Spermicorn by Fanu
Hello llama love supporters!!
This was the first Ludum Dare jam for the three of us: @fanu, @tommyflower and @jabba. We developed this game with Unity, you can download the compiled version of the game for your platform at the links below.
Born different
Spermicorn was born different, he lives inside a llama who has no idea he's going to change his species forever.
Help him spread his special feature!
The crazy run
You must run with a million of others like you, but you are special! Use your sparky horn to make room for yourself but watch out for the slowing areas. Move and hit sideways while goin' with the flow.
The sacred egg room
If you are good enough, you will be allowed to the sacred egg room, our second gameplay. Here is where you have the chance to prove your stubborness. What are those motivational phrases telling you? Believe in yourself and make your way through the egg!
And yes... this is technically how the first llamacorn was born!
What we have learned
- To kill many good ideas, ok... freeze them for a future release.
- To try something you have never done before, no matter what.
- The best way to turn doodles into a sprite is... well... not sure about this one as it was a hot mess!
- The difference between our timezones (@jabba lives in Tokyo)
- Many Unity secrets (we are completely new to it)
- That Unity holds MANY more secrets!
- Which video encoder never to use again! (won't share this :D)
- How much you can accomplish in a short time when you are inspired and your team is thighter than the deadline.
Where we go from here?
As more llamacorns start to populate the planet, we have plans for more animalcorn madness!! There will be piggiecorns, bunnycorns...
Working together for the first time and in our first Ludum Dare jam was a lot of fun, we'd definitely love to repeat this experience and take Spermicorn to the next step!
Fellow jammers, hope you have fun playing Spermicorn,
and may you feel a little special too :D
Download the game
Spermicorn Linux (untested)
Spermicorn MacOS (untested)
I hope you will not have any issue with video playback, in case you don't see any video please let me know.
* intro and outro video (spoiler alert!) *
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lh6FMZBsBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GUtvaWoAgw
* gameplay level 1*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rw17JpwI7g
* Level 1 final monster *
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXoIyem9tQ0
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/spermicorn |
Ratings
| Overall | 271th | 3.557⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 287th | 3.333⭐ | 71🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 407th | 3.087⭐ | 71🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 382th | 3.443⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 337th | 3.652⭐ | 71🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 98th | 3.8⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 9th | 4.371⭐ | 72🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 243th | 3.5⭐ | 68🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 185🗳️ | 193🗨️ |
The music was spot on for the gameplay, but the second part (button mashing) went on just a bit longer than I preferred. No other complaints though, the game was short and strange, perfect for a Ludum Dare.
I enjoyed the message of the game. You guys did a great job, congrats!
The only thing i didn't like was the button smashing in the second stage.
Great story :smile:
Oh, and llamas. Definitely llamas.
One thing tho the gameplay did lack a bit, the first part could probably be improved by showing a timer/place where you currently are in the line to give some kind of sense of a challenge? :D
The second part was fun but a bit too long for my taste
Overall very good entry :) you really pulled off quite a bit :D
Not sure if there was a way to lose the "race" part -- I just held down space and dashed through everyone. The egg phase was well made. Overall, nice graphics and overall smooth experience.
Interesting theme choice.
Also, :sheep: are better animals. :^)
The race was pretty simple. I do wish there were 2 things that could have been there that might have made the race have a bit more sense. 1- A rank/placer? I know it was a race- but I wasn't sure how many other sperms were infront of me. D: 2- I wasn't really sure when my "Boost" was up or down. It might have been cool to know that.
Also- there weren't any sound indicators when I horned another sperm beside me or boosted forward. Those would have made the race funner! :D
Now- as for the press X button. I think it was a nice touch. Definitely had a quick laugh with the dialogue! They were simple but meant a lot to the sperm. xD
So yeah. Thank you for the funny game. haha. I was kind of skeptical with using sperms at first- but after the dialogue towards the end- it made everything forgivable. :D
Thank you for the experience. :D
The game was pretty short, but I think that's what allowed me to like it as much as I did. Had it been longer it might have been tedious as the gameplay wasn't revolutionary. The intro and outro videos very pretty funny, and somehow they reminded me of low budget cartoons from my childhood.
Charming game, for sure!
That was honestly the weirdest and funniest game I've ever played on a ludum dare!
Just great! :D
The gameplay itself was a little simple, I actually found it easier to blast through the other sperm by mashing shift, as hitting left and right was a little too tough to pull off, and it didn't give me the added benefit of pushing forward either, so pressing space was the optimal strategy every time.
Gotta admit though, I cracked a smile while I was receiving words of encouragement trying to drill into the egg. xD This is such an oddball charming game!
(That twist ending tho...)
EDIT: Hang on, this was your guys' first Unity game AND you were working in radically different time zones?! Well freakin' done with this one, guys! :D
The Gameplay itself was pretty basic. I chock that up to not having a ton of time to flesh it out and add a lot of stuff during a jam. That said it felt very consistent in tone, so it ended up working out pretty well. That said I think you should expand upon the racing type mechanic of reproduction. With all those classic tropes of racing like obstacles, enemies, and maybe some powerups. You could certainly keep with the themed aspect and look to actual reproduction for inspiration. Then you could mix and match with some more minigames when you finally do reach the egg itself (Then you should have the unicorn horn glow with magic and open up a tunnel when you do. You should really go nuts with the magic horn trope.)
Otherwise I would be interested in seeing where you go with this. You could make it a very cartoony game that educates kids in a very colorful and approachable way about animal reproduction. Not only in mammals but maybe plants and some single cell life. That or just go nuts with the goofy cartoony side of things. People life a good colorful arcade style game that pokes fun at things sexual in nature.
Overall I liked it. Good art. Catchy tune. Solid package. Though the gameplay was pretty basic. It also got featured in my fourth episode of Larry Does Ludum 38. You can see it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD3DwYwAtnU
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Here is ours - Please vote! :smile:
- https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/plutus
Really charming, funny game! Gameplay-wise needs lots of work, but that minigame-like approach can shine very, very brightly with this direction! (for polish, think Warioware or Rhythm Heaven, but with "storyline" focused minigames!)
The cute humor and the character designs were the best part for me. The music is surprisingly good, too! (my favourite track was the one in the menu credits). However, the controls on the first half were kinda awkward and over-complicated, and the second half went on for a little too long (though I loved the inclusion of the motivational phrases, nice detail! Also, the background!). The art is rough, but the designs make up for it in a big way. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised with this one. I hope to see more from you in the future!
The graphics were cute and well done, and the audio complemented the game well. Great job!
The music and the visuals help create a strange and entertaining atmosphere, reinforced by the narration. You nailed the theme in an original and creative way.
As it is to be expected by a game made in 72 hours, the game kind of lacks a bit of polish here and there.
The gameplay especially was very serviceable but not exceptional in any way, but the presentation made up for it. If I understand well, you seem to intend to continue developing this project.
I for one would be curious to see how that goes.
Good job, hope to see more from you!
Everything has already been said, this rocks in every category!
Congratulations for making this in such a short time!
But I think the gameplay is too easy and long. The first level has not challenge. You should put more importance on the gameplay.
Great job
Very polished, and complete feeling which is awesome for a weekend game.
Good job!
And a very different game idea. Loved playing the game.Great Job !!
Do try my game :
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/sunken-mystery
I liked that when I lost in phase two, it restarted me to the beginning of that part rather than having to play it all again :)