Blade Jumper by DeadByDeath
You are a retired little ninja... You were living your life peacefully, had left the ninja life behind... But the enemies you had didn't leave you behind them... So, they found you... And they stole the most important thing in your life... Your best friend, Donnie... The old dog that kept you company while you were living your life calmly. Now, you have to track them down and find where they keep Donnie imprisoned. And, of course, you need to punish them! As a ninja that knows the secrets of the job, you can combine special runes to get special abilities for some time... So, it's up to you, to use the runes wisely, because space is your limit!!!
Game was created with LibGDX. I faced a lot of issues when trying to build HTML package, so I decided that for this Jam I will no longer try to generate online build. I have provided build for both Windows and MacOS platforms.
The game still has some problems (a part of it still is not working) that I will work hard to fix them (this time LibGDX did not want to co-operate with me at all). Probably, since it is easy for me, I will add 2 or 3 more levels the next days. Anyway, I wish you had good time this weekend and I am really glad that you played (or tried to play at least) my game. Have fun! :smile:
Update
Added a patch that fixed most of the texture bleeding on the map. Reworked all the textures with edge padding to resolve this kind of issues. Also, the power ups menu is working (with some minor issues still, but now you can experience my inspiration for the theme). Also, more levels are coming finally, on the next days! :smile:
The concept of Blade Jumper is simple.
- You can use A and D to move left and right on the platformer.
- W is for jumping (Don't forget, you have the double-jump power).
- With SPACEBAR you are able to perform melee attacks to the enemies. The enemies will try to kill you but you are a kind of ninja who will kill them eventually. As you proceed through the level you will be able to find power ups.
- Using TAB button you can open the inventory and combine these power ups that you got to experience some boosts! (Finally functionality that I built with the power ups for the jam is working (probably it will break again :sweat_smile:)
How to Play on Windows * Download .zip file from below. * After download is finished open file named Blade Jumper and run .exe file. * Have fun!
How to Play on MacOS * Download .dmg file from below. * After download is finished, run .dmg file and copy the Blade Jumper application in your application folder. * Run the Blade Jumper application. * *Very Important Note: *The first time a MacOS user tries to launch the application it will crash and OS will try to delete the file. The message will look like "AppName is damages and can't be opened. You should move it to the Bin". DO NOT DELETE the file, instead just click Cancel (or Close) and go in System Settings -> Privacy & Security and on the Security section you will find a message that says "AppName was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer" and below this message a button with the label Open Anyway exists. Click this button and try again to open the Application. It is mandatory on the same Security section in Settings, the user to have selected under "Allow application downloaded from" the value "App Store and identified developers". * Have fun!
* Post Ludum Dare Jam Updates *
* Oct 19th 2023 *
- Fixed the jumping mechanic. Now player jumps with the same force no matter when the jump is pressed.
- Fixed a bug with the camera starting from another place when the game was starting, then lerping to the player. Now, the camera starts from the player's position.
- Re-implemented the power ups, the "x2 HP" was removed and "Heal Per Second" rune was added on its position. This rune will heal about 8% of player's max HP per second for a total of 10 seconds. Also, damage power up now is more powerful multiplying the base damage of the player by 4 and it is active for 40 seconds. Jump power up duration is increased to 60 seconds.
- Re-worked enemies. Now they deal less damage and they have less health. This will make the game less difficult, so there is no need for the player to just run over them.
* Important note is that the Post Ludum Dare Jam Updates are available only on the MacOS version of the game (.dmg file). Soon the changes will be exported to the Windows version. *
| itch.io page | https://thestbar.itch.io/blade-jumper |
| github link | https://github.com/thestbar/blade-jumper |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/blade-jumper |
Ratings
| Overall | 752th | 3.382⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 709th | 3.258⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 922th | 2.875⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 952th | 3⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 622th | 3.529⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 438th | 3.403⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 552th | 2.919⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 756th | 3.29⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 34🗳️ | 48🗨️ |
Anyway, I noticed there's some image glitches on the screen which sometimes appeared for a split second an then disappeared again. Sadly, as you mentioned, the power up thingies were broken and could not be used, I believe they would've made the gameplay a lot more fun. Lastly, I think you should make those melee enemies moving around or chasing after the player, that would make the combat more engaging, as of now I can just jump pass them and continue onwards to the finish.
