New.AI by smilewood

made by smilewood for Ludum Dare 45 (COMPO)

A new AI has been brought into this otherwise rather boring world. Unfortunately, due to some... unfortunate circumstances, the robotic frame that it is dropped into is rather old and is missing all of the important drivers that would otherwise allow it to move freely. Navigate through the world trying to get to an exit from the old facility, and maybe pick up some controls along the way.

I am fairly happy with how this game turned out. This was my first foray into both pixel art and audio, and I think that both turned out quite well for a first attempt. I think that the game that I ended up making suffered a little bit because of my focus in these areas, but I am very happy that I learned what I did.

I had a lot of fun with this project, my 7th completed Ludum Dare game. Any constructive feedback or questions are appreciated, and I will try and get back to comments as soon as possible. Thanks for playing!

Controls: Arrow keys or WASD to move. Space to jump.

Tools used: * Unity/Visual Studio * Aseprite * Chrome Music Lab

Edit: Fixed a bug with saws disappearing. Updated download links.

Youtube	https://github.com/smilewood/LD45_NewAI
Youtube	https://smilewood.itch.io/newai
Youtube	https://github.com/smilewood/LD45_NewAI/releases/download/v1.1/LD45_NewAI_Windows.zip
Youtube	https://github.com/smilewood/LD45_NewAI/releases/download/v1.1/LD45_NewAI_Mac.zip
Youtube	https://github.com/smilewood/LD45_NewAI/releases/download/v1.1/LD45_NewAI_Linux.zip
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/new-ai

Ratings

Overall	285^th	3.325⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Fun	340^th	3.025⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	326^th	3.025⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Theme	71^th	4⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	315^th	3.1⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Audio	255^th	2.975⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Humor	75^th	3.395⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Mood	291^th	3.053⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Given		21🗳️	18🗨️

Feedback

Kazatan

07. Oct 2019 · 14:49 UTC

Very nice! I love the little frame you're in and the way you have to go about gaining the skills. I think that was a very smart mechanic and piece of writing! Controls were pretty good - there was the odd time I didn't jump when pressing jump near an edge. I think with a lot of platformers - if they require precision - it can feel nicer to the user if you allow a short amount of time *after* the user has gone past the edge, to still initiate a jump.

Good job :thumbsup:

GabrielGameDev

07. Oct 2019 · 15:03 UTC

Very good idea, I really liked it. Only one thing I think you should worry about is the amount of text. Too much text can end up tiring to read everything, but I understand that it is important to create the whole ambience of the game.

PurpoAppo

09. Oct 2019 · 03:13 UTC

This game follows the theme very well.

ketura

09. Oct 2019 · 03:21 UTC

The dialog didn't really do it for me, but I have to admit, the moment where you try to go left and then spam the keys to move right was well done.
There's way too much talking. I get that there's need for a bit of setup for your particular implementation of the theme, but it's a bit too much.
Also not sure you can actually get passed all the saws (is that a vacuum sound?); there's a part where the timing of the horizontal saws seems to make it impossible to actually continue.

Lex

09. Oct 2019 · 03:26 UTC

It was a fun game with a nice game design. Challenges were gradually harder as expected on a good game. Other than the amount of text I think the sound effect for the saws was a little disturbing. I had fun nonetheless.

🎤 smilewood

09. Oct 2019 · 03:34 UTC

@ketura The sound for the saws is actually a chop-saw, I just recorded it and used a clip. I can confirm that it is possible to get past all the saws, but is also a bit of a pain. And I agree with you and @lex and @gabrielgamedev, there was a bit too much text. When I was frantically trying to put together a level I just threw it in wherever it seemed to fit, but in playing through after some sleep I think that the amount that I had may have been better in a game about two or three times as long.

Thanks for all of the feedback, I hope you enjoined the game (once you got past the dialogue spam)

TopperVideoGames

09. Oct 2019 · 03:36 UTC

I really liked the opening to the game, having it set up as being unable to reach an easy exit is great. Slowly getting the ability to do more is a fun mechanic. The design of the saw placement caused me to die many times, and the checkpoints are very spaced out. The saws appear to be placed without any specific pattern in mind, making it impossible to get through a section unless it was entered at a good time. The text could have been put on a darker background to make it easier to read. The pixel work is good, I hope you work on this more!

gwinnell

09. Oct 2019 · 18:52 UTC

The jump not being quite immediate on key press caused me to die a lot! A few more checkpoints might have made it more forgiving. Good though!

RedHermit

13. Oct 2019 · 04:03 UTC

Nice take on the the theme. Cute char model, and a nice soundtrack. I agree that there was a bit too much text, and checkpoints were a bit off feeling, but just having checkpoints in the game is great; nicely done for the time you had!

ruthiepee

13. Oct 2019 · 17:42 UTC

Aw, I like this clever little platformer. The story is really funny, albeit the narrator is a little too talkative, lol. The character is cute and its animations feel really nice. The game itself is a bit unforgiving but I've never been good at platformers anyway. I think for a jam game it feels complete and well executed.

julianbeutel

13. Oct 2019 · 17:44 UTC

Nice job. Way to setup the world with the narrator text.. kinda felt like a bit much to me, but having it in really developed the world, to me. Cool idea having to move right while all the exits pointed the opposite way lol. Cool platforming game!

theyellowgreninja

13. Oct 2019 · 17:48 UTC

This game is really hard! The gameplay itself seemed fine enough (although I got stuck really early on so I couldn't say if it got better or worse later on or not). Music was great, although the sawblade sounds were really, really loud. Theme works, but not super innovative. Overall, not bad, not super great. Nice work!

Storrs Steelers

13. Oct 2019 · 19:04 UTC

really nice game it looks and sounds pretty good.the idea is there and i like the way you used it.just from a pure design perspective i think that the held jump could be a little fustrating mabey ahving a double jump or mid air dash would do nicely and it could also be gained via one of the computers.i think that because of the reptetive nature of the game if the saws were predictable repetition on repetition it would feel better as repeating would then mean you improved on your skill rather than being back at square one,although that would change the game quitealot so might not be hat you were going for,also exploring the just right movment a little more would have been interesting.the idea and mechanics are really clever great game.

romes

13. Oct 2019 · 22:20 UTC

i think the conceptual humor is great, as in the exit signs you can't move towards; Congratulations on learning pixel art and audio! I suggest the default volume is a bit lower... The theme is spot on! Well done!

SnailRhymer

13. Oct 2019 · 22:45 UTC

The areas you focused on are great - I especially liked the very friendly jump sound, and the walk animation was very effective given how simple it was. I agree with others that the checkpoints could have been closer together, or maybe that some challenges could have been removed altogether; waiting for saws to be in the right place can get tedious on the 4th or 5th attempt.

Overall though, a great concept and well polished for a 48 hour game!

Meta-link

14. Oct 2019 · 11:37 UTC

A simple, but yet fun game :slight_smile:

Good job on making all this in 48h !