Kram Keep by Knighty

[raw]
made by Knighty for LD31 (COMPO)
Explore the castle, shoot enemies, and collect new abilities!
How much can I possibly cram into a single screen? You're about to find out!


~~

Move- Arrow Keys, or WASD
Jump- X, V, or Spacebar
Shoot- C, or Ctrl
Zoom- Shift

Hold Up or Down to climb ladders.
You can press Down to go through certain platforms.

Ratings

Coolness 52% 3
Overall 3.84 64
Audio 2.82 498
Fun 3.54 187
Graphics 4.23 38
Humor 2.23 742
Innovation 2.92 710
Mood 3.49 141
Theme 3.95 186

Feedback

pjimmy
08. Dec 2014 · 16:14 UTC
nice take on the theme, nice graphics, great level design, but it's missing a Pause button, it might not be needed in this game, but it can be very useful when you add enemies with random movements.
Anachron
08. Dec 2014 · 16:17 UTC
Nice! I love sidescrollers like this where you can see the entire level while you're playing. Gives it a great sense of scale. Couldn't beat it this time around, but I'll be back to try again soon I'm sure. Congrats on your entry :)
ben_pxlplz
08. Dec 2014 · 23:48 UTC
Pretty awesome. The shift button is cheating a little ;). But it's really cool. I'll have to come back and play the whole thing.

BTW: You might have to opt in to the categories you want rated in. I'm going to bookmark this page so I can rate it.
Jupitron
08. Dec 2014 · 23:48 UTC
This is incredible, amazing game, just loved it.

I´ve noticed when you pick up wall kick skill in the background there´s a shade guiding to where to wall jump, is that on purpose? Nice touch.
Please add some music, i can help you with that if you like.

And man, please PLEASE edit your submission and allow rating your game, we cant rate it.
qleonetti
08. Dec 2014 · 23:51 UTC
Nice game, really enjoyed trying it :)
Dream Of Sleeping
08. Dec 2014 · 23:56 UTC
This looks so good! I thought to myself it would be cool to make a platform game with tiny sprites and huge playing area on one screen....but I didn't have the knowledge or skills to make it. So this is really exciting for me to play this. It's awesome. Well done. For some reason there is no place for me to give star ratings on this page. Have you disabled them?
allanolivei
09. Dec 2014 · 00:01 UTC
the graphics and the idea is very good. I think the enemies could move and shoot slower.
Deft97
09. Dec 2014 · 00:03 UTC
Very difficult, but definitely fun c:
Loved the graphics.
ekun
09. Dec 2014 · 00:09 UTC
I like this game!

All the elements of a good metroidvania.

I was a little bit disappointed by the boss, but I understand how the time constraints can cut things off.

Will come back to rate this highly after you enable ratings.
March
09. Dec 2014 · 00:13 UTC
Vey difficult, but I see there was a lot of solid work.
dlowe
09. Dec 2014 · 00:25 UTC
I'd love to give you a great rating, looks like you've opted out :/

Well: this is very impressive and fun. I got stuck on the lower part of the castle after getting the double jump, and quit out of frustration of having to re-do that long sequence of jumps, only to be killed by the shooter next to the ladder in the corner :P

