Project Sproing - Bytt Strikes Back! by Gravity Games

[raw]
made by Gravity Games for LD25 (COMPO)
Welp, this is what happens when I make an unofficial sequel to a game I haven't started, but oh well...

Also, yay, my first Ludum Dare!

Alright, you move with the arrow keys, spawn enemies with the space bar, and cycle though enemies with z and x (sadly, there are only two enemies due to time constraints...). When the timer runs out, Sproing will come out and proceed through the level, so make sure you have all your enemies set up! If you get done before time runs out, then hit the enter key (hit it twice to skip the level scrolling back to the start). This currently features 2 full stages and a third shorter stage (its supposed to be a bonus level).

Hope you enjoy! (Cause if you do, I'm totally adding voice clips and extra levels and submitting to the jam...)

EDIT: (I know I should have done this earlier but...) If you liked this game be sure to check out my [url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gravity-Games-Interactive/316874718339304"]Facebook[/url], [url="https://twitter.com/Gravity_Games"]Twitter[/url], and [url="https://plus.google.com/101806403236029728997/posts"Google+[/url]! It helps me out a lot and I try to post updates on my projects at least semi-regularly!

Ratings

Coolness 65% 3
Overall 2.66 553
Audio 2.04 481
Fun 2.66 455
Graphics 2.41 558
Humor 2.19 477
Innovation 3.13 240
Mood 2.40 564
Theme 3.41 284

Feedback

robashton
17. Dec 2012 路 14:45 UTC
I got it working and was able to drop a few enemies, but then it froze on me.

Shame, I like the idea!
馃帳 Gravity Games
17. Dec 2012 路 14:49 UTC
Thanks for the rating! :)
What exactly did you do before it froze? Did anything weird happen beforehand? Does it happen again when you repeat the process, or is it a one time thing? It would be nice to fix it so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
ParaPup
17. Dec 2012 路 14:50 UTC
Not bad, Bugger you ran out of time though :P
TheCze
17. Dec 2012 路 14:53 UTC
I'm sorry but this game concept was one of the concept ideas pitched for the Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight
Fonserbc
17. Dec 2012 路 18:47 UTC
Good idea!

I see the strategy is always to place the enemy just before a skewer :P
Pixelbear
17. Dec 2012 路 19:06 UTC
Ah, I pretty original idea! Took me a while to understand what was happening at some points (like I wanted to place a shooting guy down on the first level, but it wouldn't let me; maybe have a locked icon to show you can't place it, or just not have the option to place it at all?). Gameplay wise, it was enjoyable! I liked tricking the hero into jumping into spikes and things - was fairly satisfying. I did find a bug however - I was flying low to the ground at the bottom of the screen, and I managed to place a special unit below the world. A good, original game! :D
SonnyBone
17. Dec 2012 路 19:37 UTC
This is a reaaaallly awesome idea. A game like this needs 2 things: Challenging AI and tons of options. You're well on your way to making something really fun. As of right now, it's a bit easy and you only have two block types. But what else do you expect for 48 hours, right? The main character has a cool and interesting design, but the computer player is a bit bland by comparison. Needs some music and better sound effects, and this is the type of game that could sell really well on Android/iOS. A game that gives you a platformer in reverse so you don't have to worry about twitch controls on a touch-screen phone. I'd buy it! GREAT WORK!
馃帳 Gravity Games
17. Dec 2012 路 19:38 UTC
@Pixelbear Thanks! I actually had the locked icons drawn for the units, but didn't have time to add them, as when I got done with them it was 1 minute past the deadline :(. Also, that ground bug is pretty interesting, but I'm pretty sure I know whats causing it. I'll be sure to look into it if I continue this project past the dare!

@TheCze I've never heard about the Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight, but I'll be sure to Google it.

@Parapup Yeah I know, there was SOOO much I wanted to add on to this. There were voice clips, music, and another 3 units that I never got a chance to do. Also, fun fact, there was another stage that was supposed to be between 2 and 3, but never got added due to using unimplemented units. The file for stage 3 is even called "VerdantValley4.txt"!
Tapestry
17. Dec 2012 路 20:36 UTC
Really nice idea, and its implementation was really well done. The graphics are very nice, Bytt is awesome!
馃帳 Gravity Games
17. Dec 2012 路 21:02 UTC
@SonnyBone Thanks! Yeah, there were originally more troops to choose from, but I was running out of time and decided more stages with the current two would be better to have. As for the hero's character design, I like it, but I will agree that he does seem uninteresting compared to Bytt; but that seems to be a problem I have with almost all of my heroes compared to my villains... Also, that suggestion about an Android port seems...interesting...tempting even...

