Flappy Monster by scriptorum

made by scriptorum for LD33 (COMPO)

== After voting, play the POST-COMPO version! Link below. ==

You wish you were a bird, but you're just a monster. A flappy monster, rampaging through the city, destroying all the humans. How far can you get before you get bored, run too fast and die impaled on a set of spikes?

- Hit SPACEBAR to move faster!
- Don't get knocked back! The bigger the building, the faster you have to go to demolish it.
- But be wary of going too fast, deadly pikes can only be passed through slowly!
- You slow down over time.
- You slow after each collision.

I ran out of time as usual, but I'm happy that it's sorta semi-playable kind of maybe sort of? Bah, what do you know.

UPDATE Aug-24:
Fixed the collision bug.

UPDATE Sep-12:
If you like the concept, you'll find the post-compo version to be more polished, and addresses some of your concerns. It includes some updated art, additional effects, and several gameplay improvements. See the post-compo page (link below) to play that version and for a full list of changes!

Web	http://egotron.com/share/LD33/
Source	http://egotron.com/share/LD33/
Post-Compo Version	http://egotron.com/share/LD33/postcompo/
Post-Mortem	http://ludumdare.com/compo/2015/08/28/post-mortem-flappy-monster/
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-33/?action=preview&uid=17811

Ratings

Coolness	71%	3
Overall	2.74	774

Audio	2.39	587
Fun	2.82	599
Graphics	2.21	844
Humor	2.91	379
Innovation	2.97	480
Mood	2.61	698
Theme	3.41	459

Feedback

TerraCottaFrog

24. Aug 2015 · 03:49 UTC

This is good, but placement of buildings and pikes can make it seemingly impossible to continue.

Pikes are also very hard to see.

I still enjoyed the game despite its flaws.

Elenesski

24. Aug 2015 · 06:38 UTC

I ran into some kind of bug early on where it didn't matter what I did I couldn't destroy the buildings or do anything ... just kept on gathering up points. As for when it was working, I found that once you saw the pikes and moving too fast you couldn't slow down in time.

Snowdrama

24. Aug 2015 · 06:39 UTC

I ran into a glitch after a couple restarts and a bunch of mashing, I stopped colliding with anything at all and just ran past everything.

GAFBlizzard

24. Aug 2015 · 07:29 UTC

You might want to add left click as an alternative to spacebar. That way I can avoid destroying my spacebar. :P

Decent twist on a concept.

imdigitaljim

24. Aug 2015 · 19:28 UTC

I tripped and died a lot but was a good button smasher game! :D

Hamsternator

24. Aug 2015 · 19:37 UTC

Nice idea but needs more polish =)
The player needs some alternative way of avoiding the spikes since it's pretty easy to come into situations you can't beat.

Yamzho

24. Aug 2015 · 19:59 UTC

Very hard to get where spikes are. But it is always fun to destroy building, soooo... :)

Cawrtz

24. Aug 2015 · 20:04 UTC

The gameplay based on the speed is a good idea that makes your game 1000x better than if it had been a simple flappy bird ripoff, however either the timing is very hard or sometimes an impossible sequence of obstacles will be generated (you can only slow down so quickly). But that is rare enough to keep your game very entertaining. The graphics are nice too.
Keep it up!

Stechas

24. Aug 2015 · 21:52 UTC

My best time is 144 I have tried to get better one, but sometimes it happens that you have spikes and building to close together making it impossible to survive. I have enjoying building demolition and praying every time I have crossed the spikes :D

IronPencilGames

25. Aug 2015 · 01:20 UTC

Interesting take on flappy bird, but as others have said the spikes and building placement can be pretty unforgiving. I like that the monster gets more excited as he runs faster.

boardtobits

25. Aug 2015 · 14:52 UTC

The pikes are difficult to see, especially when you're at building-breaking speed. I like the concept of balancing speed vs. defense though.

The "Flappy" name confused me at first, too. I thought I should be flying. Serves me right for not reading the description, I guess!

mrcdk

25. Aug 2015 · 17:30 UTC

The randomness of the game make it almost impossible and spikes are hard to see. I liked the idea though :D

Jani Nykänen

25. Aug 2015 · 17:32 UTC

Those spikes are almost impossible to avoid, but at least this game wasn't another Flappy Bird clone as I thought first!

xvw

26. Aug 2015 · 13:54 UTC

hahaha it's fun but sooo hard ! Thanks a lot for the game ! A fun experience !

DinnerInTheDark

26. Aug 2015 · 17:47 UTC

A fun concept, quite addicting to be honest. However the level generation could use some work. Too often you end up with an impossible situation (like a large building with a spike right after it).

dacharya64

26. Aug 2015 · 17:57 UTC

I liked the core mechanic of the game--balancing speeding up and slowing down--and think that this is fun and a good proof-of-concept. The slow-down often didn't slow me down in time; maybe adding a brake mechanic would help--if balanced with the rest of the game.

🎤 scriptorum

26. Aug 2015 · 18:19 UTC

Thanks for the feedback! I've addressed several issues in the post-compo version, notably difficulty with map generation, pikes visibility, and a "flappier" slow-down mechanic.

@DinnerInTheDark: A building slows you down, so (technically) you could hit it at the perfect speed to pass both obstacles, but yeah it's hard. This doesn't happen in the post-compo version.

Donni11

26. Aug 2015 · 19:12 UTC

Wow , fun game! Fun concept! A great game!

BulletsArePeopleToo

26. Aug 2015 · 21:52 UTC

54.94 seconds! The rng makes this game very tough.

Grhyll

27. Aug 2015 · 08:59 UTC

But... but... This is hard XD
Nice gameplay concept, graphics ok, but I wish there was some way to tell what speed is needed for a given building size (well, I guess that's something you would learn from playing a lot !).

collaboration

27. Aug 2015 · 12:07 UTC

Excellent idea, if you will improve the grpahics later - it could be really awesome, great entry!

LittleThor

28. Aug 2015 · 12:53 UTC

It took me way too long time before I understand how to avoid these spikes. The idea is interesting but not intuitive at all. Maybe use another thing than "spikes" : why slow down to avoid them?

🎤 scriptorum

28. Aug 2015 · 20:14 UTC

@LittleThor I may add a a tip-toe animation to the post-compo version when you go through spikes safely. That might make the purpose clearer. However, spikes make sense thematically and are a fairly established game mechanic. Prince of Persia, Spelunky, and Eldritch come to mind.

🎤 scriptorum

28. Aug 2015 · 20:16 UTC

Also the real fault is the lack of in-game help. I was intending to have a little tutorial at the start of a run to explain spikes, but it was lower on the priority list. :)

Biruts

31. Aug 2015 · 14:19 UTC

Very nice project guys, i really love it, please check our game too and if you liked it give us a vote. Look for Road to hell and enjoy.

Infokub Arcade

01. Sep 2015 · 12:50 UTC

I was worry when i saw "Flappy" but finally it's fun ! Like some people said : you only need to improve obstacle placement because sometimes you lose but it's not your fault :(

^^ nevertheless, funny entry

igoramendola

14. Sep 2015 · 08:19 UTC

Haha clever idea for a flappy concept! It is cool, and the post-compo version looks very well polished ^_^