Taxi No Roman by Nichii

[raw]
made by Nichii for LD36 (JAM)
You are Josh, a regular taxi driver living off of the average minimum wage in everyday society. Life’s boring, all he have is his TV. But wait, Josh somehow ends up in ancient rome. He has to make due. What could he do? Oh right, he could become a taxi driver, in a time when taxi drivers don’t exist. It’ll be marvelous, all of the lovely denarius’ he could gather. What could possibly go wrong aside from his carriage driving skills?

Up arrow - Forward
Left and Right arrow - Rotate
Down arrow - Stop/ Pickup
Shift - Swerve/ Quick Turn

F5- fullscreen/windowed

Esc - quit game

As with most software on Windows. Windows will attempt to block it for security, normally it will ask if you want to run it anyway. If it doesn't, right click -> properties -> uncheck unblock and you should be good to go.

Feedback

Cody Hansen
30. Aug 2016 · 04:39 UTC
This was hilarious fun.
The idea itself is unique and fits the theme.
I love the horse's flapping tongue. Sometimes it's the little things.
The speed and frequency that the camera zooms in and out is a little nauseating, though.
Diptoman
30. Aug 2016 · 04:48 UTC
Hahah that was fun! Love the chariot physics and the seemingly random intro! This reminds me of a global game jam game I did. :D

Things that could make it better off the top of my head:
> Procedurally generated (and ofc bigger) city.
> More pickup/drop-off points. Seemed like I was gettign the same ones in every playthrough.
> Some other ending condition, not time. Roman police chasing you maybe?

Great work though, loved it!
Mikhail
30. Aug 2016 · 04:50 UTC
There isn't much story to this game which means that you have to have great gameplay to make up for it and that is exactly what you have done. Very fun gameplay and has a lot of replayabilty to it and even some skill involved. Overall a pretty good game!
genluck
30. Aug 2016 · 05:06 UTC
I love the wackyness of the whole thing, it just throws the story on you in a hilarious way. Also, the gameplay is fun, racing around the city trying to find the destination, crashing into stuff, getting your wagon stuck. :)

My one suggestion is maybe have a penalty for crashing to counter the pressure of the time limit, such as, perhaps if you crash too hard, you lose a passenger, possibly right before reaching the goal, or maybe less money for each hit.
PeachTreeOath
30. Aug 2016 · 05:17 UTC
That was the most unique one I've played this LD. The controls were tight, speed was GTA1/2 level. Probably wanna slow down the zooms a tad haha
kapezit
30. Aug 2016 · 05:54 UTC
This was really nice. Compliments to the chef! It was a lit bit disorienting for me to think of the controls like I was the person in the chariot. I kept pressing left and right when I needed to move horizontally. I will tell my friends about it. Amazing job!
wheerd
30. Aug 2016 · 08:10 UTC
Cool game, I like the chaotic feel of smashing into things with the carriage. The sound effect fit very well and the music also works nicely for the game. The setting/story is also very creative and is a nice interpretation of the theme. The artstyle is also fantastic (except maybe for the paint cutscenes ;)). Great job guys!
Alkrimil
30. Aug 2016 · 09:04 UTC
Reminds me of crazy taxi! Funny game with great controls! Keep up the good work.
Dimatt
30. Aug 2016 · 09:12 UTC
I love this game so much! The camera can be a bit nauseating... But that ain't gonna stop me from being the best damn taxi driver Rome has ever seen!!
chipcaramel
30. Aug 2016 · 09:43 UTC
This one is great. The camera moving between stop and go is very fast and jarring but otherwise I had a lot of fun.
Casevse
30. Aug 2016 · 09:58 UTC
So much fun! I like the idea of being a taxi driver in ancient rome. The music and sounds hilarious. The camera goes crazy, maybe less zoom transitions would be better. Good work!
Beefsports
30. Aug 2016 · 10:20 UTC
Was pretty good. Liked the sounds, the graphics and the controls. One thing I did find jarring was the camera zoom out so maybe look into a more gradual zoom out next time. Otherwise good job.
kostik1337
30. Aug 2016 · 10:28 UTC
That's hypnotic. Sounds make this game very immersive.
Lojchin
30. Aug 2016 · 10:31 UTC
Interesting game!
DUDSS
30. Aug 2016 · 11:19 UTC
Good work! This game reminds me of a taxi driver simulator I played on my old Nokia phone :D
Amine Tcherak
30. Aug 2016 · 11:22 UTC
Very Nice i love your Game Good Works )=
mvasko2
30. Aug 2016 · 11:39 UTC
Wow, this game is crazy. So simple, and so much fun!

One thing that bothered me though is that the camera zoomed out too much and too quickly. You get used to it after a while, and it probably added a bit of the intense dynamics this game has, but I still would ease it up a bit.