@Tapestry Thanks! I personally wasn't happy with some of the graphics, due to the fact I know I could have made them look better if I spent more time on them. Also, yes. Yes, Bytt is very awesome. Which is why I'm sad I didn't get to do the voice clips I wanted (some of them were pretty funny too...).
RHY3756547
18. Dec 2012 路 00:03 UTC
Can't get it running on my system, I've got Java 7 Update 7 x64. The title screen is blank, then when I press enter I get to a scene select screen which is also blank, except no buttons work on it. Looks like a fantastic idea though.
BipolarMike
18. Dec 2012 路 00:05 UTC
This one has some potential! Give the player only JUST BARELY the resources he needs to kill the character, and add some new enemies and obstacles to use, and this could be a great puzzle game/reverse platformer!
dalbinblue
18. Dec 2012 路 03:45 UTC
Innovative and interesting concept. I really like the fact that you have an AI to play the level you set up. One frustrating thing though is that if you are too low when you spawn an enemy it won't appear but you will be deducted the recruitment points.
gabe00122
18. Dec 2012 路 04:36 UTC
the images and sonds did not load. the problem is that the Linux file system is has a different structur then windows dose. Good new is it is easy to fix just use URL's then open binary streams via urlclassloader and you have instant platform compatibility

error loading stage
16
45
3
6
15
25
1
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid format
at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.createStream(PulseAudioDataLine.java:142)
at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.open(PulseAudioDataLine.java:99)
at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioDataLine.open(PulseAudioDataLine.java:283)
at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioClip.open(PulseAudioClip.java:402)
at org.classpath.icedtea.pulseaudio.PulseAudioClip.open(PulseAudioClip.java:453)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Character.playSound(Character.java:189)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Character.spawnEnemy(Character.java:221)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Character.tick(Character.java:176)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Level.tick(Level.java:62)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Main.tick(Main.java:62)
at com.gravitygamesinteractive.kylethecaiman.Main.run(Main.java:351)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:679)
Freakill
18. Dec 2012 路 06:48 UTC
Nice entry! The scenarios are well designed and game mechanics have lots of potential for new kind of puzzles on how to trick Sproing to die :) The AI is good enough for this little demo, but I feel this is a game to keep working on and enhancing :D
馃帳 Gravity Games
18. Dec 2012 路 15:00 UTC
@BipolarMike Thanks! The reason I gave out resources to spare is because these stages were designed to be part of a World 1. Trust me, if I ever made this a full game (which I am becoming increasingly more likely to do), the later stages would be VERY evil... The closest thing like that in the game as it is would be stage 3/4. You're given 25 recruit points and access to Bloks and Elite Bloks. The answer to this one is so obvious that some of my "bug testers"(by that I mean family) didn't figure it out...

@daldinblue Thanks! Yeah, that is interesting, and I already have some ideas on how to fix that. Too bad its too late to update anything that's not game-breaking...

@gabe00122 Thanks for that info. Sorry I didn't make it Linux compatible, as I've only ever used and developed for Windows systems. Next time I'll have to try harder to get Linux bug testers to test the game (or buy a new computer, wipe off the virus Microsoft refers to as Windows 8, and put Linux on, but thats less likely due to lack of funds.), and I'll be sure to see if I can replace the file loading code with this (and that I can do, because that counts as porting!). Also, I just realized that when I used my base engine, I forgot to change the package name to something like "com.gravitygamesinteractive.byttstrikesback", but I guess its too late now...

@Freakill Thanks! I actually didn't think the stages were designed THAT well, there was certainly nothing to stop people from abusing the heck out of Elite Bloks (maybe I should nerf those suckers, Sproing doesn't even jump over them.), but I tend to doubt myself on these things. I will agree, the possibilities of Sproing death are overwhelming, and it was hard to pick three puzzle ideas for this entry. Also, yeah, I keep hearing that this could be a good game, which is making me seriously consider making this my first serious Android project...
Spelchan
18. Dec 2012 路 17:35 UTC
Interesting concept but I really didn't feel like the villain. Would be nice to be able to drop enemies as the player was playing.
Verrazano
18. Dec 2012 路 17:37 UTC
It was a pretty cute - good game. I felt like you could have taken it further though, perhaps make a post compo version.
Justin Kibbe
18. Dec 2012 路 19:06 UTC
Very interesting idea. Found it hard to win without getting him trapped in the spikes, but from your description it seems like you ran out of time to add variety. Overall good job.
vandriver
18. Dec 2012 路 22:39 UTC
yeah, this concept deserves further exploration. it felt like an evil version of lemmings, and that felt good.
otus
20. Dec 2012 路 17:42 UTC
Cool game! I like the idea to "see" how "bowser" constructs the mario levels. hehehe :) Promising game!
joaorequiao
23. Dec 2012 路 16:55 UTC
It's a nice little game! Add some Background music and it will be great!
SuperDisk
30. Dec 2012 路 22:22 UTC
Works on Mac too. The idea was cool, but there were some bugs. If you are touching around and you make a Blok it will fall through the ground, wasting your RP. Also, upon the second damage that Bytt receives, he just pauses for about 3 seconds, then the game proclaims he wins. Still, the idea was great.
馃帳 Gravity Games
31. Dec 2012 路 02:20 UTC
Wow, thanks guys for all the comments! Its pretty much been decided at this point that there most likely will be a post compo edition of some sort.

@SuperDisk Woah wait, did you say "Bytt" was taking damage? Are you sure you didn't mean "Sproing", because if not, I really need to look into that...
Neonlare
03. Jan 2013 路 07:13 UTC
Fine game, graphically could use some polish but pretty unique as far as mechanics go~