LudumData

Transformagician by HuvaaKoodia

[raw]
made by HuvaaKoodia for LD35 (JAM)
- - Goal - -

Avoid detection and reach the magic portal.
Shapeshift into harmless objects to fool your enemies, but beware: each monster has a soft spot for one type of item, which they will sometimes investigate.

- - Controls - -

Movement: WASD or Arrows
Activate/cancel shapeshifting: 1,2,3 or LMB, MMB, RMB


- - Developer's comments - -

The 72H build is up. Improvements are listed in the version log.
Any comments are welcome!

Known bugs:
Middle mouse button does not work properly in the embedded web version, consider the standalone web build instead.

- - Credits - -

Programming:
Huvaakoodia

Graphics:
Ranquil - Markus Ranki

Audio:
On-Jin (on-jin.com)
Presence of Music (presence-of-music.com)

- - Version Log - -

V0.9, 48H build - 18.04.2016 3.50

V1.0, 72H build - 19.04.2016 1.50
- Improved graphics
- Ending cinematic
- Sound effects
- Tweaked difficulty

V1.0.1 - 23.04.2016 0.25
- Web build performance improvements
- Fixed wall normal map glitch
- Decreased player movement speed a bit
Web http://huvaakoodia.github.io/LD35_2015_WEB/
Win/Mac/Nux https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B0MghCoVXkVld29WcHZ6Y2NzTHc
Postmortem http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/04/21/transformagician-postmortem/
Developer Commentary / Walkthrough http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/04/30/transformagician-developer-commentary-walkthrough/
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=21836

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.42 364
Fun(Jam) 2.98 662
Graphics(Jam) 3.67 356
Humor(Jam) 2.33 598
Innovation(Jam) 2.98 599
Mood(Jam) 3.63 181
Theme(Jam) 3.64 308

Feedback

Dooskington
18. Apr 2016 · 02:06 UTC
Nice work! I liked the style, and the music.
Dasginger
18. Apr 2016 · 02:10 UTC
Nice idea! Each monster having a shape they investigate makes this much harder than I expected.
nickavv
18. Apr 2016 · 02:14 UTC
I like it! The character sprites are very cool, even if the level art is a bit bland. The 3rd level gets pretty hard! Good job
treylon
18. Apr 2016 · 02:14 UTC
Well done I rally like the Style!
jcmonkey
18. Apr 2016 · 02:15 UTC
The music was good. The gameplay was interesting.
Broken Matrix
18. Apr 2016 · 02:15 UTC
Can't run security error
aegypticus
18. Apr 2016 · 02:15 UTC
I quite liked what you did here! You brought some real ingenuity to the shapeshifting puzzler that is the norm. I thought only that the choice of using sprites in a 3d space was odd.
Brice
18. Apr 2016 · 02:15 UTC
I LOVE the music. Sets a great moo along with the blue hues of the game. It took me a while to figure out what I was transforming into, but it made more sense once I saw the robots (the bolt). I love the robots art BTW.

I would have liked the selector UI to have stayed on the screen so it was always ready to go.

Fun!
jdmazz
18. Apr 2016 · 02:17 UTC
I feel like this could develop into a cool puzzle game. Seriously, I might buy this is you put some real time into developing it - I love puzzle games! This one probably needs some real man hours to get really fleshed out, though. I really enjoyed. I'm giving you almost full-stars except for humor. To me it seems that you probably should just flag it N/A, but I'm not sure so I put 1-star.
Halleflux
18. Apr 2016 · 02:17 UTC
For the most part, well done! I really liked the art, and it's nice to see some more attempts at 48 hour stealth games. I think the idea of shapeshifting into different objects to evade enemies is a good one.
However, it's not that useful. The enemies move slowly around the map, so it's annoying to wait for them to pass by and form an opening, (and other type of enemy can walk up and eat you =P), and once the enemies see you, you can't really pull it off.
There's a balance to be struck, and it's not an easy one to strike. I commend you for the effort you put into this.
Well done!
rynti
18. Apr 2016 · 02:20 UTC
Cool idea! Really enjoyed the stealth-like gameplay. Took a while until I figured out the controls though - Maybe have a bar with icons for each thing you can shapeshift into and the corresponding key.
ougrouk
18. Apr 2016 · 02:23 UTC
Good job. Love the camera behavior. + The art is good.
greymouth
18. Apr 2016 · 02:23 UTC
Great work love the style and ambient music
Hyden
18. Apr 2016 · 02:31 UTC
The music really fits the speed of the character, and the 2d mixed with 3d is done perfectly! Good job.
NPC23
18. Apr 2016 · 02:35 UTC
Super solid game. I'm a sucker for stealth games and this hits that itch super hard. The game has issues with the middle click spell when it's not in fullscreen mode tho... Just something to put in the description maybe. Still love the game.
Flygamer101
18. Apr 2016 · 02:37 UTC
Nice little game. Music was really cool as with graphics.
Aaranos
18. Apr 2016 · 02:45 UTC
Game of patience, really like the art.
urfbound
18. Apr 2016 · 04:28 UTC
Great game. I really liked the stealth aspect. The fact that each monster investigates a particular item type and their AI (which you did a great job programming) made it a very edge-of-your-seat playthrough reminiscent of MGS for me. I liked the graphics. The subdued style and great lighting made it really atmospheric, and I loved the N64-flavour 2D-on-3D isometric view. The only thing I think could have improved the graphics would have been some backgrounds. The music was really well-composed, and fit the theme really well in my opinion. Great job there and I couldn't think of a way to improve it. The mood is awesome, and among the most memorable of the games I've played so far. Thanks a lot for your submission! I had a lot of fun with it. Hope to play one of your games again! :D
pjimmy
18. Apr 2016 · 08:14 UTC
It looks cool, I like how you've combined 2D and 3D.
ccglp
18. Apr 2016 · 08:41 UTC
Very good art style, good job
Lancelot Gao
18. Apr 2016 · 09:24 UTC
Great work!
cornand34
18. Apr 2016 · 09:33 UTC
to hard for me couldn't beat the first level :(
studdert249
18. Apr 2016 · 10:40 UTC
Loved the art style and enjoyed the music a lot.

Nice work!
pathus22
18. Apr 2016 · 13:28 UTC
the game is good, the music was great, but it needs some SFX for get more inmersive. Also the camera controller is very well implemented.
Casey Jordan
18. Apr 2016 · 21:24 UTC
I agree with Dasginger's comment about each enemy "investigating" their respective environmental objects!

There was a surprisingly level of depth to the dynamics. You could tease a lot of out of these mechanics with more time to iterate on level design. :D
BarkingCat
18. Apr 2016 · 22:50 UTC
The character looks so cute, same for the 2D assets, so lovely. The AI is enjoyable and challenging at times, and the music fits the whole thing perfectly. I really like this.
Odyssey
19. Apr 2016 · 00:23 UTC
I didn't get it at first but ended up liking it. Nice!
Allthebees
19. Apr 2016 · 00:28 UTC
The art is fantastic! Liked the use of 2d sprites in a 3d world.
RetroSpecter
19. Apr 2016 · 02:28 UTC
It was amazing! I loved it so much! Took me a little bit to get it, but once I got it felt really nice. I dig the 2D and 3D feels, like Paper Mario. Solid.
JefePapaya
19. Apr 2016 · 08:28 UTC
Cool game. The music really helps setting the atmosphere. It's great how the music also help me relaxing and being patient to wait when needed (really nice side effect).
Phaix
19. Apr 2016 · 08:43 UTC
Nicely done. Music fits great into the game.
Millefey
19. Apr 2016 · 09:21 UTC
This game was a bit too difficult for me to finish but I really liked its atmosphere and innovative gameplay! At first I found the camera strangely wobbly but quickly got used to it. Love the choice of 2.5D btw!
Khaoz_Fang
19. Apr 2016 · 09:56 UTC
Quite interesting, but sometimes enemy come from behind and I cannot see it. Maybe a 2.5D camera is better.
adamprack
19. Apr 2016 · 10:51 UTC
It was a neat mechanic, though there could be some refining to make it all mesh better. The mood set by the coloring and music were great, though I wasn't a fan of the character art all that much. Neat idea and start!
goost
19. Apr 2016 · 12:08 UTC
Cute game, like the art style and the 2D/3D mix.
The transformation delay also adds a lot of difficulty...
Almax27
19. Apr 2016 · 12:26 UTC
I really enjoyed playing this game, fits well with the theme! (Summer)
Verz
19. Apr 2016 · 13:34 UTC
Nice game! the music was really good too :)
RttStudio
19. Apr 2016 · 16:07 UTC
Good Tutorial implementation.
mountainstorm
19. Apr 2016 · 16:49 UTC
Nice idea, i like the mix of 2d and 3d
sndr
19. Apr 2016 · 20:25 UTC
I liked how you used the shapelifting theme to build a stealth mechanic, different from the others that I've seen so far. If you were to work on this further on, some real interesting puzzles could arise! :)
Matzigon
19. Apr 2016 · 21:34 UTC
Looks and feels nice. The map would have been smaller, or could have some check points. Other than that it's good. :)
ThommazK
20. Apr 2016 · 04:43 UTC
Love the art style and the music! Gameplay is cool too, a very nice stealth entry. :)
Decentsauce
20. Apr 2016 · 05:18 UTC
Cool game! Really liked the atmosphere. Transforming feels a bit slow so I felt that it was easier to just sneak past everything without getting detected so in stage 2 and 3 I never transformed.
Adipson
20. Apr 2016 · 06:17 UTC
nice work and good idear
glaze_96
20. Apr 2016 · 12:33 UTC
Love how you mixed the 3d with sprites!
Patomkin
20. Apr 2016 · 12:51 UTC
Quite a nice take on stealth mechanics, yet I would have liked more explaining on the shapeshifting part - couldn't quite get, why I me transforming into screws confused those bears :D the second level put everything into place.
Really like the art style :)
EdoMiyamoto
20. Apr 2016 · 14:48 UTC
Stressing and relaxing at the same time !
PinkIndian
20. Apr 2016 · 18:14 UTC
Music and the atmosphere was great. I liked that the characters were a sprites instead of 3D models.
matiasbontempo
20. Apr 2016 · 19:21 UTC
5/5, I really enjoyed playing this game. The asthetic is beautiful.
Lokarunith
20. Apr 2016 · 22:04 UTC
Nice game!
zzapp
21. Apr 2016 · 00:04 UTC
Nice concept, the art and music were both good and I enjoyed playing it.
Great job.
Cole and Jordan Studios
21. Apr 2016 · 00:34 UTC
Very well done! The atmosphere is great and the difficulty curve while a little sharp especially in level 3 is planned pretty well; it's satisfying when you win but not this moment of massive relief per se, which is good.
squidblinkgames
21. Apr 2016 · 05:15 UTC
Enjoyed the mood of the game. Unfortunately, I had trouble getting into it as the shapeshifting rarely saved me, and I had trouble discerning when it might actually be useful.
Weeping Rupee
21. Apr 2016 · 13:09 UTC
This game had a very original varnish of style over top of a really simple premise. It was pretty fun avoiding all the baddies-- my only qualm is that the transforming only rarely comes in handy.

