Subterranean by K.Chplr

[raw]
made by K.Chplr for LD33 (COMPO)
Defend your nest against the enemy ! Survive as long as possible against the endless wave of enemies. Get hit 4 times and you die.

This game is inspired by Magic Carpet and features basic random generation for the level (calling it procedural would be a stretch).

How to play :

WASD, arrow keys, d-pad or first stick to move.
X, space or button 3 to shoot.
shift or button 4 + left or right to dodge.

You're invincible while dodging.

I had quite a few technical issues while making this game, so it's not all nice and polished (ie. you need to refresh the page to start a new game). More about this in a future post mortem. Right now I'm exhausted. The game has been tested on Firefox, Chrome/Canary and Safari.

Ratings

Coolness 98% 2
Overall 3.04 540
Audio 3.06 312
Fun 2.60 742
Graphics 3.57 228
Innovation 2.70 652
Mood 3.33 235
Theme 2.39 877

Feedback

bodsey
24. Aug 2015 路 05:50 UTC
I wasn't sure what my objective was exactly, where / what were my enemies... Looks pretty decent for a LD, congrats. I wish I had a controller because it was hard to play on azerty
馃帳 K.Chplr
24. Aug 2015 路 06:24 UTC
Thanks for your feedback !

The objective is to survive as long as possible (you die once you're hit 4 times). Arrows key are supposed to work too. I'll update the entry description with those bits of information.
MrDave
24. Aug 2015 路 10:43 UTC
I found this really enjoyable. Top marks for graphics, loved that style! It鈥檚 a shame you didn鈥檛 get longer because having to refresh once you lose breaks the immersion.
terop
24. Aug 2015 路 11:39 UTC
this looks amazing.
highlyinteractive
24. Aug 2015 路 18:12 UTC
Not sure what I was doing, but looks pretty
increpare
24. Aug 2015 路 19:11 UTC
it didn't respond to input on safari/osx :( (i clicked play and nothing happened)

console errors

[Error] SyntaxError: Invalid character: '`'
(anonymous function) (main.js, line 40861)
[Error] ReferenceError: Can't find variable: main
global code (ludumdare33, line 97)
馃帳 K.Chplr
24. Aug 2015 路 19:45 UTC
Thanks for the feedbacks !

@MrDave: Yes indeed. Large parts of the gameplay, things as crucial as mortality, were crammed in the last two hours of the compo. The "gameover" screen was added something like 10 minutes before the deadline. Hence the lack of polish here and there :(
馃帳 K.Chplr
24. Aug 2015 路 19:47 UTC
@increpare: Thanks, I see what's the issue I'll try to fix that in a few.
terop
24. Aug 2015 路 20:25 UTC
btw, I linked the postmortem you requested to my project. (see the comments section)
馃帳 K.Chplr
24. Aug 2015 路 21:32 UTC
That bug was hiding another bug and so forth, but the game should now work on Safari. I checked it on Safari 7.1 with WebGL enabled and it worked almost flawlessly (the gameover "screen" took a while to appear).
Pampattitude
24. Aug 2015 路 22:28 UTC
I felt lost quickly but the environment looked so beautiful I didn't care. I like the scenario. I may keep playing to understand it more.
Jupiter_Hadley
25. Aug 2015 路 14:02 UTC
Really neat environment! I included it in part 2 of my Ludum Dare 33 Compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/ml0OKpi-I0Y
GertJohnny
25. Aug 2015 路 18:10 UTC
I had no idea what was going on but it looks nice. A quick restart would have been handy.
DinnerInTheDark
25. Aug 2015 路 18:10 UTC
Neat graphics! I wasn't sure how to aim properly, the crosshair doesn't seem accurate.
pixzleone
25. Aug 2015 路 18:11 UTC
Cool game, very moody :)
馃帳 K.Chplr
25. Aug 2015 路 18:34 UTC
@DinnerInTheDark: Not sure if that's what you experienced but there's a subtle "autoaim" to help shoot the enemies who are slightly above or below you. This was necessary since you can't actually look up and down. So sometimes the shots don't go exactly in the direction of the crosshair... I'm still not sure this was the right way to go. Maybe I should have removed the crosshair altogether.
HThomson
26. Aug 2015 路 19:28 UTC
It looks quite good, the simple aesthetic serves the gameplay well.

