LudumData

Elevator Maximum by happyhour

[raw]
made by happyhour for LD 42 (JAM)

coverimage.png

You're a normal dude that just wants to ride elevators and beat up people on the way. Get onboard before they're all filled up.

elemax_anipreview.gif

/game/img?e=LD42&gid=47983&u=// Controls /game/img?e=LD42&gid=47983&u=//

[A] and [D]: Move left and right

[W]: Enter an open elevator (Goes to next stage)

[J]: Mashy 3-Hit Combo

[K]: Electric Something Something Fist (Uses Meter)

[ i ]: Slow Enemies, Speed yourself up (Uses Meter)

[O]: Fast Forward, Speed up enemies and elevator arrival

[S]: Deactivates an active elevator (Rewards full meter + points but elevator becomes unuseable)

/game/img?e=LD42&gid=47983&u=// Flow /game/img?e=LD42&gid=47983&u=//

  • Enter an open elevator to go to the next stage.

  • If too many enemies walk into an elevator, it'll become unuseable.

  • You don't take any damage, but running out of available elevators in a stage will end the game.

  • The number of available elevators and wandering enemies are random per stage.

  • The chance of there being less elevators and more enemies will increase at higher stages.

  • With this build, there is no win condition so it's basically Endless Mode.

The gauge at the bottom is used for [K] and [ i ]. [K] will use up a specific amount while [ i ] will drain the meter while you hold it down. Defeated enemies will drop coins; picking them up will replenish meter. When there are no more roaming enemies, your movement speed will increase, allowing you to quickly progress to the next stage. There's also an ultra-basic score system in place.

tldr: when in doubt mash [J]

Enjoy!

Windows https://happyhour.itch.io/elevator-maximum
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/elevator-maximum

Ratings

Overall 461th 3.512⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Fun 441th 3.378⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 670th 3.098⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Theme 724th 3.341⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 70th 4.378⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Mood 132th 3.763⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 35🗳️ 42🗨️

Feedback

instantnoedel
14. Aug 2018 · 23:04 UTC
A nice and little game with very smooth controls and nice animations! The combat mechanics are straightforward but fun, although punching everyone becomes a little repetitive after a while.
Andreas Roschal
14. Aug 2018 · 23:09 UTC
Fighting animations in this game feel really good. Nice job on the visuals.
Wekaj
15. Aug 2018 · 00:51 UTC
Nice game, I really liked the art and animations! Stylish.
PlanetGames
15. Aug 2018 · 00:59 UTC
love the art-deco pixel art!
rEaX
15. Aug 2018 · 01:01 UTC
Nice graphics well done.
pkenney
15. Aug 2018 · 01:10 UTC
Wow those animations! I mean the pixel art is already really nice, stylish, and cohesive just as a still, but those animations really make it come alive with action. It was a shame the enemies didn't want to throw down because I would have loved to see a pitched battle animated with this liveliness and power!
Nerobius
15. Aug 2018 · 02:15 UTC
Nice work man, animations are cool. would be cool if the blockers attacked back or something to make it a little more difficult.
Carraka
15. Aug 2018 · 04:22 UTC
That animation was super smooth. I got to level 20, and I'm wondering whether there was some end game or it was just endless mode. It didn't seem like the difficulty was increasing, and that brief amount of time at the beginning where everything is paused but you can still run around seems almost unnecessarily nice to the player. It would also be nice to have an indicator for the player first starting out of when an elevator is unavailable. I spent a lot of time standing at empty elevator spots not sure whether I should be waiting for an elevator to come down or for elevator doors to open.

Great job with the graphics and the polished feel!
PowerAuer
15. Aug 2018 · 04:31 UTC
Really like the graphics! Great work guys!
CandleBird
15. Aug 2018 · 04:37 UTC
The animations really shone! I loved the hit effects and especially how the uppercut felt. As with other reviews, the game really didn't have a difficulty curve. It was also unsettling fighting a bunch of people when they didn't fight back. Overall though, the game was visually impressive! Great job setting the tone with the music too.
🎤 happyhour
15. Aug 2018 · 04:42 UTC
Thanks for everyone that played it so far. I pretty much agree with everything in terms of what could have been added and things in regards to the difficulty. :) I unfortunately only had Sunday to work on this jam, so I decided to place most of my bets on the visuals and player control feeling good while compromising in a million other areas.

