LudumData

Mortal Keybat by dob

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made by dob for LD 41 (COMPO)

Screen2.jpg Welcome to Mortal Keybat!

This is the story of a game project gone wrong, back in the heady days of 1983. There's a plot afoot, and our heroes need to figure it out. Using very non-confrontational vocabulary and quick typing skills.

NOTE: The HTML5 web version is currently having trouble on at least one machine. It loses the blue and red karate guy sprites on Chrome on one of my Windows machines but not the other. This makes the game unplayable. It works fine on Firefox and Microsoft Edge, and on other PCs. I uploaded a PC executable as another option. If you get to the first fight scene and can't see the red and blue-clad fighters, then it's not working for you either.

Game hints: Once you get to the typing part, you'll need to type words to take actions. You can't land a punch or kick unless the enemy (blue guy) is dizzy, and you can only make him dizzy by successfully blocking one of his attacks. Your block move only lasts for a short time, so you have to time it right. A good strategy can be to pre-type most of the letters in your punch and kick moves, and then wait for a block before finishing them. If you can type fast enough, it's possible to get combo attacks.

The enemy telegraphs his attacks with noises and with the flashing red icon over his head. His lower grunt is a punch, which is quick. His higher grunt is a kick, which has a slower windup.

Kicks do twice as damage as punches, but the kick words are longer to type.

Let me know if you need more tips...

Details: Made in Unity free version. Pixel art by me, mostly using Paint.Net, some Gimp, a teeny bit of PowerPoint. Sound is nearly all my mouth, all using Goldwave. Music composed by me on Soundtrap.com. Font is "Press Start 2P" by codeman38, free license.

Screen1.jpg

HTML5 (web) http://planktongames.com/ld41
Windows http://planktongames.com/ld41/LD41MortalKeybat.zip
Windows http://planktongames.com/ld41/LD41MKSource.zip
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/mortal-keybat

Ratings

Overall 179th 3.653⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Fun 116th 3.737⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 129th 3.767⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Theme 129th 4.017⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 304th 3.356⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Audio 190th 3.271⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Humor 35th 3.871⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Mood 136th 3.492⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Given 69🗳️ 71🗨️

Feedback

mikedirl
23. Apr 2018 · 21:25 UTC
This game is great fun. There is alot of personality in the game. The typing to control the fighting is an interesting idea, i just wish I could type faster. The retro style and graphics are nice as well.
wsKilljoy
23. Apr 2018 · 21:27 UTC
Super awesome game!
Potondo
23. Apr 2018 · 21:59 UTC
Haha, very fun mashup of ideas. Nicely implemented too.

I do think the intro sequence was a bit long, though very charming.

Anyway, keep up the great work!
Marsepstein
24. Apr 2018 · 02:13 UTC
Nice! Same as above, I thought the intro was a bit long (for something I could not skip), and started a couple seconds after I might expect. But once I got into the typing, I enjoyed it.
Shelvid
24. Apr 2018 · 03:49 UTC
Pretty fun game, dialogues should be skippable imo.. not that its bad, just that it takes too long to get to next one :) pretty good entry!
🎤 dob
24. Apr 2018 · 04:06 UTC
Yes, I was going to make the dialogues skippable, but didn't quite get there. Sorry for the wait.
polegar
24. Apr 2018 · 22:41 UTC
Nice game mechanics and smart way of using the theme ! Sound and graphics are really cool too, impressive job !
JezPez
24. Apr 2018 · 23:42 UTC
I loved it. The intro was so funny. I love typing tutor games. Amazing job!
Gurbx
25. Apr 2018 · 06:35 UTC
Cool game! I’m quite bad at typing so I found it quite difficult but it’s probably just me:) Still, it would be cool if you had an easy mode with shorter words, and then maybe also a hard mode with really long ones. Also, the intro should probably be skippable, but it’s not a big issue. Overall, I liked it a lot. Good job!
Slashee the Cow
25. Apr 2018 · 06:47 UTC
Nice to see I'm not the only one who combined typing with another genre (and we used the same font!). I think the graphics and sound were great (and very appropriate for the mood you were going for), the only problem I had was the text telling me to press R to retry the level was in an aqua sort of colour that I could barely read against the background (pretty minor problem though).

Maybe I'm too good a typist, but once I figured out what I was doing I found it pretty easy - maybe a difficulty select would have been good if you'd had more time. On the last level, I didn't even need to bother with the invaders because the blue guy was KO'd long before they reached me.
CaptainDreamcast
25. Apr 2018 · 07:05 UTC
Dangit Jerry, every time.

