LudumData

Capture the Essence by explorer

[raw]
made by explorer for LD 40 (JAM)

HighresScreenshot00002_cr.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItTUOryIw

Side scrolling 2.5D shooter. Kill enemies and collect the Essence to improve your score. But the more essence you get, the more fierce your enemies become. The game is essentially endless, I planned to include some bosses but didn't manage to. The goal is to get as high score as possible.

Controls: WASD or arrows to move, SPACEBAR or Z to jump, LMB or X to fire. Or use Xinput gamepad (Xbox). ESCAPE to exit.

Known bugs/issues: * Sometimes the character falls through the platform when not supposed to * Grenades sometimes kill the character even during post-respawn invulnerability * Sometimes the distance between ledges is too far to jump across. In this case jump as far as you can, hopefully the character will respawn on the other side

Post submission bug fixes: * No longer fall through the platform when walking up to it from a side (in some cases) * It is now possible to drop down from platforms when using a Gamepad or Arrows controls * Sounds of explosions are now less deafening

Windows https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eNSsAiVcYBGVuw8noATgJ-QjyjYSMYUE
Other (web) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It_T_UOryIw
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/capture-the-essence

Ratings

Overall 1043th 2.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 970th 2.775⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1129th 2.15⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1032th 2.7⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 838th 3⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 557th 2.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 966th 1.694⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1018th 2.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

mortus
07. Dec 2017 · 22:14 UTC
Nice game, I like the graphics and flashy explosions. I found it hard to aim at your enemies though, but in most cases they die offscreen anyway, if they don't there's a good chance they will hit me. Also, I think bullets go through the walls, or is that intended?
zgragselus
09. Dec 2017 · 01:04 UTC
The game is nice, although difficulty level gets up way too fast and it becomes way too hard. There is not enough feedback when dying/killing and for falling platforms. Also dying out of spawning on wrong position (on falling platform) is wrong.

By feedback I couldn't see the 'essence' effect first, on the second run I could see the effect... weird, might be something wrong on my hardware side though.
masterkrepta
16. Dec 2017 · 22:41 UTC
I found the music to be enjoyable, as well as the essence effects The way the level is laid out, it feels like this could use a double jump or wall bounce mechanic to make the movement more fluid.

My game was very similar in core mechanic of (IE: collect the things to make enemies harder) but i feel like you did a better job then i did in planning your ramping up of difficulty.
multiplexor
27. Dec 2017 · 23:47 UTC
147 essence! kaboom! Great game, super simple, yet I enjoyed the mindless killing of ragdoll enemies! Not much to say, it's simple, it's fun, it's good :) Good job! :D
TheMonsterFromTheDeep
28. Dec 2017 · 00:10 UTC
Not bad. My biggest complaint would be that jumping is a little awkward and unnatural.

It's cool to see somebody using Unreal Engine, given that it can do some really interesting stuff. However, if I'm not mistaken, you are using the default Unreal Engine character model thing? If so, I would definitely recommend replacing it with a custom character model -- although making a character model during Ludum Dare is not exactly a simple feat.
🎤 explorer
28. Dec 2017 · 00:53 UTC
@themonsterfromthedeep Thanks man, I love Unreal Engine and use it for all my projects. Yes, I did use the default character, didn't manage to create a custom one in time.
AViTT
28. Dec 2017 · 02:06 UTC
Nice game, the controls and graphics are smooth. I'd say the menu could use some nicer buttons but it works so its just a small criticism. Good job overall.
jk5000
28. Dec 2017 · 09:13 UTC
It is a simple and fun little platform game. I love the music and the graphics is okay. Overall a fine LD game.
ProdigalSon
28. Dec 2017 · 15:57 UTC
I'm a sucker for 2.5D games and I enjoyed the perspective on this one. Camera should be tweaked a bit to allow for some dead space before tracking the player, in my opinion. Gameplay wise, I felt like a running turret! So long as I held down the button I was unstoppable! lol. Nice touch on having the player respond where they died rather than all the way at the beginning and the rag dolls lingering for a bit is always fun to watch. Nice work especially doing this all by yourself
ambi
28. Dec 2017 · 17:13 UTC
Cool game. The levels were randomized? Sometimes it felt there was no way to continue. It was quite fun nonetheless.
🎤 explorer
28. Dec 2017 · 17:33 UTC
@ambi Thanks for the feedback. Yes, the level is being generated as you go and sometimes it does a poor job so you can't progress unfortunately.
jayesh desai
27. Mar 2018 · 15:09 UTC
cool
DrSkort
25. Apr 2018 · 16:25 UTC
It was fun to jump around and to collect the essence, but my problem was, that most of the times when I saw an enemy I died. That's why I just shoot the whole time, because there was no reload, and killed this way all the enemies. The rest was really great. I liked the 3D models and the graphics. Nice Game ;)
Petra
07. Aug 2018 · 17:00 UTC
I love this kind of game, cool. But I think you had to add a couple of more difficult opponents that would make the player to combine the jump with the attack
thegunmaster
15. Aug 2018 · 18:15 UTC
I would assume not, but does this by any chance have VR support? When I started it, it launched my oculus launcher. Anyhow, the game was interesting... Somehow polished and unpolished at the same time. Game play was a little boring in my opinion, but it looked very nice with the animations and ragdolls :)