Swarm! by Ghost_Wave

[raw]
made by Ghost_Wave for Ludum Dare 48 (COMPO)

Play in your browser here: https://ghost-wave.itch.io/swarm

A fun little retro inspired game, try to survive against an onslaught of aliens as they try to get deeper and deeper inside your base.

The game features two screens and cute powder game -like physics.

swarm2.JPG

swarm1.JPG

Ratings

Overall 197th 3.763⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Fun 286th 3.588⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 205th 3.675⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Theme 586th 3.363⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 95th 4.125⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Audio 48th 4.025⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Mood 132th 3.829⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Given 45🗳️ 56🗨️

Feedback

johnnysix
26. Apr 2021 · 04:32 UTC
Great job, really loved the music and the controls. Was satisfying when the button presses lined up with the aliens falling into the lazer / lava / door smash etc. Could be developed further for sure, really like the space-age dungeon keeper style.!
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 11:39 UTC
@johnnysix Thank you for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed the game :)
43sam
26. Apr 2021 · 11:59 UTC
Very fun game. Really liked trying to time each trap. Once you have the timing down it isn't too hard. It woould be cool if they came in threes or closer together so you're forced to use all traps as well. Also different aliens that move at different times would add to the challenge. I also really liked the art and music. Creates a really strong setting. Great game overall :)
Loig
26. Apr 2021 · 12:00 UTC
I liked the graphics a lot. The music is nice as well.

The game itself is indeed quite satisfying when you manage to deal with several aliens in a row.

My only concern was that, on my computer with a somehow esoteric keyboard layout, the controls were not ideal (q, e and w are keys that are very far from each other).
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 12:05 UTC
@43sam Thank you! I might make a post-jam version with your suggestions.
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 12:06 UTC
@loig Yes! I myself have an azerty keyboard so I know the pain, I really wanted to make adjustable controls but alas, I ran out of time.
Ariorick
26. Apr 2021 · 12:06 UTC
Art and music are cool. I think it needs to throw much more monsters and give more feedback like screenshakes. Also a helthbar for your base would raise the stakes, just score is not enough i think. Andof coursee increasing difficulty with time, i forgot it too when makinng my game, and it would have been such an imrovement
ty_
26. Apr 2021 · 12:13 UTC
i love this! it's so fun to play! the details on the graphics are super cool too (like how the aliens slowly melt away after dying, or how they produced smoke after dying in stage 2). i think it would've benefitted from some kind of indicator about how far there is until the next level, or maybe there was one but i missed it - it's a great game either way!
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 12:17 UTC
@ariorick Difficulty does increase with time but maybe a bit too slowly. There is a health bar on the right but it might need a bit more visibility. Thank you for playing!
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 12:19 UTC
@ty Thank you, I agree with you, if I make a post-jam version, I will add your suggestions.
lalada
26. Apr 2021 · 12:20 UTC
Great music and graphics. Its fun to learn how to use that traps in proper time. More enemies is better
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 12:26 UTC
@lalada the game is definitely too easy for people who are comfortable on a keyboard, It needs some adjusting
ElSombrero
26. Apr 2021 · 16:06 UTC
Very good game dude really awesome graphics
alexjdg
26. Apr 2021 · 16:07 UTC
Super cool game! I love the art style, and the CRT shader is a neat effect
LocustJin
26. Apr 2021 · 16:07 UTC
Awsome pixel art and very innovative idea. This game has potential !
oysuta
26. Apr 2021 · 16:07 UTC
The audio in this is pretty phenomenal, the music and SFX work together extremely well. Only drawback to that is that between enemies I felt the urge to spam the traps to play along with the music, and couldn't! :P
ETdoFresh
26. Apr 2021 · 16:18 UTC
Very nice art and sound. How am I supposed to know what my progress is, ie, how many baddies can i let through? how many until next stage?
GlowGlew
26. Apr 2021 · 16:23 UTC
Excellent art and music. Very original and interesting concept. Maybe more types of enemy (I don't know if there are more enemies in other levels) would make it much more better.
Paul Merkamp
26. Apr 2021 · 16:45 UTC
Looks super neat - huge fan of the sound design and the music too.

