LudumData

Sea Kelp Tower by HacksawUnit

[raw]
made by HacksawUnit for Ludum Dare 54 (COMPO)

logo.png lddemo4.gif

"There exists a tower in the sea, which sinks and rises as the waters do. A fair bit of it has crumbled with time, but it's still mostly standing. Due to its location, it is a great place to harvest sea kelp. As an ethusiastic kelp collector, you'll need to outpace the tide in hopes of collecting all that delicous, nutritious, kelp. This kelp, is a sticky-style kelp, so if you collect a bunch, it will form into a ball and get rather heavy. Please be creative in how you handle the kelp, for this will give you the best results... Oh, and be sure to bring a life preserver in case you get caught in the waters, or pinched by a little crab, or something. Good luck, my dear!"

In this game, you play as someone trying to harvest "sea kelp". - She can run with the arrow keys, and jump with X. - If she collects 10+ sea kelp, it will form into a heavy ball. - She can throw the kelp-ball with Z or C. (Both keys do the same thing- use your favorite!) - If you hold one of the arrow keys while throwing, it will change the trajectory. - If you fall into the water or touch an obstacle just once, you'll have to restart. But please do not worry, the kelp collector is very tough, and has a powerful "life preserver", so she will be fine. - Try throwing the kelp-ball at uncollected kelp, walls, and even other kelp-balls!

This was a very challenging LD, and I "over-scoped" dramatically... but, I am very happy with this small little platforming challenging. I am especially proud of the art and gameplay mechanics! That said, sorry about the rushed ending. :-) It is not fancy, but your final score should display if you make it to the end.

Game + Source Code https://kirklindsay.itch.io/sea-kelp-tower
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/sea-kelp-tower

Ratings

Overall 45th 4.065⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 61th 3.935⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 107th 3.717⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 151th 3.804⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 7th 4.435⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 23th 4.065⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 123th 3.024⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 34th 3.952⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 5🗨️

Feedback

Note
02. Oct 2023 · 02:33 UTC
Gosh hecccccccck, this is pretty fun and addicting! ;u; I love the mechanic of collecting kelp and having a kelp-ball to worry about (with it slowing you down while equipped). Quickly began to scorerun after a couple attempts and enjoyed the kelp bonus for throwing a kelp-ball into other kelp (and the combo sound effects for such are satisfying)! I...don't remember how many attempts I did, but eventually I finally I made it out with a score of 189pts and I'm looking forward to trying to improve! ^^

As for other feedback (thus far, I'll edit this comment or post another if I've got any other lingering feedback), the art and music is nice, it feels nice to control the character, I like the character's shocked expression while latched to a wall with a kelp-ball attached, and the death sequence is fun (reminds me of either Mario Bros or Super Mario Bros). Good stuffs!
Jiri_One
02. Oct 2023 · 10:30 UTC
Really liked this, the idea of having extra weight which can be felt in the movement is nice. The art was also really good. the game is really hard though. I'd like to see the kelp ball be able to fall down and cascade into more points. Nice game :)
blobo
02. Oct 2023 · 14:24 UTC
Oh- I absolutely love the difficulty! Trying to get a high score is the perfect blend of risk/reward. I *could* toss it for more combos, but then I run the risk of fumbling. The controls are incredibly "snappy"- like- moving the player feels incredible. the jump is fast, the fall is fast, and for someone trying to speedrun it, it just feels right.

Here's my recorded gameplay session, for *maximum feedback*. cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3lm2R5bRKU
eroxxie
02. Oct 2023 · 19:40 UTC
Amazing, as always! :star2:
mahalis
03. Oct 2023 · 00:46 UTC
This is hard! I don’t have the reflexes for it—on my best run so far I only made it past the first few obstacles. Seems like it would be a good challenge for someone better at platformers though. The art’s well done: the palette in particular is a good kind of unusual. Why am I green? Why is the kelp orange? I don’t know, but I like it.
Oznarox
03. Oct 2023 · 02:08 UTC
The game could be easier, at least in the beginning, on the first few levels until I get the hang of it. This way, I lose motivation too quickly
Euix
03. Oct 2023 · 04:06 UTC
You might get this comment a lot, but this game is very difficult! A tutorial or some pacing would have helped quite a lot. I struggled to understand why collecting the "good stuff" did "bad things" to the character (not a bad mechanic, just confusing without in-game context). Anyway, excellent use of the theme, and impressive for a 48-hour project! It feels very retro, and I absolutely love it. My only other complaint is that arrow keys and Z/C are a bit unnatural to me as a person who mostly plays PC games.
vrerabek
03. Oct 2023 · 06:59 UTC
I love the art and music. The gameplay itself took me a while to get grip on, but its really fun. The movement is snappy and polish of the game is incredible for a game jam. Good job.
5Mixer
03. Oct 2023 · 12:11 UTC
Best graphics I've seen so far, awesome visual polish. Love the little particles, the title screen typography, the text smoothly switching side depending on which side you face. I'm not too used to platformers and found the movement, and the core mechanic, quite difficult, but it's a fun game.
jellycopter
03. Oct 2023 · 16:45 UTC
Very beautiful game, probably the best I've seen so far. Fairly tough, but also fair. Love it!
Joymagine
03. Oct 2023 · 23:30 UTC
really good game, wish it had WSAD lol kinda my problem
LDJam user 371996
04. Oct 2023 · 13:25 UTC
The best feel of control, the best art, the best audio.

But playing Celeste for too long, I sometimes confuse the control of two games and die XD

Perhaps after adapting for a while, I will enjoy the high difficulty of this game very much.
Simon Rahnasto
06. Oct 2023 · 20:39 UTC
I was blown away by this game! While playing, I had to remind myself it was created in a mere 48 hours for the Compo category, it felt like a jam entry in terms of quality.

The platforming controls were incredibly tight, which really makes or breaks any platformer. The visuals were simply fantastic, especially considering that this was the work of one person within such a short timeframe. The audio was spot on, both the music and the sound. The entire game was cohesive and I have literally not a single thing that I would have changed. Absolutely one of the best entries I have played this Jam!

Fantastic entry!
Bigaston
07. Oct 2023 · 08:35 UTC
Fun entry, with nice graphics and the music is really cute! Nice work, the 3D is cute and fun to play
LeReveur
07. Oct 2023 · 22:55 UTC
I'm clearly not the good client for this kind of dynamic and speed thinking need game, but I can tell a game is good when I saw one, and this game is obviously good! Well done!
Mastoast
09. Oct 2023 · 11:13 UTC
Really cool art and musics, the controls feel nice and juicy, and the synergies with the ball are great.
I especially liked having the sea kelp slowing you down, and so having to make quick decisions on either throwing the ball or keeping it if it's needed for the next obstacle
Very solid entry, well done !
kasmilus
10. Oct 2023 · 08:37 UTC
Controls are great, really tight, with good feedback, I love sounds and music here. I found it waaay to hard - impossible to finish (if I ignored the ball completely then maybe?) And having to restart so may times, even that short death animation felt too long and annoying. It really is a great game though, good job!
Gizmolo
11. Oct 2023 · 04:57 UTC
I figured out why you need the ball... xD was wondering why I was haulin' that hunker up the tower! Also, I'm glad I can hop up the wall decently fast while I have the ball - that was helpful :D Fun entry as always @hacksawunit 5/5 stars from me :)
Vyndilis
14. Oct 2023 · 15:50 UTC
Really fun game but very hard! I haven't managed to reach the end yet, but I had a hard time stopping playing. The gameplay is perfect, with a little procedural generation this game could be really addictive.

I love the feedbacks, graphics, sounds and music. :thumbsup:

Great job!
Alchemic
21. Oct 2023 · 05:14 UTC
Excellent as usual. This is quite a bit more difficult than your previous entries! The level design is great, the difficulty curve feels just right.

I absolutely love how the yellow kelp really stands out from the terrain. All of the spritework is top notch.