{"author_link":"\/author\/hitchh1k3r\/","author_name":"hitchh1k3r","author_uid":"21983","comments":[{"author_name":"donan","author_uid":"22213","time":"Dec 8, 2014 @ 9:49am","epoch":1418031840,"text":"Nice concept and well done :)\r<br\/>Keep working on the game ^^"},{"author_name":"Alendro","author_uid":"39494","time":"Dec 9, 2014 @ 6:47pm","epoch":1418150520,"text":"nice game, really enjoyed the presentation and the video you posted. Liked the Majora's mask time lapse in the video!"},{"author_name":"zakchaos","author_uid":"13273","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:28am","epoch":1418181780,"text":"interesting game, would be cool to see it developed further,"},{"author_name":"Yazara","author_uid":"45115","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:30am","epoch":1418181900,"text":"This is cool, the first online multiplayer I've seen this Ludum Dare. It works pretty well!"},{"author_name":"Wampus","author_uid":"11619","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:44am","epoch":1418182740,"text":"Interesting to see a live multiplayer game. Next you'll be doing server interpolation :)"},{"author_name":"DefectiveMelon","author_uid":"44221","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:49am","epoch":1418183040,"text":"I logged in and played a little, it was ok. But then someone else joined and it got crazy hectic. With a lot more polish and a lot of people, I feel like it would be pretty fun."},{"author_name":"Jyrkface","author_uid":"20894","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:56am","epoch":1418183460,"text":"Wow! Online multi in LD is a tough feat to pull off, that it was your first is just amazing :)"},{"author_name":"rjhelms","author_uid":"39055","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:56am","epoch":1418183460,"text":"This is really fun! Awesome job - not too often you see really well done multiplayer games in LD. I never did figure out what the points are, though."},{"author_name":"dalbinblue","author_uid":"13960","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 3:56am","epoch":1418183460,"text":"Nice work making a solid multi-player game, and great use of theme.  I have the pleasure of getting a four player game going when I tried it out, so that was a great chance to play it properly.  My only complaint was that with one hand on the mouse and the other on the WASD keys, it was hard to jump because the space was so far from the other keys.  Making &quot;W&quot; jump would have solved this.  As it stands, most players when I played just went to the bottom of the screen or stood in place and shot as much as possible from where they spawned."},{"author_name":"whilefun","author_uid":"7424","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:11am","epoch":1418184360,"text":"Impressive that you got a networked play component done in 2 days. The gameplay was pretty simple, but fun."},{"author_name":"RobustInteractive","author_uid":"45963","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:26am","epoch":1418185260,"text":"great game to play. Good work. love the time lapse. Will you finish this game and launch in the future? let me know if you do!"},{"author_name":"Divitos","author_uid":"9732","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:36am","epoch":1418185860,"text":"Interesting multiplayer."},{"author_name":"uberscientist","author_uid":"40833","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:39am","epoch":1418186040,"text":"It reminded me of crack.com Abuse (awesome LAN game I used to play at middle school)"},{"author_name":"AndresGames","author_uid":"47045","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:49am","epoch":1418186640,"text":"Overall really well done for the time given. Please keep working on it! Excited to see a polished version sometime in the future. It was hard for me to interpret the score and the UI, I'm sure it'll be much better in future versions."},{"author_name":"ZNCatlaw","author_uid":"42407","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 4:59am","epoch":1418187240,"text":"Missed connection: I was brown, and you were green. We jumped around shooting floating coloured heads... but I felt a connection between us.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>For such a simple game, I spent a long time on this. As a programmer I'm really impressed that you got this kind of a game working for a Ludum Dare. I've encountered a few multi-player online games here before, notably @porpentine and @mcclure's entry from LD26... um about Harpies? Regardless, you are making me jealous!"},{"author_name":"Paperscraps","author_uid":"43555","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 11:08am","epoch":1418209380,"text":"Very well done on a technical level."},{"author_name":"naali","author_uid":"24256","time":"Dec 10, 2014 @ 5:18pm","epoch":1418231580,"text":"I feel like this theme is hard to do something unique with, but having all players play on the same &quot;screen&quot; is one way to add depth. For improvements, I think that adding different enemy types that possibly scale due to some factor could have increased engagement."