I enjoyed the intro story and the whole framework, it was really well-written. I guess the ability to advance the text manually would have alleviated the problems other people had with its length, skipping it altogether would have ruined the story, at least for me. The gameplay felt very polished, I think you struck a nice balance of difficulty. During level one I thought it was too easy, but then the other levels happened and I got pleasantly surprised. On that note, the structure was really well-done, every level was more fun than the previous one. So yeah, cool idea, great execution.
nilstastic
25. Apr 2018 · 18:17 UTC
Fun game! Nice graphics and good work with the sound as well. Fun and humorous game! I enjoyed it very much. Good job!
KunoNoOni
25. Apr 2018 · 22:07 UTC
I can't type to save my life :laughing: Good use of theme and I loved the dialogue :smile: Congrats on completing and submitting your game!
Useless
27. Apr 2018 · 06:45 UTC
neat idea, well executed! the writing is really funny too!
fazz
27. Apr 2018 · 15:14 UTC
Fun game. I really liked the music, very suitable for a 90s fighting game!
Barbaarian
27. Apr 2018 · 15:15 UTC
This is awesome! I really have had a good time, it's so challenging! The downside is that I suck typing 😆 Anyways, it's fun, humorous and have a solid gameplay, so nice work!
Zirrrus
28. Apr 2018 · 07:59 UTC
I'm not nearly good enough at typing to make any headway in the game but the concept, look and feel were all really good, well done!
automatonvx
28. Apr 2018 · 10:16 UTC
Made it the invaders level before it got too much for me. Typing and fighting was a fun combo, maybe it would have been better to focus on that aspect and added in like combos or other fun stuff instead of adding new elements like barrel jumping and invaders. Not sure if its a bug or a feature that you can type all the letters apart from the last one and then just wait for the right moment to trigger with the last key, sort of problematic when the words overlap in characters though. Anyway I wouldn't have got very far without this technique. Had fun, brought back memories of all those old fighting games like karate champ and kung fu master. I agree the intro is too long, I just wanted to get to the game. Graphics are ok and do the job, found the music a little bit on the annoying side though.
silkworm_sweatshop
28. Apr 2018 · 15:49 UTC
Fun! I like how the following levels bring in something new to mix it up.
DeepTerror
28. Apr 2018 · 20:24 UTC
Woooowwww so talking to me...
I recognized my self so much in this game.
Year of birth ? 1983 ==> checked !
My first fight game ? Mortal Kombat ==> checked !
Best humor type ? something crazy (like in old-fashion point-and-click) ==> checked !
Our first idea for this LD ==> typing fight game ==> checked !
Great realization - just make the intro skippable...
Torak Whiteleopard
28. Apr 2018 · 20:29 UTC
I really like the game! I found it quite easy since my typing is quite fast, but the theme and innovation were pretty good. I would like to see how far the core idea could go, as it seems pretty solid. The dialogue also added a lot to the game, as it made me want to continue to the end (imagining poor Jerry's struggles).
MacDoom
29. Apr 2018 · 00:24 UTC
Loved the graphics/audio! Super fun intro!
Didn't got well the blocking part. I supose the "IIIIIIAH" announces an incoming attack. But haven't grip it yet.
Good work!
Radnyx
29. Apr 2018 · 02:39 UTC
This is so fun! It was so much better than a normal typing game because it required a good deal of concentration and planning. There is sooo much more potential here.
madxmd
29. Apr 2018 · 15:26 UTC
Nice game
JanGamesDev
29. Apr 2018 · 19:31 UTC
Good game, the multitasking is a lot of fun and the game is nicely explained through the dialogs.
drmargarido
29. Apr 2018 · 20:16 UTC
Really fun game, good job for getting this done in a compo time! :smile:
KappaIX
29. Apr 2018 · 21:10 UTC
Really nice meta aspect to it, and appreciate the effort to carry through the 80's aesthetic through the whole thing.

Well done, thanks for sharing!
PUR3
29. Apr 2018 · 21:13 UTC
Really enjoyed playing, really like the idea of typing for fighting! The space invaders made for interesting and fun gameplay. The story-line also made me laugh a few times! Nice work. :)
Baby Dino Herd
30. Apr 2018 · 02:10 UTC
You really set the mood nicely! The framing story was cute and effective. I really enjoyed the whole package; really impressed with what you did in 48 hours!

