Entomophobia by DoubleS

[raw]
made by DoubleS for LD31 (JAM)
The latest game from a certain company for a discontinued portable console. And it's all about arthropods! How lovely!
You play the main character, called by some name or another, whom you must guide in her quest to cleanse the world of nasty icky gooey bugs. With her trusty crossbow by her side and your steady fingers, you will soon have to face the dreaded king of arthropods, who rises from the oceans in defiance of your exterminatory goals!

Use WASD to move. Use the arrow keys or IJKL to shoot. Turn the volume up or down using the mouse wheel.

A game by @skslucher.

Music, Ludum Gal model and some code by @rcrburgess.
Art and graphics designed by @halfy314.


EDIT- In response to feedback, I've added an updated version of the game, with more balanced screenshake and less clutter. Just for fun.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.92 62
Audio(Jam) 3.77 83
Fun(Jam) 4.00 23
Graphics(Jam) 4.01 160
Innovation(Jam) 3.33 315
Mood(Jam) 3.72 107
Theme(Jam) 4.39 20

Feedback

jarry
09. Dec 2014 · 03:49 UTC
I like the "gameboy style" you've made. Nice job
Omer
09. Dec 2014 · 03:51 UTC
Amazing! I don't have anything to critique on this one, just nice job!
rmc
09. Dec 2014 · 03:51 UTC
Insanelly hard. But very, very fun. Love the idea of running it on virtual game boy. Really adds to the mood of the game. Nice job.
Grindstorm
09. Dec 2014 · 04:30 UTC
Loved the gameboy style, but I felt the game sort of easy, also it got me dizzed throughout it.
JoshuaBurr
09. Dec 2014 · 04:33 UTC
Very nice. The only thing I didn't like was the way the gameboy shakes when you kill things, it was good at first but later you kill too many things so it is shaking too much.
Jaloko
09. Dec 2014 · 04:37 UTC
Found this game very fun. I love how you have incorporated the theme. The different variety of mobs was great as well as the boss. Nice job!
Krimble
09. Dec 2014 · 04:39 UTC
I found it hard to see what was alive in the later levels but overall a good game.
timtipgames
09. Dec 2014 · 04:39 UTC
t-t-t-t-t-t-o-o-o-o-o-o much camera shake :) Other than that: very very nice. Loved the retro style, the overall presentation and execution - even though the gameplay gets old quickly.
Alendro
09. Dec 2014 · 06:47 UTC
Interesting. Very nostalgic.
Budda
09. Dec 2014 · 06:51 UTC
Awesome little game - top pick from what I've played so far, well done.
NoahbroCZ
09. Dec 2014 · 06:59 UTC
Amazing! Great effects and the gameboy-like console is nice idea. Check my game too: Presidents bodyguard simulator.
WatercressStudios
09. Dec 2014 · 07:01 UTC
Very charming take on the theme! The shaky camera and strange fire-button were hard to adjust to, though.
flyingbear
09. Dec 2014 · 07:04 UTC
Love the presentation of this! The art was well done, but the enemies and the text was a bit hard to parse due to the angle of the "screen" (and also hard to see against the sea of bug corpses, maybe they could disappear after awhile?) Nice job overall!
Geti
09. Dec 2014 · 07:18 UTC
Excellent! Got a bit of lag after a while from the sheer amount of carnage but this was very fun, simple, to the point, and full of screenshake! Excellent!
GAFBlizzard
09. Dec 2014 · 07:21 UTC
Great graphical style, good music, good execution. My main complaints would be that it would be nice to clarify that arrow keys are shooting (it took me a while to figure this out and they have a musical clef symbol next to them I think?), and the screen shake would REALLY be nice to disable. With the sea of bug corpses, a million bullets, and a shaking screen, it gets nearly impossible to see what's going on.

