Lair of the Scare by RockhopperGames

[raw]
made by RockhopperGames for LD33 (COMPO)
Heroes are invading your lair! Deal with them like a Gentlemonster, by scaring them away!

It took me all night to put it together, but this is the most satisfied with a Ludum Dare entry so far! Not that I won't pretend it's well polished, or includes everything I wanted, but having a bit of time left at the end of the compo to hunt bugs and add a tiny bit of audio was a great feeling!

Ratings

Coolness 70% 3
Overall 3.18 425
Audio 2.70 475
Fun 2.92 536
Graphics 3.16 433
Humor 3.39 174
Innovation 3.45 199
Mood 3.03 440
Theme 4.08 69

Feedback

pirate_shell
24. Aug 2015 · 13:08 UTC
This game had tons of personality. The character is simple yet works so well. A gentleman monster. That's just brilliant. And it's not just a story element either, it's gamplay one too, since you don't actually kill anyone but just scare them as you don't believe in violence. It gets even better when you realise the louder your scream is the more scary it is. And that reflects in the sound design as well since your scream goes from a skreech to a cute roar to a monster-like roar. Other than that the gameplay is functional and the graphics have lots of charm to them. Overall, a good entry that put me in a good mood.
-muffin-
24. Aug 2015 · 13:36 UTC
I loved this game! Especially the wimpsy scares!
goldenindiegames
24. Aug 2015 · 13:36 UTC
Great little game. Not super clear why it's sometimes really easy to scare and sometimes not. Also hard to tell the difference between a confident and scared hero. Wonderful game, huge potential. The ability to buy some passive traps would've been interesting!
ToloaGames
24. Aug 2015 · 13:40 UTC
I dig the art. The idea of a monster that is not destructive is definitely refreshing. Some music or ambient sound would have been good.
Dukio
24. Aug 2015 · 14:35 UTC
Very original. Not the best graphics or sound (there are any music?), but I think that the gameplay is innovative and so fun. Nice work! ^^
Andrew
24. Aug 2015 · 14:54 UTC
It wasn't extremely easy figuring out when the knights are frightened, but it's a solid idea and that was really the only gripe I had with it.
Elenesski
24. Aug 2015 · 17:42 UTC
It was good, my only issue was that the space bar was used to advance the screen and scare, so at games end you moved through so much if you were mashing the space bar. Maybe ENTER instead?
LeoM
24. Aug 2015 · 20:12 UTC
Nice story. Funny and on the theme !
It's very hard to defend the both way at the same time ! A map would be useful. ;)
OadT
25. Aug 2015 · 09:39 UTC
Funny and cool story and gameplay idea. I also like the different scream sounds depending on how loud the monster screams. It was just a bit hard to see the difference between confident and frightened heroes, but during gameplay it was actually quite clear.
Darius
25. Aug 2015 · 13:55 UTC
The idea is really cool ! The gameplay is quite easy to figure out, and the game itself it nice. The only thing missing is a music, for a better ambience.
🎤 RockhopperGames
25. Aug 2015 · 14:38 UTC
Thanks for all the feedback so far!

I was worried the scared heroes might be a bit hard to tell apart from the confindent ones. It was pretty clear when I was working on the sprites up close, but once I zoomed out it became a lot harder to see. I might add some extra panic markers to scared ones if I put together a postjam version.

Music would definitely be something I'd like to add if I get a chance, too. All the sound effects so far were made with my mouth, but if anyone has a recomendation for a music program, I'd appreciate that!

@goldenindiegames: I hadn't thought of adding traps! That could be a really interesting addition for a post-jam version!

@Elenesski: Hmm, I prefer keeping the range of buttons low, but I'll defintely looking into what I can do to stop people missing their score screen!

@LeoM: I was originally intending for there to be a range of monsters with different abilities, one of which would be able to detect heroes off screen, but that was way outside the scope of 48 hours. I'll see about making them easier to find, though!
commodoreKid
25. Aug 2015 · 20:25 UTC
I think you had a really good idea but realization is not that good. It becomes repetitive too quickly. There could be more stuff happening like different enemy types or some other dangers.
KunoNoOni
25. Aug 2015 · 23:25 UTC
That was a great use of theme. The bar for your roar was a nice touch, from the wimpy "boo" to the "RAWR!" lol
Crosstales
26. Aug 2015 · 18:20 UTC
That's a good one! I'd like to see more of it! Keep it up!
TLansdale
26. Aug 2015 · 18:21 UTC
I enjoyed this! Fun concept and fun sounds. Would've been nice to have some indication of where to find the heroes, but it worked well!
oskardevelopment
26. Aug 2015 · 18:24 UTC
Sweet game! Love the hairy little dude! The texts were awesome as well! A bit hard to see the difference between a frightened and a non-frightened hero, though was awesome animations of them fleeing when getting scared! Awesome!
30dogs
26. Aug 2015 · 18:28 UTC
Clever idea. Took me a few tried to get it but it was fun.

I wish there was a little more difference between the types of heroes...thought you were trolling us for second there. The overall look and story was really great though.
bouletmarc
27. Aug 2015 · 00:25 UTC
really good game, well made, nice controls, nice textures, but I can't really beleive this is made in 48h, did you wasted some time somewhere ? I don't know how to play it even it there are a lot of help text, and I found a bug, I scared the guy in a dark area over him while running and instead of having back the death screen, the cam was just infinitly scrolling left side down.
🎤 RockhopperGames
27. Aug 2015 · 13:17 UTC
@commodoreKid: I would like to add more enemy types for a post jam version, but I worry it could dilute the character of the enemies. The square-jawed, broad-shouldered hero is such a cliche that I can't really think of anything else worthy of standing alongside him.

@bouletmarc: I did have to pull an all nighter on the second day, but in the end I was glad with what I'd achieved. I did waste a little time accidentally spriting the hero at twice the size I needed (you can see that sprite on the Game Over screen), and originally I had a movement system that let you move around the middle of the screen without it scrolling. It was meant to make it so you could keep your focus on the heroes while you were avoiding them, but in the end it was just limiting visibility and causing all sorts of bugs. Thanks for your bug report too, I'll see if I can replicated and eliminate it!

And thanks for all the other feedback too! I'm glad to see people seem to be enjoying my game! ^_^
mar3k
29. Aug 2015 · 10:41 UTC
Really cool idea. Nice game.
humbleness
29. Aug 2015 · 10:42 UTC
The monster's roars are hilarious and the pixel art detail on the heroes are amazing
Solid entry in my opinion
CheesyRamen
01. Sep 2015 · 07:07 UTC
Pretty interesting, nice take on the stealth genre! =)
Good job!
bombjack
06. Sep 2015 · 11:59 UTC
the idea is original. I liked the roar :))
crucknuk
13. Sep 2015 · 17:01 UTC
cute game, but i didn't know why i always died when i scared them from behind, i thought they wouldn't see me.

Anyway nice little entry :)