I would maybe have liked a little different pacing -- faster pacing on the cut-scenes in particular. Also, once you get the timing of blocking, I found typing attacks quickly to be quite easy so that the 'additional' elements could be mostly ignored.
MugenMagnus
30. Apr 2018 · 03:20 UTC
I had a lot of fun with this game. I love the fact that you can make progress on multiple words at the same time. The extra challenges later on were also great and the multitasking was fun. Great job!
gyfis
30. Apr 2018 · 08:14 UTC
This was great! Thanks a lot for the game, I really enjoyed the combination of the themes. It was fairly easy for me since I could just block once and then type the other guy to KO, but still had a lot of fun!
Poorwill
30. Apr 2018 · 10:02 UTC
Nice! A really nice story effort for a jam.
lautregars
30. Apr 2018 · 14:54 UTC
Very good theme respect, + a li'l cool story with it. Nice one
jk5000
30. Apr 2018 · 19:14 UTC
A very funny little game idea, but I am way to slow to able to win. The best part of the game is the intro story. Overall a very well made compo game. Well done.
Supernapie
01. May 2018 · 10:05 UTC
I really liked the humor in the intro of this game. The typing system worked super smooth. Nice game!
ViridianGames
04. May 2018 · 05:51 UTC
Great job! The theme mashup worked great, the game was funny and fun. I don't know if allowing people to pre-type words and only type the last letter to actually "attack" or "defend" was intentional, but it worked well! The last level was actually difficult, but I did manage to beat the whole thing.
🎤 dob
04. May 2018 · 06:21 UTC
@ViridianGames Yes, it was intentional (see hints above). I'm glad you enjoyed it - thanks for the useful and kind comments.
Darkphnx
05. May 2018 · 02:55 UTC
Great submission! This was a lot of fun to play! I wish you could skip through some of the dialog to get to the game faster though. Also, audio didn't seem to work on the HTML version, but great game overall!
hiki911
05. May 2018 · 18:27 UTC
maybe it's a good idea to have skippable intro, but it semms like a solid game!
gustavo.christino
07. May 2018 · 22:42 UTC
I'd like to be able to skip the intro initially (for the replay cases). The sound effects are funny and the music is lively. I found it a bit difficult to play, but with practice it would be possible to improve (I do not know if it's really at the level of difficulty on the part of the opponent (machine)).

Suggestion...
There is already feedback on when to block and such, but could be a bit more obvious (again, it may be inexperience with this type of game).

I do not know if it is the intended one, however before starting a new round the previous sequences remain partially loaded.
StrangerYann
08. May 2018 · 20:24 UTC
It's neat but here's what I got to say:
-the sound didn't work in my browser [chrome] pver here
-it's cool you have explainations of how to play here on this page but I'm thinking maybe you're saying too much instead of letting players discover how everything works on their own
-it's a shame the little opening dialogue can't be skipped or speeded up ^^#
-the HTTP5 build didn't detect my dcreen's witdh and the game was cropped on the sides

Beyond that it's pretty good ^^#
It's pretty well executed, the story is cute, the challenge is original, I enjoyed that, well done :-)
LeviDSmith
11. May 2018 · 21:03 UTC
Nice game. I really like typing games, and Karate Champ was one of the first games I owned as a kid. The gameplay felt solid, especially after I figured out that I had to block before attacking (I'm bad for not reading instructions, especially when they're really long). The space invaders game felt like it was tacked on at the end and really didn't seem to affect the outcome. Nice "ship it" joke at the end. I would have played more if it was longer.
luckyLars
11. May 2018 · 21:56 UTC
Other might have mentioned it, but it would be nice to be able to skip some of the opening dialog. I felt it was quite lengthy and I was almost put off by it. Glad I didn't though because the game was interesting. I would say it is the best typing game I have played sofar. I didn't catch that it was a typing game to start with. I glanced through the text here on the page looking for instructions and didn't spot any. It would be good if there were a section labelled instructions.
cristiano.m.garcia
13. May 2018 · 19:58 UTC
Good job! Cool game!

I left my rating of your game, if you can leave your feedback in our game, Witch's Escape.

I hope you continue with the project.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/witchs-escape
RIBOUT Horace
14. May 2018 · 23:42 UTC
Really enjoyable game ! A little bit of surprise, a weird idea done in a pretty clever way, a little difficulty but a real pleausre to win ! And some strategy came after a while ! And the mix of genre work really well ! With the exception of the graphism (even if it give a ton to the game) the game is a perfect example of a perfect jam gam !
I want more !