Bruce, the escaping ant

by pcmxms
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.12
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.01
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★2.80
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.24
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.02
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.97
Humor★★★★★★★★★★3.06
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.14
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★100%
Bruce needs to escape from a kid's experiment.
Genres: platformer
Tools: Godot

Comments61

Khud0
Khud013 Dec 2016, 12:12
That's a really cool game!

I didn't know that it was possible to make something this fun with this kind of graphics!

I love how you mix the cool music with the action in your game)
ISG13 Dec 2016, 12:17
Cool! This game was a hard one for me, but very fun! Cheers!
Thijs Tak13 Dec 2016, 12:28
Nice game. Liked the drawn grapohic style. Hard platformer though.
HawkSandwich
HawkSandwich13 Dec 2016, 12:31
I have good things and bad things to say about this one. We'll start with the bad.
The controls are dreadful, the lack of air control makes it more annoying to try try to jump onto things than not. Other than that the controls are okay, but jumping definitely needs to be different.

Onto the good things.
The graphics are okay, I feel like if you had a little more time you would have made something quite pleasing to look at.
The music is alright, and a hell of a lot better than anything I could do.
Overall, I feel like you either ran out of time with this one or you're early along your journey. Either way, definitely not the worst entry :)
jusw8513 Dec 2016, 12:32
I loved the graphics style, but the gameplay was pretty hard.
LDP13 Dec 2016, 12:46
The idea was interesting but I had the same feebacks than @HankSandwich, I feel like if you fix all those little problems, you'll have a very dynamic and fun game.
But I know how it is to make a game by yourself, good joob and carry on !
erikiene
erikiene13 Dec 2016, 12:50
You can embed your game from itch.io to this page by going to edit game -> distribute -> embed and copying over the link given for LudumDare to this entry page. Makes it a lot easier to start playing.

Pretty cool art and a fun game to play.
BlackQuiltro
BlackQuiltro13 Dec 2016, 12:52
I had a lot of fun with your game! :)
Took me some time before I was able to complete it. Graphics are nice, loved the animations and style. Audio is very well used.
It is good to see more Godot-made games in this jam! :)
skorpyo13 Dec 2016, 13:02
Pretty hard, but interesting game. I confused by difficulties with control in air. Very challanging game for me :)
Bejk
Bejk13 Dec 2016, 13:39
That kid knows as much as Jon Snow..
He sees a ant that has eye balls and walks on its hind legs and asks if it is special? ;)
Jokes aside, cool game, I had fun
dobnarr
dobnarr13 Dec 2016, 13:42
Controls were very challenging - I'm too old for a platformer without mid-air control, and the collision detection on everything was fairly unforgiving. I really liked the hand-drawn art style and the creativity in the puzzles, although given that dying required you to repeat a bunch of old stuff that was capricious and hard, I didn't get that far before giving up in frustration. I did play for 8-10 minutes, but I could never get the bug free from the web. Pretty tiresome. Music was cool and fun, instructions painted on screen neat, and the art style was really charming. Nice work.
Vadim Ivshin13 Dec 2016, 13:45
Surprisingly interesting. Nice hand drawn graphics and good sound.
SimonHutchinson
SimonHutchinson13 Dec 2016, 15:26
Nice. I love the stylized art (perhaps a necessity for a 48-hour jam, but still unique). It's a little hard for me, but I wouldn't consider myself a real gamer.

Since the rules keep changing as I go it feels like a bit of trial and error. Perhaps a little more time to think and casual gamers like me would be thrilled.
Avocadosan
Avocadosan13 Dec 2016, 16:26
I really liked the camera zoom out! Overall nice a fun game! I really liked the art :D
Uliana Galich13 Dec 2016, 16:44
Really cool artstyle. The gameplay needs a bit of polishment, but that's something you may fix with more time. Great work!
somnolentPumpkin
somnolentPumpkin13 Dec 2016, 16:48
Very difficult, but in a good way. :) I liked the hand-drawn art style.

