Ping by Fatality67

[raw]
made by Fatality67 for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

You are blind. You are fading. Every ping lights up the world — and everything in it.

Ping is a survival game about information and risk. You move through a dark arena with no visibility — the only way to see is to send out a sonar ping. It reveals the enemies around you. It reveals the health pack you desperately need. And it tells everything nearby exactly where you are.

Your signal meter drains constantly. Standing still won't save you. Eventually you have to ping — and when you do, the hunt begins. Navigate to the health pack before the enemies reach your position, or don't ping at all and fly blind until your signal flatlines.

Every second is a trade-off. Every ping is a gamble. How long can you stay alive?


Mechanics

  • Sonar ping — Reveals all nearby enemies and the health packs.
  • Signal decay — Your signal drains at all times. Reach zero and it's over. Collect health packs to keep transmitting.
  • Health packs — Spawn randomly. Only visible after a ping. Scattered across the map — get there before the enemies do.
  • Enemy aggro — Enemies rush your ping origin. Move away fast, or bait them into a dead end.

Controls

  • Move — ZQSD or Arrow keys
  • Ping — Space bar ZQSD can be switched to WASD in the settings.

Made solo for Ludum Dare 59 — theme: Signals.

Ratings

Overall 251th 3.026⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 195th 3.105⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 208th 3.026⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 125th 3.816⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 242th 2.921⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 234th 1.767⭐ 17🧑‍⚖️
Humor 207th 1.733⭐ 17🧑‍⚖️
Mood 257th 2.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 8🗳️ 11🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Fatality67
Apr 19th · 14:28 UTC
I hope you guys will enjoy my game ! ^^
LDJam user 240476
Apr 19th · 20:23 UTC
Interesting idea with a solid visual style. The implementation is good as well—though it could really use some sound. Otherwise, great job!
MountainGoose
Apr 20th · 14:40 UTC
It was hard! Style/ping implementation was well done!
msipp27
Apr 20th · 18:05 UTC
healthpacks never seemed to spawn and the amount of enemies was excessive but it was fun enough!
Ionax
Apr 20th · 18:25 UTC
Good small game. Kinda hard at first. I like the style. My tactic was just spamming space and keeping all enemies in a blob behind me.

![4y5UU0tkqE.jpg](///raw/a8a/86/z/70c93.jpg)

It would be cool if enemies never stop spawning or would not group in a blob like that
Mekuire
Apr 20th · 18:25 UTC
My record is 32 seconds. Very pleasant game!
🎤 Fatality67
Apr 20th · 18:55 UTC
Thanks for the feedback !
eXTeeGi
Apr 20th · 19:11 UTC
Cool game. Challenging at first, until I figured out I could spam space with no drawback. Then I felt invincible! I got up to 80 seconds before I just stopped. I wish there was a definitive end or maybe using the ping should use up some of your bar. Good use of the theme.
NE-Aquilon
Apr 21st · 04:06 UTC
Solid idea, but spamming scan is really an ultimate strategy. Also, classic novice mistake your character moves faster diagonally. I would like to check an enhanced version of this game.

![ld2.png](///raw/f91/86/z/71ca3.png)
PurpledArtFrog
Apr 21st · 19:06 UTC
Freaking cool concept ... very nice scoping. Good job on the execution.
Only thing I have... is it me or are the colors between the packs and the enemies pretty similar?
Left you a rating :smile:
LDJam user 268934
Apr 27th · 05:25 UTC
Good use of the theme and fun mechanic.
The art style is simple but super readable and effects look good. I understand compo is hard and super challenging, so good job 👏!
Akuta Zehy
May 02nd · 16:11 UTC
Simple but effective, naturally depicts an uneasy atmosphere and fits the theme Signal.

Nice entry!
auxiliarymoose
May 03rd · 09:02 UTC
There's a nice, clear game loop which rewards the player developing strategies and getting better at the controls, and I think it fits well with the theme too. Nice work! I think having a slightly slower game speed would benefit the experience, since the movement, pinging, and enemies are all quite fast-paced. It feels a bit more like a stealth game in mechanics, though the speed is of an action game. It could also be nice to have some obstacles to use to get the enemies caught up, and maybe even a bit of a maze so that there is an incentive to take more dynamic paths (I found going around in a big rectangle worked pretty well). Thanks for sharing your game!
Richard Baltrusch
May 04th · 13:41 UTC
Surprisingly stylish game for such a simple art style. Game had me spamming my spacebar like a maniac - which had the side effect that by the time I did die I skipped any end-screen and went directly back to the main menu.

Interesting idea to fit the theme!

Can you share the source code?
JHax
May 05th · 20:27 UTC
The aesthetic's really cool and suits the game well. The only thing I felt it was missing was a single button restart (although I've just realised I could have pressed space to get through the menus rather than the mouse, which is already an improvement!) Had fun with this, stumbling into a large clump of enemies is quite intimidating!

Was about to proudly screenshot my score but my 80ish seconds isn't quite up to the standard of other folks in here :sweat_smile:
quietchili
May 06th · 02:18 UTC
Our games are very similar!