Also, is there a final boss? I got several levels in (15? 17?) but did not know if there was a number I was aiming for.
🎤 DoubleS
09. Dec 2014 · 08:03 UTC
There IS a final boss! Get to wave 25, if you dare....
SwiftIllusion
09. Dec 2014 · 12:20 UTC
Really loved the way it brought up the gameboy, and the controls scribbled on like that, great touches. And the game was great fun to play, well done :)!
SirRicecake
09. Dec 2014 · 14:35 UTC
The Gameboy-idea really made me smile. The game is fun and a bit addicting. Beating the boss made me cheer! Nicely done! Though the screen-shake/gameboy shake made the game a bit harder to play at some points.
Random Seed Games
09. Dec 2014 · 16:02 UTC
Very nice. I really like the feeling of old school gameboy nostalgia it gives. And the difficulty felt really solid. Awesome work.
rogberth
09. Dec 2014 · 16:02 UTC
First time I got killed by the Boss so I HAD to play again and beat the s**t out of that lobster haha, love the game! from the game boy power switch to the end, round game. Good job!
🎤 DoubleS
09. Dec 2014 · 16:13 UTC
Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone! I'll be doing major refinement to my screenshake algorithms from here on. ;)
BtheDestroyer
09. Dec 2014 · 18:47 UTC
I actually didn't like the particles appearing outside the Ludum GalCOLOR. It took away from the immersion a bit. Other than that, 4 stars.
Vinyl Pixels
09. Dec 2014 · 18:48 UTC
That was awesome! :D But the boss killed me :/ Really liked the chaos on the screen after a couple of gun upgrades and lots of enemies :D
Hellequin
09. Dec 2014 · 18:49 UTC
Awesome concept! Love game boy style! And the graphics is so beautiful ! Well done!
allanolivei
09. Dec 2014 · 18:56 UTC
Congratulations, perfect gameplay and graphics. Very polished.
DA_KID
09. Dec 2014 · 18:58 UTC
Another really polished game. Art looks really nice, crossbow feels really good, enemies are nice and have a decent amont of variety. The only thing I'd add is high scores.
huggabugga
09. Dec 2014 · 19:02 UTC
Finishing a round is pretty satisfying. Nice job, the graphics are cool!
klianc09
09. Dec 2014 · 21:06 UTC
Great graphics and sorta fun gameplay.
I was happy when that end boss appeared, it changed the pacing from "spin uncontrollably in circles while incredible intense screenshake makes you dizzy" back to "this is actually fun playing". Yeah, I never thought I would say this, but... please less screen shake.
The over-the-top upgrades are fun, but they don't help when you can't see a thing anymore.
Noah Ratcliff
09. Dec 2014 · 23:10 UTC
Great job! Not only is the game super fun and well put together, but the presentation really tops it off.
pjimmy
10. Dec 2014 · 15:22 UTC
it's challenging, 5 stars for the visuals, they're very ingenious, well done
caporaltito
10. Dec 2014 · 15:26 UTC
Excellent!
Gins
10. Dec 2014 · 15:28 UTC
Amazing! Intense! Died at the boss, but will try again later. This game is a blast to play. A gamepad option is the only thing this still needs to be complete!
jpmit
10. Dec 2014 · 15:49 UTC
Good use of the theme. Great graphics and music. Fun! Great job.
LabOne
10. Dec 2014 · 16:00 UTC
I added this to favorites in browser.
uvwar
10. Dec 2014 · 16:06 UTC
Pretty dang awesome. I'll also mirror the comment of a little too much screenshake; I get motion sick from the screen constantly flying all over the place, but otherwise really cool game and aesthetic.
mactinite
10. Dec 2014 · 16:16 UTC
Awesome job! The game itself was fun, and the way you made that certain game system was awesome ;)
jelly
10. Dec 2014 · 17:38 UTC
I love the gameboy concept! Also technically, nice idea to use a low res render texture.

Almost arthromited when the lgc bounced my brain. The game has so much charm though. Yayy!
sputnik
10. Dec 2014 · 17:43 UTC
Nice use of the theme. Great action game!
bazld
10. Dec 2014 · 20:37 UTC
Wonderful! great job on the retro style. Its really playable too.
LTyrosine
10. Dec 2014 · 22:12 UTC
Amazing! Aside from the very cool theme usage, this game is really fun to play, smooth controls, furious action. I understand non filtered textures used for the retro feelings but sometimes there just too much on the (one) screen to cope with.

