LudumData

Eggspiration Date by Nash

[raw]
made by Nash for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

screenshot_3.png

Note about graphics! The bird model, rigging and animations were made by our team. We would like to have feedback related to the bird. Trees, rocks and fences are from open source assets. Please ignore them in your reviews.

A 3D platformer game about finding eggs and getting them to safety before they grow moldy. You play as a cute seagull that has arrived on a deserted island. The island is full of eggs that have been stolen from their nest. Your task is to return the eggs to safety. Watch out for sneaky terns that often steal eggs for lunch.

The game has been heavily inspired by classic 3D platformers like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot.

Game features

  • Snappy controls. Jump and glide around like a real seagull.
  • A beautiful, hand-crafted island to explore.
  • A homage to old classic 3D platformers like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot.

How to play

WASD to move. Space to jump and fly. Mouse to turn the camera.

Controllers are also supported but not in menus.

Collect eggs and stash them in nests before they grow moldy.

Team

  • Game Design and Programming - F1nde and Nash
  • Character modeling, rigging, and animation - Nash

Attributions

  • Kenney (https://www.kenney.nl/) - for tree, rock, and fence 3D models and sound effects
  • InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) - for the sea ambient sounds
  • George Edward Purdy - The Cartoonist Kooky font
Windows https://nashtanir.itch.io/eggspiration-date#download
macOS https://nashtanir.itch.io/eggspiration-date#download
Source code https://bitbucket.org/teamnorman/ludumdare50/src/master/
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/eggspiration-date

Ratings

Given 49🗳️ 83🗨️

Feedback

Gotova
04. Apr 2022 · 18:25 UTC
Such a cute game! Since you specifically asked for reviews of the bird model: It fit the rest of the game very well! If there is anything to remark at all I'd say the walking animation looks a bit like it's Ice Skating, maybe because it's quite fast while the animation itself is quite slow.
I'm not sure where the inevitability in this game is though :o Good work though!
LDJam user 212364
04. Apr 2022 · 18:49 UTC
The concept was nice and the art was great. The jumping and gliding were a bit difficult to use and seemed inconsistent but there were only a few short platforming sections so I was able to get though it although the arch thing was a headache and I almost quit at that point trying to get to that egg. Also, you should allow the camera to move through the invisible walls that prevent you from going outside the island.
cluster7ck
04. Apr 2022 · 19:28 UTC
I liked the art, the mood and the gliding. The jump was a little floaty for my taste
HadMatter00
04. Apr 2022 · 19:32 UTC
This game was super cute!! It was really fun finding all the eggs. I felt like the flying mechanic wasn't working right or I wasn't understanding it correctly since I really struggled to climb up the arched pillar rock formation to get that egg. A little bit of the "How to play" screen blends into the background as well.
Fromage
05. Apr 2022 · 00:54 UTC
I think the bird looked great! I think I'm detecting worry circles around it's eyes and that looks great! The movement does look a bit floaty though, I agreed with Gotova.
🎤 Nash
05. Apr 2022 · 07:25 UTC
@fromage Thanks for playing and taking time to comment! Funnily enough, those worry circles were not planned. The way I added cel shading just ended up generating those circles around the eyes. We ended up liking them so we left them in.

Many people have commented about the floaty movement so clearly that is something we can improve!
🎤 Nash
05. Apr 2022 · 07:28 UTC
@hadmatter00 Thanks for playing and taking time to comment! I think we should have called it "gliding" instead of "flying". It is not supposed to push played upwards and just make the player fall slower. So if you have played Spyro games it is very similar to how Spyro glides.

Also, a good point about the blurry background. It ended up not working as expected on all backgrounds.
🎤 Nash
05. Apr 2022 · 07:29 UTC
@cluster7ck Thanks for playing and taking time to comment! Many people in these comments have mentioned about the floaty movement. Clearly that is something we can improve!
🎤 Nash
05. Apr 2022 · 07:31 UTC
@jogy34 Thanks for playing and taking time to comment! We appreciate the feedback about some platforming challenges being too annoying.

