It's square to be a cube by Khorm

made by Khorm for LD 38 (COMPO)

My first entry to Ludum dare, got stuck on some collision thing and mechanics way too long, next time I will lower my goals quite a bit or/and use some premade engine.

Anyway, its made in good ol' HTML & JavaScript - drawing using a Canvas and all that good stuff. Tried to make it somewhat responsive so you could play fullscreen with F11 if you'd like. I used requireJS just o ease the work of loading different JS files on the fly, and some jQuery is thrown in for good measure. Oh, and not to forget - SFXR for the sound.

EDIT: After reading the rules I realized some bugfixes are allowed with a changelog highlighting changes, wish I realized this right after so everyone didn't have to play with the broken collision.

Changelog: - V1.1 Fixed collision a bit, not perfect but removed alot of wierd sticking to corners.

You can play here: GAME LINK

PS. If you are interested you can press Insert/Delete to toggle debug mode that basically shows performance (top left is ms between logic updates, and top right is ms between rendering updates) and some debugging lines and stuff I needed when I was trying to figure out collision that kinda made a pretty sweet effect.

Here's the source: Source

Original URL

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/its-square-to-be-a-cube

Ratings

Overall	232^th	3.41⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Fun	171^th	3.436⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	31^th	4.077⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Theme	356^th	3.154⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	518^th	2.179⭐	41🧑‍⚖️
Audio	387^th	2.108⭐	39🧑‍⚖️
Humor	433^th	1.8⭐	37🧑‍⚖️
Mood	477^th	2.417⭐	38🧑‍⚖️
Given		48🗳️	53🗨️

Feedback

Rolle

24. Apr 2017 · 20:04 UTC

Looking good! :-)

Ace17

01. May 2017 · 10:55 UTC

I like the idea! The square is a little tedious to control, though!

binaryferret

01. May 2017 · 11:27 UTC

I really like the concept of the world changing shape, and depending how it changes unlocks possible solutions.
It'd be interesting to see more levels with this concept taken further as I think you could come up with some really interesting puzzles with this mechanic.

A good number of different levels, with varying difficulty!

A lot of fun, although the game made me swear a few times! :D

"got stuck on some collision thing" I feel your pain. That one thing that just gets you and eats away your hours and messes up the plan!

Good job, and thanks for sharing! :D

KCreanor

01. May 2017 · 13:09 UTC

Hard to control, but once you get the hang of it quite a fun little game!

Tanay

01. May 2017 · 13:15 UTC

Innovative game! The core idea is great and so is the level design. Just one thing though: IMO normal platform control would have been better. The rotating player was frustrating...

smbe19

01. May 2017 · 13:16 UTC

The idea is very cool but the buggy collision makes it kinda hard to control (but the rotating square is cool). Maybe use an existing physics engine next time?

Mutfak Studios

01. May 2017 · 13:19 UTC

Mechanics are hard to control and glitchy but i understand its because of the time limitation.Fun game though :)

ToonTeamJ

01. May 2017 · 13:20 UTC

The physics are a little weird, but that's what makes this game fun. Personally, I think that you should remove the forever scrolling aspect of the levels to make them smaller. This would help it fit the theme of "A Small World" better. Overall, great game.

theDoodleGuy

01. May 2017 · 13:24 UTC

interesting gameplay, the spikes made me panic a few times lol. only issue I had was getting impaled and stuck on corners. nice job overall :-)

Quaternius

01. May 2017 · 13:28 UTC

Liked the simple mechanic, though the physics were a bit glitchy sometimes, good job!

GenericToast

01. May 2017 · 13:39 UTC

I get stuck in corners sometimes but still really fun!

Urban Logic Games

01. May 2017 · 14:19 UTC

Took a while to get the hang of controlling that cube, but I quite enjoyed this! The mechanic of revealing more of the level was interesting, it's not easy coming up with something fresh in the world of puzzle platformers but this felt pretty unique and could probably be taken further.

ysty

01. May 2017 · 14:19 UTC

The repeating world idea is great and you've pulled it off really well. The floaty physics on the box does make some of the more precise jumps a bit tricky, but overall it plays quite well.

sawtan

01. May 2017 · 14:49 UTC

First compo went great! Love the level progression, it teaches you the mechanics of the game in a great way! Will be a blast to do LD39! Cheerz!

schizoid2k

01. May 2017 · 18:37 UTC

I got the square stuck on an edge once, but overall, this game is fun to play. I liked the movement and jumping effects. Nice game!

lukethecoder64

01. May 2017 · 18:51 UTC

Excellent job! The only thing that it needs is some music :smiley:

geeitsomelaldy

01. May 2017 · 19:20 UTC

Fun, rather quiet, and I kept getting stuck on corners.

JustinM

01. May 2017 · 19:58 UTC

Good basic concept but the controls need to fine tuned for easier gameplay. Backround music would be a good addition.

Thinkofname

01. May 2017 · 20:27 UTC

I love the use of the wrapping world in puzzles. Shame the collision made some of them nearly impossible, fun game though

rnlf

01. May 2017 · 20:39 UTC

I got stuck and couldn't recover: http://imgur.com/a/LAjNj

Will retry now, just wanted to tell you!

__init__.py

01. May 2017 · 20:46 UTC

You were really going for that Innovation category were you? Pretty fun game and one of my favourites so far. The game mechanics are a little glitchy though and I kept getting stuck on corners.

rnlf

01. May 2017 · 20:55 UTC

Okay, finished it :)
It wasn't easy in some places and the physics are a bit rough, but the game was well constructed. I liked the resizing mechanics, though you could probably have constructed a few real puzzles out of them instead just letting the player try to reach the next item.

