LudumData

8-Bit? 4-Bit! by Polar

[raw]
made by Polar for LD26 (COMPO)
The Game:

'8-Bit? 4-Bit!' is my game for the LD26. It's a simple platformer, with the character desiring the graphics to get more minimal each level. Collectibles are good, spikes/holes are bad, and doors are just glitchy.

Controls:

Controls are arrow keys for left, right and jump.
Use space for activating levers.

Coins can be collected as a form of score, hearts give you 5 health, and the blue gem is needed to complete the level (go to the pedestal). The single spikes do 1 damage, and the double spikes do 2.

NOTE: If you run into a closed door, you may glitch through the level - I'm not quite certain why, it's probably something to do with the smaller width of the door's AABB.

Windows http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?pym2adx1xbvwb73
OS/X http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?pym2adx1xbvwb73
Linux http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?pym2adx1xbvwb73
Source http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?pym2adx1xbvwb73
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=10472

Ratings

Coolness 57% 3
Overall 2.35 1247
Audio 2.03 927
Fun 1.91 1280
Graphics 2.59 906
Humor 2.25 529
Innovation 2.21 1147
Mood 2.27 1090
Theme 3.21 863

Feedback

Adjotur
29. Apr 2013 路 03:17 UTC
There's a small bug at the beginning, where if you press nothing the character bounces around and dies, but otherwise, fun game!
馃帳 Polar
29. Apr 2013 路 16:34 UTC
Hmm... I seem to meet that bug occasionaly (1 in 4 or 5 times, maybe), and usually after I die and then restart. The issue is that nothing appears out of the ordinary in the debugger - I'm afraid that I can't fix it (probably due to my incredibly-hacked AABB code).
uprightpath
29. Apr 2013 路 17:04 UTC
The character's jumping seems to be off. I ended up having to walk through the spikes at the top of the first level because it wouldn't just correctly for me.
Geoege
29. Apr 2013 路 17:09 UTC
The game is a bit buggy, charachter does not jump sometimes.
Love the way you deal with theme.
Gameplay a bit classic but platformers always work. =)
kannas
29. Apr 2013 路 17:14 UTC
You should lower the volume of the sound effects. Also, the spikes are a lot difficult to avoid. That said, i like the 4Bit style \:D/
馃帳 Polar
29. Apr 2013 路 18:33 UTC
The spikes in the first level are pretty much unavoidable *unless* you manage to jump (almost) perfectly in the middle of them. As for the not-working jump, I couldn't work out why. Finally, if the sound effects are too loud, then just lower your computer's volume :)
Martze
29. Apr 2013 路 18:42 UTC
This game is extremely buggy to the point of significantly diminishing the player's enjoyment.
Cirrial
29. Apr 2013 路 18:45 UTC
This collision detection is terrible. I take damage from spikes without touching them. The character does not jump sometimes. I like the idea of the theme, but the execution feels a little shoddy.
EdoMiyamoto
29. Apr 2013 路 19:11 UTC
It's a good start !
馃帳 Polar
29. Apr 2013 路 20:17 UTC
If you have any bugs, then please let me know. As for spikes, the hitbox should have probably been smaller, but I guess you're meant to learn from this sort of thing :P As for the jumping, I genuinely don't know why he just refuses to jump occasionally - it's possibly just to do with the dodgy hitboxes.
Tater_hater
30. Apr 2013 路 19:51 UTC
This is so cool! you minimized minimal
gmaker
01. May 2013 路 16:23 UTC
nice graphics!)
mollrow
01. May 2013 路 16:27 UTC
Platforming felt very broken. For next time, try to get your state logic in shape, do predictions on if something will collide and respond to that instead of trying to respond after a move.
馃帳 Polar
01. May 2013 路 16:43 UTC
Thanks for the comments :) I probably should have done swept shape collisions, but the AABB was hacked as it was, and I probably never would have got anything done if I'd tried to do *decent* collisions.
infinitedog
01. May 2013 路 17:04 UTC
Randomly the character doesn't jump. Simple graphics conform to the theme.
Dietrich Epp
01. May 2013 路 17:10 UTC
I like the graphics and the concept, but the bugs spoil the game. The jump button often just doesn't work, and collision detection is flaky. I wonder if these problems are related, because maybe when I can't jump it could be because I'm stuck in the floor? I saw the second level but didn't last long because I had to walk through the spikes on level 1 because I couldn't jump.
馃帳 Polar
01. May 2013 路 17:20 UTC
Again, sorry for the bugs. I get the feeling it was the poor collision code that caused the jump bug, as it gets rectified by moving to the edge of the block you're standing on (or moving off of it). Unfortunately, it's too late to fix that now :(
blasphemous rumours entertainment studios
01. May 2013 路 20:31 UTC
A bit buggy, and jumping is hard on the top of the first level and in the start of the second one, so didn't finish the game.

