Diamond Dive by LDJam user 400253

[raw]
made by LDJam user 400253 for Ludum Dare 57 (JAM)

Dive for diamonds and don't get crushed by spikes! Try to gather as many diamonds as possible in the shortest amount of time.

cover.png

NOTE: This game is incomplete, I stopped working on it before the time ran out for the compo.

Bug fixes: (after 48h) * Rev2: fixes a hidden diamond collection bug inflating diamond count

No Audio

Controls: * keyboard or xbox 360 compatible controller * wasd/left stick - move * j/A button - accept

Like my previous entry, this is build in a custom C like programming language for windows using OpenGL. I am reusing a lot of code for rendering and other systems from a previous project, the gameplay and presentation however was done from scratch.

I'm not doing the compo since I am not gonna share my whole codebase, since I'm using it for future commercial projects. (this includes my compiler for my custom language and my game dev framework that I build up so far)

Free Palestine!

Ratings

Given 26🗳️ 1🗨️

Feedback

xpoho
07. Apr 2025 · 08:39 UTC
![изображение_2025-04-07_153909354.png](///raw/d14/a3/z/6a110.png)

Nice game! I own my personall record now ^_^ Good luck!
OnlinE_Play
07. Apr 2025 · 19:52 UTC
I really appreciate everyone who can create custom game renderers. The game is cool and honestly feels complete
Istok
08. Apr 2025 · 18:44 UTC
Looks good, but sometimes the map generates hopeless situations. But I like the game!
Maskrosen
09. Apr 2025 · 19:27 UTC
Good job, especially in such a short time! Also impressive to do a game jam with your own language. The game is an interesting idea and could work even better as a multiplayer game.
🎤 LDJam user 400253
10. Apr 2025 · 13:18 UTC
I might add a multiplayer mode after the jam, thanks for the idea!
Clink
13. Apr 2025 · 10:12 UTC
The overall concept is solid. You have a basis for something good here. But the game in it's current state isn't too enjoyable, or at least I didn't get much enjoyment out of it. There's a few changes I'd suggest to make the run-to-run experience less frustrating.

Firstly, the countdown at the top of the screen could possibly be changed to a bar that depletes with time. As it stands, before you get a grasp on how much you have left after reading the prompt, that time will have already ran out. To combat that, I had to simply disregard the timer completely, and play as if it wasn't there at all, which isn't good considering that it's supposed to aid the player, without diverting them from their task.


It might also help to put the timer closer to either the middle or the bottom of the screen. Having it all the way up only adds to the "takes your attention away from the action" aspect. Perhaps the timer's placement wouldn't be as much of an issue if the player was given more time per stage.

Lastly, having the time be randomised makes the whole thing feel unfair. But the fault lies in how vast the time difference can be, rather than the fact it's randomised in the first place.
I know it's meant to be a part of the challenge, but I don't think shortening the disparities would take away from the game's difficulty.

Hope to see your project grow, and good luck with your future commercial endeavours!
🎤 LDJam user 400253
13. Apr 2025 · 10:28 UTC
@clink
Thanks for taking the time to give so much detailed feedback!

I agree that properly visualizing the timer would add much to the game.

The timer however is not random, it gets reduced every fall and resets to the full length after a fixed set of falls. Which then also increase the block density.
Making the reset more visible would also improve it, right now all I show is a fading out text that the block density increased >.< (and this was suppose to give you a hint that the timer also reset)

Hope this helps a bit and I really appreciate the feedback!
Ty Victorson
19. Apr 2025 · 08:37 UTC
Clink pretty much sums up all the thoughts I had, moving the timer down and being a bit clearer on the mechanics like the timer reset you mentioned but other than that I think you did a great job especially since you made it all from scratch! I'm looking forward to future updates if you decide to polish up the game more or add new features!
HolyBlackCat
20. Apr 2025 · 13:54 UTC
Sadly crashes at startup for me in Wine. Crash report: https://pastebin.com/HLiFJzaZ

Not gonna be easy debugging this without the address sanitizer. :P
🎤 LDJam user 400253
20. Apr 2025 · 20:10 UTC
@holyblackcat I was told it worked fine with proton?
But I don't know if you want to go through the trouble of trying :D
Tkap1
20. Apr 2025 · 21:13 UTC
Nice! My record was 19 diamonds
🎤 LDJam user 400253
20. Apr 2025 · 21:16 UTC
@tkap1 prove it! :P
Tkap1
20. Apr 2025 · 21:27 UTC
I forgot the image! ![deleteme.png](///raw/121/c5/z/6c5cb.png)