But regardless, it was a really enjoyable experience, well done!
Things I didn't enjoy: I could not find any good way that this linked to the theme, nor did it contain much playability which is disappointing for such a great character and solid movement. I didn't understand anything I was trying to do at first, and there were a few graphical tears in the screen. Also, it seems I made it to the end but I didn't even notice that it should be the end (I walked there by mistake) and so that could be telegrahped a lot better.
Overall, a good entry with a lot of room to make it more full :D
Pretty difficult platformer, took a few tries. The install location is weird. Did not use any power ups, and it seems like the faster you double jump the higher you can launch yourself :smile: Well done on the art and music. Gameplay was fine with the variety of enemies, but at points it was pretty difficult to platform precisely.
@baconeta thank you my friend for your kind words! It is appreciated! They tearing on the screen is because I didn't add edge padding to the textures that I use for the tiles so when the camera moves due to interpolation some white lines are drawn on the screen. I am trying to resolve it. There are many things that I could add to make it more full, I am trying to do some of them, because I know that it is like a half product. About the theme, the power ups functionality was supposed to be the link to the theme, but still it refuses to work on the builds that I create :cry:. Anyway, thank you again for the feedback! Have fun!
@merdeboi Thank you my friend for the feedback and the kind words. Have fun!!!
The platforming controls felt good, even with the weird double jump. I really liked that you had seemingly designed the levels around it, so until I read these comments I thought that behavior was intended as a cool twist on double jumping.
I didn't really like how many times I had to attack to defeat some enemy types, most notably the first you encounter. That took so many hits that I actually tried to avoid all enemies for quite a while until I realized that enemy type was just a sponge and only avoided those ones.
I think this is the base of a really solid game that just needs some balance and bug fixing to be really very fun. Great work.
I finished. I won. It's over muah hahahahahaha i had like no life at the end. lolz It was SO much easier once i figured out you weren't hurt by the people. LoL
I agree with some of the commentaries that the level design is a bit too brutal. Also, some enemies have no animation for preparing the attack - hence why I ended up skipping them all. If you want the player to kill them, I think it would be nice to at least give more clarity for enemy attacks, and give a reason not to skip them (for example, score). Another suggestion is to change health combination to heal, instead of temporary buff (I think it would encourage the player to fight, and the health combination is least useful at the moment anyway).
Overall, thank you for this fun little game! I will be looking for post-jam version, and wish you even better projects in the future!
Great game, after getting killed by monsters so many times I chose to speed through it peacefully
* Gameplay was super engaging. Going for runes was quite a lot of fun, and put me into some tight situations. Having a dedicated inventory system pushed this over the top in terms of polish and mechanical proficiency.
* Pixel visuals felt very well thought out, and helped give the game a professional feel.
* Music was a nice accompaniment to the rest of the game, and didn't feel out of place.
Cons:
* Control bindings, even after beating the game, felt very unintuitive. I feel it would've been much more fluid to bind jump to Space, and attack to LClick.
* I didn't feel that there was much of an incentive to engage with the enemies, nor the rune system; after multiple attempts, I wound up just hopping over most of the enemies due to the unnecessary risk it put me in. I also didn't realize that the rune system existed until after I first beat the game; to remedy this, I think properly signalling its binding in the HUD (maybe around where health is) would go a long way.
* I would've liked a way to modify already-placed runes; especially towards the end of the game, I found I would stumble across something that I simply couldn't use.
Bugs:
* 2nd jump speed is additive to whatever your current speed is; this means that pulling off one jump right after the other will send you way higher than is likely intended. Conversely, if you're falling, the 2nd jump will give you next to no height. Because I often found it hard to tell what was beneath me when falling, this would sometimes lead to me unpredictably landing in lava pits with no recourse.
* Initially starting the game immediately snaps your camera up to the player from a far-down, indeterminate point.
Overall a fun game that really pushed the limits of what can be done in 3 days; the amount of care you guys put in shows.