1922: The Unfortunate Olympian by Mark Keeble

[raw]
made by Mark Keeble for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

This is my first game jam and I had a ton of fun with the game. It's definitely a little rough around the edges but I'm still proud of what I accomplished alongside my teammates.

Story: It's 1922 and you have the honor of carrying the torch across the great metropolitan plane. As you're running, carelessly I might add, you trip and fall into a manhole that was left open by some lackadaisical construction workers. You're stuck, at the bottom of a reasonably sized sewer-system, infested with green slime and overflowing with water. You have only the waning light of your torch keeping you safe.

You have to traverse through the sewer, jumping from platform to platform, and from platform to ladder, and maybe even ladder to platform... Keep safe, and keep your torch out of the water.

Keep the torch ALIVE!

pic1.PNG pic2.PNG

Made for Ludum Dare (46)

Controls:

Move Left - A

Move Right - D

Jump - Space

Float (In Water) - Space

Climb Ladder - W

Aim Torch with your mouse

Throw your torch by either holding left-click for a second then release for maximum power, or just click for a weak throw.

Pick your torch back up - E

Tools: Unity Visual Studio 2019 FL Studio Audacity Piskel

Credits: Programming: Or1beau Visuals: Tipiika A Single Sound: Mo

Ratings

Overall 1857th 3.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1789th 3.043⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 2092th 2.804⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1610th 3.478⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 853th 3.875⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 936th 3.31⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 862th 3.583⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

bubbadubc
22. Apr 2020 · 01:08 UTC
Overall, I was wrapped up in the environment and the atmosphere. I think the control scheme is a weird. Perhaps making the up arrow jump instead of space, since we also need to use the mouse. I got locked out of the next area two times and gave up. Also there was no mention of picking up the torch with e after dropping it in the tutorial, so I ended up dying in there after not being able to see anything. It seemed like it would be interesting to actually play though. I hope you update the controls after jam.
🎤 Mark Keeble
23. Apr 2020 · 08:23 UTC
Thanks for the feedback bubba! I definetely get what you're saying about the controls. Something felt off even when I was playing it myself, just couldn't figure out the best control scheme in time for submission. Also sorry about forgetting to mention how to pick up the torch! I guess it slipped my mind :sob:

And yeah, I was aware of the fact that you could get locked out of areas and wanted to fix it but just didn't have time. I'm probably gonna atleast fix the controls and the lockout, and who knows, maybe I'll try to flesh out the idea a little bit more.
SimanSimon
23. Apr 2020 · 09:07 UTC
This is certainly an interesting game. The graphics and sounds are on-point in my opinion. I died a lot of times, and am a little bit confused about the map. The controls are a bit weird, but I could get used to it. The story's interesting too :D Overall, pretty nice game, well done!
pixnpickstudio
23. Apr 2020 · 09:49 UTC
Very well done! Controls are smooth A nice entry! Pixel art and light are well done! Great entry
Emperor Eagle
05. May 2020 · 06:02 UTC
Cool game! I enjoyed what I got to play of it. I couldn't get past the water bit in the tutorial as the valve wouldn't do anything (I tried three times after relaunching it). Other than that, I can see this game is great. Good audio and great graphics! Smooth and well made, and the tutorial was good but some colliders to ensure all the next text isn't triggered before you've read the current one would be good. Other than that, smooth controls, the gameplay felt intuitive, and it had a great mood! Good job overall!
hiro.e
05. May 2020 · 06:48 UTC
I love the pixel art! Nice entry!
mhsco
05. May 2020 · 20:03 UTC
Liked the concept, but had a few bugs, torch clipped through the floor a couple times, and I couldn't figure out how to fill the room with water, the valve didn't seem to turn. Looks nice, wanted to play more just couldn't!
emil0227
07. May 2020 · 11:18 UTC
Loved the graphic and the mood a lot !
kantal
09. May 2020 · 09:28 UTC
This one looks very good for a game jam.
joe40001
10. May 2020 · 05:09 UTC
Got to the "wait how do I get out?" part but it never had any water/liquid, also the door didn't close behind be it just went down and then through the ground. I tried interacting with the button but nothing happened. Without the water there I think it might not be possible to advance.

