Ocean Crossing by andysolace

[raw]
made by andysolace for LD31 (COMPO)
A simple Java game (Requires Java 8), written in roughly 7 1/2 hours between the hours of 22:00 and 02:00 the last two nights.

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Controls:
D or right arrow : Move Right;
W or up arrow : Move Up;
S or down arrow : Move Down;
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You take command of a (very 2D!) galleon, and have to sail across the ocean (single screen) before you run out of supplies. Fairly straight forwards? Yup, but along the way you'll encounter multiple mutinies, icebergs, storms... Okay, I didn't have time to add the graphics for them but the dialogue boxes'll point you in the right direction :P

Its not quite there, to be honest. I've been very busy "irl" but I think I've done pretty well, all things considered :D Could certainly benefit from some music and a visual upgrade, and because of this I was going to wait and enter the Jam instead, but, nah :P.

Currently, there is a lot of luck involved in winning - The biggest thing I was going to add was properly programmed maps, but I simply ran out of time. The event gen test code got cleaned up and left in, and my tile reader never saw the light of day :(

Download should be pretty much platform agnostic, simply download the zip file, extract the .jar and double click to launch it. Game requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE 8) to run (free download).

Oh! Almost forgot! See if you can find the Easter Egg! :D

I hope you enjoy, please rate fairly and leave as many comments and criticisms as you like :D!

<3

Ratings

Coolness 64% 3
Overall 2.30 1166
Fun 2.06 1162
Graphics 2.43 979
Humor 2.56 500
Innovation 2.41 1006
Mood 2.31 1017
Theme 3.14 1000

Feedback

Random Abductions
08. Dec 2014 路 11:26 UTC
Fun game, however it seems very random to win. After trying 5 times, I couldn't get to the other side. Is this the message? The text that displays is very cool though. One thing of improvement, maybe show the controls here or in the game? I didn't know you could move up and down until the 5th try.
eruditespirit
08. Dec 2014 路 11:33 UTC
There doesn't seem to be much to do in this game, and there's a long delay before you can press a direction after each move.

I did find the easter egg though, that was in a pretty good place.
Jed T.
08. Dec 2014 路 11:40 UTC
After a few tries. I managed to reach the right side. this depends on luck in order to win.
Zwergesel
08. Dec 2014 路 12:06 UTC
Can you do anything in this game except hold right and wait until you succeed?
馃帳 andysolace
08. Dec 2014 路 12:10 UTC
Thanks all for comments; I've added the controls to the description, and expanded the description to explain the event generation.

@Zwergesel > You can!
MegaMasterX
08. Dec 2014 路 12:32 UTC
I got a Java Exception error when starting it up. I won't score the game as a result, but I will say that the randomness makes for an interesting entry.
馃帳 andysolace
08. Dec 2014 路 13:32 UTC
Hi MegaMaster, thanks for the feedback.

It compiles and runs without Errors or Warnings here - Could I ask which OS you're using and which Error was generated? I'll look into it.

Many thanks,
Andy.
Anti
08. Dec 2014 路 13:46 UTC
I think the idea is good. But to much random. Is there a reason to go up or down. I know you had little time but it's very hard to play a game that is just random events.
gelisam
08. Dec 2014 路 13:52 UTC
I couldn't play it on my machine because it requires Java 8, which doesn't support OS X 10.6; I guess I need to upgrade...
Hexicube
08. Dec 2014 路 14:03 UTC
Giving you a poke since you wanted me to, the issue with my game should be fixed.
5T4MP5
08. Dec 2014 路 14:25 UTC
I like the basic idea, but I think it would be a lot more interesting if you could respond to the events. If, I hit an event, I would want to have a choice to make, which would determine how it affects my voyage. Maybe not enough time in the compo to get it in done, but could be like sea faring FTL.
馃帳 andysolace
08. Dec 2014 路 14:47 UTC
@Stamps

:O really like that idea! I didn't think about that - the idea was that each map would have obsticles placed about, and you would need to find the fish while avoiding the storms. But the interactivity you suggested sounds like a great addition!

