Grid Blaster by Alucard Jay

[raw]
made by Alucard Jay for LD26 (COMPO)
A fast paced arcade shooter. The objective : Stay on the Grid and Survive.

A minimalistic approach for the objective as well as the design and layout.

* The score is determined by the number of UFOs destroyed MINUS the number of bullets you fire. SO if you fire lots, expect a low score (minimal bullets = better score)

Ratings

Coolness 97% 2
Overall 3.24 479
Audio 2.53 653
Fun 3.28 295
Graphics 2.77 751
Humor 2.26 519
Innovation 3.53 243
Mood 2.89 548
Theme 2.95 1063

Feedback

rab236
29. Apr 2013 · 15:57 UTC
It took a while to load, but the game is very interesting. It's a bit easy to die, though, right after respawning, as you respawn next to the hole in the grid.
lody
29. Apr 2013 · 16:00 UTC
nice simple shooter game.
CheesyRamen
29. Apr 2013 · 16:05 UTC
At first I was wondering why the controls weren't so responsive, then I was like "ahhhhhh!"

Nice idea with the movement, and the fact that destroyed enemies affect where you can move!
8BitPimp
29. Apr 2013 · 17:28 UTC
This is nice, and the concept of having parts of the grid destroyable is really a great idea. I can imagine this game would translate perfectly into a lo-res pixel shooter.
qgi
29. Apr 2013 · 17:38 UTC
Nice shooter. I love the background sound. Extremely atmospheric.
Jellycakes
29. Apr 2013 · 18:42 UTC
Really nice game, enjoyed it. Some stuff I haven't seen before in a video game. Really good job!
quill18
29. Apr 2013 · 19:29 UTC
The grid mechanic is not something I've seen before, and I like it!
Bluebutton
29. Apr 2013 · 20:03 UTC
Took forever to load, but great idea and well implemented. This could easily be a fully fledged title.
PsenFilip
29. Apr 2013 · 20:06 UTC
Nice arena shooter with that hole-twist-thing.
Would be nice if you happened to animate the grid lines.
Jarcas Studios
29. Apr 2013 · 20:22 UTC
I really like this!

Tougher than I thought it would be and not for the reasons I thought it would be. I thought as the game progressed, more and more of the grid would be destroyed, making it harder and harder to stay on the grid - kinda like playing a game of Snake.

Instead, it was usually the enemy bullets that killed me. I just felt like I didn't have enough time or vision ahead of me to really react to the bullets effectively.

Honestly, I think it would have been more interesting if the grid holes were the most important/difficult obstacle rather than the bullets. Bullets have been done in a million games, but the grid holes thing is unique.

Great game overall though!
JohnnySix
29. Apr 2013 · 20:28 UTC
Really liked the grid mechanic and the holes that are blown out by killing the bad guys.
It'd be cool to see if you develop this further outside the competition - as it's a very unique game. A persistant hud/score would be cool - I only saw my score after I'd died. Some finesse like subtle camera movement and some minimal low-poly explosions for the ships would be cool to see also. :)
qdowngames
30. Apr 2013 · 00:28 UTC
I really liked how the grid "fixed" itself - brilliant feature!
VictorGrunn
30. Apr 2013 · 00:29 UTC
Nice game. Actually felt rather fun to play. The sort of thing I'd like to see worked on with more time than LD allows - it may turn into something more broadly appealing. 1up potato is a nice touch. :)
Daniel H
30. Apr 2013 · 03:34 UTC
That was a fun game. :)
omaha
30. Apr 2013 · 03:35 UTC
Wonderful shooter. Nice and difficult. Requires you to focus on two goals at once. Really enjoyed this.
LionelJitro
30. Apr 2013 · 03:35 UTC
I really like the grid movement. It feels so smooth.

I also really like those big chunky potatoes.
john_conder9
30. Apr 2013 · 03:49 UTC
Loved the potato! I couldn't seem to acquire score points though? Dunno, but other than that everything about this game I absolutely love. The grid-based movement is probably one of the coolest decompositions I've seen so far. Love it!
Alucard J
30. Apr 2013 · 05:21 UTC
Thank you everyone for your great feedback. This is my first LD (or any game-jam). THe suggestions have really been great. I shall lower the enemy bullet fire rate and increase the grid damage after each wave.

