LudumData

Holding Aces: The Card Game Shoot-em-Up! by NerdyTea

[raw]
made by NerdyTea for LD 41 (JAM)

Cover Photo.PNG Capture1.PNG Capture2.PNG

In Holding Aces, you play as Clyde the Cheat - a guy who cheats at cards as much as he leaves his revolver behind. Having no choice but to rely on his cards, Clyde gets through sticky situations by slinging cards at anyone who stands in his way. Cards can have different effects, such as dealing damage, stunning enemies, and doubling damage for a short time.

Tools used: Unity 2017.4 MagicaVoxel 0.99 sfxr Paint.NET

3rd Party Assets: The Entertainer by Scott Joplin

Editor's Notes: Well, this has been my first Ludum Dare jam and I'm very happy with my results. I need more practice (starting with making music that WON'T destroy the ears of anyone who happened to hear it), but I'm satisfied with what I was able to press out. Thank you all in advance for your ratings, because I will need your feedback if I'm going to improve. Enjoy!

HTML5 (web) https://thenerdytea.itch.io/holdingaces
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/holding-aces-the-card-game-shoot-em-up

Ratings

Overall 958th 3.042⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 770th 3.104⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1153th 2.375⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1160th 2.375⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 718th 3.271⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 446th 3.114⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 585th 3.286⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

mrPenguin
24. Apr 2018 · 15:32 UTC
Fun one, I would have made the enemies take HP when they touch you, so you could not get under them, though.
Keep on with it!!!
Dixonary
24. Apr 2018 · 15:33 UTC
I'll take any excuse to listen to The Entertainer! ;)

I'll try to offer some useful feedback because you said it would be helpful:
* The game is fairly fun and it plays quite well.
* .Good use of camera lerp for multi-rooms, makes it feel quite polished.
* Tightening up the player movement mechanics might have made the game feel quite a bit juicier.
* Some of the graphics feel a little bit inconsistent, especially the shadows. I don't know if there's an option for "sharp" shadows in unity?
* The font is quite hard to read, especially in the multi-line blurb at the start of the game.
* I got stuck after running out of cards before fighting the red guy in the "basement" of the saloon.

All in all, a decent game which has visuals, audio and is actually playable. Well done!
Unentokku
24. Apr 2018 · 15:37 UTC
Realizing I could just move below the enemies when they jump was nice.
Is there anything I can do if I run out of cards? Slowly killing myself using the last enemy in the game took a while. I didn't end up really caring about what card I was using, I just shot them until enemy died.
AmigoPadilha
24. Apr 2018 · 15:40 UTC
Cool game, awesome job.
Haha at first I was shooting to understand the UI and I got out of cards and had nothing to do, so I had to kill myself xD. But fun game!
yancharkin
24. Apr 2018 · 15:44 UTC
Nice little game. Good job!

Some remarks:
- Small fancy font used in the intro a bit hard to read
- I can't see how your game related to the theme
Vovin
24. Apr 2018 · 15:49 UTC
Clean graphics. Having an introductory story is a nice touch. Game-play-wise, the jumping mechanic seems a bit float-y. The card effects aren't to noticeable, maybe having some graphical indication of the effect would be helpful. You can softlock the game by running out of cards and being unable to kill the enemies. I'm not sure if that is intended, if it is, maybe have an option to restart the game?

Never the less, nice job finishing your first ldjam :thumbsup:
🎤 NerdyTea
24. Apr 2018 · 15:52 UTC
Thank you all for the replies! @Unentokku @AmigoPadilha I could have added some more card piles around the map to resolve that, but I was a bit pressed for time. I will be keeping up with this project however, so check back soon.

@Dixonary Thank you so much! I could have spent a bit more time on the lighting, to be honest. I believe there is a sharp shadow setting as well, so I'll play with it a bit and see what results come up.

