LudumData

BloodMage by Uraffululz

[raw]
made by Uraffululz for Ludum Dare 52 (COMPO)

For centuries you have walked, near-immortal, and possessing powers only imaginable to most people. This is not a gift. It is a curse.

You are the BloodMage, the harvester of souls, and a sickly shadow making unseen marks on history's pages.

Today you are tasked to put an end to the reign of a local warlord. Erase him and his accursed followers from this world, and harvest their souls to make them yours.

Controls:

Move: WASD

Attack: Space/Left Mouse Button

Time your attacks successfully to deliver a deadly combo attack. Press the attack button as your previous attack lands to continue the chain.

When near a downed enemy, you can siphon their health, mana, or turn them into your vassal, an undead follower whose purpose is to aid you in combat.

Siphon Health: E

Siphon Mana: Q

Create Vassal: F

Updates:

Uploaded "Post-Jam" version of the game with various bug-fixes. I will continue to do so according to any future feedback, so let me know what I can do to make your gaming experience better.

The compo version will still be available, if anyone wants to download it and judge by those standards (which I totally accept, or I'd have spent the extra day making a "jam" version that was less buggy).

Good luck, and thanks for playing!

Made solo in 48 hours for Ludum Dare 52

Screenshot (52).png Screenshot (53).png

Link https://github.com/uraffululz/LD52-Harvest
Windows Download https://solargolem.itch.io/bloodmage
Link https://solargolem.itch.io/bloodmage
Link https://solargolem.itch.io/bloodmage
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/bloodmage

Ratings

Overall 318th 2.825⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 276th 2.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 250th 3⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 274th 3.075⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 299th 2.825⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 204th 2.447⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 306th 2.525⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 47🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Uraffululz
08. Jan 2023 · 19:59 UTC
Hello all!

I made it with 3 minutes to spare!

Let me know what you think. I may be able to use your feedback to fix the jankiness of this game in time to release an additional "Jam" version
maymay
08. Jan 2023 · 21:30 UTC
It was really fun raising a bunch of vassals to follow me around! I did get stuck in the mana-harvesting animation after a little while and had to quit. The graphics are pretty also! I wasn't sure what the goal was, or if you can just keep going forever.
🎤 Uraffululz
08. Jan 2023 · 21:42 UTC
@maymay Thanks for the input.
I was definitely having issues with the animations for the duration of the jam (as well as a few other constant issues). Thought I got them worked out, but I wasn't 100% sure.
Sorry you weren't able to finish. The level stops after defeating a boss at the end (a few minutes in), and there's an exit at the other side.

There is also a "secret" ending, for anyone who cares to invest their time (and can make it to the end in spite of the bugs).

Thank you for your feedback
LDJam user 287424
09. Jan 2023 · 04:15 UTC
Fun game! I like games where you lead gangs of NPCs, even more when they're undead! Models, props and level layout made this feel like it was a stop motion claymation filmed along the top of someone's desk with action figures and plasticine. Except the main toy could bring the dead toys back to life to be their minion, which kicks so much ass! I also had the bug of getting stuck in the mana syphoning animation others have mentioned. Just when I was getting a large enough group of goons that they could actually take some people out! Lol.
🎤 Uraffululz
09. Jan 2023 · 06:10 UTC
@the3rdhunter Thanks for the info. I'm definitely gonna have to upload a fixed version.

With all the jankiness in this game, I'm surprise that's the bug that's standing out the most, haha.
🎤 Uraffululz
09. Jan 2023 · 17:14 UTC
@maymay @the3rdhunter I think I may have fixed that animation, if you care to try again. Hopefully you won't run into any problems this time. Thanks again for your feedback.
Jonqs
09. Jan 2023 · 23:31 UTC
Nice work ! Groing army is satisfying. The ending with the boss is also rewarding. The hit box and hit animation of the character are a bit hard to understand.
🎤 Uraffululz
09. Jan 2023 · 23:55 UTC
@jonqs Thank you! Yeah, I should probably slow down the attack animations and increase the size of the hit box. I was trying to inspire precision in attacking and comboing, but I don't think the game is developed enough for that requirement. I don't want the game to feel unfair.

Edit: I went ahead and made those fixes, and uploaded the new version (and downloads) to the itch.io page.
jaywoody
10. Jan 2023 · 10:54 UTC
Fun little game! I really liked the feeling of growing your army and being able to ultimately not even fight the enemy because your minions handled them.

Nice work!
bezbiletnym
10. Jan 2023 · 21:06 UTC
Quite an interesting idea!
🎤 Uraffululz
11. Jan 2023 · 00:09 UTC
@jaywoody @bezbiletnym Thank you both! I really liked this idea, and I'm glad to see it has potential for an audience. I might have to continue working on this one in the future.
sevenzik
11. Jan 2023 · 20:20 UTC
Must say that concept is very interesting. Need some polishing and diversity, but it's awesome for smth made in 48 hours by 1 person!
🎤 Uraffululz
12. Jan 2023 · 00:11 UTC
Thank you very much!
I definitely would have liked to add more enemy types (archers and such). Maybe I should have thought longer about at least changing the colors on the spear guys to make them look different too.
chompdev
12. Jan 2023 · 07:51 UTC
I had fun with this one! The combat is pretty enjoyable and feels like kiting mobs around in an MMO while your buddies whittle down their health. I like that your vassals seem to have a lot of health and can deal some great damage too. The choice between vassal/HP/MP keeps things interesting since these ratios change after every battle. I ran out of MP at the very end and couldn't recruit the boss, so that might be a cool mechanic if you do an expanded version, where you're always trying to maintain enough HP/MP to use for other tasks and opportunities that may come up between fights. Nice job on the game!

![score24.PNG](///raw/044/42/z/56394.png)
bcmpinc
12. Jan 2023 · 13:58 UTC
I thought the vassals where often too slow to be of much use. They helped out when encountering two enemies at once. That made that encounter more interesting than any of the other normal encounters. The boss-fight I cheesed by kiting them. Of course I made them a vassal.
kr0k
13. Jan 2023 · 20:32 UTC
This is a great proof of concept - and it's working. It's really fun and can totally see that a full game with enough time/resources given. It feels quite good to grow your party and getting stronger.
Simone
16. Jan 2023 · 21:12 UTC
Very nice! Not many compo entry that work this smooth :)
lfreinoso
16. Jan 2023 · 21:21 UTC
Very cool game, closed concept in the theme, it worked well, but it could be more difficult, at least in my perspective. Congrats on the project!

Check out my game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/space-harvest
EPA
18. Jan 2023 · 19:10 UTC
Interesting game. I think it would be better if the zombies could die, because now it's too easy:) but nice concept gj
🎤 Uraffululz
18. Jan 2023 · 19:39 UTC
@epa Oh, they can die. It just takes a long time. I didn't really take time to balance this, but I also didn't want it to feel unfair, so they ended up being super overpowered, especially when they attack in numbers.
Thanks for playing!
frozenfire92
22. Jan 2023 · 20:46 UTC
Solid compo entry! I really enjoyed leading an army of undead and having them do the fighting instead :joy: keep on making games!