Regarding the score, it is based on minimalism, for each bullet you fire the score is reduced by 2 =]
thenmal
01. May 2013 · 01:10 UTC
Ahhh the potato it lied to me.
basspenguin
01. May 2013 · 01:12 UTC
Really cool effect when the holes fill in.
Nolojen
01. May 2013 · 01:14 UTC
Wow, excellent job. Destructible Regenerating grid was very nice. It is very challenging as it is.
tankete
01. May 2013 · 01:16 UTC
I like that the playfield changes as the game progresses. Makes it harder as you play more. My first playthru was horrible, but once i figured out the idea, I enjoyed it. Nice job!
pansapiens
01. May 2013 · 01:27 UTC
The grid damage mechanic is awesome - can't say I've seen that before. Sort of makes it like a cross between a dual stick shooter ala Robotron and an inverse Solar Fox. It was fun, but I'd like to see the number of enemies ramp up a bit faster. Sound design was good, but I don't think the explosion particle effect fitted the visual style of the rest of the game. Worth expanding on this game for a post-compo version to milk that grid damage mechanic.
foxor
01. May 2013 · 04:41 UTC
I loved playing it, but it could use some music!
ShellfishGames
01. May 2013 · 10:24 UTC
A few good ideas for sure, and I quite liked the atmosphere. I thought it would have been a good idea to keep it 2D, but that might just be my personal preference.
lotusgame
01. May 2013 · 10:29 UTC
Good Tron variation ^^ I like the hole in the grid after an explosion. Good job :)
TheCze
02. May 2013 · 02:29 UTC
The grid damage mechanic is really pretty clever, wish it would be a tad faster.
Hegemege
02. May 2013 · 23:58 UTC
Very solid game in overall, felt retro and addicting. Good job on polishing, didn't see any bugs and liked the way the grid healed itself :P
davidpeter
03. May 2013 · 00:05 UTC
Great concept, I love that enemies destroyed the grid and it slowly restored! Graphics were a bit plain and it felt unfair that enemies knew where I was but I didn't know where they were. I think this serves as a great foundation for a slightly bigger game.
Sestren
03. May 2013 · 00:18 UTC
Score seems buggy at times, but the game was pretty fun to play. I liked how the grid rebuilt itself over time.
MinionStudios
03. May 2013 · 00:37 UTC
What a simple but addictive game. Making the ship constantly move really makes it fun and challenging!
NuSan
03. May 2013 · 06:47 UTC
Cool game, pretty hard, i have even manage to make a double K.O. Keep the good work.
[-BipolarDesign+]
04. May 2013 · 11:50 UTC
Very cool idea, I enjoyed it :)
matthias_zarzecki
06. May 2013 · 05:53 UTC
Solid shooter! Love the re-growing grid.
TehSkull
08. May 2013 · 19:01 UTC
Very, VERY fun. Need to show the score and wave number more often. Throw some spacey music, and you've got a great game. Up it to Kongregate, when you do.
evilseanbot
09. May 2013 · 02:46 UTC
I like the central idea a lot! I agree that it would be better if the holes in the grid were a bigger challenge than the enemies.

I think it would've been good if the waves were announced more clearly, to increase the sense of accomplishment.

I felt like there was a pretty big difficulty increase in Wave 3. It went from feeling overly easy for a long time to killing me 4 times in a short span. Could probably use some tightening up there.
Xanjos
09. May 2013 · 21:18 UTC
Absolutely loved the grid control scheme and how the grid affects the gameplay a lot.
Kitch
15. May 2013 · 03:48 UTC
cool concept. really liked having to think about more than just firing like crazy. nice work.
sP0CkEr2
16. May 2013 · 04:08 UTC
great idea -- love the effect of the grid rebuilding itself -- extra weapons and powerup would be nice -- great job
Pacifist Games
20. May 2013 · 16:28 UTC
My highest score was 86.
It took a long time to load, I imagine because of the super long ambient sound loop in the game.
I really like the grid idea, and how destroying the enemies made a hole in the grid. A lot of potential there!
I feel that the game would be a lot stronger if the entire grid would fit on the screen at once. Most of the time I died because I didn't have enough time to react once I saw an enemy.
Really cool entry!