Trying to jump was a little weird if you were against a surface (I didn't have a lot of room to back up and move forward to jump again), but that wasn't a big deal at all.

Overall, very fun - I'd play a full game of this. :)
mrhill13 Dec 2016, 17:24
Woah, the lack of air control together with the slooow restart made it quite hard for me but nice graphics and music
Alexander Kondyrev13 Dec 2016, 19:58
Easy to start playing and unerstand the goal. Easy to control. Please add improved graphics and some more gameplay features.
Doomdad14 Dec 2016, 00:07
Great fun if you like hard games! Only thing it needed to restart way faster after dying which happened a lot to me.
matthewpalaje14 Dec 2016, 00:19
I enjoyed this, at first I thought I wouldn't due to having no air control when jumping but I got used to it. The level design was great and I enjoyed the concept quite a lot. At first the art was strange but when it zoomed out I enjoyed that as well.

I'd recommend adding air control to it one day if you continue development.

Great job :)
Decentsauce
Decentsauce14 Dec 2016, 00:53
Neat entry. Really like the start of the game after you pulled the cork. That's a pretty cool transition. Controls could use some polish though.
Ygogo14 Dec 2016, 07:27
The graphics is great, the way you change environment is pretty awesome.
I'm not sure if forbidding player from jumping if you are walking next to the wall,is a good idea.
Soundless_dev14 Dec 2016, 10:51
Like the art style. Bruce was beautiful. Needs air controls though. I was one jump away from the finish and then I hit the wall above the exit and fell into the water and died.
Mieeh
Mieeh14 Dec 2016, 11:23
Cool concept, felt a little awkward and clunky when I couldn't move while in the air.
zenmumbler
zenmumbler14 Dec 2016, 11:46
Nice little obstacle course with a good soundtrack. Controls are a bit clunky and I got stuck on some inopportune moments. Overall good job.
pcmxms
pcmxmsauthor14 Dec 2016, 11:59
Hey guys,

Thank you so much for spending some time with my game. It means a lot for me to hear what you have to say and I will use every single commentary to improve the work.

About the jumping (unanimous): I will change the jumping mechanics. I went for a "realistic physics approach" (don't laugh) but I think you are all right. Real physics is best suited for racing games or simulation. I will definitely rethink the jump mechanics.

About some issues regarding collisions: Thank you for pointing that out. These are more due to the lack of time for testing every small detail. I will surely be more careful with the next versions.

About the "oh gosh, it is soooooo slow to restart": I totally agree with this one and I will make it quicker. I did it slow because I wanted the player to read the story, but yeah... after reading once, there is no need to read again.

About the art and music: I am really surprised by the positive comments in this area. Will try to improve further with the same style then. Thank you very much!

Again, thanks for playing and commenting! Cheers!

Pedro Castro Menezes
DalesDiscountTires14 Dec 2016, 12:54
Hey! I'm the level designer and one of the programmers for death room 4000. I haven't actually played your LD game yet but i've been playing the game you linked in the comments of my entry and i'm really enjoying it. The art is fantastic and your level design is very good as well. I'd love to speak with you about level design and game design in general but i don't want to flood your comment section. Sorry to leave this here but i'm not sure how else to contact you. Leave a comment on my page if you're interested in discussing design and we'll exchange contact information. Once again, Stick Nightmare is very very good. Great job man.
rainssong14 Dec 2016, 13:22
It's harrrrrd , nice shot language
DalesDiscountTires14 Dec 2016, 13:27
Hey! I'm the level designer and one of the programmers for death room 4000. I haven't actually played your LD game yet but i've been playing the game you linked in the comments of my entry and i'm really enjoying it. The art is fantastic and your level design is very good as well. I'd love to speak with you about level design and game design in general but i don't want to flood your comment section. Sorry to leave this here but i'm not sure how else to contact you. Leave a comment on my page if you're interested in discussing design and we'll exchange contact information. Once again, Stick Nightmare is very very good. Great job man.
DalesDiscountTires14 Dec 2016, 13:28
My comment was accidentally submitted twice. Ignore that.
ionprodan14 Dec 2016, 17:10
Dude, the controls is hard! But I really love the concept!
TeamBALD14 Dec 2016, 21:59
I really like the idea, and the graphics are quite cute (simple, yet very effective). The audio is nice too, and I liked the little bits of story you see when you start at die (saw the last one a lot unfortunately). That stuff's all great, and very impressive for what looks to be your first Ludum Dare.

