The Legend of the Fisherman by UrbanHelsing

[raw]
made by UrbanHelsing for LD32 (JAM)
This game is about a fisherman, and his friends, who need to survive against an onslaught of slime creatures. To do this, he must equip himself with a fish and slap those slimey bastards back from whence they came.

Sadly, fish don't hang around on the ground. You yourself must reel them in from the lake using your trusted fishing rod. You do this by getting up by the water and pushing the interact button when the water starts rippling. When the bar at the top shows up you must spam the interact button to reel the fish in.

Fish can be used in more ways than just a weapon. You could eat the fish and regain some lost health, or you could sell the fish at the computer (don't ask why). When you sell the fish you gain gold, and that gold can be used for upgrades, such as a better fishing rod or a boat.

HELP
1. Get a weapon (fish). Press the interaction key (J) near rippling water to start fishing. Wait until you got something on the hook, then start mashing the interation key to catch the fish. Bigger fishes will require more "willpower". Your collected fishes will be shown at the bottom of the screen.

2. Defend yourself. Select your favourite fish with N/M from your inventory. Attack with H. Different fishes will have different attack properties. Lost health could be recovered buy eating your fish (K).

3. Plan your future. Surplus fish could be sold online by pressing the interaction key (J) on the computer for selling. The money you receive could be used t upgrade your fishing rod or even buying a boat. Buying upgrades is done by presing the interaction key (J) on the computer for buying.

4. Get social. Need help? Let up to 3 of your friends join in the multiplayer COOP fishing adventure.

CREDITS:
Programmer: Erik Hallin
Graphics & Idea: Emil Hallin
Sound & Graphics: Fredrik Hallin

Ratings

Coolness 95% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.06 651
Audio(Jam) 2.61 557
Fun(Jam) 2.68 768
Graphics(Jam) 3.02 650
Humor(Jam) 2.93 484
Innovation(Jam) 3.04 554
Mood(Jam) 3.00 549
Theme(Jam) 3.26 586

Feedback

terryg
21. Apr 2015 · 03:48 UTC
I uncompressed it and ran it but i got this error: "The program can't start because OpenAL32.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstall...". This is a fresh copy of windows 7 professional 64bit in case you want to know. The game concept looks interesting. I hope to be able to play it.
erikkire
21. Apr 2015 · 07:03 UTC
If you can not start due to missing OpenAL32.dll, you need to install OpenAL. Or wait, we will put the required files inside the download folder soon...
bradur
21. Apr 2015 · 07:04 UTC
Interesting idea that you have to first fish, then use the fish as weapons / currency / food. The combat was a little hard, since it was hard to stay out of range. Button mashing to get the fish was fun too, although I can see it getting old :D. Nice atmosphere, the sound design was great!
Zeriver
21. Apr 2015 · 09:48 UTC
I like how game forces you to manage your resources.
Hyoga-3D
21. Apr 2015 · 13:55 UTC
Nice concept, fishing is always nice, good job.
randoman
21. Apr 2015 · 21:12 UTC
Got lost the first time I played, so much buttons to remember D:
Once I got used to it I could finally enjoy the game. Good job
Alice
22. Apr 2015 · 18:20 UTC
Cool idea! I struggled a bit used to all the buttons, but it was worth the struggle.
crazyninjamofo
22. Apr 2015 · 18:24 UTC
Nice job getting the complete package: resource gathering, marketplace, combat, multiplayer. Looks like a lot of work went into this. I had some issues with the combat, I felt like the hit-box for my weapon wasn't always matching.
rectangular Tim
22. Apr 2015 · 18:40 UTC
The controls aren't very good. The mashing is annoying. It's possible to move super fast by using the left stick and the d-pad at the same time.
Mak
22. Apr 2015 · 18:41 UTC
Cool mechanic, I really liked that when you get hit you have to eat your own weapon to continue fighting haha, it is also cool the feeling that you companions are in danger while you fish. Combat was hard, but I think is for the best, as getting in danger is a thrilling experience. But the camera sure needs some work, it is frustrating to run into some enemies I couldn't see. Maybe you could just center it in the character.
parity_b1t
22. Apr 2015 · 19:25 UTC
cool concept of using fish for everything.
Tatsu Studio
23. Apr 2015 · 03:59 UTC
I liked the idea, was creative! ^^
eddynardo
23. Apr 2015 · 16:49 UTC
I liked the idea.I had trouble playing like most people complain about the controls but i found the graphics/sfx really good!
peterfsat
23. Apr 2015 · 16:50 UTC
For some reason I had to press really fast to catch the first fish! Other than that I liked that you programmed this in raw C++/OpenGL! Some basic sound would be awesome.
erikkire
23. Apr 2015 · 17:19 UTC
Just to clarify:
The different fishes you can catch have different properties, both damage, attack area, sell price, heal value, and how hard they are to catch. Thats why they vary.
And there is alot of sound.
MonoS
24. Apr 2015 · 16:57 UTC
I'm somewhat sorry to give to your game so low score cause you programmed it in pure c++ [and i know the hassle of doing so].

