SHOOTING GAME THING by BPO_Jeff

[raw]
made by BPO_Jeff for LD35 (JAM)
I watched a lot of Robotech and Transformers in the 80s lol Enjoy! Follow me on Twitter at @BPOutlaws for progress update if you dig it 'cause I'm going to be turning this one into a full game after I launch the dragon game (from my last Ludum Dare) and I'll be posting updates as I go! :)

Your goal is to get as far as possible, every 100m you trigger a Time Extend. The Ship covers distance faster than the Mech but the Mech is better for clearing out room to fly, gotta' balance back and forth between the two modes. Have fun and check my Twitter for vids of my awesome piloting from having playtested it over and over all weekend. ;)

I used GameMaker: Studio, drew the art myself in Photoshop (no Spine animation necessary this time because I was more focused on the gameplay than the visuals), and 90% of the audio isn't mine (though I'll be buying it for the full game if everyone likes the 80s-ish action music, I'd like to go full 80s anime with the visuals lol)

- Jeff

(edited to add): Here's a link to a video of me playing with optimal strategy (shape-shifting frequently to get bursts of bullets out of Mech mode while staying agile and covering every extra bit of distance in Ship mode):

https://twitter.com/BPOutlaws/status/722262204695900161

And another earlier vid:

http://bulletproofoutlaws.com/games/BPO_LD35/BPO_LD35_008_newEnemies.mp4

Ratings

Coolness 0% 2304
Overall(Jam) 3.97 62
Fun(Jam) 4.06 24
Graphics(Jam) 4.24 108
Humor(Jam) 3.39 160
Innovation(Jam) 3.20 423
Mood(Jam) 3.71 144
Theme(Jam) 3.94 125

Feedback

tweedle
19. Apr 2016 路 03:44 UTC
Fantastic voice acting, really fun mood! -t
Wefiends
19. Apr 2016 路 03:46 UTC
Saw a few screenshots of this and was pretty excited to try it. Love the art, the animation is really punchy. The game was fun once I got used to maneuvering between the two modes. I do think the mech suit was a little under powered, since the hit box more than doubles. Overall though, really cool example of how to make a game feel really responsive.
馃帳 BPO_Jeff
19. Apr 2016 路 04:32 UTC
Thanks for the comments! :)

Wefiends: My biggest worry was that EVERYONE wants to play as the Mech over the Ship, we all wanna be a giant robot especially if it shoots faster. So I had to give it some drawbacks (bigger hitbox, slightly less friction so it's less precise to control, and significantly slower Distance coverage) to get the player to view the Ship as valuable too or no one would bother with it lol

That was my thinking at least, I'll let the comments here determine whether that was successful! ;)
TheSnail
19. Apr 2016 路 05:54 UTC
I was pretty dedicated to playing as the jet. Made it to around 1000M fairly consistently on my first 5 tries.
Lumicgames
19. Apr 2016 路 14:29 UTC
Awesome game! The art and animations are very well done. They caught my attention to try your game out.

It would have been good to feel a little more powerful.

I hope you continue to work on the game after the jam!
Sean
19. Apr 2016 路 14:29 UTC
I was really surprised to hear voice-acting in an LD game!
I only managed to make it to around 400m, but this was pretty fun.
Geckoo1337
19. Apr 2016 路 14:37 UTC
Great mood. This project reminds me these games with which I played when I was young in the dark arcade rooms. I like it. Frenetic - addictive. The retro aesthetic is funny. A solid entry. Thank you for this experience ++
Chikoness
19. Apr 2016 路 14:54 UTC
Love the VO! Really enhances the mood of the game :D Game itself is brutal but really fun, reminds me of the old NES and SNES games era lol. Spectacular job! Really hope to see the full game out soon!
Reisen
19. Apr 2016 路 15:15 UTC
The artwork is really neat, and the audio fits the game well.

During my run, I never needed to transform to mech form at all. Staying at Jet form means you don't need to worry about the time at all, and you can survive the patterns with basic bullet hell skillz.

Was at 5000M and 400~ sec remaining, then quitted.
Dmitrix
19. Apr 2016 路 15:29 UTC
Pretty fun, I actually played as the jet quite a bit at first.
Crimson713
19. Apr 2016 路 15:41 UTC
Amazing game. Love your art style, I'm so jealous. Game fits the theme, it is very fun to play, and the music fits it greatly, making it even better experience. Great job.
PowerSpark
20. Apr 2016 路 03:19 UTC
Amazingly fun!
DifferentName
20. Apr 2016 路 15:56 UTC
I like the clear differences between the two ship modes, really giving a purpose to the shape shifting mechanic. It's really tough fighting the big guys that shoot a lot, because you need the Mech's extra bullets to destroy them, but he's too big to dodge. Transforming into the ship for a moment of dodging helps a bit, but it's challenging! Fun game!
馃帳 BPO_Jeff
20. Apr 2016 路 19:31 UTC
Awesome, thanks for the feedback everyone, and thanks for playing! I figured a lot of people playing LD games would be pretty casual gamers so I didn't want to make it too hard for the majority, but I should have included an Easy/Hard toggle for the people who know how to shmup lol In a full game I would definitely have that option.

