LudumData

Zip Drone Dash by SirLich

[raw]
made by SirLich for Ludum Dare 53 (COMPO)

'Zip Drone Dash' is a cutsy endless-flight game where you deliver packages of life-saving medication. The inspiration for the game is the ZipLine delivery company.

:play_pause: PLAY ON ITCH.IO: https://sirlich.itch.io/zip-drone-dash

:information_source: TIP: Make sure to fly down to ground level to deliver packages.

Screenshot 2023-04-30 222427.png

Instructions

There are in game instructions as well.

Controls

  • 'SPACEBAR' to launch
  • Control with the mouse
  • 'LEFT CLICK' to boost
  • 'SPACEBAR' to drop packages

Explanation

This game is all about delivering packages. To do so, you will need to stay afloat! The game encourages you to fly UP into the sky to collect speed and energy, then drop down to collect and deliver packages.

Remember to climb again before running out of speed.

Tools and Credits

Art, Programming, Sound, and Design were all completed by me. To do this, I used the following tools (in order of importance):

  • Godot 4.0.1
  • Krita
  • Audacity
  • Git

PS: My highscore is 9400 with the release version :)

GitHub https://github.com/SirLich/ldjam-53
Itch.io HTML5 https://sirlich.itch.io/zip-drone-dash
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/zip-done-dash

Ratings

Overall 348th 3.021⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 251th 3.188⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 315th 2.938⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 132th 4.042⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 284th 3.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 284th 2.771⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 292th 2.375⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 339th 2.682⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 13🗳️ 27🗨️

Feedback

Sean Spiggle
01. May 2023 · 09:01 UTC
I like the flying and the boosting & items. However, wasn't quite clear if going for distance or just trying to deliver packages as in the beginning it shoots you up so high. Overall though very fun game!
Wahooney
01. May 2023 · 09:06 UTC
Overall pretty fun. I'd just give a bit more grace when gliding when we've run out of power, dropping like a stone feels weird, and some subtle particles in the air would give some feeling of movement when there are no pickups on screen.
Martynas
01. May 2023 · 09:08 UTC
Very fun!
jclardy
01. May 2023 · 09:08 UTC
Reminds me of the old flash games I used to play in high school.
LDJam user 141701
01. May 2023 · 09:18 UTC
@sean-spiggle The game-loop is definitely a bit weird. The strategy is to collect full speed + boost up high, then dip down to deliver packages. Rinse and repeat.

@wahooney Thanks for the feedback! I would have loved to spend more time polishing the controller. There *is* a small gliding effect, but you mostly feel it when losing speed *climbing* as opposed to gaining speed when aiming down.

@jclardy Thanks! My inspiration was games like 'Burrito Bison', 'Hamster Flight' and related flash games that I used to play.
LDJam user 5243
01. May 2023 · 09:29 UTC
I never saw any targets to drop the packages to. It felt like the game sent you high up in the start and communicated poorly that there was some things to do further down. Especially since you could just collect points by gliding around higher up and just disregard for the packages. The controlling of the game and graphics felt nice though. I liked the feel of the game :)
LDJam user 141701
01. May 2023 · 09:34 UTC
@daandruff thanks for the feedback! Did you check out the 'how to' before playing? I know it's lazy to info-dump like that, but I'm trying to figure out how badly I failed to inform the player :spy:

The package dropping is actually fairly tricky mechanic, since there is a lot of negative wind down at the ground. I boost you up high so you can actually survive without crashing right away.

Maybe it would be better to only boost you a bit, and then give you a full battery at the start?
LDJam user 5243
01. May 2023 · 09:42 UTC
@sirlich I read the How To play after trying it out a couple of times first. I know info-dump "tutorials" is a necessity when you're short on time. But maybe force it on the player before first play? And after that let it be in the menu? I think the thing here is that there's a bit to many moving parts that needs to be understood right away. If you had more time, a good way would be to add levels where you learn energy, pills, packages, wind and so on one piece at a time. But I also realize that 48 hours isn't enough to fix stuff like that ;)
Yizao
01. May 2023 · 15:35 UTC
Nice idea! How about to expand max fuel a little, or add a hint of drop point in minimap, when i'm lower it's of 90% that i'm crashed since no fuel, or I'm missing some mechanics?
LDJam user 141701
01. May 2023 · 15:58 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @yizao! The game is definitely a little tough -I don't think you're missing any mechanic. For strategy, you definitely want to stay high until your battery and speed is fully charged, and *then* go down to try and drop packages. It's definitely too difficult to hit every drop-off zone.

Sorry if the game balance is a bit harsh :)
fnelix
01. May 2023 · 16:50 UTC
Nice game, a bit hard to grasp at first and not easy, I like the core idea. I was reminded of those old little flash games, too, which not a bad thing!
Mals
01. May 2023 · 17:53 UTC
Great start! I liked the audio. I caught on to the being high gathering resources then dropping low to get the targets. After I delivered the initial boxes, wasn't sure what to do next.
b4ux1t3
01. May 2023 · 21:03 UTC
My two complaints are that it took me about four tries to even understand what to do (because I skipped the instructions like a dummy) and that you can't gain speed by angling down.

