Ludum Dare #31compo

Illinois Smith and the Temple of the Sky

by facticiusvir

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.55

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.38

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★4.60

Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.62

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.14

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.56

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.75

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.27

Coolness★★★★★★★★★★59%

Illinois Smith is the story of a treasure hunter - in the skies! Navigate the treacherous floating architecture and avoid the guardian golems to reach the treasure - but beware, the temple will twist around you as you explore!

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On the technical side, the game uses DirectX11, so it's Windows 7 (and up) only - sorry! Will try and get some ports out, but the engine is still very basic.
There's also a dependency on .NET 4.5, which you can get here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30653

Comments24

Spacemyname8 Dec 2014, 04:12

Very addicting, not the best art, but the effects on the map are incredible!

cxsquared8 Dec 2014, 04:12

The idea is super cool! The controls could be a little tighter but the concept is so cool and original. Perfect interpretation of the theme.

Fnkee8 Dec 2014, 04:13

It can't get it to run. Running the Keeper.LD31.exe-file, but can't get anything but a gray display.
Running Windows 7.

Kwask8 Dec 2014, 04:17

Really awesome idea here! I didn't like the fact that it felt like I was hopping around on Mars, but I really like this concept!

doitle8 Dec 2014, 04:18

This is one of the coolest "lives" mechanics I've ever seen. You get three tries before you fall off the screen. It perfectly fits with the theme and is just awesome. Though you will need the lives because the platforming controls are pretty difficult. AS a game itself it's not really playable but as a tech demo it's great. Hopefully you'll continue with this idea and make it into a full game some day.

MiniBobbo8 Dec 2014, 04:18

This was awesomely innnovative. At first I thought I was having weird graphical glitches, but then it becomes clear what's going on. Then I thought that I glitched through the floor, but surprise!, that was part of the plan too.

The only problem is the character moves so slowly I wasn't even able to get past the first enemy. Maybe I'm just missing something though. Do you take two hits from the golems?

FacticiusVirauthor8 Dec 2014, 04:18

@Fnkee Had one or two people say the same thing - not sure what the missing dependency is, will try and fix it ASAP

Seraphina8 Dec 2014, 04:20

Your level scrolling mechanic is amazing. My only real complaint is that the character moves WAY to slow. The way my laptop fan was running while playing this I think it might just be an optimization issue. Other than that this was a great take on the theme.

Andrea8 Dec 2014, 04:33

Can't seem to be any exe file in the zip, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, couldn't play it :'(

FacticiusVirauthor8 Dec 2014, 04:36

@Andrea The file to run is Keeper.LD31.exe

Mopz8 Dec 2014, 08:06

Great idea, hope you continue to work on it after LD.

Tasteslikefuture8 Dec 2014, 21:58

This game looks bananas. In a good way.

rabbit8 Dec 2014, 21:59

What a crazy idea! I enjoyed it a lot, just couldn't get lost in it because of the graphics. I think with some art and audio this could be an A+ game.

AndresGames9 Dec 2014, 04:43

Liked the concept, good take on the theme. Would have rather be able to move faster. I felt like a snail. Good job, keep it up!

Ryusui9 Dec 2014, 07:39

Probably the first game I've ever played that I could best describe as "boustrophedonic." XD

Love the scroll effect, and the way the game reverses course between "lives," though the jump physics leave much to be desired.

PlonkyDonkey9 Dec 2014, 10:21

Really cool idea, difficult as hell but an amazing concept.

davient9 Dec 2014, 12:57

Awesome concept. You've really nailed the theme there! The controls are a bit fiddly but I really love the mechanic for "Lives".

alecmilne9 Dec 2014, 14:24

Great interpretation of the theme! Really interesting way to set the player back on a mistake.

EquipeJAM10 Dec 2014, 20:23

Good Work ^^

alvarop10 Dec 2014, 21:03

I'm just gonna say WOW.

Wertle10 Dec 2014, 21:09

I love this idea and how the wrapping is so nicely integrated with how you lose lives. There's a lot of feedback issues with the platforming, but if you want to keep working on this, there's plenty of resources out there to help make that feel a lot better. The visual of the wrapping screen looked really cool. I think there are some fun design implications of this (like how on your second life you are suddenly going the opposite direction, etc). Nice job!