The bits I didn't like were the controls. It's been said before, but realistic physics doesn't work well in platformers. The first block for example, when if you touch it when trying to jump over and onto it, then you stop and just jump straight up instead. That unfortunately doesn't work, and resulted in me dying most of the time. A difficult game is fine, but it should be difficult for the right reasons. A quick restart button would certainly help too for those who aren't top notch at this sort of game :).
BeardyBard
BeardyBard15 Dec 2016, 07:13
Actually, doesn't liked visual style, but wow, totally didn't expected a really great level design.
Good job!
akirassasin
akirassasin15 Dec 2016, 12:29
I like how to music changes when the action begins! Character control was really wierd though.
GFM
GFM15 Dec 2016, 21:01
The lack of air control didn't really bother me. However, making everything run on a global timer did. (at least, it seemed like it).

However, I must leave a note about the controls. Usually, it's easier to action-focused games to work without air control. Platformers, on the other hand, usually require the player to precisely reach a point from another. Either the controls should allow that or the level design. Look up Oddworld Abe's Oddysee for that. It's a puzzle game with real-time platformer elements. But since it was built on a grid (even the movement), you either can reach the destination or not (by design).

It's way more of a gamble than skill whether or not the player will be able to reach the last lizard with proper timing to reach the lever, than the wasp than the following platform. Also, forcing the player to adjust its position on the last few platforms was somewhat cheap...

Another really important thing: if the player can die in your game, make them get back into action as soon as possible! Be it by skipping scenes or having a quick restart button.

Other than that... nice lil' platformer. :)
The Mad Strauss
The Mad Strauss15 Dec 2016, 21:13
I liked the concept and style. The only complain is the controls. The jump is difficult to control so I saw it as a challenge. Considering the game a challenge (its an ant! you should die) the game is great.

Nice work.
Greek8516 Dec 2016, 10:13
nice game! I saw it on indiexpo! Very good!
Kuality Games16 Dec 2016, 12:00
Was suprised by the event that happend after taking out the plug. Had fun, altough it was a bit too hard for my taste
resty16 Dec 2016, 14:49
After about 50 deaths, finally make it clear.
I like your music and graphics (with the lovely animation)
But the control is really a problem. You can't adjust direction after jump, and can't control the jump's height by holding the key. Fail 4 ~ 5 times just before the last hole but hit the wall, making me wanting to quit.
But I beat it ~
automatonvx
automatonvx16 Dec 2016, 19:51
Intersting art style, looked pretty ok, at least when zoomed out. Dying alot is ok, but you've got to let the player get back in fast. It took me a little while to figure out i needed to go left to the plug first
SleepyStudios
SleepyStudios16 Dec 2016, 23:12
Cool little game but the controls are really janky.
Tharky
Tharky16 Dec 2016, 23:33
Cool and fun :) Liked the artstyle and the gameplay.
Andrew Deem17 Dec 2016, 08:56
Nice entry. The controls were a bit weird, but that didn't bother me so much. However, the respawn times did bother me.

One of the biggest frustrations in platformers is dying and having a long reload time. It removes the will to keep going because it feels like you're wasting time.

