LudumData

Snake Rider by ETHproductions

[raw]
made by ETHproductions for LD31 (COMPO)
Snake Rider is a lot like any ordinary platformer game. Collect items to get points, avoid hitting hazards and dying, and try to get the high score. The difference? The platform is constantly changing!

Ride the snake platform around the screen, collecting coins along the way. Avoid the stinky green coins and the explosive mines. Grab a heart or two to gain back a life, and get a gem for a bonus!

Since this is my first LD entry (I used Stencyl), I overestimated how much I could get done in 48 hours. The post-compo version will have more items and hazards, more sound and visual effects, and better GUI.

Controls:
Arrow keys to move (You can do a double jump!)
P to toggle pause
M to toggle mute

You can try the original compo version by clicking the link below.

When the source file is uploaded into Stencyl, it will automatically import all the code and graphics.

Note: I did fix one game-ruining bug (the life system stopped working after the first run) shortly after the deadline.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!
Web (Compo) http://goo.gl/nreMBU
Web (Post-Compo) http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/29269
Source http://goo.gl/0uftZq
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=44122

Ratings

Coolness 60% 3
Overall 3.27 476
Audio 3.46 141
Fun 3.25 395
Graphics 2.68 822
Humor 2.67 433
Innovation 3.52 289
Mood 2.98 503
Theme 3.74 372

Feedback

raincole
08. Dec 2014 · 06:16 UTC
Interesting idea. The control is a bit buggy.
Pantelis Petsopoulos
08. Dec 2014 · 12:33 UTC
That is one vicious snake. :O Really good entry!
bazld
08. Dec 2014 · 20:38 UTC
Really cool idea to combine these elements!
ProfessorRekyl
08. Dec 2014 · 20:40 UTC
Great game and really addicting! Really innovative with the snake-impression. Good work!
AndresGames
08. Dec 2014 · 20:41 UTC
Loved this game, It was pretty difficult to control the character though. The sliding made it hard. Also felt like jumping over bad things was a little harder than it should be. Good Job!
karlipoppins
08. Dec 2014 · 21:26 UTC
Fun little game! I had to play a couple of times to figure out what all the collectibles were and if they were good or not :) Controls felt great!
Pankoman
09. Dec 2014 · 00:39 UTC
nice but New super mario bros did that.
QuexD
09. Dec 2014 · 00:40 UTC
Might want to work on collisions otherwise good game!
ChuiGum
09. Dec 2014 · 00:54 UTC
Nice innovation, good job. I like the music too!
Slothmachine
09. Dec 2014 · 01:56 UTC
Haha! Creative and fun! Sweet music! This proves once again that good gameplay beats graphics! Well done
the-arrival
09. Dec 2014 · 01:58 UTC
nicely done!
ishimilated
09. Dec 2014 · 02:51 UTC
Inovative and fun! :D
krishna911
09. Dec 2014 · 02:53 UTC
fun :)
Boracho
09. Dec 2014 · 04:18 UTC
doofy PC? catchy music? oh so simple yet unforgiving gameplay? Yup, I would've definitely been playing this in computer class in high school instead of doing homeework! I mean that in a good way, very nifty. Feels like an old flash game from somewhere like mathisfun or newgrounds. The bad coins are hard to distinguish from the good ones though, that was a little frustrating.
spacedoubt
09. Dec 2014 · 04:21 UTC
Nice concept. The player movement killed it for me though. Love the music!
ceosol
09. Dec 2014 · 04:28 UTC
I got so many of the -1000's lol. Nice game. Definitely continue this post comp. I would try to add more turns "types", I was generally seeing maybe 3: dip down 3 squares, loops up 3 squares or turn back on itself. It is a good twist on the idea of platformers.
sirikan
09. Dec 2014 · 06:43 UTC
Nice game. Reminds me of a few levels from super mario bros :).
JNyknn
09. Dec 2014 · 08:59 UTC
Nice idea, although controls are a bit laggy.
janovbyrnisson
09. Dec 2014 · 09:45 UTC
Congrats, really massive entry :) Nice idea, good music and fun to play.
codebakemono
09. Dec 2014 · 12:57 UTC
cool, simple and effective, I especialy like the color choices :)
also if you are interested to see our prototype that revolves around begging money on street by constructing robot to impress people, please check this link , we look forward to your feedback ;)
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=20999
SpartanIceCream
09. Dec 2014 · 13:06 UTC
Nice idea but I wish there was a little more control like some way to influence the snakes direction or something.
cardanai
09. Dec 2014 · 13:21 UTC
Cool take on snake! (heh, rymes) We did something similar with pacman,
Krunoslav
09. Dec 2014 · 13:51 UTC
Good game and not an easy one, but some speedup for the snake would have been a little more fun.
XTremEive
09. Dec 2014 · 14:15 UTC
This game is funny! I liked it. Maybe work on those controls. But hey! It was fun! And the music is so catchy!
Just Tom
09. Dec 2014 · 15:02 UTC
I dig it! I feel like it could get more hectic a little faster, but other than pacing a solid idea with great implementation :)