Anyway: very impressive. Nice work :)
razieliyo
09. Dec 2014 · 00:27 UTC
very cool! can't vote it man
ViKing Games
09. Dec 2014 · 00:30 UTC
Good take on the theme, great level design, and sweet graphics! I had a lot of fun with this one, especially with the difficult platforming segments.
The game could've been better with some music, nerfing the laser enemy (he could be impossible to dodge every once in a while), and obviously, a full boss fight at the end.
Good job!
🎤 Knighty
09. Dec 2014 · 00:35 UTC
Ratings should be enabled now.
ianh
09. Dec 2014 · 00:45 UTC
Those unscaled pixels <3
rogberth
09. Dec 2014 · 01:38 UTC
Great platformer, very cruel also. Had a great time playing it.
guimonpa
09. Dec 2014 · 20:29 UTC
Nice game, the gameplay was kinda rough at some points (unavoidable lasers) but it was quite fun anyway, nice work!
wooltech
09. Dec 2014 · 22:57 UTC
Tough but fun.
Jupiter_Hadley
10. Dec 2014 · 01:05 UTC
Really amazing use of the theme restrictions. I Included it in part 4 of my Ludum Dare 31 compilation video series, if you would like to check it out :) http://youtu.be/Kdfz6b6_ebE
lekochen
10. Dec 2014 · 06:38 UTC
Finally survived those double jump/wall jump. Nice pixel art/challenging levels as usual. Nice work!
RonnyEGT
10. Dec 2014 · 11:10 UTC
Great game, very challenging, specially if aiming to get all the powerups, although got to the final enemy and I was expecting a boss battle ;-;, but great job!
Xaychru
10. Dec 2014 · 18:00 UTC
Really nice game, kept me playing for a while! It took me like 15 minutes to notice the tetris blocks. ^^
Dexyne
10. Dec 2014 · 19:30 UTC
A good game with fun.

Good graphics and respect the theme, just missing some audio.

But well done.
tcarter
11. Dec 2014 · 08:14 UTC
Really great! Like looking at a Nintendo Power map to Mega Man.
sP0CkEr2
13. Dec 2014 · 03:35 UTC
very nice platformer - really liked the small graphics - awesome
CoderDozer
13. Dec 2014 · 13:25 UTC
Really like the graphics in this one. Found it difficult timing the jump and shoot. Nice work.
BretHudson
13. Dec 2014 · 13:33 UTC
Super challenging, and a great amount of content for the 48 hours!
Kuupu
13. Dec 2014 · 13:40 UTC
Nice game, you can put a little more feedback for the actions in the game, a little explosion in the shot, little dust while walking, this kind of stuff :)

reminds me of castlevania harmony of despair, it's a good thing

the zoom feature is really awesome :)
Tiago Ling Alexandre
13. Dec 2014 · 13:46 UTC
Cool, interesting take on the theme, metroidvania style! I love the genre and your game represented it really well. I only missed some health recovery drops from the enemies. Overall a very polished entry for the compo, good job!
klianc09
13. Dec 2014 · 13:50 UTC
Relly awesome game. Tight controls and great graphics. That section at the bottom was by far the most difficult part, it would have been great to have more checkpoints down there. Also I expected an epic boss battle at the end...
Conk
13. Dec 2014 · 14:11 UTC
Really wanted to complete it, but that bit at the bottom was just so tedious, should really put a grave by the double jump pickup as it was just too much pressure as death would mean having to trek all the way back. Really good job though (:
DrGeraud
13. Dec 2014 · 14:28 UTC
Nice game, with its interesting zoom concept !
Missing a little music for the mood
estuardolh
13. Dec 2014 · 14:56 UTC
lovely graphics, challenging
pause function ?
Mase
13. Dec 2014 · 15:14 UTC
I also gave up after getting the double jump and experiencing the subsequent despair and rage. I'd need an easy mode with more checkpoints to win this.

