Ludum Dare #50compo

Merge Getaway

by glitchman

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.74

Fun★★★★★★★★★★4.03

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.67

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.98

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.09

Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.12

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.24

![merge-getaway.gif](https://glitchman.itch.io/merge-getaway)

The police unexpectedly started pursuing you. Sooner or later... every criminal will get caught! Merge with cars of the same colour to accelerate and to escape from the police! :red_car: :police_car: :dash:

–> 🌟 PLAY THE GAME IN YOUR BROWSER 🌟 <–

The game is for LD50 the COMPO category.

Controls :keyboard:

- `A` or `D`, `Left` or `Right` - to control the car.
- `M` - toggle music.
- `R` - quickly restart the game (if you stuck, for example).
- Post-Compo update: the game supports mobile touch controls!

Known Issues :bug:

- The game runs too fast on high-frequency displays (>60Hz).
- Sometimes it's necessary to click on the game to start the music.

Used tools

- Game engine: Defold
- 3D framework: Scene3D
- 3D modelling: SideFX Houdini
- 2D graphics: Affinity Designer
- Music editor: Bandlab

Tags: #3d, #defold, #driving

Genres: racing

Tools: Defold

Comments35

jepjoh24 Apr 2022, 11:33

Very fun mechanic :) And great music

James_77774 Apr 2022, 12:34

Really cool idea! I really like the car merging mechanic. The graphics are clean and the music works well. There were times where I felt like the car was slowing down and I wasn't really sure how to get it to speed up again, which led to me getting caught. On the whole though, really great, especially for a compo game!

Lawrence4 Apr 2022, 13:50

The game mechanic of matching car colors is interesting and fun. The handling feels a bit stiff and not responsive enough. In a game with cars I guess the most fun is making heavy turns and close saves, but here if you go to the side just a bit too much it's very hard to steer the car back on the road. But that's the only thing, otherwise this is great, good job!

ZooHair4 Apr 2022, 14:49

The game's visuals are really good.

GM637OFFICIAL4 Apr 2022, 14:50

This is nice but yh the steering is indeed a bit stiff but great job!

quill184 Apr 2022, 14:54

A surprisingly compelling game! The handling is tricky, but I think that's what you want for something like this. Really enjoyed the visuals. Ended up playing for quite a while (but never got a score better than 25 or so, because it's a tough game!)

NicMagnier4 Apr 2022, 16:58

Really amazing game. I like the handling. It's tough to control but that the feeling that capture very much the high speed chase.
The 3D is really great. I love the art direction.

I played quite a while (My high score is 53), this is always so tempting to launch a new game after being busted :)

Benjamin Gare4 Apr 2022, 18:20

This game could easily sit on a smartphone and be a huge time waster. Very good.

brads.space4 Apr 2022, 21:49

This game is really cool, I love the art style.

AdroitConceptions5 Apr 2022, 11:30

- Would have really been nice to be able to use a controller for proportional inputs.
- music loop was really short
- needs some SFX to go with the gameplay
- graphics look nice
- sometimes the other cars seem to steer into you if you bump them in a way that basically gets you stuck into them and with no way to break/accelerate it can be really hard to break free of a car turning into you

glitchmanauthor5 Apr 2022, 12:56

@adroitconceptions Thank you for the honest feedback! It is exactly what I am looking for.

arqitech5 Apr 2022, 16:28

Really enjoyed playing the game :smile:
It feels very polished and the artwork is nice.
I think it would be really cool if you could hold down "A" and "D" at the same time to brake, then you could get behind the police car.

JuhrJuhr5 Apr 2022, 16:37

I love the controls! Forcing the cop car to swerve off of the road is really satisfying.
I wish there was a quick restart button so I didn't have to wait until 5+ seconds for it to reset :(

Bdiebeak5 Apr 2022, 18:46

Very cool idea, nice graphics and friendly controls. I spent alot of time playing it.

LDJam user 2615385 Apr 2022, 19:33

Fun idea with trying to like, blend into the cars. We also did a car chase with police for our entry, actually! Very different execution, though. Your game is very fun! At first I felt the controls are a little too sensitive, but now I think I was just playing wrong, trying to evade police instead of boost.

glitchmanauthor5 Apr 2022, 21:23

> I wish there was a quick restart button so I didn’t have to wait until 5+ seconds for it to reset :(

@juhrjuhr Thank you! Press `R` to quickly restart the game :grinning:

Russ Moonbase6 Apr 2022, 02:48

Awesome idea. Controls were super tough but I don't imagine this game is suppose to be easy. Loved the graphics and the sound. Idea of merging with other cars of the same color is great. Nice work!

jk50006 Apr 2022, 07:17

The game looks and sounds really great. The gameplay is simple and fun. I will say it could start a bit easier. But overall a very well made compo game. Well done.

UC1016 Apr 2022, 08:26

Good music, easy to view graphics, controls are a little over-zealous

UC1016 Apr 2022, 08:26

Good music, easy to view graphics, controls are a little over-zealous

PetTurtle7 Apr 2022, 03:07

Really good controls. I like how you get points going in the opposite direction.

glitchmanauthor7 Apr 2022, 08:48

> I like how you get points going in the opposite direction.

It's awesome that you found that it's possible to do! :smile:

ksimaster7 Apr 2022, 10:38

Cool! I am the hero of the movie The Fast and the Furious! Changing cars is great!

AutoGibbon7 Apr 2022, 22:46

Shame I can't play this (240hz), it looks really fun.

Phillip Scott7 Apr 2022, 22:47

Can't really play it properly as my display makes the game too fast so the cars feel super springy :(

Cars look nice
Music was a little repetitive
I liek the idea of the main mechanic

glitchmanauthor8 Apr 2022, 07:15

> Shame I can’t play this (240hz), it looks really fun.
> Can’t really play it properly as my display makes the game too fast so the cars feel super springy :(

Oh, I'm really sorry. That's known issue that the game runs too fast on high-frequency displays :cry:

I'll fix that, but in the post-Compo version.

Neon Orbis8 Apr 2022, 10:30

This is a very addictive game. I really like the graphics, the vehicle handling and the interpretation of the theme. Due to the simple goal of trying to outrun the police as long as possible, the simple controls, concept and goal keeps you coming back for more. Well Done!

Quackqack8 Apr 2022, 11:48

Very cool, once you get the hang of the controls it is very rewarding.

I also struggled on a high refresh rate monitor but it made it even more intense!

Korvack8 Apr 2022, 18:41

Why do cops always have a more powerful car? ^^
The game is very fun, we want to restart non-stop! The controls are perhaps a little too sensitive. Sometimes I would like to slalom between cars but the car quickly spins. very good game, well done!

glitchmanauthor8 Apr 2022, 18:45

@korvack Thank you! Yeah, the police cars have V8 engines under the hood :grin:

:police_car: :dash:

glitchmanauthor8 Apr 2022, 20:22

Post-Compo update!

:new: The game supports mobile UI and touch controls.

PeachTreeOath8 Apr 2022, 23:49

44 high score here. I love how the concept makes absolutely no sense lol.

I liked that you had autocorrection on the car itself. I think the game would've been a bit too easy to fly off the road otherwise. It took some getting used to, but eventually you learn to use it to your advantage.

Another thing I did was try to only merge with cars when I hit them head on. It was pretty risky to merge with them at an angle at high speeds. I thought this was an interesting risk reward mechanic.

silkmeloni10 Apr 2022, 04:03

It's so cool! Full of great designs. My favourite car-racing game in this jam. It's so funny when I took a sharp turn and travel in the wrong direction.