@mrPenguin Good suggestion. I'll get on it.
PUR3
24. Apr 2018 · 18:18 UTC
Really liked the cards dealing the damage they show, nice detail. Like the old time-y fashion, and the choice of music! However the gravity was a bit low other than that, had a fun time playing. Nice scene transitions too!
mat1er
24. Apr 2018 · 20:16 UTC
<3 Joplin
The game is great, the only thing I regret is that we don't feel the differences between the cards.
🎤 NerdyTea
24. Apr 2018 · 20:24 UTC
@mat1er Yeah,I really feel like more could have been done,such as paralyzing effects, HP display, and impact effects. I do want to keep up with this project and see if I can create a full-length game, so keep an eye out. Thank you for the review!
theArtifacts
24. Apr 2018 · 20:33 UTC
I liked the Super Mario Bros 2 style deal where you could jump onto the enemies. Was a pretty fun platformer. Handling moving between rooms was done quite well. I don't think it made the best use of the theme but it was fun. Good job! Would you mind reviewing mine? https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/ld41-jam-game
🎤 NerdyTea
24. Apr 2018 · 20:37 UTC
@theArtifacts Thanks for the review! You've got me there; the theme integration could have been done better. I'll make sure to do better in August.

I'll definitely check your game out as soon as I can. Expect a review soon! <3
juju
25. Apr 2018 · 13:29 UTC
Awesome job, dude! Entertainer is always win/win. Making pixel art work in 3D is always a challenge, and you seem to have got it quite well. Also, I love the game loop. Feels like playing something on the NES or the Master System, with the screen scrolling quickly to the next part of the level when you reach the doors (people think of Zelda, but many games did this at the time).
I'd put a little more variation in the cards, I guess. Maybe some with wacky effects. As of now, they just seem to be a stand-in for a gun. Other than that, I found it quite fun to play.
victorcrafty
25. Apr 2018 · 14:14 UTC
Funny game! Good job!
Kurt Roembke
25. Apr 2018 · 14:16 UTC
Nice! I would have loved to hear a chiptune version of The Entertainer but you can't ask for everything out of a jam! :P
🎤 NerdyTea
25. Apr 2018 · 14:18 UTC
@kurt-roembke It's funny, I actually was trying to make a chiptuned version in Bosca Ceoil, but I didn't have much practice with it so I had to settle for the original. Thanks for the review!
Lyje
25. Apr 2018 · 14:26 UTC
Nicely executed, especially for your first LD! Looks, sounds and feels nice. Could do with more of a card-game influence I think - as it is it's not all that much more than a skin on the bullets, although the different effects on the cards is a nice touch.
geck0
25. Apr 2018 · 16:15 UTC
good work in your first LD! I needed more cards too haha :P
WalkDiGidong
25. Apr 2018 · 17:25 UTC
Nice graphcis, but I don't undestand what the difference between shooting cards and common bullets. I think you should add a new use of this card (like mini game with cards you have)
mrspeaker
25. Apr 2018 · 17:43 UTC
I won! That was good: I just wish the cards actually did something... like you needed to keep and discard cards to get a good poker hand and then that becomes an uber-attack!
ExiA
25. Apr 2018 · 18:32 UTC
The "stingy" points have been named already (small font, hard to see relevance to theme, no effects for cards), so all is left are the noteworthy enjoyments:
- Sound was actually not too loud, first game where I didn't have to adjust
- While some objects looked a bit weird, the graphics overall were simple but pretty
- I really liked that little intro text. Even before reading the comments I got the feeling that this project will receive some love after LD is over


Overall, good job for a first entry :D
Lost Dutchman Software
26. Apr 2018 · 01:05 UTC
Nice graphics and solid gameplay.
Arbosis
27. Apr 2018 · 01:48 UTC
I couldn't figure out what to do when I ran out of cards :/
neontropics
29. Apr 2018 · 00:36 UTC
Cool little core gameplay! It was hard to et a handle of what the different cards did, and then I ran out of them though.
Darkwing00Duck
03. May 2018 · 06:49 UTC
What I liked :thumbsup::

* Big location
* Nice graphics and paralax on the background
* Well-chosen music

My comments:thinking:
* Too easy to go through the game

I would be very glad if [you review my game](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/last-stand-1) :mag: