Sad Little War-Bot by sorlok

made by sorlok for LD31 (COMPO)

Sad little war-bot returns home to find the other machines have moved on. What's a little war-bot to do when you only have guns for arms?

Chaotic explosive action with a bit of humor, hard mode, and the ability for users to make their own levels!

Controls are WASD + Left-click; a mouse makes this game *much* more fun.

Note to Windows users: To close the game, close the "console" window that opens behind it. The main X won't do anything.

Note to OSX users: You won't be able to load custom levels due to the way that App Bundles work. Sorry!

Updates:
alpha_4 - This is the original compo release.
alpha_5 - This fixes mice on OS-X.

Edit:
Some people are having trouble with the default downloads. If so, you can try the BitBucket repository. Please try the default downloads first, though:
https://bitbucket.org/sethhetu/sad_little_warbot/downloads

Windows	http://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1P7NepPcOslTVp6c3NQMGRtUU0/view
OS/X	http://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1P7NepPcOslWl94MkZkU3FkbHc/view
Linux	http://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1P7NepPcOslak40elJGX21SbEU/view
Source	http://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1P7NepPcOslTE1QUzNhT3BhRTA/view
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=28370

Ratings

Coolness	100%	1
Overall	3.26	485

Audio	2.84	487
Fun	3.33	330
Graphics	2.63	854
Humor	3.47	100
Innovation	2.68	864
Mood	3.09	411
Theme	3.33	877

Feedback

Wolfgang_

09. Dec 2014 · 04:42 UTC

Very fun.

CullenCoyote

09. Dec 2014 · 05:50 UTC

☃ for life
I loved pretty much everything about this one. The dialogue was both sad and amusing, the gameplay was hectic and interesting. The graphics were quirky, but not too terrible. Well done!

Interface

09. Dec 2014 · 05:53 UTC

Great little game. Had an issue with bombs exploding on themselves right in front of me, probably because I was wildly clicking :-) But it's fun.

Crushenator

09. Dec 2014 · 05:54 UTC

The narrative in between rounds I enjoyed very much. The explosion sounds cause the music to go quiet which annoyed me because it's good music. " "You're an ancient warbot with abstruse motivations. You have no place in our enlightened society." lol

🎤 sorlok

09. Dec 2014 · 06:55 UTC

Thanks so much for your feedback, everyone! It really means a lot to me that you enjoyed this game.

Regarding the music, I apologize: I added the music loading code in the last 5 minutes of the compo.

Regarding ☃, I am super happy I was able to get that guy in the game. :D

🎤 sorlok

09. Dec 2014 · 06:55 UTC

Oh, and regarding the grenades exploding on you, yes, your own explosions can cause a grenade to explode. :P

bofink

09. Dec 2014 · 07:11 UTC

The Explosion sounds were a bit overwhelming at times, other than that, an all-round good game! :D loves the dialogues!

cardanai

09. Dec 2014 · 07:25 UTC

Overall a great game for such a short time. The dialogues were very funny too me, and I liked all the little details, like the victory dance. Snowmans hitbox was very off, and often the shots exploded in my face when I fired too rapidly.

AndresGames

09. Dec 2014 · 07:33 UTC

I enjoyed it a lot. Probably the first one I have played that actually made me laugh. Good job! Make more!

alyphen

09. Dec 2014 · 20:44 UTC

This was quite well polished, and quite humourous. There seemed to be a lot of content, and the story addition was quite welcome. However, it got very repetitive quite quickly, and very loud as more and more enemies poured onto the screen. Spamming left click seemed to both be the only way to do this and simultaneously destructive, since your grenades weren't going very far before exploding.

alyphen

09. Dec 2014 · 20:45 UTC

eusekerci

10. Dec 2014 · 01:18 UTC

very nice graphics and humors. Need more innovation :) well done

bitapps

10. Dec 2014 · 02:07 UTC

Nice job, keep working

10. Dec 2014 · 03:09 UTC

Uh oh. I'm getting an internal server error when attempting to download the Windows build.

🎤 sorlok

10. Dec 2014 · 04:13 UTC

@all: Thanks for your additional comments! You've all made good (and very true!) points on what I could do to improve the game, and I'm grateful for your feedback.

@Zi: Can you try again? I tested the link from a few machines here and it seems to work... Google Drive is usually pretty stable. You're not behind a company firewall or anything like that?

CMWeissMedia

10. Dec 2014 · 05:13 UTC

Good work! This was one of the few games that I saw some legitimate variation in the challenges presented (basically, good on you for having so many enemy types and using them well.)

Overall pretty fun, my main criticism would be that the art could use some work, but hey that doesn't stop it from being fun.

Also, I liked your addition of the snowman theme ;)

mtinkerhess

10. Dec 2014 · 06:36 UTC

Fun shooter. Nice sense of humor. I got frustrated that my bullets exploded when they hit explosions.

masterhyjinx

10. Dec 2014 · 07:01 UTC

The download link at the top of the page is 404. The app file otherwise is just a directory of files and a zip would be helpful.

asobitech

10. Dec 2014 · 10:16 UTC

nice use of cut screens to advance the story.

nokusu

10. Dec 2014 · 12:55 UTC

This is some serious fun :) the gameplay is pretty solid, there is also quite a nice enemy variety :

ducks :D / wtf nuclear catuses :o / holy s... ! Terminators O_o (actual reaction troughout the game)

the humour is pretty awesome, but i wouldn't spoil any of the dialogue, cool 48hours entry and +1 for the snowman's round :D

matthewdpace

10. Dec 2014 · 19:26 UTC

I enjoyed it, simple, yet fun. I also experienced the bug of bombs blowing up right in front of me. Level four was harder than level (I think those were the numbers, the one with all cactus, then the first time you see the humans).

