Lair Raid by Parappa

[raw]
made by Parappa for LD27 (COMPO)
I'm generally a fan of RPGs with automatic combat systems (Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy XII) and I've always wanted to try my hand at writing one, so I used this Ludum Dare theme as an excuse to throw together a crude prototype of an RPG where the only control the player has is over what members join the party, and each phase of the game lasts only 10 seconds. The result is, I hope, something like some random Windows 3.1 shareware game you might have downloaded from a BBS.

If you get frustrated trying to finish it, don't worry. There is no ending.

Ratings

Coolness 52% 3
Overall 2.97 647
Audio 2.62 518
Fun 2.55 858
Graphics 2.07 1031
Humor 2.14 617
Innovation 3.13 439
Mood 2.76 528
Theme 3.32 406

Feedback

raincole
26. Aug 2013 · 04:31 UTC
Honestly, I can't understand what just happened.
ix
26. Aug 2013 · 04:47 UTC
I think there's something to this, though the 10-second Epochs (at least for party selection) seem to be working against you. I've kind of always wanted to do a puzzle game about RPG mechanics, and I think this goes in that direction.
bushmango
26. Aug 2013 · 04:53 UTC
It's like 10x Progress Quest! ^.^
Tortche
26. Aug 2013 · 04:56 UTC
That was strangely addictive. Awesome work!
Gus
26. Aug 2013 · 05:07 UTC
"Diablo's minion grows stronger"
OMG gotta kill 'em all!
I really didn't know what the fuck was going on, but then I read your notes, and it became easier to abstract the concept.
This game is pretty much automatic and you could add some instructions in the main menu or whatever.
But you know f*ck it! My wizard's name is Ygritte AND THIS MUSIC IS TOO AWESOME!
P.S.: Gotta ask, did you use flixel?
P.S.S.: I laughed my ass off with raincole's commentary LOL
andwhatnot
26. Aug 2013 · 05:07 UTC
I really the art, especially the boss monsters. Fun setup, but it might be more if it was a little less? I felt like I did a lot of waiting.
Empyrealhell
26. Aug 2013 · 05:21 UTC
Making an idle game with the 10 second theme seemed like a gamble as those are notorious for having you sit through them for days, but it seems to work ok. It would have been nice to have more than 10 seconds to assemble the party though.
lordjosephdeburg
26. Aug 2013 · 15:40 UTC
RPG inspired too Parappa? Great game and simple concept, would play for longer if it had a save option. reminds me of candybox :)
🎤 Parappa
26. Aug 2013 · 16:47 UTC
Thanks for referencing Progress Quest and Candybox! I hadn't played either of those before, but they're amusing. :)

If I make a successor to this game, the 10 second limit for party selection would definitely be gone. It's a fun experiment and addictive to the right kind of player, but overall I think the player needs to have more options / control.
🎤 Parappa
26. Aug 2013 · 16:48 UTC
Oh, btw, I didn't use Flixel. I used a Flash lib called Starling and a UI lib on top of it called Feathers.
Doctor Broccoli
26. Aug 2013 · 17:16 UTC
A fun concept, but in the end the game just isn't quite clear enough. The player needs to know way more about the game (like what the classes are and what the different stats do) before the choice of party actually starts to become meaningful.
autlos
26. Aug 2013 · 17:55 UTC
I don't understand your game.
autlos
26. Aug 2013 · 17:57 UTC
I don't understand your game. The time goes before I manage to know what to do. Maybe with a better tutorial or something...
Alex Shestakov
26. Aug 2013 · 17:58 UTC
Never heard of this kind of games before! Thanks for opening my eyes :)
Spelchan
26. Aug 2013 · 18:28 UTC
Great concept but there really is no gameplay. Quickly selecting a party and watching them go is kind of boring. Most auto-combat rpg's give you control over the role of individual characters allowing you to change them based on the state of the combat. Well balanced ones actually make this an important strategic requirement.
Zephyr89
27. Aug 2013 · 04:47 UTC
You are really sticking to what makes an rpg great. Metal chiptune!
Richard Matey
27. Aug 2013 · 04:51 UTC
I liked having a giant team would like to see them represented in the battle even if they were just one pixel. Would be fun to watch.
Will Edwards
27. Aug 2013 · 16:11 UTC
I had no idea what was going on but the somehow by clicking randomly on selection screens I got a few fights in... somehow..
Jimanzium
27. Aug 2013 · 16:15 UTC
Intresting, but I'm not sure what did what, I just clicked on loads of dudes then stuff died? or what? A nice concept and if I'd taken the time to understand it it would have been great, nice work
nikkesen
29. Aug 2013 · 02:14 UTC
Very cute. I like your troll and ogre. Excellent use of mechanics. Good game.
Fervir
29. Aug 2013 · 02:16 UTC
This game is really cool.
I like your ideas.
Herman Groenenboom
01. Sep 2013 · 09:46 UTC
At one point in the game, 2 of my characters started one-hitting bosses with 5000-10000 dmg hits. :p

To be honest, why would you ever want to change characters if they level up? You just stick to your first characters anyway. That makes for 20 seconds of waiting with nothing to do. Otherwise it's fun to watch the monsters get wiped out.

Good concept, could use some fleshing out!