LudumData

Sir Cat by JoeCool17

[raw]
made by JoeCool17 for LD25 (COMPO)
NOTE: The DL link is a GDrive file- hit "File->Download" to download
It is also just the source at this point- requires Python 2.7 and Pygame 1.9.1. That's all.

EDIT: Added Windows binaries! Yay!

Sir Cat- play as the evil Sir Cat in this artistic side-scroller!
The Aircat people are building a laser goat made out of yarn to take over and destroy the Luftmicen! But they need one more ball of yarn to finish the job...
That's where you, Sir Cat, come in. Fly in, avoid the (supposedly) heroic Luftmicenmen! You can only take so many hits!
The aircat people put a sign directly above the dropzone! Press 'q' to drop the yarn and win the game!
If you're in a pinch, press 'e' to fire a hairball! But beware! Each time you do, it makes them angrier! Enough to send *another* luftmousenman!

Can you drop the yarn and destroy the Luftmicen?


Writeup:
Overall this was a very fun game, and arguably my best yet. I'm *very* pleased with how it turned out. I'll be making custom binaries in the coming days for Windows and Linux, and if I have the time, Mac. I'll also upload more detailed screenshots soon, as well as a postmortem.

-JoeCool173

Font "Scribble" Copyright 2009 Michael Slevin, obtained from FFonts.net

Source https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B105NIfEGxWHZUg0NFhFeUF4SjQ/edit
Windows https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B105NIfEGxWHSy0zRVh0TTFSbXM/edit
Postmortem http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2012/12/18/sir-cat-postmortem/
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=5160

Ratings

Coolness 66% 3
Overall 2.07 743
Fun 1.79 738
Graphics 3.17 272
Humor 2.38 401
Innovation 2.11 689
Mood 2.33 588
Theme 2.00 726

Feedback

Crimsoneer
17. Dec 2012 · 19:13 UTC
I couldn't get past the title screen! Also, next time, use Pygame2exe to compile it into an executable.
awppy
17. Dec 2012 · 20:31 UTC
Does this require a 32-bit OS? When I run main.py I'm given the following error:

couldn't load module. DLL load failed: %1 is not a valid Win32 application. (from main.py line 171, 17)

It also says NameError: global name pygame is not defined, but this is after installing pygame

I'm running the 64-bit version of python 2.7
dj_pale
17. Dec 2012 · 23:32 UTC
Sorry, being lazy and skip entries that requires a lot of custom setup :(
h.attila
17. Dec 2012 · 23:36 UTC
I think I will come back to your entry when you make an executable (either Windows or Linux is fine by me). I'm sorry, but I don't have the time right now to install stuff and figure out how to run Python games.
Edocentrique
17. Dec 2012 · 23:45 UTC
You should make an executable because a lot of people (including me) are too lazy to install extra stuff (beside some emulator for specific entries). A simple .exe will do the trick !
tompudding
18. Dec 2012 · 00:04 UTC
It looks good, but I can't make the screen scroll, am I doing something wrong?
🎤 JoeCool17
18. Dec 2012 · 00:04 UTC
All of you guys: I'm working on it but py2exe is notoriously difficult and I'm still figuring it out. I might have one by tonight though (no promises)
🎤 JoeCool17
18. Dec 2012 · 00:05 UTC
tompudding: it's not supposed to scroll, the game throws stuff at you
tompudding
18. Dec 2012 · 00:12 UTC
Ah, I see, I got it now. I quite liked this, and I always like to see games developed with emacs and python :). The background and the smooth animation was cool, and the premise delightfully mental. Good show.
Crowbeak
18. Dec 2012 · 00:16 UTC
When I tried to run your game, the window popped up, but it remained black and I got this error message in the console:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/crowbeak/Downloads/Sir Cat/main.py", line 171, in <module>
main()
File "/Users/crowbeak/Downloads/Sir Cat/main.py", line 30, in main
bg.blit(Overset.load('sky.png'), (0, 0))
File "/Users/crowbeak/Downloads/Sir Cat/overset.py", line 6, in load
image = pygame.image.load(path).convert_alpha()
error: File is not a Windows BMP file
Crowbeak
18. Dec 2012 · 00:17 UTC
Hey, JowCool17, try pyinstaller instead. I couldn't get py2exe to work at all but pyinstaller worked for meeeee!
🎤 JoeCool17
18. Dec 2012 · 01:55 UTC
Crowbeak: Thanks for the suggestion! But sadly it's too late! I've already made a binary! I'll keep it in mind for next time, as py2exe is not my favorite tool in the world :P
That's a weird error you got- can you provide some specifics on your setup?
Crowbeak
18. Dec 2012 · 02:18 UTC
I'm running Mac OS X Lion (last version before Mountain Lion, specifically). I use the Enthought Python installation instead of the native Mac framework. I just installed pygame this morning.
moomoo112
18. Dec 2012 · 03:24 UTC
your 'windows' link leads to a private google drive file?
valeroth
18. Dec 2012 · 03:37 UTC
Windows link sent me to a gdrive page where I didnt have access to view the file :/
Gazok
18. Dec 2012 · 03:39 UTC
For your executable, on Google Drive: "You need permission to access this item."
ripter
18. Dec 2012 · 04:07 UTC
$ python main.py
couldn't load module. No module named pygame
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "main.py", line 171, in <module>
main()
File "main.py", line 17, in main
pygame.init()
NameError: global name 'pygame' is not defined
awppy
18. Dec 2012 · 06:13 UTC
ripter: you need to have pygame installed
ddionisio
18. Dec 2012 · 10:18 UTC
"You need permission to access this item." :/ I'll have to wait for your permission :)
🎤 JoeCool17
18. Dec 2012 · 12:33 UTC
Sorry about the private GDoc guys- it's default setting is private. I should have checked that, lol. It's now public for you guys.
ripter: You need pygame 1.9.1 if you want to run it from source
Crowbeak: Hmm, that's strange. What version of pygame (1.9.1? for apple python or python python?)
tumoxep
18. Dec 2012 · 16:46 UTC
Nice graphics, but controls are stiff a little.
awppy
18. Dec 2012 · 20:09 UTC
It looks like you're not bound to the camera, so hiding at the very top makes it much easier to win. Had to read the readme to learn the controls, though. Movement feels too sluggish. The diving/rising mechanic is neat, just not responsive enough
BrothersT
19. Dec 2012 · 03:59 UTC
Couldn't get past the title screen :(
ddionisio
19. Dec 2012 · 04:36 UTC
Cool, I'm able to download it now! I definitely like the art, but I wasn't quite sure what I was doing and it seems like the game is only within one screen? Wish I can do more.
Shugor
20. Dec 2012 · 01:54 UTC
Nice game! I thought the drop zone came too early, because I got hit by most of the Luftmicen, but still could have been hit a lot more and made it. Apart from that, an enjoyable game!
DaGamesta
21. Dec 2012 · 23:55 UTC
So... hm... I suppose I can give you something for the graphics, but the gameplay is far too sluggish, and it's difficult to avoid the mice with your large size. It's confusing, some in-game instructions would work, not everyone will be reading your description. The whole rotation effect is all right I suppose, but wholly unnecessary for this kind of game, it just makes it feel even more awkward. Keep pushing yourself harder, but try to work on the feel next time!
Eniko
22. Dec 2012 · 08:36 UTC
The art and concept are amusing. The game itself could possibly benefit from smaller hitboxes, since sometimes mice hit me when they're not, and a scrolling background to make clear that Sir Cat is flying forwards on his own power, without the player needing to intervene.
🎤 JoeCool17
23. Dec 2012 · 02:41 UTC
Eniko: Yeah, but pygame doesn't support tilted hitboxes, sadly. I could implement them but I didn't have time in the 48hrs.\
DaGamesta: If it was a jam entry, that would be the case, as talking to people I found that they didn't like it- I need to learn how to playtest, don't I? lol
I've severely nerfed it in the post-compo version I'm making.
caranha
23. Dec 2012 · 03:36 UTC
Good try! I found the game a bit constraining, since you couldn't move the cat around - all you could do was try to shoot straight ahead and keep the mouse away. It would have been very nice if you could move the cat, or at least aim the shot somehow.

