Unleaded: The Story of a Van by Lino

[raw]
made by Lino for LD 39 (JAM)

Screenshot (5).png

They speak of days long past that knew many vans, guided by many van drivers. If those days ever were, they are no longer. For there is only one van, and one van driver. And that van, whose driver knows no rest, has remarkably poor mileage. This is the story of that van, and its quest to not run out of fuel.

What is this?

This is a game in which you drive through a desert wasteland in a Chevrolet Express 2500 cargo van. Scattered throughout this wasteland are levitating green cubes which, on driving through them, supply the van with gasoline. There are also conveniently placed ramps and other things.

I made this with Unity.
And MonoDevelop and Blender and GIMP and Garageband.

Drive forever. It's fun.

...

Ratings

Overall 575th 3.125⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 503th 3⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 646th 2.667⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 382th 3.542⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 422th 3.52⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 336th 3.174⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 269th 2.773⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 378th 3.304⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 13🗨️

Feedback

ekarnopp
01. Aug 2017 · 05:35 UTC
Dig the music! Reminds me of a spiritual successor to Desert Bus, but actually fun. Would have been funny if you added the fly/veering left :P Great submission!
sanjeev
01. Aug 2017 · 08:31 UTC
Really nice aesthetic and mood; its quite relaxing driving through this desert. I would have liked the boxes that spill out on the road to have some physics, but overall, its quite a nice little game.
TheFlyingKeyboard
01. Aug 2017 · 09:41 UTC
Fun idea and interessting graphics, but steering is a little bit stiff.
jahndis
02. Aug 2017 · 06:51 UTC
Got bored after a few kilometers and started doing sick jumps!!! Seriously though nice work on a solid polished entry. The execution is top tier.
Raiponz
02. Aug 2017 · 06:58 UTC
Awesome game! i enjoyed playing it! with more events and a non-straigth road, it could be very nice
kakarotsan
02. Aug 2017 · 07:21 UTC
Good:
* Nice atmosphere

Suggestions:
* Add a speedometer
* Pickups being so far apart discourage exploration
* More scenery (I know... we only had 3 days)
* Faster acceleration
* Controller support

I feel like there is potential here for doing stunts for points. The ramps certainly encourage that.
HuvaaKoodia
02. Aug 2017 · 08:26 UTC
Why not call it Desert Van and start a fundraiser?

Joking aside, driving forever is surprisingly fun when you are going as fast as you can dodging invincible twigs. Playing it safe is less challenging and as such less fun unfortunately.

I got to 11km before giving up. I had a near full tank of gas as there were loads of pickups just next to the road. Driving on the road is the best strategy anyways as you can get stuck on ramps if unlucky enough (like me!).

The twigs and the cardboard boxes are made of strong stuff indeed. You should have put physics on the boxes at least.

Engine sounds, particle effects (smoke and dust) and some kind of a damage model (running headlong into a fence should affect the van a bit yeah?) would have been great additions in my book.

Currently this is ok for what it is.
Remzo
02. Aug 2017 · 09:00 UTC
I really enjoyed the vibe of just driving the road. The music fit really well, the car handled really nicely and the camera movement was excellent. A minor nitpick was that fuel seemed to be a simple timer and not actually related to how fast you were going. When I ran out, the game over pop-up came immediately. I was expecting to be able to coast for a bit and hit a green square, so that was a bit jarring. A little more polish in terms of some particles and engine sound effects would really make this more engaging. That being said, I still drove for 15+ km. Nice work!
Sauski
02. Aug 2017 · 10:34 UTC
10/10 would fly off into space randomly again.
Mathiouza
02. Aug 2017 · 12:30 UTC
Lovely music ! But we have nothing to do in this game x) You could make some curves on the road, or something to avoid while driving, because we really have nothing to do ... The speed counter does not work also. Cute game nonetheless :)
SVR_Audio
02. Aug 2017 · 14:05 UTC
Loved the vibe, this game remind Mr White and Jesse Pinkman doing meth haha. The music is cool, although is a simple game is very fun
PavelSovushkin
02. Aug 2017 · 14:05 UTC
Nice music. But when the car was stuck in a cardboard box - it's strange
Jannes Nagel
02. Aug 2017 · 19:41 UTC
This game is Vantastic! I had so much Van that I gave you 5 stars in the Van category! And in Innovantion!
Dont ever look back Van!

Also dat drift!!!!!!!

But also that game is lying! The VAN is stronger than a flimsy fence or a lil' stick!

Keep up the good work!
gamesplusjames
03. Aug 2017 · 13:25 UTC
This game was a lot of fun to play through. The music was really calming and relaxing, and driving a van at full speed up a ramp is a lot of fun :D Great job!
Jupiter_Hadley
05. Aug 2017 · 16:24 UTC
Fun game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 39 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJb17RPmbsA
MianaGames
05. Aug 2017 · 23:49 UTC
I loved your game. Congrats.