Caverns of the Curse of Greed by Espyo

[raw]
made by Espyo for LD28 (COMPO)
Super quick intro: Collect *one* jewel from each cave. Press Shift in-game for help. Press R to restart level. The rest should be self-explanatory.

Here it is, my first entry on Ludum Dare! In this game, you're an amateur cave explorer, and your goal is to obtain one jewel from every cave. These caves, however, punish those who are greedy: you only get one jewel. If you so much as even touch another one, you will die.
In addition, all you know about these caves comes from hints left behind by the previous explorers. So you only know what tools to bring, not the amount. But you're such an awesome explorer that you only really bring one of each type.

Controls are shown by pressing H on the main menu.

Bonus: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZV5jqZjDokQiaLaVyOtr1pnxSXvR6IRI5X a log of my journey. I'll try to make a piechart of how much time was spent doing what soon.

Also, small note: On level 8, the last one, when you have to deploy the ladder, try not to be too close to the leftmost wall, it kinda doesn't work right.

Even though all of the content was made by me, I suppose I should point out the following:
*A slight part of the mechanics were inspired by Lemmings, and some of the items you can use come from Lemmings 2.
*The font I used is just Trebuchet MS Bold, but with a gradient added.

Linux version is too hard to port :(

Ratings

Coolness 52% 3
Overall 3.04 465
Audio 1.38 766
Fun 3.07 352
Graphics 2.78 575
Humor 1.95 629
Innovation 2.82 556
Mood 2.50 677
Theme 3.37 230

Feedback

sahoskins1
18. Dec 2013 路 21:10 UTC
some things are unclear with the items on times although the character does move well. Also as a side note, many people will be put off with the 7zip format as you have to download extra software to extract for many computers.
handCraftedRadio
18. Dec 2013 路 21:39 UTC
Nice, cool game! Definitely reminded me of lemmings. I would put the hint about only getting one jewel on the first level because I was confused as to why it kept going back to level 1 ( I started the game without reading much of the description.) Other than that I thought it was pretty good and the powers from the tools were pretty cool. Good job!
馃帳 Espyo
19. Dec 2013 路 21:32 UTC
@sahoskins1 Good thinking. I'm just too used to using 7-zip to make everything as squashed as possible.

@handCraftedRadio You're not the first one to be confused by that, I'm afraid!... I wanted to make death more obvious, but time restrains...

I really should've made the whole item thing more clear, or at least point out some more in-game about the fact that Shift gives item help.
theholychicken
19. Dec 2013 路 21:56 UTC
The dropbox link showed error (404) for me.
I'll check back again later!
bitowl
19. Dec 2013 路 21:56 UTC
Dropbox link is down? screenshots look nice. can't wait to play&rate it
Eskoala
19. Dec 2013 路 22:15 UTC
404 for me too.
badlydrawnrod
19. Dec 2013 路 22:16 UTC
404 on the link.
sam1373
19. Dec 2013 路 22:32 UTC
404
Alex Rose
19. Dec 2013 路 22:37 UTC
404, but if you get it fixed can you leave a message on my page? This looks worth playing.
multikorv
19. Dec 2013 路 23:13 UTC
404
馃帳 Espyo
20. Dec 2013 路 11:22 UTC
Drat! As per my reply to sahoskins1, I decided to compress the game into .zip format, but I never updated the links! Should be good now.
Alex Rose
20. Dec 2013 路 11:46 UTC
Nice one man, I really enjoy the variety of tools, and how you can experiment with them but still win. Interesting entry!

I didn't figure out how to use a couple of them though. Like the one that looks like a spear I guess? (Diagonal bottom left to top right with a silver bit on it?) and the green kinda.. pneumatic drill looking thing?

I'd make it more clear you can only collect one gem on level 1 as well. I didn't read the blurb or help section and had to come back and look here :P .

But yeah, otherwise great game, especially for a first time. Hope you take part in more LDs!
馃帳 Espyo
20. Dec 2013 路 16:22 UTC
@Alex Rose Thanks! The spear looking thing is a zipline. You have to be close to a wall, aim towards another wall, and use it. The drill is a jackhammer meant to destroy blocks above you. I /really/ had to point out the function of the Shift key more... Too late now.
StMatn
20. Dec 2013 路 19:52 UTC
Great game!
At first I thought the game would be unfinished, because I have beaten level 1 after ~10 times collecting both gems :D
I really like the multiple tools you get.
Keep on the good work!
theholychicken
20. Dec 2013 路 20:40 UTC
Awesome, awesome puzzle levels!
I am pretty stuck on level 6 right now where the block of dirt is blocking my zipline. I tried to cannon myself across the spikes but I just get shot into the roof.. Still got to think about this one!
The level design and mechanics are just awesome. Great work!
ShellfishGames
21. Dec 2013 路 11:56 UTC
Some music would have been nice, and I think the controls could be improved a little, e.g. that pressing a number key "selects" a weapon and shows the hint (instead of pressing Shift) and there's an extra action key to use the selected weapon. At least I personally would probably prefer that scheme.
However, the game works really well nonetheless, the level design is pretty good and I was surprised by the variety of tools you get. I'm currently stuck in level ~6 or so, the first one with a lot of spikes, where you get the crate for the first time. I assume I'm relatively close to the solution, but couln't make it back from the jewel. :/
jimmypaulin
31. Dec 2013 路 15:12 UTC
So much content for 48h! I love all the tools, it was really exciting and rewarding seeing what each one did. That glorious fling on L5 ... Nicely thought out levels and decent graphics and controls. I would have preferred stronger gravity as it felt a little too floaty to me, and of course sound would have been awesome, but this is an excellent entry
Muciojad
31. Dec 2013 路 15:31 UTC
Interesting game, I'm really enjoyed game's mechanic.
But there isn't any music, unfortunately.:/
Anyway - nice!
stefan
04. Jan 2014 路 23:26 UTC
Nice game. You included many tools and levels, given that you only had 48h. Thats very impressive!
NiceAlexanderAS
06. Jan 2014 路 17:18 UTC
idk what happened but i cant move from level 1 when i collect the 2 diamonds ):... Interesting idea :D great work! :D
Rother Games
06. Jan 2014 路 17:18 UTC
It麓s not clear that you only have to get one gem.
The game is ok.
Brainless Games
06. Jan 2014 路 20:56 UTC
I enjoyed the game, the variety of tools available was a nice addition.