@carraka Much thanks for all the thorough feedback! Yup, it is definitely one of those endless mode type of deals. In terms of difficulty, the overall enemy count and the number of those purple roadblocky guys have a higher chance of increasing as the floors go up. Those numbers and along with things you pointed out are one of many things I probably could have adjusted better. I'll keep all of that in mind for future projects.
🎤 happyhour
15. Aug 2018 · 04:47 UTC
@candlebird Thanks for the feedback! Definitely agree with you about the difficulty curve. As it is, it's pretty badly implemented. Don't feel bad for those guys, they're terrible people with lots of money. :D
🎤 happyhour
15. Aug 2018 · 04:50 UTC
@pkenney Glad you enjoyed the animations. :D Next time, I'll do my best to have more time to work on the enemy behavior. I would've loved for them to fight back too.
MicDoes
15. Aug 2018 · 05:10 UTC
Really cool to play, gets suddenly difficult randomly which is both good and bad, but the music and animations are so polished and so cool looking
🎤 happyhour
15. Aug 2018 · 17:16 UTC
@powerauer @micdoes Much thanks!
Joloujed
15. Aug 2018 · 17:26 UTC
Amazing art and animation, music was good too. The gameplay was simple and a bit shallow, but I understand it was lack of time. Nice game overall.
Raivk
15. Aug 2018 · 19:12 UTC
Super cool game, love the art style and the music, it's super cool ! That uppercut is SO satisfying ! Congrats, keeping it on the side to play it again in the near futur ;)
Dylan Shumway
15. Aug 2018 · 19:22 UTC
This was a super fun take on the theme! Ito echo some prior comments, I found a weird disconnect between the chill vibe with people standing around and the fighting/brawler structure. The game never really felt as if it had tension despite the mechanical structure asking for tension. However, I think you could evolve either the brawler or chill side into an enjoyable arcade style game!
Happy
15. Aug 2018 · 19:51 UTC
The animations look nice and satisfying and I really really like the design of the main character! gameplay is a bit barebones but it works well enough, really wish you could have jumped or did something more than just punching but still I enjoyed it.
🎤 happyhour
15. Aug 2018 · 21:52 UTC
@joloujed Thank you for the feedback! It is definitely a super shallow game, no matter how you slice it haha.

@raivk Happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Uppercutting is fun :D

@dylan-shumway Thank you. Definitely agree with you in terms of the lack of tension. I think part of me really just wanted to make a pure beat'em up but only went halfway on both vibes to try and fit it to the theme.

@happy Much thanks. Funny enough, I originally had jumping but took it out near the end of the day because the lack of it contributed to feeling like space was running out. Though, you're totally right that it could've used another sort of action or movement option other than just punching. Probably should've just left it in. >:D
Devilzinn
15. Aug 2018 · 23:10 UTC
nice game
Singrid
15. Aug 2018 · 23:56 UTC
Really nice game!
+1 for the game play
+1 for the graphics and animations
Very funny! beautiful work :)
MerpADer
16. Aug 2018 · 18:10 UTC
really fun. I'd always end up going the wrong way!
Maroovan
16. Aug 2018 · 20:55 UTC
Gorgeous game!

1) Graphics are fantastic, color scheme is perfectly matched. It reminded me something of Bryan Lee o'Malley work.
Animation is on top. Love that you give a lot of attention to details like feedback from the attack. That gives a lot of weight to interraction.

2) Sounds are also very sharp and crisp. I guess it's something from sfxr or bfxr, perfect for this artsyle. Lofi jazzy hip-hop in the background is also awesome, it plays good with the elevator theme (like jazzy music playing in most of elevators) and crunchy beats makes gameplay very relaxing.

3) Overall it's very good. Great take on a theme, very interesting and unique idea (didn't see anyone else came up with something simillar). Has a great mood and vibe.

