Mad Princess by AdventureIslands

[raw]
made by AdventureIslands for LD25 (COMPO)
---STORY---

There is a story of a beautiful princess trapped in the castle of a horrible demon. Many brave warriors have fallen
trying to face the dangerous traps of the castle to save the princess!

The truth, however, is much more darker: The master of the castle is no one but the princess herself!
She uses terrible dark magic to set traps for the hapless heroes who invade the castle,
and then uses their blood to create more deadly traps for new heroes who dare to set their foot in the castle!

Mad Princess is a tower defence type of game. You control the princess,
who uses blood as currency, to set up different traps from spiky floors to
crossbow sentries to kill the invading heroes!
The heroes travel in sideway 2D view in the halls of the castle,
trying to reach the princess. If that happens, she is forcefully saved and probably married, or worse, taken to some mental care institution


---CONTROLS---
Use mouse to play, select different traps by picking their icons from the top screen and then place them down in the battlefield.

Press R to restart current Stage and Esc to return to main menu. Note that this will restart the whole game.

Press P to pause and unpause
Use + and - to adjust volume and 0 to mute/unmute.

---TRAPS---
First trap is the Bombs, you can spawn them pretty much anywhere by just clicking empty space. They are cheap and pretty powerful, but be careful though, because they start rolling around easily and will blow up your traps if they happen to collide.

Second trap is the Spike Carpet, it falls on the ground and will sap the health of anyone who steps on it except Agile enemies. The invading heroes cannot attack it, but be careful when placing it, because it breaks if it touches other traps.

The third trap is the Wall, well, it is not really a trap, but a strong brick wall, that will halt the travel of the heroes until they manage the break it. Agile enemies can run through it with no harm though. The Wall will break any traps that collide with it.

The fourth trap is the Crossbow, it's an automatic sentry that will shoot arrows at the invaders. It's also a bit like the Wall, and will halt the heroes, but only briefly, because it's not as sturdy as the Wall. Agile enemies can also pass through it with no harm but they can still be hit with arrows.

The fifth and final trap is the Chain Ball, it spins in place in a round arc. It's very powerful, but it will destroy any traps it happens to smash into so be careful when placing it.

Ratings

Coolness 84% 2
Overall 3.94 22
Audio 3.66 32
Fun 3.53 74
Graphics 4.36 16
Humor 3.35 110
Innovation 3.15 235
Mood 3.41 86
Theme 3.98 53

Feedback

apophenia
17. Dec 2012 · 03:26 UTC
Really solid game, very coherent aesthetic style.