},{"author_name":"Andy Gainey","author_uid":"30311","time":"Dec 11, 2014 @ 9:34pm","epoch":1418333340,"text":"Not being able to see my health\/ammo made it a little difficult to figure out what was going on, and a little frustrating when I ran out of ammo and then inevitably insta-died when I got hit trying to scramble for some of the flashy blocks that I thought might be ammo or health, but was unsure about.  Had there been a life bar, counter, or something, I would have been able to immediately get relevant feedback every time I fired my gun, got hit, or picked up a flashy block, and could have quickly figured out the life:ammo relationship.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>I also wasn't quite sure what the numbers meant at the bottom of the screen, or on the respawn screen.  But that might've been more clear if there were other players playing at the same time as me.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>The platform physics felt pretty good; glad to have the ability to drop down through a platform.  I did sometimes have a bit of difficulty jumping sideways onto a higher platform; the horizontal distance was sometimes too much for the player's run speed.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>The player's hitbox felt a little off.  There were a few times I got hit when I was expecting the bullet to miss me.  I think this mostly occurred with vertically moving bullets that were passing to the left or right of the avatar's rectangular body.  Is the hitbox still a square?  Or a circle?  But I was pleased to notice a short period of invincibility after getting hit.  Adding a visual indication such as blinking\/flashing a bit could be a nice touch for that state, too.\r<br\/>\r<br\/>I missed it at first, probably because I just took it for granted, but the hit particles were a really good touch!"},{"author_name":"goodbadokay","author_uid":"47147","time":"Dec 11, 2014 @ 10:26pm","epoch":1418336460,"text":"I like the concept and visuals very much! You definitely should keep working on this game!"},{"author_name":"Odefus","author_uid":"44603","time":"Dec 11, 2014 @ 11:14pm","epoch":1418339340,"text":"I went in blind without reading the description first and it was quite hard to figure out what was going on especially since I was playing all the way from europe and the lag was immense. Numbers all over the place and no break in the action to keep track of them. \r<br\/>\r<br\/>After reading the description and watching the gameplay video it makes a whole lot more sense. While playing I completely missed there was a healthbar at all. I must have mistaken it for the &quot;eyes&quot; of the characters. \r<br\/>\r<br\/>While playing I initially had no idea it was multiplayer. I figured the online thing was about leaderboards or something along those lines. I was joined by a blue fella and after figuring out it was another player I felt a certain connection there despite our limited ability to communicate. Perhaps the limitations on the communication are what created the feeling of a connection. Either way it was fun trying to figure out what was going on alongside someone else. \r<br\/>\r<br\/>Having pulled off a functional online multiplayer for a LD entry is also pretty impressive. Solid entry overall. I had fun with it."},{"author_name":"TheNewPhoenix","author_uid":"43417","time":"Dec 11, 2014 @ 11:16pm","epoch":1418339460,"text":"Cool concept, but needs more tweaking."},{"author_name":"Mekuri","author_uid":"20130","time":"Dec 11, 2014 @ 11:16pm","epoch":1418339460,"text":"Great fun! A bit laggy, but that is what to be expected within a very limited time frame. I enjoyed the game and I was lucky enough to play with someone else.\r<br\/>Good job!"},{"author_name":"Kuality Games","author_uid":"46151","time":"Dec 12, 2014 @ 9:02pm","epoch":1418417820,"text":"really simple but clean game, enjoyable and well done multiplayer"},{"author_name":"WatercressStudios","author_uid":"45841","time":"Dec 13, 2014 @ 10:17pm","epoch":1418508720,"text":"For a very simple and small game, it was certainly fun. A couple of friends and I hopped on and spent some time playing. The gameplay concept of your health decreasing as you shoot is actually pretty novel and interesting to play with."},{"author_name":"rantt","author_uid":"41103","time":"Dec 15, 2014 @ 1:47am","epoch":1418607720,"text":"Cool concept, I really like the multiplayer idea.  Fun game, nicely done :)"},{"author_name":"Victory Garden","author_uid":"22357","time":"Dec 15, 2014 @ 2:05am","epoch":1418608800,"text":"I was lucky enough to play with a group of 3 to 4; a one-screen multiplayer online game done for LD is really technically impressive! The platforming felt pretty good, the shiny particles were nice, and I thought the HP cost of attacking was interesting. Gameplay wise, it's actually better to find another player who's willing to heal you while you heal them, since you come out with more HP, and seem to get more points (skulls on the bottom). Good work!"},{"author_name":"RyanNielson","author_uid":"13891","time":"Dec 15, 2014 @ 2:59am","epoch":1418612040,"text":"Neat proof of concept, and I always give props to people that decide to take on networking in a game jam. Unfortunately the game itself needs a bit more depth, maybe some interaction between players, or power-ups."