NinjaFlare by 8BitPimp
My entry for the LD48 is a minimal run and jump game with procedurally generated levels. Your character can slash, jump and use his grappling hook to kill enemies and get ahead in the level.
Watch Here:
http://youtu.be/H4Wk0_9ysIE
It was created almost entirely from scratch in C++ using SDL. The pixel art was made in photoshop, and sound effects in SFXR. I tried as much as possible to program the art instead of just using static sprites.
It seems a large complaint is the controls can seem tricky. I agree with this entirely, and would have taken more time to get right. I would like to provide some more insight into the controls.
The player can only perform a slide when he is running at near full speed. You must hold [down] to keep sliding.
The player can also jump to different heights depending on how long they hold the [x] jump key down.
The jump key [x] also doubles to shoot out the grappling hook when its possible. There is likely a bug in the code for the grappling hook since it is not 100% reliable. You can grapple when you are up to 64 pixels below a ledge.
Also the attack [z] performed when you are on the ground can only be performed when moving less then full speed, so you need to slow down a little to use it. This was intentional to make the movement a little more thought full.
It may be a big letdown to some but there is no win condition in the game. The deadline was too close to implement this and have it tested well enough. My idea was to have some kind of meter that is always counting down. Every enemy that you kill adds to the meter or something. The levels already get slowly harder, making it harder to kill enemies, making death inevitable. The final score reflects how long you survives or something.
Watch Here:
http://youtu.be/H4Wk0_9ysIE
It was created almost entirely from scratch in C++ using SDL. The pixel art was made in photoshop, and sound effects in SFXR. I tried as much as possible to program the art instead of just using static sprites.
It seems a large complaint is the controls can seem tricky. I agree with this entirely, and would have taken more time to get right. I would like to provide some more insight into the controls.
The player can only perform a slide when he is running at near full speed. You must hold [down] to keep sliding.
The player can also jump to different heights depending on how long they hold the [x] jump key down.
The jump key [x] also doubles to shoot out the grappling hook when its possible. There is likely a bug in the code for the grappling hook since it is not 100% reliable. You can grapple when you are up to 64 pixels below a ledge.
Also the attack [z] performed when you are on the ground can only be performed when moving less then full speed, so you need to slow down a little to use it. This was intentional to make the movement a little more thought full.
It may be a big letdown to some but there is no win condition in the game. The deadline was too close to implement this and have it tested well enough. My idea was to have some kind of meter that is always counting down. Every enemy that you kill adds to the meter or something. The levels already get slowly harder, making it harder to kill enemies, making death inevitable. The final score reflects how long you survives or something.
Ratings
| Coolness | 99% | 2 |
| Overall | 3.69 | 139 |
| Audio | 2.45 | 703 |
| Fun | 3.38 | 234 |
| Graphics | 4.47 | 9 |
| Humor | 1.80 | 894 |
| Innovation | 2.64 | 908 |
| Mood | 3.69 | 86 |
| Theme | 3.39 | 702 |
I'd agree with Kortuga98 on the control issue though. Could have been amazing with smooth controls.
Also, it's great seeing a game under a megabyte - I've just started using Unity - so much bloat!
the graphics are spectacular! and the gameplay is pretty sweet too!
I'd love it if you could check out my game :)
thanks man, that was awesome
-ENDESGA
What I loved :
- art, immersion
- dynamic gameplay
What I think could be improved :
- music ?
- multi input at the same time
- scoring (for a runner it's pretty essential ! you don't even know if you did better from a run to another)
- more explanations on the rules (is there a end ? is the goal to smash ennemies or to run far ? When can the hook be used ?)
I felt a bit frustrated not knowing if there was a end but could not reach it or if it was a scoring game... without score.
Good game overall, thanks for it !
Best compliment I can give is that I want to see this really finished in a complete game :)
For people wanting music: read the readme.txt
Good work.
And the smooth motion,
It's like The Legend of Kage on sunset :p
I found tapping X feverishly before falling full speed the most reliable way to activate grappling hook.
The gameplay is great and polished, though I've found it somewhat difficult to control and respond on time.
Really smooth game, but lacks a soundtrack.
great entry
I found myself usually just jumping over enemies instead of slashing.
Pretty cool game. How exactly does the grappling hook work?
Also it seemed a lot easier to simply jump over the enemies rather than slashing them ( it seemed like you could go faster and it was easier to time ).
Anyhow, Nice Job!
I thought it was interesting that I needed to stop running to use my sword, although the enemies were slow enough that I didn't usually have to kill them. Running past is just as effective! Or, well, it is until I fall off of a ledge.
Actually I liked the visuals so much, that I really wanted to play the game; but I don't run Windows so I made it compile on Linux. So if there's anybody on Linux too, here's a patch file (better use "save as" because of the CR's):
http://markusfisch.de/downloads/NinjaFlare.patch
Use it with the original sources like this:
unzip NinjaFlare.zip
cd NinjaFlare
patch -p1 -i NinjaFlare.patch
make
./ninjaflare
So far this is my favorite game of the competition. Really well done 8BitPimp and a thanks a lot you provided the sources so I could play it!
Maybe a later version with a scoring system and your meter bar (and some samurai/wuxia music)?
Thats awesome that you made a port of the game. Thanks for doing that.
@GranaDa
Hmm, I might guess that you are running winxp? I did read about support for that being dropped in the latest MSVC++ 2012.I will have a go at building one for winxp.
Also yes I plan to extend this game at some point and really improve the controls vastly after everyone's great feedback.
It's a bit of a let down to now have some kind of measure of how well you did.
A few remarks on the design:
Artwise it's very slick, love all the variation you put in there, and especially the hazing for the background! Although i'd love to see a change in environment if you advance further.
Gameplay-wise i love how the slashing works, it's fun to use it, but it's also rendered useless by the sliding mechanic which is easier and more reliable to use, and splashes through several enemies.
Otherwise the enemy never got to slash me, which removes much of the challenge. I'd love to seem them evade, jump or follow you for a bit.
Good work overall, lot's of fun to play \o Looking out for a post-compo version :D
Nice game! i liked the sun's effect
Fantastically atmospheric graphics!
Plus it left my desktop at a stupid resolution when I quit the game.
Still, some of the jumps I missed felt a bit arbitrary and I can't help but wonder if the game would be stronger if there was always something to land on, so that missing a jump was just a delay rather than instadeath. Make it easier to keep the flow going and stay in the groove. (And it did seem like you could only press one of the buttons at a time.)
Also, there wasn't really a way to tell how well I was doing, since there isn't a score or much indication of distance or how many warriors you've passed, so I played for a while and then stopped after what felt like a fairly long run.