Other than that, just know that I played this for a solid 30 minutes just now, and might play again later, just because of how fun it is.
LDJam user 141701
01. May 2023 · 21:29 UTC
@b4ux1t3 Thanks so much for your kind words! You can indeed gain speed by angling down, but it's admittedly not a very strong effect. The slow down when angling UP is a lot more noticeable.

Try flying up, and then flying straight down with your eye on the speedometer.
IcarusDev2
02. May 2023 · 02:29 UTC
Maybe i'm just not a good pilot, but it felt a bit hard to control the plane on the descent, because of the gliding effect when pointing up. If you point down a little too much it's really easy to lose control, also wish batteries where a bit bigger/had a more forgiving hitbox. The graphics and gameplay reminded me of "Flight", an old Flash game that I used to love as a kid.
LDJam user 280509
02. May 2023 · 13:57 UTC
Nice not-very-flappy flappy bird game!

I wonder who's picking the packages...
Maybe the drones are the pioneer units to drop supplies on the route of desert expeditions. Then the expeditions can pick them up half-way to get supplied...
LDJam user 141701
02. May 2023 · 14:08 UTC
@xlores-liang thanks for the comment. The inspiration for the game is actually endless flight flash games, like 'Flight', 'Hamster Flight' and 'Burrito Bison', among many others. These games debuted long before Flappy Bird!

The themetic elements (deliveries) was heavily inspired by the company 'ZipLine', which is doing long-range autonomous drone deliveries in Rwanda. The supplier can supply blood or medicine to outlying clinics 'on demand', rather than stocking each clinic. Mark Rober has a video on the topic, if you're interested.
LDJam user 280509
02. May 2023 · 14:19 UTC
@sirlich
Oh yeah I never remembered the names of those flash games so that I didn't even know how to search for my good old days!

And great to know the stories of ZipLine! Really changed my thoughts on drone deliveries. As a city inhabitant, the word "delivery" to me was something very precise in location and shouldn't go wrong, which are both very hard for drones tech. So great to know that drone delivery in rural area is already wonderfully applied.
ZungryWare
03. May 2023 · 00:26 UTC
I wasn't very good at this. The best score I got was 505 because I got lucky and was able to deliver two packages. (The second one half a second before I ran out of fuel and crashed!) The problem was that staying level at the ground for long enough to find a drop-off point cost so much fuel that I couldn't get back up again. Maybe if drop-off points were more common or there was an indicator that one is coming up, it would help. Or maybe I'm just bad at the game.

To clarify, I enjoyed using the flight controls, I just was never able to use them to get very far in the game. The systems interact in fun ways so you have to keep track of your height, speed, and energy level lest you crash and burn.
LDJam user 280707
03. May 2023 · 01:08 UTC
Like this a lot! Very flash-esque!
Dreunin
03. May 2023 · 10:20 UTC
Liked the handdrawn art
cobrajs
03. May 2023 · 10:27 UTC
Cool game! I also wasn't very good at it... unless I was missing something there doesn't seem to be a way to tell if you are over a target unless you are flying low, and then when you're flying low I always seem to just run out of steam and have trouble making it back to the sky! The boost just doesn't feel powerful enough once I got close to the ground. I did manage to make both deliveries, and one time I managed to pick up a new box of supplies but then only managed to deliver one from that haha. Overall though great job!
Linkway
03. May 2023 · 10:36 UTC
Very fun game! Not bad graphic, nice job, like it. Game idea is nice and simple. The physics a little luggy, but good. Don`t regret playing it. Interesting game.
tempestCognitor
03. May 2023 · 12:07 UTC
Enjoyed the speed mechanic to stay airborne, and ZipLine is a great company to showcase, first heard of them in the Mark Rober video. Would be cool to see the drop off points as indicators when you're too high to see.
LDJam user 141701
03. May 2023 · 12:08 UTC
Thanks @tempestcognitor. I totally agree on the indicator. This is something I could/should/would have integrated into the minimap.
TwoWolf
03. May 2023 · 12:42 UTC
It was fun. It took like two plays to get the hang of it. But I managed to get a good enough score, though not as nearly as high as yours. (I also thought it was funny how fast the sudden plane drop is in energy depletion lol)
greenphox
03. May 2023 · 12:57 UTC
Very nice game, and simple controls. I enjoyed it very much.
The only thing I didn't like was that there was no real way to accelerate the plane. It seemed like it would eventually stop anyways and the boost did almost nothing to help.
Nice one, well done!
LDJam user 141701
03. May 2023 · 13:08 UTC
@greenphox thanks for playing! The game plays best if you spend your time in the upper atmosphere gaining full boost and speed (boost seems to have more effect the faster you're going). Once you're speeding along, you can go downwards to deliver packages.

I fully admit I made the game a bit too unforgiving though.
Dani Obey
05. May 2023 · 07:04 UTC
nice man, nice art
commanderstitch
12. May 2023 · 03:43 UTC
I like the flying. The falling. The dropping of things. It all felt and worked really well. haha i thought the FAA was going to swoop in or something and blow up my drone, but i kind of hit an invisible wall put up by the FAA and my plane got so shocked by this phenomenon it froze up in fear and died. ;-)
Flightless
17. May 2023 · 13:42 UTC
I got nowhere near your highscore, but still enjoyed it. I liked the altitude 'minimap'. Having an indication on where the drop points were could also have been a nice addition.