Bombercat by orion_black

[raw]
made by orion_black for LD33 (COMPO)
Intrucctions
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Arrows Move
Q Bomb
W Bat
E Slash attack

There are 4 kind of enemies(melee, ranged, middle and charger) with a couple variations each. They can cause damage, push you or stun you and each has a different movement pattern. The objective is to push them out of the stage. Likewise you die if you fall.

Comments
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I tried to experiment with using the bomb as a way to push your enemies instead of simply causing damage. I also decided to use a grid to make movement a bit more tactical(same for different enemy movement patters), but as things stand that didn't quite pan out. I still think there's some interesting stuff within that design space so I'll give it some work afterwards(I will either focus on the bomb or the melee attacks, probably the first).

Graphics
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I totally forgot to make the enemies until it already was submission time so I had to rush them in like 15 minutes, that's why they look so shitty :(

Code
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I tried to clean it a bit but is still full of deprecated and unused stuff. Tomorrow, once I get some sleep, I'll clean it and upload that.
UPDATE(8/23 9:35): After a little snack I decided to go ahead and proceed with cleaning the code. It still has some vestigial and redundant stuff, but is kind of readable. I mean, is jam code after all...

Web Version
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I tested using the .exe version so for those using windows I highly recommend using that. The SWF was more of an after though, but I uploaded it anyways in case linux or osx people want to give it a try.

Changelog
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I removed the highscore button(it was pointless) and added a how to play one that is just an image explaining what each enemy does.

v 0.0.2: 28/08/2013

As far as I could tell the worst issue was enemies moving over one another making it really hard to tell how many of them were on a given space. In order to mitigate that now when enemies are deciding where to move they also cosider their fellow enemies' positions. They can still overlap by getting pushed or if both decide to move at the same time, but it's way less of a problem.

Another issue was getting pushed many spaces at a time(what some interpreted as stuff now drawing and such) so now:
- Only one movement or push gets stacked.
- There's only one level of armor so you can only get pushed up to two spaces(plus stack).

The bomb was really hard to use right and was safer(and more effective) to simply use the bat. Now the bomb works like a mine (making the name of the game kind of non-sensical :P). I'm thinking to make it a throwable item(two spaces in front of you) and/or make it so that the explosition pulls you away in the opposite direction it now does. Counter intuitive, but more interesting mechanically I think.

I also overhauled the rates at which both enemies appear and of what kind. It should be less crazy now. I'm thinking of changing many other things and fixing a couple bugs, but that's it for now.

Ratings

Coolness 32% 1897
Overall 2.50 877
Fun 2.67 711
Graphics 3.47 268
Humor 2.67 481
Innovation 3.18 354
Mood 2.60 704

Feedback

dosmaen
24. Aug 2015 路 06:14 UTC
It reminds me of sumo wrestling mixed with Megaman Battle Network mixed with some elements of bomberman. And cats.
Jezz0r
24. Aug 2015 路 06:19 UTC
Controls are wrong: should say arrow keys rather than WASD. Confused me for a while :P
馃帳 orion_black
25. Aug 2015 路 22:50 UTC
Jezz0r: upsss I really was half slept when I wrote that :P. Thanks for the heads up.
Clayblob
26. Aug 2015 路 00:18 UTC
This is great. It doesn't have any real issues, and it's both difficult, and easy to catch on to. The enemy graphics, as you said, need some work, but it's still a solid game. It's very fun, and I'll probably be playing it even after LD.
mariti
26. Aug 2015 路 00:25 UTC
fast movements. I died a lot to learn. lol gj.
jphelps
26. Aug 2015 路 02:10 UTC
i like it.
LandoSystems
26. Aug 2015 路 02:14 UTC
I agree, cats *are* monsters :) Tricky to play as I kept somehow exiting the arena or getting hit by projectiles drawn in the wrong square, but I like the concept. Thanks for the game!
aberdeenphoenix
26. Aug 2015 路 04:52 UTC
I'm no monster! I'm just a cat who wants to be alone.
MrTwister
26. Aug 2015 路 08:44 UTC
I really liked this entry!
I wish the cat wouldn't "go" beyond the game field though, it's already hard enough to stay alive with the enemies, lol.

For some reason the flash version was drawing things out of place (like some projectiles and the explosion animation). This didn't happen in the PC build.

A really enjoyable entry and I hope you keep working on it after the compo!
thedashdude
27. Aug 2015 路 02:45 UTC
Fun, the game was a bit hard. I would suggest having a timer to show when enemies will move, and have the size of the arena increased or the speed of the game decreased.
GBGames
27. Aug 2015 路 20:04 UTC
I wasn't sure why the bomb was knocking me out of the arena, but the comments seem to indicate that things were being drawn in the wrong place.

I wasn't clear why I would do anything other than bat the enemies.
Jezzamon
30. Aug 2015 路 21:59 UTC
The web link seems a little broken? At least for me, it was a download link instead. You might need to move the file into a public dropbox folder, in which case it should open in the browser window.

Regarding the game:
You really need to include some sounds! Basic sound effects make a big difference. Try using something like sxfr, you can create good little ones without much effort. Otherwise the game felt a little empty to me. If you can make any music, that helps a lot too.
cyrixd
03. Sep 2015 路 10:42 UTC
Not a bad concept that I think could be quite fun when fleshed out a bit. I'd even experiment with making it turn based and more of a puzzle, given the distinct enemy interactions you have. Nice ideas.
wooltech
04. Sep 2015 路 01:18 UTC
Took a little while to get the hang of it - I think I was expecting something more like bomber man, so that's probably my fault!

It felt a bit like it should be a turn based game.

Graphics are nice and colourful, which I liked.
Ninja Garage
07. Sep 2015 路 06:37 UTC
Cute kitty and boooombs! :D