Ludum Dare #38compo
Mind The Gap (First Ludum Dare)
Link to the game(hosted on google):
Windows:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ab7jInYSyscnhJazhxNy1YREk/view?usp=sharing
Mac:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7ab7jInYSysTF9ldzBDUXAwOGs/view?usp=sharing
Linux:
No Build
WebGL(itch.io):
https://izunah.itch.io/mind-the-gap-ld38
WebGL 1.1 (itch.io):
https://izunah.itch.io/mtgalpha
Link to the post mortem: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/mind-the-gap/mind-the-gap-post-mortem-finally
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for checking my page!
*(More screenshots and links to the source code at the bottom)*
This is the first every LD I have ever taken part in. While I did not finish even half of what I intended, I am excited to have drawn the line in the sand and have a working playable game for you guys to check out. I wasn't able to get to the tutorial part of the game, so below is a basic list of how to play the game.
Controls:
Customizable at the splash screen, the inputs used by the game are: Horizontal, Vertical, Fire1, Fire2
W/A/S/D(Horizontal, Vertical): Move your character around the board.
Left Mouse(Fire1):
Does three important things, fires your grapple, pulls enemies that you have grappled, and destroys enemies during their vulnerable states (indicated by turning white temporarily.)
Right Mouse(Fire2):
Does one important thing, pulls your character to a grappled enemy. This is used to escape your side when you are overwhelmed.
Rules of the Game
Enemies will spawn on both sides, fire your grapple to grab the enemy, pull them to you, and destroy them for points. The more enemies that spawn while your on one side the higher the multiplier gets. You can also increase your multiply by pulling enemies over and not destroying them.
Swapping sides with the (default)Right Mouse resets your multiplier, but may be the key to staying alive.
The score gained per kill is determined both by your combo and multiplier, so the key to big highscores is both.
You are not able to grapple or destroy enemies on your side of the board.
Good Luck!
I don't know if there are comments on the final submission, but if there are, please leave one and let me know your thoughts / experiences / and optionally your high score.
In the coming days I'll add a blog post talking about the development of the game; what I was aiming for, what went right, what went wrong and so on. Hopefully you'll swing by to check that out once it is up.
Link to the source code(on bitbucket):
https://bitbucket.org/Izunah/ld38mindthegap
Tools used: Unity 5.6, Visual Studio 2017, BFXR, Google
Comments37
Scrumplesplunge1 May 2017, 16:33
It took me a couple of iterations to get the hang of this, but it's actually pretty addictive. The graphics are simple but I don't think that really matters. Nice one :)
theslate1 May 2017, 16:36
Brutal, but a good idea. I wish the difficulty ramped up a bit slower, so I could get used to the controls.
wolar1 May 2017, 16:36
Even though I have read the instructions I had a hard time understanding how to kill an enemy.
Zarkonnen1 May 2017, 16:41
I eventually got the hang of how it works. I like the unique mechanic, though it still feels quite awkward.
clegamecoop1 May 2017, 16:45
Really hard to get the hang of. I also had issues trying to kill an enemy.
MHGameWork1 May 2017, 16:52
Unique mechanic!
PhyscoKillerMonkey1 May 2017, 17:09
Found the aiming very hard to get the hang of, the grapple never seemed to go where I was pointing. Unique concept apart from that though.
🎤 Izunah1 May 2017, 17:45
Thanks everyone for your comments!
@theslate Ah that would have been a good idea, increasing the spawn rate of the enemies over time. That's something I'll look at for my update for family and friends.
@wolar @clegamecoop The time your allowed to destroy the enemies is quite small, I think it's half a second. I initially had it longer but that would result in you being stopped and swarmed too easily. I had thought about making you instantly kill enemies, but that took out part of the strategy I had intended.
@zarkonnen That probably comes down to the difficulty of aiming, it is my biggest gripe with the game and something I wish I was able to fix before the end of the compo.
@mhgamework @physcokillermonkey I'm glad you guys enjoy the concept as well, I think it would be a lot more fun when I iron out the aiming issues.
@theslate Ah that would have been a good idea, increasing the spawn rate of the enemies over time. That's something I'll look at for my update for family and friends.
@wolar @clegamecoop The time your allowed to destroy the enemies is quite small, I think it's half a second. I initially had it longer but that would result in you being stopped and swarmed too easily. I had thought about making you instantly kill enemies, but that took out part of the strategy I had intended.
@zarkonnen That probably comes down to the difficulty of aiming, it is my biggest gripe with the game and something I wish I was able to fix before the end of the compo.