Also, good point about the camera and level bounds. That should be an easy fix!
🎤 Nash
05. Apr 2022 · 07:36 UTC
@gotova Thanks for playing and taking time to comment! A good point about walking feeling like "ice skating". I think in testing we felt the character was too slow and we ended up increasing the movement speed. The animation did not work too well in high speeds so that was what we settled in. Maybe it would require some changes to the model and the animation to make it look better.
GameDevAlexandr
05. Apr 2022 · 10:44 UTC
Very cute game. Black birds run very fast, it is difficult to keep up with them. I am glad that the game is easy to understand, you immediately know what and how to do. Good job
Iluvatar
05. Apr 2022 · 11:18 UTC
I really loved that adorable chicken, I especially enjoyed nice polished physics and that "double jump/fly" mechanic, it was cool to jump and fly around :) felt like I had a lot of freedom. Gameplay itself was chill and really loved that relaxing sunny island environment, totally fits the vibes.


PS: I saw your game yesteday, and wanted to play it as soon as I saw it, but I was on my old laptop, and it would take ages to downloand 500 MB, haha. Luckily, I downloaded it today on my PC. But Maybe next time it would be better to scope for smaller games, in case not everyone can afford downloading such huge files. It would be a shame not to try your amazing game :)
lolopupka
05. Apr 2022 · 12:00 UTC
Really like the artstyle great game!
Mikado
05. Apr 2022 · 12:39 UTC
Nice graphics! As the others have said, the movement physics and all were too difficult. There is no friction at all, so when i tried jumping on platforms i just slipped past them. And i don't really get the flying mechanic, i guess it's just to jump higher, but i thought you could actually fly across the island. I understand it's a game jam though, so it's ok :)
Martinek
05. Apr 2022 · 15:24 UTC
Cute game. The jump was a bit floaty and I youldn't get used to it. Art was great.
Ferociter
05. Apr 2022 · 17:08 UTC
Very pleasant game, I liked exploring the island. Chasing down the other birds served as nice little challenges. Finally, as others have mentioned, the visuals are quite good!
I could't manage to get to the egg on the high tree to the North East, although I might try again.
Ghost_Wave
05. Apr 2022 · 17:10 UTC
I enjoyed playing this, the biggest criticism I have is that I feel the moldy egg mechanic doesn't add much to the game. Other than that, good work.
Tieran
05. Apr 2022 · 17:10 UTC
Such a cute game and cool concept as well. The game is easy to know what you're meant to do and who doesn't want to be a chicken?!
Timur_Bahadir
05. Apr 2022 · 17:11 UTC
I liked the visuals :) Looked really cute! I think some more movement control while in the air/jumping would have helped a lot ^^
akitl
05. Apr 2022 · 17:18 UTC
i can fly like bird .. or not, cool game and i love games where you can plan
SAGIII
05. Apr 2022 · 17:23 UTC
Hello! The game is really cute and the idea is great but it needs a challenge.
Lukein
05. Apr 2022 · 17:49 UTC
Simple and cool idea, nice job at putting it together. It makes for a really nice exploration/platform game. Although the collecting mechanic as an overarching objective is a bit dull, it could use some secondary stuff like platform puzzle or some interaction with the environment or some kind of enemies maybe.
LDJam user 280189
05. Apr 2022 · 19:17 UTC
Cool game! I really like the bird model.

Feedback:
- Jump felt floaty, would like it if there was a bit more control.
- Tree trunk collider was too big, about twice the size of the actual trunk
- I didn't understand how to get the egg on top of the arched pillar


![unknown.png](///raw/d76/44/z/4cc97.png)
Dan Smith
05. Apr 2022 · 20:28 UTC
Love the colour palette and light tone. Controls felt a little slow, especially while in the air, but good job overall :)
FloGames
05. Apr 2022 · 20:33 UTC
Oh I liked this one, it's the blocky bird version of Breath of the Wild :D I had fun exploring the Island and chasing the thieves. The look is simple but fits the style of the game. I really appreciate the mini-map. The soothing sound of the ocean waves is oddly calming, almost meditative. I echo what Kazuren above says, jump is a bit floaty and the egg on the stone arc seems impossible to get (at least I didn't get it ._.). Otherwise, good job!
yusovv
05. Apr 2022 · 21:25 UTC
I'm currently playing Spyro with my kid in my free time, he saw me playing your game and asked "Is this a new part of Spyro with a different hero?"
Do not abandon this project, it deserves to be sold in the market! Top score!
silkmeloni
05. Apr 2022 · 23:56 UTC
I like the graphics, espacially the cute bird! The controller is full of fun. Nice game for relaxing!
ToasterTot
06. Apr 2022 · 01:51 UTC
I really liked this game! The soothing wave sounds and just being a bird hopping and gliding around the island was so peaceful. And then things got intense trying to chase those bandits! I found the best way to get them quick was to get the drop of them from above, by jumping off a tree or something. The egg on top of the arch stumped me for a while until I realized that I could tap space twice really fast and then hold it to jump higher!

