Battery Life is a top-down action/puzzler game. You are a battery and you have to use your energy, (your lifesource), to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
The game only has 5 levels as I was pressed for time, (duh). But it is a framework that I can work on in the future if people like the game idea.
Use W, A, S, D or the arrow keys to control the player battery. Shoot with the mousecursor and left mousebutton.
This is my first game on Ludum Dare and basically my first game ever! I really enjoyed working on the game and the concept of finishing it in 48 hours. The game is buggy and needs a lot of tuning and improvements, but it works and I think everybody can see where I'm going with this.
The graphics are nice, in my opinion it is easy to figure out how it works. You have to use the arrow keys or (AWDS), like in most Unity games. There are a few Things that Need to be improved. or example the AI in the second Level, does not really follow you, it just moves around. Maybe you should increase the radius in which the enemy dedects and follows you. (bake the Terrain, so it does not run into any other objects while Hunting you). Something that Needs to be changed as well is the Options menue. Because whenever you click it, you dont have the ability to return to the game. So you should involve a "Return to game" button or something that lets you close the menue. Something that is really nice besides the graphics is that the movement is extremely smooth and feels very good. How did you do that?
@thisal Yeah, there is a lot of improvements to be made. The enemy is moving on a navmesh and should avoid obstacles. It doesn't detect you when it's "back" is turned towards you. I didn't have time to visualize the front/back of the enemy :) The movement code and camera is really simple. Just check the source code. Thank you for your consctrutive feedback.
Cool entry, some things I would've added.. - Add a numeric representation of the energy values in different containers - Add the ability to look around the room
If there were numeric values, it would have added a nice layer of gameplay, instead of simply guessing when do I have enough energy to move on to the next phase of the level.
I couldn't know if the full battery arrived at its destination unless I actually went there and checked.
First, congrats for completing your game. I'll start with commenting on the concept itself which is executed nicely, the currency being the battery's own life, and the puzzle aspect is also pulled of nicely utilizing the core mechanics of the game. However, an improvement in this would be changing the UI of the buttons from its native assets, and some of the UIs has that kind-of pixelated look. Overall, solid submission
Really nice concept! I wish you could restart the level, its really bad when you die and have to restart the whole game. But otherwise it's pretty cool!
@generalanimal Yes, I wanted to do something like that, but never got around to it. It's supposed to be a little bit of a guessing game, but not this much.
@von-vista I'm glad you liked it. I agree, the UI needs some serious improvement :)
@barrier Yes I know. It is a bug that you can't restart/continue when you die. (But you can restart if you just get lost). If I just had more time... :)
This is a cool little puzzle game. The graphics and sound is overall good, but some of the machine noise is a bit laughed. In a way think I would like the game better without the enemies, but it is not a big issue. So overall is this a good LD game. Well done.
Really nice game to be your first one :) I would try to work harder on the camera for your next one. Also Look on youtube for Brakeys, he have some nice tutorials on how to improve the visual of your game in unity.
Nice puzzle game, I did have a couple on the first level where the battery didn't seem to make contact with the receiver at the end of the belt. After restarting several times I got it though. Sounds were fitting and the game fit the the theme well I thought.
Nice idea - the margin of error for transferring energy was pretty harsh sometimes - it took me a few tries to pass the 'tutorial' level, because I sat in the conveyor belt charger until it has drained me fully, and then didn't have enough energy to open the door at the end; might be nice to only take the energy thats 'needed' rather than let you 'overspend' to the point the level is uncompletable, but you don't find out until later...?
Its a solid concept, and with a little polish could easily become a project beyond the scope of LD
@mrnyarlathotep Yes, you have a valid point. This is more of a fine tuning of the mechanics. I already have many ideas on how to improve this. Regarding the first level: The battery on the conveoyr belt is full. Which means it doesn't matter if you spend all your energy on getting the belt moving. As long as you go straight for the door after getting the energy from the full battery. Thanks for your feedback!
@attala - I was playing on the Web build, so if your drain / fill mechanic is linked to framerate (ie is in Update() method) that might explain why I didn't manage to open the door...?
This is well done! Really polished for one of your first games. I agree with what @mmyarlathotep said - there's a couple of puzzles that you can kind of accidentally fail early on without realizing it. Overall, though, nice work!
Really nice little game, could have easily played more. The mechanic and puzzles are really well executed and felt really rewarding when you nailed them :)
The camera could be frustrating at times, It may have worked better top down? Also if you click on a UI element you still shoot.
i liked your game but sounds are irritating. battery charging sound was really annoying other than that idea is interesting, i liked your enemy it scared the shit out of me. hahaha
This was great. Really had some cool ideas going on with the core mechanic and the puzzle design, definitely a good use of the theme. This game was just oozing atmosphere despite the limited details, and I think a large part of that was the soundtrack which was perfect for this game. I'd really love to see you take this concept further, get some better graphics, make some more levels, give this some real polish. You could have the next portal on your hands if you know what to do with this. Good work!
@jofersgames It's only me :) This was a compo entry. My twitter account is @attala_ but I haven't been tweeting much myself. Maybe in the future. My plan is to continue on this game, and a couple of other neverending projects :) Glad you liked the game!
I thought level 2 was the hardest. The later levels seemed to have more than enough energy to complete them. The game fit the theme very well and I enjoyed the energy mechanic.
