Soulshifter by toastedgames

[raw]
made by toastedgames for LD35 (JAM)
Soulshifter is a game about killing enemies and stealing their forms! (Sounds morbid, I know.) The enemies come in waves out of portals, and you must survive a set amount of waves (based on difficulty) to win!

The game contains:
3 Difficulty options,
5 Maps to play on,
7 Forms to shift into,
and our secret mixture of herbs and spices*

*Might not actually contain herbs and spices.
Have fun and happy judging!

Changelog:
[1.4]
Fixed a gamebreaking bug with creature spawning.
Fixed creatures combining and getting stuck in portals.
Tweaked difficulty settings.
[1.3]
Fixed auto-run.
Fixed character hit boxes.
Fixed shape-shift effect not displaying correctly (again),
Fixed enemies getting stuck in portals (probably).
General Optimizations
Made ghost less OP
Fixed attacks occasionally moving in the wrong direction.
Further corrected collision on some maps.
[1.2]
Changed download format to Zipped Folder.
Balanced more stuff.
Corrected collision on maps Octothorpe, Crossroads, and Island.
Added a keybinding page to set your own controls.
[1.1]
Poison effects not displaying.
Incorrect Attack collision.
Shapeshift effect not displaying correctly.
Wave display not displaying correctly.
Balanced stuff.
[1.0 (Original)]
Game released!

Ratings

Coolness 66% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.26 524
Audio(Jam) 2.50 632
Fun(Jam) 3.06 591
Graphics(Jam) 3.21 601
Humor(Jam) 2.26 632
Innovation(Jam) 2.79 763
Mood(Jam) 2.77 783
Theme(Jam) 3.79 193

Feedback

Garris
19. Apr 2016 · 04:13 UTC
I don't understand the decision to make E the attack button while using WASD for movement. You might benefit from giving the option to use the arrow keys or switch attack to a different button. That said, the game kept me engaged through 10 waves so that's a plus! And your UI is pretty slick for a Ludum Dare game. I had fun :]
SgtBursk
19. Apr 2016 · 04:15 UTC
Impressive. Loved how everything was 8-bit, from the graphics to the sound to the menus. Fun stuff.
Remdiky
19. Apr 2016 · 04:21 UTC
Nice defence, but may be you need more speed?)
Shatter Point Studios
19. Apr 2016 · 04:33 UTC
Great use of the theme, and I loved the pixel art. Audio was nice. Different powers added variety.
w1n5t0n
19. Apr 2016 · 05:09 UTC
Very fun and engaging game.
MandolinQuinn
19. Apr 2016 · 05:11 UTC
Excellent GUI. It's rare that you see volume control in a jam game. The blood particle looks fantastic. Impressive scope and execution.

I would avoid using gradients for a low resolution art style, though. it doesn't match the overall art
tomlum
19. Apr 2016 · 05:12 UTC
I also agree that the e attack button was odd, but I liked how many different things there were to transform into, it made me really want to collect them all. Would be cool to have more variety among the attacks though. Also the music was very quiet when I played.
Peter1992t
19. Apr 2016 · 05:13 UTC
It couldve benefited from music
megalukes
19. Apr 2016 · 05:14 UTC
I loved tha game's atmosphere, but I have to agree with Garris that the decision to make E the attack button was a bad move. But I really liked your game. Good job, I spent a lot of time playing it.
MissVioletVi
19. Apr 2016 · 05:17 UTC
Very nice menus, creative and fun game play. I found it a bit confusing as the WHY i'd want to shift. There didn't really seem to be any benefit. Good fun!
Ryusui
19. Apr 2016 · 08:07 UTC
Liked the variety of enemies. One problem I had is that the dog seemed far and away the best of all the forms (though I didn't survive long enough to try the alien). Everyone else either moves or hits too slow to deal with the onslaught. XD
coborax
19. Apr 2016 · 16:55 UTC
Got really borring really fast
🎤 toastedgames
19. Apr 2016 · 17:05 UTC
Wow, there are so many nice comments! As for the Controls, I will release V1.2 tomorrow which will include custom keybinding! (I think that's allowed, as the game will be functionally identical, just more comfy.) Thanks for all the feedback!
- Ben
tweedle
19. Apr 2016 · 23:44 UTC
Thanks for playing our game for a bit, too bad you got "bored really quick" - suggest playing another level with other animals/enemies/the boss. I got a 404 error when I tried to download your game, I'll try to comeback and play and rate later. -t
Sir Magic
20. Apr 2016 · 16:01 UTC
I really liked this game, I liked the graphics and the fact the game pauses as you open up the transformation menu.
Sir Magic
20. Apr 2016 · 19:36 UTC
nice idea for an arena like game but I got stuck on wave 2
Venneque
21. Apr 2016 · 17:43 UTC
Very good game. I like it. Except the very pixelated screen menu, we appreciate the functionnalities like the sound bar :) or the skins for your own character to distinguish him from the ennemies.
Ironhead
22. Apr 2016 · 18:09 UTC
Great! Lots of different characters to shift into and has a complete feel to it with the nice gui.
Beard
23. Apr 2016 · 02:05 UTC
The overall game was quite fun. I really liked the constant action. Great work.
Pietro Ferrantelli
27. Apr 2016 · 15:56 UTC
Solid entry. I played it just after the release but forgot to rate it, good job of bugfixes and game-balancing. The concept is really interesting and it's well executed. I enjoyed playing it, it kept me engaged a long time for a LD game and features.
BrainSlugs83
08. May 2016 · 22:53 UTC
Forces you to install to play; the default controls kind of suck, and the config interface always forgets the last control you bound, so you have to configure one twice. -- No gamepad support, and the UI was just painful... -- Meanwhile, the easy mode literally spams you with hundreds of guys, and it's not super balanced... -- There's no item pickups or even anyway to regain your health while you're being spammed with tons of guys..., none of the shapes can attack fast enough or do enough damage to keep them in check... -- and there's no clear goals or win conditions... -- No offense, and apologies if I'm coming off as harsh, but these are the things that got in the way of me enjoying your game.
🎤 toastedgames
02. Jun 2016 · 20:52 UTC
Hello, Ben here. We’ve received so many great comments from people rating our game, that I decided I’d respond to all of them, so here I go!

Thanks to Shatter Point Studios, @Sir Magic, @w1n5t0n, @SgtBursk, @Ironhead, @Beard, and @Pietro Ferrantelli for their kind words, and now here are the responses:

@Garris Thanks! I added key bindings in V1.2.

@Remdiky Sorry, what?

@MandolinQuinn Thanks! I’m not sure why volume control is rare, it’s not hard to implement! I agree about gradients, I’m gonna stay away from them in subsequent games.

@tomlum Key bindings in V1.2, volume control in the pause menu, and thanks!

@Peter1992t There was music though… Did you manipulate the volume slider in the pause menu at all?

@megalukes KEYBINDINGS!!! (Explodes silently) Thanks. ;)

@MissVioletVi I added more emphasis on shifting in V1.3.

@Ryusui Yeah… I nerfed the dog in V1.3. Thanks!

@coborax I’m sorry that you feel that way, ;-; can you give me some reasons why?

@tweedle I revised my comment a bit on your page, to be more specific. I’m not sure why you got a 404 though, it works fine for me!

@Sir Magic Sorry, that was probably one of the many enemy spawning glitches that was fixed in 1.4… :(

@Venneque I’m assuming you mean the different sized pixels in the map selection screen, and yeah, it’s bad. That UI was pieced together in the last hour of development. We put a ton of work into adding unique textures for the character’s forms.

Welp, that’s about it! Cya!