@mhgamework @physcokillermonkey I'm glad you guys enjoy the concept as well, I think it would be a lot more fun when I iron out the aiming issues.
pschichtel1 May 2017, 18:37
I did not manage to kill someone
ToonTeamJ1 May 2017, 18:51
The aim does not sync with the mouse very well, but it's fun once you get the hang of it.
geeitsomelaldy1 May 2017, 19:29
Aiming is really weird, you seem to only be able to shoot in a 45-60 degree arc and there's no crosshair. really difficult to get used to.
neontropics1 May 2017, 20:01
I dig the concept a lot! Aiming is a bit clunky/hard and as a result it's pretty hard to actually kill the enemies, but it is very satisfying when you get the hang of it. I'd probably speed up the speed of the shot a bit as well.
Great entry!
Great entry!
Jaenis1 May 2017, 20:06
Nice game! Took a while to figure out the rules, some ingame hints would have been nice. Oherwise great work! :)
Thinkofname1 May 2017, 20:12
The aiming was pretty weird and it took a while to understand how to kill enemies (although my first attempt that involved dropping them off the edge kinda worked :smile: ). Overall I liked the entry.
__init__.py1 May 2017, 20:18
Nice game! Controls took a while to get the hang of, and I'd prefer a manual restart button that appears immediately instead of having to wait so long between deaths. Either way, this is great for your first LD!
AJ Weeks1 May 2017, 20:33
As others have said, aiming is a little tough, but the concept is neat! Good work!
drtizzle1 May 2017, 20:35
Well done! I really like the gameplay idea, it is original and works well. Too bad the controls are really clunky, and the performance drops after playing a while. Overall you've done a really good job!
Frodewin1 May 2017, 21:06
Very interesting idea, but hard to play. Took me some times to learn the controls. The graphis look very interesting, it would be nice to have a story explaining what you are and why you are here being bullied by red people defending yourself with a hook. I would also appreciate an easier way to switch sides.
Ilseroth2 May 2017, 00:20
The core mechanics of the game are interesting, an arcade style game is a pretty great for LD since you can get in and play as much as you want and get a flavor for the game immediately.
The downside is, the controls are a bit complicated (lots of things bound to one button) so an in game tutorial screen would be preferred.
I had fun with the mechanics, grappling hooks are underused in games... or maybe I just like them.
Thanks for the game <3
The downside is, the controls are a bit complicated (lots of things bound to one button) so an in game tutorial screen would be preferred.
I had fun with the mechanics, grappling hooks are underused in games... or maybe I just like them.
Thanks for the game <3
Scornz2 May 2017, 00:21
Well done man! Very innovative and requires some skill to get the hang of, but not sure why you didn't opt out in the Graphics and Audio sections of your entry. Otherwise, awesome job!
micahcowan2 May 2017, 01:09
Man, I suck at this game! Congratulations for finishing this in 48 hours. :)
red-fan-games2 May 2017, 01:13
simple and fun. The graphics are not impressive, but they get the job done. A high skill ceiling and the grappling hook made for a wonderful experience.
🎤 Izunah2 May 2017, 01:55
Thanks everyone, I see the aiming is a big issue. I knew about it / didn't like the feel completely during development but chose to not / ran of time to fix. Given that is has hampered a lot of peoples experience I regret not fixing it.
@scornz I chose not to opt out of any categories as I feel my game should be rated / judged based on what is and is not there. I probably should have opted out of humor and mood as they don't really apply but may be too late now. I didn't use any outsourced art, music, or sound so I feel it is right to criticize the use of primitive shapes and the lack of music, etc.
@scornz I chose not to opt out of any categories as I feel my game should be rated / judged based on what is and is not there. I probably should have opted out of humor and mood as they don't really apply but may be too late now. I didn't use any outsourced art, music, or sound so I feel it is right to criticize the use of primitive shapes and the lack of music, etc.
Kosmo2 May 2017, 04:24
Took me a few tries to figure out what I was supposed to be doing -- but I got the hang of it eventually. High score 850.
I know time is short on these games, but even a simple soundtrack makes a game so much more interesting in my opinion. I like the idea of having your multiplier be based on the number of enemies on your side along with the ability to move people over to one side without killing them -- but I feel like it ends up coming down to you circling a big group of red guys while keeping the other side as low on enemies as possible so you can switch when things get too rough.
Overall I like the concept and think you made a nice, playable, interesting game for your first Ludum Dare compo. Thanks for the game! :)
I know time is short on these games, but even a simple soundtrack makes a game so much more interesting in my opinion. I like the idea of having your multiplier be based on the number of enemies on your side along with the ability to move people over to one side without killing them -- but I feel like it ends up coming down to you circling a big group of red guys while keeping the other side as low on enemies as possible so you can switch when things get too rough.
Overall I like the concept and think you made a nice, playable, interesting game for your first Ludum Dare compo. Thanks for the game! :)
Gris2 May 2017, 18:51
Very cool grapple mechanic. Simple but effective graphics
gamepopper2 May 2017, 19:21
Really nice first LD game, I didn't really find any game breaking issues, but aiming felt awkward since the firing direction didn't exactly match the mouse position. I'm not sure if it's because the direction is based on where the mouse is pointing or the camera angle isn't being taken into account, but for this kind of game, the angle should be towards the mouse pointer relative to the player's position.
