LudumData

The return of Bill by Rooster And Frétillant

[raw]
made by Rooster And Frétillant for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

TheReturnOfBill.png

Bill the Gerbil is back ! :mouse:

After a training with NASA, the Nothing Artificial Intelligence, Bill has been dematerialized by the professor to become a better mouse. :call_me:

Stuck in several loops, you will have to learn new skills to leave the virtual universe.

Are you ready to play Bill the Gerbil and escape from the virtual universe ?

:musicalnote: Music (composed for the game during the week-end :sunglasses: :musicalkeyboard: ) :

  • Move On / Arthur Ewalis Music (main theme)
  • Final March / Arthur Ewalis Music (victory theme)
Youtube https://roosterandfretillant.itch.io/still-bill-the-gerbil
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/the-return-of-bill

Ratings

Overall 866th 3.449⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Fun 926th 3.244⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1062th 3.09⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1044th 3.372⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 967th 3.375⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 276th 3.808⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Humor 309th 3.487⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 817th 3.375⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 51🗨️

Feedback

DreamerofDays
05. Oct 2020 · 19:09 UTC
Nice and funny game. The jump feels a bit to fast and not realy animal like. Took me a while to understand what i needed to do and where to press enter.
hyblis
05. Oct 2020 · 19:23 UTC
Nice game! I struggled to understand the wall jump at first
MoHDI
05. Oct 2020 · 19:26 UTC
I love the concept. It must have been fun coming up with different loop puzzles. Seems like something that'd be fun to expand on.
🎤 Rooster And Frétillant
06. Oct 2020 · 07:37 UTC
@dreamerofdays @hyblis @mohdi Thanks for your comments, you did play the alpha version, we pushed a new version right before the end of the jam if you want to see the difference ^^
Nazorus
06. Oct 2020 · 11:37 UTC
Nice take on the theme, being stuck in a programming loop! It was fun to explore the different levels and unlock skills to reach new areas. Also that intro was hilarious. The only thing I would improve is to add a text box that explains how to use the wall climbing and gliding skills, it took me a while to figure out.

PS: I smiled at the "while(trou)" :grin:
Daitse
06. Oct 2020 · 11:52 UTC
@nazorus thanks for the feedback ! There is a (undocumented >< ) way to see the controls, press "H" while in a level and it will tell you how to glide. The climbing part however is completely undocumented for now...
PS: Thanks, we even considered spelling it "oui le(trou)" but decided it was a bit too French ;)
Vodkhard
06. Oct 2020 · 13:44 UTC
good looking game but don't understand the real link with the theme
vsi-
06. Oct 2020 · 13:45 UTC
the idea is interesting an funny
noxymu5
06. Oct 2020 · 13:53 UTC
Overall good experience and music is really amayzing. I think the fact that you have to finish level by going through the door, can be annoying, for example, when you entered the level by mistake. Also I think controls for the equipment should be shown at the time of acquiring it, because it may be unclear for player how to use it at that moment.
Daitse
06. Oct 2020 · 14:01 UTC
@noxymu5 thanks for the feedback ! You're right about the controls for the equipment, we should give more feedback on its usage ! We could add an option to get out of the level I suppose... it's true the door in the second one is a bit far...
Heho
06. Oct 2020 · 14:02 UTC
really well executed. graphics fit the idea well and the mechanics are introduced in a meaningful manner.
Scharma
06. Oct 2020 · 14:06 UTC
![gerbil.png](///raw/545/f2/z/39094.png)

I still don't quite understand the win condition, but had fun along the way haha. The metroidvania upgrades were nice, and the platform did the job, but the jump felt strange. My favourite was the wall climbing.

The intro was superb! I usually dont like those, but you guys made an incredible job with this one. Well done, lads :)
MerlinnSound
06. Oct 2020 · 14:12 UTC
Really cool idea! I had no problems with the controls at all. The intro was hilarious in the best sense, the level menu surprising. In the game screen I thought, oh it's just a platformer, but you surprised me again with the idea, that you have to find gadgets to progress. Also the music is amazing.
Daitse
06. Oct 2020 · 14:18 UTC
@heho @merlinnsound @scharma thanks for the feedback ! Yes, the jump is weird ... we did not manage to tweak it to make it feel right :/
InefficientChunkOfCode
06. Oct 2020 · 14:32 UTC
Great idea! Nice and cute! It's the very **TROU**th!

