floor of the world.
This is when I discovered I cannot hit escape to get a menu. You should definitely add that.
Also, it is jarring when moving from one track to another, it would feel better if that transition was smooth.
Overall, this is a fun game! Thank you for sharing it!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
UGH.
Please understand me that when I hate your game, I actually really enjoyed it... but I HATE your game. Like, I actually preferred getting the quiz questions wrong, because then it at least TRANSLATED and I could see what the question was and what the answers were.
I ended up winning because I just randomly guessed. The last couple of questions, I have no IDEA what the question was or what any of the answers were.
People mashing buttons for text messages ANNOYS ME. (I am old) so I Hate your game. It was great.
And, that ending... the voice work on the menu... the overall humor. I laughed out loud several times. I did not LOL. I actually laughed. With my voice. In my office. Out loud.
Kudos @laurenceogden
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Yea, I am not installing this weird "netdisc client" to download your game. Sorry.
Took me a bit to figure out how to build my mechs. Suggestion: Start the camera looking at the blocks you spawn your units from, not the goal.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
@fonkin
To clarify how I used the theme: Unstable as in mentally unstable as in madness. Also, the way the level changes is not meant to be a new level... Larry Donovan does not travel anywhere, the world is altering itself around him. That's why the screen shakes and he says things like "ooh my head!". Probably could have made that clearer somehow...
@rzfmzn I completely agree! Thank you for bringing that up!
I was a bit nervous about using that as my theme, but I tried to very respectful with my treatment of mental illness.
1. Larry Donovan is not a raving madman, he is just suffering and doing his best in a confusing situation. 2. When the Demons speak, it tells you their name. (I really need to make this system better, it might be going by too fast.) Notice the names of all the demons are types of mental illnesses or parts of the brain. My intent here is that Larry Donovan's struggle is against these illnesses or against his own brain. 3. My writing sucks and is mostly place-holder because I added it too late when I was already worn-down. If I had being doing the Jam and not the Compo, I would have gotten someone else to give me better lines to present.
@weenie-walker-games
That is a good point, I didn't think about how that might be unintuitive.
The Taser is supposed to change what happens when an Demon runs into you. Instead of causing damage, the Demon is stunned. Different Demons shake off the effects faster or slower, but it acts to protect you from an attack, if you use it at the correct time.
@thesedatedprince
Good suggestion!
I should totally have done a mini-map. I want to change some things anyway, and a mini-map is now the top of my expanded feature list.
It occurs to me now that a mini-map would be a good way to hammer home the whole "you are not travelling somewhere else, the level is changing around you" aspect of levels.
@yohsk13 Some of the monsters inflict different effects. If you pick up the appropriate item, it both cures the condition and prevents you from contracting it on further hits.
(Good idea that it could ward off the associated monsters! I like that!)
The status effects that are implemented are: 1. Confusion. When you get Confused, a Star symbol appears and your controls get mixed up.) Hysocyamus (the flower) to counter. 2. Venom/Sickness. When you are affected by this condition, you are slowed WAY down. Antidote (the syringe) protects you from this effect.
@ghoulean The trapezoids are mostly random, it makes it really hard for them to catch you, but they HIT HARD!
Nice!
I managed to beat it!
I love the way the gameplay emphasizes slow, careful, precision jumping, but the random rubble falling from above throws that out of the window. I feel like this could be further built upon by adding a bit of screen-shake!
Also, the difficulty curve feels a little off to me, the second-to-last-screen and the last screen should be switched. That jump with the elevator where you have to jump over a column with spikes both above you and below you? That was killer. I was stuck there for SOOOOO long.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Doesn't run. Looks like it is a Unity project, which means we need more than the exe to run it. The exe was in a folder after you built it, we need all the files in that folder that were added when the build finished.
You need to add them to a compressed folder (zip file) then upload that zip file so we can play the game.
