LudumData

Rare Earth by Thingo Studios

[raw]
made by Thingo Studios for LD31 (JAM)
CONTROLS: arrow keys to move. up to jump. space to fire.

You are Than Thi Lan, a biochemical engineer at Area 227 in [REDACTED]. You and your associates have been hired by the government to create a series of artificial lifeforms. Your work has gone so well that the boss is eyeing you for a promotion! Unfortunately for you, your success has made your colleagues jealous.

One night, you wake up and find yourself in the chamber where the LA-57 prototypes are locked up. One by one, their holding cells burst open, and the lifeforms inside start rampaging. You whip out your weapon, aim towards your creation, and begin your fight for survival.

~~~

A post-jam version of this game will include Megaman-style weapon switching, some graphical improvements, difficulty selection, and sound.
Windows (.exe) http://thingo.plippi.com/rare-earth/
DIRECT LINK (box.net) https://app.box.com/s/repo95vbtgn3x32h6caw
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=31541

Ratings

Coolness 54% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.16 549
Fun(Jam) 3.06 484
Graphics(Jam) 3.64 326
Humor(Jam) 2.39 601
Innovation(Jam) 2.69 731
Mood(Jam) 2.90 609
Theme(Jam) 3.69 366

Feedback

LexGear
09. Dec 2014 路 04:11 UTC
Hey not bad, pixel art was nice and well done. Game was a bit boring at first, took awhile before any real threat came on screen. Maybe speed the whole thing up a bit. Otherwise good job!
Andrea
09. Dec 2014 路 18:51 UTC
I don't think it was boring "at first", the first prototype seems to be random even though on my first try I had a very easy one, I never saw it again.
I would have loved to see a score somewhere, and maybe a way to regain health because I suck :D
The sound doesn't work, sometimes it says it can't find a sound device, sometimes it doesn't...
Great game, can't wait to see the post-jam version!
Is there a way to contact you?
I'll try to beat the game now :X
馃帳 Thingo Studios
09. Dec 2014 路 21:18 UTC
To confirm-- yes, the fourteen prototypes are fought in random order.

My email is thingo@plippi.com, if you ever want to talk to me about this.
guldlock
09. Dec 2014 路 22:11 UTC
Really nice pixel graphics! Good job!
Jyrkface
09. Dec 2014 路 22:29 UTC
I'm getting a server not found error when I click your download link?
馃帳 Thingo Studios
09. Dec 2014 路 22:33 UTC
My host's server seems to be down. I've posted a direct link on Box.net for the time being.
CullenCoyote
09. Dec 2014 路 22:38 UTC
The pixel art is absolutely wonderful. I like the air of randomness to which prototype spawns. I think this would have really benefited from some sound design, and a little cleanup of when animation happens (no walk animation when jumping). As a prototype (heh), very nice!
Mr.Greenhat
09. Dec 2014 路 23:05 UTC
Nice game! I liked the graphics. It was a lot of button bashing though. The faster you press the spacebar, the more damage you can do per second. Compared to the enemies, the player has a lot of health.
triplefox
10. Dec 2014 路 00:23 UTC
I like the continuous boss battle feel of it, although some are much harder than others. Also I got tired of mashing the fire button.
Frump
10. Dec 2014 路 01:02 UTC
That was a lot of fun, my space bar took a real hammering. Maybe have a turbo option to shoot that fast automatically. It did help make it intense that I had to tap so much.
ChuiGum
10. Dec 2014 路 03:54 UTC
Great graphics, with some music it'd be even more fun! Nice innovation, fun!
Wampus
10. Dec 2014 路 03:55 UTC
You packed in a lot of action for a LD game. Reminded me a bit of Mega Man.
Grindstorm
10. Dec 2014 路 03:55 UTC
Nice enemy design! Also reminded me a lot of Megaman when you need to fight all the bosses again, I love those levels!
TheMeorch
10. Dec 2014 路 04:09 UTC
I love this game! You've got a great collection of fun and creative bosses.
I really wish holding spacebar would rapidfire, though -- my wrist hurts now!
belowzerogames
10. Dec 2014 路 04:27 UTC
Real good job on this game smooth mechanics and some tricky opponents.
badlydrawnrod
11. Dec 2014 路 21:32 UTC
I would have liked a bigger screen. The second enemy that I came up against took a lot of killing, then some of the later ones were easier to kill. I also liked the variety.
Victory Garden
14. Dec 2014 路 02:20 UTC
Wow, this is neat! Really nice boss rush game--love your character designs and the closed-room feel of it. I do hope you keep updating, though. On my monitor the game field was so small it actually became very hard to play, especially because the color palette was so uniform. I kept trying for quite a while, though, just because I wanted to find out what the other monsters looked like. I really do hope you keep developing this--it's really good.

Thank you for the game!
SuperDisk
14. Dec 2014 路 04:01 UTC
The graphics were definitely this game's strong suit. The different enemies and their actions were definitely cool; If this were an NES game boss rush it would be great. Unfortunately, bad physics combined with having to pump each enemy full of crazy amounts of lead makes it nigh impossible to defeat the game.

I liked it, though!
Mak
15. Dec 2014 路 19:46 UTC
Really good game! I really loved how you builded different bosses with so little mechanics, and I enjoyed a lot finding out enemies weaknesses
Dietrich Epp
18. Dec 2014 路 22:46 UTC
There's a lot of graphical polish here! I was impressed with the different behaviors that the enemies had. I think a few rudimentary sound effects would go a long way.

P.S. Your game will be in my next video (episode #4).
Mekuri
25. Dec 2014 路 11:35 UTC
Very great idea! I love how you just go from "one boss battle" to another- It adds a lot of variety to the gameplay! Very nice work and great idea! I really hate that there's no sound at all, that would really complete this game. The post-jam version sounds very promising as the things you're mentioning will be there, are definitely things that will benefit this game greatly! Great job!