Author Topic: Ludum Dare 30: August 22-25, 2014 (Read 77,087 times)

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #25 on:** October 09, 2014, 01:41 AM »

Well, an easy cop-out is just use a couple of the regular images of Cody, and a horizontal flip and just stick him as background art somewhere conspicuous.

I just like inside jokes. But in the writeup afterward, you get to say "oh, that white bird? That's Cody from DonationCoder!"

Deozaan · « **Reply #26 on:** October 09, 2014, 01:51 AM »

Not a bad idea.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #27 on:** October 28, 2014, 05:29 PM »

I'm going to play a couple more LD games. Just because their site is a bit strange, this is a raw post to the master list of LD 30 games:

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview

Deozaan · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2014, 08:13 PM »

I prefer to browse the entries through this portal:

http://ludumdare.itch.io/

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #29 on:** November 10, 2014, 02:59 AM »

Okay, while hanging out in the chat room, it became another LD day!

First up:
Anima et Corpus
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=30283
http://www.amateurlabs.com/games/ld30/play/

You are disembodied, having entered a tragic zombie-esque state, and you need to re-unite your physical and spirit states in the "scroll room". It's pretty simple per se - you need to move your body half and your ghost half into the room with the scroll, sometimes they need to touch or merge.

It's neat that the body half walks (spacebar jumps), and the spirit half floats with a delay like the ship in asteroids.

Using the "e" key, you toggle between your body state and your ghost state.

It really is Phoenix Easy, which I always find pleasant! But here's just a couple of tips just to help prevent minor frustrations to really get you going.

- There's no time limit, so for example on levels 3 and 6, take your time. If you trap yourself and get an impossible position, just reload the page. It's really generous letting you pick levels.

- As I write this "live" while I am playing, it goes really slowly introducing you to world elements, so you don't have to madly try to solve five things at once.

- The Body form has sorta "flying samurai" physics, and everything is pretty generous - I don't see much of the "pixel accuracy" that tends to sometimes push games into one of the hard categories. (Though Level 10 seems to have a little.)

Here's the start of Level 10:
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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #30 on:** November 10, 2014, 05:00 AM »

Okay, a couple of these are for you guys who like minimal info!

Other Side - Raphy - Jam Entry
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=24241
http://gamejolt.com/games/adventure/other-side/33241/

Single tip:
Travel to the right for about 30 seconds to find the stones, then wait for night. Then figure it out ... in 30 seconds once you get the concept!

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #31 on:** November 10, 2014, 05:13 AM »

Planet Hop
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=27844
http://gamejolt.com/games/arcade/planet-hop/33061/

Planets circle each other, and you control a little red ball.

Press any key to hop back and forth. The key is you have to get the hang of the speed it takes before the planet gets to where it needs to be for you to hop. Like Nasa missions for five year olds!

Difficulty:
Phoenix Medium.
If your hand-eye is good and you have a knack for the spatial timing, you'll do well. But if you don't, one missed connection hop and you lose. It's not my forte so I ended my tests after a best score of 8 in some 50 games.

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #32 on:** November 10, 2014, 06:30 AM »

Attack of the super ninja nazies from another dimension - juakob - 48 Hour Compo Entry
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28238008/LD30/index.html
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=8488

A funny little spoof of old Nintendo fighting games.
Punch the health bag to get hp back.

Beat up the Nazis just to get them out of the way (they spawn), then beat up the machine to win.

Tip: It's got the "Brokken flaw" of World Heroes 2 - your kicks are about 5 times stronger than your punches, and I didn't even need to jump. Just a little experience from some of those old fighting games helps you navigate the space - placement of the screen elements.

With that it is Phoenix Easy on the first level, though each time you win it seemed to spawn Nazis a little faster, though that's not clear.

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #33 on:** November 10, 2014, 06:43 AM »

Apparently LD's version of Flappy Bird

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=35835
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Geckoo1337/flappy-geek

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #34 on:** November 10, 2014, 09:47 AM »

This is a funny little one, but kinda another one you only play once.

Many Ninjas
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=20543
http://bushidoburrito.com/games/many_ninjas/

It's basically a resource building game, where you try to attract and train the most ninjas to your camp as possible.

It's Phoenix Easy because there's no lose condition. Then again, you only play it once because there's no win condition either. I decided that ___ e120 was enough to declare a "neo win".

