Paddlewhite by Dohan

[raw]
made by Dohan for LD26 (JAM)
Paddlewhite
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You are Paddlewhite and your objetive is to minimalize the complexity of the game to face the evil Error!

In each stage; mechanics, graphics and so are reduced to aproximate a minimal expresion of the game.

INSTRUCTIONS:
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Arrows or WASD: move you through the screen.
Spacebar: shoot.
LShift: raise reflector for 2 seconds. Needs another 2 seconds for cooldown.

Detailed instructions below, if you prefer to discover the game mechanics by yourself stop reading and go play it now!

-Stage 1:

Avoid getting hit by the enemies or their bullets, or destroy them with your higher firepower! You are equiped with a jetpack (allow you to move left and right), a reflector (sends back enemy bullets, but doesn't protect you from colliding against enemies) and a cannon gun (allows you to shoot). You have also a shield that regenerates over time (the blue bar on the left).

-Stage 2:

That previous stage was very easy so you discard both the jetpack (now you can only move up and down) and the regenerating shield, but you still have your cannon gun and your reflector.

-Stage 3:

Now you are only equiped with the reflector, so use it carefully and avoid as many enemies as you can.

-Stage 4:

11-points match of Pong against the boss of each level. The winner gets all the glory.

Enjoy!

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This game was made in Unity from scratch for the 72h Jam by Red Little House Studios (www.redlittlehousestudios.com).

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Music credits:

'Antiquated Machinations' by Mucky88
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/427639

'Cosmos' by TheOnlyFool
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/502153

'Wizard Dance' by Murcielago1
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/291191

'Atari Rockout (ver.1)' by The-Evil-Clown
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/275079

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.11 281
Audio(Jam) 3.34 149
Fun(Jam) 2.89 270
Graphics(Jam) 3.53 195
Humor(Jam) 2.71 148
Innovation(Jam) 2.40 433
Mood(Jam) 2.71 344
Theme(Jam) 2.93 387

Feedback

GreyShock
30. Apr 2013 路 01:27 UTC
Pole :)

There's an ending after the pong stage, or just goes forever?
Nice idea, and strange concept art, haha :P
馃帳 Dohan
30. Apr 2013 路 07:06 UTC
The pong stage is a 11 points match. We hope you enjoyed our strange art :D
Xatulu
30. Apr 2013 路 10:30 UTC
Nice game, awesome graphics, good sounds! I really enjoyed it, though the shot colour was really hard to see for me.
Wilson
30. Apr 2013 路 10:41 UTC
I enjoyed the game and the take on the theme, but that pong match was kind of dull, I would have liked a slower opponent, or maybe playing just to 3 - I almost gave up at that point.
SmilingCat
30. Apr 2013 路 10:47 UTC
The graphics were some of the best I've seen so far in this LD. Nice job!

Agree with Xatulu that the enemy shots were hard to see due to being a similar color to the starfield.
Yoni
30. Apr 2013 路 12:23 UTC
Nice game (Even though I got stuck in the third level since I couldn't shoot for some reason). I liked the music.
sick
30. Apr 2013 路 12:27 UTC
It seems link is dead.
Tainted_Code
30. Apr 2013 路 12:32 UTC
Ooooh cool game! I like the sounds and gfx!
馃帳 Dohan
30. Apr 2013 路 13:16 UTC
Thank you all for your feedback!

