TURN it UP by pkenney
Post-Comp Success Note:
This game had raw potential, but based on the feedback below you can see it was VERY confusing to many players, and frankly the tutorial is totally overbearing in this version. The controls are also too sloppy with the inertia.
After the compo I resolved to clear up the confusion *AND* completely eliminate the tutorial. I challenged myself to explain this very unusual game with no tutorial and just one screen with a few words of instruction. The rest I resolved would be "self-discoverable."
I went through several rounds iterating on this, removing rules and changing the way information is displayed to bring cause and effect together, and then forcing friends and strangers alike to play while I watched.
I also removed inertia and retooled the player's movement a bit. The player now has much tighter controls which allows the game to get even MORE insane, if you can believe it.
After numerous iterations I had it down. I posted the refined game to GameJolt, where it got noticed by the editor and featured for a weekend, drawing over three thousand players. It also got a small write-up on RockPaperShotgun.
Then a player - a stranger to me - SOLVED the game by posting a youtube video of himself scoring an unbelievable streak of ONE HUNDRED, demonstrating he could go infinite. As you see in the comments below, I had always believed this was theoretically possible, but to have the internet just reach out and solve my game was an amazing feeling. Sadly, this video has been taken down. :(
None of this would have been possible without Ludum Dare providing the reason to start and finish a game, and the honest thoughtful feedback from all of the players which really helped me to see where the problems lay.
I have included a link to the GameJolt version below, that's the one you want to play if you're coming to this game now.
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TURN it UP!
^-^-^-^-^
What the...?!
In this strange game, your goal is very simple: turn the world as fast as you can.
But watch out! With each turn, crates drop from the ceiling and hatch nasty enemies that you'll need to deal with.
How fast can you handle?? Earn a score badge from 1 to 10 for each rotation based on the time you took to rotate. But if you get hit, you'll score a nasty ZERO, so don't go so fast you lose control of the game.
---
PUSHING IT:
Once you have these odd rules down, it becomes easy to get safe rotations. Then you can start working on your badge streaks shown in the bottom right as (current / best).
Green Streak counts how many 5-or-better badges you get in a row. Gold Streak counts how many 10s in a row you get.
I have posted my high scores: green streak 55, gold streak 19.
I think this game stands up under pretty extreme play, and is right on the edge of theoretically solvable. But it unfortunately confuses a lot of players in the initial moments. Get over that hump and I think you can find the fun!
Hope you enjoy.
(Warning: I think the sound is a bit high, despite name of game you might need to turn it down a bit before playing. My bad.)
This game had raw potential, but based on the feedback below you can see it was VERY confusing to many players, and frankly the tutorial is totally overbearing in this version. The controls are also too sloppy with the inertia.
After the compo I resolved to clear up the confusion *AND* completely eliminate the tutorial. I challenged myself to explain this very unusual game with no tutorial and just one screen with a few words of instruction. The rest I resolved would be "self-discoverable."
I went through several rounds iterating on this, removing rules and changing the way information is displayed to bring cause and effect together, and then forcing friends and strangers alike to play while I watched.
I also removed inertia and retooled the player's movement a bit. The player now has much tighter controls which allows the game to get even MORE insane, if you can believe it.
After numerous iterations I had it down. I posted the refined game to GameJolt, where it got noticed by the editor and featured for a weekend, drawing over three thousand players. It also got a small write-up on RockPaperShotgun.
Then a player - a stranger to me - SOLVED the game by posting a youtube video of himself scoring an unbelievable streak of ONE HUNDRED, demonstrating he could go infinite. As you see in the comments below, I had always believed this was theoretically possible, but to have the internet just reach out and solve my game was an amazing feeling. Sadly, this video has been taken down. :(
None of this would have been possible without Ludum Dare providing the reason to start and finish a game, and the honest thoughtful feedback from all of the players which really helped me to see where the problems lay.
I have included a link to the GameJolt version below, that's the one you want to play if you're coming to this game now.