Minor nitpick: I wish it weren't possible to set traps during transitional states between levels (I kept accidentally clicking on them/setting off bombs during the "you win/try again" phase).
Nimphomaniak
17. Dec 2012 · 03:27 UTC
Great game!
Suese
17. Dec 2012 · 03:33 UTC
Solid
vrav
17. Dec 2012 · 03:41 UTC
Enjoyed it! The music is great. Love how the humor meshes with the dark atmosphere.
solidplasma
17. Dec 2012 · 04:24 UTC
Very well made, but I had trouble with the bombs.
rvmook
17. Dec 2012 · 05:42 UTC
Nice take on the theme. The levels are just hard enough to try a couple of times without getting frustrated. It would be nice if the princess could take at least one hit. Not really any room for errors now. Anyway, I liked the game
RipX
17. Dec 2012 · 09:16 UTC
Really like this game. Had some issues deploying weapons which made it a little frustrating but nice graphics, great sound and well polished.
tinytouchtales
17. Dec 2012 · 10:17 UTC
Bravo! Well Done!
blackarm
17. Dec 2012 · 12:12 UTC
The second wave was obnoxious.
Also, after killing an enemy pushing the princess, she is still pushed off the screen to death.
blackarm
17. Dec 2012 · 12:12 UTC
However, visually it is nice and the idea is good. Very much like how you used Peach as the villain.
wallmasterr
17. Dec 2012 · 13:50 UTC
soo addictive, and hard, and gltich at memnets u need it not to be , grr, :D
Kickerua
17. Dec 2012 · 17:30 UTC
The best game I've played.
amidos2006
17. Dec 2012 · 17:46 UTC
Woooow nice its hard but new :)
BlockBrains
17. Dec 2012 · 19:20 UTC
Very well executed. Lovely balance between fun and gruesomeness :)Pretty art!
Gornova
17. Dec 2012 · 20:19 UTC
I love this game, well made and following creation is a plus. Well done!
Nanofus
17. Dec 2012 · 21:48 UTC
This game is awesome :D Quite difficult (particularly the bombs are tricky to use) but the graphics and sounds are very amazing.
iandioch
17. Dec 2012 · 22:15 UTC
Really liked it. The bomb level was a pain (do you need to hit with every single bomb?) but the concept is nice and the graphics were great. The music wasn't too shabby either :P
I did find the ability to place traps during the win/lose screen a bit odd though.
Rex Peppers
17. Dec 2012 · 22:15 UTC
Great job!
Sim
17. Dec 2012 · 23:08 UTC
Really fun game. Good graphics and music too, nothing to complain about.
kewry
18. Dec 2012 · 04:51 UTC
Awesome game
nickworks
18. Dec 2012 · 08:08 UTC
Nice aesthetics!
SiENcE
18. Dec 2012 · 09:06 UTC
The pxeil graphics are great! The mouse handling is a bit too slow for the fast heroes. All in all Well Done!
Colapsydo
18. Dec 2012 · 09:21 UTC
Nice work on the various characteristics of traps and enemies.
matthias_zarzecki
18. Dec 2012 · 09:40 UTC
This is lovely! Love the music and visuals. Gameplay is fun too, but ramps up way to hard in level 2.
shaneshanekavanagh
18. Dec 2012 · 12:04 UTC
Nice difficulty. It made me press R more than a few times!
KWL_TW
18. Dec 2012 · 15:19 UTC
Awesome pixel art!
pythong
18. Dec 2012 · 18:07 UTC
loooooooooved the art
FinalMirage
18. Dec 2012 · 21:31 UTC
Very cool art style. Gameplay is addicting, nicely done.
SecondDimension
18. Dec 2012 · 23:04 UTC
Definitely a cool idea and fits well with the theme. The art style is great
Cake&Code
19. Dec 2012 · 00:43 UTC
Great game!!! I love the attention to detail, like the Princess's face as she's being dragged out. I had the same thing happen that others commented on, where i killed the last hero during the dragging out phase and it was confused whether I won or lost. Awesome overall though, I had a lot of fun playing.
Scott McBee
19. Dec 2012 · 05:29 UTC
Fantastic. Great all around. With more polish, bug fixing, and content, I'd pay for this game.

The second wave was overly difficult, but this is one of the few 5's I've rated so far.
hannardynamite
19. Dec 2012 · 09:37 UTC
Graphics - awesome. Music - awesome. This game - awesome.

Just to nitpick, the bombs felt a tad slow to detonate. But maybe that's just because I like insta-explosions.

Very, very good game though.
monomanio
19. Dec 2012 · 13:08 UTC
Very nice! Loving the art, and the gameplay is familiar and coherent.
Tifu
19. Dec 2012 · 13:23 UTC
The agile enemies seem a tad overpowered D:
That and no room for error made me just give up on the level where you have spikes and bombs to defeat those guys =/
Was enjoying up to that point, love the graphics.
muratcelik
19. Dec 2012 · 14:27 UTC
game idea and graphics are great.
DragonKN
19. Dec 2012 · 16:15 UTC
nice job
deepnight
19. Dec 2012 · 17:05 UTC
Ok you are definitely my fav in this LD °_°
I totally loved your game and played it through the end (which something I rarely do in LD).

Gameplay is great: it seems pretty simple & basic at first but every level has the perfect balance between frustration & reward.

Excellent job :)
bach
19. Dec 2012 · 19:46 UTC
Fantastic entry! Really don't have anything to criticise. Really well done for 48hrs.
Hatscat
19. Dec 2012 · 19:47 UTC
Great art! love the music! but a little too hard for me ^^
YopSolo
19. Dec 2012 · 19:50 UTC
fun, challenging and really good gfx !
Pitoum
19. Dec 2012 · 19:55 UTC
Very very cool entry! Spent a lot of time on it :) And the music is pretty cool too!
I'm really impressed!
awppy
19. Dec 2012 · 19:59 UTC
I actually found this to be a bit frustrating. Having to click at the top to change weapons is very inconvenient; being able to quickly switch traps via numbers on the keyboard would allow for better micromanaging. Placing a trap too close to another trap/the princess results in the trap being destroyed, and I did that by accident fairly often.