@Xatulu & @SmilingCat: We were out of time to create a bullet sprite :(
@Wilson: Yup, the Pong stage is a bit too long, although the enemy paddle gets tired over time. The 3-points match is a good idea.
@Yoni: You are losing features from stage to stage, and in stage 3, you can only rise your shield and move on the Y axis.
Mago
30. Apr 2013 路 13:20 UTC
Cool game. I enjoyed simpler and simpler gameplay. Good job. And the music is awesome!
Qaterknan
30. Apr 2013 路 13:24 UTC
Good concept and graphics!
mrspeaker
30. Apr 2013 路 14:06 UTC
he he... great concept!
tonic
30. Apr 2013 路 14:09 UTC
I figured out it was probably a "pong" but somehow all of the bullets hurt me instead of bouncing. I guess it is pretty exact then to place the paddle or so...?
Geoege
30. Apr 2013 路 16:58 UTC
Really love graphics, and the humor.
The gameplay lacks a bit of tweaking but it's ok. Nice done.
dick_claus
30. Apr 2013 路 18:09 UTC
Unity in Chrome says 'Failed to download data file' :(
Meep
30. Apr 2013 路 18:15 UTC
Great game! Very aesthetically pleasing. :)
paulmcgg
30. Apr 2013 路 18:19 UTC
Loved the art in the first stage and the retro-fying thing was nice. Reminded me a lot of Bit.Trip Beat. Good fun.
Diventurer
30. Apr 2013 路 18:59 UTC
I got stuck on the boss on the level I couldn't shoot. I waited for two minutes (on the bottom of the screen, where the boss apparently couldn't shoot) - but nothing happened. It was fun while it lasted though :)
SomeNetworkGuy
01. May 2013 路 01:43 UTC
I was unable to shoot on the third stage. That a bug?
馃帳 Dohan
01. May 2013 路 10:39 UTC
@dick_claus: It looks like that that was a server error. I've been unable to replicate it :/

@Diventurer $ @SomeNetworkGuy: On the 3rd stage you lose your weapon, so the only way to attack enemies is reflecting their bullets, raising your shield with LShift. It seems that I should clarify this in the game description.

Thanks again for all the feedback, time to play some more games!
mikeware
01. May 2013 路 17:01 UTC
(grr lost comment before) Graphics and audio were nice, but it was very confusing to tell what was going on with the HUD in the first level with all the meters and plethora of enemies. I would have focused more on the minimalist third stage across the whole game, but then I couldn't defeat the boss at the end. I could just camp out in the lower-left forever...
Muu?
02. May 2013 路 10:10 UTC
I absolutely loved the level regression.
matthias_zarzecki
03. May 2013 路 23:19 UTC
Nice work!
PabloAlexandre31
05. May 2013 路 23:05 UTC
Nice!
Super Hamster
06. May 2013 路 23:03 UTC
It says "Data file is corrupt (not a unity web player file)".
JustinMullin
07. May 2013 路 01:27 UTC
Getting invalid data file. =(
馃帳 Dohan
07. May 2013 路 07:16 UTC
I'll try to fix that as soon as I can, thank you.
lotusgame
08. May 2013 路 10:55 UTC
Very nice game ! I like the way game play elements are minimalized. Two small details though :
- the color of your shot is the same than the ennemies one, so it's impossible to make a distinction
- the size of your character is too big, so the controls are less fun
Anyway, it's a very cool game and a huge amount of work :) Congrats !
Rafael Sales
08. May 2013 路 21:07 UTC
Cool game. Nice controls, graphics and mood. Well done and fun, but I think that it's fit the theme. Congrats anyway!
lightnarcissus
09. May 2013 路 03:39 UTC
The interface reminded me of FTL initially but still a pretty impressive game you built for a game jam.
sP0CkEr2
09. May 2013 路 04:19 UTC
nice game -- nice graphics -- great job!
TheSarcastic
10. May 2013 路 00:41 UTC
Wow it's impressive you were able to add this much stuff :O Though I gotta mention that it didn't feel minimalistic :P
MinionStudios
11. May 2013 路 17:57 UTC
Nice one! That is minimal, probably the most you can get in video games.
Tiago Ling Alexandre
11. May 2013 路 19:46 UTC
Very cool game! Nice graphics, audio and game progression!

Congrats!
Oleg Zhurko
13. May 2013 路 11:26 UTC
Cute art, nice idea and music!
manax
14. May 2013 路 02:42 UTC
It says "Data file is corrupt (not a unity web player file)" for me too. :(
馃帳 Dohan
14. May 2013 路 09:54 UTC
Fixed, thanks!
Sylvain.p
14. May 2013 路 18:50 UTC
HAHA, the UI of the firt level. Good idea, but it's hard too perceive the enemis shoot and avoid it (the music is inspired :-) )
Martin_Monosys
17. May 2013 路 21:44 UTC
Doesn't work for me : Data file is corrupt (not a unity web player file)... Sorry!
ataxkt
19. May 2013 路 19:00 UTC
Pretty neat!
馃帳 Dohan
21. May 2013 路 06:18 UTC
And it's over. Thank you all for playing!