Overall, excellent job.
thopis
11. Dec 2014 · 00:06 UTC
Fantastic!Great gameplay,graphics!Very cool and very playable!
Headmade
11. Dec 2014 · 19:58 UTC
I really like the gameboy feel and the quick pace of the game. I would prefer the game to be a little bit harder though.
VLTRAUIOLET
12. Dec 2014 · 15:37 UTC
Really nice :D I liked the fact you were rewarded with a power increase after each wave. I was getting bored of the same red and green enemies at one point, but suddenly I was introduced to a more agile quick shooting enemy, right at the time at which I wanted something else - nice timing. Got to the boss and died there :P

Looks like you addressed the things I would've suggested in your postjam version. :)
victorafael
12. Dec 2014 · 16:30 UTC
The scenary becomes a hell of bugs when you are close from the boss :P

Loved the game.. It was not that easy... but I managed to finish it without dying.. congratulations to you and your team...

and I wish my game boy did not vibrate that much! :P
RyanNielson
12. Dec 2014 · 16:42 UTC
Nice game, it plays pretty great and I like how it's on the gameboy screen. I'd tone down the screenshake a bit though. Because the game is rendered within the game, it's making me a tad nauseous. Well done though!
ZNCatlaw
12. Dec 2014 · 18:24 UTC
Ha ha ha WOW! This was an awesome entry. The floating GameGal background was great, and I feel you've got a really good sense of """""""game feel""""""" or something. I played one round where I got arrows up so many times that the game just got stupidly colourful.
sP0CkEr2
12. Dec 2014 · 18:39 UTC
amazing!
Krunoslav
12. Dec 2014 · 19:02 UTC
Nice gameboy style. Simple game but fun.
belstras
12. Dec 2014 · 19:09 UTC
Nice gba styling and impressive unity work, good job.
Mach60KAS
13. Dec 2014 · 00:39 UTC
Hey, I really liked your use of the theme for this entry! Things got so hectic so quickly, I kinda didn't know what was going on - but the sheer power the character has by the ended just added to the quirkiness I felt. :)

I felt the music didn't really suit the GBC idea of the game, perhaps a full chip song written in LSDJ might have fit the bill a bit better? Still, that's really just nitpicking on my behalf.

I really loved little touches like particle effects appearing //behind// the screen, they helped add to the polish of the game itself.

I really liked this, keep up the good work folks! :D
ripatti
13. Dec 2014 · 08:02 UTC
Amazing! Nice survival with Binding-Of-Isaac-like controls.
GAFBlizzard
13. Dec 2014 · 08:31 UTC
I just tried the post-jam version. Much better with less clutter and less screenshake! I'm not sure the screenshake is even necessary, but it's much more playable now. :) Those watermelon bugs are really hard to dodge, but I finally managed to win, even!
Scott Slucher
14. Dec 2014 · 03:35 UTC
Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone!
Seems the new version is a big step in the right direction, there'e no better way to figure out what went wrong than to show it to other people. ;)
Florent
15. Dec 2014 · 13:52 UTC
Nice take on the theme.
You should definitely add a link to this page on itch.io !
gre
17. Dec 2014 · 13:03 UTC
that deserve to win at least the Theme section I think!! very original.

Congrats
Frump
18. Dec 2014 · 02:59 UTC
Great work. Enjoyed every aspect and I love the fake game boy style!
Jupiter_Hadley
20. Dec 2014 · 23:15 UTC
Super nice game!
rosa89n20
22. Dec 2014 · 19:13 UTC
Monsters' goo everywhere! I like this style!!!
Gamepopper
23. Dec 2014 · 01:59 UTC
Brilliant twin stick shooter with an awesome style! Brings me back to when I was little, playing Pokemon and other titles on my own purple Gameboy Color!
sweenist
23. Dec 2014 · 02:25 UTC
Wow! What an incredible game! Awesome music! Challenging gameplay! Looks so cool! awesome job!
Teejay5
28. Dec 2014 · 09:25 UTC
I'm addicted haha