Gravity Sucks [WEB] by Nocturne

made by Nocturne for LD23 (COMPO)

This game is my first ever entry into a Ludum Dare competition and, although it was a stressful 48 hours, I have had a lot of fun making it! The game itself is a simple arcade platform game, with a 360Ã�Âº gravity engine.

The idea is that you jump from tiny world to tiny world and collect all the stars! Simple? NO! There are monsters to avoid, planets that move (and even explode!) and you have a limited battery life for jumping (did I mention you are a robot?).

The levels are procedurally generated and will get steadily tougher as you progress with more movement and enemies, as well as greater spaces between worlds!

I hope you all enjoy playing this simple game, as I have certainly enjoyed making it! My only regret is that I couldn't pack more into it, but I'll keep working on it after all the voting is done anyway!

Thanks for playing!

Web (HTML5)	http://nocturnegames.orgfree.com/GravitySucks/
Source	http://nocturnegames.orgfree.com/GravitySucks/Gravity%20Sucks.zip
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=4311

Ratings

Coolness	71%	3
Overall	3.58	112

Audio	3.48	79
Fun	3.53	87
Graphics	3.53	173
Humor	2.47	312
Innovation	3.04	384
Mood	2.98	271
Theme	3.15	373

Feedback

True Valhalla

23. Apr 2012 · 12:20 UTC

Great first time entry! The random generation resulted in a lot of good content. Visuals are fitting and gameplay was bug free. Congratulations!

Gemberkoekje

23. Apr 2012 · 12:21 UTC

I liked the base mechanic, even though a single touch death is somewhat frustrating :P I missed a clear(er) visual on where the gravity started sucking to time my jumps better, but that's up to personal preference I guess.

23. Apr 2012 · 12:28 UTC

Really polished - would never have guessed this was your first time.

The best part was when I could gain momentum and slip around a few planets without landing, though the screen seemed too narrow to do that repeatedly.

Thanks!

fishbrain

23. Apr 2012 · 12:29 UTC

Nice implementation of this idea... really like the graphics too! Yeah, one life is perhaps a little harsh.

jeroenimooo

23. Apr 2012 · 12:31 UTC

118.000 but when i jumped to the UFO i fell down and couldn't move anymore :s Besides cool game, a little long though

🎤 Nocturne

23. Apr 2012 · 13:13 UTC

Thanks for playing guys! @jeroenimooo, that's about the only bug I've found so far and will be fixed when LD finishes and add more content...

Andrew

23. Apr 2012 · 13:15 UTC

It has great scaling and so far it's the only game where the music was actually good.

JaJ

23. Apr 2012 · 18:37 UTC

Nice game! A very polished entry. The one thing I hated was when a planet I didn't even set foot on yet exploded in front of me.

🎤 Nocturne

23. Apr 2012 · 18:45 UTC

Thanks Andrew! And Thanks too Jaj... I find your comment odd though, as it should't be able to happen! Guess I have another bug to squish then...

Pixelulsar

23. Apr 2012 · 19:37 UTC

Great! I liked the random generation.

Gremlin

23. Apr 2012 · 19:41 UTC

Somehow, it's always the exploding planets that get me.

tcstyle

23. Apr 2012 · 19:41 UTC

Wow, that's impressive for a first LD. the game feels quite complete and consistent in its style.
I could be more challenging with earlier puzzle elements using the free-fly curves caused by gravity.

Hume

23. Apr 2012 · 19:42 UTC

This was fun. I didn't quite get the hang of why I would hurt myself jumping between planets sometimes and not others, but I still got far enough to see quite a bit of content.

Very polished, as others have said. If this is your first entry, I'd guess you have a lot of great LDs ahead of you. But that's only a guess based on my first time.

Great entry!

chinchang

23. Apr 2012 · 20:23 UTC

gr8 animations :) I have a similar game: Save Me. nice job!

🎤 Nocturne

23. Apr 2012 · 20:51 UTC

Thanks for all the nice comments guys! I will DEFINITELY be polishing this up when the voting is over...

Toast

23. Apr 2012 · 21:41 UTC

This is probably one of the more finished feeling games I've played so far. Everything is very well presented and functional. I guess if you're going to be polishing up, you might focus on the graphics. They're certainly passable, but not quite the "iPhone" quality the rest of the game lives up to you. I also have a slight quibble about the collectible stars... somehow they felt unnecessary seemed to slow the pacing down considerably, but I still agree that there should be some kind of collectible. Perhaps if the stars tended to appear in the space in between planets rather than tending on the surface of the planets themselves, that would be an improvement.

🎤 Nocturne

23. Apr 2012 · 21:52 UTC

Thank you Toast for playing and commenting... Yes, I think your suggestion about the stars would certainly make the game better as it would then give an incentive to jump around and use the gravity to collect them, which is more fun than the current "run around the world" system I have. Thanks for that!