Hello! I have a bit of feed back for you: 1. you need a splash sound! Play it when the logs hit the water, when the player hits the water, and when the player hits a log. 2. Maybe a bonk sound? Play it when the player hits a log. 3. When the player hits Esc to open the menu, make sure to enable the mouse cursor again! 4. The whistling is charming, but it needs to be spaced out more. Your player is going to spend a LOT of time figuring out how to balance on logs, and that whistle just.... it loses its charm after a while :grimacing:
With that out of the way, I love your concept! I also really love how you did the trees in the forest!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
Well done! I played all the way through, and I appreciate how you included the end screen as a level! Good use of particle effects and I am assuming you are using TextMeshPro? It Looks great!
---
Feedback: (Since it is a Compo entry, I am going to be harsh, but I mean it in a friendly way!)
Hitting Escape should bring up a menu.
Controls could be more responsive. I had multiple deaths because I hit the jump button or the "turn to stone" button and nothing happened.
Could use some control-feedback. I think some of those deaths I mentioned above happened because you cannot turn to stone if your stone form already exists, it would help if there was a "invalid response" like a bit of screen shake, a color change, or a sound.
This game needs sound. Sound is not as hard to add as you might think. Audacity is free and can generate tones even if you don't have a microphone. BFXR and BeepBox.org are also both free and will generate sound for you. And believe me, from my personal experience, sound makes EVERYTHING you make SO MUCH BETTER. It really is amazing.
The 2 second timer for making your rock degrade should be more flexible. Maybe tie it to a difficulty setting? Also, it would increase the fun factor if the timer degraded just a bit slower when the player is nearby.
Need more levels! Some suggestions would be puzzles that allow multiple blocks be spawned, maybe a few where the fields cause gravity to totally reverse, some more puzzles with those sloped chutes...
---
With the feedback out of the way, let me again say that this is excellent. It feels smooth and solid. Your use of simple shapes is well done. I don't know if you carefully chose your color palette or if you just have really good instincts, but it looks great!
I look forward to playing more of your stuff in future jams!
Cheers!
-LB
Excellent! I played your game way longer than I meant to, eventually died because of Angry Wizards.
The tower never actually got built, just constructing it made my stability drain away.
Feedback:
This game really needs more feedback. Where can I build? Where can I not build? What effects do the different buildings have? Especially after I upgrade my capital... what advantages/disadvantages do the upgraded buildings offer?
Combat too, why do I win combats? Why do I lose? The only way I can see to improve my combat is to build a Wizard tower, but I was not expecting that to tank my stability so fast!
I found a bug where I clicked on a tree farm (? I think? It was a house with trees that I can only seem to build on forests?) then couldn't build it, so I clicked to another selection, but I couldn't change my cursor from that selection until I went back to that selection and selected it again.
I Laughed out Loud at your end screen!
Land of Hungry God.PNG
I forgive you @circle, I am tired too...
I will repeat what has already been said: this game needs audio! A kicking sound track, some machine growls from the enemy robots, pew pew sounds from gun fire.... AWESOME!
Really fun game! I am old and my reflexes are bad, so I would have liked to be able to slow down enemy bullets a bit to make it more strategic.
I ran into a problem where I stopped being able to shoot for some reason, not sure why.
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
@wyvex LOL!
I know that "F-it, it works like this now." moment so, so well!
I think I might have found a bit of an error.
I was not able to play level 2. When I downloaded it an ran it from my machine, the game just closes when you finish level 1.
when I play from the browser, I get a bit further, I get a whole conversation with the player's dad (who is a bit of a dick, if I am being honest!) and then I can't pick up any papers from the old man, I get a "restart or exit" error box, but I can't hit the buttons and I am locked.
Other than that, I had a blast! I would love to play more! This is a neat addition to the "Physics Driver" genre with a Paperboy mashup!
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
EDIT I came back to this because I did not see the Shift+1, Shift+2, Shift+3 tip the first time. This doesn't work on the HTML version because the browser does not read the shift button, but it works great on the downloaded version.
