Caveman Bob and the Inevitable Dawn by Elias Newton

[raw]
made by Elias Newton for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

A single-screen mosquito hunting ~~simulation~~ platformer.

screenshot-1.png

screenshot-2.png

Made with macroquad and hecs.

The tileset and sprites were made for the jam, except for the font, which is Futile Pro from https://somepx.itch.io/humble-fonts-free.

pre-deadline update: I modified the dead mosquito sprite to hopefully distinguish it better from the live ones. Also, the mosquito trails are highlighted when near the cave.

Ratings

Overall 1097th 3.184⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 969th 3.132⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1144th 2.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 977th 3.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 686th 3.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 492th 3.263⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1168th 2.969⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Given 39🗳️ 5🗨️

Feedback

Lenan
04. Apr 2022 · 23:26 UTC
Cool game, the idea was very interesting, the art was cool too. Would be nice to have some music and SFX.
Jason Pitchford
04. Apr 2022 · 23:40 UTC
Love the idea, a few things though
The controls were tricky to figure out initially with w as jump and space as attack
Also some sfx or music could help provide the player with feedback on kill
CharlesSchar
04. Apr 2022 · 23:44 UTC
Fun game and well executed. Art is great. Would be neat if you could grab powerups to become more efficient at dealing with the mosquitoes.
graphite
04. Apr 2022 · 23:46 UTC
Clever idea for the theme. I like the art a lot, but it would have been nice if the dead mosquitos looked more different from the live ones. And/or a sound effect. That would make it easier to tell you've hit it.
Quinn_Patrick
04. Apr 2022 · 23:48 UTC
I'm going to go the same way as everyone else here and say that it really could have benefited from some audio. A nice thwack when you hit a mosquito, the grumbling of the caveman king... all of it begs to be heard. But I will say that the graphics are awesomely retro. Nice job. One other minor thing is that it would be nice if the dead mosquitoes were more distinct from the alive ones. I found myself a couple times swatting at ones I had already killed.
alec
04. Apr 2022 · 23:50 UTC
"apply club to mosquito" lol. I wish the platforms when up higher, and that maybe the mosquitos didnt spawn so quickly (it got out of hand _very_ quickly lol). Over nice job though, its cool to see a project written in rust!
phats604
04. Apr 2022 · 23:51 UTC
I like the retro visuals , I was confused the jump button wasn't working under the platforms. Would be cool if you can jump through the platforms.
ayosetrujillo
04. Apr 2022 · 23:54 UTC
Classic game with cool graphics and funny idea. I miss the sound design. Good job!
dreamscale
04. Apr 2022 · 23:57 UTC
Pretty fun, I think it could be clearer when the mosquitos were dead and when they were actually in range of the cave.
Eitan Levinzon
05. Apr 2022 · 19:55 UTC
I really liked the game, it was fun and got exciting quickly. Would be really cool if you'd get some power-up rewards for achievments like killing an amount of mosquitoes or surviving longer. I'd love to be able to jump higher or move faster, or have my club on auto-swing.
The graphics are awesome, too!
Apphons6
06. Apr 2022 · 14:04 UTC
Love the pico-8 aesthetic to this, It was fun bashing mosquitos, why did the guy wake up even no mosquitos attacked him?
🎤 Elias Newton
06. Apr 2022 · 20:09 UTC
Thank you for all the feedback!

I was sort of hesitant to try doing sound for the jam, as I thought it'd be better to skip it entirely than to do it only halfway, and also I was afraid of running into implementation bugs, and I guess I just ran out of time. It's sort of ironic, because I spent so much time designing the logic behind the snoring "sounds" and then didn't do actual sound :joy:

@apphons6 The giant wakes up if there's a mosquito within a certain radius of the cave for too long. When the mosquito Zs start turning red, then they're getting close. More mosquitoes make the allowed time shorter.
Emaigualmc2_art
07. Apr 2022 · 16:42 UTC
Simple and fun! the pixel art is very good, it would be great if you added power-up rewards to it, I think it would make the gameplay more interesting. Well done!
Carbon6
07. Apr 2022 · 20:36 UTC
I like the pixel art.
lpettler
11. Apr 2022 · 19:48 UTC
The artwork was stellar and the gameplay is very smooth. Jumping around and swatting the bugs was pretty fun and watching their lifeless bodies collect on the ground was pretty satisfying.

I understand the hesitation to add sound, but even a small audio element would have done a lot for a game wherein sound is an important aspect of the narrative.

Overall, great job!
LDJam user 279546
12. Apr 2022 · 13:08 UTC
I think it needs some sfx to improve player feedback on their actions. I had a fun time though. Good job!
eboatwright
12. Apr 2022 · 17:17 UTC
Fun game! I like the pixel art, and the little Zzzz trail behind the bugs :smile: Although, the lack of audio really shows.