Doug by Waynetron

[raw]
made by Waynetron for LD29 (COMPO)
Press space (or down) to dig.
Arrow keys (or WASD) to move and jump.
Z or X to plant bombs (after collecting them)

The goal of the game is to go down as far as possible. The baddies can dig, so be wary of getting beneath them. You can jump on their heads, but they can also jump on yours.

The diamonds have no purpose other than looking pretty. I would have liked to introduce a little shopkeeper, but perhaps a little too ambitious.

The bombs can kill the baddies, but they aren't really very effective. I've found them to be most useful in aiding movement.

If you want a speed challenge, try spamming all 3 alternate dig keys separately (Space, down and S). You will progress (and die) very quickly, but it's kinda fun.

Ratings

Coolness 37% 1746
Overall 3.43 323
Fun 3.36 297
Graphics 3.95 121
Innovation 3.05 574
Mood 2.87 681
Theme 3.68 194

Feedback

Jonochrome
29. Apr 2014 路 00:51 UTC
I like how, depending on the speed you play the game, it can be strategic or total chaos. Gives it some interesting replay value. Would be nice if enemies couldn't spawn right on the surface causing a near-instant death.

I wonder if the gameplay would be fairer if the character's bombs blew up immediately so it would be possible to destroy enemies falling down rapidly from above. Not sure how that would feel in gameplay but it's an idea.
馃帳 Waynetron
29. Apr 2014 路 13:57 UTC
That's really good feedback.

Most of my testing was of the frantic, rush to the bottom variety, and I subsequently hated the feeling of the gameplay. Now that I can play through with a bit of distance from the stress of the weekend, playing slowly and patiently, I actually enjoy it a lot more.

The bombs seems to be most useful as a means to move sideways. Blowing them up quicker might help with the frustration of being caught off-guard, but doesn't really add any depth to the gameplay.
If anyone has any good suggestions there, I might look at a post-compo version with some changes.
FrameMatt
30. Apr 2014 路 03:16 UTC
I love it!
Its like a bizarre mash up from pacman-bomberman!
The graphics are awesome, such as the controls, which are quite clever and simple.
CDK
02. May 2014 路 15:08 UTC
there would be nothing i would want more than the ability to jump - this constantly feelt mising.. but i liked to enough to keep going a couple of times - but seem a big "rough" as it could be nice with some fixes and stuff (for one, no enemies spawner higher than 5 maybe?)

but it feelt like a bummer when enemies could jump but you couldn't and also as you could get into a hole where if you dug down you would reach an enemy from the side, which if i could jump i could get "around".. a 1 block jump wouldn't be that gamebreaking anyway ;)

but nice game.. :)

Would give you one star more in fun and overall if i could have jumped :/
M4rw4
02. May 2014 路 15:10 UTC
i do really like the graphics very much! nice idea, simple and fun.. you need only to decrease the difficulty of the game at the beginning and increase it by time. Great Work! :)
Photon
02. May 2014 路 15:11 UTC
This is actually pretty cool, but I feel like a little more explanation was necessary. You didn't even write up a description on this page!

Anyway, it's neat and I like how the enemies are actually kind of "smart" in a simple way. But again, a bit more direction? What do the diamonds do? How many bombs do I have left? Can I jump on the enemies? Still, the game took me by surprise and I was pleased with the cool set-up.
alvarop
02. May 2014 路 16:01 UTC
Pretty hard game I feel. I played it at "full speed" and I found the bombs to be useless in that context. Maybe I didn't really understand "how" to play it...
Ludonaut
02. May 2014 路 16:42 UTC
I dig the graphics.
XenosNS
03. May 2014 路 20:05 UTC
Nice clean graphics. Controls weren't bad. Some audio would of been nice.
phi
03. May 2014 路 20:10 UTC
Simple, clean game. Sometimes I get killed before I can even move, because a monster spawns right next to me. Otherwise, I really like it. Especially the different ways to play this game make it fun.
Rodaja
05. May 2014 路 11:17 UTC
Really nice visuals. Started playing slowly and found myself stuck sometimes, but then I discovered I could go full speed. A bit of lateral gameplay would improve that fast style. Playing it mixing both speeds seems fine.
Penguincat
05. May 2014 路 19:29 UTC
Fun concept, with really nice graphics, though it'd be nice if there some audio and a bit more to do. You mentioned not having time to do more the diamonds, and I could definitely see them leading to something pretty neat post-LD - maybe collecting them lets you purchase upgrades (dig faster through stone, give advantages against enemies, dig upwards, etc.). Given the timeframe of LD, though, this is a nicely polished game!