Still, nice work!
Pestel Crew
21. Apr 2016 · 13:17 UTC
Love the mood, music is very soothing, seems like there is some backstory going on.
Sadly the gameplay is lacking, beat the whole game without ever using shifting ability properly. Definitely has a potential though, so keep it up!
josemorval
21. Apr 2016 · 18:51 UTC
I don't know why...but it reminds me of Chihiro...it is very simple mechanic a game, but it has something special. Good job!
neontropics
22. Apr 2016 · 06:17 UTC
Great music and nice stealthy gameplay! I liked just trying to hightail it and run past enemies more than trying to transform though.
LOSTALLOY
22. Apr 2016 · 07:32 UTC
Great atmosphere! Everything feels dreamy!
zetsumi
22. Apr 2016 · 08:12 UTC
Nice Work and nice game !!!
Fabraz
22. Apr 2016 · 14:55 UTC
2D sprites in a 3D world, we used a similar aesthetic in our LD game! Adore the tranquil soundtrack.
bytegrove
24. Apr 2016 · 15:05 UTC
Nice and creepy game! :D
Very good looking graphics and eerie atmosphere, nice work!
Molpe
25. Apr 2016 · 12:24 UTC
Great game! Nice graphics, great mechanics, also I just love the green blob things!

I've made a short let's play video if you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68xbKZiPWsE
Green Soda
26. Apr 2016 · 02:16 UTC
NICE WORK AND STYLE! is the camera on perspective mode? have u tried switching it to orthographic?
anyways, cool sprites and gamelplay.. u made it interestingly challenging xD a solid entry
KairosXIII
28. Apr 2016 · 04:29 UTC
Beautiful mood set by the art and audio. Those damn bears have super long range vision!
Brian Mayberry
29. Apr 2016 · 19:21 UTC
I just adore this art style! The music sets to mood perfectly. Great take on this type of game, like you said it is similar to my entry, but yours has a lot more depth with the mechanic. On Level 2 I was able to complete it by simply out running the monsters, once I knew where the exit was.
egos
29. Apr 2016 · 21:08 UTC
not really original but very well realized good job and especialy for art and music
Squid
30. Apr 2016 · 18:32 UTC
Loved the win animation!
CAT_IN_THE_DARK_WOOD
30. Apr 2016 · 18:50 UTC
That is really solid cool game. Like visual style of game and atmosphere it creates.
dcRfj15
30. Apr 2016 · 19:40 UTC
This is awesome! I loved the gameplay, and the mood which this game created. It was hard, but it was not frustrating. Everytime I was caught, I was eager to try again. By the way, I really liked the camera - I think that it added a lot to the game's mood.
Great job!
AinoraZ
02. May 2016 · 20:15 UTC
Pretty nice idea. Love the pokemon like ! :D...
Nomys_Tempar
03. May 2016 · 07:03 UTC
Lovely game !
bradur
03. May 2016 · 09:44 UTC
Beautiful game with great music & sound. It really felt good. The only minus I could think of was that it was sometimes hard to see where the enemies were since you couldn't control the camera. Good work!
orukinawa
03. May 2016 · 13:01 UTC
Great job on the AI and pathfinding. Also five stars for mood :)
yuigoto
09. May 2016 · 09:25 UTC
Great work! The stealth + puzzling shapeshifting concept is really nice. :P

Had a hard time fooling some mobs, but I had lots of fun playing it! Controls work nicely, are pretty responsive and the game has some great mood, thanks to the setting!

Cheers! :D