Network Programming by hissssssssss

[raw]
made by hissssssssss for LD31 (JAM)
There was a guy who did nothing but watch soul-sucking network TV...and then the TV stole his soul for real.

Help him take back four pieces of his soul from the four networks. Dodge moving hazards and dangerous things with the arrow keys, but if a situation looks too grim, you can always change the channel.

Controls:
Move guy - arrow keys
Change channel - mouse

TIPS FOR PROS:
You become briefly invincible when you switch channels. Use this to your advantage!


---------------------
Notes:
This game was more asset-heavy than I usually make, specifically because I always dread making assets. Trial by fire, right?

Voice acting was provided by my wonderful and hilarious family members!

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.53 241
Audio(Jam) 3.82 73
Fun(Jam) 3.66 119
Graphics(Jam) 2.77 725
Humor(Jam) 4.43 4
Innovation(Jam) 3.88 77
Mood(Jam) 3.65 127
Theme(Jam) 3.95 165

Feedback

Managore
09. Dec 2014 · 01:31 UTC
Wow! This is absolutely wonderful!
TriSquare
09. Dec 2014 · 01:52 UTC
Litterally the funniest thing I heard in past 72. But it took me a while to notice the actually character and the game that had to be played. What ever. . .i laughed so kudos for you
Jonapulse
09. Dec 2014 · 02:04 UTC
Favorite lines:
"Right after... Hyenas, the Mean Girls of the animal Kingdom"
'that thing about whose football god is more powerful'
'that other line'

You win all the prizes. Die happy.
error031
09. Dec 2014 · 02:45 UTC
Looks cool
tielbyrd
09. Dec 2014 · 03:27 UTC
Oh my god, five stars for humor isn't enough, this is the funniest thing I've seen all day.
Rodaja
09. Dec 2014 · 12:07 UTC
New art would make this a really great game.

The game mechanics are really innovative and fun.

Sound is great, such a lot of work must have come in recording everything... You must have had a fantastic time making the game.
Crushenator
09. Dec 2014 · 12:08 UTC
Wow. I actually beat the game and feel very proud about it.
folmerkelly
09. Dec 2014 · 12:16 UTC
ahaha also the art owns idgaf what anyone says
Diventurer
09. Dec 2014 · 12:23 UTC
HAHAHAHA, oh my god, this was so freaking brilliant!
I had a really fun time playing this, and I'll probably keep it on my computer for future playing. :D
PlasterPhantom
09. Dec 2014 · 12:56 UTC
Hahaha, fun game!
Alex Rose
09. Dec 2014 · 14:16 UTC
THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME. HOLY SHIT.

This is honestly my favourite game so far, and one of the only genuinely funny Ludum Dare games I've ever played.

Like, this is just awesome. Normally when I leave a comment I'll try and leave a piece of constructive criticism, but I honestly have none for this, it's exceptional. Gotta send this to SonnyBone, he'll love this.
🎤 hissssssssss
09. Dec 2014 · 14:49 UTC
@Managore, TriSquare, error031, tielbyrd, PlasterPhantom: Thank you so much!

@Jonapulse: My personal favourite is the line about blowfish. I must have listened to that clip like 50 times during development and it still cracks me up.

@Rodaja: You're right: I did have a pretty great time making this game. I'm glad it shows!

@Crushenator: I still can't beat it sometimes, so good for you!

@folmerkelly: Haha, glad you like the art. I'm not very proficient at arting. Or sportsing.

@Diventurer: Keeping it on your computer? :D That's high praise for a jam game.

@Alex Rose: Wow, thank you so much. That means a lot.
TijmenTio
09. Dec 2014 · 15:18 UTC
Whahaha I was playing this alone and was almost constantly laughing out loud. What a blast!
Elemental Zeal Games Studios
10. Dec 2014 · 00:50 UTC
This was great, nice job!
Virtually Competent
10. Dec 2014 · 01:38 UTC
This is great! Really funny stuff. Reminds me how sad I am that I didn't have time to add voice clips to my entry, but I'm glad someone else is picking up my slack. :P

Gameplay-wise, this reminded me a bit of WarioWare which is always good. I think some better cues about where stuff is coming at you from would be helpful.

Also, your invincibility protip was a little TOO helpful...I was able to spam the same channel button over to prolong it and was able to kick back and just enjoy the show.
sorlok
10. Dec 2014 · 01:44 UTC
Wow, just wow. This game is hilarious! I liked the concept of dodging projectiles while following the hilarious commentary. Great job! Also, your family is wonderful.
Hob623
10. Dec 2014 · 04:49 UTC
Nice game! The channel changing made it seem even bigger than it was, but I was still surprised how much you managed to get in there. Well done!
🎤 hissssssssss
10. Dec 2014 · 08:35 UTC
@TijmenTio: Glad you enjoyed yourself!

@Elemental Zeal Games Studios: Thank you!

@Virtually Competent: WOW, I can't believe I missed that! It didn't even occur to me that the effect continues if you spam the same button. Hahahaha, whoops. There's always a bug, isn't there?
I considered stopping the progress bars while you're invincible, because I knew that there might be people who would spam DIFFERENT buttons to win, but I figured that would be tedious and hard on the fingers (and you miss the show!) so I didn't bother in favour of addressing other things.
Well, I'll fix that in the post-compo version, I guess. Thanks for playing and huge thanks for pointing out the bug!

@sorlok: They are wonderful and I'll tell them you said so!