Also, the hit box of the cat was too big, sometimes a mouse would fly way below the cat, and still count as a hit. Even if you can't implement a tilted hitbox, I think just reducing the cat's hitbox would help a lot!

Maybe you should add some way to tell if a mouse hit you or not? such as a "hit" animation from the mouse, or some sort of sound?

Finally, after finishing the game, I couldn't hit the "close" button in the window to quit.

Good luck next LD!
SirJson
23. Dec 2012 · 16:04 UTC
Hm the Movement of the Cat is strange
JaJ
23. Dec 2012 · 17:26 UTC
I never really got the hang of the controls, and I would make the objects (the cat and the mice) smaller if I were you. Everything is really hard to avoid. I thought the visuals were charming.
Beanalby
29. Dec 2012 · 23:19 UTC
another vote for pyinstaller FWIW, it's worked wonders for me with wxPython when py2exe blew up.
AyCe
30. Dec 2012 · 15:16 UTC
Can't get past the title screen, can't regulary close the game either. Requiring stuff not many people use/have is a bad idea, can you pack it so it works for everybody? Or provide download links for required files?
🎤 JoeCool17
30. Dec 2012 · 19:56 UTC
@AyCe: Python and Pygame is quite common and is simply a google away, which is why I didn't link to them. I *could* package pygame with the source, but not without some effort, and I doubt I could include the interpreter. tldr, I made a windows binary for a reason. Nonetheless, if you're interested, here you go:
Python 2.7: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.7/
Pygame 1.9.1: http://pygame.org/download.shtml
SuperDisk
31. Dec 2012 · 19:43 UTC
I didn't really understand this one at all... the description and the complicated names just made it all the more confusing. What am I doing with this yarnball? The description tells me to drop it. When I do, the mouse got to me? Eh?
🎤 JoeCool17
01. Jan 2013 · 18:18 UTC
Superdisk: There's a sign that floats by, see...

I need to learn to explain my games, don't I?
After some time a sign with a downward arrow should appear from the right of the screen going left. When it's on-screen, drop the yarn.
madpew
01. Jan 2013 · 18:39 UTC
Nice artstyle. It's a bit hard to figure out what's going on (without reading through all the comments first)
ceronman
02. Jan 2013 · 21:16 UTC
I liked the art. The controls were a bit weird and unresponsive though.
Dining Philosopher
02. Jan 2013 · 22:27 UTC
The drawings are cute, but the controls are vague and not explained very well. When I finally understood the controls and the goal, I managed to get to the end. :)
BipoleMoment
04. Jan 2013 · 03:27 UTC
The gameplay was kind of dumb because you can just sit there, but the ending was the absolute best. I literally could not stop laughing over the Laser Yarn Goat.

Good job. Plus, amazing graphics.