I also had to rate you higher in graphics because I somehow missed the parallax scrolling the first time, but that looks really awesome!
I'm sorry, all I see is source code? What website am I meant to go through? What do I load?
I could see ok, but the the smoke or whatever can make it hard to make out sometimes. A very neat effect!
I like how you inverted the normal background is dark, foreground is light dynamic, but the player needs something to call them out a bit.
Special kudos for pointing out Strofe.com. I have never heard of that site before, but it looks like a great tool!
cheers!
-LB
Bullet-Hell Fishing! That is clever! I am really bad at Bullet-Hell games, so I am not sure if I got the most enjoyment as I could have with some more skill, but I will recommend this to my friends who are into this style.
For feedback, I would suggest maybe toning the difficulty curve a bit. Maybe start with letting the player just fish a bit before introducing the Boss. Feel free to disregard this if it is bad advice for bullet hell games, as I said, it is not my genre!
Cheers!
-LB
Suddenly Lava Rises!
Lol, I hate when that happens.
---
I love your music!
It took me a while to figure out how to control the robot, despite your excellent description. You might benefit from offering a short, low-danger tutorial scenario so the player can get use to "controll"ing the robot.
Cheers!
-LB
It is not clear to me why the bear keeps waking up.
I am able to avoid everything else, accept the bear.
Is it long silence that wakes the bear?
Cheers! [-LB](https://ldjam.com/users/the-lame-brain/)
The itch.io link doesn't work, and the embedded version on this page doesn't display correctly. The Itch.io link says "404 error" and when I look at your itch page, I don't see the game listed.
I tried the embedded game, but not all the buttons seem to work. R to restart doesn't work, for instance. Seems like fun! I hope you get it sorted so I can come back and give it a proper try!
Fun game! I made all the demons happy! I love your little demon art, and how they are animated. Was it suppose to have sound? Or by "listening" to them, did you mean hovering over them for the chat box?
I don't see an embedded game, or a link to where the game is compiled and ready to play... just to the source code?
Yay! The link is there now! I am glad, you obviously put a lot of work into this!
I tried, I really did, but I just do not have enough memory to do well at this game! I really love that you are thinking outside the box!
I almost quit. I did not understand how mana worked at first, because I was busy exploring and not watching the gauges. After running out of various mana types and restarting a dozen times, I finally understood that the key is to look at the gauges. After that, it is pretty fun! More of a management game than an exploration game, I nonetheless really appreciate that the white crystals are a finite resource that you have to go looking for! Good design!
My suggestion would be to color the gauges. Grey if they are static, green if they are increasing, red if they are draining. That would have made me pay attention to them way earlier and not get as frustrated.
Man, those snipers are hard! Really fun game!
Your music is super creepy. I love it! Great visual effects too! I could not figure out the final challenge.
My favorite spell so far: "I have the power of god and anime on my side"
@goblinkingmatt What did you use to make this? Is the text entry seeding a random generator? I am having trouble figuring out how the things I type are affecting what is created.
Sorry the Kingdom burned boss! I tried everything! An ant! A dog! A cardboard box! A duck! This demon just can't be beat!
LOL. I really like your style. Does the formula change each time? I managed to win once, but I didn't remember the formula I used.
I really like this game! You base game-loop here is really satisfying, but I do have a couple suggestions:
1. Mouse hover over the summon buttons to remind you which button is which summon. I keep forgetting what the units look like.
2. More enemies. I had the most fun when I was being attacked on both sides and I had to keep reposition as well as summoning as fast as I could.
I also have to mention: I love your art! Especially the mountains bordering the valleys... SO GOOD!
Good lord! Your maze-design is really good! Your sounds are quite annoying, but I love the simple graphics and how you use them.
But the mazes and level design are the real star here.
I WANT PICTURES OF SPIDERMAN!
There is nothing to play. No links.