Shipshift Pronto by KhaoTom
Shipshift Pronto
Created by Edwin DeNicholas (@edenicholas)
for Ludum Dare 35 - Shapeshift.
Featuring artwork by Patrick Webster (@tapretsbew)
Synopsis:
* A shmup where you change the shape of your firing pattern and hitbox
formation.
CONTROLS:
* Move: Arrow keys, WASD, Left Analog Stick on gamepad.
* Shoot: Z key, Left Ctrl, Left Mouse Button, or A button on gamepad.
* Bomb: X key, Left Alt, Right Mouse Button, or B button on gamepad.
* Shift Shape: C key, Left Shift, Spacebar, or X button on gamepad.
* Pause: Escape key, Start button on gamepad.
* Quit: Pause the game and press Q key, Q key again on title screen.
SAVE GAME:
* Your high score is saved.
EXIT GAME:
* Press ALT+F4 (Command-Q) to quit
* Pause the game and press Q key, Q key again on title screen.
Font: Samuel Reynolds http://www.spinwardstars.com/scrfonts/lcdmono.html
Created by Edwin DeNicholas (@edenicholas)
for Ludum Dare 35 - Shapeshift.
Featuring artwork by Patrick Webster (@tapretsbew)
Synopsis:
* A shmup where you change the shape of your firing pattern and hitbox
formation.
CONTROLS:
* Move: Arrow keys, WASD, Left Analog Stick on gamepad.
* Shoot: Z key, Left Ctrl, Left Mouse Button, or A button on gamepad.
* Bomb: X key, Left Alt, Right Mouse Button, or B button on gamepad.
* Shift Shape: C key, Left Shift, Spacebar, or X button on gamepad.
* Pause: Escape key, Start button on gamepad.
* Quit: Pause the game and press Q key, Q key again on title screen.
SAVE GAME:
* Your high score is saved.
EXIT GAME:
* Press ALT+F4 (Command-Q) to quit
* Pause the game and press Q key, Q key again on title screen.
Font: Samuel Reynolds http://www.spinwardstars.com/scrfonts/lcdmono.html
| Standalone Download | https://khaotom.itch.io/shipshiftpronto |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=7425 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 45% | 1350 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.58 | 239 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.39 | 269 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.38 | 314 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.63 | 370 |
| Humor(Jam) | 3.52 | 120 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.88 | 68 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.55 | 224 |
| Theme(Jam) | 4.00 | 91 |
I had a bug though, which made the game somewhat easy. ;-) http://i.imgur.com/wrzovRe.png
my only criticisms: wish i didnt have to re watch the tutorial when I died. At first it gave me time to check out my postures. After a while this made doing several runs kind of annoying.
Still, a solid entry. With some careful balancing and a more lively art style this thing could go places. Also, maybe even consider a two player mode where you both dynamically control the posturing and two guns/hearts each.
Nice, man ( or lady )
This is a really solid entry, so let me mention a few tiny things that dinged me while I was playing.
Others mentioned the repeated tutorial but I agree that was the only really big one. I do want to say the tutorial was well designed in the way that it forced me to use the ability to start, though.
Next, I really like the visual look but maybe the projectiles and the hearts could "pop" a bit more - I kind of lost them when the screen got hectic. The projectiles currently have this dark purple which is a very low contrast against the dark blue background, so they're the first thing my eye loses track of when they should be the last. The hearts are also kind of a desaturated fleshy pink and could stand a little more intensity.
Lastly, I had a little trouble making heavy use of the main mechanic. I liked that I was *forced* to by the tutorial, but I would have enjoyed the game even more if I would have *wanted* to use it more. Instead, my best runs were when I used the vertical column to get past the tutorial, and then changed to the horizontal column and played the whole game that way.
I am not totally certain what the main friction here was. I think it was learning... I knew I could push that button and change shape, but because there were three shapes it required a learning phase before I could internalize what shape would come out when I hit the button. There was this combination: In a firefight I was afraid to hit the button because if I did I wasn't sure what would happen, and I might lose control and die quickly and have to do the tutorial again. So I just didn't hit the button. But then I didn't learn the button. So I never got over this really.
I don't know if that makes sense... And I will say that it's not only this game. A ton of shape-shifting games offered three shapes but I had this problem of learning the button 'shift-order' with every one. So maybe it's me!
But I wonder if having only two shapes would let the player integrate it into their play easier.
Anyway that's a lot of nitpicks but it's not to say I didn't like it! It's because I did like it that I put a bunch of feedback.
pkenney, I totally get what you mean about not wanting to shift. I actually felt the same way while testing it. I think ultimately I just didn't get it to work as well as I had imagined (which to be honest was early Saturday morning as I groggily made my way to the toilet). Better balancing, especially shape of player and enemy spawns might help, though it's doubtful I will revisit this. Thanks for the detailed feedback!
Interesting idea and concept! had a lot of fun... would be better with a little bit of game balancing... game dynamics is nice!