Bucket

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.17
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.80
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.07
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.88
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.24
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.35
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.29
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.75
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★65%
This is my first LD. Time flew, and I didn't get anywhere near where I wanted. Still, I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished, and I'm very excited to get some feedback on it.

Controls:
- Left and right arrows bank the helicopter left and right.
- Hold the up arrow to increase thrust.
- Hold the space bar to dump the bucket.

Tips:
- Slow movements are key. Once the bucket starts swinging, it'll yank you around.
- The bucket gets heavier as you fill it up. When it is full, the helicopter is barely powerful enough to lift it. Don't bank too much or you won't be able to maintain altitude!

I intended to implement a leaderboard, but ran out of time. If you want to test your skills anyway, my records are:

- Easy: 1 bucket
- Medium: 3 buckets
- Hard: 12 buckets

Edit: Some people are having trouble with the controls. I tweaked them to be much more forgiving and responsive on the easy and medium difficulties. Please, rate the game on the original version. I would appreciate it if you could also play the new version and give me some feedback on the changes. It is available here:
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7666226/Bucket%20WebPlayer_0.2/Bucket%20WebPlayer_0.2.html

screenshot

Comments24

adnzzzzZ29 Apr 2013, 03:27
This was pretty funny. Also really well executed and simple (in a good way). Good job!
gilmore60629 Apr 2013, 08:39
I love Choplifter style games. :) Fun, although the controls felt really syrupy and frustrating.
ataxkt29 Apr 2013, 22:47
Yeah, hard to control, but it looks and plays well!
eteeski
eteeski29 Apr 2013, 22:50
this was cool. i liked how realistic the helicopter felt. it was really hard, but then again, real helicopters are also really hard to fly.
ChrisGaudino
ChrisGaudinoauthor30 Apr 2013, 00:03
Thanks for the feedback everybody. I was going for a control and physics setup that was at least vaguely rooted in reality. They are kind of mushy because the heavy bucket yanks against your control inputs. Definitely still needs some tweaking. I've had several friends play it now, and its turning out to be a you love it or you hate it type situation.
Lamprabbit30 Apr 2013, 01:12
Love it, fun but feels a little slow to control.
naughtyloose30 Apr 2013, 09:16
great concept but the flying controls are way to difficult imho.
Haversack30 Apr 2013, 19:24
Love the game. It is a little hard to control but I am guessing that is the point. Might tweak it a bit though. I also managed to crash in mid air. I think I made the bucket hit the helicopter?
RexSpaceman30 Apr 2013, 19:46
Agreed on the controls issue. Great job though!
shama
shama30 Apr 2013, 20:33
Very cool. Maybe an indicator for tilt/velocity to gauge the controls better?
pentaphobe
pentaphobe30 Apr 2013, 20:33
Really nice-looking game, congrats on your first LD!

I quite enjoyed playing, and had a lot of near-misses which got me nervous :)

Didn't stick with it very long, but an enjoyable experience
qdowngames30 Apr 2013, 20:37
Really challenging, but I won't say I didn't like it. Nice visuals!
ChrisGaudino
ChrisGaudinoauthor30 Apr 2013, 22:29
Thanks everybody.

Haversack: Yes, if the bucket or rope gets up into the rotorblades of the helicopter, that will make you crash.
Proch
Proch1 May 2013, 20:25
with some changes in controls this coud have been awesome! i liked it ;) well done
whitetigle
whitetigle2 May 2013, 14:33
Good game. A little bit tough though. I liked the gfx and it fits pretty well the theme.
TheCze2 May 2013, 20:47
This is a great concept, wish the controls felt a bit more natural.
aeveis
aeveis2 May 2013, 20:52
I like the look but would have to agree the controls are too difficult. Flying up is too slow and turning is kind of awkward because you tilt a lot before the copter actually turns. Found it pretty funny the bucket can make you crash.
_Rilem4 May 2013, 20:57
Had a hard time controlling the helicopter. Even on easy mode I crashed :P
The graphics look cool though and if the helicopter was a bit easier to control it would be a great game :D
zkenshin
zkenshin6 May 2013, 15:51
Really liked the art. :)
TurboDindon
TurboDindon11 May 2013, 21:29
Good idea!
The helicopter is a bit too hard and slow to control.

- SEPHY (@sephyka)
Dietrich Epp12 May 2013, 05:42
Great concept, the controls are just a little too hard. I had a hard time getting over the house after filling the bucket.
bvanschooten17 May 2013, 23:56
You really tried something unusual here, I like it. The game plays rather slowly though. Also I think it needs something extra to make it really fun.

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