Shifting Dungeons by danielilett

made by danielilett for LD35 (COMPO)

You're a shape-shifting magician from the land of Shiftopia. Your job? Navigate through the shape-shifting, labyrinthine dungeons to reach the end and ensure the legacy of the ancient magicians for the next generation. Don't get ambushed by the threats found in the dungeons though - use your magic to fend them off!

It's WASD to move around. Hop into a portal to travel to a dungeon.
In dungeons, press the left mouse button to shoot magic at enemies.Certain powerups have certain properties too:
- The axe is a melee weapon which deals huge damage and buffs your defense.
- The slime lets you shoot sludge balls to slow down and poison enemies.

Note 1: The slime is currently buggy, and doesn't really work. I'll be fixing it soon (read note 2!).

Note 2: The competition entry has a horrible bug that means you get stuck in the first dungeon's treasure room. I'll be fixing that shortly, but I'll leave the original, buggy version up for people to rate.

There is a postcomp version that adds a couple new features and fixes a few bugs (the slime is still broken, but the game doesn't get stuck on the first dungeon now), although not everything I wanted in the compo entry is there yet. Feel free to try out the post-comp version, but please rate the compo entry!

Compo Entry (Win, Mac, Linux)	https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_cn5SGBmdCiQkdwNEhHUWFtenM
Post-Comp (Win, Mac, Linux)	https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_cn5SGBmdCiLUhScXllTDBabkU
Source	https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_cn5SGBmdCiZzNDNjZodjRVOHM
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=44564

Ratings

Coolness	39%	1579
Overall	3.29	397

Audio	2.75	442
Fun	3.24	400
Graphics	3.76	149
Innovation	2.95	562
Mood	3.18	293
Theme	2.81	777

Feedback

lkr

18. Apr 2016 · 19:41 UTC

Nice pixel graphics and gameplay :)

My first time through, I managed to get to the final floor without finding a single powerup. I did feel like the default attack was somewhat too weak, especially when the powerups are as scarce as they are (or was I just unlucky?) I found a health kit and an axe the second time, which was powerful, but when it ran out after killing one enemy with it, I was stuck with the default one again :)

I also couldn't move when I reached the final floor, but I assume that's what your note 2 is referring to.

Also, nice touch with the simple yet neat character customiziation in the beginning!

🎤 danielilett

19. Apr 2016 · 00:47 UTC

You probably just got unlucky, I didn't balance the item spawning very well at all. The chance of a room having an item in it was just a random formula I made up (it's 100 / ((difficulty^2 + 2.5) * 25). I might change it to guarantee a minimum number of items for an updated version.

Yeah, note 2 is the bug on the final floor, which is so enraging because it's a one-line fix I introduced shortly before the deadline without realising at the time, and fixed like right after 2am :p I guess the rules let me fix a bug like that, but I'm probably going to work on this game a bit anyway.

Thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked the gameplay and graphics! Although with regards to character customisation, it's possible for you to look identical to the enemies, so I should probably change that too...

Jupiter_Hadley

20. Apr 2016 · 13:14 UTC

I like the graphics :) I included it in my video compilation series of Ludum Dare games, if you’d like to check them out :) https://youtu.be/V5g1IHvqQQk

PixelRetro

22. Apr 2016 · 20:59 UTC

Simple, nice graphics, all assets fit together very well and it's good to have sound effects for the most important actions in the game (although the high volume of BFXR sounds always startles me).
I think more bullets (therefore probably meaning more enemies) are needed in combination with your time mechanic. I would also try to remove, that the bullets of the player can deflect the bullets of the enemies, because the player can carefully plan his/her movement to dodge the bullets.

🎤 danielilett

22. Apr 2016 · 21:50 UTC

Yeah I agree, I'm going to work on the time mechanic a bit and make sure it feels fun. A lot of the aesthetics of this game were based on my Ludum Dare 32 entry, but I don't think I quite made shooting as fun for this one. I'm gonna make rooms bigger, so that means more enemies and more bullets. I intended the bullet negation mechanic to be something players would feel skilful for pulling off, but that's clearly not the case because it's way too easy to just spam bullets.