Good art/atmosphere though.
phi
10. May 2020 · 07:06 UTC
Is there only a Windows build? I would have loved to play it, it looks awesome, but I'm on Linux. If it's not possible to build for other OS, please tag the link correctly (right now it's tagged as "Source Code"), so people don't spend valuable seconds downloading and unzipping ;)
Ceuteum
10. May 2020 · 07:07 UTC
Liked the atmosphere, reverbated sounds and light shaders were really adding to that. Felt like I had an important mission, too. Tutorial ended after I extinguished the torch by accidentally putting it through a door that got automatically locked, but I noped out of it and went back without thinking, felt like a big brain moment, haha. Navigation feels a bit confusing overall, combined with overall fast pace due to liquid going up and all that, but I'm not sure if that was the intention, because on one hand "oh my god where do I go", on other hand it gives some thrill to the gameplay; clearly some can like that and some can dislike that.

Anyways, that was a fun game, nice job!
Prackli
10. May 2020 · 07:11 UTC
Liked the art and the look, there were many bugs with the doors. I would consider adding a better combat system and make the slimes more deadly. Overal nice game I liked it.
Gelgavish
10. May 2020 · 07:58 UTC
I really like the art and the audio of the game, they were amazing! The story is really quite original as well.

I have two things I think you can improve:
- The controls are super weird, make it that 'W' and 'Space' will do the same thing (it's pretty confusing to have Space for jumping and W for ladders)
- Make the water physics better, right now you can get into a loop that you start floating normally and as you float you're getting deeper and deeper and get out of the water higher and higher

But overall, it's a really fun and cute game, especially for your first Ludum Dare game, good job :D
fabula_rasa
10. May 2020 · 09:03 UTC
You download is marked wrong - it's marked as Source Code and it's not, it's a Windows build. Also, you forgot to mention "E" to pick up a torch in your keybindings explanation. But onto the game!

I found graphics very pleasant and I wish there were more sounds/background music to compliment the atmosphere. The concept is quite fun and funny. I, sadly, had a pretty buggy experience with the game itself. For example:
- I pressed a valve to "empty the room" and first of all, the room didn't empty and second of all, my torch went out for some reason when I pressed the valve.
- Many times, the water didn't seem to spawn at all. I was in a room where my character was even mentioning that I can float with space but there was no water. That made the room impossible to finish.
- I saw a wall close behind me, yet it just disappeared when I went a bit further and came back.

I am a proper bug magnet :wink:
Pierre CILLUFFO
10. May 2020 · 09:19 UTC
So, I'm not going to lie, I couldn't try the game entirely because of numerous bugs that prevented it.
To be more precise, I launched the game three times and I never managed to go far.

- The first time, everything is fine at the start, I finish the tutorial and start the "real" game. However, comes the first time when the water rises and there, I get lost between being able to swim / float in the water and the fact that I have a ladder right in front of me that doesn't work when you're in the water. After that, I continued and ended up falling between a platform at 1 block high, a wall and a ladder in front of me. And there, whatever actions I do, nothing works. So I leave the game by forcing the closure because, I did not find an option to leave the game.
- The second time, I repeat the tutorial and I block at the end because the water doesn't want rise to kill me and allow me to continue. And then again, I force the game to close.
- The third is similar, to the second except that, I manage to bug the door of the last by activating it by entering and exiting as early. So the door doesn't stop. But otherwise, same bug as before, the water does not go up I force the closing of the game.

Otherwise, overall, I think I would liked the game if the bugs had not prevented me to go forward and the absence of a sound atmosphere (or it's very weak) is felt.
Valeth2124
10. May 2020 · 10:20 UTC
Gives off Terraria vibes right there, a solid platformer and excellent pixel lighting/shading. Full 5/5 in tthe graphics and fun categories ^^.
🎤 Mark Keeble
10. May 2020 · 10:26 UTC
To all the people that left reviews, thank you so much. It really means a lot and I appreciate all of the feedback.

Yeah the game is really buggy, idk what to say other than that haha. It sucks because I myself really like the concept of the game and the art my partner made, and it feels like all the bugs take away from the experience. For that, I'm sorry.

At some point in the future, I'll probably return to the project and remake a lot of the systems in place to make the game at least playable. Ideally though, I already have some ideas in mind for modifications to how the water works as well as most importantly, how I can code the doors in a less stupid way lmao!

Regardless, once again, thank you all for your time, I really do appreciate it!
eduardogacn
10. May 2020 · 19:09 UTC
overall good game.

At first I did not know that the torch should be grasped with the E.

The art and the accompanying text were very well the same.

Nice job.