I legit dig that music too, proper arcady!
Havi
09. Dec 2014 · 16:47 UTC
Pretty cool game! Well made game and I like the concept. Also, cool music! :D
Aomeas
09. Dec 2014 · 17:00 UTC
Nice little game with a good music :3
Using the green color for a malus wasn't good though.
drludos
09. Dec 2014 · 17:06 UTC
Nice game, it reminds me of a similar level in Yoshi's Island on SNES :). The game is fun to play and challenging, and seems quite complete for a 48h game. I especially love the music, what did you use to compose it?
NeithR
09. Dec 2014 · 18:46 UTC
Damn snake trolled me xD.
bitserum
09. Dec 2014 · 19:04 UTC
I really liked the randomization and the progression of the game. The game feels very slow, and player control is just too bad. Because player slides after jump lots of deaths are just annoying. With good friction this can be a really good game.
Good job overall.
SivGoose
09. Dec 2014 · 20:25 UTC
Nice game! I haven't played anything similar to it, love how got inspiration from the much loved classic game snake!
ben_pxlplz
09. Dec 2014 · 20:30 UTC
Pretty cool! I'd make hazards and goodies easily distinguishable. Also plays a little slow, you might want to speed it up a bit. Pretty fun idea!
Gins
09. Dec 2014 · 20:32 UTC
Nice idea and well executed. But I died because of the physics implementation bouncing me randomly off the corner of the snake :( But that might be intended, as it might be too easy otherwise.
personalurban
09. Dec 2014 · 21:22 UTC
Echo the other points: good fun, nice idea, physics a little... awkward. I'd like to say why they felt awkward but its one of those things, hard to put your finger on it but not quite smooth. Something to do with the transition curves used during movement I'd guess.
🎤 ETHproductions
10. Dec 2014 · 00:16 UTC
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I agree, the controls/physics do seem awkward, but I've figured out a solution. They should be better in the post-comp version. I'll also make sure the collectibles and hazards can be easily told apart.

You're right that the snake-platform was inspired by the Super Mario games. I'll add more features to it, such as power-ups, in the next version.

Currently, the snake speeds up every eight seconds, but it does start out kind of slow. For the post-comp version, I'll make it faster.