Fun and clever. I loved how the UI was integrated with the character design rather than needing a separate menu and how the battery terminals sparked when there was energy leftover. I also enjoyed the added tension the enemies. Congrats on your first game.
So aside from some colision bug with the charge station, a bug where I could be on the last conveyor belt in the third level and the free space in the first two levels, I think this game is grezat, puzzles are nice and enemies are well balanced.
Thank you for posting it on my stream earlier. I had a great time playing it, for a compo game this is really well polished and great looking. The puzzles were innovative and the theme was used in an interesting way. I'm glad that I actually managed to complete a few levels because puzzle games are a bit of a weakness for me hehe
This is interesting. Like I said in Schu's stream, I like how the batteries are transparent so you can see their energy. I think that they should be completely empty, visually, when they're drained to make it more obvious. It might also be helpful if you sometimes had smaller batteries on the machines, so that you wouldn't waste excessive energy powering them beyond what they need to do, or if you could get the excessive power back.
Game is so calming and relaxing, at the same time puzzles are fun to solve with a good level of difficulty. Good job creating such a well put game! If this is yours first, big congrats because the gameplay is great!
Jeg elskede dette spil! It looks beautiful, and it's quite relaxing to play. It could fit right next to Portal and The Talos Principle, if the puzzles were more complex (I realise that's impossible to make in two days). Different types of machines aside from conveyor belts and doors could already make the puzzles more interesting and challenging. The enemies were well tuned, not to easy, not to hard, they fit perfectly in the calm environment.
I'm sure you already have ideas to extend the game. Here are some things I think could make the game even better: - dark parts in the level, which you can see for a while when you power their light to know what's there - faster opening exit doors - make battery charge locations slightly easier to access - make doors not take more charge than necessary
Nice puzzles! A few things: * A few sounds were a but too loud (door mainly) * I wasn't always sure how much battery it's left on my character and how much I neeeded to open the door, maybe a numbre indicator would be cool
Other than that, great game! really cool and challenging
I think it fits the theme quite well! Waiting for the final door to open was kinda annoying, it lasted a tad too long :stuck_out_tongue:
Having each puzzle require the exact amount of energy available was hard, would be nice if there was a tad leeway, or at least a more concise representation of how much energy you had. (in a number or percentage)
This was a really good solid game for your first ever ludum dare and first ever game! I really like the concept of batteries charging and the puzzle mechanics, however I totally didn't expect the enemies and the enemies were annoying to me . Once they start shooting at you, BOB AND WEAVE, BOB AND WEAVE! And then fail puzzle XD Also the door takes forever to open and it makes a really jarring sound effect (like a phone vibrating on top of a desk) that hurt my ears. But really good considering you did everything by yourself and in only 48 hours!
The main mechanic is very elegant and you showed some good level design with it. The shooting is a bit off, but I guess it does the job. The music is also very nice. Overall great entry!
Comments62
- Add a numeric representation of the energy values in different containers
- Add the ability to look around the room
If there were numeric values, it would have added a nice layer of gameplay, instead of simply guessing when do I have enough energy to move on to the next phase of the level.
I couldn't know if the full battery arrived at its destination unless I actually went there and checked.
@von-vista I'm glad you liked it. I agree, the UI needs some serious improvement :)
@barrier Yes I know. It is a bug that you can't restart/continue when you die. (But you can restart if you just get lost). If I just had more time... :)
Thank you all for your feedback!
The Design and work behind, can be seen. Good Work!
I would try to work harder on the camera for your next one. Also Look on youtube for Brakeys, he have some nice tutorials on how to improve the visual of your game in unity.
Good luck!
Its a solid concept, and with a little polish could easily become a project beyond the scope of LD
When you get shot, do you lose the same amount of life as you shoot ?
Good mood and interesting puzzles :smile:
The camera could be frustrating at times, It may have worked better top down? Also if you click on a UI element you still shoot.
Awesome entry! Well done!
whats your guys twitter accounts if we wanted to follow and see what you do in the future? :)
My only complaint is that door takes forever to open even though the level is complete and there's no reason to keep standing around...
Great entry!
Good job on your first entry!
I'm sure you already have ideas to extend the game. Here are some things I think could make the game even better:
- dark parts in the level, which you can see for a while when you power their light to know what's there
- faster opening exit doors
- make battery charge locations slightly easier to access
- make doors not take more charge than necessary
Tillykke!
* A few sounds were a but too loud (door mainly)
* I wasn't always sure how much battery it's left on my character and how much I neeeded to open the door, maybe a numbre indicator would be cool
Other than that, great game! really cool and challenging
Once the stream is finished you can find the video here: https://www.twitch.tv/ursagames/videos
If you want to know when it was played you can find your game in the queue here: https://tinyurl.com/y5rdokvp
Waiting for the final door to open was kinda annoying, it lasted a tad too long :stuck_out_tongue:
Having each puzzle require the exact amount of energy available was hard, would be nice if there was a tad leeway, or at least a more concise representation of how much energy you had. (in a number or percentage)
very nice entry overall
I've noticed some bugs, but nothing critical.
Also, did you know that baterries kill eachother if you align their line of fire? :smile: Made the game a lot easiser.
Nice execution, nice onboarding. My, everything's nice.