![all eggs saved.png](///raw/e30/44/z/4cf53.png)
arya-s
06. Apr 2022 · 13:45 UTC
Neat little game! The platforming felt surprisingly good, I think it's hard to pull that off in 3D specifically.
I really liked the bird model, had a laugh when I turned it around and it stare at me :)

One thing I struggled with was catching those thieves. Pesky little buggers.
trit_techne
06. Apr 2022 · 16:15 UTC
I like the bird design because it is creepy cute.
I like how the vertex shader deforms the trees.
Overall, nice atmosphere of the game.
LDJam user 139668
06. Apr 2022 · 18:32 UTC
Very nice and cute graphics!

Thank you for the game :3
SIGILL
06. Apr 2022 · 21:46 UTC
Cute little game. I don't have a lot to add that hasn't been said before; movement and jumping could use some improvement (I particularly missed some air control), thieves are very fast and I'm not sure what caused me to finally catch them (it felt random), tree hitboxes are annoyingly big, gliding could use some work (I felt the effect was too small, especially when activating it after already building up some falling speed). And the egg on the coastal arch seemed terribly annoying to get, partially caused by a combination of the above factors.

Now don't get me wrong, despite only mentioning these possible points of improvement I don't mean to say this is all just a bad game. I still enjoyed it up until the point where I needed to get the arch-egg (heh). The art style is cute and the setting feels relaxing.
JoeDev
06. Apr 2022 · 22:49 UTC
Very cute, I love the bird's cell shader that reacts so nicely to the light. I wish the rest had been in the same style but of course its a gamejam and there's always time constraints! The gameplay was simple but satisfying, and I liked gliding around (though wish the flying had a bit more control and oomph to it). Good job!
Frostbiiten
07. Apr 2022 · 00:51 UTC
Cool, simple game. It was a bit laggy on my laptop but that's on me. I liked the art direction but I believe the movement could use a bit of tweaking. Sometimes it felt a bit slow so I think maybe some more "substance" could be added.
Bitlytic
07. Apr 2022 · 03:06 UTC
I really liked the shading and feel of the island, as well as the ambient noise playing in the background. There was one egg that was a bit tricky to get because you had to double tab space quickly and it felt like it was exploiting the physics a bit, but other than that it was fun.
captainexpo
08. Apr 2022 · 00:52 UTC
The bird was really cute. Good Job.
Anaxie Studio
08. Apr 2022 · 14:11 UTC
Really cute game, the atmosphere was really nice and very calming. Even though I didn't get the egg on the stone structure, it was very fun to get all the (other) eggs, good job :)
Quite Good
08. Apr 2022 · 16:48 UTC
You're damn right I am the egg lord![Screenshot 2022-04-08 124817.png](///raw/e90/93/z/4d8c4.png)
nardandas
08. Apr 2022 · 20:53 UTC
I really liked the mood of the game, very cute! I thought the character controller was a bit wonky. I didn't quite understand why sometimes I jumped so much higher, but I eventually got everywhere. The lighting on the arch was a bit wonky so it took my quite a while to figure out where was safe to stand.

Now about the chicken model - it was cute as heck! I really liked the material choice as well, it worked really well with the world! I thought the animations didn't quite match the gameplay, but aside from that it was awesome!
Proxy-Games
10. Apr 2022 · 06:38 UTC
Nice game. The rigging and animation on the bird were very nicely one, and I couldn't see any stretching from it or anything like that. The character slipped around a bit too much for my taste, as it got very troublesome attempting to control the bird's glide. The thiefs were a nice little gameplay touch, and the general soundscape is nice and fitting. I do wish there was music though. I did manage to collect all the eggs-even the one on the tall stony tower. I did feel like the game didn't match the theme well, overall. Despite that, I enjoyed my time walking and flying around the little island. Good job.
Skleembof
10. Apr 2022 · 17:00 UTC
The bird model looked good and the animations were nice and fluid. The background noise and the environment assets created a nice atmosphere.
The character controller however was unsatisfying to use because of how you implemented the flying. It felt more like slowly falling than flying and it never behaved quite like I expected it to. I think you should have the player tap the fly button to make the bird flap its wings and gain altitude. That way the player gets feedback and will feel like they're more in control of the character.