Not-your-average-pacman by jfreax

[raw]
made by jfreax for LD31 (COMPO)
It's like good ol' pacman. But with only one level. Sounds boring? Appearances are deceptive!

In every round the rules get bend.
And in the end... its absolutly not like pacman.


How to start:
- if you have a relative up-to-date webbrowser use the web link
- for desktop version (running on Windows, Linux, MacOSX, ...) install Java (jre) and start with: "java -jar ld31-nyup-4.jar"


How to play:
- use wasd / arrow keys to move
- press enter or space to restart lost level
- if there are too many ghost to win a level, try to get rid of them
hint: you can eat ghost under special circumstances


Technology used:
- libgdx
- aseprite
- tiled
- gwt
- bfxr / jfxr


Level *SPOILER*

Level 0 - Classic pacman.
· mostly classic pacman rules
· get all coins, ghosts will kill you
· eat mushrooms and you can eat ghost (8 seconds long)
· green beans will boost your speed for a second
Level 1 - Classic Pacman. Difficulty++
· same as level 0, except a litte bit harder
Level 2 - Attention! Attention!
· beware of the lasers! contact will kill you instantly
Level 3 - Goal!
· go to the goal in the middle of the map
Level 4 - I need energy!
· you have 25 health (see top left status line)
· you lose one health point every second
· get energy to get healthier (energy? laser!)
Level 5 - Secret key!
· get the red key to shutdown the red laser
· then get the yellow key for the yellow laser
· go into the goal
Level 6 - 42
· collection exactly 42 coins
· go into the goal
Level 7 - 20 Step to Haven
· you die on step 21
· go to the goal
· use a secret "door" in the wall left to the goal

Ratings

Coolness 66% 3
Overall 3.02 744
Audio 2.41 714
Fun 2.90 735
Graphics 2.81 721
Humor 2.48 559
Innovation 2.79 792
Mood 2.76 706
Theme 3.57 604

Feedback

xaedes
08. Dec 2014 · 02:51 UTC
Nice graphics and cool idea.
Lots of levels
AgentParsec
08. Dec 2014 · 02:58 UTC
Interesting, but it gets into a lot of situations where it's nigh impossible to proceed, like 4 ghosts clustered around the last dots and refusing to budge.
Groydis
08. Dec 2014 · 03:07 UTC
Interesting take on a classic. I always like it when people get the classic and try to find ways to improve them. With a bit more polish I feel like the experience would of been more fun. Good Work!
🎤 jfreax
08. Dec 2014 · 03:10 UTC
@AgentParsec: Yeahh, the ghost movement is bad, and thats a problem. But did you know, that you are able to kill ghost? This helps, at least in most situations.
Pinpickle
08. Dec 2014 · 09:51 UTC
Even from the outset, the movement is fluid enough to make you feel like you are in control of PacMan.
Good take on the theme, I did have to ragequit not very far in though.
kraln
08. Dec 2014 · 10:54 UTC
Sounds were actually painful! I like the game concept, and I think it could have potential
lisac
08. Dec 2014 · 10:59 UTC
Interesting twist! :)
eruiz00
08. Dec 2014 · 11:38 UTC
Strange pacman clone with oscure motivations. Done with LibGDX always is a good idea, instead. Well done!!!
hadesfury
08. Dec 2014 · 12:10 UTC
Interesting game :D
mahu
08. Dec 2014 · 12:51 UTC
Enemies moves randomly, so sometimes its impossible to proceed. The sound is awful especially when have lot of lasers at the same time on the screen. Very challenging
Gaspard_
08. Dec 2014 · 14:35 UTC
Got through the 7 levels.
Nice concept!
You could have made us explore the level a little more.(I nearly never went to the right of the screen...)
The controls were fluid too.
renatopp
08. Dec 2014 · 14:36 UTC
Pacman with lasers =)

A suggestion: you can do small changes to the pitch (up and down) to make a variation of the sounds (you can do that with audacity, it is very easy), so it wouldn't be so difficult to hear a sequence of them. You can also limit the maximum number of sounds you play at the same time, for example the lasers.

Good job.
davidB
08. Dec 2014 · 14:57 UTC
I like it. Both, we use pacman classic at start point + java. but we created very different result (tech, visual, gameplay). The ludum dare magic.
mrspeaker
08. Dec 2014 · 15:32 UTC
Good work - very interesting. But I'm not so keen on those controls - feels a bit "floaty and imprecise" to me. Maybe it's just because I know the original controls too well ;)
GagaPete
08. Dec 2014 · 20:12 UTC
Great game. Controls are a bit weird on mobile (Kindle Fire) so I didn't get very far (Level 3). The ghost AI should be more predictable and less random. But nice game overall.
Indieindio
09. Dec 2014 · 03:57 UTC
nice check us out http://ludumdare.com/compo/2014/12/08/super-touch/
SirJavaGaming
09. Dec 2014 · 12:42 UTC
Movements are bad, the rest is ok
danidre14
09. Dec 2014 · 12:49 UTC
It was a bit of a rage game, but it's really cool.
Tater_hater
10. Dec 2014 · 07:38 UTC
Not bad. Like the mobile port
gre
10. Dec 2014 · 17:19 UTC
weird and fun
rnlf
10. Dec 2014 · 22:13 UTC
Tried it on android. The controls need a bit much of finger-movement. Nice interpretation of the theme!
HUMANICS
10. Dec 2014 · 22:26 UTC
can't get past level 2 on android :\
ate everything but the walls
judging from the description pretty funny game, tho!
🎤 jfreax
11. Dec 2014 · 03:37 UTC
@HUMANICS: Ohh, you are right. Level 2 was defect on android in same cases. I fixed it.
snickersnacks
12. Dec 2014 · 21:40 UTC
Interesting take on Pacman, it's awesome that you got through so many levels in such a short period of time. Nice entry :)
Wakka
13. Dec 2014 · 08:44 UTC
interesting controls for a pacman clone.
LMT
13. Dec 2014 · 16:54 UTC
Quite a nice game. Ran smoothly and was relatively fun to play. Also the theme was strong throughout.
sP0CkEr2
16. Dec 2014 · 03:55 UTC
nice pacman variant - although letting the ghosts go thru walls was mean - awesome game
Jezzamon
20. Dec 2014 · 22:45 UTC
Ah. I got stuck on level 6. Didn't figure it out. I saw a coin that was in an inaccessible place and gave up :P

Nice concept, although the laser sound effect should really be much shorter if you wanted to set it off so many times, because when they overlap and become much louder it's a little annoying...

Also the idea that lasers gave you health in that one level was a little too cryptic. I beat it but I didn't even know that happened. A sound effect would have helped, because I still had to mindset of "laser's kill me". I ended up beating it because I was lucky and the lasers never blocked my path