Surround Them! by Aune

[raw]
made by Aune for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

Bonjour !

This is my first solo game jam.

Here is SURROUND THEM!

A rather arcade game where you have to surround your enemies to get rid of them.

However, be careful that your mega-Ultimate lasso of death must not hit the planets full of peaceful life.

DemoLD3.gif DemoLD4.gif

Don't hesitate to suggest improvements - that's how one learns!

Alas my time management did not allow me to make it in compo. But all the elements: gamedesign, music, sound design, props, art, script code, FX were made by me this weekend.

See you !

Ratings

Overall 526th 3.684⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 287th 3.8⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 674th 3.45⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 857th 3.575⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 466th 3.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 200th 3.895⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 896th 2.563⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Mood 834th 3.361⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 10🗳️ 12🗨️

Feedback

BukkakeTears
05. Oct 2020 · 15:13 UTC
Solid entry!

Everything - music, graphics, gameplay - is nice and fits the rest well.

I would also (if you are planning to work on it after game jam) to add some type of enemies that would e.g. break your loop. I found very quickly that the best strategy is to start with huuuuge line/loop and close it when there is no planet inside. It makes game very easy. That's why I suggested that line breaking enemy type.

Good job!
Furano
05. Oct 2020 · 20:02 UTC
Quite a solid entry indeed, especially for a one-man team !

I love the art style and feedbacks are well done without being over the top. It's also really easy to understand, especially with the short explanations.

The only thing I had more trouble with is controlling the ship itself. It might be because it is unusual but I was quite surprise that arrows are moving the ship in their direction (left to move the ship to the left for example) instead of rotating the nose of the ship.
It was however not much a problem anymore after a few attempts.
asfdfdfd
07. Oct 2020 · 22:10 UTC
In case anyone searching for CONTROLS. Use mouse clicks to start the game. Use ARROWS to move and use SHIFT to make trace.

Game reminds me those old porn game that i played on my IBM 286. :)

Great and stylish entry. I had a joy playing it.
Pink shard games
07. Oct 2020 · 22:16 UTC
I LOVED the game, it was really fun and challenging at the same time. I liked the humour behind it aswell, saying that destroying planets is BAD BAD BAD. I see this becoming one of those multiplayer .io games easily. Great job!
CaptainProton42
07. Oct 2020 · 22:17 UTC
I like it! The graphics are nice and closing a circle feels really satisfying. The music is also quite nice.

I could see the controls working better on a controller. Changes in direction felt a bit harsh and having a key directly correspond to the direction you're heading feels a bit weird for a space shooter. However, I quickly got used to it and really enjoyed the game!
Gabriel Dias Oliveira de Almeida
07. Oct 2020 · 22:17 UTC
I looked this kind of games, and it's really funny! ^^
🎤 Aune
07. Oct 2020 · 22:17 UTC
@bukkaketears @furano @asfdfdfd Thanks for your return !
I definitively agree with ennemy that cut the loop thanks

I see what you mean @asfdfdfd ;)
Thank you for the CONTROL note I will add it on the itch page !
Vleue
07. Oct 2020 · 22:24 UTC
congratulation, very nice entry ! everything fits well together

controls are a little surprising, I would have prefer the arrows to move the ships relative to itself (left arrow always turns left, ...)
JakeGilla
09. Oct 2020 · 19:00 UTC
Great work here! Love the style and core concept is really fun! I think theres definetly some room for tuning, I think adjusting the collision tolerance for "completing the loop" to be a little more forgiving. Also, as someone mentioned, the best strategy seems to be making a BIG loop, so maybe some of "loop fuel" that recharges would encourage more varied play. Those criticisms aside this is great!
🎤 Aune
12. Oct 2020 · 09:01 UTC
Hi @pink-shard-games @captainproton42 @vleue @jakegilla @gabriel-dias-oliveira-de-almeida !

Thank you for your compliments and for your advice!
I completely agree with the improvements proposed :)

About the **controls** it's quite interesting:
- The casual players seem to prefer the version I made. (The *snake-like*)
- LD47 and **I** prefer to "project" themselves into the ship. The question I ask myself is:
What if I change the player sprite to a sphere? Wouldn't it be better for us?
Garywiss
13. Oct 2020 · 09:47 UTC
Fun game with a nice concept ! It should be better to be able to restart the game without using the mouse and I feel like the hitbox of the ship was a bit too big. Apart from that it is a very solid entry and I like the music, Good job !
mediyaz
13. Oct 2020 · 09:52 UTC
Great stuff - really polished! You make a really interesting point in your comment about controls - it seems there's no right way to do space shooter-style controls! You always get some people preferring one way or the other. I've made games where direction is relative to the ship (turning left/right, acceleration/brake) and games where direction is absolute (up to move to the top of the screen, down to move to the bottom, etc).

I think for people more familiar with the theming, a space setting with a 4-way control scheme suggests that you will have a large open space to explore and you will do so with vehicular controls to help you get into the fantasy of being a pilot of a spacecraft.

However, because your game is locked to a specific region with a camera that doesn't follow the player and the gameplay feels more action-arcade rather than action-adventure - it makes total sense to use the control scheme you did - the gameplay is more like snake or a twin-stick shooter.

Well done - beautiful game, well made!
Flying Dog Fish
14. Oct 2020 · 18:02 UTC
This is a great game, very fun to play and good looking. The only problem I had was that sometimes after restart the ship moved in downward direction and immediately crashed on the bottom wall.
peterfonts
17. Oct 2020 · 09:28 UTC
Wow! Great game! Very engaging! Perhaps you can highlight when the player has a new record, with that the players will be more motivated to improve his mark. Also, I'm confusing with how many times I receive damage until I died... perhaps a simple HUD can improve that. Adding camera shakes and effects when the player receives damage or dies, etc. can improve the gamefeel. Despite that, it's an amazing game! Congrats!
VPhyre
19. Oct 2020 · 18:26 UTC
A creative game. I liked the mechanics of surrounding enemies to defeat them, for sure it's something very different and unique. It is an excellent interpretation of the theme. The graphics are beautiful and the sound is well produced. Every audio-visual part matches well. Congratulations.