For anyone wondering the voices are all just free samples ( https://gamesounds.xyz/ ) thrown in at the last second because it felt like it needed some arcade style countdowns and catch-phrases lol I remember thinking as I was doing it "this is such a waste of time I should be adding more enemies or something" but now I'm glad I sidetracked to do some audio based on the good reception it's got. Sometimes the little things are worth it I guess! lol

- Jeff
tanis
20. Apr 2016 路 19:41 UTC
Yet another super nice game from you! Definitely dig it!
NvrSkipGameDay
21. Apr 2016 路 00:42 UTC
This game is really well put together! The animations are great and I love the black and white color palette with this style of artwork. I did feel the ship was a bit more useful than the mech, the mech was slower and the bullets didn't seem to pack much of a punch, meanwhile in ship mode I could ram enemies to take them out as well so sometimes I would just opt for that (which is honestly pretty nifty). The speed up/collect coins mode was a nice addition as well, it broke up the enemy waves nicely.

Overall a really cool game, thank you for creating and sharing.
EvanEGibbs
21. Apr 2016 路 06:06 UTC
Fantastic game! The mechanics of switching between going faster and moving faster was really interesting. The music, sound and just overall feel was so good. Great job on this! Lots of fun. :)
goost
21. Apr 2016 路 08:25 UTC
Really, people find that easy? Maybe I should try some bullet hells too, for practicing. I found it rather difficult. But amazing, had a lots of fun!
siryakko
22. Apr 2016 路 19:35 UTC
That's an awesome shooter, you should continue working on :D
pyokoanarogue
22. Apr 2016 路 20:50 UTC
pretty cool!
Lullaby
22. Apr 2016 路 20:53 UTC
I really looooooved the arcade ambiance! Really good execution, and a +1 for the shapeshifting animation.

I don't know if I was just lucky or what, but in one of my tries, I managed to reach 800m without touching anything (by staying a bit above the middle of the screen in ship form).
Just sayin, anyway really solid entry,

Well played!
blob
22. Apr 2016 路 21:03 UTC
That was awesome dude. Gave up at 5500, wish the game got harder but doesnt really matter: game loop and mechanics are nailed. Great flair and voice acting. That dragon game looks cool too! :)
TerraCottaFrog
22. Apr 2016 路 22:27 UTC
The massive inertia on the mech makes the game unplayable for me. The difficulty stems from bad controls, in my experience with the game. It also had trouble detecting a gamepad. Had to unplug and reconnect my joystick a few times.
josefnpat
22. Apr 2016 路 23:40 UTC
Great voice acting and music! This is how a game should sound! Graphics are pretty good, I think a little more animation could have helped the feel. Overall well done. @bytedesigning / Ashley
Cerno_b
23. Apr 2016 路 19:33 UTC
Can you feel the thunder inside?

Wow, just wow. You, sir, are immensely talented. The visuals, the music, sfx, tight controls, balancing. You totally nailed it. Great job, one of my favorites this LD. I played it a handful of times and will certainly return to it.

My only complaint would be that after a few tries I had no motivation to return to the robot mode, as I didn't really need the faster firepower. The bigger enemies had too tight shot patterns to squeeze through.

Overall, great game, kudos.
LukeZaz
24. Apr 2016 路 04:31 UTC
Really enjoyable game, though the Mech seemed more capable in the end. I never really got low on time as I was able to build up charges enough to speed through and get enough time to keep going. Ship mode wasn't without use though, as I was able to utilize the smaller hitboxes when the big enemies went and filled my screen with bullets.
QuestionableQuality
24. Apr 2016 路 09:51 UTC
This was one of those games in the lot that I legitimately enjoyed playing, and I'll play again in the future. I did spend most of my time as the ship, but mainly because I couldn't figure the perks of the robot (and I'm impatient and like the fast lane).

I played it briefly @ 2:17:50 : http://www.hitbox.tv/video/991443
ButtonMasherBros
26. Apr 2016 路 16:00 UTC
Pssst - you are featured in today's LUDUM DARE TO BELIEVE! Check it out at - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t0et_GLOeA
Omiya Games
30. Apr 2016 路 03:30 UTC
Feel the game got too hard, too fast. While it's nice that the mech shoots more, the fact that it travels slower, combined with having a larger hitbox, made me avoid it entirely. I realize certain enemy formations encourages the use of the mech, but to me, surviving is a priority I'm not willing to risk. Coming from that perspective, the game strikes me as a average shoot'em up.
SteveSalmond
30. Apr 2016 路 04:38 UTC
Loved all the juicy touches, and gameplay was rock-solid. Played it with a controller and it feels great! Only feedback I can think of is that I wanted the transformation time to be a touch quicker, but that's more a function of me being bad I think. ^^ Awesome job man!
Rock Eaters
01. May 2016 路 20:15 UTC
good looking game, remembering me a lot the robots cartoon for the 80's... great ! i like the black and white too
Louspirit
06. May 2016 路 08:55 UTC
Really great game. I really enjoyed playing to it.
Jupiter_Hadley
08. May 2016 路 18:08 UTC
Really fun game! I included it in my video compilation series of Ludum Dare games, if you鈥檇 like to check them out :) https://youtu.be/sLxVMaXEMmg
Marius
10. May 2016 路 11:04 UTC
Hi, nice game and congratulations ! We're realizing a video with several winners of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description