August 24th-27th 2012 :: Theme: Evolution
So here's Crab, my little game for the Ludum Dare #24!
Don't expect a lot of gameplay here, the goal was mainly to create a strong and odd atmosphere - the game's pretty short too. The link with the theme may be hard to find, but it's there!
You play as a red bubble, which keeps corrupting houses it lives in.
About the controls, they're pretty simple:
- Use the mouse to move the red bubble
- Use left click to interact
- Use F to toggle fullscreen
- Use Q to quit
I finished it about 10 minutes before the deadline, and ported it to Windows afterwhile. I had various issues with my compiler and SFML 1.6... So I had to adapt the code for the 2.0RC version. The source code is a real mess by the way! I'll probably upload an extended version on my website - mainly to clean the code, and add various elements I hadn't the time to include.
For the tools:
- SFML (Graphics)
- OpenAL (Sounds)
- The Gimp (Art)
- LMMS (Musics / Sounds)
I hope you'll enjoy the game!
Downloads and Links
Ratings
![]() | Coolness | 59% |
![]() | Audio | 4.21 |
#7 | Mood | 4.10 |
#36 | Graphics | 4.17 |
#203 | Overall | 3.30 |
#320 | Innovation | 2.97 |
#515 | Fun | 2.50 |
#600 | Humor | 1.35 |
#625 | Theme | 2.18 |
Comments
@hjslater: I've uploaded a new Linux version, it should be better :)
The ambience is awesome! The game is really scary!
I love the graphics and the sound effects.
Very good job!
>./crab: error while loading shared libraries: libsfml-window.so.1.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
I got same problem. OpenSUSE_64bit
I can't say I had fun playing it, but it did have a lot of atmosphere. Kudos on the sound design. It took me a while to figure out you can transition between screens by moving off the edge. I like the ending too.
I really like the way you create a mood with the art and sound, and I like the pixel art. I like how the avatar is more abstract, a red bubble rather than a person walking around - I think the game is actually better because of it. It would have been nice to have the experience a little more fleshed out, but overall it was great.
I just don't see the connection to the theme at all...
Thank you all for your comments!
@axcho: There is a strong connnection with the theme, but I agree that it isn't that obvious!
I won't explain it here though, since I think this would ruin the game.
@KHANanaphone: What do you mean by sarcastic?
Any chance to see MacOS X version? If no, will play on Windows machine later this evening.
Brilliant mood and audio... but i'm stucked ! What should I do after sleeping in that first bed ? (.. but you can't answer here without spoiling everyone...)
Interesting control scheme. The visual and audio presentation is beautiful, you've done a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere. The ending is also quite good when the realization of what's been happening hits.
I like how it looks like a point & click but isn't. You really managed to convey a strong atmosphere/mood (Thanks Music+graphics+control scheme), there're barely nothing to do, and still, it's not boring at all, and the end is quite rewarding in a way...
@sev_inf I guess you can rebuild the game on OSX from sources: all the dependencies are cross platform
The game is great, the atmosphere is amazing and the use of the theme is original but makes sense, everything is perfectly coherent. Congrats.
Mood and Sound were absolutely awesome. Very scary. The game itself was a bit strange, didn't get much far, because I didn't know where to go after this extremely infected room....well, I will try it later.
Hmmmm....this is a tough one to score. As others have said, wasn't exactly "fun," but was probably the most unique entry I've come across this LD. Audio and graphics did wonders for thematics (mission accomplished), but I'm struggling to come up with your interpretation of the actual theme without stretching it very, very thin. Loved the pixel art.
The controls definitely left a lot to be desired. I kinda wished instead of having to move to an object to get the "tooltip" at the bottom, it just appeared when I moused over, and I could then click the object and the bubble would move there then on his own. You can say it's nitpicky, but I almost stopped playing just because I got tired of watching him bobble around only to move to something unimportant. It would've been a real shame not to complete the game, because I actually liked this entry.
Overall, awesome job. You went off on a limb and did something you weren't sure if people would like or not, and for that I respect you. Not sure that I think an entry like this deserves to win, but it was a powerful experience for something made in 48 hours. The ending was great.
Wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, but the atmospherics were great, especially the music and your color palette.
The game creates a very good atmosphere and the graphics and music are quite suitable. The only thing I don't get is what this has to do with evolution...
Yup, you nailed the atmosphere part - the sound+visual effects you sprinkled in there really topped off the package. I'd agree with Fritzendugan though - the bubble's move speed was frustratingly slow. It breaks the immersion.
You must sign in to comment.
Any chance of including libsfml-window.so.1.6? It gives an error on Ubuntu:
./crab: error while loading shared libraries: libsfml-window.so.1.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory