LudumData

The Hand That Feeds by Octopus Melange

[raw]
made by Octopus Melange for LD32 (JAM)
The Hand That Feeds was developed for Ludum Dare 32 by team Octopus Mélange.

Our team was made up of complete strangers, brought together by game designer Nicholas Cunningham for this challenge.

For Unconventional Weapon theme....we chose our pet.

We developed a gameplay where you fight off attacking enemies by tossing snacks for your pet. He happens to love his snacks....I feel sorry for anyone that gets in his way.

We are aware of gameplay, control and feels that we still want to improve. We are doing so. In the next few days we will provide you with a link for the rest of the levels that we built during the game jam. The level you are seeing now...is more of a composition of many of the things we accomplished during the jam. We always had intention of presenting you with a more developed demo following the jam.

Our team enjoyed this experience enough that we're scratching the code and starting again. We will be developing this game to full content...and will bring it to your computers and consoles in the very near future.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

BTW>>>>>THESE KIDS CAN FRAGGIN CODE!

Nicholas Cunningham - Game Designer
Tom Ward - Music
Jonathan Cunningham (13 years old)- Programmer
Adam Matheny - Level Designer and Programmer
Joshua Brown-Culp - Artist
Gabriel Martino - Artist
Benn Lockyer - Programmer
Will Rainsberger (13 years old)- Programmer

Controls (Keyboard/Xbox 360 Controller):
Move = WASD /Left Thumbstick
Jump - Space / A
Throw Food - Left Control / X

We ask that you give it a spin....but what we really want is your feedback.

We want to go make this game....for us....for you....we need your help

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=44658



The game page has been set up here... and this is where we will post the full demo

http://monokuma.itch.io/the-hand-that-feeds
Web http://monokuma.itch.io/the-hand-that-feeds
Windows https://www.dropbox.com/s/iwn38d0vcn9i5z4/TheHandThatFeeds_Windows.zip?dl=0
OS/X https://www.dropbox.com/s/gt557krr67vq4hx/TheHandThatFeeds_Mac.zip?dl=0
Linux https://www.dropbox.com/s/nk79y8rqkxbn6k7/TheHandThatFeeds_Linux.zip?dl=0
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=44658

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.05 665
Audio(Jam) 2.91 457
Fun(Jam) 2.64 796
Graphics(Jam) 3.55 391
Humor(Jam) 2.54 672
Innovation(Jam) 3.21 432
Mood(Jam) 2.81 691
Theme(Jam) 3.42 470

