Ludum Dare #39compo

Tank Empty

by jsmcag

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.70

Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.74

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★1.87

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.17

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.65

Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.52

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.00

Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.27

Tank Empty

Driving along the highway, you find yourself low on fuel and in the most treacherous area of the highway.
Collect the gas cans to refill your tank, while avoiding road obstacles and other drivers, to reach as far as you can.

Use the arrow keys or WASD to move. M mutes/unmutes the music. Space to start the game.

Good luck!

About the development

This is my entry for the Ludum Dare 39 Compo, following the theme "Rumming out of Power".

It was made in about 6 hours using GameMaker Studio 1.4 (I know I have more time, but life gets in the way, so this will have to do).
The code is rather messy, given it was written in a rush - apologies for those who decide to check it out.

Links

* HTML5: https://jsmcag.itch.io/tank-empty
* Source Code: https://bitbucket.org/JSMCAG/ludumdare39

Screenshots

Tags: #arcade, #gamemaker

Genres: action

Tools: GameMaker

Comments22

everythingWasBees31 Jul 2017, 22:13

The graphics are hard to read against the background, and the sound effects could use a bit of polish. Still, game itself is rather solid. Very nice for only 6 hours!

TheFlyingKeyboard1 Aug 2017, 23:32

Nice game, simple and fun. The only thing that could be better is spawning fuel tanks, because they can sometimes spawn inside obstacles. PS I managed to travel 35 km :D

jtn1912 Aug 2017, 18:32

the AI and speed is brutal! fun tho--I made it to 31.13km

splashshadow2 Aug 2017, 18:42

33km my record, too hard predict movement side of enemy cars. Simple and fun for some gameplayes.

Aircraft Terrier2 Aug 2017, 18:48

I dig the classic top-down racer style. The sound was good, though I think the fuel pickup sound was a little long, and the graphics all fit with each other. I think my main issue was the random movement of the other cars. There was just no way to predict where or when they might move, so it just seemed like chance if I got struck or not. The game played quick, and I played a few rounds really easily in the time I might play another jam game once. Thanks for building and sharing this!

hav242 Aug 2017, 18:49

My best is 30 km. :D

The AI is brutal: they turn too much when I'm close to them. D:

I think they should crush on the signals too... would be satisfying see them crush like me when their are trying to kill me.

Good game dude!

JuicyBrucey2 Aug 2017, 18:58

Fits the theme well and is pretty nicely done for just 6 hours. My two issues were the ear-blowing starting sound relative to the other sounds, and the impossible situations which regularly occurred meant i could just scrape past 18km. The music was ok too, nice job.

Nick Rafalski2 Aug 2017, 19:21

Great for 6 hours of work! I liked the overall aesthetic. The music, sfx and art were all cohesive.

I didn't really enjoy how quickly, and far, the cars could 'merge'. It seems like you have to always assume they'll merge 5 lanes over and hit you, which, for me, crosses the line from 'challenging yet fun' to 'difficult for the sake of it'.

I also wish the fuel bar was more readable. It's so far away in the corner that I had to avert my gaze to see it, and it also lacked contrast with the surrounding game.

Ninjascribble2 Aug 2017, 19:32

Those other drivers are jerks! This was a ton of fun though -- great job for just 6 hours! I managed to make it 22km. Would be even better if the challenge increased over time, but a solid entry nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!

mspawa2 Aug 2017, 21:23

OMG I suck at this game xD but it is really nice! I like it a lot, considering that you did it just in 6 hours!

Policemen absolutely suck more than I do at driving XD they keep crashing with me...

Really nice work :)

Don Fouts3 Aug 2017, 01:43

Not bad for 6 hours! That starting noise was a little too loud.

Ace173 Aug 2017, 05:02

Nice work ; music and sound effects are good, the gameplay is rather classic, and quickly gets flappy-bird-boring.

Keep up the good work, I'm curious about what you would have made, should you have used the whole allowed 48 hours!

Zarkonnen3 Aug 2017, 12:39

It's probably good that I don't drive IRL. :D

TurbotFish3 Aug 2017, 18:36

Nice job in so little time. I wasn't so found of the music, and the movement of the blue cars were unpredictable, which made it fun but also frustrating at some point. Why not adding turning lights just on the cars like 0.5 sec before they move just to get a head up?

Pandakipu3 Aug 2017, 19:13

Nice game, it reminds me the old school game and watch :D

geeitsomelaldy3 Aug 2017, 21:19

Nice and Simple

Tim Eriksen4 Aug 2017, 00:35

Well implemented game :) I like that the car slowly drifts back towards the bottom of the screen after you have accelerated forwards. One thing that really struck me as "bad" was the veeery repetetive engine sound every time you restart. This got annoying fast. It should be way shorter. Other than that, it is a nice game :) Well done!

Didactylos4 Aug 2017, 01:07

Ah, another classic!

CMLSC4 Aug 2017, 05:23

The game was pretty good! Not sure why the road had that weird brownish color in some places though. It would've been nice if the other cars stayed in their lanes and avoided the barriers in the road. Also, the SFX was rather loud. The art was decent, and the controls felt good. Also, it'd be nice if you added more car variants.

Good job! :smile:

drtizzle4 Aug 2017, 09:08

34 km :) This is a lot of fun to play! The controls are very responsive, and the gameplay is easy to understand but hard to master ;) Love the graphics, really well-made pixel art methinks. The other cars behave really unpredictable, so it would be nice if you could also slow your car down a bit, so you can let them pass in front of you when they suddenly decide to change 8 lanes haha.

Well done!

PeachTreeOath5 Aug 2017, 07:37

Dat acceleration sound in the beginning tho

Pretty tough game, especially weaving in between obstacles. It scared me a number of times from the sudden death trying to squeeze in gaps. Solid game for the time spent, I will be forever scared of 8 lane highways.

h.attila7 Aug 2017, 13:42

Hah, seems like we had the same idea for the theme! :) Really solid entry, especially for just 6 hours. I liked the simple soundtrack and how all the art assets fit together to give it a consistent theme. I actually liked how unpredictable the other cars are, it really forces you to pay attention and react quickly. :) I would have liked some more challenge though as the game gets repetitive quickly (e.g. the car could speed up gradually as you play). Also, some more types of powerups would've made it more interesting. Sometimes the items would spawn on top of each other which makes it hard or impossible to collect the fuel tanks.

Other games by @jsmcag

★2.98

★3.58