Past that though, the graphics are pretty great, and I like your level design. Good job.
fullmontis
fullmontis17 Dec 2016, 11:32
I like the concept as a platformer, but there are some flaws that are frustrating. For example, having to watch the unskippable game over screen and unskippable intro every time I die is quite frustrating. Another thing I noticed is that jumping doesn't work all the time? I guess it is a bug, but considering it is a platformer it is a major one.
Ednei
Ednei18 Dec 2016, 01:08
Really, really good!!! Congratulations! you've made a great work with it!
tellus19 Dec 2016, 02:08
Really good graphics! The audio was good, too. Fighting the spider was hard, it wasn't clear what to do and I hit the spider a few times without hurting it. Nice job doing a compo!
mirta000
mirta00019 Dec 2016, 03:39
took me a while to figure out to turn on the water, the art style is very nice, I like how the music picks up when you actually unleash the water. Nicely done!
onixowl19 Dec 2016, 06:16
Controls don't feel responsive when jumping, but artstyle is pretty good:D
Dejvo
Dejvo20 Dec 2016, 15:42
nice game, just a little too hard
mrwillowb22 Dec 2016, 05:53
not a fan of the simple art work, but solid game play.
Omiya Games
Omiya Games24 Dec 2016, 20:50
Yikes, the Simon Belmont syndrome is strong on this one. The super-tough jump controls makes this feel like an existential dread simulation rather than a challenging. Not to mention the global timer that makes it easy for one to put themselves in a situation where they cannot escape death.

Anyway, I won't repeat all the tips that I mentioned in our Let's Play (https://youtu.be/DoaflrbZfeY). I did play the improved version, and I do think the jumps are better improved. The throwing-projectiles is still strange, as it has appeared I've hit the spider a couple of times, and yet it never died. So some collision might need some help.

Good attempt at a challenging platformer.
Minato4th26 Dec 2016, 18:27
Graphics are preaty, despite the fact that was painted! Game was fun but I fund some problem with control, I have problem jumping sideways - if you next to the wall you can not just jump sideway.
ijzm
ijzm28 Dec 2016, 01:52
The originally submitted version is definitely very finicky and wouldn't allow movement while jumping to the left. I see that this is somewhat fixed in the postjam fix, but it's still a bit unresponsive, especially when I had to make that one jump to the switch. On my subsequent try, it appeared that my shots were no longer killing the spider, so I decided to call it quits.

I mean, I can say that the premise for this game is rather interesting. I do like the narrative, but it didn't seem to go with the art style and music. Speaking of which, because you spend so little time moving to pop off the drain plug, I feel as though music isn't really needed for that first part. Ah well.

I do like how the game starts with a zoomed in view, then pans out further once you remove the drain plug. And the art style, while I'm not really seeing how it fits in with the narrative and music, is very interesting to look at and charming in its own sense.

~Random-storykeeper
badtorse29 Dec 2016, 14:45
Nice game, but it should definitely restart faster
SamuelSousa
SamuelSousa29 Dec 2016, 17:29
Very hard! :) Wasn't able to pass the first platform right above from the begginning

I liked the drawn graphics and the movement while listenning to the music but that jump just compromised it all.
Cerno_b30 Dec 2016, 14:14
I love the ant's walking animation and the bare-bones design. Also the gameplay is fast which is fitting for this type of game.

The game itself is tough, which is perfectly fine, but then the controls need to be very tight as well. The ant doesn't jump properly when next to a wall. There are situations when the lizard cannot be avoided. The hit box of the spider is too small when taking into account that the targeting system is a bit fiddly. Also a game like this needs a really fast restart after dying (see Super Meat Boy for reference).

Overall I had fun with the game and I was really motivated to finish it because the flow is really nice, but I had to give up due to the controls. I managed to kill the spider, but was killed at the same time.
PowerSpark
PowerSpark1 Jan 2017, 01:54
Good job. There definitely needs to be some air control, but the movement is okay otherwise. I couldn't figure out how to get past the "E to attack" part. Keep it up!
Siegfried Croes
Siegfried Croes1 Jan 2017, 21:05
I quite liked it though the controls made it a bit difficult. I would've liked the ability to control the player in mid-air. Still well done :)

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