Skull Bomb by mattmirrorfish | LudumData

Skull Bomb by mattmirrorfish

made by mattmirrorfish for LD32 (JAM)

Citizen 7441794 you have been selected to volunteer for operation 'Peaceful Justice'.

Navigate the occupied territory and locate the regional processing server. Avoid detection at all costs.

Once you are within 300 meters activate your cranial explosive implant and destroy the server.

If successful your family citizen 9668253 and juveniles 2747358 and 2747359 will be relocated from 'Heavy Metals Extraction Facility 988' to 'Aquatic Vegetation Processing Plant 463. They will also be issued 3 additional weekly ration coupons.

If you fail your family will be incinerated.

Your contribution in the fight against the godless machine enemy is valuable.

We of the Agency for Human Survival salute your sacrifice.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Please open this page in a non-chrome browser to play for free in browser, or download the game for your platform.

WASD to Move

Shift to run

Hold left mouse button to explode skull

P to stop voice over

Click to start

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Created over about 12 hours for the Ludum Dare 32 Game Jam. Programming, Sound and Design by Matt MirrorFish. Voice over by Naoma N.

@mattmirrorfish

www.mirrorfishmedia.com

Web	http://www.mirrorfishmedia.com/v1/games/skullbomb_web1/skullbomb_web1.html
Windows	http://www.mirrorfishmedia.com/v1/games/skullbomb_windows_by_mattmirrorfish.zip
OS/X	http://www.mirrorfishmedia.com/v1/games/skullbomb_osx_by_mattmirrorfish.zip
Linux	http://www.mirrorfishmedia.com/v1/games/skullbomb_linux_by_mattmirrorfish.zip
YouTube	http://youtu.be/nJRgurg7tcE
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=39886

Ratings

Coolness	52%	3
Overall(Jam)	3.18	546

Audio(Jam)	3.88	72
Fun(Jam)	2.59	828
Graphics(Jam)	3.30	521
Humor(Jam)	2.75	566
Innovation(Jam)	2.97	598
Mood(Jam)	3.88	77
Theme(Jam)	3.18	640

Feedback

20. Apr 2015 · 19:48 UTC

The voice over is amazing, it create just the right mood. The gameplay and leveldesine has not quite the same level.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

20. Apr 2015 · 23:36 UTC

@JK5000 thanks! Glad you enjoyed the voice over :)

20. Apr 2015 · 23:49 UTC

Very pretty, and the voice over is well conceived and well-executed. It would be nice if the shift-run a *little* faster -- I got tired of looking, for the objective, so never successfully blew myself up.

Which is a good thing, I guess?

20. Apr 2015 · 23:52 UTC

The good: Looks great, sounds awesome (excellent job with the speech synth), the theme feels like a retail game that I'd want to play!

The bad: it was too hard to move around, and so I was unable to complete it, even though I really wanted to because the vibe was so compelling.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

20. Apr 2015 · 23:53 UTC

@dliq thanks! The art style (although very simple and minimal) was the part I was happiest with. Glad you liked the VO as well! I should probably actually be more clear about where objective is, it's in the opposite corner from where you start. Duly noted about running a bit faster.

20. Apr 2015 · 23:53 UTC

Like someone else said, the voice over was great. It set a nice mood for the game, and was very apt. One problem I had, however, is with the actual level design. The design and layout was nice, but it would have been easier on the eyes if the models were textured as it can be disorienting when staring a a bunch of grey for a while. Also, it might have been easier if a map was provided so you're not just aimlessly wandering around. Other than that, the game was really neat. Nice job.

20. Apr 2015 · 23:54 UTC

It was fun. I am a stealth ninja.

I agree with jk5000's comments about the voice over. It did lend a feeling of importance to what I was doing. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for though. I just started walking around thinking "I just hope I'll know it when I see it". I did.

I was playing in IE and it didn't lock the mouse, so my view was restricted when I looked up. It made keeping track of the robots overhead difficult.

Good job!

20. Apr 2015 · 23:55 UTC

Voice over is great - and I like the visual style. Is there some kind of full-screen effect being used? It seems to have a cool grainy quality that really works well.

20. Apr 2015 · 23:56 UTC

Nice game. But sometime, I have defeated at start place, when I didn't start move.

21. Apr 2015 · 00:01 UTC

Good voiceover, not bad for a stealth esque game, couldn't tell where I was supposed to go and there wasn't any real direction on how to avoid certain detectors, so it felt like luck of the spawn time?

Didn't seem to fit the theme at all, but the effects were cool, its a good start on a concept.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 00:25 UTC

Thanks very much for all the notes guys, I did a last minute iteration to tweak the design, hopefully the goal is clearer! Thanks!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 00:27 UTC

@Smirnov48 yes I moved that one enemy, it was a bit unfair :) Thanks!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 00:28 UTC

@ManicMiner thanks! I'm using Unity with Bloom, Vignetting, a little Global Fog and the Unity 5 precomputed GI. Glad you liked the look!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 00:30 UTC

@b3jh24 I tried to adjust the level design a bit by making the final goal higher so it's more visible. The non-texture thing was just a question of time and my lack of texture skillz, but good point :)

21. Apr 2015 · 00:51 UTC

Like the ambiance, you can quite tell right away what you need to do, but not how, and where. Those red walls looks agressive but the rest of the level lacks elements to guide the player.

Great job anyway.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 01:02 UTC

@Jefuzan, thanks, I tried to make it a little more obvious but yes, there's very little guidance, thanks for the feedback!

