The Unfettered Arrow

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.72
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.44
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.18
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.11
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.20
Humor★★★★★★★★★★1.95
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.03
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★79%
So, my first Game Compo/Jam
I'd planned to enter the Jam but had somewhat of a playable game just in time for the compo (minus sound) and not sure I can take another day of this:s Have learnt so much in two days.

Try to keep the momentum up of your arrow and see how long you can last, you have three degrees of turn in each direction, the sharper you turn the more momentum you lose. Hit apples for more momentum and defend yourself by killing attacking ninjas.

Game requires two hands, Q,A,Z turn left...O,K,M, turn right..instructions in game if required :)

I'd planned for a fair bit more action in this game...fires that burn and spread, walls, trees..oh well...maybe be something I continue with... :) It needs a lot of tweaking!

I also planned for the action to ramp up , more ninjas, more objects...increasing difficulty...and more levels.

Cheers for taking a look,
@inkeystring

screenshot

Comments32

eruditespirit8 Dec 2014, 12:08
Very interesting control scheme, wish the arrow was a little faster, but overall, good game!
hexagore
hexagore8 Dec 2014, 12:10
Really neat concept, couldn't last much longer than about 166 time units though!
hectorhon8 Dec 2014, 12:51
This game had me grinning. I thought the character would be firing multiple arrows and was surprised! +1 Humor
xerohuang
xerohuang8 Dec 2014, 13:26
Good concept. Would be better if optimize the level setting.
hadesfury
hadesfury8 Dec 2014, 13:54
Really inovative
Also hard :D
Great first game
inkeystringauthor8 Dec 2014, 15:16
thanks for your comments...I had much bigger plans for it :s..spent too much time on boilerplate stuff :o
oh_cripes8 Dec 2014, 15:28
Cool idea, took me a while to understand what I was doing.
pjimmy
pjimmy8 Dec 2014, 15:33
nice, very interesting concept, but it's missing a Pause button
kalugny
kalugny8 Dec 2014, 15:37
Fun! I wish there was some way to make the arrow go faster (at the expense of more momentum of course)
MaesK
MaesK8 Dec 2014, 15:59
Nice game, I also wished the arrow was faster, but is nice. "Momentum" seems like a better name than simply "Hungry" :D Keep it up!
inkeystringauthor8 Dec 2014, 16:03
thanks...will definitely speed up the arrow and create more pickups to affect speed etc :)
anokta8 Dec 2014, 18:09
a bit strange choice of keyboard controls, still an interesting idea though. maybe i'm just blaming the keys because i kept lacking momentum. :)
inkeystringauthor8 Dec 2014, 18:15
:) ..I originally wanted to do a mobile version where your rate of turn depended on where you pressed the screen. Since I did for web in the end, I simulated by having just three degrees of turn using keyboard:/
Eponesh
Eponesh8 Dec 2014, 19:08
Greate concept! Good job!
Benjamin8 Dec 2014, 19:23
innovative control and gameplay !
guldlock8 Dec 2014, 19:27
The controls were interesting but the game was nice when I got the hang of it. But it could speed up the pace for more challenge!
AlSweigart
AlSweigart8 Dec 2014, 19:28
Good original concept. The controls took some getting used to, but this was a solid game.
inkeystringauthor8 Dec 2014, 23:05
thanks for your comments guys :)
andysolace9 Dec 2014, 10:11
Not a bad little entry overall :)

Controls, as its been said, are interesting and took a minute to get used too. Game is pretty tricky too, and in a few attempts I only managed to survive to ~80 or so.

That said, I've not quite woken up yet, so perhaps I'll come back a bit later and try to improve on it :P
inkeystringauthor9 Dec 2014, 10:41
Thanks Andy, that's appreciated :) I really had much bigger plans for it :s I thought I was going to enter the Jam so was thinking I'd have an extra day on it. Also I've learnt now I should have come in to Ludum with an engine prepared/chosen and lots of boilerplate all ready to go!

Great learning experience a game jam is!
Beerman9 Dec 2014, 20:25
Cool game. The controls looked a little weird at first but once you start playing they make perfect sense.
I definitely agree the arrow needs to be faster - maybe start off fast and slow down as you lose momentum?
5k0d9 Dec 2014, 21:40
Nice Game, feels a bit like snake with an extra touch and actually difficulty
inkeystringauthor10 Dec 2014, 00:33
It does slightly slow down as you lose momentum..I guess not enough. I really didn't tweak anything like I should have:( I just suddenly realised I could enter the compo and kind of rushed things....I'd had enough ..those two days were intense:s..will definitely take all comments and rework the whole thing with better graphics, gameplay etc..thanks Beerman and 5kod :)
dunin
dunin10 Dec 2014, 06:33
use two hands just for two buttons is.... pretty cool!
The game is a little slow and need more features, but nice start!
inkeystringauthor10 Dec 2014, 12:02
well, I guess it comes from back in the day where two hands on QAOP was the original WASD...I will definitely change and tweak and develop after the comp closes :)
WatercressStudios11 Dec 2014, 04:25
Unfortunately can't get over the awkward control scheme.
inkeystringauthor12 Dec 2014, 09:30
that's fair enough :)
ViliX6412 Dec 2014, 14:37
Fun to play entry :)
wavertron
wavertron28 Dec 2014, 08:51
Seems like a solid idea. Nice ninja/samurai characters, I guess the apple seems a little out of place by contrast. Didnt quite understand the choice for the redundant key mappings (left x 3, right x 3). Left and Right arrows would work fine.... although if the player controls multiple arrows in future, I can see the need for multiple left/right mappings. Anyways interesting little concept.
inkeystringauthor30 Dec 2014, 23:08
thanks for comments . Well the three different controls turn the arrow at different rates. If you turn sharper then your momentum drops more quickly..so you can manage your momentum by not turning as hard left or right and save momentum :)...it needs work! ;)
inkeystringauthor30 Dec 2014, 23:10
thanks all for votes , I think everyone's been quite generous considering the gameplay.. or lack thereof
inkeystringauthor30 Dec 2014, 23:11
yep - the apple is out of place..I originally was going to have it set in Old England where an apple shot with an arrow might have seemed more appropriate :/
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