But really good take on minimalism, with nice sound and graphics!

Platformers are hard to make?
馃帳 Polar
02. May 2013 路 16:08 UTC
Platformers aren't hard to make, I'm just not good at making platformers (or doing anything else in 48h, as a matter of fact...)
Beldarak
02. May 2013 路 18:42 UTC
It was way too buggy for me to finish it but I like the idea.
kyru
02. May 2013 路 18:43 UTC
Not bad, controls seem a bit glitchy still though, sometimes I couldn't jump when I needed to.
馃帳 Polar
02. May 2013 路 18:46 UTC
Thanks for the comments, it seems to be a hitbox collision issue - for some reason, hitboxes weren't working correctly, and I had to fix it in a makeshift way.
JohnnySix
02. May 2013 路 18:46 UTC
Just played a couple of games - I like the theme, but the 4-bit part is extremely difficult due to the spike collision - and you enter the scene walking straight into them. Sounds were spot on. :)
Andrei Barsan
02. May 2013 路 18:47 UTC
I found it hilarious how you just spazz out of control and get thrown off-screen when you try to go through a closed door, haha. http://gamedev.tutsplus.com/tutorials/implementation/create-custom-2d-physics-engine-aabb-circle-impulse-resolution/ This is a really useful article for coding physics stuff; I highly recommend it! :D
Thijsku
02. May 2013 路 18:48 UTC
It's a very buggy game. Jumping doesn't always work and I always die in the second level. It does have a nice concept though. Good job with entering the competition. ;)
Bernhard
02. May 2013 路 18:49 UTC
Was eager to find out was the next graphical de-evolution was going to be. Liked that aspect a lot.
I feel your pain with collision issues. It's hard... But maybe allowing restarts of each level instead of the entire game would have been better, so more people could have seen all the styles.
multikorv
02. May 2013 路 19:01 UTC
Hard to jump sometimes and weird collision detection. Nice work nonetheless. :)
馃帳 Polar
03. May 2013 路 16:23 UTC
Thanks again for the comments. My advice is not to hold down anything going into a level, as that way you'll avoid the spikes. As for restarting the level, that is a possible solution, but it makes it a bit too easy to complete. Oh, and thanks a lot for the collision detection tutorial :)
Nick Cash
07. May 2013 路 18:01 UTC
From my Jammate Brian: "The aforementioned collision-jump bugs have thus far prevented me from clearing what I suspect is the last level. The concept is pretty interesting though."
Broxxar
07. May 2013 路 19:56 UTC
Good start but it needs a lot of bugs ironed our before it's playable. Namely, ability to jump gets disable sometimes, character gets stuck bouncing even when not holding jump, and the atrocious hit boxes on some obstacles.
csanyk
16. May 2013 路 03:50 UTC
Well, I played once, then the bug set in and I couldn't get any further because I kept dying:(
DdlyHeadshot
17. May 2013 路 15:58 UTC
Pretty much unplayably buggy. The Jump button will randomly stop working, things will kill you from being nowhere near them, your character often runs suicidally into things entirely of his own accord and your health decreases quickly to zero just by entering the second level! The concept seems to be good, though.
bvanschooten
17. May 2013 路 21:55 UTC
Looks promising, apart from limited levels and bugs and flaws. Some items hurt you way beyond what you'd expect as tile boundaries or bounding boxes, and jumping randomly doesn't work. When you fall in the hole in level 2 you die instantly. In level 4 you can't see the difference between what hurts you and what doesn't.
馃帳 Polar
18. May 2013 路 06:24 UTC
Again, I can see that the jump bug is a massive issue - I agree that it's the biggest issue with my game. As for dying instantly on Level 2, that's only if you run into the spike by accident at the start. The hole on Level 2 (and Level 4) is meant to kill you instantly. Finally, Level 4 is meant to be virtually impossible to work out what does what.