Daz

24. Apr 2012 · 19:46 UTC

I was able to get stranded on the last planet at the top once because the UFO was too far away :( Pretty fun though

Diventurer

24. Apr 2012 · 20:36 UTC

I'm amazed that you did this in 48 hours!
The game is very fun :D

0x17

24. Apr 2012 · 21:48 UTC

Question: Isn't there supposed to be scripts inside the "scripts"-folder in the Source-archive you've linked. It seems empty.

spilth

24. Apr 2012 · 23:20 UTC

Fun little game. I encountered two issues: 1) When trying to enter my name as a high score whatever character I typed would end up repeating. 2) I got stuck on a planet after another one blew up and couldn't do anything except sit around.

thatshelby

24. Apr 2012 · 23:58 UTC

Nice. Feels very polished. Not much to do other than walking and collecting and avoiding. I noticed a bug entering the high score text - i'm using most recent version of google chrome if that helps. Great graphics and music. Nice first entry! I don't think one touch death is too harsh or strict - feels just right, the enemies are easy to avoid.

🎤 Nocturne

25. Apr 2012 · 12:13 UTC

@0x17 : The source JS is in the html5 folder. That scripts one I should have removed!

@spilth : Thanks!The repeat issue seems to be a timing error with Chrome as it makes the game run faster! And the getting stuck is just part of the game! you can restart the level from the pause menu...
@thatshelby : Thanks for playing!

PabloAM

25. Apr 2012 · 18:12 UTC

Nice game!
Great graphics, mechanics and flow.

Just I had a problem jumping with the smallers worlds, but overall good! :)

Eamon

25. Apr 2012 · 18:54 UTC

Wow, a brilliant game mark, loved the graphics!

Keirua

25. Apr 2012 · 19:14 UTC

Very polished, but a bit too easy. Maybe levels are too long without much challenge ? I gave up after during level 3 because of it.
Anyway the realization is very good, the title screen is the best i've seen so far.

Krisjet

25. Apr 2012 · 19:28 UTC

Cool first time entry. I like this idea but would have liked to see some more elements introduced after a while. Good stuff, and impressive for 48 hours!

brus46

25. Apr 2012 · 19:34 UTC

I think this is so great! I'm an html5 developer and i'm so impressed you could do something like this in 48hours! Did you use a particular sdk-toolkit?

Jhelle

25. Apr 2012 · 20:16 UTC

Instakills are kinda brutal but the rest of the game seems really polished and fun, also enjoying the music! Good job

Riccardo Stucchi

25. Apr 2012 · 20:49 UTC

Great game!!! :D.. I like it a lot!!! The music is very addictive, Good job!! :)

lanoiadimuu

25. Apr 2012 · 21:19 UTC

Solid entry.
Good background music and smooth gameplay.

🎤 Nocturne

25. Apr 2012 · 22:05 UTC

Thank you all very very very much... Kind words for my first entry to LD! Well worth the 40+ hours I put into it! And to the person that asked what sdk I used, it's GameMaker:HTML5.

Rex Peppers

26. Apr 2012 · 00:31 UTC

Great job, single touch death is tough but the levels seem to play out in a sensible way.

brus46

26. Apr 2012 · 06:45 UTC

Thank you for the reply! Iam going to test it!

kratorspore

26. Apr 2012 · 08:19 UTC

Great Game! I simple concept pulled of with great polish and style! Very addictive, I wanted to keep playing. Good use of procedural generation.

free_napalm

26. Apr 2012 · 19:39 UTC

Maybe the game with the best polish I saw at this LD. Smooth gameplay and good visuals, too. Felt like a good game off the Google Play Store!

divillysausages

26. Apr 2012 · 20:01 UTC

Great game! Quite fun to jump up and loop around a planet before landing, though sometimes I got caught in a perfect orbit. Then the planet I was on blew up and I couldn't go any further :(

orunbot

26. Apr 2012 · 20:09 UTC

felt like a real game. Very polished. Well done

MagnesiumNinja

28. Apr 2012 · 05:36 UTC

Conceptually, it's pretty simple but it works well and it's fun. The fact that it's procedurally generated helps with replayability, for sure!

AD-Edge

29. Apr 2012 · 03:29 UTC

Good work all round, very nice menu and intro to the game, and the game itself plays well. Awesome music as well!

orgarus

30. Apr 2012 · 05:24 UTC

Good graphics, music and gameplay.

MadGnomeGamer

01. May 2012 · 02:33 UTC

Very nice indeed! The graphical style looks unique, consistent, and polished. I like your menu too.

You should put it on Kongregate, see how it does! Maybe you'll get badged!

Got some really satisfying swingaroo gravity manouevers in places with lots of small planets near the edges :D You should have bonus points for staying in the air a long time.

Haven't met an exploding planet yet; going to play lvl 2 and maybe I'll meet one!

angrygeometry

04. May 2012 · 17:48 UTC

so much fun. i loved swinging round planets and just darting through levels. enough variety in the planet types and is very polished. great job.

matthias_zarzecki

12. May 2012 · 11:01 UTC

The game is fun - Nice work!

The ads are some of the most horrible and obnoxious I've ever encountered - What the hell were you thinking?!

scgrn

13. May 2012 · 05:49 UTC

Cooool. Congratulations!

Angerus

13. May 2012 · 10:16 UTC

A great time playing it ! How you emulate the gravity is really interesting...