Feedback

GxBANGER
21. Apr 2015 · 10:05 UTC
Such a cool game, would like to see this worked on a bit more and released on steam.
ForeverHumble
21. Apr 2015 · 13:41 UTC
GxBanger....Thanks man....we have a couple of bugs we will start fixing as soon as my son gets home from school...as he is the programmer. We are going to get this level smoothed out for everyone...then we will add a link to itch.io so everyone can play the other levels we finished but didn't have time to pop in at the end.
ForeverHumble
21. Apr 2015 · 13:43 UTC
We actually had a bunch done...it's a lil heartbreaking when you run outta time putting stuff in that you worked so hard on creating. BUT PLEASE KNOW NOW!!! WE ARE MAKING THIS GAME FOLKS! We had a lot of fun with this project....8 strangers came together and really put a plan into action. I couldn't be more proud.
strong99
22. Apr 2015 · 08:49 UTC
Understanding how your pet runs to its food took a while depending on the platforms. He can't jump, the poor thing :( Wasn't able to get a very high score. Enjoyed it though!
nonetheless
23. Apr 2015 · 19:20 UTC
Will you chew until it bleeds? nice idea but pretty hard to control. Art is very good, great job :)
benjamck
23. Apr 2015 · 19:22 UTC
Fear my hungry pet! Love the take on the theme. Great artwork too. It was fun watching the pet grow when it ate the baddies, but I wish he would stay closer to the player character. He seemed to want to find his own path to the different platforms rather than hop along with the player character. I bet this could be a fun game to play with just a little more work. I certainly know how tough it is to get something finished in the limited time available ;) Good job guys!
Traumendes_Madchen
23. Apr 2015 · 19:51 UTC
Interesting idea but I have to say the beginning of the game is really confusing: there are things moving everywhere, you don't know who you're supposed to control nor what you're supposed to do. A little tutorial would help ^^.
🎤 Octopus Melange
23. Apr 2015 · 20:11 UTC
benjamck.....thanks. Your right about time....kills you when you want to perfect a few things. I'm just gonna say what i said....we do know are issues and our fixing them as we go along.
oparisy
23. Apr 2015 · 20:35 UTC
Nice art and music! I has some difficulties with the camera though.
DNAteamld32
23. Apr 2015 · 20:51 UTC
Nice art and good idea! Congrats!!
🎤 Octopus Melange
23. Apr 2015 · 21:28 UTC
Fixed the Camera. Sorry about that.
daredevildave
23. Apr 2015 · 22:17 UTC
I love the idea behind it. Seemed to be very hard to last more than a few seconds. And I don't think I ever got the pet to eat something I threw he just ran off chomping on everything else. I think with an easier introduction it could be great fun.
Blobo
23. Apr 2015 · 22:25 UTC
nice game! really like the concept!
Nikteddy92
23. Apr 2015 · 22:27 UTC
I like the graphic style and the gameplay! Well done! :D
Feyd_Rautha
23. Apr 2015 · 22:32 UTC
I had a really hard time realizing which one was my pet. There are a lot of aliens running around so it took me a while to realize that my pet was the one that just took off and teleported at the start. The learning curve for figuring out where the portals were so that I could position food was pretty steep. Once I got the hang of it, it was pretty fun. But it took a while to figure out what was going on.
Paulozz
23. Apr 2015 · 22:35 UTC
Great design idea, and good implementation. It took me a couple of try to understand, but when I got it, i enjoyed it.
tummyache
23. Apr 2015 · 22:39 UTC
Really cool concept, would love to see it delved into a little deeper. I couldn't get a score higher than 9, so it's a little difficult, but it's still really cool. Wish it was zoomed in more so I could actually see the artwork, because it looks really good but I have to squint my eyes to make it out.
ForeverHumble
23. Apr 2015 · 23:02 UTC
Zoom in view....I can't tell you the back and forth on this. Final version will be more zoomed in. We presented a level that allowed for hiscore setting for the sake of everyone trying it out....So we pulled it back some to give you a better view...this
richiebranson
24. Apr 2015 · 04:05 UTC
very good interpretation of the theme! Took a bit of time to figure out what to do, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I'd love to see this developed into something bigger down the road!
A Flat Miner Studios
24. Apr 2015 · 04:12 UTC
As said before, could use a little tutorial at the beginning. This could be a very fun game with some polish (which it looks like you are committed to, so I look forward to seeing it later).
syncxzoz
25. Apr 2015 · 03:41 UTC
this game is so hard... but fun to play... Great!!!
Logicon
25. Apr 2015 · 03:45 UTC
Companion
surpent
25. Apr 2015 · 03:52 UTC
Nice idea
I want to do battle in this game.
ciaodavinci
25. Apr 2015 · 04:00 UTC
Nice take on the theme. I enjoyed the art. The camera gave me a hard time since it kept following my pet and leaving me out of the frame (running it on Mac). I agree that it would be great to make the pet stand out more among all the other creatures.
morbidcamel
25. Apr 2015 · 09:09 UTC
For a bunch of kids you are potent! Keep doing this and you will be the champions of industry!
TeamCalcium
25. Apr 2015 · 11:20 UTC
The art style was appealing, but the controls are very floaty and the camera always randomly shifts between you and the what id like to believe is the pet, but then snapping back at the player. At first its a little challenge to find out what of the objects that move around the screen actually is the pet you were supposed to control, i assumed it looks like the very color intensive pattern of gif animations in the background (on the web version) but i found it afterall. I still liked the idea of using a companion as an unconvantional weapon, and you guys have some good artists.
TeamCalcium
25. Apr 2015 · 11:20 UTC
The art style was appealing, but the controls are very floaty and the camera always randomly shifts between you and the what id like to believe is the pet, but then snapping back at the player. At first its a little challenge to find out what of the objects that move around the screen actually is the pet you were supposed to control, i assumed it looks like the very color intensive pattern of gif animations in the background (on the web version) but i found it afterall. I still liked the idea of using a companion as an unconventional weapon, and you guys have some good artists.
Mach60KAS
25. Apr 2015 · 16:42 UTC
Hey, this game was pretty nifty! It was quite difficult to figure out what was going on at first, but it got a little better after playing a few times. The art was very well done, I love all the little flairs and animated pieces - they make it come alive! The conditions for death and teleport panels still confuse me. The camera work was my only real gripe, it jumped around quite violently if the pet ended up on the other side of the screen (but I know this is just a matter of fine tuning, you;ll get it right!)

Keep it up!
Newt_
25. Apr 2015 · 17:24 UTC
Stunning artwork, the gameplay could use some work but really really great job and lots of potential!
Perjoka
25. Apr 2015 · 17:36 UTC
nice game, well done!
DeadFragment
25. Apr 2015 · 17:44 UTC
Lots of potential in this idea. Love the fact that the creature evolves, but the buttons seem a bit fiddly and sometimes seem unresponsive, also the amount of enemies on the screen at first seem a bit overwhelming. But great game with a concept that fits the theme well!

