Mob Escape by JoeDev_net

[raw]
made by JoeDev_net for LD21 (-)
Mob Escape was an attempt at making a reverse tower defense game where you are the guys running through towers trying not to get killed. That idea evolved and eventually I ended up with this game. Basically you have 3 guys following you and you are running though corridors and rooms trying not to get hit. While making it there were several points where I wanted to quit because it just wasn't very fun, but I'm glad that I stuck it out and finished. There were a lot of things that I planned on adding (obvious by the inventory boxes on top that are never used), but not enough time. If I ever decide to do any more work on this you can find it at http://joedev.net

Controls
WASD or Arrows = Movement
Space = Pause
Left Click = Shoot

Ratings

Coolness 6% 87
Overall 3.33 102
Audio 2.10 259
Community 3.67 23
Fun 3.00 142
Graphics 3.33 118
Innovation 3.50 85
Theme 3.25 166

Feedback

ointment
22. Aug 2011 路 15:59 UTC
"Reverse tower defense" sounded promising, but it isn't quite what the player might expect. Gets a bit uninteresting quickly because of the lack of variation. Also, there's little payoff for fighting rather than running away - but I guess that just fits the theme, heh.
ointment
22. Aug 2011 路 15:59 UTC
More level progression could've made this a gem. Don't introduce every enemy in level 1. Shorter levels, more new mechanics per level.
tgijsola
23. Aug 2011 路 00:29 UTC
Fun little dungeon crawler! Would have liked to see some treasure, maybe a little character progression or powerups, and a little more variety in the levels. I liked controlling four dudes at once, occasionally using the lesser party members as meat shields :)
FireSlash
23. Aug 2011 路 14:05 UTC
Interesting idea. I agree with the above comments on level progression.

I also found a strange quirk with your tile renderer. http://fireslash.net/~fireslash/images/ld21_reviews/ld21_joedev_net_1.png seems to happen randomly while running through the levels. Could be a floating point math issue?
馃帳 JoeDev_net
23. Aug 2011 路 16:15 UTC
@ointment

Exactly! I agree that the game does become uninteresting quite quickly. That hit me about half way through developing and I almost ended up quitting, but I'm glad I kept going and finished. I made a mistake making the levels random hoping that they would be fun enough to play, but they weren't, so I would have been better off just creating a set of predefined levels. I probably would of had to time to add a semblance of a story line as well. Lesson learned.

@tgijsola

Yeah, there was plans for some treasure and more items, but I didn't really have enough time to achieve what I wanted. I'll probably work on this a little more and make it more of a tradition dungeon crawler with a non-linear dungeon layout and actual enemies. Also having your followers participate in fighting would be pretty cool.

@FireSlash

Strange, I've never seen that before. Probably not a floating point issue as the tile rending is all integer math. I'm tempted to say it might be a driver issue, but that's probably unlikely. I'll investigate and see if I can find anything.

Thanks for the feedback, it really is appreciated!
jonnopon3000
23. Aug 2011 路 20:25 UTC
I liked the concept, but the implementation would have been a lot more enjoyable with more audio and maybe some level progression.
Dark Acre Jack
28. Aug 2011 路 16:02 UTC
All my friends died. Just like in real life.

Great entry, with a little polish and tweaking this could be really fun as a Flash diversion.
AndyBrown
10. Sep 2011 路 06:54 UTC
It was fun, I played the first time without realizing I even could attack and just dodged bullets, then the second time I read the help first and did worse trying to take out towers. I like the guys following you though, I can definitely see some potential in this =)