LudumData

Zephyr by joe40001

[raw]
made by joe40001 for LD26 (JAM)
Zephyr: How minimalist rules (get the spheres to overlap) can make complex, challenging, and engaging gameplay.
NOTE: IMPORTANT INFO AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Not completely polished but very playable. This game will definitely have a life after LD26. So keep an eye out for future versions of this game. Until then, I hope you enjoy the LD26:72H Version.

The goal of Zephyr is simple: Get the different colored Spheres to overlap, the more spheres overlapping when you score them, the more points you get, but as time goes on your various Zephs can get frozen so it's worth it to keep scoring them as often as you can.

Arrow keys move
A/D tilts the camera
F instantly brings the next Zeph
Enter switches colors
Spacebar "Scores"

I really hope you enjoy (and I hope I caught all the bugs).



***NOTES UPDATE 1***
Due to a large amount of people confused on the gameplay mechanic I am making a short tutorial video, I will link to it here so if you are confused come back and revisit this post in about an hour.

***NOTES UPDATE 2****
Here it is, a tutorial video for the game, hopefully it clears up all your questions. Sorry for the confusion and I hope you guys do enjoy my game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJrN71aE2vI

Web http://www.kongregate.com/games/joe40001/zephyr
Tutorial Video (Youtube) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJrN71aE2vI
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=22192

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 2.52 488
Audio(Jam) 2.94 259
Fun(Jam) 2.02 527
Graphics(Jam) 2.50 453
Humor(Jam) 1.58 400
Innovation(Jam) 3.17 212
Mood(Jam) 2.46 419
Theme(Jam) 2.73 441

Feedback

馃帳 joe40001
30. Apr 2013 路 05:21 UTC
So I didn't quite get done all I wanted to with this game, but I did get a lot done so I feel good about it. Not bad for my first LD. The instructions are a bit "minimalist" but hopefully people find their way to enjoying this game.

Now I'm off to play/judge some other people's games followed promptly by sleep. Congrats to everybody else who participated.
dremelofdeath
30. Apr 2013 路 06:07 UTC
This seems like it has great promise as a relaxing, chillout puzzle game. I really liked the selection of the music, although the game itself was not very intuitive to me (and I failed quite quickly).
sick
30. Apr 2013 路 08:21 UTC
Needs better tutorial.
kidevil
30. Apr 2013 路 09:18 UTC
I liked the concept here, but the controls need some work. Definitely a solid idea in there though.
馃帳 joe40001
30. Apr 2013 路 09:30 UTC
Thanks everybody for the feedback. Yeah there were a few things I really wanted to add to the game but I just ran out of time. A tutorial was chief among them. As it is it takes a bit to get used to the controls/flow of the game.
Alex Rose
30. Apr 2013 路 19:46 UTC
Man, this is a really entry, especially for your first one. Welcome to the community, and congrats. Really suits the mood well too, and it's nice and relaxing.
dook
30. Apr 2013 路 19:49 UTC
The graphics and sound was good. I didn't quite get the hang of the controls, though. I seemed to get lost or not quite get why I couldn't move like I wanted to. This looks like the sort of puzzler I would enjoy though! :)
SmilingCat
30. Apr 2013 路 19:49 UTC
I liked the music, though I could not understand how to play the game.
ilovepixel
30. Apr 2013 路 19:53 UTC
Nice idea, but it was bit hard to control the game.
馃帳 joe40001
30. Apr 2013 路 22:04 UTC
Thanks for the feedback I'm going to be linking a short tutorial video here. So check back soon, all.
Shigor
02. May 2013 路 08:33 UTC
Not bad, although a bit confusing at first (I hadn't realized that it works in 3d, maybe you should make the default camera angle rotated a bit so it would be visible at start).
Very good music, but since it's creative commons, I can only rate you for selecting a good piece.
FREEZX
02. May 2013 路 10:56 UTC
Awesome concept, really innovative, a bit difficult without watching the tutorial video. Controls need a bit of work, but still really good! Great work!
MrShoestore
02. May 2013 路 23:41 UTC
This is a really interesting puzzler. my two cents: I'd like the camera to be zoomed in a bit, and the Zeph a bit more opaque. after playing a while I went for the big combo scores, and then it became too much for my brain. I kept losing track. But it was very enjoyable!
dcarogame
03. May 2013 路 00:42 UTC
no se entiende bn
馃帳 joe40001
03. May 2013 路 00:46 UTC
@MrShoestore

Thanks for the feedback, yeah little tweaks like that are super easy to do, and stuff I wish I caught before my final submission. I don't know if uploading a new build with a better opacity would be against the rules though, so I won't risk it.

Still awesome that you like it, I hope in a post compo version to work out all the quirks and add more Zeph shapes/improve the game mood. If I pull all this off as planned maybe I'll have a neat little time killer game I could port to tablets or something. : )
sP0CkEr2
06. May 2013 路 03:27 UTC
seems cool but could not quite figure out the controls -- nice effort.
MinionStudios
06. May 2013 路 03:40 UTC
Nice game! Very challenging
dalbinblue
06. May 2013 路 03:51 UTC
Played the game for a while. It was relaxing, but wasn't sure what the game over condition would be. The music and pace of the game is nice and relaxing though.
馃帳 joe40001
06. May 2013 路 03:55 UTC
Thanks, game over condition is when all the Zephs are locked in place, the goal is to get the highest score you can before that happens, as you advance in levels the rate at which they spawn increases. In a post compo version of the game what level you are going to be on as well as the tone of that level will become more clear as I plan to change music/backgrounds depending on the level. Think of this game in the same style as tetris. (Except maybe more Zen)
DST
07. May 2013 路 01:55 UTC
This is very fun! :D You are right to want to do more with it! :) Also, thanks for posing a tutorial, it made it much easier to start :D
Cake&Code
08. May 2013 路 06:18 UTC
The controls were pretty wonky, and it took me a little time to get used to them. I also wasn't sure what I was doing, so a more explicit tutorial would help. Great music and atmosphere though!
馃帳 joe40001
08. May 2013 路 08:20 UTC
@Cake, did you watch the tutorial video?
Rafael Sales
11. May 2013 路 00:29 UTC
Cool game. I tried to play the game by myself, but it was totally impossible. I needed to watch the tutorial with high attention to understand what's going on. I believe that the game concept is really good, but you need to simplify a lot the mechanic, because 4 minutes to explain your mechanic is too much. Congratulations anyway!
lightnarcissus
11. May 2013 路 02:39 UTC
Found it a little confusing at first but reading the instructions again helped me wrap my head around it. Fun game and a fairly interesting concept.
馃帳 joe40001
11. May 2013 路 13:04 UTC
My goal was to take a minimalist rule (get spheres to overlap) and make a deep, complex, engaging game out of it. (Akin to tetris) There were some polish elements I didn't get finished in time but I am very happy to hear feedback from those who took the time to "get it". :) Now somebody go beat my high score on kongregate! :P