(I really liked that pun... xD)

Good job! I really enjoyed playing it!
bordonne
06. Oct 2020 · 19:55 UTC
Excellent game, I loved the water effect.
Asue
06. Oct 2020 · 21:42 UTC
There are a lot of good ideas in the game. First of all the little intro at the beginning is very nice. The music is also really good. I think it's a good idea to have to collect objects to advance through the levels. There are some problems with the sprites and the character's jumps are complicated to do, but otherwise it's a good game. Well done :)
Jamster
07. Oct 2020 · 00:33 UTC
Really liked changing outfits, and the water effect was really well done. I agree about the jumping mechanics being slightly off, but overall very fun. Also, don't put in the skip button! you probably worked hard on the cutscene, and it's worth watching.
Ponoran
07. Oct 2020 · 06:50 UTC
@jamster @asue thank you ! We had fun to realize this cinematic intro, so epic ! :smile_cat:
SaraFilipa
07. Oct 2020 · 07:13 UTC
The intro was really good. I like this game a lot, but it's a bit hard to understand in the beginning. But otherwise -- top notch game, great sound, great audio, solid entry.
DrJexter
07. Oct 2020 · 07:22 UTC
I enjoyed the programming humor, we thought about doing the same but went a different way.

The game controls could be a little difficult at times, it also took me a good long while to understand how to use the kite. overall I enjoyed playing the game. I did end up getting stuck in one of the levels, regardless of the door I was unable to get out. Guess I got caught in a loop lol
riroriro
07. Oct 2020 · 07:23 UTC
I love that the menu system was in a loop. It is a fun game, I love the metroidvania style. The music was great - what an achievement to get that created in a weekend as well!
hadesfury
07. Oct 2020 · 07:30 UTC
fun how it is stuck in a loop :)
Ponoran
07. Oct 2020 · 08:10 UTC
@riroriro Thank you very much, the music was composed on Logic Pro with some Arturia synths. It was a challenge to compose it in few hours. :timer: :smile:
Daitse
07. Oct 2020 · 08:28 UTC
@drjexter which level got you stuck ?
DrJexter
07. Oct 2020 · 09:46 UTC
@daitse Disregard lol, I was dry...
Daitse
07. Oct 2020 · 09:48 UTC
@drjexter alright ! We did encounter a bug where you can get stuck in another level though, we will try and fix it later.
Eugenik
07. Oct 2020 · 10:53 UTC
A nice take on this type of game, good job!
Yword
07. Oct 2020 · 14:40 UTC
Cool idea and skills! And the music is great too! ^_^
Xbdoblex
07. Oct 2020 · 18:05 UTC
I should say that the intro and audio are absolutely amazing! but I got stuck here and I couldn't play this videogame :cry: ![bill.png](///raw/d2d/43/z/39807.png)
Daitse
07. Oct 2020 · 18:16 UTC
@xbdoblex use the "S" key to cycle through the 3 levels and use "Enter" to enter a level. The first time they must be played in order, start with "explore_mountain()" and go from there :) Good Luck !
Shimali
09. Oct 2020 · 15:52 UTC
This was fun! The music´s great! Good job!
blobo
09. Oct 2020 · 18:16 UTC
Now **that** is some incredible synthwork on the music. My lord those arpeggios! Hot dang. Stunning work, and I love the story!
gorrgolem
10. Oct 2020 · 12:19 UTC
Very cool, the concept is clever and fun, with nice graphics and audio, resulting in a very nice experience.
chispaLBC
25. Oct 2020 · 16:18 UTC
The game has a couple comunication problems, specially the controlls. I also was a little confused because i didnt't see the "winning condition" and i didn't understand why i couldn't use the door. (i managed to win tho)

That being said, the game is really cool overall. An introduction with voice acting is unusual for a jam game (although being a team helps a lot i guess). The mechanics are fun, the music is really cool, and the mouse is cute.

so in short i really liked it and good job!
Flying Dog Fish
25. Oct 2020 · 16:23 UTC
Great game with beautiful graphics and music. The theme is incorporated nicely with that piece of code. The platforming was fun, only the jumping was weird as it happened too fast to control.