Minimal Complexity by adnzzzzZ

made by adnzzzzZ for LD26 (COMPO)

CHROME USERS can install this (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/l%C3%B6veliness/mompnkcmpbopandjnddeecgeeojegohc) plugin to play .love files on the browser!

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery" - Michael Scott

CONTROLS: WADS + J or ARROWS + Z; U for upgrades

Kill all enemies while maintaining the lowest score possible! This can be done by NOT using many projectile or area modifiers.

Are you so super awesome that you can resist not using EXPLODING PIERCING REFLECTING SLOWING SUPER FAST HIGH DAMAGING MULTIPLE projectiles? Play the game to find out!

KNOWN BUGS: reloading isn't properly setting your weapon level and score. If you care about the score being properly displayed then kill the game and start it again.

Windows	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17437327/Minimal%20Complexity.zip
.love (Web if you use CHROME)	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17437327/Minimal%20Complexity.love
.love (OS/X, Linux if you have love2d installed)	https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17437327/Minimal%20Complexity.love
Source	https://github.com/adonaac/random/tree/master/ld26
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=7173

Ratings

Coolness	51%	3
Overall	2.68	1045

Audio	2.68	574
Fun	2.36	1083
Graphics	2.46	999
Humor	1.83	863
Innovation	2.61	932
Mood	2.21	1125
Theme	3.11	946

Feedback

cahman

29. Apr 2013 · 03:21 UTC

I liked the idea. Wasn't sure how to move and attack (WADS and J). Didn't really understand how the weapon modifiers affected the enemies, or my score, or the game really. It also would have been nice to have a distinguishing feature (color?) for the player cube

🎤 adnzzzzZ

29. Apr 2013 · 03:30 UTC

All modifiers affect what your attack does in the most obvious way according to their names, I guess. The higher your attack level (the more modifiers you have), the higher your score will be over time.

josefnpat

29. Apr 2013 · 16:01 UTC

This game is rather hard; I wasn't even able to get a weapon.

Nice job!

myachin

29. Apr 2013 · 16:45 UTC

win version didn't run on my pc(

lanz

29. Apr 2013 · 16:49 UTC

Very hard, I can't kill one cube! Liked weapon shortcuts in upgrade screen and cubes animation. Also great music!

lulzfish_4

29. Apr 2013 · 16:49 UTC

I couldn't destroy any of the enemies, so I upgraded my damage to 100 and even then it took 2 shots to destroy the small ones. I kept getting hit and I wasn't sure what it meant when the enemies got to the red thing at the bottom. The player character is hard to see as well. I like the view-kick from the big enemies, though. I wish I'd added that to my game somehow. You had background music, but no sound effects for shooting.

🎤 adnzzzzZ

29. Apr 2013 · 16:54 UTC

@josefnpat @myachin @lanz: You can get weapons by pressing U and choosing what modifiers you want your weapon to have. Then press CTRL-A to choose that attack. If you want to you can choose ALL upgrades and you'll have the most OP weapon ever, but since the point of the game is to keep your score low, you probably don't wanna do that!

@lulzfish_4: When enemies get to the red thing the counter (30) is decreased. If that gets to 0 you lose.

Martze

29. Apr 2013 · 18:31 UTC

Neat! You've implemented a really cool upgrade system. It would be interesting to see this implemented in a game where you can't just give yourself all the upgrades for free.

(I did that and it crashed the game =D )

🎤 adnzzzzZ

29. Apr 2013 · 18:34 UTC

@Martze: Yea I quickly realized after a few people played it that free upgrades wasn't such a terribly good idea. Maybe starting with lots of upgrades and then having them be removed gradually would be better? But yea...

daandruff

29. Apr 2013 · 20:27 UTC

Felt a bit too random. Sometimes I died instantly and other times it felt like a breeze.

Exclamation Mark

29. Apr 2013 · 20:36 UTC

Interesting concept, and in theme (i guess?). Althou you have to work on your Math a bit ;) The score system is flawed - the best score is when you dont kill any enemy, and let them all through, while holding the worst possible weapon. Also, the math on weapons and HP seems a bit on the hard side, so do the movement speeds. Finally, very unwelcoming to new players - you start with the worst possible gun with hardly any chance to survive, and with no instructions on how to shoot. Lot of potential, every flaw is easily fixable, so hope to see you next dare :)

davidB

30. Apr 2013 · 12:00 UTC

I play first, then I read the comments. I agree with all of them + may be put the control on the help screen (eg: press J to attack, I had to come back to the LD page to find the info) in future version.

avidgamerNino

01. May 2013 · 20:29 UTC

I couldnt even kill anything. I did like to jump over eneimes. I did not like the One-hit KO.

loxo

01. May 2013 · 20:39 UTC

I like the idea, the animations and the music. With the default weapon I wasn't able to destroy anything, but the available updates help. My biggest problem with the game is the height of the window. Because my screen is only 768 pixels in height, so the game doesn't fit on it.

netmute

01. May 2013 · 21:38 UTC

Very hard, but cool style.

tiffi

03. May 2013 · 11:16 UTC

nice little game. cool idea, but a bit random

headchant

05. May 2013 · 09:39 UTC

Reminds me of supercratebox :) Nice one.

moomoo112

08. May 2013 · 09:17 UTC

upgrades appear to do nothing and the cost doesn't reset if I die but the weapon does, maybe..I can't tell
and shooting an enemy the entire way to the bottom doesn't kill it?

alts

19. May 2013 · 08:26 UTC

The game has potential, but based on my experience, and the comments I'm reading here, there are some usability issues that should be looked at. The concept of minimizing a score while completing some objective (that would typically be in conflict with minimizing score) is intriguing. I don't know that exploration of mandatory powerups is the right angle for it.