},{"author_name":"martial_cantarel_games","author_uid":"47216","time":"Dec 25, 2014 @ 9:12pm","epoch":1419541620,"text":"very nice graphics and strong gameplay\r<br\/>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"}],"images":["ld31\/21983-22767569dd7f2831877c8890be52cbe5.jpg","ld31\/21983-0ea0d5b0cfc53c47fc7b351757cc8bfe.jpg","ld31\/21983-79dfa8a4ead79cf6185db0fd086f8f51.jpg"],"links":[{"url":"http:\/\/bit.ly\/12UvaPy","text":"Download (Win\/Mac\/Linux)"},{"url":"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1vFN57k","text":"Source (Github)"},{"url":"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1zI9SP2","text":"Timelapse + Gameplay (Youtube)"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"14870","g_author":"21983","g_event":"LD31","g_eventkey":"26","g_subevent":"COMPO","g_urlkey":"14900","g_title":"Unity Ascension","g_status":"UCHK1","g_place":"744","g_commentcount":"28","g_site2_node_id":"0","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":[],"node":null,"orig_images":["http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/407933\/21983-shot0.png-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/407933\/21983-shot1.png-eq-900-500.jpg","http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/compo2\/\/407933\/21983-shot2.png-eq-900-500.jpg"],"text":"The Entire Game on One screen?\r\nMy first idea was to make an MMO type game, where everything happens on one screen, for every player... and it's the same screen.\r\nThat would have been a great idea, but I've never made an online multiplayer game, and didn't even now where to start... but that didn't stop me. Unity Ascension is a multiplayer online platform shooter. I was able to finish most of the game: I had an ending I was very please with planed, but ran out of time... making online games is really hard!\r\n\r\nThe server running this game isn't very fast, and I've never made a networked game before, so you'll probably notice rubber-banding. Hopefully you can still play and enjoy the game. The server is located in the US, and will probably be much slower for people in other parts of the world (I'm very sorry, but it's the best I can do right now). You can always check out the gameplay video above if the game is unplayable for you.\r\n\r\nCONTROLLS\r\n- Use the mouse to aim and fire (right click will change the tool you are using).\r\n- Use WASD or the arrow keys to move, and spacebar to jump.\r\n- Your health will decrease every time you shoot, or heal another player (the black bar that appears at the top of your character is your life).\r\n- You cannot shoot or heal when you only have one hit point left... (that's a half implemented fix\/bug in the compo. version) :(\r\n\r\nNOT SURE IF IT'S RUNNING RIGHT?\r\nThere is a fair chance that my server has gone into a state of buggy\/kind of working... check the gameplay video, and if it's not like that let me know so I can restart the server... and sorry.\r\n\r\nREQUIREMENS\r\n- Active internet connection\r\n- Java Runtime Environment 7 or 8\r\n\r\nTOOLS I USED AND CREDITS\r\n- IDE : Eclipse\r\n- Code : Java 7\r\n- Library : LWJGL 3 (early stable build)\r\n- Library : Matthias Mann's PNGDecoder\r\n- Library : GLFW\r\n- Code Snippet : http:\/\/stackoverflow.com\/a\/20953376\r\n- Audio : OpenAL\r\n- Audio : Bfxr\r\n- Graphics : OpenGL\r\n- Graphics : Photoshop\r\n- Server : CentOS 6 x64 + Official JRE1.7\r\n- Text Editing : Sublime Text 3\r\n- Thanks : To you for playing!\r\n...and I was going to use J-OGG but I didn't have any music so I cut it out of the build.\r\n\r\nIn the future I'll probably make web games, but LWJGL 3 is new and I just had to play with it. ^_^ Also I'll probably never make an multiplayer game in this timeframe again.\r\n\r\nHOW TO PLAY\r\n- Unzip the download, and run the Client.jar file (you'll need Java 7 installed). If you're on a newer Mac you'll have to right click and select \"Open\" then \"Open\" at the \"Application is unsigned\" dialog.\r\n- The first time you play it will ask you to join a team, click the color you want.\r\n- Use the mouse to aim and fire (right click will change the tool you are using).\r\n- Use WASD or the arrow keys to move, and spacebar to jump.\r\n- There are five point categories, you'll have to figure out how to earn points in all 5 (only two are possible with a single person on the server).\r\n- Press tab to see the score screen, the points there were all gotten by people playing the game before you, you can add to your teams points.\r\n\r\nCAN'T PLAY?\r\nIf the server crashes I'll try to fix it as soon as I notice, but feel free to tell me on Twitter (@HitchH1k3r) in case I don't notice.\r\n\r\nFINAL NOTE\r\nI'm going to be playing games like normal, but will be writing my scores and comments down to batch rate them. This way hopefully more people will arrive at this game page at the same time, and can enjoy playing the game more (together).\r\n\r\nFUTURE VERSIONS AND SECURITY CONCERNS\r\nThere is a certain level of risk with networked games, if you'd like to see what this game is doing in more detail check the source link above, and please let me know if you have any concerns. The source link also has any \"PORT\" changes I've made to the game, and a list of planned changes that I'd like to make after the competition is over.","title":"Unity Ascension"}