Suluben by kromeboy
Suluben is the reverse of Nebulus, a C64 era game where you have to climb a tower.
In Suluben you descend a tower into the abyss of the sea.
Left and Right arrow to move. Avoid the bouncing balls and try not to fall.
How deep can you go?
| Link | https://kromeboy.itch.io/suluben |
| Link | https://kromeboy.itch.io/suluben |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/suluben |
Ratings
| Overall | 693th | 3.103⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 541th | 3.19⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 626th | 2.914⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 358th | 3.724⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 803th | 2.603⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 742th | 2.661⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 27🗳️ | 38🗨️ |
However, the game idea is really nice, and the fact that the tower is randomly generated is nice too!
First of all - it appear there is a "correct" direction to traverse each level and trying to leave the level in the wrong direction results in a gameover - even though you don't hit any obstacle. The danger of going the wrong way needs to be telegraphed more clearly.
Then the "disappearing plate" is also a bit confusing. A reasonable person would think that falling through a disappearing plate while it is gone is a good thing because it progresses you to the goal of getting deeper. But no - once again it causes a gameover. Maybe the danger mechanis for those plates should be changed from disappearing to spikes or flames indicating that it is not safe to travel over this one at this point.
Nice tribute to the Nebulus, I loved it as "Tower Toppler" on DOS, that was an incredibly difficult game. I was surprised I haven't seen any modern approach to this yet, so congratulations that you are the first.
If I may have one more wish, I would populate the platforms with some more kinds of obstacles or enemies or anything challenging - often you need to move a long distance and it gets repetitive a slows down the pace.
It takes a bit to figure out how to properly descend and where/why it is allowed or not allowed to fall. On a climbing game, the penalty for falling through a whole or falling in general is inherent, since you want to go up. So here it can be confusing.
Falling damage and save landing spots (cushions or something) could help, since it would also allow the player to gamble on taking a risky jump onto a pad several layers down if the opportunity presents itself.
I agree with what @onnofal said. The red platforms look like they should be avoided like the red enemies. Perhaps making them orange or yellow would have been less confusing at first.
The controls were tight, you never feel like the game is unfair to you.
Well done :smile:
Had to play it "just one more go", so that is a good grade right there I think. :smile:
I would have loved to see some clearer directions on where you would die falling down, and where not. This could be solved with level-design also I guess. Also maybe adding time to the experience would "spice" the game up, making it so you can't linger around on a level too long. Of course sound and music would also have added some extra spice to the game but I understand that it's not always possible to add all you want in such a short time.
Congrats on a well made and fun game! :rocket: