LudumData

Expendabots by dalbinblue

[raw]
made by dalbinblue for LD 43 (COMPO)

titlecard.png

Dungeon crawling is so dangerous, so why do it yourself? Why not send robots that has no fear of being electrocuted, exploded, or deactivated so long as it means progressing? With the expendabots, you can throw robot after robot to solve all your problems no matter the cost.

So this is a puzzle platformer involving robots that can deactivate to form blocks and platforms or explode to clear a path. Sacrifice as many as are needed to progress through each room.

Controls (Keyboard)

Left and Right Arrow Keys - Move Space - Trigger your current robot to explode Left Control - Deactivate your current robot R - Reset level Escape - Quit

Controls (Gamepad)

Left and Right on digital pad - Move X - Trigger your current robot to explode A - Deactivate your current robot Y - Reset level Back button - Quit

You will need DirectX installed to play

Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and as always have fun.

Windows https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwawtfmic2ddecd/DalbinBlue.LudumDare43
Source code https://bitbucket.org/dalbinblue/ludumdare43/src/master/
Other (document) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/expendabots

Ratings

Overall 10th 4.206⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 23th 4.059⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 46th 3.824⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 38th 4.176⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 47th 4.118⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 123th 3.406⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Humor 171th 3.029⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 129th 3.5⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 7🗳️ 7🗨️

Feedback

Matthew Roelle
03. Dec 2018 · 04:58 UTC
Amazing interpretation of the theme! I loved it. I got stuck on level 8, some of these puzzles were really good! I'm gonna come back to it and try and finish the game after I review a couple more :) Good job!
JCMonkey
03. Dec 2018 · 18:12 UTC
i got pissed at the level 4 puzzle cause the robots exploded the block right through a robot i had put on the other side to keep it from getting pushed to the left. other then that the game was a good concept.
🎤 dalbinblue
07. Dec 2018 · 03:51 UTC
@jcmonkey, Yeah I watched a few folks hit that bug and one other. Unfortunately it's not game breaking so I can't sneak in a fix for the competition.
Jackson_makes_games
07. Dec 2018 · 04:27 UTC
This game is incredible! Everything, the art, the music, the core mechanics, the level design, I love it all. I did get stuck on level four, since I couldn't get on the right (actually left, right as in correct) side of the metal block, but oh well, it's a game jam. You did an awesome job!
lilou_cormic
07. Dec 2018 · 04:29 UTC
Good game. Graphics are very nice. Nice concept for the puzzles.
🎤 dalbinblue
07. Dec 2018 · 04:43 UTC
@jackson-makes-games It's a bit tricky to do it. I should have put some simpler levels first to teach making bridges. The trick is to build a bridge on the right side of the block to get across to the left side, drop a bot on the left to prevent the block from sliding. finally you need to put an exploding bot on the right side to remove the bridge blocks, and run over to the left side before the bridge explodes.
Slashee the Cow
07. Dec 2018 · 05:16 UTC
One of the most polished games I've seen this compo, the gameplay, music, sound, graphics are all great... where the heck did you find the time?

One minor, minor, **minor** quibble is that it can be hard to read the white tutorial text at the bottom of the screen against the bricks sometime - doesn't detract from the game at all, just thought I'd mention it so you know to look out for it.
DogSquad
07. Dec 2018 · 05:31 UTC
I loved playing this game! The graphics are great and it was challenging. Level 4 was a bit hard, but I got passed it. If you could play my game that would be nice c:
chaosed0
07. Dec 2018 · 05:40 UTC
Exceptional puzzle design and great aesthetic. A few uneven difficulty spikes here and there (level 3), and a few frustratingly tedious puzzle setups (levels 8-12), but nonetheless, this is an incredibly well made jam game. I managed to make it all the way through to the end - took me about half an hour.
silkworm_sweatshop
07. Dec 2018 · 12:51 UTC
Might be my favorite entry so far. Great concept and puzzles, lots of content and everything is really polished.
paulhocker
08. Dec 2018 · 22:23 UTC
overall a very good game -- fourth level is very hard so more ramp up is required or some other way to teach doing it -- thanks for making it
g12345
12. Dec 2018 · 00:58 UTC
I just finished the game, and I'm just in awe...

How do you even fit so much in 48 hours?!! I don't think I could even get 1 level in 48 hours, and you got so many :smile:

There were a lot of times I just wondered why I needed to set up so many robots by myself, walking to the same place again and again, but still I think this should end up pretty high, if it gets enough ratings.

Also, I should look at your game again to see how you managed to make so many tiles so quickly... I guess you used a lot of the same times but different shades.
Jiri Hysek
16. Dec 2018 · 00:42 UTC
Wow, this is an awesome game! Puzzles are incredibly clever, creative and have really solid mechanics. I always strugle to create at least one good level in 48 hour game jams and you have so many of them. It was quite challenging but it was so fun that I have to play it till I made it to the last 16th level.

Only thing I can suggest to make it even better is a little bigger window - at some levels (that one with two rows of a bombs) you cannot see where the exit is so I don't see what I'm supposed to do. The window is too small so I have to explore map by trial and error to see what's there.

Anyway, really impressing entry.
HitchH1k3r
17. Dec 2018 · 19:10 UTC
I have reached the end of the dungeon!

:thumbsup: I really enjoyed the puzzles, an the unique mechanics they created. The three variants on the three buttons were really cool.

:bug: I was able to push a sliding metal block into the same tile as a robot (while it was alive, deactivates robots blocked the block).

:point_right: The levels were fewer robots were needed were more fun (and probably harder to make), since they involved less repetitive setting up of many robots.

:star: Overall excellent job, I really enjoyed playing this!
Kindred
28. Dec 2018 · 04:12 UTC
Great job here. The art is nice and clean and easy to look at. The audio fits nice. The puzzles were unique and interesting. Good entry overall!
Capital-Asterisk
28. Dec 2018 · 09:48 UTC
This game broke my expectations. When playing this, I had no idea long chains of exploding mettatons would ever be part of the puzzles. The graphics are clean, music is memorable, and the mechanics are impressive. The only problem I have is concern for other players; I bet many got stuck at level 4 and stopped playing. I managed to reach the end, but I believe the function of metal boxes, timing, and chain explosions are not explained well to the majority of people who would rate the game. Lack of explanation is what kills the players of half the games I ever made, abandoning the game before getting to the best parts. This is one of my favourites and highest rated so far, excellent work!
acaral
31. Dec 2018 · 13:01 UTC
Excellent :gem: A very serious entry with interesting mechanics and a very polished level design. The general design is good: everything is working (pixel art graphics, music). Perhaps the best compo I have played in this Ludum dare
exelotl
31. Dec 2018 · 22:11 UTC
Very impressive entry! Mechanics are rich, puzzles are challenging. Some of the levels are quite tedious because you have to repeat the same task so many times. It could be that the chosen mechanics naturally lead to these kinds of puzzles, but I definitely think more compact levels would be great if possible. That said, I still enjoyed the game a lot :)