LudumData

the Pit by MRvanderPants

[raw]
made by MRvanderPants for LD28 (COMPO)
the Pit is a short game made for the 48 hour compo contest, which was my first by the way. It is a rogue-like 2D platform shooter (if that is even a legit genre) where the main goal is to survive as long as possible in waves of berserking enemies.

So, what has this to do with the theme? Well, thats simple, you only have one live, so dont waste it. The amount of ammo you get at the start is very limited too, so keep an eye on your ammo to.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the game as much as I did making it.


Controls:
w,a,s,d to move and jump
w in the air to double jump
space to restart
q to bring up the upgrade screen (only if leveled up)
lmb to shoot


Used software:

Game:
Game Maker 8.0 free edition

Design/ visuals:
Game Maker
Adobe Photoshop

Audio:
Audicity
Reaper
Guitar Pro 5
SFXR


I made a post-ludum version with some bug fixes:
- spawning inside the screen
- enemies never spawn right above you
- faster loading
- other restart button

the POST version can be found here:
http://www.mrvanderpants.com/pages/games/thePit.php
Windows http://www.mrvanderpants.com/overig/LD28_the_Pit.rar
Source http://www.mrvanderpants.com/overig/LD28_the_Pit.rar
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=20836

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 2.69 754
Audio 3.22 162
Fun 2.58 693
Graphics 3.52 224
Humor 2.03 595
Innovation 2.13 907
Mood 2.64 581
Theme 1.96 926

Feedback

biscuitdough
16. Dec 2013 · 08:15 UTC
I couldn't get the upgrade screen to open, (the opening screen says it's 'Q'). Some of the levels generated were near broken. still, as is it was an ok game, the graphics stand out.
Gemberkoekje
16. Dec 2013 · 08:21 UTC
I must say I dislike space to restart. First time I tried to jump... I restarted. Also loading seems to take quite long. I did like the graphics though, perhaps you should consider making a post-compo version with some bugfixes :)
crockid5
16. Dec 2013 · 08:33 UTC
The first time I spawned one of those things landed straight on my head, then I spawned in a wall, then I spawned in a really deep pit that I couldn't jump out of, I accidentally reset the game about 4 times pressing space to jump. Nice music though.
Citiral
16. Dec 2013 · 08:35 UTC
The graphics are nice and the music was good, but every time it spawned me into a level where I was instantly stuck, the walls were too high to jump over, and I also couldn't open the upgrade screen.
mortl8324
16. Dec 2013 · 08:42 UTC
The screenshots look great, but the download link seems to be broken?
🎤 MRvanderPants
16. Dec 2013 · 08:47 UTC
@mortl8324: download link is working fine for me. Asked someone at the office to check, works fine too. Anyone else having the same problem?
BluShine
16. Dec 2013 · 08:55 UTC
I guess the upgrades aren't implemented? I like the idea of a sort of platformer-shooting-defense game with randomly-generated levels, but the generation usually gives pretty crappy levels, unfortunately. But when you do get a good one, the game gets pretty fun. Music, sound, and graphics are all quite nice, and they work together very well. But the connection to the theme is, well, a bit of a stretch...
mortl8324
16. Dec 2013 · 09:12 UTC
@MRvanderPants Hmm... Strange. I can't connect to your website at all. Maybe because I am in Singapore? I'll try again in a few hours.
ambi
16. Dec 2013 · 09:19 UTC
Unfortunately, very long loading times for me diminish gameplay enjoyment. It's also a little buggy. Sometimes the main character sprite seems to disappear. Nice graphics, nice audio and music. I just couldn't get into this game because of the many idiosyncrasies.
the
16. Dec 2013 · 09:26 UTC
is not very clear generation
icedmetal57
16. Dec 2013 · 09:29 UTC
The graphics, animations, and audio were all great. Got stuck in many levels where I couldn't jump up. Great little game nonetheless.
stephan_h
16. Dec 2013 · 09:30 UTC
Nice entry.

Good:
- graphics, audio, presentation
- ambition, scope
Bad:
- I really disliked the camera offsetting in horizontal direction and not fixed on the character. Don't know exactly why, but it bothered me much.
- Level loading felt very long. Perhaps call it "generating level" instead of "loading"? Waiting time would feel more justified.
- Space for reloading always get's me at least once unprepared.

Some levels were broken, but that I do not see as a negative point given the whole timeframe of two days.
caranha
16. Dec 2013 · 09:41 UTC
(Played it on wine. Worked, but without sound)

There are a lot of interesting things going on with this game. The little details on enemies getting knocked out by falling, and the little gun shells and gun recoil are very nice touches.

