LudumData

Soul Reaper by Jesper K

[raw]
made by Jesper K for LD 43 (JAM)

How to play: You're a reaper harvesting souls.

Souls are what keeps you alive, it is your health but is also used to upgrade your weapon. So you have to sacrifice some of your souls to upgrade your weapon.

Upgrading the weapon will make it stronger, increase hit range, and attack faster.

The souls are blue orbs hovering around. Attack the souls to harvest them.

Oh almost forgot, look out for Soul Guardians they will hunt you and take back the souls you harvest. If they take away too many souls, well you're dead... again, I suppose :-P A reaper is undead right?

Controls: - WASD = Move - Left mouse button = Attack - E = Interact - Z = Skip wave timer

This is my 3rd LD Jam and I really enjoyed doing it again, this is my favorite theme so far :-) Please rate and give me some feedback, and if you find any bugs then comment and then maybe I can fix it before the jam ends :-)

Screenshots: Main menu.png

Gameplay.PNG

Other (web) https://deepwolf.itch.io/soul-reaper
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/soul-reaper

Ratings

Overall 578th 3.368⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 621th 3.132⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 827th 2.763⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 686th 3.211⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 433th 3.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 768th 2.3⭐ 17🧑‍⚖️
Mood 369th 3.5⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 13🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

mzhovnach
03. Dec 2018 · 16:23 UTC
Pretty good, i've had some difficulties with control, if my character went out of screen.
🎤 Jesper K
03. Dec 2018 · 16:27 UTC
@mzhovnach Would a screen indicator pointing at the character help with that? :-)

If so, I could try to make something like that quickly :-)
mzhovnach
03. Dec 2018 · 16:30 UTC
(@jesper-k i guess it would, but i think one time i've totally lost control and my character run to the right side.
🎤 Jesper K
03. Dec 2018 · 16:43 UTC
@mzhovnach Hmm, I suppose a fence would be better. I'll put up a fence surrounding the play area :-) Thanks for the feedback :-)
🎤 Jesper K
03. Dec 2018 · 17:17 UTC
Updated the game with some fences :-)
Andreadbx
04. Dec 2018 · 00:11 UTC
Smooth gameplay, i had no problems at all picking up the controls instantly, about the graphics as i said on stream, maybe just changing the color of the floor in different levels could have been helpful in differentiating them, good job overall!
ElderDeveloper
04. Dec 2018 · 00:43 UTC
I think there is a problem on the level because all I can see is a black screen, the game is running but I can not see the level
I'm using chrome
DoctorMozart
04. Dec 2018 · 01:30 UTC
Core mechanic nicely matches the theme. I like the concept of "health" as a means for weapon upgradability, only wish that I could have upgraded during waves (Perhaps this is possible? I only seemed to be able to between waves). Had a few issues with movement where my reaper would glide into the edge of the screen and stubbornly refuse to move .

Besides those comments, it's a cute title. I love the 3d models for the reapers. Well done. :smile:
🎤 Jesper K
04. Dec 2018 · 11:20 UTC
@elderdeveloper Hi there, if everything is dark except for the UI. Could you try the windows version if you don't mind. To see if it's dark there. I only know 1 that has had that problem due to having hardware acceleration off in the browser, if I remember right, but it worked when using the Windoes version :-) It might also be some bug that I don't know of :-)
🎤 Jesper K
04. Dec 2018 · 11:29 UTC
@doctormozart Thanks for playing :-) Before I released to the public It was possible to upgrade doing waves, but I removed that possibility due to having plans to make a UI for the upgrading that blocked quite a lot of the screen. So I thought that would be annoying to have popping up while in a wave everytime you went near it. I eventually changed the upgrade UI to be simpler and way smaller, and after that I didn't really think about it that much :-)

Haven't experienced anything with the movement being stuck or gliding tho, not sure what could cause that to happen :-)

Glad you liked, and thanks for the feedback! :-)
🎤 Jesper K
04. Dec 2018 · 11:35 UTC
@andreadbx Thanks for playing, really enjoyed watching your stream :-) My initial plans were actually to have a cemetery with a bigger play area, and where the camera would follow. But I thought it would take a lot of time, so I wanted to focus on polishing the gameplay :-) As you said tho, I could have made some tiny changes to differentiate the levels, but never really thought about it :-D

Anyways, thanks again for playing and for feedback :-)
JasAcken
04. Dec 2018 · 14:01 UTC
Controls were smooth, and I liked the sound design, not to mention the overall concept. The one thing that stood out as something I would have liked to be different is that the pathfinding for the guys chasing you just turned into running in a big circle or a figure eight if you wanted to get to the well in the middle. Maybe some mechanic that changed the protectors' behaviour could shake that up. Linking life to weapon is a really cool idea, though!
🎤 Jesper K
04. Dec 2018 · 14:30 UTC
@jasacken Thanks for playing and the feedback :-)
I get what you mean, the AI could definitely use some improvement. It is a very basic "Follow and attack when in range" AI. The waves could definitely also use some extra life to make it more interesting, they are very similar :-)

Any suggestions as to what I could have changed about their behaviour?