The agile characters are a bit much to deal with. Running by spike traps and crossbows is fine, but bypassing walls renders the wall pretty much pointless

A few minor tweaks and wider levels could really improve the game
bompo
19. Dec 2012 · 20:02 UTC
Great sprites and awesome music!
GreenPixelDev
19. Dec 2012 · 21:06 UTC
Great art and music! A bit on the challenging side but there's nothing wrong with that :D Fantastic entry and with more features and levels, this could do well on touch devices!
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
19. Dec 2012 · 21:13 UTC
Awesome, as expected. You rock :)
BNeutral
19. Dec 2012 · 21:13 UTC
Quite fun. Timing the bombs was a pain though.
cjgammon
19. Dec 2012 · 22:49 UTC
awesome! really solid game for 48 hrs.
bitwise-constructs
19. Dec 2012 · 23:00 UTC
Really great game, played for longer than I should have.
Joseph Miller
19. Dec 2012 · 23:05 UTC
Very solid. Feels like a finished project with tons of polish. The scope of the game is just right. You didn't overextend yourself, but it still feels like there is a lot of game there. A wider variety of level designs would've made it perfect.
AhNinniah
20. Dec 2012 · 00:28 UTC
You've done a great job indeed! I really like this game!
berareu
20. Dec 2012 · 00:31 UTC
That was pretty much great! Good job :)
lucky.luddite
20. Dec 2012 · 00:57 UTC
That title screen is awesome.
Codexus
20. Dec 2012 · 01:08 UTC
nice graphics, good gameplay but it relies a bit too much on precise timing.
Atomic
20. Dec 2012 · 01:39 UTC
Great in every aspect! The only issue I found is with the try again and next wave screens. There's something odd about the way they respond, not sure exactly what.