And yeah, I didn't have any time to make music (not that it would've been any good anyway...), so I wasn't sure how loud the sound effects were because I had no music to use as a reference. It wouldn't take long to add an options menu with an option for sound effect volume.

Freank

23. Apr 2016 · 07:19 UTC

Hi, nice game ! We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description

CoderJoe

24. Apr 2016 · 22:12 UTC

Nice job. Like the graphics.

sP0CkEr2

29. Apr 2016 · 04:30 UTC

like the gameplay - could be a really neat game with some polish - nice job

Michael Feeney

08. May 2016 · 13:11 UTC

Very fun. I like the time projectile time manipulation thing (like Superhot). Really pretty and consistent art.

h2n0

08. May 2016 · 13:19 UTC

Nice and simple idea. At first I thought it was running kind of "sluggishly" but then I realized it was kind of a super hot mechanic where things move when you do, very nice.

I got to the final floor on the first level twice and both times I couldn't move once I was down there, probably a bug?

Great game overall.

Zeriver

08. May 2016 · 13:21 UTC

Cool game, really impressive for a game made under 48 hours (you even made little intro + character customization). From gameplay standpoint it was solid, but before you find axe there is not much point in fighting enemies, you can just avoid them. BTW: that mechanic ala Super Hot with bullets almost stoping in place when you don't move is really awesome.

Rscar

08. May 2016 · 13:31 UTC

I really loved the art! And it felt very polished for the most part, character customization was a nice touch, and I liked how the character direction followed the cursor on that screen, its the little things haha.

I tried out both versions (win 64), and unfortunately I hit bugs in both of them. Got stuck on the final floor in the compo version (which I believe you know about), and in the post compo version I wasn't able to kill anything. Encountered a single guy and ran around shooting him for a while, though maybe I misunderstood something and this is user error.

I agree with your comments about guaranteeing a powerup, and I do like the potential that your shapeshift mechanic holds, but I feel like some design changes might be needed to make it more useful - I had a tendency to clear a floor and then find the powerup which negated its usefulness.

Overall good entry, and again I thought the art styling was awesome!

🎤 danielilett

08. May 2016 · 13:40 UTC

I've encountered the second bug you mentioned (in the post-comp version) a couple of times, but it seemed really rare for me. I'll have to look into how that found its way in the game- it's likely down to the way enemies handle getting hit, but I'm going to re-write the enemy AI anyway.

I really missed the potential of the powerups, but once I figure out a better way of spawning them, it should be much better.

Thanks for playing and I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the art and the time mechanic!

radmars

08. May 2016 · 18:02 UTC

Nice! I like the strategic superhot-style gameplay, though it felt pretty easy & a bit slow since you could just spam shots to block enemy shots and the enemies were a bit bullet spongy. Had the same bug where I didn't get any powerups before the boss room. Pretty cool though, nice work!

frogcheese

08. May 2016 · 19:41 UTC

Really nice graphics! The time mechanic was pretty cool but I sadly never found any powerups. The enemies never seemed to die either, so I mostly ran around trying to find the exit while dodging enemy fire.

lanestp

09. May 2016 · 00:49 UTC

Nice game. I didn't get a lot of shapeshifting out of it and the last level is bugged. But really, it's a lot of fun!

theholychicken

09. May 2016 · 20:56 UTC

I got stuck at the final floor as well.
Reminds me of SuperHot mechanic! The time controlled shifting of projectiles is quite beautiful some times. Very nice use of the theme!

Allorius

09. May 2016 · 22:10 UTC

The pixel art in the beggining is just gorgeous.)

ryjcio

09. May 2016 · 23:18 UTC

I feel you had got inspiration from the Super HOT :) When I finally manage to get to the final floor the controls were blocked and I couldnt move. Too bad! The game was difficult but very satisficing. "Well played"! ;)

Yetikatt

10. May 2016 · 00:23 UTC

Nice entry. I like the time mechanic, although I felt that time should probably still progress at least slowly so you can't just plan the perfect route in a fight each time. Didn't realise there were actually powerups as I only encountered a medic pack, will have to give it another play through. Really nice idea though and a very fun game! :)
(Feedback was based on the compo version btw)