Allowing custom levels is cool, bonus point in 'Overall' just for that.

Coolway99

11. Dec 2014 · 00:57 UTC

Quite fun and humorous. As well as a little sad. The audio fit well, and the graphics were perfect for the concept.

🎤 sorlok

11. Dec 2014 · 05:59 UTC

@all: More great feedback, and thanks for that! My original goal with "grenades exploding on contact wit your own explosions" was to subtly discourage you from shooting wildly. (I had this idea early in the design that you could complete the game without actually killing anything and that would change the ending, but I didn't have time to implement it.) Clearly, the mechanic just ended up frustrating players, so apologies for that!

@masterhyjinx: The directory view is just how Google Docs lists zips (not sure why; I also find it a bit counter-intuitive). I'll check into the 404's --not sure why people keep getting them.

Hob623

11. Dec 2014 · 06:27 UTC

Interesting little game, challenging enough. Actually quite poignant writing with a weird sense of disconnection from human reality that seems to nicely gel with the robot perspective. Nice!

Hellequin

11. Dec 2014 · 08:17 UTC

Fun game! Neat concept ! Well done

DomNomNom

11. Dec 2014 · 10:02 UTC

I don't like that the explosions get to you and prevent you from firing more bullets when you fire fast.
In the final boss battle there is no way to tell whether you are making progress in killing him.

Otherwise a solid game

DomNomNom

11. Dec 2014 · 10:03 UTC

ArcturusDeluxe

11. Dec 2014 · 18:32 UTC

Cute game. Pretty good twinstick shooter gameplay, the explosions in particularly made it feel quite satisfying. Dialogue was quite amusing as well. Good stuff!

Erhune

12. Dec 2014 · 04:38 UTC

This game was much more fun that what I expected from the screenshots! I loved the writing, the general pace of the game was good, the fighting mechanics were actually very interesting due to your bombs blasting one another... I enjoyed it very much until the end!

ShadowStryker

13. Dec 2014 · 01:39 UTC

Definitely had some great humor in it, and this is one of the few entries I actually loved playing. In fact, I didn't want to stop playing. Nice art style, subtle story, sound, all of it. I enjoyed this one. :)

ruthiepee

13. Dec 2014 · 01:56 UTC

LOVE the mini cutscenes that advance the story. The aesthetic and audio are no less than bizarre. Charming, but totally bizarre. The gameplay, however, is fantastic! I love the variety of enemies and the utter chaos the game evolves into. Great game!

rjhunter

13. Dec 2014 · 02:01 UTC

Fun writing (even if it was a little uneven at times), and nicely paced -- often hectic, but always with some breathing room.

The "silly" enemies (like the nuclear cactus) and the gameplay remind me a bit of Llamatron.

Excellent work!

🎤 sorlok

13. Dec 2014 · 05:53 UTC

@all: Thanks again for the feedback! I've said it before, but I'll say it again: knowing that my game let you smile or have fun is really wonderful to me.

@DomNomNom: I like the idea of providing feedback on the snowman; maybe it can melt or lose coal "buttons" as it takes hits.

bobombe

13. Dec 2014 · 09:46 UTC

Very fun game, I liked the dialogues ^^

MrBadIvan

13. Dec 2014 · 11:26 UTC

I enjoyed this game - very fun and addictive, and humorous =)

BoxedMeatRevolution

13. Dec 2014 · 17:31 UTC

Great game! Lots to like here.
- Very funny
- Smooth controls
- Well thought out shooting mechanic (spamming shoot just causes your bullets to hit one another. This naturally slows down the firing pace and feels like something fun to work around, rather than a bothersome restriction)
- Good diversity of enemies
- Fun Boss fight
- And, again, hilarious.

Very fun entry all around. I understand my desire to give you a high rating.

13. Dec 2014 · 18:13 UTC

Wow. Um... Wow. This was incredible, LOL!!! One of my favs for sure.

🎤 sorlok

14. Dec 2014 · 03:39 UTC

Whew, I think I caught up and reviewed all of your games thus far. If you left a comment but I haven't reviewed your game yet, please reply again and I'll get to it!

crazyrems

14. Dec 2014 · 13:14 UTC

Nicely done, special mention to level 8. It was an epic boss fight.
Really hard because your rockets explodes on your own rocket explosions, so you can't just spam left click.

csanyk

15. Dec 2014 · 00:01 UTC

I got through the first three levels without even having to move, just spamming grenades and soaking up damage. The second cactus level was so hard it's basically a killscreen. Seems like it needs a considerable amount of balancing to be worth playing.

🎤 sorlok

15. Dec 2014 · 12:20 UTC

@crazyrems: Glad you enjoyed it!

@csanyk: Some balancing certainly is needed; thanks for playing! A good strategy for level 4 is to focus on keeping a corner clear. I made a video showing this strategy: http://youtu.be/5mU5bTAxW0g?t=2m35s

StMatn

16. Dec 2014 · 18:14 UTC

Nice game!

I really liked all the animations!

One thing I didn't really like was, that the explosions of your own shots did detonate your other shots. In the worst case, when firing rapidly, you would damage yourself and not a single enemy, because of this.

All in all really great game!

mathmadlen

20. Dec 2014 · 01:11 UTC

Fun and lighthearted, if a little chaotic at times. The music fits well with general craziness. The story is a really nice touch and what makes it unique! Good work!

banana4life

21. Dec 2014 · 17:46 UTC

Fun little game, but I think it was too easy

sP0CkEr2

22. Dec 2014 · 05:02 UTC

i loved this game - interesting story - good gameplay - great sound - nice job