The audio wasn't that great but served it's purpose (informing you that you've been hit etc)

One additional feature that would have been very useful is some sort of health bar, since if you've been alive for a long time it's hard to remember how many times you've been hit.
Zupoman
26. Aug 2015 路 19:28 UTC
Nice idea, I found the sounds creeping me out though.
Quij
26. Aug 2015 路 19:29 UTC
Cool! The claustrophobic environment and the movement gave me some Descent vibes. Loved the atmosphere.
ireal
27. Aug 2015 路 10:59 UTC
I thought you really did well on the presentation. I love the way it looks, and extra kudos for making it for the web. I'm curious how it would have been if you had had more time!
馃帳 K.Chplr
27. Aug 2015 路 14:20 UTC
Thanks for the feedbacks !

@HThomson: Yes, the health bar was on my todo list just after the game over "screen" but it didn't make it to the deadline.

The sound effects this time around are better than those of my previous games but still far from perfect, I agree. Them being creepy is intentional though :)

@ireal: Off the top of my head : The enemies would be snake or dragon-like figures coiling on themselves. I would use 3D audio for a better sense of space. There would be particles floating around the nest. And -gasp- it would be possible to start a new game without refreshing the page.
JoshCJohnK
27. Aug 2015 路 20:32 UTC
This game was fun, especially given the time constraints. I believe if you continued to work on this post LD you could make it into something great. Keep up the good work
xvw
27. Aug 2015 路 20:45 UTC
I did not notice the noise of the damage before the first defeat.
I love the soundtrack and ambience.
I love the overall look, once you understand you had to dodge a lot, it becomes a very interesting gameplay, dynamic enough, nice feeling.

I hope you'll continue working on it!

Well done!
SecondDimension
28. Aug 2015 路 08:19 UTC
Brutally difficult, but had a wonderful atmosphere!
crucknuk
28. Aug 2015 路 10:07 UTC
Your gameplay is very dynamic, poky environment is a good idea
Stephen Patrick
28. Aug 2015 路 11:26 UTC
I wish it had a bit more content, considering you used ThreeJs. It's not much more than a couple of random-y heightmaps and a diamond for the enemies. Not even a UI to know how many hits you have left or a restart button.
Slothmachine
28. Aug 2015 路 11:42 UTC
Nice environment! I really like this dark cave like space.
reiknight
28. Aug 2015 路 13:56 UTC
The environment random generation looks pretty good! I'm excited about the performance of WebGL these days :)
mantis
28. Aug 2015 路 14:36 UTC
The flying reminds me of Magic Carpet, nice. Great graphics too!
tripleVisionGames
29. Aug 2015 路 08:03 UTC
I like the look of the game but it literally ran for a couple of seconds, told me my nest had been defiled and then wouldn't respond to any click or key press.

Tried again and it ran for 10 seconds before doing the same. I've not rated yet because I have a feeling that this is something to do with me playing it on my old laptop (which is not very powerful) so I'll try it again once I can get on my PC at home!
FistBumpGames
29. Aug 2015 路 13:47 UTC
Visually quite nice and very moody! Shame that movement and controls are a bit wonky.
Denis347
29. Aug 2015 路 14:01 UTC
Great mood and nice looks, good game!
pereubu
29. Aug 2015 路 15:14 UTC
nice graphics and audio :>
SinclairStrange
01. Sep 2015 路 11:51 UTC
Great style, I love games with this type of style. The gameplay was nice a simple too, overall it's a nice little time waster. Great stuff!
mubox
04. Sep 2015 路 21:02 UTC
Good audio and graphics. It can be polished.

A counter for knowing how much enemies are left could help in understanding (ingame) my objective.
Nomys_Tempar
05. Sep 2015 路 18:18 UTC
Very cool, I like the mood with the cave and the bells. Need polish but nice entry !
Omiya Games
06. Sep 2015 路 01:29 UTC
The super-sensitive controls, combined with low visibility made it super-difficult to play the game. I felt like I was fighting with the game than enjoying it. A game inspired by Magic Carpet would be great if it improved on its formula (and to be fair, the lack of feature may have been doe to time constraint). As of right now, though, the lack of spells makes it feel like a lesser experience.
AnglerteamGames
10. Sep 2015 路 17:57 UTC
Excellent job setting the mood!