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #35 on:** November 10, 2014, 10:26 AM »

Dance Party
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=22452
http://storage.wertle.com/LudumDare/LD30/index.html

A truly silly one!
It says Chrome but I squeezed it to work in FF.

The art is so silly here, it's the point. It's a bit like HyperboleAndAHalf.

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Rated Phoenix Med-Easy because you can get going a little after a couple tries to figure out the controls. But it does pick up, and starts getting harder after about the 2 min point.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #36 on:** November 10, 2014, 10:45 AM »

Monster Dude's World.

Another Phoenix Easy one, because I beat it in about a minute. You really have to blunder badly to die!

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=14804
http://gamejolt.com/games/platformer/monster-dude-s-world-ld30/32978/

This is another one all about the art, and "stay simple and finish, rather than get complicated and run out of time".

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #37 on:** November 10, 2014, 11:05 AM »

Okay, this post is for games that look pretty good, but are too hard for me!

So there's a couple reasons why a game could get here for being too hard. One is that something like the art is amazing but the overall game just makes you die too fast. Another is the info management is simply too complex for me to snap-grasp since I'm surveying pretty fast on look and feel. But I know some of you geniuses out there want stuff that's more challenging than half the reviews I post, so look here.

Fusebox
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=26650
Managing connections in an emotion-energy power plant between some 50 planets and 10 fuse types each with a metal profile.
Hard: Info Complexity

Generation Ship
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=29081
Another info management game of some kind, this time on a spaceship. The art is incredible looking!

Deozaan · « **Reply #38 on:** November 10, 2014, 06:50 PM »

Here's a non-LD game I'd like to see your opinion on. It's definitely Phoenix-Easy.

http://blocsilent.itch.io/dance-to-the-finish

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #39 on:** November 10, 2014, 08:44 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on November 10, 2014, 06:50 PM

Here's a non-LD game I'd like to see your opinion on. It's definitely Phoenix-Easy.

http://blocsilent.itch.io/dance-to-the-finish

(Edit 3 - I messed up this post. Tagged to look at, etc. See below.)

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #40 on:** November 10, 2014, 08:58 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on October 28, 2014, 08:13 PM

I prefer to browse the entries through this portal:

http://ludumdare.itch.io/

This is interesting:
Per sort categories, do you know if it pulls the same games in the same order?

One discouraging thing about the LD site is that I'm pretty sure at x intervals, when you do "preview", it pulls different games for the "first page" etc on different days. So I was getting tired, but I'd bet a sandwich that after having gone through 16 of 106 pages, what's on today's page 1 is not the same page 1 I looked at yesterday! So it's tricky to mark your progress and be methodical!

And yes, the changeable icons make some difference. I'll have to find a way somehow to merge using both pages.

Deozaan · « **Reply #41 on:** November 11, 2014, 12:48 AM »

Quote from: TaoPhoenix on November 10, 2014, 08:58 PM

Per sort categories, do you know if it pulls the same games in the same order?

I believe so, but I haven't done anything to absolutely verify that to be the case.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #42 on:** November 11, 2014, 03:34 AM »

Quote from: Deozaan on November 11, 2014, 12:48 AM

Quote from: TaoPhoenix on November 10, 2014, 08:58 PM
Per sort categories, do you know if it pulls the same games in the same order?

I believe so, but I haven't done anything to absolutely verify that to be the case.

Well, it's unclear this early, but LD has already flipped their rotator (it might be automated) because the new ones on page 1 are nothing I recognize. On the itch.io under All Games / Most Rated, there's a black circle logo called Close your eyes. So if that stays there, we have our answer. The small nuisance is that there's no "page #", more of a Tumblr Super-Scroll, but then that's something I can use one of my third copies of FF to do and park it on a less used virtual desktop splitter tab and then slowly drift through it bit by bit.

Deozaan · « **Reply #43 on:** November 11, 2014, 10:17 PM »

That's what I see, too.

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TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #44 on:** November 14, 2014, 05:50 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on November 10, 2014, 06:50 PM

Here's a non-LD game I'd like to see your opinion on. It's definitely Phoenix-Easy.

http://blocsilent.itch.io/dance-to-the-finish

Okay, I'm gonna try to use some careful wording, because I may be missing giant creatures in the room.

What ... is this ... "piece of software" supposed to do?

If I scroll to the right for twelve seconds, I ... Win!?!

For this post I am avoiding the topic I had to work harder to avoid paying than "playing" the ... whatever it is.