Nice art though.
rubna
13. Dec 2014 · 16:34 UTC
cool game! very hard but managed to beat it :D the bossfight was a bit anti-climactic but that's ok, haha. Well done!
dekart
13. Dec 2014 · 16:51 UTC
Nice game, I like the art, animation, and zoom feature. Some sounds would be very useful for a better mood.
Raiyumi
13. Dec 2014 · 17:48 UTC
Love the graphics! The gameplay is definitely challenging.
recursor
13. Dec 2014 · 21:34 UTC
I enjoyed this. Everything is so tiny and cute and difficult.Nice job.
Mach60KAS
14. Dec 2014 · 04:38 UTC
Very well-polished, love the art! No music, which is a shame. I felt a lot of the "difficulty" could easily be avoided if you put some more checkpoints around - particularly in the bottom section, where the unavoidable laser guy ruins your day after the amount of tries it took to get that far. I think an element of wall stickiness would make wall-jumps more enjoyable; as it is it's too easy to activate a double jump by mistake and ruin your progress. Still, fantastic entry otherwise: love the graphic style and I enjoyed the timelapse vid that sent me here. Kudos!
SaintHeiser
14. Dec 2014 · 05:20 UTC
Bottom part anbelievable hard.
torcado194
14. Dec 2014 · 06:55 UTC
well! I really liked the game. fitting this whole metroidvania on the screen is amazing.
couple of complaints: (a minor thing) enemies health doesn't reset when you die, it only respawns ones you've killed (which is a nice mechanic btw). The jumping is too fast/too much gravity. it was very hard in some wall jumping puzzles trying to get up. also the one puzzle to get the triple shot seemed way too unfairly difficult, that last under the spike is reaaally close, and the reward was terrible. the triple shot is great in theory, but it doesnt make anything easier since the hit cooldown on enemies remains the same making the time to kill them just as long as before.
Also, the ending was very anticlimactic. the whole time the player is wondering what the end of the game is going to be like with that strange enemy at the top, an intense boss battle? hopefully. but no, you just kill him. My guess is that you ran out of time, but still, its pretty disappointing.
Taunia Sabanski
14. Dec 2014 · 09:29 UTC
The movement was handled very well in this one. I actually don't have any complaints with how the character moved at all -- it wasn't sticky, it wasn't slippery, it wasn't anything negative. It was very smooth and really tight movement, and really good controls can basically make or break how one responds to a platforming title (especially for people like me, who aren't very good at platformers to begin with).

The level layout was quite good, aside from maybe just 2-3 spots that were a little weird and difficult to get past without possibly losing half of my heart meter. Easily changed things, though, that you could probably alter in less than a day, and make it much more enjoyable for players (instead of stuff to grind through to proceed with the level).

The sound effects were really cute, and it needs music! Some sort of retro chiptune-style music or anything, really. It feels so polished, but there's no real sound to help give it vibrant character and life. :D Something to compliment your fantastic pixel art and lovely color palette!
ripatti
14. Dec 2014 · 09:51 UTC
Really cool small metroidvania! Gave up on the pit in the bottom of the screen - dont' how to avoid wizard's shot in the end of it.
yodamaster
14. Dec 2014 · 14:15 UTC
Metroid in one screen! Yeah!
pkenney
15. Dec 2014 · 05:56 UTC
Wow really tight controls and a great take on the theme here. I had to repeat the same jumps and fights just a few too many times for my personal taste, but that's because I made a ton of mistakes. The checkpoints were huge in letting me see more of the game and making me want to retry to keep going.

Great work!
TrentSterling
15. Dec 2014 · 13:35 UTC
Really solid work, but man I am bad at it!
Rodaja
16. Dec 2014 · 23:24 UTC
I feel the zoom takes it away from the theme a bit, like you did the whole game in a screen but then if it wasn't it'd be better, so you just allow zoom in. You didn't use the theme to your advantage, I mean. It's not a big deal anyway.

Music would have gone a long way, but being a compo entry I understand you might have not had the time.

Visually it's clever, without too much work it manages to look really well.

Overall it's a good entry, fun enough to play. Good job!
Alexandre Szybiak
18. Dec 2014 · 22:31 UTC
Cool solid game, I need to come back later to finish it !
miotatsu
23. Dec 2014 · 23:00 UTC
dang this game is hard! lot of content for a ludum dare entry and very well polished. Nice job.
Sublustris
24. Dec 2014 · 05:36 UTC
Nice game. But its hard to deal with enemies standing higher than you. they shoot faster than a hero :)
pixelspirit
24. Dec 2014 · 11:30 UTC
Very pretty and suits the theme really nicely. I love the art as it is, but zooming in is very useful.
Jupiter_Hadley
28. Dec 2014 · 18:58 UTC
I also included your game in an article of my favorites! http://fireside.gamejolt.com/post/jam-favorites-ludum-dare-31-huv4hmz6
ArcturusDeluxe
28. Dec 2014 · 21:00 UTC
Cool stuff! You did almost exactly the same thing as us, although yours a bit smoother to play than ours. Nice simple pixel art graphics and solid gameplay. Good job.
calavera
30. Dec 2014 · 00:50 UTC
I couldnt find a way to progress completely but I enjoyed what i played nonetheless!