Unstable Ground by avh4

[raw]
made by avh4 for LD27 (COMPO)
My first 48hr compo; enjoy!

You play a demolition expert who finds herself facing a dark internal struggle as well as a daily light struggle.

As noted below, there's no ending screen--if you successfully destroy the yellow building, you've finished all there is to the game.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SOLUTIONS: https://gist.github.com/avh4/df3eddea3ded1843a522

My goals for this game: Learn HaxeFlixel (I ended up giving up on that and using CreateJS). Have a fully-finished game (almost succeeded). Tell a story (I did come up with a good story, but I don't think it comes across that well). Make the in-game instructions good enough to not need external explanation (success, I think). Learn inkscape (a major success)!

What I didn't get finished: The dark levels are not complete (the collisions don't work right, so I disabled death/restarts in the dark levels). And there's no ending screen to resolve the story if you win. Finally, while I did manage to make the character sprite, I wasn't able to finish the walk/running animation in time, and I would have liked to add a few more sound effects.

Tools I used:

Code: javascript + CreateJS
Editor: Textmate
Graphics: Inkscape
Music: autotracker (converted with VLC)
Sound effects: bfrx
Hosting: heroku + node

Ratings

Coolness 88% 2
Overall 2.65 929
Audio 2.37 652
Fun 2.29 1015
Graphics 2.38 857
Humor 2.15 610
Innovation 3.23 369
Mood 2.89 425
Theme 2.92 773

Feedback

ix
26. Aug 2013 路 04:03 UTC
This is an interesting idea. I'm unsure how dynamite placement influences building demolition in this game, though, and I wasn't able to make it past the second building.
@TeddyNashor
26. Aug 2013 路 07:28 UTC
I love the concept. Not sure how the dynamite effects the explosion either but the ideas are there!
馃帳 avh4
26. Aug 2013 路 08:01 UTC
If you're having trouble imploding a building, http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/building-implosion.htm :)

However, my intent was that the resulting debris from the failed demolition attempts will help suggest how to better place the dynamite (each building has 3-7 different ways it will partially collapse depending on where you put the dynamite, which hopefully would help indicate where to try next).
Markavian
26. Aug 2013 路 08:25 UTC
I couldn't get past the control tower. I was really enjoying the story, and really liked the mechanics of the game. Having the freedom to enter and exit buildings is a really nice part of the game. The dark sections were, random, to say the least, but interesting. I wasn't quite sure on the point of them though.
ratalaika
26. Aug 2013 路 09:00 UTC
Really good idea, I like it. But quite hard to understand how dynamite works xD
Pierrec
26. Aug 2013 路 09:32 UTC
I loved what I've seen : it's my favorite take on the the me so far. But unfortunately I wasn't able to pass the second building, the way we should place dynamites is not very clear
馃帳 avh4
26. Aug 2013 路 09:45 UTC
Seems like trouble with dynamite is a common comment. And I just realized some of the partial collapse images for level 2 are wrong/backwards.

Here are the solutions if you want to see the later levels:
https://gist.github.com/avh4/df3eddea3ded1843a522
eckcz
26. Aug 2013 路 10:02 UTC
Cannot blow the second building duh! But like the idea
Tegu
26. Aug 2013 路 10:44 UTC
It's a shame that the dark parts aren't finished as now it just feels like they're only there to slow down retrying. :/ But anyhow, the idea is neat and otherwise it's fun to try different placings. Some kind of undo would be nice, though, as I kept hitting space accidentally and had to go through the retry process again a few times. :/

(Spoiler: Gur fbyhgvba sbe gur frpbaq ohvyqvat vf fubja ba n cerivrj fperrafubg.)
dekart
26. Aug 2013 路 11:05 UTC
I love games about explosions. That's a very interesting concept.
robashton
26. Aug 2013 路 11:55 UTC
I just don't even what is this - I loved the dark sequences :P
01010111
26. Aug 2013 路 19:11 UTC
The dark sequences really help drive the story and mood, although I have to admit I am a dummy when it comes to blowing up buildings.
PapyGaragos
26. Aug 2013 路 21:34 UTC
I don't know why, but this reminds me "paper please"
everblind
27. Aug 2013 路 01:25 UTC
Good game but I was confused trying to get out of the building.
Good concept :)
djbriandamage
27. Aug 2013 路 01:31 UTC
There's really no reason for this simple little game to have a story but yours is hilarious! Giving that extra bit of context, especially with your impactful use of the 10 seconds theme, turns this thing into an epic. I really loved it.
asc3nsion
27. Aug 2013 路 01:32 UTC
Awesome! You cant beat smushing buildings. Smushed Like my brain is feeling after this Jam. :)
Rick Hoppmann
27. Aug 2013 路 08:38 UTC
It did take too long to load so I quit the window. Shame upon me.
zanzindorf
27. Aug 2013 路 15:35 UTC
I really liked your concept. It had a lot of character. I couldn't figure out level two, even after looking at you link. Maybe if there were more in-game hints, like support columns. I loved the music too.
xgeovanni
27. Aug 2013 路 17:59 UTC
How do I exit a building?
Vaughn
27. Aug 2013 路 22:45 UTC
Rare to see LD games with story components, so props for that! Unfortunately, like most others, I couldn't figure out how to pass the 2nd level without cheating (reading), perhaps some in-game hints or directions would help this, or at least specifically telling the player to look at the failing demotion structure for hints. I finished it though!
Jesse Freeman
28. Aug 2013 路 13:55 UTC
Had a hard time figuring out where to place the explosives. Also got stuck on the 2nd floor of a building. Interesting concept but could use some extra polish. Maybe more instructions or hint of some kind.
psychomonster
28. Aug 2013 路 23:53 UTC
Very cool idea, this means extra points in innovation. The gameplay is a liitle bit to haltingly but it is okay, i can handle this ^^... congratulation for your first submission. hope you have enjoyed this weekend.
Zathalos
29. Aug 2013 路 05:36 UTC
Interesting idea. The music is great and I learned a bit about demolition. I wish this game was made in 3d though. It would have made for some awesome physics action. Great job.
mrspeaker
29. Aug 2013 路 16:40 UTC
I loved this game, but I think it deserves a bit more appropriate music... it seemed a bit to "elevator-y"! Such a cool idea, and I love the metaphysical storyline.
porglezomp
30. Aug 2013 路 03:06 UTC
I'm impressed by how nice the demolition physics is, even if it's not the same sort of realism that those CoD guys want you to have.