April 26th-29th 2013 :: Theme: Minimalism
Ludum Dare 26 — April 26-29th, 2013
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The Windows Build Should work on Wine (I've tested on v1.5.28).
*I've actually figured out the Windows XP issue ( i needed to change the core run-time version in the command-line link options to 5.01 instead of the default 6.0 ), unfortunately I've changed the code a bit between then and I'm not sure if I can get it back to it's original state so at most i might release a post LD version. Sorry to any XP users, I've been using the Visual Studio 2012 compiler with my buildtool and I hand't tested Win XP support for anything other than MinGW g++
I hope to release a Linux port later, and an OSX port if i get a chance.
You are a Little Blue Gelatin named Speed, who must run through the level as fast as he can!
Controls:
A/D or Left/Right to move, Shift to run, W/Space/Up to jump; Jump distance is affected by two things:
1) Double jumps. ( releasing the key and pressing again )
Double jumps reset upon landing on the ground.
2) Holding the key. Holding jump increases jump distance (up to a capped limit ). Holding longer than the cap will attempt to double jump.
You can also maneuver in mid-air by using the a/d/left/right keys and shift.
If you take a large jump and cannot see a platform, chances are you need to go down a bit, not all platforms are the same height. Platform length & height vary as well as the length of the gap between them and the obstacles on the platform.
Pay attention to the messages at the top of the screen!
The best way to make it across a gap is to jump once and then use the second jump & movement keys to make a controlled landing.
This game is hard. Ridiculously so. If you have too much trouble, then you should know that the level is the same every time you reset, so each jump can be learned, and soon you will know the level (just like an 'impossible game' ). Remember not to try and make the whole gap in one key-press, and you should be fine!
If you cannot beat the game, press 'C' to cheat to the end and see the credits.
For anyone curious:
SFML 2.0 rc with msvc11 compiler;
c++;
notepad++;
my own buildtool;
paint/paint.net/gimp;
audacity;
garageband.
Credits are at the end of the game, ( which you can skip to by pressing 'c' to cheat ) and in a text file in the download.
So happy that i managed to Pull off my First LD!
Thanks so Much to The Team and Everyone who Helped! :)
-Ben
Downloads and Links
Ratings
 | Coolness | 60% |
| #189 | Audio(Jam) | 3.19 |
| #204 | Humor(Jam) | 2.42 |
| #316 | Theme(Jam) | 3.16 |
| #479 | Mood(Jam) | 2.19 |
| #501 | Fun(Jam) | 2.15 |
| #513 | Graphics(Jam) | 2.19 |
| #516 | Innovation(Jam) | 2.00 |
| #523 | Overall(Jam) | 2.32 |
Comments
@ilovepixel Look at the Messages in the box at the top.
You'll have to double jump, and then you'll land on another platform. The game has a lot of 'leap of faith style' jumps.
I think the idea could be better executed, I don't like jumping into the void and trying to guess what comes next. Jumping also feels weird. Anyway, thanks for sharing, hope to see more of you in the next LDs!
@messiano, thanks for the comment. I think i may have gone a little overboard making it challenging to be honest. Though in play testing most people seemed to make it at least a few platforms in before they had to restart, and they seemed to learn the level pretty well until about 1/2 way through ( as of last night's build, so I was hoping that while challenging, it would still be an entertaining challenge.
Oh well, better luck next time I guess ( and a more fun theme i hope :P ).
cool music, cool interface. but a background image would help for orientation.
Needs something to be able to tell where I'm going. Leap of faith is cool, but not when double-jumping happens automatically, and you overjump the platform 90% of the time.
Point Taken on the Background.
Double Jumping only occurs automatically if you hold down the key, letting go of the key before the first or second jumps run out will prevent you from going further.
I think i needed clearer instructions and a background. I started to make a background but decided to keep it out in order to keep things minimal. In retrospect, that was a bad decision :/
@myachin, Thanks!, Tsubasa did a great job on the music.
@xandy, thanks. Yeah, i might have to do a post LD with a background.
Not sure about the leap of faiths though. I might need to remove them all-together?
The game is a little unforgiving and could use some changes to make it more playable. I used to speed run all the Mario games and it is essential that you can see where you will land. Perhaps some kind of zooming camera would have helped, so it could zoom out.