Checking out your game now :-)
Jupiter_Hadley
05. Dec 2018 · 13:34 UTC
Challenging game. I included it in my compilation video series of games from the Ludum Dare, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/1t-6rdylBrI
velvetlobster
05. Dec 2018 · 22:46 UTC
the sound effects and soundscape make this kinda creepy and dark which is good ... I miss some more effects when the weapon hits, like some screenshake perhaps
🎤 Jesper K
06. Dec 2018 · 09:58 UTC
@velvetlobster Thanks for the feedback. I agree, definitely needs some more feedback when hitting and when upgrading the weapon :-) I will try to improve and focus a bit more on adding player feedback in the next games I develop to give the games a nicer feeling :-)
Derek Volker
06. Dec 2018 · 16:53 UTC
I found it a bit repeating and could find a good strategy to use against the soul guardians besides walking backwards and try to strike them as my weapon have a bigger range. I guess if they had a attack pattern or behaviour i could think of a way to counter them and the gameplay would be more interesting.

That said, the controls respond very well and are easy to understand. The mechanics is also a good implementation, making you wonder if is it worth to spend points on upgrading the weapon or better to save some souls in order to not be defeat so easily.

Overall, is a nice entry for the jam. Good job.
🎤 Jesper K
06. Dec 2018 · 20:54 UTC
@derek-volker Thanks for the feedback :-) It is indeed very repeating, I wanted to make the AI more interesting, but I'm not that good when it comes to AI.

Perhaps a dash attack could help with their behaviour. So before they would do the dash attack, they would stop and charge back their scythe and shortly after charge towards you. That would require some actual countering and make it more interesting by keeping a lookout for those that is starting to charge.

Also some way to spice up the behaviour of the bosses could be special attacks that you would also have to learn to counter :-) I got so many ideas running through my head right now.

Anyways, again thank you very much for playing and taking the time to give me some feedback :-)
Arvejeitor
07. Dec 2018 · 12:35 UTC
Nice game, I loved the 3d models, simple but cute
Josh Bothun
08. Dec 2018 · 00:14 UTC
I really like the atmosphere of the game. The look is cohesive and the sound effects are nice. It's got an instant immersion to it.

The controls felt great as well.

I think the only design limitation here is that the reapers can only really be dealt with by kiting at a very specific distance, since you both have the same melee range. Something about speed, hitboxes, or weapons need to be tweaked a bit, to improve that, but I'm not sure what exactly.

Overall cool concept and really nice job!
🎤 Jesper K
08. Dec 2018 · 11:05 UTC
@josh-bothun Thanks for playing, and glad you liked the atmosphere :-) Yeah the combat is very limited, I really would have liked to make it better. Kiting combat is very boring :-)
I could have improved it with some abilities and AI abilities.

Also I'm not experienced when it comes to designing combat mechanics. But I will definitely start to practice combat design, because that would spice things up and make it more interesting in my future projects :-)

Thanks for the feedback :-)
Geckoo1337
08. Dec 2018 · 17:45 UTC
Really well done with an amazing mood. All movements are so smooth - you did a great work. Models are cuties. Maybe too hard for me, but overall a great entry ++
Call_me_Nutty
16. Dec 2018 · 00:13 UTC
This game has some of the best presentation I've seen in the Jam so far. Seriously. The UI, the particles, the snappy sound effects. All lovely. The lighting is excellent and the music fits perfectly with the game. On the visual department you did 10/10.

For the gameplay, the base is definitely there but I think a bit more could have been done, more enemy types, more unique weapon upgrades etc. Just content in general; though I'm not going to be too harsh since it IS a 72 hour Jam. Don't get me wrong though, I did actually have quiet a lot of fun, mainly because it all feels so damn satisfying to play but when I finished the game I felt like the gameplay was missing _something_.

But otherwise, top notch performance. Thanks for making :)
lilou_cormic
16. Dec 2018 · 00:17 UTC
Nice game, the visuals, gameplay and atmosphere is good. I found it hard to hit the soul gradians without them hitting me. I would have liked it better if the upgraded weapon had a bigger range. Other than that, good job!
🎤 Jesper K
16. Dec 2018 · 00:30 UTC
@lilou-cormic Thanks for playing :-) I agree with the weapon range, with the 2 first upgrades you really have low range and have to find the sweet spot for where they can hit you. However the 3rd upgrade has a long range, never got to proper balancing those weapon stats. Thanks for the feedback :-)

@call-me-nutty Thanks for playing and the amazing feedback :-) I agree with the enemy types, could definitely use some more of those. I initially had so many plans for it but didn't have the time, like usually with these jams :-D I had plans for unlocking skills for each upgrade, but yeah never got to it :-)
Game-mon
16. Dec 2018 · 18:24 UTC
Cool game! I like the artstyle, nice trail renderers on the souls (: I love the mood most of all, the game idea is fun. Congrats :D
Sockman
16. Dec 2018 · 22:49 UTC
I had a lot of fun playing this, but it was way too hard for me. I didn't manage to beat the boss of the first level. I felt like the reach of my weapon was too small, so whenever I was close enough to attack, the enemy would just attack me immediately. Some sort of block or even a ranged attack could have helped a lot. It played well though, and the graphics and sounds were really well done. The mechanics were also very intuitive and clever.
Erkberg
20. Dec 2018 · 20:49 UTC
Really good game! Nice use of the theme, although I always upgraded my weapon when I had enough souls, because having a longer range protects you better from harm than more health. Controls felt good but it was a little hard to figure out how long my range exactly was. Enjoyed the visuals and audio quite a bit. My biggest critique would be that the levels felt very samey, another enemy type would've improved the game a lot. Still, I had a lot of fun with this one, good job!