Tinka The Turtle by ruerob
This is my #LDJAM entry for #LD32. My unconventional weapon against weapons and raised tempers!
I'm a pacifist and because of that I had some trouble with that theme!!! So I decided to make a game as an unconventional weapon against weapons. In this little game are no enemys, no weapons and no harm. Just swim with your turtle, collect as much gold and diamonds and stuff as you want and calm down after all these games full of weapons.
I hope you enjoy my little game as much as I enjoyed this Ludumdare.
Have a lot of fun!
I'm a pacifist and because of that I had some trouble with that theme!!! So I decided to make a game as an unconventional weapon against weapons. In this little game are no enemys, no weapons and no harm. Just swim with your turtle, collect as much gold and diamonds and stuff as you want and calm down after all these games full of weapons.
I hope you enjoy my little game as much as I enjoyed this Ludumdare.
Have a lot of fun!
| Web | http://ruerob.bplaced.net/Tinka/ |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=36728 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 93% | 2 |
| Overall(Jam) | 2.85 | 818 |
| Audio(Jam) | 2.80 | 499 |
| Fun(Jam) | 2.80 | 680 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.50 | 418 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.39 | 748 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.40 | 870 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.02 | 545 |
| Theme(Jam) | 1.83 | 1046 |
There's some kind of weird forced perspective that hurt my head at first, though.
Is there an ending or any goal?
Why does the turtle need gold?
The water pattern, while unreliable as a spacial reference, does look entirely fabulous. :) Well hidden seams, and just the right level of variation, it's great work. Pleasing color choices overall too.
Apart from the collectables its very calming the sea sparkle is spot on.
Some top marks in there for me as I played this for longer than you might expect!
Also, your interpretation of the theme makes me think you couldn't come up with an idea... ;)
There's no particular fun to play this. Boring...
Had some headache with the screen always turning around fast and trying to visualize out of the screen where the items were.
A few things I would consider tweaking:
1. The size of game feels very small. I'd like to see more at once.
2. It would be cool to see more of a variety of upgrades. I didn't get enough money for the final upgrade, so maybe that one is different than the rest. I was thinking of maybe a way to incorporate the mouse by being able to create a magnetic field in an area that pulls an item toward you slightly. Or, upgrade and have little baby turtles pop out and they swim around and try to nudge items toward you. You get the idea ;)
3. The controls were a little tricky to work with. Due to the nature of how it handled, I would continuously miss hitting a specific item I was going after. Since I couldn't slow down or turn with enough force to reclaim an item, it could get frustrating. I'd have to wait until I was far enough away, the item was off screen, then try to guess where it was as I fully turned around. Maybe mess around with a way to slow down or alter your course better. Those could be upgrades too.
Other than that, it was a delightful game and I enjoyed it.
Even though superficial, it would have felt more rewarding if the sound effect for collecting more valuable items was different. Maybe even just raising the pitch up by a half step for each tier.
Given the window's short vertical distance, only one forward stroke strength, and slow turn rate, it was obnoxiously difficult to aim for and collect gold. Once I got a radar, all I did was swim straight for the radar object, ignoring everything else along the way. Trying to pick up all the stuff passing me by would have slowed me down too much, especially since I couldn't see objects early enough to efficiently aim for them. If: the turtle was placed at the bottom of the screen (upgrades arranged vertically on left?), or the screen zoomed out the faster the turtle was moving, or multiple radars could be active at once, or some more controlled form of side swimming were available, I might have bothered with the side stuff. Instead, it was just aim for a radar object and go to auto-pilot.
Some control schemes you could play with would include: Long press on forward key does a strong stroke, while shorter taps would do weaker strokes for better control. Turn keys could apply one or the other flipper, inducing both rotation and a little bit of forward movement. Quick tap on left/right key could shift turtle to the side without rotation.
Some indication of distance with the radar; I found myself aiming just to the side of the target object, so that I could tell when I was getting close (because the dot started veering off to the side more quickly). It didn't make me any more efficient, but it was valuable psychologically to see that I was making progress toward the object.
The lateral movement of the waves messed with my eyes and made me always unsure I was heading directly for the dot. I felt like I was always going slightly sideways, even if I wasn't. It was a nice effect in isolation, but once the game became mostly about swimming towards a radar dot, it became mildly unwelcome.
Nice work on graphics! Animations are quite nice and I liked that detail of lighting on the turtle's shell when you turn. Sound fx are nice, but something more than "splash" and "bing" would be a nice ting. ;)
Having said that, it's quite a relaxing game. :3
Just joking, this was a serene gaming experience. Although it could use a goal it was relaxing (especially when I found the exploit of putting a weight on the up key and going for lunch :)
I also liked the relaxing atmosphere of this game, when I found my first bigger star I wen't crazy and tried to catch it asap before it disappears lol. :D The movement of the turtle also felt very real which I liked. However, I did miss enemies a little bit, the turtle looked so big that I thought that I could mash every enemy I face! :) Good entry regardless, see you at twitter !