@8BitPimp, interesting idea.
The way i saw it was, you make the first 'jump' which usually takes you roughly halfway there and then you press jump again and hold it for a variable length of time, as well as using the other movement keys to control where you land. I Think i need a more detailed introduction/tutorial and possibly easier jumps. Maybe for Post LD i can simply increase the window size/scale the view to show more of the map.
Not showing the landing place was intentional though. It wasn't meant to be easy. Though I've since gathered that well, it's too hard. Maybe if I haven't been consumed by another project I'll do a post LD fix.
Thanks for the comment! It's very helpful to get more feedback. :)
Liked the use of the message box at the top, but I feel the game could have been executed better overall.
Couldn't get over the first gap :o Yeah a background, or a further zoomed out view might help.
The first gap is *exactly* a double jump for anyone else who plays. It was made wide as a way to let the messages ( in a somewhat humorous way), explain the rest of the controls.
How long you hold the jump key, and when you press/release it Matters!
Thanks to everyone who's attempted it and rated/commented. While i don't plan to be doing a similar game anytime soon (Except maybe an update to this one), It's been quite nice to receive feedback :)
@GetFun, sorry :(
You have to take a good long jump for the first one. Make sure you HOLD the jump key in order to make it.
Made it to the second platform. This game is really hard without visuals in the background to tell your velocity. It sounds like this was intention because of the theme. One way you could have done it without adding visuals is make the camera lag slightly behind the character. Congrats on your first LD!
@zazery Thanks! Now that you mention it, I actually did try that, but the response from my testers was that it made it look worse. I probably should have tried to tweak it more but i scrapped it.
That might be a good way to do a post LD fix.
Thanks for the Tip!
Very good,grate music and good minimalistic art. However, it's a bit difficult to play because the view area is much smaller than the jumps we have to make. Difficult to know if the speed is enough or if we need to double jump. Also, adding a line to set the horizon would definitely help understanding how high in the jump we are. Easy to fix, I think, and would improve a lot the play value.
I liked a lot the music, but not the gameplay. You took the canabalt style but hidden any possibility to see where are the platform where you are jumping, or how high you are.. I'm sorry for being so rude, no offense..
Sadly I can't play it with my Win XP (32-bit) laptop. :(
Strange. :( I built it with cl.exe bundled with VS 2012; after running vcvars32.bat, also from vs 2012.
Sorry :( I didn't have an XP machine handy.
@infernet89. none taken. I made a challenging game not realizing most people on LD seems to prefer simple, easy games.
You're supposed to tap jump once, then use the remainder of your jump to aim for the platform. If you overdo the jump, or don't jump at all, you'll miss it by so much that you can't see it.
As per canabalt, i've never played/seen it. I'll have to go look at it.
****
No, not really. Canabalt seems to be and endless game where the screen forcibly sidescrolls. You can always go backwards in my game, and the screen follows the player.
**spoiler:
Also, the level does have an end. And an easter egg
**
****
@pvwradtke , thanks, yeah, it was meant to be hard and I overdid it. Everyone here who played it during pre-release said it was hard, but got at least 1/2 way through the level after a few attempts.
I think If I do a post-ld, i'll tweak the camera and the jump settings.
As per the horizon, I'm not quite sure what you mean? If you see this, I'd love to hear a re-phrasing/explanation of what you mean by that.
I normally wouldn't make a game like this at all, the idea for a minimalistic speed-runner came purely out of trying to find a game for the theme; but If I have the free time later, I'd love to make it more enjoyable.
When I first looked at the screenshot, I thought it said "I peed, run!"
The game was pretty good, though a bigger view would have been nice. I kept overshooting platforms.
I'm glad y'all like the music. We went through several ideas and beats before we came up with the final song. If you haven't found the easter egg at the end I encourage y'all to bypass everything by pressing "c" to go to the end. It's worth it guys.
Haha, glad someone liked it. That title would make for a pretty funny game xD
I'll see about releasing one with a bigger view for post ld.
I liked the instruction bar and the audio amazing.
Congratulations on your first entry =D.
(I cheated after a while)
@ Make A Game thanks :D I was mostly happy that it ran smoothly.
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I didn't understand much was going on. After jumping the first platform I just started floating around empty space.