Cave by fueelin

made by fueelin for LD29 (COMPO)

UPDATE:
I've added a link to an updated, post-compo version for anyone interested. I fixed a bunch of bugs, the biggest of which led to the 'instant death' people have been experiencing. I also did some play testing and tweaking to make the game more fun/playable. This version is actually beatable, so please try it out if you want to experience more of the game

------------------------------------------

Cave is a 2D, top-down cave exploration game with procedurally generated levels. Dig and battle your way to the bottom! Hope you enjoy!

Introduction:

You've fallen into a cave and can't get back out. Your only option is to follow the following water at your feet, deeper and deeper.

Keep your eye out for treasure and tools as you progress. You can dig through certain materials, depending on what tools you have - watch for the green highlight and press SPACE.

Be careful of the unfriendly denizens of the cave, which can be very dangerous! Get near them and press SPACE to fight back!

Controls:

Arrow Keys - Move
Space - Dig through block/Attack enemy

F1 - Toggle Tutotial on/off

Notes/FAQs:
You can go back to levels you've already completed to grab any items you missed.

IF THE GAME CRASHES ON START:
Install the XNA 4.0 distributable (located in 'IFCRASH' folder in .rar)

IF YOU GET STUCK IN A LEVEL:
You can hit R to generate a new level. The previous levels and the player's stats stay the same when you do this.

Post-Compo	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2908100/Cave%20by%20Fueelin/Cave%20Post-Compo.rar
Windows	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2908100/Cave%20by%20Fueelin/Cave.rar
Lower Resolution	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2908100/Cave%20by%20Fueelin/Cave%20Low-Res.rar
Source	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2908100/Cave%20by%20Fueelin/CaveSource.rar
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=3827

Ratings

Coolness	100%	1
Overall	2.82	908

Audio	1.52	1020
Fun	2.59	923
Graphics	1.96	1198
Humor	1.77	994
Innovation	2.84	719
Mood	2.60	899
Theme	3.06	733

Feedback

GresponApps

28. Apr 2014 · 23:50 UTC

It didn't run.. nothing happens

otato

28. Apr 2014 · 23:54 UTC

Interesting twist on the roguelike genre. I really like having that path showing you the way but letting you explore off of it. Nice job!

GresponApps

28. Apr 2014 · 23:57 UTC

I got it working! Pretty nice game!

ccglp

28. Apr 2014 · 23:57 UTC

I like the procedural generation, good work here

xandy

29. Apr 2014 · 02:29 UTC

cool idea and nice levels. but sometimes your level generator produces broken levels: http://snag.gy/nB3ZE.jpg (i cant go in the caves or down the river)

micdoodle8

29. Apr 2014 · 02:59 UTC

Nice job! The levels are quite interesting and add some replayability. You lose your health quite quickly though.

🎤 fueelin

29. Apr 2014 · 03:07 UTC

Hmm xany, looks like you should be able to advance down the river but maybe there's an issue with the collision. If you end up stuck, you can hit R to re-generate the current level (keeping previous levels and the player's stats). I trust no one will use this to infinitely farm gold, because... why would anyone do that?

🎤 fueelin

29. Apr 2014 · 03:10 UTC

The enemies/health were added in the last ~90 minutes of the compo, so apologies that I didn't get to playtest that part too much. Combat is definitely not the best part of this game :)

gene-z

29. Apr 2014 · 04:30 UTC

Simple,, but interesting

uniquecorn

29. Apr 2014 · 04:35 UTC

So in your algorithm, corridors can spawn dirt blocks to block them and caves can spawn money or "C" or enemies?

kirbytails7

29. Apr 2014 · 04:36 UTC

Pretty cool. I like having the line-of-sight to reveal rooms.

Hob623

29. Apr 2014 · 04:41 UTC

I liked the way that the levels branched off of a direct route, kind of made it feel more like I was exploring instead of being pushed through a tube. Nice game!

yo_milo

29. Apr 2014 · 05:04 UTC

I played for a while, fun rougelike...

Sadly, I couldn't kill any enemy, they are too strong...

I collected around 50 coins... :)

🎤 fueelin

29. Apr 2014 · 05:12 UTC

Yes, corridors can spawn blocks (dirt/stone/metal) and caves can spawn money, tools, and enemies.

stephan_h

29. Apr 2014 · 07:35 UTC

I like dungeon games. :)

The presentation was a bit sterile, but procedural generation makes up for it.