I would have liked to know how many lives I have left before moving on to the next level - however I think the powder physics added a lot and made it feel like a neat little experience.

Great job!
HoodedBale
26. Apr 2021 · 16:46 UTC
It feels satisfying tho I'm being a murderer xD
godsboss
26. Apr 2021 · 17:46 UTC
I somehow was pretty bad at this, probably need more practice. Good game though.
oeschmid
26. Apr 2021 · 17:52 UTC
The art direction is really nice! I like the retro feel.
Milestone Games
26. Apr 2021 · 20:37 UTC
Excellent work on the retro mood! Getting the timings right took some practice, but was very rewarding when it worked out :smiling_imp: Would be cool to see more levels and perhaps upgrades, if you choose to continue working on this game!
cavedens
26. Apr 2021 · 21:51 UTC
Fun little game. I couldnt figure out how to get to the next level though
🎤 Ghost_Wave
26. Apr 2021 · 21:55 UTC
@cavedens after you lose a few life, you can get to the second level ;-)
rhoff95
26. Apr 2021 · 22:19 UTC
Great game and great music. I like the core concept and would love to see it get expanded. This seems like a great starting points for a mechanic where you build things.
DanCan
26. Apr 2021 · 22:37 UTC
Great game! Lots to love: great music, great art, fun mechanics. I think the scanlines and screen curvature effects are a really nice touch.
Secret Magic 404
27. Apr 2021 · 09:36 UTC
That was neat! It's quite hard to make a compo game which is pretty much equally good in all rating categories... kudos to you @ghost-wave !!! :smiley:
GoldOne
27. Apr 2021 · 22:22 UTC
Really love the concept, the art style, the sound and the music - they all fit well together. How did you do the "bent screen" effect by the way?

One thing that would be great would be for the traps to synergize more - e.g. having alien types that have to be softened up by one trap so the next can kill it, or something like that.
mactinite
28. Apr 2021 · 02:57 UTC
Very cool concept, it was a bit slow though. Most of the time I was able to get the aliens with the first trap unless I mis-clicked. Music was very good, and the pixel-particle effects were cool. Had a lot of fun just clicking to load the screen up with particles lol.
Shaolin Dave
28. Apr 2021 · 03:16 UTC
Interesting concept. I didn't read any instructions but it still only took me a couple moments to pick up the controls anyway, and I think I did alright. The most confusing things were the traps having different layouts then whats on the keyboard, and the recharging graphics being small and blending into the scenery. Maybe a more obvious visual cue and sound effect when a trap is ready to be used could help?
🎤 Ghost_Wave
28. Apr 2021 · 07:13 UTC
@goldone It's a simple shader I wrote based on this german video I found: link:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8joy4tP2Q (I don't speak german thought lol)
As for your suggestions, I agree, the game would really benefit from more variety.

@mactinite Thank you for playing :) The game is definitely too easy for most people. My jam games are usually way too hard, this time it's the opposite lol :^)
jaybaus
28. Apr 2021 · 12:31 UTC
Really enjoyed this! The concept is solid and it's executed really nicely with all the sound, music, graphics and gameplay all working together well. Really impressive, great job :)
squimmy
28. Apr 2021 · 12:37 UTC
The graphics and music are good, and the basic gameplay idea is fun and unique, but unfortunately it got boring before too long. Other people have suggested adding more types of enemies, and I think that might have helped, but making the difficulty increase more quickly would probably be an easier way of keeping the game more engaging.
KepperSnapper
29. Apr 2021 · 04:17 UTC
Really pretty little shader work and I like the concept of opening traps to kill aliens! Personally think thhat thhe art is beautiful and really well done :) Regarding the levels, I feel like whenever you miss an alien, you sould straight away progress to the next depth level. Currently theres no indicator of failure! D: Overall really cute! :)
icxon
08. May 2021 · 05:00 UTC
That was an exceptionally cool when I activated traps with the music beat synchronized!

Here is my playtest:

https://youtu.be/JBUAfK2W1cg
🎤 Ghost_Wave
10. May 2021 · 09:30 UTC
@icxon

Thank you so much for making a playthrought :)