LudumData

Nullified by Coda Highland

[raw]
made by Coda Highland for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

Nullified

cover

You are the Antivirus, protecting your system from threats and attacks.

But one day, the most powerful virus you've ever seen strikes, crashing your system and corrupting your data. You manage to escape, but there's only enough bandwidth to save your core program before you lose your connection. Now, you must traverse the network, collect new utilities, recompile yourself, and return to your home server to purge the worm from it once and for all!

How to Play

Controls:

  • Move: Arrow keys
  • Jump: Space or C
  • Boost: Space or C (in air) (requires Booster)
  • Slash: Z (requires Melee)
  • Shoot: X (requires Ranged)
  • Drill: Down+Z (in air) (requires Melee and Charger)
  • Quarantine: Down+Z (requires Ranged and Charger)

Utilities:

  • Signal Amplifier: Hidden somewhere in the network. Protects against corruption damage.
  • Melee: Found in the first server. Enables a sword attack.
  • Ranged: Enables a blaster attack.
  • Charger: Adds special abilities to the Melee and Ranged weapons.
  • Booster: Enables limited flight.
  • Health Boost: Increases your maximum health. 8 in all.
  • Armor: Reduces damage received.

If you return to your home server through the red hyperlink portal before collecting the Signal Amplifier, the corruption there will cause you to steadily lose health until you retreat.

The yellow "!" blocks can be broken with the Drill. The green circle blocks can be broken with Quarantine.

ld45-screenshot.png

Having Trouble?

If you want to speed things along and get a feel for the game without having to go through the exploration process, use this cheat code: While holding Up, type ZCZX.

License

Copyright (c) 2019 Adam Higerd and Francisco. Portions (c) 2017-2018 Austin Allman. Music (c) 1999-2019 Adam Higerd.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.!

Youtube http://greenmaw.com/webgames/Nullified/
Youtube http://xmpps.greenmaw.com/~coda/stuff/Nullified/
Youtube https://bitbucket.org/ahigerd/ld45
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/nullified

Ratings

Overall 792th 3.2⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 812th 2.96⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 933th 2.667⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 783th 3⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 363th 3.82⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 402th 3.292⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 719th 2.375⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 692th 3.182⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

coopersword
04. Oct 2019 · 20:15 UTC
first
JD Parker
07. Oct 2019 · 23:40 UTC
A basic 2D Platformer, but still a fun one at that! Finishing any game is an accomplishment!
aconfusedragon
07. Oct 2019 · 23:53 UTC
This is really smooth and polished! The story is really interesting and fits with the theme perfectly, and the graphics are great! It is a bit simple, and the map is really large but overall this is great!
pinosaur
07. Oct 2019 · 23:54 UTC
The player animation was very nice, I spent a couple minutes just walking around and admiring the art. However, the map feels a bit empty, so perhaps adding some extra details will break up the terrain.
kleinzach
07. Oct 2019 · 23:58 UTC
Using a metroidvania concept work really well for this theme, good choice. I really like the character art. I think my main problem with the game was how similar every area looked. Color difference just wasn't enough for me, and I just found myself wandering around aimlessly. Some more differentiation between levels and rooms would make a huge difference, as at this point even if I see a gate I can't go through yet, I have no idea how to make it back there.
🎤 Coda Highland
07. Oct 2019 · 23:58 UTC
@pinosaur Yeah, I had plans for more graphical variety, but I decided to focus my efforts on getting an actual win condition in my game for a change. Only the second time I've done that since I started doing jams, and the first time that it actually worked the way I intended it to instead of just being hacked together at the last minute.

We'll be doing a postjam version!
Gold5Games
08. Oct 2019 · 00:30 UTC
I had to cheat because I got the ranged attack item as my first item and got stuck in the area without being able to jump out, but nice animations and the booster sound is great. Great use of the theme!
🎤 Coda Highland
08. Oct 2019 · 01:13 UTC
@gold5games Actually, that's an error in the map generator. It's not supposed to put you in a place where you can't jump out without the booster, unless you can't get there without the booster in the first place. But there's one map where I made a mistake in positioning the blocks and you can't actually make the jump I thought you could make when I designed it.
ThePirateNun
20. Oct 2019 · 21:24 UTC
I really enjoyed this game! It had a super cool concept, and it was executed very well. The graphics were super polished and the music fit very well, and these both came together to make a super solid mood. I didn't get to finish it (stopped by a bug where boosting sideways into a ground panel got me stuck), but the presence of a boss battle is a huge feat for a jam game. I think there could have been a little more explanation of where to go early on, because I felt like I was just wandering around, but other than that, awesome job, and I can't wait to see what comes of this game in the future.
🎤 Coda Highland
20. Oct 2019 · 22:21 UTC
@thepiratenun I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah, I know about the clipping bug; my character controller was designed for characters the same height as a terrain tile, and I decided to focus on getting the game done instead of fixing the issue. I'd never gotten permanently stuck from it, though.

I was hoping to have an intro/tutorial section; I thought it would be really good for engaging the player if you could start out with most of the powers exploring the red server before the worm arrived, and then the signal corruption damage would start and force you to run away, and then there would be a little bit of exposition to explain what happened and what you needed to do. Unfortunately, I lost a few hours during the weekend so I didn't have time to flesh it out the way I wanted.
chuchuw
21. Oct 2019 · 08:02 UTC
Cool. Nice graphics / audio / mood. I got a little lost, I'd suggest adding some "organic" landmarks, like I don't know, a special computer, a yellow tree, a rock shaped like a turtle... something you can see only at one place, so the player knows where he is without a map. I think that's how you don't get lost in dark souls.

Good luck and have fun !
Joshua Young
21. Oct 2019 · 17:23 UTC
Fun platforming and good art. I like the recommendation about the landmarks to help navigate.
gustavo.christino
21. Oct 2019 · 17:42 UTC
Evaluation...

1 - Mechanics and Learning:
The mechanics of gaining new skills by finding collectibles at specific points in the stage (enabling the redefinition of all gameplay at each step and the ability to return to old maps to clear areas) is an interesting proposition.
It didn't take long to understand how to use each skill I collected (I would focus on giving more feedback on what is collected, with some marker on the canvas, which would allow me to explain without having to describe it verbatim on the screen).

2 - Flow:
Having missed the game canvas, life bar, and map so much, I quickly felt anxious and bored (at the same time).
The mechanics were very well developed and I had a great time when I started being able to defeat the most common enemies.

3 - Narrative and Polishing:
I missed narrative within the game (not talking about the explanatory text on the outside).
I believe that in Ludum Dare time it looks great, so it is a suggestion to make the gaming experience even better.
I really liked the graphic art of mobs (I think it is a strong point, I would suggest expanding to more mobs (maybe I have come to some part of the game not allowed me to see them all, I must have seen four or five types).
Music can become repetitive after about ten to fifteen minutes of playing (which increases anxiety about not being able to move forward, a minimap could make it a lot better, and on the part of the sound could soften the music a bit, letting that beat more. accelerated to more tense stages).
Anyway the whole artistic part is to be congratulated for jam time.

4 - Culture:
With greater narrative development comes greater cultural appeal (either by redesigning a narrative, or by better spelling it out through elements in stage).
The main character resembles some robot models (which can be a hook that attracts people who like technology and / or science fiction).
If you delve into this, the nix can be searched (groups in social networks and forums), allowing to deliver the game (or at least mention it by these places).
If you create a Facebook page invite me to like it. ^^

5 - Monetization:
I think with minimap or a new level design (which is quite interesting but could be less labyrinthic (between stages)). Or even adding leveling system for the character to advance in their own abilities ...
With such improvements, if it were in the team's interest, the game could be sold (without ads) to PC in game stores.
Kyle Bowman
21. Oct 2019 · 19:09 UTC
Pretty cool platformer. I liked the different upgrades you can get, the booster especially. The movement was a little glitchy looking when I ran into walls while in mid air or used the booster into the ceiling, but it wasn't awful. I agree with the other suggestions that map or something to guide you would be a nice addition. The same jump sound got annoying very quickly, but the rest was great. Can't wait to see what you make next time!
🎤 Coda Highland
22. Oct 2019 · 14:24 UTC
@gustavo-christino I'm not quite sure how you missed the life bar. It's at the top of the screen?

We had plans for at least two other enemy types, but getting the final boss implemented was a much higher priority.

I wanted to do a lot more with the music but the composer that helped me last time wasn't available this time.
gustavo.christino
23. Oct 2019 · 12:47 UTC
Maybe was something with my computer (about the life bar). ^^'

Gogogo! o/
Suchista
23. Oct 2019 · 21:48 UTC
The size of the world was overwhelming, especially as there was a lot of empty space. It took me a while to find a gun and along with the sword that was all I could take. The snake was buggy as it's parts were floating in all levels, sometimes even in the spawn place. Gameplay was quite fun, I liked jumping monsters. The music was really great! It's a nice game.
RealityCheck
25. Oct 2019 · 20:46 UTC
A nice little platformer you got here. I liked the character and enemy sprites. Music was great too.

I did run into a few issues. First try I didn't know there were randomized levels and I got a map where I couldn't go anywhere... so that was a bit confusing. I mean, litterally... I could go about 1½ screen to the right, jump down a level below and all I would find were enclosing walls - so the the random generation needs to be looked into. Restarted the game and found a much better map. There was also some clipping issues on the platforms I felt and the hitboxes seemed a bit weird.

Still a great idea and nice story. I liked it.