You Are The (Loch Ness) Monster! by architect404

[raw]
made by architect404 for LD33 (JAM)
My first Ludum Dare... and inevitably I got the rules a bit wrong. This entry was intended for the compo but I unwittingly included a few royalty-free sound effects so I guess it's going in the jam now!

The Game:
You are the elusive Loch Ness Monster, and you must remain elusive by avoiding the tourists trying to take photos of you, but you'll need to surface for air at some point! Each level brings higher numbers of camera-toting tourists that you must avoid.

The Making Of:
The game was made in Game Maker Studio. Sound effects came from freesound.org or were created with SFXR, and the music was thrown together in Pro Tools. MSPaint was used for a few graphical things but the vast majority was done in Game Maker.

THE GAME HAS A DUMB RESOLUTION
I don't know what I was thinking, but yes, the resolution is 1408 x 768. sorry.
I should also mention that it was designed with gamepad control in mind, but it is totally playable with keyboard.

All in all I'm happy with what I managed to achieve solo in under 48 hours. As the game is now destined for the jam I could spend another day polishing it but I think I'd rather leave it as it is. I had a great time and I'm looking forward to the next game jam! Thanks for playing!

Ratings

Coolness 63% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.50 291
Fun(Jam) 3.64 137
Graphics(Jam) 3.33 559
Humor(Jam) 3.44 213
Innovation(Jam) 3.45 202
Mood(Jam) 3.06 562
Theme(Jam) 4.22 40

Feedback

armanb21
24. Aug 2015 · 08:57 UTC
Just a tip, when you want to create sound effects, I recommend using BFXR. You can get it at 'bfxr.net!' Good job on the game, though! I really like the art.
TFR
24. Aug 2015 · 12:47 UTC
Very good! I really liked the art style and sounds. Very fun to play.
Deadeyejoe
24. Aug 2015 · 12:49 UTC
Very interesting game , now i understand why we never find the loch ness monster ! great job :)
Gravity Games
24. Aug 2015 · 12:51 UTC
I actually had a lot of fun with this one. I will admit, I wasn't really able to get past level 2 (I know, I suck), but I can't really think of anything that I would improve outside of the graphics. Nice job, and I feel you on having to submit a compo game to the jam (it happened to me before).
guoboism
24. Aug 2015 · 13:04 UTC
Theme 5/5
It's really interesting idea, really fits the theme!
Though I wish, it would be better to have tourist behavior more predictable.
hexabeast
24. Aug 2015 · 13:05 UTC
Really fun game
moon519
24. Aug 2015 · 14:45 UTC
I like the concept. However, I find the keyboard control a bit difficult, not always responding. The graphics and the music are good, especially if you made everything yourself.

Great job!
🎤 architect404
24. Aug 2015 · 15:00 UTC
@moon519 I wonder if the seemingly unresponsive controls are actually the mechanic of having a slight pause between each swim stroke so that you can't spam it? if so then it's intentional, but cheers for the feedback
Fallenthief
24. Aug 2015 · 16:05 UTC
Wow this game is really fun, well done!
rudra
24. Aug 2015 · 16:17 UTC
Very Good ! Great use of the theme, very well polished. I think the other good aspects were mentioned in the comments, so I may not need to repeat it :D .
qkerguelen
24. Aug 2015 · 16:22 UTC
Wow that was hard, I didn't pass the third level. But i enjoyed it. Music, sound effects and graphics work really well together and the idea is cool :)
🎤 architect404
24. Aug 2015 · 17:07 UTC
cheers all

as for the difficulty; when I was playtesting the game it originally started with just one tourist on level 1, two on level 2 etc, but those first two levels were too easy and boring, so I decided to just jump straight to the more engaging gameplay. if you're having difficulty, I found praying to the gods of RNG and holding my breath in real life really helped :P
DeusOpus
24. Aug 2015 · 18:30 UTC
An interesting take on the theme. Not very many games can pull off non-combat play very well, so good job.
DYafimau
24. Aug 2015 · 21:05 UTC
Good job!!!
LeekAnarchism
24. Aug 2015 · 21:17 UTC
Really nice idea! (Also, very similar to mine :))

This feels like a really polished game -- the little touches like the fish make it feel very complete.

The difficulty feels just about right too -- I managed the first few levels, but you have to get very sneaky once you get to 5+ tourists.

