LudumData

DUCKTRON by neontropics

[raw]
made by neontropics for LD 38 (COMPO)

Screenshot38.png

https://neontropics.itch.io/ducktron

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ <(o) ducktron (o)> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

IRREVERENT PONDLIFE SIMULATION

(x)< (x)< (x)< (x)< >(x) >(x) >(x) >(x)

YOU ARE THE LAST OF THE SENTIENT DUCK AI

OR MAYBE EVERYONE ELSE IS SENTIENT

ANYWAYS USE ARROW KEYS TO MOVE

X TO HACK

Download at https://neontropics.itch.io/ducktron , Source, OS X and Windows builds are currently available.

Web version available at https://neontropics.itch.io/ducktron-web-build-ld38-compo , though it needs to be played using the full screen option and might not be as smooth as the downloadable version. It seemed to work okay though!

Music theme and more of my music at https://soundcloud.com/neontropics/tracks

I looked at the code base of my Ludum Dare 37 entry to set up the menu screen and object pooling

JEEZ, found and fixed a buncha bugs and added a new version to download before the submission ended

Tools used:

Unity (including some Standard Assets like CharacterController and NavMeshAgent)

Blender

Bitwig + TAL-U-NO-LX

iPhone to record lake noises and sound effects

Bfxr

Changelog:

v1.01 - 20170424 - fixed a bunch of bugs

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/ducktron

Ratings

Overall 345th 3.143⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 180th 3.4⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 423th 2.657⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 441th 2.824⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 431th 2.714⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Audio 139th 3.353⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Humor 38th 3.781⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Mood 204th 3.276⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 40🗳️ 42🗨️

Feedback

EndlessPlumber
28. Apr 2017 · 03:48 UTC
WHY IS THIS GAME SO FUN!?

This game is wonderful. The irreverent theme, the mass digital duck murder, the glorious glow of green on black. The mechanics are instantly learned, the non-sentient duck AI is pitiful but still manages to be a threat. I just find myself immediately replaying and exerting my superiority over my lesser duck brethren. Thank you.

Tip: your game is short and beautiful.
euske
01. May 2017 · 14:59 UTC
I dunno what's really going on, but it's oddly addictive. My high score was 640.
impbox
01. May 2017 · 16:10 UTC
While I didn't find it very interesting, It was okay for some mindless fun, but the collision detection needs work, I was being pecked and losing health when they appeared to be missing me.
nidup
01. May 2017 · 16:24 UTC
Kinda hypnotic! Dunno if it's the ducks, the colors or the sounds but i enjoyed mass killed ducks.
theslate
01. May 2017 · 16:42 UTC
Very squishy in that good way. The music loop was not annoying, and other sounds were good. Movement felt a little off. Otherwise, great game!
wolar
01. May 2017 · 17:00 UTC
I would prefer to have attact (hack) on something else than x (like f, mouse, e) because pressing x while pressing wasd is pretty uncomfotable. But overall I somewhat like the game.
npizzle1
01. May 2017 · 19:00 UTC
a nice fun little game the sounds i thought where good. kind of addictive.
symmsaur
01. May 2017 · 19:20 UTC
Ducks are awesome! And thus, so is this game.

Would have liked a bit better feedback when I was getting hit and losing health. And can you eat the dots to gain more health?
geeitsomelaldy
01. May 2017 · 21:03 UTC
I hacked the purple flashing duck and died. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that or not :|
Dink_Dunk
01. May 2017 · 21:08 UTC
I uhh, don't really understand this game... But I love it! Quack!
Izunah
01. May 2017 · 22:20 UTC
Ran through the game a few times trying to get a good high score, seems like the optimal way to play is hunt down that flashing duck and get him while ignoring the others. Anytime I tried to confront the others they would lay waste to me. I liked your music track for it quite a lot. The only real issue I had with the game was the abrupt ending when you died, many times I'd skip over and start a new game because I was in the middle of mashing x. The performance seems fine on the web version, at least for me.
piscythe
02. May 2017 · 05:34 UTC
This game is almost too tactically demanding. The player's slow turn radius and limited attack range make properly ambushing the score-critical flashing ducks an art. This is complicated by the huge herd of regular ducks, and it is very easy to get blindsided by a normal duck while approaching your target. I do worry that scores are influenced by the RNG component of where the flashing duck spawns. Music loop worked well and the graphics got the job done. I also had fine performance on the web build.

HS:1130.
Wheerd
02. May 2017 · 07:11 UTC
This game is surprisingly good. I did not expect murdering non-sentinent ducks could be so fun :grin: The game is also surprisingly hard, because you can easily get swarmed by other ducks. One of the mos annodying things I found was swimming into an other duck, because sometimes you cannot hit them but they can murder you. I would be interested in what this game would be like with collision between the ducks. I like how you combined a retro computer theme with ducks :rofl: Nice music and sound effects as well. A simple but very well executed game, good job!
KevTukk
03. May 2017 · 10:19 UTC
Ducks are evil, now I know that for sure. :grin:

This game is really hard but also a lot of fun. My first two tries I just ran into a swarm of other ducks and got instantly killed.