So do you have any key info that I am missing, such as having adblock running?

My rating system Easy was meant as a rough measure when a bad gamer (me) can get a bunch of levels done in a day or two = easy, whereas a really crisp hand-eye guy can crack what I start calling Mediums, that might take me a week or three. (I'm just terrible at lots of the standard keyboard conventions.)

But this thing is ringing a bell like I'm missing something huge, so officially I can't rate it yet.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #45 on:** November 14, 2014, 06:02 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on November 11, 2014, 10:17 PM

That's what I see, too.
(see attachment in previous post)

Yeah the same games are there, so this looks like a useful tip.
Starting to set up a browser/splitter/x instance to play a few on this new ordering.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #46 on:** November 14, 2014, 06:20 PM »

Okay, a few more reviews!

Sometimes when a programmer is forced to stay both simple and clean (aka some bug control), you can get a few neat concepts because players know it is either a 1x48 or x-78 entry. So some ideas that could never really sell for big bucks have a chance to live here.

My first one is my "test case" I was talking with Deozaan testing page rotators.

"Close your eyes"
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=36254

https://b935a866a41f29a107d108ebd96483bb6a8af0d2.googledrive.com/host/0B54eWCk5eSFdY3RXbU05SUk2Yms/CloseYourEyes.html

The basic idea is you work with a moving dot trying to reach a target. But holding down space toggles which sets of reflectors are in play. It's a funky mechanic, but that's why I'm here.

But it's cute and I got through at least a few levels while writing this.

(It's okay if the last x levels start to get hard ... Medium and Hard ratings are more when you can't even get out of level 1-3 before getting mauled.)

Generosity of restarting levels vs going back to level 1 is also key. This one seems pretty forgiving restarting on current levels. I'm about 4 levels in, and it's starting to get tricky, but that rating is still Med-Easy because it doesn't squash you 12 seconds in like many of these games do.

The first tricky level about 5 levels in:
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The "alt universe" when you hit space:
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Edit: Okay, when it gets tricky, it gets tricky fast.
I have been using SC Caprtor and Stickies to get a feeble leg up, but this just may not be my strong suit game.

Edit2: Okay, this level is doing weird things to my rating system. I screamed past the training and first couple levels, and suddenly this one is really giving me a run for the money. So maybe you have to discount the early levels and then it becomes full Phoenix Medium in the middle.

Edit3: I finally beat that level - the winning move involves both of the "big circles" and then getting the ball to slide to the right on the low side of the screen. But it was certainly far trickier than the warmup levels, and it's gonna get worse soon! The one I posted was among the last of the "slow speed levels". Then it picks up into "unfair mode" where the ball goes really fast!

Overall, an innovative concept!

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #47 on:** November 14, 2014, 07:40 PM »

(There's a couple of these "press x to toggle worlds" games in this set. It's prob semi-forced by the compo theme.)

Deozaan · « **Reply #48 on:** November 14, 2014, 08:27 PM »

Quote from: TaoPhoenix on November 14, 2014, 05:50 PM

Quote from: Deozaan on November 10, 2014, 06:50 PM
Here's a non-LD game I'd like to see your opinion on. It's definitely Phoenix-Easy.

http://blocsilent.itch.io/dance-to-the-finish

Okay, I'm gonna try to use some careful wording, because I may be missing giant creatures in the room.

What ... is this ... "piece of software" supposed to do?

If I scroll to the right for twelve seconds, I ... Win!?!

For this post I am avoiding the topic I had to work harder to avoid paying than "playing" the ... whatever it is.

So do you have any key info that I am missing, such as having adblock running?

But this thing is ringing a bell like I'm missing something huge, so officially I can't rate it yet.

I don't think you're missing anything. I saw some people praising it in my Twitter feed, saying how amazing it felt to play that game. So I checked it out and was puzzled. My reaction was similar to yours.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #49 on:** November 14, 2014, 08:41 PM »

Another of the "draw lines between stuff" games:

Salvation

http://43iscoding.github.io/Salvation/
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=35110

You are building some kind of escape routes between planets to let citizens escape some kind of disaster.

It's Phoenix Easy because I only had to really think on the last level 7 which is here:

I included some partial strategy in my pic! So in general, I tend to put a tip or two in my reviews because the difficulty should be "what it is", not heavily banking on one cute trick.

Level 7 (last one)
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