Just Shapes by Zanzlanz

[raw]
made by Zanzlanz for LD26 (JAM)
Hey!

This weekend was a bit crazy. I went the the Newgrounds Pico Day Party, so I only had a few minutes of down time to actually work on the Ludum Dare game. I worked on the majority of it at the party!
I was tired enough from the drive that Minimalism came easily to me. I created the core of this game in practically a few minutes, but polished it off on Monday. I couldn't actually submit to the compo, for I wanted to make sure it was pretty solid for release. The Jam is okay though, since I didn't really want to share my sloppy source code anyway.

I made the music and some sfx in FL Studio, graphics in GIMP, coded in Flash AS3, and the rest of the sfx in BFXR.net. The only code I had to steal from an old project was the text renderer which I originally made for Mine Blocks 2.

I plan on making this full arcade game in the future. Of course, this isn't what it will end up looking like; think of this as an early prototype of my future plan. I'm thinking about selling it for a small amount on iOS, which will be awesome.

Hope you enjoy this relaxed, simple arcade game! Thanks and good luck in Ludum Dare!

- Zanzlanz

Ratings

Coolness 24% 1800
Overall(Jam) 3.58 112
Audio(Jam) 3.80 52
Fun(Jam) 3.76 30
Graphics(Jam) 3.44 211
Humor(Jam) 2.25 248
Innovation(Jam) 3.56 88
Mood(Jam) 3.08 231
Theme(Jam) 3.64 148

Feedback

Hyaku
30. Apr 2013 路 00:00 UTC
Good proof of concept.
Definitely would be great for touch devices.
Brunodev
30. Apr 2013 路 00:04 UTC
Congratulations Zanzlanz, awesome as always! The game fits well on the theme, its really addicting and fun! Music is good and does not get tiring. Always going to be a mystery to me on how you made those awesome graphics on AS3! Great work!
arrogant.gamer
30. Apr 2013 路 01:36 UTC
Intense! The music is the thing that really does it, so 5/5 for that. In later levels you could have more polygons that are potentially difficult to tell apart since, despite the intense presentation, one could solve this game by just grabbing a shape and waiting.

They wouldn't get the high score though!
馃帳 Zanzlanz
30. Apr 2013 路 10:25 UTC
Thank you Hyaku, I hope the finished product turns out well :)

Thanks for the comment Brunodev! I always appreciate your feedback <3. Remember to check out bitmapData if you want to make pixel-y games :D

Hi arrogant.gamer! I didn't expect the music to be liked so much, actually - I spent literally 15 minutes on it haha. Well I'm super glad it worked out. Yes, the game was more designed around getting the highest score rather than just beating the level (I would connect it to Game Center for iOS). I might perhaps have a menu for selecting different game modes to change that kind of game play too.
RARoadkill
30. Apr 2013 路 23:45 UTC
fun concept. I would like to see a version of this on a touch screen. think it would play well on one. Good job
Tanius
30. Apr 2013 路 23:47 UTC
really a nice concept! maybe to easy, maybe you can add some obstacle when dragging figures, or a small time to drag. I like the music too.
馃帳 Zanzlanz
02. May 2013 路 21:44 UTC
Thanks for your comments ;)
RARoadkill - I would love to try it out on my iPod in the near future.
Tanius - I actually never intended for it to be difficult. It was more of a speed thing, I guess. I did think about different game modes, where difficulty does play a factor in some modes.
cwilloughby
04. May 2013 路 08:20 UTC
Cool. Pulled in by the 10s video. Liked the style and art.
馃帳 Zanzlanz
04. May 2013 路 21:20 UTC
Thanks! I'm glad you saw the video. I loved all of the games I saw on it.
GhostID
05. May 2013 路 23:22 UTC
You, my friend, are one HECK of a programmer. ;) I really like the concept, I haven't really seen games like this before. I also like how you used the art definition of minimalism instead of the easier definition of minimal something. :) Once again that's my opinion, others probably thought that minimalism was easier than minimal something.
馃帳 Zanzlanz
05. May 2013 路 23:29 UTC
Thanks for your compliment GhostID! I was actually quite surprised that I actually came up with a unique idea for the theme. That was most likely due to me being half asleep in a hotel room before a party, haha. When I thought of minimalism, I thought simple game rules, and simple concepts. I started with just blocks going in an elliptical path, because that was easiest to code. Then as time went on I decided circles would look better. I downloaded GIMP and made them into circles which turned out great. Lastly, I added a couple more shapes to make the game more challenging and pleasing to the eyes. At first the text were hand-drawn graphics, but once I got back home I spent a few minutes implementing the text rendering code I made in an earlier project. All in all I'm really happy how the graphics and game rules both match the theme at the extent I was hoping for.
joe40001
06. May 2013 路 03:24 UTC
Graphics/mood/audio are good, though I don't know that the loony toons slips noises are the best for scoring. Ok game otherwise, not my style seemed more based on making something that should be easy more frustrating, but then again games like super hexagon do that and are very successful. Clearly you have talent, just not entirely my cup of tea.
Sebastian
06. May 2013 路 19:36 UTC
Really enjoyed playing this. I thought the music was very well done. Highscores are really needed for this sort of game! My best score is 247586 after two tries. Would have loved to know how that compares..
馃帳 Zanzlanz
07. May 2013 路 10:18 UTC
Thanks for the comment joe40001. The sound effects were very rushed actually, and I see what you mean about the match noise being weird, hahaha! I didn't exactly want this to be very frustrating as a first play, actually. I was more focused on the score mechanic, where your goal is to beat your high score (and eventually, others). Plus I am not sure how it will fend on iOS yet.

Hey Sebastian, thanks for playing. High score boards are planned for iOS, and I have not yet added the Newgrounds/Mochimedia api yet. I would also love to see how the competition stacks up! From what I've seen so far, your score is actually really good! Still need a little work to beat my high score though: 271231. ;)
zkenshin
08. May 2013 路 01:30 UTC
Would make a good mobile game. :)
馃帳 Zanzlanz
09. May 2013 路 19:45 UTC
Yes, zkenshin, it's going to be for iOS :) (I do not have a phone.)
TurboDindon
11. May 2013 路 10:57 UTC
Good game. Song and graphics are very awesome.
It's sometimes very difficult to grab the shapes at the end.

- SEPHY (@sephyka)
馃帳 Zanzlanz
11. May 2013 路 17:48 UTC
Thanks very much SEPHY - TurboDindon!
I agree with the difficulty of grabbing pieces. Perhaps grabbing pieces should be made easier than placing them, just to be more fair with the gameplay. We'll see what happens when I make it for iOS.
OnlySlightly
21. May 2013 路 00:47 UTC
Loved the style and the music
馃帳 Zanzlanz
21. May 2013 路 20:01 UTC
Thanks OnlySlightly!