Random generation is showing its ugly head, though, as more often than not i would spawn in a level where most of the areas were unreachable. Once I even spawned in a tiny room.

Thanks for the game, and I hope you find the time to work on the post-ludum version!

(PS: I agree with Gemberkoekje, space is an awkward key to use for "restart")
PaulRdi
16. Dec 2013 · 11:14 UTC
Very nice! Loved the Sound & Graphics! Also randomly generated levels? My hat off to you good sir :D
I came across a bug where once I fell down & restarted the level my character would always spawn outside of the cameras view.
kyyrma
16. Dec 2013 · 17:17 UTC
Really cool first entry! Unfortunately my character spawned inside the ground most of the time, and the loading times were really really long.

What was working though, was really slick. Moving the character around and shooting felt great.

Did you use .wav for the audio? The download was really big for such a small game. I'd suggest using .mp3 when possible.
🎤 MRvanderPants
16. Dec 2013 · 17:21 UTC
@kyyrma: yes I used .wav files. My .mp3 codec broke down in the writing process, and didn't have any time to fix it. But thanks for the tip! :)
oskardevelopment
16. Dec 2013 · 17:55 UTC
Cute game, both in style and in gameplay. Was a tad confusing when I the first game spawned either outside the screen or inside the map, though after a restart it all worked out! Really like how you cared so much about the details in the animations! Good luck!
NightShadow0
16. Dec 2013 · 18:08 UTC
Game's pretty buggy, crashed on me when i tried leveling up for the second time, but it's fun and an impressive entry for 48h! Nice work!
timtipgames
16. Dec 2013 · 18:10 UTC
I experienced so many bugs :( Got stuck, camera froze, shooting during loading screen, upgrade screen not opening. Other than that ... could have been a much better experience in what looks like a solid game.
d_0o_d
16. Dec 2013 · 18:12 UTC
Really liked the graphics, but I couldn't get a real game going...
pom9898
16. Dec 2013 · 18:16 UTC
I think it is awesome, I just have a little trouble with invisible walls by platforms.
GingerMess
17. Dec 2013 · 16:50 UTC
Not a bad little game - I really like the graphics and the smooth animation/gameplay. Good stuff.
occash
17. Dec 2013 · 18:21 UTC
I can't open it(((
🎤 MRvanderPants
17. Dec 2013 · 18:23 UTC
@occash: I tried it and works fine here. Did you get any error messages? And have you tried disabling your anti-virus? Avast is always difficult with this
Danman9914
18. Dec 2013 · 17:40 UTC
Your shooting mechanic is well polished and fun to play. I actually found the possibility of an enemy spawning right above you to be an interesting challenge as you have to seek out cover. It would have been nice if the levels were generated more smartly (always overhead cover areas, no ways to get trapped in a pit) but this definitely scores highly in the "fun" category.
pkenney
18. Dec 2013 · 17:47 UTC
I love that you included all of the fine touches from that "art of screenshake" video, they paid off.

But I had some issues. The reload screen takes a really long time. The generation of the Pit is really inconsistent. Most levels simply weren't valid and no enemies would ever come. The combination of these two factors cut down on my desire to replay again and again.

A few tweaks and this could be a blast, though. Nice work on art and sound and juice.
dsoft20
19. Dec 2013 · 08:46 UTC
Nice graphics.
Is the pit procedurally generated?
🎤 MRvanderPants
19. Dec 2013 · 09:08 UTC
@dsoft: yes it is. Thats the reason my game is so buggy too :)
Raphy
19. Dec 2013 · 09:21 UTC
Nice animations, too bad there are so many bugs. Good job anyway !
Maple
19. Dec 2013 · 17:55 UTC
Hmm, the parallax scrolling background that moves opposite to your jump feels a bit extreme. I'd make it more subtle. Also, sometimes your random generator would spawn me in an area with a low roof and no enemies would spawn near me. Also, I liked the feel that the weapon had. The particles and SFX etc. made it sound stong. This is a really nice first entry!
dqmhose
26. Dec 2013 · 13:19 UTC
Pretty cool actually! Really like the concept and the art style. Levels were broken half the time and you die way too fast. Half the time I didn't even know why I died, still fun to play! Keep it up!
foumart
26. Dec 2013 · 21:22 UTC
Congrats on your first LD and for your rogue-like-survival-platformer ! The loading was too slow though.
ShellfishGames
29. Dec 2013 · 17:30 UTC
I believe without the bugs, and a bit more work on the level generation (the levels *look* pretty good and not too generic, but they don't go too well with the gameplay), this could be a really cool game. Graphics and music are already very nice.
BradleySmith
04. Jan 2014 · 23:12 UTC
Neat pixel art.