Still might be the best I've played up to now :)
Andrey Pradun
20. Dec 2012 · 02:11 UTC
Very nice game! I like the idea :)
CappaGames
20. Dec 2012 · 02:27 UTC
Nice game. I liked the graphics, music and the gameplay. Had a little bit of trouble placing items, but overall a good game.
lukew23
20. Dec 2012 · 02:53 UTC
It was an original and well made game, and the only thing that killed the fun for me was the balancing of the traps and enemies, which is easily fixed. One tactic I found helpful against the agile enemies was to place a spiketrap and drop a bomb over it when the guy ran on top of it. This was a lot easier than timing the bomb. Extremely well made, good job.
zatyka
20. Dec 2012 · 03:28 UTC
I enjoyed it quite a bit. Very nice.
kato9
20. Dec 2012 · 04:18 UTC
Really fun, polished game. Provided a nice challenge without being overbearing. The only issue I noticed is that the bombs are so cheap and powerful they basically become the easiest solution to every level. Still, great work!
bigbadwofl
20. Dec 2012 · 06:39 UTC
Good entry and fun to play. Well done on a polished game.
LeReveur
20. Dec 2012 · 06:43 UTC
Absolutely awesome !
Great job !
I loved this one ! :D
atraxgames
20. Dec 2012 · 08:40 UTC
Great concept and well realized!
blackmagic
20. Dec 2012 · 08:42 UTC
Very nice,
lack of a little tutorial in the beginning but the game is well polished.
evilseanbot
20. Dec 2012 · 08:58 UTC
The evil princess is an awesome character. I kept going "mwahahaha" between levels.
har_g
20. Dec 2012 · 13:05 UTC
nice nice nice game.
Zed
20. Dec 2012 · 13:44 UTC
Devilishly clever. I trust you'll be fleshing this out into something bigger?
tripleVisionGames
20. Dec 2012 · 20:30 UTC
Great graphics and music :D I think the side scrolling tower defence type idea works really well, was kind of what I was going for but I didn't quite get there!
DavidErosa
20. Dec 2012 · 23:49 UTC
Impressively well done!
adnzzzzZ
21. Dec 2012 · 01:38 UTC
Pretty nice graphics and decent music. It gets a bit frustrating at times (especially with the fast green dudes), but overall a solid nice game. Good job!
twotimingpete
21. Dec 2012 · 06:56 UTC
outstanding!
Edocentrique
21. Dec 2012 · 16:37 UTC
A tiny little bit hard, but really nice game !
chribbe1
22. Dec 2012 · 17:08 UTC
Nice game, very good polish!
pereubu
23. Dec 2012 · 13:48 UTC
Damn this game is hard and frustrating x)
The gameplay is polished even if a bit repetitive, the aesthetic is great and feedbacks are great,I have nothing to say except i wanna use moar bombs D:
ncannasse
23. Dec 2012 · 20:51 UTC
Very good one, but quite frustrating : I wish the bomb timing was not that hard to get right !
beeglebug
26. Dec 2012 · 14:43 UTC
I think the walls shouldn't slide down slopes (one of them pushed me off the screen!)
CoffeeOnimal
27. Dec 2012 · 16:19 UTC
Took me a while to get to this one, glad I waited. Nice to play a complete well constructed game after a few imperfects or incompletes.
Looking forward to your post-compo version.
solkar
28. Dec 2012 · 17:30 UTC
I really liked it. Very well done. It's a pity because I can't vote in this entry.
naufr4g0
01. Jan 2013 · 23:33 UTC
Very challenging game. Nice art, too! :) Maybe bombs need to explode more quickly.
wally2069
02. Jan 2013 · 05:45 UTC
Second wave was just too obnoxious for my tastes.
lotusgame
02. Jan 2013 · 11:42 UTC
Nice game !! Really appreciate the differents gameplays, and graphics are cute. Well done !
ArkadyDracul
02. Jan 2013 · 11:46 UTC
Nice entry, really!
LTyrosine
02. Jan 2013 · 14:29 UTC
Nice game, a bit hard but very fun. Amazing music.
saguaro
02. Jan 2013 · 22:08 UTC
I love your princess! Great concept for the theme. The bombs were a little tricky.
dark_hunter
03. Jan 2013 · 08:55 UTC
Very nice idea! I like the graphics. Quite addictive and challenging!
refreshcreations
03. Jan 2013 · 16:08 UTC
I had great fun playing through this game, great level design at play here, nicely judged with the addition of new weaponry through the players progress! Also, the graphics and audio are ace!
TwilightFlandre
03. Jan 2013 · 17:08 UTC
Hard to say something that hasn't been stated already. The graphics and music are incredible. While the concept itself isn't unique to this Ludum Dare it definitely plays the best out of the couple dozen others I've played. I've followed the development of your post-compo version and any complaints I really had were fixed at this point. A very, very solid entry!
fishbrain
03. Jan 2013 · 17:25 UTC
Would have liked more responsiveness - but brilliant work! Great fun, great graphics and great style... I WON :)
Raptor85
03. Jan 2013 · 17:56 UTC
My only real nitpick is when placing the traps some of them are hard to place or don't react quite like you'd think, it would be nice for more feedback during the trap placement.
ddionisio
03. Jan 2013 · 19:54 UTC
Pretty damn awesome game, and the post-compo is even more awesome. The post-compo pretty much resolved the quirkiness I found. Great work! I see you used cgMusic ;)
Jacic
04. Jan 2013 · 00:10 UTC
I finally got around to playing this. :p

Nice work! The original version gets quite hard!
azurenimbus
05. Jan 2013 · 03:39 UTC
Wow, really impressive effort, loved the game. Got really sucked in, even though this is not a type of game I generally play.

I was surprised that I got stuck in level 2, and had to do a little work to get the timing of the bombs right. But you have a very good eye for level design, and from your tweets I can tell the post-compo is even better. Can't wait to try it!

Great job!
PaulSB
05. Jan 2013 · 21:12 UTC
Really solid, polished entry for sure; your pixel art is great as ever. The gameplay was solid but the difficulty in timing the bombs and such was pretty frustrating!
dragonfi
06. Jan 2013 · 17:34 UTC
And you made all this in 48h? The game is sufficiently long, fun and polished.
dragonfi
06. Jan 2013 · 17:44 UTC
Hehe, okay, almost rated the wrong version, but the LD entry is very good itself.
SonnyBone
07. Jan 2013 · 00:24 UTC
Awesome little game with a rad art style and nice progression. It's not too easy and not too hard. Music is rad and the game controls perfectly. Very nice work... and not just for 48 hours. You should be happy!