Great game!
ninja00283
30. Aug 2016 · 11:40 UTC
WOW.
That was tense.
But fun!
the only thing is that you have to wait in the markers,
i would like it better if you could just race past them.
But it was still realy awsome!
Capitals
30. Aug 2016 · 11:44 UTC
Nice game, However this is to be expected considering how many people worked on it. Music is good, controls are appropriately awkward. However the camera jerk is a bit off. I would properly tie the speed with the zoom of the camera, so as not to have the camera jump when you speed up.
Lênon Kramer
30. Aug 2016 · 11:51 UTC
Very nice job.

really fun game, art ok, gameplay challenging but rewarding, and with skill involved - to the end I was doing fast turns almost without bashing the chariot on the walls. It's interesting how speed to deliver and quantity of bashes affected the bonus denars you recieved for each run.

The problems:

The game keeps randomly crashing (I didn't managed to finish the game, not even once. The last time it crashed only 45 time-units [was that seconds?] to the end).

The music is ok, but it didn't fit well with the theme or the overall art. Maybe something more "roman-ish". But the pitch is nice.

Overall, it was a good laugh.
onyon
30. Aug 2016 · 15:19 UTC
Nice graphics, had a lot of fun ^^ Good level of difficulty.
DiegoCTorguet
30. Aug 2016 · 15:20 UTC
I have enjoyed it! Funny and original idea.
The only thing that bothered me was the camera when I tried to make some little movements. Maybe you should make the shot transition slower and more dynamic. But hey, good job!
stenol
30. Aug 2016 · 15:21 UTC
Wow great game ! Good work !
AWOL
30. Aug 2016 · 15:23 UTC
Cool like the original Grand Theft but with a horse and buggy
What did you use to make this?
Waterman7
30. Aug 2016 · 15:25 UTC
That intro was hilarious :D
Also, really simple yet solid gameplay, I enjoyed it. Good job!
Senor Salty
30. Aug 2016 · 16:26 UTC
A very fast-paced and fun adventure. The controls felt solid,the music and sound was satifying,and the game was all around fun,if not that visually pretty. Good job!
Jadernak
30. Aug 2016 · 16:45 UTC
If I ignore from the zoom mechanic, it was great experience. Fun and crazy.
kmitz
30. Aug 2016 · 16:48 UTC
Funny story and crazy mood !
Controls are quite smooth and it feels great to make several turns without touching walls.
I liked the crazy music, but it's a bit too loud/agressive.
Good job !
Findor
30. Aug 2016 · 16:49 UTC
Interesting game! I like it. The colors are good.
IshikawaNakamura
30. Aug 2016 · 17:06 UTC
This game is extremely hilarious. I could not stop playing. Like the idea, the style, music, controls, story, everything... Simple and thereof addictive xD
TheLaw
30. Aug 2016 · 17:39 UTC
That game for me is old 2D GTA and Taxi Madness London crossover. Funny game :D
NEETsoftLD
30. Aug 2016 · 18:10 UTC
That was a really great game! The controls took some getting used to but it felt fun to play after I got used to them. I really like the graphics, it reminded me of a Roman Crazy Taxi. Nice intro too!
🎤 Nichii
30. Aug 2016 · 18:59 UTC
Thanks everyone for the feedback! It is very helpful.

@AWOL We used Game Maker Studio ;)
Chris Bode
31. Aug 2016 · 02:44 UTC
This is a great little game. I love the aesthetic, and the controls are spot on. The intro cinematic was a pleasant surprise as well.

My only gripe is that the camera jerking out when you start moving is a little abrupt. That aside, this is a remarkably polished game.
JoJoX
31. Aug 2016 · 05:57 UTC
Overall game is very cool. The camera zoom in/out is very confusing and a bit nauseous. The map is a bit simple, maybe a more complex map with dead end or other type of trap. Great work.
Danae123
31. Aug 2016 · 08:07 UTC
Streamed your game last night on Twitch and had quite a bit of fun :) I liked the humour and the original idea, I also felt that the camera/zoom was confusing but decided it added to the mood, making me feel like a true taxi/chariot driver during rush hours. Great game, thanks for that :)
🎤 Nichii
31. Aug 2016 · 08:17 UTC
Thanks again for the feedback peeps :P

@Danae123 Glad you liked it, mind telling us what was your channel called?
DespiteSoft
31. Aug 2016 · 11:59 UTC
I would love to see a whole GTA1/2-style game set in Ancient Rome! Really took me back to driving the taxi in that one. Or just playing one of the bonus missions in GTA 2.
So, I loved it. What i would change however is the way the drop-offs work. I wish there was a visual component, e.g. passengers move to the edge of the cart when you are slow, but hold tight when you move fast. Only when they are on the edge they hop off. Currently it is kind of hard to understand at which speed they jump off.
Ooops, I just read that you press "down" to drop them off. So there was an automatic drop-off and a manual one?
Allthebees
31. Aug 2016 · 12:02 UTC
Haha this is great. As others have said the camera could be a bit jarring at times.
LooksLikeSomething
31. Aug 2016 · 12:04 UTC
Have a lot of fun playing it! Great game!
Sparked99
31. Aug 2016 · 21:21 UTC
I loved the horse tongue flying about. Great job with the camera. Turning felt nice but the carriage felt "laggy" to me. My conclusion, Ave true to Caesar.
intXparts
03. Sep 2016 · 00:01 UTC
I couldn't stop smiling and laughing while playing, what an awesome entry! Between the horses tongue and the slide mechanic, it killed me. Everything all around was great. Fantastic job!