With some random Google searches, and a stroke of creative luck, 44's theme turned us to the saying of _ "Dead Batteries Bounce". _ The more energy you have, the safer you are from death...but to bounce over hazards you'll need to spend some electric current...cy! ;)
Get to the "Current_CE Cart" with as much energy in your battery as possible…
...because in this game... your life IS currency!!
The Team:
- Coding: Ethan Hooper - Art/Sound: Eli Hooper
Known Issues:
- Battery gets stuck a the "Cart Acceptance Stage" [Working on it :)]
Cool game, I really like the idea of the plasma field and jumping higher with low health.
Unfortunately the music somehow stopped while playing. I also encountered a bug where I jumped on the current_ce wagon, and the animation which takes your health did not start, which kept me from progressing further.
@pixscope Thanks! We're still working out a couple kinda big bugs...but we plan to really "up this game" now that the concept is at least running! :) Really appreciate your taking a look!!
I love how you implemented the theme, it's really innovative. The gameplay is also innovative (less life means higher jump) as it encourages you to use the whole scene (vertically and horizontally). I also like the arts with its "neon" style ! For a first jam entry, it's a really good one, continue in this way !!
Thanks a ton @deepterror !! Yeah this was crazy (and fun!) ...and really stoked how the plasma field charging worked! Honestly really appreciate the feedback. :)
Looks really nice and is a great take on the theme! Surprised to find out its a first jam entry, really nice work! Looks like you used Unity, I would recommend trying out a webGL build, as it saves us reviewers from having to download and unzip.
@taqoshaq Hey thanks for the positive feedback! Yes, we are definitely going to port a web version. We did really crunch some big goals art and control-feel-wise, and we seriously uploaded the final downloadable build in the last 10 seconds of the Jam deadline!!! It was crazy...but a great moment! :) All that to say...we got some sleep and should have web version soon.
I love the graphics! Some of the health bars have to much contrast to the background; try making them have an alpha of about 0.7, so make it blend in a bit more.
Thanks for the kind words! @arcus Will definitely knock down that opacity for the health bars...nice point! @kuro YES...I love this little cut scene a lot! We were busy the Friday night that the Jam started...so we literally started from scratch Saturday morning and designed all this in a fury of time!! Glad it's being noticed! ;)
Hey @menen might have been poor wording on our part. The idea is you can bounce more with lower power, when in the air you press “Space” again to perform a ground pound move that launches you upward. And as for the exit button we will definitely be adding some much needed improvements soon! Thanks for giving it a play test!
I love the overall art and feel of the game! Well done!
Things I enjoyed: * The animations on the batteries that made them look extra cute * The color choice for the world * The controls page in the main menu that let's you see the controls before playing the game
Items that can be iterated on: * As others have mentioned, I had some issues with the audio. For me, the background music stopped playing about a minute or so after playing the game. * The background music on the title scene also seemed a little sharper and louder and was hard on my ears * It is not immediately obvious what the goal is when I started playing the game. * The double jump mechanic is cool but difficult to grasp out of the box. I think you could introduce those mechanics piecemeal,kinda how Super Meat Boy does.
I'm impressed at what you guys were able to get done in a weekend. I think with some polish, this game would be something I would buy on Steam :)
@alphabetasoup Wow...thank you for the great input! Yes, we did catch that we forgot to hit the "loop" feature on the music from comments and will address that asap, along with some improvements on your (and other's) comments. Including that audio sharpness...I kinda felt that might be an issue! :) We were not sure how best to get the "ground pound" idea across at the beginning, but again with folks pointing out the bit of confusion, we'll definitely address that! We have about 12 levels in concept with cool hazards, enemies etc.......so......thank you a TON for the Steam-buy incentive! You have probably single-handedly caused me NOT to procrastinate on that now!!! ;)
Looks like the current train came through here because this game is *electric*! A cool little platformer using a neat mechanic with batteries and plasma. Definitely a different game than the usual stuff out there! I also think the batteries are cute and remind me of little minions! Coolness factor, neat audio, creative, nets it a 4.0 overall score!
Awesome! @exevalon !! Super appreciate the download and play investment of you all! We plan to fix some stuff of course before the 20 days is up, and get a web version posted. Glad you liked the plasma bit!! :D We thought it had a cool feel and were really hoping it didn't take away from the art and scenes. Thanks for the positive + energy ;D
Maybe it is just me, but I think the gameplay should be more clear to the player. I couldn't figure out the objective, and the controls could use some more work too.
@zoneoutapps I didn't realize we could still tinker with our games even during the voting phase? If that's legit, there's a few bugs I should probably get to fixing on my game!
@exevalon yes...we didn't realize this either till a day or so after the deadline. So...we've been getting our debug list together and will do a couple updates at least.
@knatt Hey thanks for playing! We're getting the music loop and an "infinite drop" fixed right now. Super bizarre...but the cart catch thing doesn't happen in the editor mode at all, but only when compiled and played! So...that will be an issue for the moment till we can figure it out. We're putting in a settings/reset so people can at least exit out when they want...particularly at an unplanned cart trapping!! :)
I like it, at first I didn't understand how to play (I didn't read anything you've written at first about it because I like to have a fresh start on a game without being influenced too much on what it would be) but I caught on it pretty quickly and had lots of fun, I like the graphics because those batteries are cute, and the fact that you gotta bounce to recharge is pretty innovative too 10/10 on that idea.
