Apalis by Tselmek

made by Tselmek for LD36 (JAM)

Really tight jam this time around. I teamed up with Newan, an art samurai, and Carlos an audio master. The theme wasn't deeply inspiring to the three of us but we decided to go with a good ol' platformer, sacrificing the them a tiny tad bit. We didn't have the time to add certain mechanics or certain assets (audio and art) but I think the result is rather satisfying.

/!\ If you are stuck on one level, know that all levels are unlocked by default, so feel free to escape a difficult level in order to discover the rest of the game.

### Description ###

You find yourself among a jungle that seems to behold an ancient technology left by locals centuries ago. Stones of pure darkness bewitchedly carved by the azure alchemy of the ancient God Apalis. Explore the jungle and find out what this technology is capable of through 20 levels each tougher than the previous one.

### Controls (Gamepad recommended) ###

--- Keyboard ---
QD/AD or Arrow keys to move
Z/W, Space or Up arrow to jump

--- Gamepad ---
D-pad to move
A to jump

### Credits ###

Code and Art by Tselmek

Art by Newan

Audio by Carlos Pazuzu

### Changelog ###
[30/08/2016 17:32] Fixed a game-breaking bug occuring in the last level.

itch.io	https://tselmek.itch.io/apalis
Indiexpo	http://www.indiexpo.net/fr/games/apalis
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-36/?action=preview&uid=48996

Feedback

malec2b

30. Aug 2016 · 02:07 UTC

Nice platformer! You've got some nice visuals going on here. I like the level transition. The spikes are a bit hard to read, though. I didn't even notice them at first, and there were a few bits where I just ran straight into spikes I didn't even notice were there.

🎤 Tselmek

30. Aug 2016 · 02:09 UTC

Thanks malec2b. I noticed too close to the end that the spikes weren't very noticable but it's too late to go back. I'm guessing this is going to be one of the major complaints though.

HeliosStudio

30. Aug 2016 · 03:40 UTC

Too many deaths for one game :( I relly liked the music and the game!

steph88

30. Aug 2016 · 07:59 UTC

Hi, nice game and congratulations ! Simple mechanics that still offered a decent amount of challenge.We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #36. We made the same thing at the previous jam.

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. (you can already find several games from the jam there)

PetterBergmar

30. Aug 2016 · 13:26 UTC

Very goood! I love that it's super hard. Nothing very original I guess but I love this type of game (1000 spikes, meat boy, vvvvvv etc). Well done!

silkworm_sweatshop

30. Aug 2016 · 13:33 UTC

Great little platformer, very polished. The grey spikes are kinda hard to see sometimes though. I'm getting an error message on the last level though.
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object msg_level21:

global variable deaths_total(100006, -2147483648) not set before reading it.
at gml_Object_msg_level21_Create_0
############################################################################################

🎤 Tselmek

30. Aug 2016 · 15:28 UTC

Thanks for the notice, it should be fixed now.

zedecks

30. Aug 2016 · 15:47 UTC

well polished, good art and music. it gets hard really fast.

TheFlyingSatan

30. Aug 2016 · 16:41 UTC

Very crisp sound and look, has a very polished feel to it. Hard as nails with a quite tricky jumping mechanic. Fun and good looking.

GhostBomb

30. Aug 2016 · 22:46 UTC

Nice responsive platformer. The randomly spawning foilage is a nice touch though sometimes they would partially hide spikes.

Phaix

31. Aug 2016 · 13:50 UTC

Great Platformer, the gamepad controls are much better to play than the keyboard. With Keyboard i have given up, as the movement can't be that precise as on gamepad.

Bizmut

31. Aug 2016 · 16:41 UTC

very nice platformer

monkeybit29

01. Sep 2016 · 02:41 UTC

Really polished, and love the artstyle/music. great progressive introduction of certain mechanics. very nice job!

Jupiter_Hadley

01. Sep 2016 · 20:40 UTC

Lovely graphics, challenging game! I included it in my compilation video series of Ludum Dare 36 games, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/ZBKvUw84G7I

🎤 Tselmek

01. Sep 2016 · 21:32 UTC

Thanks for playing @Jupiter_Hadley, too bad you got stuck on the 5th level, the trick was to jump on that platform on the far left then make your way up. All levels are unlocked by default so that if you are stuck on one level you can try your hand at the other ones. I hope you get the chance to at least get a look at the other levels and mechanics in there if you don't have the time to play it again, but it does get tougher the further you go :P

xesenix

01. Sep 2016 · 23:40 UTC

Thats a lot of levels you have got there. I really like the controls only thing i can suggest is small delay on restart because sometimes i fall in first trap from little to lonk key press.

RafaSKB

02. Sep 2016 · 00:05 UTC

The visual of this game is impressive, music is super pleasant and gives quite a nice and cozy tropical mood. It feels like a hidden mega drive gem that I didn't discover in my childhood. Amazing entry! :)

Jwatt

02. Sep 2016 · 13:24 UTC

This seems very polished. While being simplistic, the level progression makes this pretty appealing to play through.

I would just appreciate outlines on the spikes, especially with the randomized foreground decorations. I died a few times just by not seeing that I walked into something deadly. The controls are fairly responsive in themselves.

The music is actually really nice, while the sound effects can be kind of jarring in comparison.

Jwatt

02. Sep 2016 · 13:28 UTC

Oh, and found a minor bug: level 20 starts from -1 deaths.

Danae123

02. Sep 2016 · 22:13 UTC

Brilliant. Beautiful and very challenging. Kept wishing for a check point on level 20 (died 400+ times there! ) Superb work!

Narkhos

04. Sep 2016 · 08:49 UTC

A really challenging platformer just the way I like it ! The respawn is too quick so I often end up dying multiple times when respawning. The white spikes are barely visible for me. I found their hitbox a bit large and when changing direction near it, it's hard not to get hit.
We need a timer and a time attack mode :D
Good Game !

Madsj

04. Sep 2016 · 17:10 UTC

Level 20 was pretty tough especially passing the axe, but I also realized you can jump lower by pressing jump a shorter amount of time because I was forced to do so to get the crystals close to the spikes. Completed the game with 85 deaths!

Frederika and Patrick

10. Sep 2016 · 02:30 UTC

This game looked and sounded really good. I generally liked it, however there were some things that made the game a bit more difficult than necessary. A death animation would help, quite a few of the times I died because I had died and respawned before I could react to my first death. Some of the obstacles were introduced a bit abruptly and the spikes were not easy to see. The last level was a bit overloaded with obstacles, especially that middle platform.
Overall, good job!

csanyk

14. Sep 2016 · 04:20 UTC

Pretty decent:) I liked the music. The later levels got pretty challenging. Only real complaint is that the grey spikes are too easily hidden by the grass, and lead to a lot of accidental deaths. Try to make them stand out more so death doesn't feel so cheap.

QuestionableQuality

15. Sep 2016 · 19:49 UTC

It has been a long time since I've raged so hard about a game. Visually solid but oh my gooood I hate you right now. ;u; I do however want to marry the screen transistion effect.

I played your game on stream for a bit too (sorry about all the non-related chatter on top): https://www.twitch.tv/cantgetourname/v/89524937

Franklin's Ghost

16. Sep 2016 · 11:58 UTC

Everything thing about this was great and worked so well together, the visuals, the music, the feedback. Impressed at the amount of levels you were able to make and the new mechanics that you slowly introduced. Level transitions was also fantastic, simple but really effective. One of my favourites so far.