I've always liked physics based games, so hats off :)

Jedeen

01. May 2017 · 21:02 UTC

I like the "level editing" aspect of these mechanics. The square did get caught on corners pretty often, and did at one point wedge itself into the third level, but overall it was fun!

![its-square-to-be-a-cube.PNG](///raw/e12/z/3696.png)

clegamecoop

01. May 2017 · 21:20 UTC

I LOVE THE IDEA! The expanding/contracting and wrapped levels are really cool. I think this is a great mechanic that can make a great game! Unfortunately, the control and player mechanic were a little clunky . But, hey, it 48hrs! Great job!

stupidpawn

01. May 2017 · 21:24 UTC

When I first saw this game I thought it would be a really simple platformer. Mostly because of the art. But I gave it a try and I am happily surprised. The walking mechanic, the spinning, makes it already stand out. I like the world shape mechanic, I haven't seen anything like this. The game can sometimes feel unfair, mostly when you have to make a precise jump. The game is just not made for precision jumping and when it is put in the game it is quite frustrating. You probably already know this but the graphics and sounds are really lacking. But in the end I think fun gameplay matters more than good sound and art. I have to say, I really enjoyed this. Well done!

Seb_degraff

01. May 2017 · 21:33 UTC

Well done! Simple mechanic, but working well. I would have liked a little more control on the jump, maybe mario style (the longest you hold, the highest you jump)

obvious-san

01. May 2017 · 21:42 UTC

Controls are a bit difficult, but the game overall is great. Pretty nice idea with the permanently changing level.

multiplexor

01. May 2017 · 22:03 UTC

Great concept idea!! The game is superinteresting, the mechanic is awesome! I also like the clunkyness of the cube, it adds some difficulty to reaching the milestones!!!

Some music would have been a great addition!

Keep up the great work! :)

ColeSlaughter

02. May 2017 · 04:02 UTC

Heeyyy, this is pretty cool! :) This seems like a pretty unique concept, and it's executed fairly well!

I liked your decision to have the cube roll and bounce around, it gave the game a lot of charm! However, it might have been better to keep it as an animation or something, as sometimes the cube bouncing around would mess up my jumps...

What would be really interesting to see in the future would be a more puzzle-oriented version of this game. Currently, because the world growers/shrinkers disappear after you collect them, it's kind of implied that in order to progress, you have to collect every single one (otherwise you'd get stuck). If the world manipulators stayed there after you touched them, the player could hit one, and explore how it changed the world. Then they could determine if the change was for the better and keep going, or for the worse and go back to revert it.

Either way, I always thought it was super cool when I grabbed one of those things and saw a path open up. :)

GameQuester

02. May 2017 · 15:18 UTC

Beside the collision problems, this is a really cool game. The idea with the expanding world is really good and the execution and visual presentation is really well done.

howardcs

02. May 2017 · 16:21 UTC

Nice game with a retro feel.

fatPenguin

02. May 2017 · 18:19 UTC

The concept with the growing/shrinking levels is really innovative and you managed to create a good bunch of levels! The level design overall was pretty good and some of the stages offered quite the challenge ;)
The only thing that really grinds my gears are the controls. They take some time to get used to and in the **last level** the cube got stuck in the wall (but as I really enjoyed the concept I started over and finished the game).

But overall you did a really good job :smile:

mrerdalural

04. May 2017 · 08:40 UTC

Really good mechanics! The fact that the player is a square caused a very nice interaction with the physics. I also loved how you expended the looping level design. This was the best platformer I have played so far in LD38.
Thank you for making this game!

sachos345

04. May 2017 · 15:16 UTC

As a lot of people said, the controls are a little weird, but the game idea is awesome. Nice game man! You should work it further if you want!

andrewl

04. May 2017 · 20:57 UTC

What a great game! Really interesting idea, very well implemented in 48 hours!

Willbl3pic

04. May 2017 · 21:06 UTC

I love the idea of shrinking and growing the world - very fun.

Kosmo

05. May 2017 · 01:23 UTC

The growing and shrinking world is neat, and the wraparound levels also make for some interesting level design, which is very cool. As others have mentioned, the little cube is hard to control, and dying on a long level due to feeling like you don't have control is no fun :-/
Besides the control difficulties (which is always hard in a platformer) and a few clipping bugs, I had fun. Thanks!

sgstair

18. May 2017 · 09:28 UTC

This is a really great game, was fun to play and held my attention despite the controls often being awkward. Wrapping levels and the expanding/contracting segments were a great puzzle mechanic, a bit linear but novel and very interesting. I love that the player is a square/cube that rotates as it should, but this both provides novel mechanics (jumping at the right time) and negatives (many intuitive movements are punished, difficulty with consistent motion). Overall it's just really clever and experimental and great to see :) One way to make the puzzles more non-linear would be to have a "expand/contract" tile that alternately exposes and removes its associated map column. Another neat idea that would make this kind of puzzle more complex would be adding/removing columns.

I played this game on stream at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/142659988 - time 0:10:45

🎤 Khorm

21. May 2017 · 09:34 UTC

@sgstair Oh nice, thanks for playing, and I agree with pretty much everything you said. It's my first entry to LD and I just wasen't fast enough/had enough time to implement everything like I'd like - still was alot of fun! I pretty much made all the maps the last hour or so - could have been alot better...