The graphics and soundeffects are great. Both are really simple but they match together and the sfx actually made me laugh. :smile:

A simple but fun game, good job!
davidthelazar
06. May 2017 · 03:47 UTC
I laughed so hard at the text in this. You did so much with so little text. The gameplay is simple, but surprisingly fun. There's more strategy to it than it seems, trying to sneak up behind the ducks before they can aggro you. I found myself trying over and over again to improve my score, hacking all the other non-sentient ducks.

Great game!
davidthelazar
06. May 2017 · 03:49 UTC
Oh man, I realized I payed the first time without sound, so I tried it again unmuted. The sounds cracked me up too.
BitOfGold
14. May 2017 · 08:38 UTC
Wow, this is addictive and fun!!!

sfx and ambient/dark music is really good.

My high score is 460

If you have the time please rate my little game here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/three-of-you
pascalman
15. May 2017 · 11:50 UTC
Fine game. Good job!
pschichtel
15. May 2017 · 13:10 UTC
It's funny for a moment, but gets monotone pretty quickly. Then again it's hard to get a lot of mechanics and content into a compo entry. So solid entry either way!
Antti Haavikko
15. May 2017 · 15:19 UTC
Funny stuff. From the description and screenshots, I was expecting different kind of hacking. Or maybe it still is. So meta.

Small delay on death would be nice to prevent skipping the end screen. Also would be cool to clear the starting area from other ducks. Quite ofter I would start a new game just to get whached on the face several times instantly before I could even move.

By the way, what was your own HS?
cppchriscpp
15. May 2017 · 16:44 UTC
I love games with simple mechanics like this; they tend to be really polished in most areas, and quite fun to play. This was no exception! The intro text was also great. Seems like I'm really rehashing other comments, so I'll stop there.

I did manage to get a high score of 470 though!
🎤 neontropics
15. May 2017 · 17:10 UTC
@antti-haavikko: my current high score is 2010. I recommend a mix of careful maneuvering and dumb duck luck.

Delay on death definitely needs to be added yeah. I thought of adding a bit of breathing room for the starting area but I kinda like the pond simulation being a brutal and unfair virtual reality...
feltip
15. May 2017 · 19:57 UTC
Real simple but love it. Graphics and sound effects on point. really like this great work :)
nicruo
15. May 2017 · 22:23 UTC
High score: 870. Duck love: N/A

Nice concept and mood. I would like a more close hit box for my duck body, so that I could dodge more the evil ducks.
DiegoCTorguet
15. May 2017 · 22:33 UTC
After some slow paced games I find this game entertaining because of how fast it is to be played and replayed. In the feedback part I would recommend you having a safe place to start the game and being able to kill several ducks with the same attack if they are in the attack point. Good job.
madjackmcmad
16. May 2017 · 04:03 UTC
1200 pts, where's the leaderboards? :D

Cute game! Sneaking up behind stuff reminds me of my TF2 spy days. Those are good feels. I enjoyed playing the game.

I said to my streamviewers I would write you a STERNLY WORDED LETTER about having X be the action button when WASD moves you around:

Dear Sir and/or Madam,

We live in a civilization. We have rules. Please do not use X for action when WASD is the movement method.

Signed,

Stern.

edit: The fact that you said

ANYWAYS USE ARROW KEYS TO MOVE

X TO HACK

is irrelevant! I think.
Apostrophe
16. May 2017 · 04:06 UTC
Interesting concept. There was a bit of a learning curve, but the hints after dying helped. The music was eerily relaxing. I ended up with a score of 1120. :)
Budaniel
16. May 2017 · 05:17 UTC
Fun and simple arcade-style game. Those ducks were brutal! What were the little green cubes littered around, though? I couldn't seem to interact with them at all.
Tuomo
16. May 2017 · 16:29 UTC
While this is really funny and quite addicting game, I was left missing some kind feedback from getting hit by the other ducks. And I kept constantly skipping the game over screen as I was furiously pressing x.
phi
16. May 2017 · 19:47 UTC
Silly gameplay, silly graphics, silly sounds -- in other words, coherent game design. :P
I lost interest quickly, but it seems like you could get quite good at it with a little practice. A player can get skill and yet the rules of the game are very simple; that's very good for a little casual game like this. Now put in a leaderboard and realtime multiplayer and this game would be tons of fun! :smile: Nicely done.
Monty
16. May 2017 · 21:22 UTC
Solid entry! Well worth the download - and played out of the box (contrary to many Unity entries). Loved the simplicity in the effective graphics and audio.
madmaw
18. May 2017 · 23:15 UTC
I really liked the audio and the inanity of this game. And the quacking. In spite of initial appearances, there is a strategy to it.
Kate Kligman
19. May 2017 · 03:56 UTC
- The intro was solid and worked. The game is called ducktron, but it wasn't until I started playing past the intro that it hit me the game was going to be about ducks. :)
- Love the chess-board feel of the game.
- Great job on the music and FX too.
- The gameplay is fun and pecking feels satisfying.

Would love to play a more fleshed out version of this post-comp!