The game need some better mechanics and ui, i had to replay the game a lot of time before understanding at least how to wield a fish.

A little tutorial, also with images would also help.
syncxzoz
25. Apr 2015 · 04:22 UTC
overall...the idea is good... but so hard to control because too many button to remember and got no hint at the game... i think you must provide some shortcut / hint to show information what player must to do...
scorched
25. Apr 2015 · 08:08 UTC
Sadly didn't manage to get any of the buttons except left stick doing anything:-(
siryakko
25. Apr 2015 · 09:21 UTC
Nice entry, nice work on the concept and the gameplay
ermrk
25. Apr 2015 · 10:51 UTC
Nice game, after I figured out how to play it.
bace1000
25. Apr 2015 · 14:18 UTC
I kept forgetting the controls :( A nice little game though!
elpaulo
25. Apr 2015 · 14:23 UTC
Nice entry. Would be cool if the enemies jump back when you hit them.
OnlySlightly
25. Apr 2015 · 15:13 UTC
Really cute style. I like how you drew the fisherman. ANd I liked the setting :)
sekaru
25. Apr 2015 · 18:27 UTC
The idea was pretty cool but the gameplay was a bit lacking (specifically in the controls department).
Kate Kligman
25. Apr 2015 · 18:29 UTC
I liked the camera movement and how the screen eventually centered on the player as they moved around.

I used an xbox controller and wore out my hand trying to pull my first fish out of the water.

Good job and good use of the theme!
KhaoTom
25. Apr 2015 · 18:36 UTC
The title screen is so soothing.
KirbiKaka
01. May 2015 · 18:47 UTC
Cool game! I really like the concept of the game, and it's awesome that you got co-op to work! I like the way you use a single resource to power the whole game: fish are the weapons, the healing, and the money generation mechanic. I kind of got the same feeling I get with Animal Crossing and a lot of other games of wanting to optimize my path. I wanted to catch as many fish as I could, but not too many (so I could go get upgrades and hopefully catch them even faster). I wanted to sell all the fish I could to get more money, but not all of them, since I needed to fight slimes. I think it was a cool way to punish being greedy with your fish :b

I think one thing that could be improved about the game is some of the controlling. The camera, for one, has a nice sliding effect, but allows you to move too far off center. I appreciated that you guys took the time to get a smooth camera follow, but the player should still be relatively centered, otherwise it's hard to see where you're going! Also, I thought the controls were a little unintuitive. I'm used to touch typing, so I have my index finger on J usually. It didn't make too much sense to me to have to hit H to attack. I think I would have preferred the buttons JKL; instead of HJKL. It also makes it easier for me because I can switch fish with N and M with my index finger while attacking with K, rather than trying to control H, N, and M all with my index finger.

Overall, great concept; I think y'all could go pretty far with this if you wanted to continue with it post-jam :]!
KaiseanGames
07. May 2015 · 02:53 UTC
Nice one!
Luminar
10. May 2015 · 18:21 UTC
Nice one! Loved the fact that I can use a controller :)