🎤 Izunah2 May 2017, 22:25
@kosmo I wish I was able to put music in, while playtesting I spent a lot of time with music on in the background and that greatly improved the experience; hopefully next LD. Your right that it does feel like a mob herder in many ways, I think that would have been helped out if I had got around to making the floor panels disappear at random. Also different enemy types would have went a long ways. Thanks :).
@gamepopper Yeah so, the issue with the aiming is when I first implemented it early on I assumed that since I rotate the character to the mouse pointer that by simply firing the grapple along the forward axis it would go where the mouse was. The was a huge mistake, I found the aiming wonky while testing and I wish I had spent the 10 minutes to fix it; I think the fun factor would have been much higher. In my post-jam patch I'm working on for friends / family / etc I fixed the aiming and the experience is so much better. Thanks :).
I am currently working on the tutorial so I can show the game off to more friends, but tomorrow I plan on looking at / rating more games. I will definitely get to the rest of the games in my comment section that I haven't hit up yet, that's a promise!
@gamepopper Yeah so, the issue with the aiming is when I first implemented it early on I assumed that since I rotate the character to the mouse pointer that by simply firing the grapple along the forward axis it would go where the mouse was. The was a huge mistake, I found the aiming wonky while testing and I wish I had spent the 10 minutes to fix it; I think the fun factor would have been much higher. In my post-jam patch I'm working on for friends / family / etc I fixed the aiming and the experience is so much better. Thanks :).
I am currently working on the tutorial so I can show the game off to more friends, but tomorrow I plan on looking at / rating more games. I will definitely get to the rest of the games in my comment section that I haven't hit up yet, that's a promise!
samlo2 May 2017, 22:34
Cool concept, but it was really hard to figure out how to play, and the aiming controls seem to rotate the player character left or right instead of pointing him at the cursor's world space position. Really neat concept though, keep working on it!
dusho4 May 2017, 12:12
took some time to figure out.. interesting gameplay idea
grats for finishing your 1st LD game!
grats for finishing your 1st LD game!
mwcz5 May 2017, 16:41
It took me a little while to get used to the controls. It was difficult to play with a touchpad (I'm traveling w/ no mouse), but I won't hold that against you! Once I got the hang of it, I had fun. I like the balance you struck between the two sides. Pulling enemies to you, or you to them, based on how crowded things are. It's a nice strategic balance.
noddingTortoise5 May 2017, 17:00
A challenging but fun game. Took a few tries to get the hang of the controls, and as others have said the aiming needs some work, also some background music would be nice. Overall a very nice game, and congrats on your first Ludum Dare.
Tex Killer5 May 2017, 18:45
First off, congratulations for completing your first LD entry! :)
As @gamepopper has said, the aim is weird because you seem to be using the mouse pointer coordinates on the screen to calculate the angle of the character in the game world.
I don't know if you already did this on your patch, but you should get the game world position that corresponds to where the pointer is pointing, then calculate the angle from the character to that point and set the character's rotation to that angle. That way, the character will always be pointing to where the mouse is pointing, and you can even "fire the grapple along the forward axis" with no problems.
Keep up the good work, and good luck with your dream!
As @gamepopper has said, the aim is weird because you seem to be using the mouse pointer coordinates on the screen to calculate the angle of the character in the game world.
I don't know if you already did this on your patch, but you should get the game world position that corresponds to where the pointer is pointing, then calculate the angle from the character to that point and set the character's rotation to that angle. That way, the character will always be pointing to where the mouse is pointing, and you can even "fire the grapple along the forward axis" with no problems.
Keep up the good work, and good luck with your dream!
maartene5 May 2017, 19:18
Nice first entry. The game was a bit too difficult for me though: was unable to get a score even after several tries. Note: this might say more about me than about you. :head_bandage:
clegamecoop6 May 2017, 19:28
@izunah A half second still feels like a long time. Might it be possible to coordinate that with the speed of the other enemies? Because I think that was my issue, I was still getting overrun while attempting to hold on which made it a losing battle.
SiegfriedCroes11 May 2017, 18:30
At first I didn't really know what to do but after reading the instructions more carefully I understood and it was quite fun and really challenging! Definitely a good prototype for a full game :) Well done!
NumNumDude17 May 2017, 21:24
I really like this game! The grapple mechanic is fun to use and works well, I like that you can only attack the enemies when they're white. The graphics are simple, and that doesn't hurt the fun at all, but it could be so much better with the graphics and models taken up a notch. There isn't a lot of audio, and this could fit the theme a bit better. Other than that, nice job!
Hard game. It would be easier with fixed points, where you can hook to switch sides (and a super attack destroying everything and reseting your multiplier :o).
I had a bug after changing side, causing me to fall into the center :/
Good job !