RogueOut by badlydrawnrod
This is the unholy offspring of Rogue and Breakout. To play, make sure that Java 6 or later is on your path, extract the zip file then run it with "run_windowed" or "run_fullscreen" as desired.
[Edit - May 3]: thanks to the awesome power of libgdx and GWT, I've added a web port. It works very well in the latest versions of both Firefox and Chrome.
[Edit - May 3]: And a quick and dirty Android port. Not really ready for prime time, but it works.
[Edit - May 3]: thanks to the awesome power of libgdx and GWT, I've added a web port. It works very well in the latest versions of both Firefox and Chrome.
[Edit - May 3]: And a quick and dirty Android port. Not really ready for prime time, but it works.
Ratings
| Coolness | 100% | 1 |
| Overall | 3.55 | 212 |
| Audio | 3.03 | 357 |
| Fun | 3.56 | 136 |
| Graphics | 3.21 | 433 |
| Humor | 3.67 | 52 |
| Innovation | 3.28 | 430 |
| Mood | 3.10 | 398 |
| Theme | 3.62 | 475 |
The paddle mechanics are a bit off. In my opinion the direction of the ball should be affected by on which side of the paddle it hits, so that controlling it becomes feasible.
Without this possible the classic breakout problem, trying to hit the last tile, becomes quite the task.
Randomized levels, as is traditional amongst Roguelikes, would have increased replayability.
The paddle and the ball don't move in the grid. What is this? The Future!
Although you call it a badly-drawn game, I really enjoyed the green phosphor look of it, like a classic Apple II game. It worked well with the ASCII design and was very effective.
Personally, I think that this was brilliantly innovative. It makes me think of another indie game that mixed a tetris-like mechanic with a dungeon crawler and was, to me, enormously addicting. I think that you've got a similarly brilliant combination here.
The only downsides I'd say were the sound effects, which got annoying (particularly the death screams), and how you don't have much control over the ball, making it frustrating when there are only a couple enemies remaining and you just can't maneuver the ball to hit them correctly. Breakout and Super Breakout had this problem as well, but I think Arkanoid kind of solved it.
So, my advice? See how you can expand the concept a bit more, merging more of the elements of rogue and ASCII-based RPGs with Breakout/Arkanoid-style arcade games. If you spend some time expanding the concept, I think you could have a very addicting and profitable indie game on your hands.
Once again, kudos I say!
I don't know if you plan to improve it after the LD but it would be awesome. Let the player improve with the gold he earned after each level, differents levels, more sounds effects for the mobs,.... It would be so awesome !
It's one of the best entries I've played so far. Good job ;)
Good job, man!
I would have like it even more if the pad could toss the ball away in different angles so that the core gameplay gets more exciting.
Ouch. Ah Ah Ah Ouch. Ah.
Loved the graphics and the sound effects (although the short background loop starts to get annoying after a while).
Is there any difference between levels? I also missed more control over the ball when bouncing it on the pad.
Also, I agree about the control over the ball. I've fixed it in a post-compo version which I'll post once judging is over.
The web port has sound bugs (resetting the music after some seconds with a little pause). I use Firefox.
One comment, I am so used to breakout games where if you hit the ball (er, adventurer) on the side of the paddle, it changes the angle of bounce. With it being constant, I assume you can determine the order of things you will hit? (Deaths and potions not withstanding, of course)
Another comment, once potions start falling, I can collect them so fast that I have no idea what they are doing and what's going on.
But still awesome.
but it didn't affect the huge fun this game is. the vocal sound effects are great! and I loved reading all the stuff that happens as text messages (which did allows you to implement fancy gameplay features without having to graphically represent them) clever solution
well done :)
(P.S. I love the fact you made an android port)