-------
TURN it UP!
^-^-^-^-^
What the...?!
In this strange game, your goal is very simple: turn the world as fast as you can.
But watch out! With each turn, crates drop from the ceiling and hatch nasty enemies that you'll need to deal with.
How fast can you handle?? Earn a score badge from 1 to 10 for each rotation based on the time you took to rotate. But if you get hit, you'll score a nasty ZERO, so don't go so fast you lose control of the game.
---
PUSHING IT:
Once you have these odd rules down, it becomes easy to get safe rotations. Then you can start working on your badge streaks shown in the bottom right as (current / best).
Green Streak counts how many 5-or-better badges you get in a row. Gold Streak counts how many 10s in a row you get.
I have posted my high scores: green streak 55, gold streak 19.
I think this game stands up under pretty extreme play, and is right on the edge of theoretically solvable. But it unfortunately confuses a lot of players in the initial moments. Get over that hump and I think you can find the fun!
Hope you enjoy.
(Warning: I think the sound is a bit high, despite name of game you might need to turn it down a bit before playing. My bad.)
| Final Post-Comp (GameJolt Unity Web Player) | http://gamejolt.com/games/arcade/turn-it-up/48359/ |
| Original - Web (Unity Player) | http://ricefrog.com/LD31/TurnItUp.html |
| Source | http://ricefrog.com/LD31/LD31OneScreen.zip |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=30865 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 98% | 2 |
| Overall | 3.50 | 266 |
| Audio | 3.18 | 271 |
| Fun | 3.59 | 157 |
| Graphics | 3.31 | 419 |
| Humor | 2.50 | 539 |
| Innovation | 3.87 | 123 |
| Mood | 2.90 | 586 |
| Theme | 4.19 | 78 |
The sound, art, and controls really capture the feel of an 8-bit arcade game.
It's great that dying doesn't really slow you down, it just messes with your score -- so new players can take it easy and not get set back, while more advanced players can try to play optimally.
I do wish I had more control of my character while in the air. The inertia is a little high.
Really fun stuff!
Cool entry
Here are my tips:
Green play is primarily about turning it, noting where the clear will fall, and jumping to meet it.
Gold play requires you to reverse this order. You have to turn first, and then aftergrab... if able. Move on either way.
You have to come off every turn with the next turn in mind, or else decide instantly at whim.
But I think the game is solveable like a puzzle.
There are only three situations: near drop, mid drop, and far drop. And in gold play there are only two moves: short jump and long jump. Whenever you come off a trigger, you're going to one of those two.
Play for aftergrabs that keep the place clean. So you only make jumps that land you adjacent to the clear. That means you're only ever making one of these four plays:
Short jump, near drop
Short jump, mid drop
Long jump, mid drop
Long jump, far drop
Each one of them has a different aftergrab, but that's all of them.
I brought the game to a full stop and practiced these grabs one gold at a time. Stop, plan, execute, stop. Then I'd chain two.
And I developed a strategy.
I work the corner with short jumps. Any near or mid into another near or mid, I play short like this all day, rocking the corner back and forth. When a long comes, hopefully I saw it coming and made the jump, or else I miss the moment where you can jump long, and I have to play the short jump on a far drop and pollute.
The aftergrab on short-mid also gives me trouble. You jump up to get it and often you lose the gold during hang time. You walk up to get it, you miss it a lot. I'm sure there's a repeatable success in there but I haven't cornered it yet.
For hang time, did you notice the down key? If you hold down, you fall much faster, and that can give you more leeway to jump.
Good luck, if you give it a try I'd love to hear how you do. I'm sure it's possible to beat my record of 12!
(and sorry my bad english ^^')
I step on enemy all the time... :'(
If you want to you can play the new bugfixed Version:
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=28953
Really liked it though, pretty innovative!
I can see different enemy and stuffs do to and i would be great ^^
The idea is neat and is worth the polish. Good job :)