@Hob623: Thanks! I was aiming for about 1 minute of "content" per channel before things started repeating, and double that in audio length so scenes could have multiple audio tracks to make restarting after dying less dull. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but it still feels a bit anemic to me. I'll probably add at least another 30 seconds per channel in the post-compo version.
skonkan
10. Dec 2014 · 11:33 UTC
Haha best audio.
Team Flashlight
11. Dec 2014 · 03:04 UTC
Very funny and creative idea, never seen something like this before, good job! Very promising if with polishing and more content.
01rafael
11. Dec 2014 · 08:52 UTC
This game is awesome! This frog is really freak me out!
For my opinion, overall 5!
alpha_rat
11. Dec 2014 · 11:50 UTC
Wow! hahaha

That's hilarious
I love the idea
Olive
12. Dec 2014 · 03:13 UTC
Loved this! I'm keeping it on my computer too! So much story and jokes! Great use of the theme! TV's really do have one screen, don't they? :P Very creative. Love the drawings and the variety. I actually feel I need to play it more now because I just read a comment about a progress bar which I din't notice. I only got one piece of soul which is another reason to keep playing. But great work! Seems like you put a lot of hardwork into it! Thank you so much for your inspiration and innovation! (I gave you 5 stars for everything btw ;) )
ViliX64
12. Dec 2014 · 14:34 UTC
It looks neat. Any chance for Linux build? If so, contact me on Twitter (@ViliX64) when you upload it :)
istlemin
12. Dec 2014 · 14:38 UTC
Wow! It's amazing! Really funny and challenging!
talecrafter
12. Dec 2014 · 14:45 UTC
Wonderful trash! How much content you put into this. Of course, individual gameplay could have been improved in some scenes, but as a whole, that was great game with many laughing out loud moments.
Thank you very much.
Meral
12. Dec 2014 · 16:03 UTC
This is nothing but pure gold!
VDZ
12. Dec 2014 · 21:56 UTC
Five stars for theme, that should be pretty obvious.

The gameplay I'm less enthusiastic about, unfortunately. While it's hard not to do so when the level is a television program, hitboxes come out of nowhere constantly, dealing damage to you and making you inevitably lose unless you replay the game over and over again until you've learned where the hitboxes will be at which point. Making it worse is the fact that the art is not clear about which things will damage you and which won't; the only way to find out is trial and error. Then there's also several hitboxes which are plain unfair, like still being hit by the blowfish even when you're all the way in the top right of the screen. I think that, with the way your game is, you could've dialed the difficulty back a whole lot, perhaps even to the point where it's hardly any challenge at all; after all, the fun in your game doesn't come from its challenge, but rather by the fact that being in the TV levels if fun by itself. Compare to the Kirby games, which are ridiculously easy but still tons of fun because you can mess around with the abilities and because the levels are interesting.

Most of the humor didn't really click with me, though there were some parts I did find funny. However, since this is Ludum Dare, the game does stand out for its humor compared to other games (which rarely try to be funny and when they do, they usually fail).

I feel the audio was fitting and added a lot to the experience. The voice acting was bad which may have messed up the delivery for a lot of the jokes, but it fits well enough with the 'so bad it's good' graphical style that it works. The audio does get repetitive, though, especially on repeat plays, which reduces the replay factor of the game.

Overall, it's a good game, it's just a shame the gameplay sucks so much fun out of the experience.
exoddinary
13. Dec 2014 · 09:28 UTC
Creative!
iShadow
13. Dec 2014 · 10:36 UTC
I really enjoyed this game. It was jaw-dropping every time I switched channel.
klianc09
13. Dec 2014 · 14:40 UTC
Blowfish?! More like... BLOW YOUR MIND FISH!
...to signify that it's their superior god, controlling the outcome of the game...

Oh, man, the humour and voice acting is just top notch. One of the... no .. THE funniest game this LD. Although the gameplay is just about memorizing the patterns, but the voice lines were varied and funny enough, to keep replaying enjoyable.

The sports channel is my favourite and of course the blowfish. Just awesome!
CoderDozer
13. Dec 2014 · 14:49 UTC
wonderful concept, well done. Also in Python <3
estuardolh
13. Dec 2014 · 15:12 UTC
lovely game! :D
talk was a surprise for me
Chaoseed
13. Dec 2014 · 20:09 UTC
Heh, I got a pretty good WarioWare kinda feeling from this. It was frustrating that I often couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do...I mean, is it even possible to survive the DEADLY HURRICANE in the NEW YORK SUBWAY? But the audio is pretty hilarious, so that's good. ;)
OctoTeam
13. Dec 2014 · 21:26 UTC
Ha ha ha! Perfect five! Even though the graphics aren't that good, they match the style of the game perfectly :)
radmars
14. Dec 2014 · 02:07 UTC
I love this idea! :D Hilarious too. Great work.
Franklin's Ghost
14. Dec 2014 · 03:31 UTC
Quirky great entry with nicely done voice over. Found this entry hilarious even if I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, I did enjoy checking out what was on the different channels.
spotco
14. Dec 2014 · 08:33 UTC
Loved it! Would have been even better with more voice actors and sharpened art, but love it as it is. Gameplay could use a bit more polish (feedback, screenshake/static etc when hit by stuff) but idea is creative enough to still warrant max points.
Simon
22. Dec 2014 · 12:18 UTC
This is really wonderful. I wasn't expecting that. Well done it's different and clever :)
Kuality Games
29. Dec 2014 · 19:09 UTC
This game is so funny, I think the graphics dont even need to be perfect, it only adds to the humor.
Sanguine
29. Dec 2014 · 19:57 UTC
Funny stuff! Really enjoyed watching all the channels, even though it took me a while to get what I actually had to do.