21. Apr 2015 · 01:26 UTC

Very interesting game. It looks great and proffesional. However, keeping in line with the other comments, it was kind of tedious trying to find the place to blow up, and even then, it wasn't clear if it was the right place. I also noticed some camera shaking as the player moved, which was kind of irritating. Finally, it was difficult to tell the distance between the player, and the robots 'field of view'. Maybe make it darker where it touches the ground? Overall it was a nice looking game though.

21. Apr 2015 · 14:09 UTC

I pretty much agree with the past comments about movement speed and level design. I like the minimalist aesthetic and the destruction was cool too! Great voice over, it presented an interesting possibilty of a dystopian future I liked how the numbers gave a feeling of insignificance. Well done! :)

🎤 mattmirrorfish

21. Apr 2015 · 20:49 UTC

@leo_p_mahon thanks for the notes! Appreciate the constructive criticism.

Nibble Bits Studio

21. Apr 2015 · 23:09 UTC

I like the simple colors in this game, and the mouse movement has a interesting delay.

21. Apr 2015 · 23:12 UTC

The look... the voice... just amazing! The gameplay still needs some more tweaking, and I hope to see an updated version soon! I really would like to play it when you fix it :)

21. Apr 2015 · 23:42 UTC

I really love the graphics (reminds me of Mirror's Edge, one of my favorite games of all time!), and I liked the cold emotionless voice-over.
I would suggest having more gameplay mechanics (more kinds of missions/tasks) and more kinds of things to avoid.
You have set an amazing environment with a lot of potential, all you have to do now is fill it with more content :)

(side note: I experienced a crash that happens when I explode the skull very early on, blocks/buildings hit the player's head which causes and instant crash)

21. Apr 2015 · 23:52 UTC

Really solid entry. Simple and well executed. Felt a bit aimless at first, had a hard time figuring out where to go. Even though I feel like the 'portal-like-female-computer-overlord' is a bit played out, it was overall a really compelling experience. Good stuff!

22. Apr 2015 · 00:26 UTC

The setting and voice over is fantastic, it really sets the mood of the game and adds so much life to it! On my first attempt I failed to save my partner and twins :(

🎤 mattmirrorfish

22. Apr 2015 · 01:33 UTC

@Nibble Bits: Thanks! I used the Unity First Person Rigidbody controller from the Unity standard assets which has some mouse smoothing built in.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

22. Apr 2015 · 01:35 UTC

@Pixel Heart: Thank you! I agree that the gameplay needs some tweaks, I've uploaded a build to http://mattmirrorfish.itch.io and will post the updated versions there as I iterate.

🎤 mattmirrorfish

22. Apr 2015 · 01:36 UTC

Null Dies: I love Mirror's Edge as well, definitely an inspiration here. I originally had a darker more orange sky and darker feel and at one point I switched to a white sky with reddish fog and it all just clicked really nicely. I agree that it's pretty slight mechanically. Interesting re: the crash. Thanks!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

22. Apr 2015 · 01:38 UTC

@DarkMeatGames: The aimlessness is a recurring comment and has definitely given me some stuff to think about. I think setting up the level to lead the player and give a more visual goal may be the next thing I try. This level design is very simple and not very intuitive. To quote the enemies in Metal Gear Solid: "It's just a box." I agree that the Portal voice is a little played out although I think audio in general is a great non-intrusive way to deliver background. Thanks for playing!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

22. Apr 2015 · 01:39 UTC

@Managore: Really glad you liked it. Failing on your first attempt is sort of part of the design :) If you know what you're doing it's over in about 3 mins :)

22. Apr 2015 · 06:44 UTC

Great graphics & voice acting!

22. Apr 2015 · 22:23 UTC

Great mood - the audio (and not just the voiceover) was really immersive and the visual style was nice and clean. Had a Portal/HL feel to it.I never did make it to the centre (I'm bad at stealth games) but really enjoyed this entry overall

23. Apr 2015 · 02:28 UTC

Very nice love the audio.

24. Apr 2015 · 00:20 UTC

Nice game. Not easy, very tricky but nicely done.

24. Apr 2015 · 01:09 UTC

One of the most tonally gripping games I've played in this LD. Having a huge open map like that in a stealth game is a very interesting idea.

24. Apr 2015 · 02:37 UTC

Wow, dystopic! I love the voice overs, and the concept of this game! So amazing that this was done in 12 hours! Great job!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

24. Apr 2015 · 03:45 UTC

@liquidmedia thanks dude!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

24. Apr 2015 · 03:46 UTC

@Fanttum yeah I think I could get the difficulty under control by using some more predictable enemy patterns. Thanks for checking it out!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

24. Apr 2015 · 03:47 UTC

@Dreyan wow that's awesome, thanks so much. I think for a future iteration (if I do one) I want to refine the map a lot to try to keep the open feel but give a clearer sense of direction, glad you liked the openness though!

🎤 mattmirrorfish

24. Apr 2015 · 03:48 UTC

@josefnpat thanks a lot for giving it a try, was probably more like 16 all in :)

24. Apr 2015 · 04:08 UTC

It's amazing how the visuals along with the sound and narration were able to set the tone. Got some shivers and felt stressed when trying to avoid being detected! Awesome entry!

25. Apr 2015 · 06:58 UTC

Simple and enjoyable. It's hard without being able to detect things behind you, though.

waveformmodulations

29. Apr 2015 · 01:39 UTC

Graphics and audio super clean. But the game kept crashing every time I got caught or exploded!

30. Apr 2015 · 01:25 UTC

very Interesting!

the player moves too slow... lol

08. May 2015 · 01:37 UTC

Very good audio in this one! Gameplay was a little lacking and it was pretty difficult and frustrating to move sometimes.. But I found the target and exploded my skull! :)