💥Boom Rail🚂 by Dingbat

[raw]
made by Dingbat for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

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About Boom Rail

Boom Rail is a procedurally generated roguelite where you command a train. Armed with your rifle and carrying what little gold you have left, you seek freedom in some far away land. Trade with towns, manage resources, and increase your fleet, while driving deeper into the badlands.

Warning! This Game is Hard! 😬

Turns out 30 minutes isn't enough time to playtest difficulty 😅

Tips & Tricks

• Bullets have velocity, so lead your shots!

• Any town will heal you if stop

• Every item can only go in certain storage (FluidCar, BoxCar, FlatCar, WagonCar)

• Items for sale at one town are likely worth more at another

• The map is your friend!

Ratings

Given 7🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

Sharky3188
Apr 20th · 14:44 UTC
This is a really cool compo entry. I love the feeling it gives off, going on this random adventure, fun to see a different take on trains and signals :D.
I would have loved a bit more feedback on the hits on the enemy, and it felt a little tedious with spam clicking the rifle, so maybe less hits to kill?
Overall though, really solid entry.
🎤 Dingbat
Apr 20th · 15:35 UTC
@sharky3188 thanks! Yeah I definitely didn't have enough time to polish the combat as much as I would've liked. I planned on having other weapons like bombs to throw and hiring mercs to sit on the train and auto attack as things got more difficult but just spent too much time getting the train, railroad, and shop systems to behave 😅 thanks for the feedback!
William Corrin
Apr 21st · 00:29 UTC
Ok, first off, this is a really impressive entry and has just about everything going for it - enemies, tons of tracks, a minimap, shooting, etc... Just a soundtrack is whats missing really!

I had fun stacking my train length and thought it was really unique to gear up by simply stopping at towns.

I really only have 2 pieces of criticism: the enemies need some feedback when you hit them, the bullet kind of just disappears and its a bit awkward. More importantly though, when the train is travelling at an angle more towards the screen, the Signal UI no longer accurately reflects which direction is left and which is right since the train's forward axis is now flipped. This makes decision making really tough after looking at the minimap because everything is flipped around.

Maybe having a physical flashing light on the train point left or right itself, or a different mechanism other than arrow keys would be better.

Great job all around its really nice!
🎤 Dingbat
Apr 21st · 01:10 UTC
@william-corrin
Yeah I spent about an hour on a song but music is definitely not one of my strengths in these jams 😅
The combat pretty much all got added within the last couple of hours so yeah it's a bit jank. And yeah the turn signals in general are pretty hard to telegraph. You can see them more clearly in the mini-map but definitely could've used something like a blinker on the train or something may have worked better.

Thanks for the feedback!
LDJam user 179040
Apr 21st · 02:17 UTC
I enjoyed playing this! The visuals are very cool and a well-tuned rail shooter is always fun. Kudos for pulling that off in such a short time! My main gripe is that this doesn't seem to have much to do with the theme. We're deciding which track to turn onto, which is a good mechanic, but with a train that seems like a signal in only the loosest sense. As a standalone game, though, this really works!
LDJam user 234567
Apr 21st · 19:26 UTC
The graphics are really good. It looks like the podrace in Star Wars.

Like you said, this game is hard !!! :smiley:
juyr
Apr 22nd · 12:34 UTC
As you say, it's tough but I really like the graphics and simple but satisfying gameplay. Definitely has room for improvement but the base is really solid. Good job! :)
SteveOfStevesGames
Apr 23rd · 07:23 UTC
There was a map? I imagine its a bit easier if you use the map, i found it hard to know when towns were coming up.
Really cool game, I love a roguelike.
🎤 Dingbat
Apr 23rd · 12:40 UTC
@steveofstevesgames 😂 yeah if you zoom out all the way it opens. I guess I could have explained some things in a mini tutorial a bit better 😅
bravelytyped
Apr 24th · 21:14 UTC
Cool rendering style and interesting concept!
Graf
Apr 24th · 21:34 UTC
Great visual style! The fan idea is awesome, it would be cool to have even more ways to get rid of them.
Graf
Apr 25th · 00:24 UTC
Why do I die so quickly??!! It's hard, but the game can really hook you. I wish there was some music, but for a jam game, it's great!
Richard Baltrusch
May 04th · 13:06 UTC
I also missed the map completely so felt like towns were rarely/never coming up :) So I might have missed half the game mechanics, not sure.

Both the graphics and the combat are great and juicy - and make this an impressive compo entry. Well done!
pkenney
May 09th · 00:57 UTC
Love the art style, and there's definitely a core that could become a very very cool entry here. It just needed a little more polish, there was a grindy empty feel from a huge amount of clicking without the game showing me much feedback. I lost before I saw a town, though I felt like I ran a loop and also switched signals the second time, running full throttle the whole way. Maybe I missed it!

Sweet graphics though, sorry I didn't get to experience more of it.