Aeromancer by Ethan Allwood

[raw]
made by Ethan Allwood for LD 42 (COMPO)

Aeromancer is a game about navigating platform puzzles while using your ability to manipulate air. You must find keys, fight enemies, and move boxes to get to the end.

The difficult part about the game is that because of your 4 abilities, all inventory slots are full, you are running out of space to hold things, so when you hold a key or box, required to complete a level, one of your abilities is discarded or temporarily disabled for the rest of the level or until you place the box down on the button.

TRY TO BEAT ALL 6 NON-TUTORIAL LEVELS. IF YOU CAN, LET ME KNOW YOUR APPROXIMATE TIME WITH YOUR FEEDBACK

(Some of the particles and colours in the GIFs below are not showing properly, they look a bit better in game) gameplay2.gif gameplay1.gif gameplay3.gif gameplay4.gif

Heres a list of random little tricks and things I did that nobody will probably directly notice but make the game feel so much better. Feel free to try all these in your own games. - Grass moves when player walks on it. - Particles in the background repel away from the player. (probably the most unnoticeable) - All the grass, vines on the sides of blocks, and small background plants and stuff are all randomly/partly procedurally generated in so it's always different and feels less man-made. - Added even just tiny little particles for almost every interaction, including just landing on the ground. - Added a 100ms sleep on every time something is hit to make it feel more impactful.

I am currently working on a post-LD version of this which will have many more levels, timers, more items, possibly with extra abilities while holding them, more enemy types, and most importantly, MORE PARTICLE EFFECTS! (a game can never have to many)

To follow further development of this game, follow me on twitter @darg0nn

Ratings

Overall 11th 4.156⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 27th 4.047⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 40th 4.016⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 399th 3.484⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 17th 4.297⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Audio 54th 3.734⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 245th 2.714⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 43th 3.793⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 8🗳️ 1🗨️

Feedback

chaitae
13. Aug 2018 · 02:56 UTC
I'm chump at this game, but the mechanics are pretty interesting.
techsec
14. Aug 2018 · 00:50 UTC
one person made this holy s**t
Edmanbosch
14. Aug 2018 · 01:36 UTC
great game, the particles are a really nice touch. the music is also pretty great, really adds to the atmosphere. the mechanics are very fun to use, and the level design has just the right balance of difficulty. my only complaint is that it was so good I was left wanting more :slight_smile:. btw I finished all the levels in around 6-9ish minutes, I got the "secret" key at the end too.
frontlinesaint
14. Aug 2018 · 03:35 UTC
hi there you done a really good job on this game looks like you put alot of effort in. loved the roll!
Bloc97
14. Aug 2018 · 04:08 UTC
I had so much fun playing this game! It mixes platformer with puzzle elements, and nothing's cooler than those abilities. I approximately beat the six levels in 20 minutes. And it took me 5 more minutes to get to the key at the end :P (For my completionist OCD). This game is very well polished and I would recommend others to play it. It reminds me of the puzzle-platformer games you find on newgrounds. Overall very fun and I would want to play more of it.

![Aeromancer.png](///raw/c7b/81/z/18dce.png)
*A well deserved break for the Aeromancer*
🎤 Ethan Allwood
14. Aug 2018 · 04:15 UTC
@bloc97 haha i love that a lot of people have tried my unofficial and mever mentioned goal of grabbing that last key for no reason. Honestly its just there because the player object tries to reference a key object at the start to decide what ability the key will replace, and instead of fixing that or putting the key off screen i decided to let people mess around with the aerial mechanics at the end. BTW if you do want to play more, im working on a post-LD version with probably 5-10 more levels, a couple bug fixes and maybe some more particles which I will upload by the time the voting is over.
DoctorMozart
14. Aug 2018 · 04:27 UTC
You have an excellent intuition of puzzle design. I loved the fact that I found myself thinking through some of the solutions. I also enjoyed how the mechanics of the game (shrinking skill set) force you to expand your gameplay style. Did I mention that punch sound? Super satisfying.
squirmonkey
14. Aug 2018 · 04:44 UTC
This is very well put together, I did finish all the levels, though I didn't time it because I though the game would do it for me. The abilities are varied, and lots of fun. My gripe is with the combat, which I feel kind of puts a damper on the whole experience. The fighting is very twitchy, in what felt like it wanted to be more of a puzzle game. I think it would help if you made the length of the punch a bit longer, and the duration of the stun a lot longer.

There's a minor bug where the abilities don't recharge when you die.

Fun, and very impressive for the time limit!
Apples_mmmmmmmm
14. Aug 2018 · 04:56 UTC
Awesome game, quite impressive for such a short time frame. Aside from wishing I could use my controller, since using keyboard for a platformer feels uncomfortable to me, I don't really have any complaints. Blocking out the mechanics to change your approach to a level is a pretty interesting take on the theme. Here are my times for each level.