Thanks for the experience, man! Did you have a link to other of your games anywere? I kinda want to "subscribe" to see what you will make in the future.
Yetman
16. Aug 2018 · 21:21 UTC
The art looks great. The game is nice but it was not as energetic as hoped or may be I was playing it in a wrong manner. I mainly fought by mashing J or pressing k sometimes and I go in one direction till the end then go in the other direction till the end. After there are no one remaining, I send all elevators down except one which I take up. It was fun but it felt repetitive after a while. Otherwise, I truly love the art, animation and your music taste. Great job.
🎤 happyhour
16. Aug 2018 · 21:32 UTC
@devilzinn @singrid Thanks you guys! :)

@merpader Haha, that ended up happening to me a lot too! Just my luck.
🎤 happyhour
16. Aug 2018 · 21:38 UTC
@maroovan Much thanks for the indepth feedback! I definitely tried to put my weight into the visuals and the gamefeel with my limited time, and I'm happy to hear that it's the most noticeable thing. :D This particular project wasn't influenced by his work, but I am a long time fan of Bryan Lee O'Malley since the early internet days. And you got it, the sounds are from bfxr. So handy!

I have a handful of unfinished prototypes lying around on drives but nothing else up at the moment. I do plan to continue to participate in more jams and upload random projects from here on out, so feel more than free to follow my itchio page.
🎤 happyhour
16. Aug 2018 · 21:42 UTC
@yetman Thanks for giving it a go! Yeah, admittedly it's a pretty shallow game in its current form and what you described is pretty much the optimal "strategy." So, I really can't blame ya for feeling that way haha. :D Unless of course, you're going for score but I don't think anyone would bother with something like that; there's too many other interesting games to try out!
Vlashikito
16. Aug 2018 · 22:31 UTC
I really enjoyed the graphic of the game, i found them really entertaining, it's refreshing the pixel art style is really cool, didnt have problem with the controls, they seems fine to me, overall really cool :)
Yetman
16. Aug 2018 · 22:44 UTC
@happyhour I played it for the score and I reached stage 22 with score 562265. I actually needed to change my strategy on later levels to ensure I proceed to the next level (I sometimes stand around the last elevator to protect it). The main problem is that I don't have anyone to compare my score with. I saw some people do a score board (sometimes manually on the LD page) and it seems to give an incentive to some player to compete for highscores. I also did a game with scores for LD41 without a leaderboard but only a single player cared to tell me his score. Still, playing for the score is more fun compared to my initial way of playing.
LarrySeinfeld
16. Aug 2018 · 22:53 UTC
Sweet game! Got 1350100 as my high score. Love how chill, but panick-y it can be at the same time! Great art style, real cool music choice, fun mechanics! Nice job!
🎤 happyhour
17. Aug 2018 · 06:08 UTC
@larryseinfeld Dang, that's pretty high. Good stuff! Glad to hear you enjoyed that contrast. :D
Gaming Night
17. Aug 2018 · 12:55 UTC
Super graphics and animations, I'm really in love with it :)
Really nice entry !!
Poffle
17. Aug 2018 · 12:56 UTC
Wow! Excellent art style and animation! You have the foundations of a good side-scrolling beat em' up here. The combat was tight and I felt like a badass. Awesome work!
tigerj
17. Aug 2018 · 20:56 UTC
This was sweet I hope you refine it and add in some more pressure from the enemies. Here was my full feedback on twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/298451826?t=01h54m11s
🎤 happyhour
19. Aug 2018 · 05:12 UTC
@gaming-night Thank you for the kind words!
🎤 happyhour
19. Aug 2018 · 05:13 UTC
@poffle Super thanks! I def want to make a beat'em up in the near future.
🎤 happyhour
19. Aug 2018 · 05:13 UTC
@tigerj Thanks again for the all the feedback and comments. It was a blast to watch you enjoying it on stream. I'll be keepin' an eye for the jams you are hosting later this year. :D
aeveis
24. Aug 2018 · 03:42 UTC
I got a score of 2963950 before the elevators filled up. Nice pixel art- I liked the smears for the attack- I think it reads well. The hallways and the elevator also felt nice. The fighting felt pretty straightforward and the hits were good. The music was nice and relaxing to listen to.

It did get harder as I went up, but it was mostly the same actions over and over again. Perhaps if there were more enemies that pushed you around or attacked you somehow? I think there regular guys, the runners, and the blocker were good ways to do it without people attacking though.

Nice job!
ursagames
04. Sep 2018 · 07:48 UTC
Such stylized and gorgeous pixel art! Controls felt pretty good too! Thanks for sharing your game with my stream awhile back. Your game was played around 4:36 into this vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/298692367