LudumData

Existential Balloon Simulator by alexbergingd

[raw]
made by alexbergingd for LD32 (JAM)
Controls:
-Click and drag with the left mouse button to move up + down, left + right relative to the camera.
-Click and drag with the right mouse button to rotate the camera around the balloon.

Task:
Contemplate your existence in this low poly room.

Originally I had grand plans to make this into a puzzle platformer type game, where your enemy and friends were fans. Those designs fell through when I failed to make a tool to build levels. This is the functionality that remains.

You are now your enemy.

I posted a lot of dev videos to vine: https://vine.co/u/1193844835933917184
and tweeted a bit about it: https://twitter.com/_AlexBergin
Web http://alexberg.in/ld2015
Source https://github.com/alexbergin/ludum-dare-2015
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=52868

Ratings

Coolness 49% 1305
Overall(Jam) 3.11 601
Fun(Jam) 2.58 836
Humor(Jam) 3.04 437
Mood(Jam) 3.36 306
Theme(Jam) 3.04 735

Feedback

minnouu
20. Apr 2015 · 08:17 UTC
The balloon bounces around like a real balloon, the physics are well done.
iMer
20. Apr 2015 · 08:18 UTC
There I found myself, a baloon in a low poly room, Flinging around, no worries and then.. I got ripped apart..

Could need a bit less velocity reduction - otherwise fun to play around with
MrDave
20. Apr 2015 · 08:19 UTC
The controls seemed backwards to me and I was left wondering a bit what to do, maybe that was just me. The mechanics and the physics felt really nice though. I would like to see more of this in a bigger fleshed out world.
KedumeBits
20. Apr 2015 · 08:31 UTC
The physics are ok, i love physics, but it's difficult to control the ballon.
Lancelot Gao
20. Apr 2015 · 15:06 UTC
It's hard to die in this game.
benjih
20. Apr 2015 · 19:55 UTC
I had a bit of difficulty with the controls until I figured out the camera.

The art style for this is great. Could have definitely played more, shame to hear about the level builder issue.
Geckoo1337
20. Apr 2015 · 21:04 UTC
Physics are great, but what I am supposed to do now... except to die as a balloon?
🎤 alexbergingd
20. Apr 2015 · 22:24 UTC
what are any of us supposed to do?
cdgugler
20. Apr 2015 · 23:48 UTC
Nice physics simulation. As hard as I tried, I could not kill the fan, perhaps in another world.
sandrohaag
21. Apr 2015 · 17:22 UTC
Great physics and great idea
DopplerInteract
21. Apr 2015 · 17:32 UTC
It's metaphors within metaphors, man. And the way the string slumps to the floor at the end gets me every time.

Also: I only _just_ realized that I took full unconscious inspiration from your walls when I put together my sky. Post-modernism!
Jared Sartin
21. Apr 2015 · 17:40 UTC
All I can hear is a whirr of a ceiling fan, the squeaky sounds of a balloon sliding up a wall... and the sweet satisfying POP!

Well done!
lanza
25. Apr 2015 · 22:48 UTC
The physics are great, and the game has a great idea too, but what I love the most is the title. Great job
nassi
02. May 2015 · 13:16 UTC
What is a balloon? A miserable little piece of plastic filled with gas or a mixture of gases. One could argue that the plastic of the balloon is a representation of our identity - sense of self - and only by shattering that can we attain true oneness with the universe and through that absolute peace. When we view the events of the game in this light hitting the fan becomes something you desire for instead of a thing to avoid, surely the weird control scheme only aims to simulate the hardship involved in realizing that that's what your purpose in life was. Balloons also represent an interesting view of reincarnation, since the soul encased in that plastic shell is never truly lost, just mixed according to the laws of entropy...

There is also a much more direct meaning to this game which we can see when looking at the so called "game over" text: "You lived for X seconds.". Truly that implies that instead of wasting our lives away we should engage in meaningful activities, live in the moment, just like we actually lived playing this game!

Truly an enlightening experience, I only wished that it would've ran at 30 FPS in 21:9 aspect ratio for a more cinematic effect. This game truly is like an onion in more ways than one.