- level 1: 40 seconds
- level 2: 69 seconds
- level 3: 59 seconds
- level 4: 43 seconds
- level 5: 35 seconds
- level 6: 68 seconds
aug
14. Aug 2018 · 06:13 UTC
The graphic and level design really carried this game for me! The music fit the tone perfectly (loved the latter, by the way). Took me about 15 minutes to get through. The depth of the game considering the time limit was great, not only with the amount of mechanics but also how you thought through all of them and implemented them into levels. I especially liked the bubble that you bounced off of. Good work!
Hishicorne
14. Aug 2018 · 09:22 UTC
The game is pretty good, you made a lot of cool effects and particles, the levels are pretty good, sound effects are fun, every power is well made... You made such a lot of things in such a short amount of time !
tetra
14. Aug 2018 · 12:41 UTC
This was such a polished entry and I really enjoyed playing it. My only gripe was that it required a lot of quick timing, like jumping and then using a parachute, or stunning and attacking an enemy. Other than that, it's just proper lush. The particles really add to it, and while I was terrible first time, I went on to play it a lot after the stream. Really cool, hope you take it further.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/296991095## gameplay at : 40:00
AwiX
15. Aug 2018 · 07:08 UTC
A good game idea, the music should be improved. The graphics are good.
Try our game too, maybe you'll like it)
ChaosTheLegend
15. Aug 2018 · 09:48 UTC
Amazing entry. Everything about this game is great, let's check:

Graphic: Great pixel art with smooth animations

Music: loop is short, but the game doesn't really need long one, and it's really fits in the game

Gamplay: A lot of levels with very interesting and challenging puzzles

Core mechanics: well done, haven't found any bugs, all abilities work great

Overall: I think we found a winner (or at least one of them).

And don't just leave your game at this point, make more levels, add something new, and make it into the full game!
Derek Volker
15. Aug 2018 · 17:45 UTC
Really incredible entry.

The pixelart are awesome. All the little details and work are impressive. The sound complements the atmosphere as well. The mechanics of the game work like a charm. No bugs, lag or anything that compromise the experience except my inability to play!

Really amazing job!
snakemuho
15. Aug 2018 · 18:42 UTC
Those are some cool and innovative mechanics. Wish the controls were a bit more comfortable, like 1234 instead of shift zxc. But the game is still great.
nightsong
15. Aug 2018 · 18:44 UTC
Really neat work here! I'm having trouble coming up with constructive critizism on where to take it from here apart from what I told you over at Twitch.
Highly enjoyed this game! Gonna be really fun to see what you come up with next or where you take this game. Would actually pay for it if it turns out a full fleshed game!
Hare Software
15. Aug 2018 · 20:02 UTC
"This is just like Dark Souls" Really fun game that requires a lot of puzzling and skilful platforming! This already feels like a full release, congratulations!
paulhocker
16. Aug 2018 · 01:24 UTC
this was really a lot of fun - once i got the mechanics it became a lot more interesting and i really wanted more levels - thanks for making this - was there sound? it was missing sound
🎤 Ethan Allwood
16. Aug 2018 · 01:30 UTC
@paulhocker yes there was sound, lots of sound effects actually. Maybe your audio was really down?
Dave Grey
16. Aug 2018 · 14:18 UTC
Jam packed with mechanics, all brought together so well in such a short time.
wertle
18. Aug 2018 · 02:05 UTC
Really nice attention to detail in this game! Design-wise, I really thought the bubble bounce-back move was super interesting with a lot of cool potential. Normally in puzzle platformers like this players expect an air dash, but this a really interesting twist on that ability that unlocked a bunch of fun little interaction possibilities (I do think it would be cool that if you popped your bubble it made the cooldown shorter). The lock/box taking up ability slots ended up building in really cool progression in every single puzzle that I haven't really seen in a game like this before. It had a really cool outcome. Also I loved all the little details in the animation and the fact that you could punch a dead dude. The sound effects were very precise and did a great job of communicating impact. Very nice job!
Maroovan
21. Aug 2018 · 10:50 UTC
Can't rate the humor of this game but everything else is 5 out of 5.
Graphics, music and sounds are smooth and consistent, gameplay is a ton of fun. Great take on the theme.
I think this is one of the most creative entries in Ludum Dare 42. Keep it up, man! Very proud of you!
I definitely going to look forward to your future projects.
Vekstr
23. Aug 2018 · 09:48 UTC
I would really give it 5/5 for the fun if it weren't for the awkward controls. However, it *is* a nice game! It's the kind of game that ***demands*** the player's mastery over the mechanics, and right now I can almost hear it screaming: "MOAR LEVELS!!" :laughing:
HacksawUnit
04. Sep 2018 · 01:24 UTC
(Finally getting around to rating this one!) Great entry! Heaps of polish on top of a solid set-up, and made alive with good spritework, music, and gameplay. The bubble feels amazing and is super fun to plan around. It would have been interesting to see the different abilities play off of each other more to open up more puzzle opportunities (Maybe the lifting wind affects bubbles, or punching while using the parachute creates some sort of horizontal dive attack, that sort of thing.) but this is already jam-packed for a compo game! (No pun intended.) Overall, great stuff.