Hey thanks @miu ! I am totally with you!! I love to try and "figure" a game out intuitively. I don't mind exploring and mashing buttons to see what's up. Little secret (for you explorers) ...if you jump and right click...he does flips! :D It's fun! Wanted to have a few "discoverable" aspects to the game. Really appreciate your checking us out!!
@zoneoutapps now I have to replay it to check everything :) edit: so I tested it and turns out when you don't jump from high enough and land on the head or lay down, the character get stuck.
What a charming little game - it gets my vote for most charming game of ludum dare for sure! Really great job on this - really liked the subtle animations.
@scott-redrup Thank you so muc...it was a serious challenge to try and get what we wanted done! Of course stuff was cut, but for the most part, this is what we envisioned. Really appreciate the kind words.
The art was very beautiful and refreshing after playing a lot of pixelated games. The music and sound was also nice and original. There are a lot of funny animations to keep the player interested. I would add some more in-game instructions to tell the player how to control certain things and add mouse-over states to the buttons in the ui and design them more as buttons and not just plain call-to-action text.
Thanks @supernapie for the kind words and suggestions! We definetly plan to develop this idea further so any feedback to make the player's experience more enjoyable means a lot!
We appreciate your input @redz0ner and thanks for the play test! Player movment is hands down one of the most important aspects of a good game. Even with as much time we spent with the movement we still needed to cut things out so we are excited to get that feeling smoother than ever in later versions :)
I am not sure I understand why dead batteries bounce, but this game looks nice. It took me a while to get the hang of ground pounding, and was tough to make good use of the platforms. A little more DI might be nice. The music was a little repetitive. Good job with the theme – our team did consider the whole electronic things having a current idea during brainstorming.
- @heyycap: Thanks for giving our game a try! it means a lot to us. As for the "Dead Batteries Bounce" concept, it's actually a crazy thing in real life. I've only come across some who have heard the saying, but here is a youtube video that does it justice https://youtu.be/ZywsCbWEun8
- @mario-marinelli: Wow thank you! it really means a lot to hear all the positivity from this community!
@ursagames Dude...thanks for the great stream of you playing our game! Yes...we have yet to kill that bug where the character gets stuck in the cart! You were a trooper to fight through that to the end! Good on you!!! :D Really loved seeing someone figure out the mechanics and have a good time. Appreciated the kind words. Thanks!
Amazing game! Maybe I did't get the mechanism completely because it's not always run as my expectation. Sometimes it didn't charge when I fly in palsma fields, and maybe orientation should be fix.
Comments55
Unity.dll is missing from the zip folder, and the game won't run.
is not working...
Unfortunately the music somehow stopped while playing. I also encountered a bug where I jumped on the current_ce wagon, and the animation which takes your health did not start, which kept me from progressing further.
I didnt make the same mistake after)
The game is funny and nice to play. Like :D
We're still working out a couple kinda big bugs...but we plan to really "up this game" now that the concept is at least running! :)
Really appreciate your taking a look!!
The gameplay is also innovative (less life means higher jump) as it encourages you to use the whole scene (vertically and horizontally).
I also like the arts with its "neon" style !
For a first jam entry, it's a really good one, continue in this way !!
Yeah this was crazy (and fun!) ...and really stoked how the plasma field charging worked! Honestly really appreciate the feedback. :)
Looks like you used Unity, I would recommend trying out a webGL build, as it saves us reviewers from having to download and unzip.
Yes, we are definitely going to port a web version. We did really crunch some big goals art and control-feel-wise, and we seriously uploaded the final downloadable build in the last 10 seconds of the Jam deadline!!! It was crazy...but a great moment! :)
All that to say...we got some sleep and should have web version soon.
Very Abe's Odyssey-like vibe.
@arcus Will definitely knock down that opacity for the health bars...nice point!
@kuro YES...I love this little cut scene a lot! We were busy the Friday night that the Jam started...so we literally started from scratch Saturday morning and designed all this in a fury of time!! Glad it's being noticed! ;)
Things I enjoyed:
* The animations on the batteries that made them look extra cute
* The color choice for the world
* The controls page in the main menu that let's you see the controls before playing the game
Items that can be iterated on:
* As others have mentioned, I had some issues with the audio. For me, the background music stopped playing about a minute or so after playing the game.
* The background music on the title scene also seemed a little sharper and louder and was hard on my ears
* It is not immediately obvious what the goal is when I started playing the game.
* The double jump mechanic is cool but difficult to grasp out of the box. I think you could introduce those mechanics piecemeal,kinda how Super Meat Boy does.
I'm impressed at what you guys were able to get done in a weekend. I think with some polish, this game would be something I would buy on Steam :)
One issue I hit was that I ran off the end of the level and fell forever.
Nice work!
I'm getting some of the same buggs that other people got: music stopping and getting caught on the cart.
I am totally with you!! I love to try and "figure" a game out intuitively. I don't mind exploring and mashing buttons to see what's up. Little secret (for you explorers) ...if you jump and right click...he does flips! :D It's fun! Wanted to have a few "discoverable" aspects to the game. Really appreciate your checking us out!!
edit: so I tested it and turns out when you don't jump from high enough and land on the head or lay down, the character get stuck.
- @mario-marinelli: Wow thank you! it really means a lot to hear all the positivity from this community!
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