I'm glad you guys like the music! I created it in ~15 minutes with a Flash-based program called Beepbox (www.beepbox.co).
joshg
10. Dec 2014 · 01:16 UTC
Are you familiar with the old NES/Genesis BattleToads? That had a snake pit level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3vbfsAFAgU
Crosstales
10. Dec 2014 · 02:09 UTC
Funny and creative game - I had a good time!
Well done!
intersectiongames
10. Dec 2014 · 04:40 UTC
Neat idea, and a nice little game. Movement feels a little slippery, which works (looks at games like Super Meat Boy), but if you're going for that effect try and tighten up and polish the physics there.
Sometimes power-ups would appear right under/next to me, which sucked when they were negatives ones. Power-ups are pretty crucial to this game, so try and make them shine. Maybe some new ones that change the Snake's behavior.
Having another snake for multi-platform movement would be cool. Maybe different levels, some w/ obstacles? Works great as is, but that's one way to spice if up if you were trying.
torcado194
10. Dec 2014 · 06:34 UTC
pretty neat game! I like it, though 'leveling up' seemed very arbitrary.
Raiyumi
11. Dec 2014 · 19:02 UTC
The controls/physics could use some tweaking. Other than that, it's a nice and fun game!
OrangeeZ
12. Dec 2014 · 23:27 UTC
Cool concept, srsly. In this entry I was actually find what I'm looking for in all jam-games: easy and joyful gameplay.
RHY3756547
14. Dec 2014 · 22:19 UTC
Really cool idea! The platforming could use a little work, maybe the snake could be a little faster but the music great. Very imaginative use of the theme.
joppiesaus
25. Dec 2014 · 17:25 UTC
Interesting game! To me, the game's a little too random which makes it less fun. But I had fun playing it! Very polished, nice graphics, awesome audio.
Good work!
Topaz Studios
26. Dec 2014 · 23:39 UTC
Catchy music lol, and a great modification to the old snake game.

PS. Thanks for putting the 10 seconds into figuring out our game's name xD
Omiya Games
27. Dec 2014 · 03:16 UTC
The slippery controls was very annoying.
🎤 ETHproductions
27. Dec 2014 · 03:23 UTC
Thanks for all the feedback! The controls are quite slippery in this version, but I've already fixed that in the post-compo version. I've also improved the generation of items. Next on my list of things to do is add in some more power-ups.
Germanunkol
28. Dec 2014 · 17:11 UTC
The controls are a bit weird sometimes.
And I found the green and yellow coins a little too similar (maybe make the bad ones red?).
Other than that, this is a really awesome entry. I love the idea (Why has no one else thought of this?!).
Solid entry, well done, especially for a first LD!
pht59x
29. Dec 2014 · 16:05 UTC
Very original concept. A pity there was no audio. Overall, a very funny game.
brainstorm
29. Dec 2014 · 16:07 UTC
Innovation 5/5: Really innovative!!!! I liked this fusion!!!

Fun 5/5: Really funny!!! Anyway, if you don't know nothing about the double jump it's nearly impossible.

Theme 3/5: Simply the game is run in a single screen.

Graphics 4/5: Simple but well mad graphics.

Audio 5/5: Great chiptune!!!

Humor n/a: I can't find humor.

Mood 5/5: I felt really well while playing!!!

Overall 4/5: Great game, but a bit repetitive when you played a while.
puppetmaster
29. Dec 2014 · 16:08 UTC
Cool idea and game play, post combo version is a lot better. Cute snake rider!!

Well made!
🎤 ETHproductions
29. Dec 2014 · 16:09 UTC
Thanks, guys! I've made the bad coins darker in the post-comp version. Turning them red sounds like a good idea; I'll see if it helps.

pht59x: No audio? You must've hit M, which mutes all sound. Sorry for not integrating the mute function very well; it was a last-minute addition.
lion123
29. Dec 2014 · 16:30 UTC
Neat idea, but with some collision bugs
Slepice1
29. Dec 2014 · 16:51 UTC
Very nice concept.
Leaghorn
29. Dec 2014 · 16:54 UTC
good idea but snake shoud have more complex AI so when player dies its not the snake foult but the player. Now sometimes snake goes a way that makes it impossible to continue.

in post compo version I think it's better snake AI wise. I dont know if its my luck or if you fixed that.
🎤 ETHproductions
29. Dec 2014 · 18:03 UTC
I did change the snake's AI quite a bit in the post-compo version. I'm considering making the snake, along with the player, be able to wrap around the screen (i.e. pass through the right side and appear to the left, and vice versa). That would help the player in situations where they currently get stuck underneath the snake, or pushed off the side of it.
nkling
29. Dec 2014 · 20:04 UTC
Great game! I don't think I've played a game using this mechanic before, it's really awesome. Also great music!