Thank you :)
SirJavaGaming
08. Dec 2014 路 15:07 UTC
Without the graphics of the icebergs and storm etc its pretty hard and a bit frustrating. But a good idea though.
Absor
08. Dec 2014 路 15:16 UTC
Soo you click a direction and hope to get lucky? Would have needed the 48 hours available. Good job for getting it this far in that short time.
Lo-X
08. Dec 2014 路 15:37 UTC
I couldn't play either because of that exception at launch. I've got java 7 on my linux mint, no updates in the repositories. I'll see if I can do a more direct approach
DesignerNap
08. Dec 2014 路 16:26 UTC
I cant play this. I got a Java Exception error when running as MegaMasterX above says. Would like to give it a go tho, looks interesting.
馃帳 andysolace
08. Dec 2014 路 17:56 UTC
okay :( Seems that the exception might be to do with the Java version. I wrote this using Java 8 =/ I will see if I can switch out the libraries and create a version that runs on Java 7 to replace the mac and linux versions...
skeeto
08. Dec 2014 路 20:31 UTC
I like the graphics.

I don't know if I'd call this a game any more than I'd call the card "game" War a game. There's no actual decision making going on. The player merely presses one of three keys -- doesn't matter which -- to see the next random event.
馃帳 andysolace
08. Dec 2014 路 20:56 UTC
@ Skeeto

I think that's.... a fair statement, tbh.

I did have maps for each level that marked out the location of the events on a per-level basis, and that allowed me to group some events and scatter others a bit more strategically. The idea was if you failed a few times but learnt where the fish were, you could make some progress. The storms were always going to be random, though. Unfortuantely, I didn't finish implementing the code to read the maps into the game, and was forced to just leave the random generation in place. It was a real shame.

Thank you for the comment about the graphics :) At least I got something right!
Ken Scott
09. Dec 2014 路 02:16 UTC
There really isn't much game here. You keep pressing in one direction and hope the random events don't screw you. You have no control over the events and they aren't even interesting or humorous.

The easter egg is fun, but it doesn't make of for how barren and lifeless the rest of the experience is.
Lo-X
09. Dec 2014 路 02:28 UTC
I get my windows out and install java 8 especially for tha game, youhou ! Okay, I'll be honnest that's not the best game I played so far. Ultimately, it's just a question of luck, for the good events to balance the wrong ones. I managed to cross after three attemps just by pressing the right arrow of the keyboard continuously. I searched a bit for the easter egg but I haven't found it. That said, I think that in 7 hours it's a good thing to have, if you had more time I'm sure the game would have been a lot more fun ! The graphics aren't bad.
Marcellus
09. Dec 2014 路 16:04 UTC
Nice job for the time you had
DesignerNap
09. Dec 2014 路 17:05 UTC
I quite like this. It reminds me of an old board game called "Buccaneer" we used to play as kids. I think it is a little too random but a good core concept/. Nice work!
Gemberkoekje
11. Dec 2014 路 16:23 UTC
Hi, please help me debug my game by downloading the 'debug' version I just uploaded and sending me the logfile, I'd love to know what's going on with people who can't move!

Onto your game! It crashed immediately. Let me upgrade my Java and see whether that fixes things...

No, i do not want Ask.Com, thank you Java...

Removing out-of-date versions.. yes, I'm pretty sure that's the problem.

Now it works!

Hm, help doesn't seem to do anything. Also, it's a bit hard to find out what you're supposed to do, other than randomly doing stuff, but maybe I'm just impatient, or maybe I just don't get it.

All in all, not a terrible effort, but does need a bit more... guidance i think.
jovoc
13. Dec 2014 路 08:49 UTC
Nice start, feels incomplete though. It feels like it's not really up to me if I get across or not. But good idea. With a bit more polish, and more decisions from the player, this could be a solid game.
HotBoxGames
16. Dec 2014 路 01:21 UTC
Awesome game - it was fun! :D
asobitech
16. Dec 2014 路 19:04 UTC
Great start to the game, shame you didn't have more time.
maxmetallica
29. Dec 2014 路 21:48 UTC
nice work