LudumData

Escape Cod by Tom 7

[raw]
made by Tom 7 for LD21 (-)
Game made from scratch in 48h for Ludum Dare 21. All legit.

This was a weird theme for me since I've been working on a game (off and on) for about 13 years called "Escape". You can play it at http://escape.spacebar.org/ but that is NOT the Ludum Dare entry. I wish. This game is called "Escape Cod" and it's kind of like recursive fish pinball.

Play with the arrow keys and spacebar (you may need to click in the window first):

http://escapecod.spacebar.org/compo.shtml

Features and benefits:
- Pleasant pastel title screen
- Frantic pun-based gameplay
- Sleeping with the starfishes
- Three ultra-new tunes, one eponymous, with lyrics
- Almost believable physics using real-style maths

Win screen unspoilered by screenshots.

Soundtrack: http://escapecod.spacebar.org/escape-cod.zip
Timelapse w/cam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic_VnAkxCmc

Web http://escapecod.spacebar.org/compo.shtml
Source http://tom7misc.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/tom7misc/trunk/escapecod/
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-21/?action=preview&uid=1984

Ratings

Coolness 2% 246
Overall 3.75 28
Audio 4.37 2
Community 2.94 145
Fun 3.28 78
Graphics 4.00 36
Humor 3.48 24
Innovation 4.06 20
Theme 4.22 7

Feedback

DecsterB
22. Aug 2011 · 04:10 UTC
Just thought I'd say I really liked your game. Recursive fish pinball is a brilliant idea.
madflame991
22. Aug 2011 · 06:26 UTC
Nice song :)) and a very nice idea, but getting the ball out is terribly frustrating. It sticks to walls like it's made out of glue
thevtm
22. Aug 2011 · 18:08 UTC
I really liked it!!
Brilliant idea!!
Andrew
22. Aug 2011 · 18:54 UTC
Getting the ball out is a bit random, I was struggling with the controls a bit. But the idea is great.
tgijsola
23. Aug 2011 · 00:11 UTC
Your intro music touched my heart. Inappropriately.
dramble
23. Aug 2011 · 01:50 UTC
The most fun I've had with a game where I play vomit!
The purple spiralish fish were a bit unfair but a fine game overall.
mes
23. Aug 2011 · 11:13 UTC
cool and wacky concept! a few of the fish were really frustrating, especially the yellow one, and the controls felt somewhat random.
SuperSausageDog
23. Aug 2011 · 17:22 UTC
Good art, good music, interesting and unique gameplay too. I enjoyed this quite a bit.
NiallM
23. Aug 2011 · 19:07 UTC
This is a lovely wee game. The controls were a bit finicky, but I loved the idea, and the visuals and the music.
thristhart
24. Aug 2011 · 04:14 UTC
I didn't feel like I really had much impact on whether I got out of the fish or not. I knew action was required, but it was basically "wait for fish to turn properly"
Bloodyaugust
24. Aug 2011 · 06:16 UTC
I loved the music!!!
RichMakeGame
25. Aug 2011 · 00:08 UTC
great concept, a little frustrating to play (i just wanted to reach into the screen and strangle the damn fish as it swims the wrong way).. great music. Overall despite the frustration very enjoyable to beat
James Paige
25. Aug 2011 · 01:59 UTC
This is the best recursive fish pinball game I have ever played. I wished for a less random game mechanic, and I hated that damn purple angler, but I enjoyed this very much anyway. Loved the theme song!
summaky
27. Aug 2011 · 08:23 UTC
Odd. At first I had to do nothing to escape, the ball would fall off due to gravity. In the cases I had to do anything, it was way harder than it looked :-)

The music is awesome! And so is the general idea.
Falleco
27. Aug 2011 · 21:14 UTC
A really nice game @_@ amazing music!
foobaz
28. Aug 2011 · 02:41 UTC
Great idea and great game. Although, I also felt like I didn't have enough control and had to hope and wait. Unless there was some way to influence the fish's direction by bumping in to the walls in some specific way that I haven't found (I finished it twice).

Still overall very enjoyable.
dogbomb
28. Aug 2011 · 17:18 UTC
I've expressed much MUCH love for your games. I think it's your intro screens... I fall in love with them. I actually want to commission you to write me a song - they're THAT awesome.

The game itself was fun as hell too. I liked the fish-eating-fish-increasing-levels thing, although I didn't QUITE get to grips with how I was exactly controlling what was going on... it was all a bit trial and error.

Fantastic stuff though. You certainly know how to pack your games full of charm.
Orz
28. Aug 2011 · 17:58 UTC
Extremely twisted. This was one of my favorite games in the compo, by the way.
LegacyCrono
29. Aug 2011 · 05:02 UTC
Confusing controls, but the concept was neat. Really polished. Also, fabulous intro song. :D Great job.
matthias_zarzecki
29. Aug 2011 · 08:41 UTC
Neat idea! I love the spore-vibe.
Shigor
30. Aug 2011 · 21:15 UTC
Excellent audio and good use for theme, quite innovative ideas, but gameplay-wise it was kinda boring - I often escaped right from the start, on the other hand sometimes I've spent a lot inside the fish before I managed to get out, usually with more luck then skill. With some changes in controls and gameplay so it would be more enganging it could be very nice game.
Rudy
31. Aug 2011 · 17:58 UTC
Great idea and good take on the theme, but gameplay is too random and unbalanced. I end up smashing keys with no real effect on one fish and then roll out on my own on other. Art is cool music is cool (if a little non-underwatery)
tcstyle
31. Aug 2011 · 19:49 UTC
Great idea and soundtrack. but the controls are to fiddly.
wally2069
31. Aug 2011 · 23:34 UTC
The fishes movements were pretty random and made it escaping more a matter of luck than skill. Also several times I was almost out only to have three fish rush up and eat the one I was in. Excellent concept and I think recursive fish pinball is pretty accurate.
Martoon
09. Sep 2011 · 18:10 UTC
This is my favorite LD 21 entry so far. I'd don't know if I'd say it's THE best recursive fish pinball game I've played (unlike James Paige), but it definitely ranks in the top three.

I had a hard time making myself click past the intro screen to start playing. Once I did, I thought the concept was brilliant. I really hope you work on this a bit more to make the actual gameplay controls a little more playable (maybe have the player control the fish instead of the ball, having to simultaneously avoid the other fish and rotate to get the ball out?).

I could see this game catching on as an internet meme.