NOTE: I didn't scale the UI so the best resolution is 800 x 600
You are a strong manly pufferfish trying to reach his wife Mrs. Puff - I mean eh Mrs...Puffe de Fish on the other side of the underwater channel. But you must be careful. There is a pesty shark circling you, and he wants pufferfish on the menu! Puff yourself up for protection and swim on to reach your lovely wife.
This is my first Ludum Dare, so I am here to learn. Criticize as you please as it will only make my next one better.
Special Thanks to Quill18 for keeping me entertained this weekend :)
didn't really understand it. The sharks where quick, and there should have been more lives. Other than that, the mechanics where easy (which i myself find appealing.) And it was cute!
I like the sound effects and graphically it's pretty good for a first attempt. The core gameplay is pretty weak though.
Think about the gameplay loop. The player moves forward. Looks at one spot on the screen. When a shadow appears they stand still and hold space. The shark goes away. The player keeps going.
The only thing the player has to do is "see the shadow". It doesn't move quickly enough to be a twitch challenge, but it doesn't provide enough mechanics to be an intellectual challenge. It's only difficult while you are figuring out how it works.
Also, the health meter is in the most important place on the screen. When moving down a linear corridor like that the player wants to see as far ahead as possible. But the place they most want to look has a big block in it!
Good on you for getting something together, I think you'll see real improvement in your next attempt.
Congrats on your first LD! Finding ways to add more depth to the gameplay will make it more fun. For instance, you're navigating a channel, but you don't really have to make any decisions about where to go, whether to speed up or slow down, etc. The potential to burst yourself can be a good source of tension -- if you adjusted the enemies so that the player can't just hold the puff button when they hear the shark's sound effect, it would again offer more opportunities for interesting decision-making and reaction.
The sound effects for this game made me so happy. I was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time! :P
Really good job for a first Ludum Dare. One tip: The health bar might have been better placed at the bottom of the screen, to not block the view. Great job, and I'm looking forward to seeing your next entry! :D
Comments12
Think about the gameplay loop. The player moves forward. Looks at one spot on the screen. When a shadow appears they stand still and hold space. The shark goes away. The player keeps going.
The only thing the player has to do is "see the shadow". It doesn't move quickly enough to be a twitch challenge, but it doesn't provide enough mechanics to be an intellectual challenge. It's only difficult while you are figuring out how it works.
Also, the health meter is in the most important place on the screen. When moving down a linear corridor like that the player wants to see as far ahead as possible. But the place they most want to look has a big block in it!
Good on you for getting something together, I think you'll see real improvement in your next attempt.
Really good job for a first Ludum Dare. One tip: The health bar might have been better placed at the bottom of the screen, to not block the view. Great job, and I'm looking forward to seeing your next entry! :D