The music is pretty rockin' too!
Antokolos
24. Aug 2015 · 23:56 UTC
Nice, fun game, I liked it, thanks!
Things that potentially can be improved: graphics and level design (i.e., it will be good if levels were different, not only increasing number of tourists)
TurtleP
25. Aug 2015 · 01:48 UTC
Very well made, loved the smile the Loch Ness has on its face after clearing a level and when tourists are confused when they miss a shot. Audio is also very nice!
Lucho9
25. Aug 2015 · 02:55 UTC
it was a lot of fun!! :D one of my favourites
Lucho9
25. Aug 2015 · 02:56 UTC
really funny :D
Kerdelos
25. Aug 2015 · 09:05 UTC
The graphics are simple but enjoyable (i think animations contributes à lot to it). The concept is really cool and funny. It's nice picturing myself as this sooo adorable lochness monster. I had a hard time figuring the control. I couldn't understand that i needed to press up and swin at the same time to go up. Maybe some indications in the description ? I would prevent the frustration i had.
ManuelGF
25. Aug 2015 · 11:09 UTC
Nice game, it is fun and the theme is lovely. Graphics are cool, too.
Oxygamer
25. Aug 2015 · 11:29 UTC
:) Fun but hard enough
Rocketship
25. Aug 2015 · 11:36 UTC
Fun idea well executed. Great use of the theme too! I found it quite difficult, would've liked for the tourists to spend a bit more time grabbing their cameras before taking a photo.
Zccc
25. Aug 2015 · 11:54 UTC
This was so fun ahah I could only reach level 5! One thing that bothered me is that the monster got stuck on the walls to the side, they should be smooth!
DragonGino
25. Aug 2015 · 11:56 UTC
playing hide and seek with the monster.
SoulGame
25. Aug 2015 · 11:57 UTC
Well inspired monster game. This is a cute interpretation which doesn't involve blood and guts and that's fun! I actually wanted to make a mini-game using Loch ness but failed to find a concept, yours work well ^^ I only regret that sometimes tourist behavior is a bit unstable and hard to anticipate, other than that, solid entry.
Fantasieleben
25. Aug 2015 · 12:02 UTC
Well done, fun game, good you added the sound effects!
RHY3756547
25. Aug 2015 · 12:02 UTC
Really fun, and cool idea. Graphics were pretty charming, and the music was both appropriate and well made. The people flipping instantly caught me out a few times though, it's just like eyes appeared on the back of their head or something... Really fantastic tho.
Huo-cuo
25. Aug 2015 · 12:31 UTC
The controls were a bit tough to handle, but it was fun.
Thx for the game.
Mach60KAS
25. Aug 2015 · 12:42 UTC
I only made it to level 3 since people catch you so quickly, but I really liked the game! The art was pretty sweet and the music fit the game nicely. I'd maybe make it so that people couldn't see you while they were turning to give players a little more warning though. You can also get caught just as the level ends, which is harmless but pretty funny. Great work, keep it up!
fubenalvo
25. Aug 2015 · 12:50 UTC
Very funny game, just tooo simple and short.
ajopart
25. Aug 2015 · 14:06 UTC
Very nice idea and execution ! Brilliant. And fun !
fullmontis
25. Aug 2015 · 15:42 UTC
Nice game! The concept is funny and fun to play. It can also get quite hard with the later levels. I thought the controls were good, didn't have any problems.
Kai20
25. Aug 2015 · 16:26 UTC
Great Game overall i really enjoyed being the monster. stealth and get to the air great idea
local minimum
25. Aug 2015 · 16:31 UTC
Hello fellow Nessie-monster maker! Hope you had a fun first Ludum. It took me a while to understand that the arrows only directed her and space made her swim. I found it a bit too hard even on the first level, but that might have been because I tried to stay out of sight entirely. So maybe at least the first level should be easier, or it should be made clearer that it's OK to be seen a little while (if that was the case), just not photoed. Good entry though and quite similar, yet very different from my own take on being Nessie.
CorgiCommander
25. Aug 2015 · 16:41 UTC
Great Job, especially for your first LD (and solo). The style overall won me over.
louis.denizet
25. Aug 2015 · 20:45 UTC
That was a great idea for the theme, really innovant and funny ;)
Bloodyaugust
26. Aug 2015 · 05:01 UTC
We liked the graphics, they were awfully cute. :D BUT, mashing A was a total pain in the ass, you should look into using the joystick for movement, at least underwater. Maybe a dive and surface button so you keep the snappy avoid movements? :D Good entry. :)
squarepug
26. Aug 2015 · 10:14 UTC
After 5 seconds of seeing this I really liked the use of the theme! A monster, yet a monster people like so you could still make a friendly game, clever. Graphics are cool and sound effects as well.
jordinuco
26. Aug 2015 · 10:28 UTC
It´s simple, but complete. Maybe a little easier than it should. Congratulations!
Mike Mezhenin
26. Aug 2015 · 16:43 UTC
Surprisingly fun to play! I loved how the tourists actually come back to the bus after the tour finishes, and the fact that they act surprised when you escape from the shot. Good game!
AlariSilver
26. Aug 2015 · 17:12 UTC
Fun game! Though I could never get past the first level. :)
jsmars
26. Aug 2015 · 22:28 UTC
Really nice and challanging mechanic, nice work! :)
NikB
27. Aug 2015 · 12:16 UTC
Fun, challenging and innovative! The visuals are great as well. Good luck with this one!
blubberquark
27. Aug 2015 · 15:08 UTC
More Nessie games! :)
I think a stealth game is a good fit for the theme. Also like the sunken bus. I guess maybe Nessie had something to do with that one...
Dining Philosopher
28. Aug 2015 · 10:48 UTC
Nice game! We had the same Loch Ness idea for a while, but we eventually switched to something else. The game is a bit hard at first, I had to get used to the swim controls. It took a while to get through the first level, but then the sound of finishing a level was very satisfying. ;) I noticed that sometimes I also hold my breath IRL. ^^ Well done!
Ninja Garage
28. Aug 2015 · 19:33 UTC
Great concept! Good job!
Clurect
29. Aug 2015 · 02:45 UTC
Very cool game, with some work you might have a great mobile game :)