Jason Lay

30. Apr 2014 · 00:11 UTC

Good job on the procedural generation. It was fun to play.

BMacIntosh

30. Apr 2014 · 00:14 UTC

I had a strange problem where the camera didn't scroll at all. I tried generating a few levels, but I could never get more than a few coins before I was going out of the screen. No one else seems to, though.

🎤 fueelin

30. Apr 2014 · 00:18 UTC

There's no scrolling - looks like there must be a collision/level generation issue that lets you get outside of the level. Following the river off the bottom of the level is the correct way to advance to a new level. Sorry for the bug!

SlamBlasta

30. Apr 2014 · 06:32 UTC

I love games with generation. The infinite capabilities are really interesting and you handled it well.

KirbiKaka

30. Apr 2014 · 07:28 UTC

Hey this game is pretty fun :D! It's awesome that it's procedurally generated :] The monsters were definitely hard though, you seem to die instantly even if you have full health. Because of this, I found that the best way to get to the lowest depth was just to run through the most direct route (since I didn't see a use for money anyways).
The game is simple and fun, nice work!

spotco

30. Apr 2014 · 07:29 UTC

Died instantly whenever I saw an enemy

🎤 fueelin

01. May 2014 · 04:26 UTC

I posted an updated post-compo version that fixes some of the issues people have mentioned, like the instant death/too hard enemies and walking outside the level, if anyone is interested in seeing more of the game.

Delca

01. May 2014 · 09:53 UTC

That level generator \o/ Got stuck a few time because a seemingly-water tile would not let me go, but I just generated another level. That is pretty cool!
On the other hand, I could not find a way to kill enemies without losing at least a heart, which obviously limited my ability to go further down. Is this an intended behaviour ?
If you do not know about sfxr, you should give it a go. In roughly 5 minutes, you can generate some sounds for your game, to make it even better.
Great entry nonetheless, congrats!

🎤 fueelin

01. May 2014 · 17:32 UTC

You can kill both enemy types without taking damage - you have to be careful and take advantage of your attack having a slightly longer range than the melee skeletons. With the Post-Compo version, I've personally verified that the game is beatable :)

I think I've heard of sfxr before but haven't used it. I planned to record music but ran out of time for it; I'll definitely keep that in mind as a good backup option in the future if I don't have much time for sound.

Neonlare

01. May 2014 · 23:33 UTC

A lil bit blank in terms of graphical presentation, but these kind of random gen games are always interesting to play with for a while. Simple but enjoyable for it of course :).

kogyblack

02. May 2014 · 00:55 UTC

Nice game. But I could only play once and onlu for the first level, since the game is being created above the top of my window and I can't drag it down, so I lose part of the game, sometimes to be unplayable... Maybe you set up a higher res than I'm using (1366x768) or just creating the window at the wrong position...

hyouko

02. May 2014 · 01:03 UTC

I felt like this could use some more audio-visual cues to know when you and/or the enemies are actually taking damage. Big props for doing a roguelike in 48 hours!

🎤 fueelin

02. May 2014 · 01:22 UTC

kogyblack - it's a resolution issue. I meant to post a version with a lower resolution after the compo ended but was surprised that it didn't seem to affect anyone. But seeing as you ran into this issue, I've added a separate version with a lower resolution that you/others can use. I didn't test it a ton, but the level generator seems okay working with a smaller space.

Random Abductions

02. May 2014 · 19:05 UTC

Love the game, it reminds me of the old rogues on DOS. I like the idea of money but it has no significance but to be there as a score meter. The combat is a bit unpredictable but a nice edition. Would love to have had some minimalistic music and sfx just to increase the mood. Also like the water idea!

🎤 fueelin

03. May 2014 · 02:43 UTC

Theoretically the more money you have to throw in the pool at the end of the game, the higher the chance of your wish (presumably to get back to the surface) comes true, like throwing pennies in a water fountain. Of course, none of that is actually represented in the game :)

csanyk

07. May 2014 · 04:40 UTC

Really liked this one, despite it being very simple. The auto-mapping is well done, and the procedurally generated maps remind me of random dungeon generation in classic AD&D. Could use better a better combat system and more upgrades, and sounds.

SnoringFrog

14. May 2014 · 01:49 UTC

The procedural generation was really cool. That's something I've been meaning to play around with, so I might actually end up looking at your source to see how you handled it, particularly since you wrote this in something I have experience with.

However, combat was very difficult (so difficult, in fact, that anytime I saw an enemy I died without even having a chance to just run away).