-Neith
Kate Kligman
25. Apr 2015 · 18:02 UTC
Very awesome! Love the music and platform visuals.
abcdef65g
25. Apr 2015 · 20:34 UTC
Very interesting concept, the controls for your companion are somewhat hard to grasp, however the whole package is very interesting. The fact the pet can't jump is a bit of an issue, though I understand just how hard it is to do in a Jam, even with such a big team. Great job guys, this team surely has future!
RARoadkill
25. Apr 2015 · 23:33 UTC
really fun concept. I had issues with the creature not being able to get over to me. but still well done
Garris
26. Apr 2015 · 00:05 UTC
I love seeing games that use an indirect approach to combat. Using bait to get your pet to attack was a cool idea, and the art was consistent and good-looking. I did find the music a little grating though.
dos
26. Apr 2015 · 02:21 UTC
Interesting concept, you should definitely work on it more. It could make use of some concept of health. A really solid entry!
OnlySlightly
26. Apr 2015 · 07:45 UTC
I loved the mechanic and the audio. It was nice being able to scurry your pet along to fight along side you. The graphics and animation were really impressive.
emmelineprufrock
26. Apr 2015 · 07:46 UTC
Interesting concept. Wish it was a bit easier to keep track of where my pet was.
siryakko
26. Apr 2015 · 08:15 UTC
Totally deserved to be distributed in a wider range
Mekuri
26. Apr 2015 · 10:59 UTC
A very great idea. I had a hard time keeping track of my pet though, and felt a bit overwhelmed by the monsters.

I liked the graphics, they were nice.

I can really see the potential in the game and would like to see where you can take this with some polish. Good job to you all.
esayitch
26. Apr 2015 · 20:34 UTC
Loved the concept... and the pet animations when it grows are really great... music is all right...

The problem is that the pet path-finding was weird at times, and in addition that platforming felt awkward, slow, and non-responsive. If you fix the player movement issues, I think you'd have a really good game :D Great entry for the jam though! Good luck :)
Snicklodocus
27. Apr 2015 · 01:08 UTC
Cool idea! It took a while to understand, and the camera moves pretty strangely. I liked the art a lot! Good job.
phi6
27. Apr 2015 · 15:32 UTC
The graphics are lush!
Pietro Ferrantelli
27. Apr 2015 · 16:08 UTC
Cool game ! Really enjoyed to play it and graphics are nice. And wait... two 13-years old programmers in your team ?! Still can't believe this, that's amazing :D
Null DIES
27. Apr 2015 · 16:45 UTC
Very nice concept, I like how you have to indirectly control the game, it could be very strategic.
I think the path finding needs a lot of improvement (which might be hard give the teleportation), because the dog spent most of his time trying to catch food only to fall into a portal and try again.
PIXEL^3
28. Apr 2015 · 09:39 UTC
The concept of this game seems pretty good though the execution seems to fall a little flat. It's hard to control your pet and since your player's hitbox seems to be pretty big (or maybe the enemies' hit box) I get hit sometimes without feeling like I should've. I did find a spot in the middle of the map above the red and green portals that the pet couldn't make it to so by throwing a fruit he'd just run around almost indefinitely killing enemies. Racked up 137 points this way.
It's good that you're starting this over from scratch though, you might be able to clean it up and make something out of it.
nguyenmv2
28. Apr 2015 · 14:08 UTC
I like the concept, but the pet would always run off. I found a way to cheat the game by simply throwing food and having the pet run around forever. Also, I was disappointed about not being able to ride the pet since it seemed to be hinted at.
Jasonsumm
29. Apr 2015 · 23:06 UTC
Really impressive stuff! :)
Saker Games
04. May 2015 · 05:35 UTC
Nice game. :)
Omiya Games
05. May 2015 · 03:43 UTC
I found the mechanic of relying on an AI (the pet) to take out the enemies was really fascinating. I think a good game can be developed around that idea.

Personally, I found the pet's behavior to be highly unpredictable. Because of the impression that I lack the control over this pet, the game ultimately boiled down to dodging enemies (which are FAST). I think more improvements can be made to the pet AI to make the game more enjoyable.
zerocreativity1
05. May 2015 · 04:39 UTC
Interesting mechanic, i would like to see some puzzle levels on this.
CiderPunk
05. May 2015 · 13:00 UTC
Bit annoying the way your pet gets killed if he's not actively running for snacks, otherwise top effort!
Crowbeak
06. May 2015 · 11:03 UTC
I can't figure out a number of things.

1) What is my pet? Is it the creature that starts out next to me?
2) How does throwing the snacks direct it to do things? The snacks seemed to have no effect on anything.
3) What do I do when I have thrown all three? Running over them did nothing.

It seems like an interesting concept, but something needs to be done to make what's going on more apparent.
belowzerogames
09. May 2015 · 22:37 UTC
Great job on your game , I wish I was a little better at platformers as I only got a score of 5 :-)
lochmann-apps
10. May 2015 · 09:08 UTC
Nice one. Keep on working on that, especially the controlls feel a bit strange.