Yet Another Turn Based Bullet Hell by jf1989

[raw]
made by jf1989 for LD 41 (COMPO)

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In the end, I ran out of time for the following tasks: - hand making some levels (I noticed a couple of cool things I would have liked to have put in hand made levels). - sound

All in all, though, I'd say this went pretty well! I'd best submit now - it's edging close to finishing time! I hope you've all had a good Ludum Dare and are looking forward to playing the other entries ^_^!

Ratings

Overall 287th 3.483⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Fun 238th 3.466⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 213th 3.621⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 287th 3.724⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 369th 3.19⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Humor 489th 2.192⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 570th 2.537⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 39🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Aarre Entertainment
23. Apr 2018 · 11:32 UTC
This is the second turn based bullet hell I've tried and this one is in my opinion better. Very well executed and polished, definitely some potential here and I have to say that this is also one of the better games in here. The puzzle element works extremely well here and this proves that even the conflict between the genres can be turned into a strength.
Tutti Ankka
23. Apr 2018 · 11:37 UTC
Well polished entry! Couldn't finish the hardest one on my own, but it was great fun!
Noxbuds
23. Apr 2018 · 11:38 UTC
Overall interesting game, though it feels like it needs some sound. I like how you have to think about which tiles next to you will have a bullet in them next turn, certainly an interesting variation of a puzzle game.
Radical Dog
23. Apr 2018 · 11:59 UTC
This game is seriously difficult! I think the next step would be to hand-pick some generated levels to give a linear experience. My first 'easy' level, the solution was to wait in one spot for about 15 turns before making a very specific dash for the finish - not so easy!
ryzy27
23. Apr 2018 · 18:58 UTC
You call that easy?! :D I've tried several levels and I couldn't finish single one.

It's a cool idea, but I think that if you hand-picked a few nice levels instead of focusing on procedural generation it would be better for noob players as myself. However work put into making this game is amazing. It must have been a tiresome weekend for you.

Great game and idea, no bugs that I've seen. Cheers!
🎤 jf1989
23. Apr 2018 · 19:31 UTC
@aarre-entertainment hi - thanks for the feedback! It turned out better than expected, so hopefully I'll be playing around with the concept a bit in the coming future ^_^.

@tutti-ankka thanks! I would never have guessed anyone would be calling one of my LD entries well polished one day! That's a personal milestone

@noxbuds Yeah, it's definitely a bit odd to have no sound. However, at the same time, I did ask myself what the sound would actually _be_. I mean, am I really going to make it play an explosion sound basically every turn? I think that would be annoying very quickly... That said, the reason there was no sound was more time constraints than anything else - otherwise I'd definitely have put in UI click sounds.

@radical-dog That seems to be one of the major problems with this - I'm aiming to write a post about it this weekend or so. Anyway - I know why it is almost all of the puzzles have in their solution waiting around in the same square for a long time, and how to eliminate it. Unfortunately, I choose to write the puzzle generator _before_ the UI, and only wrote the code to view a solution because there was a bug and it was clear the best way to tackle it was with visual output. Then it became clear why the puzzles had this solution - but there wasn't the time to fix the problem. I aim to fix this in a post LD version, though! And yes, the easy levels aren't easy XD.

@ryzy27 Hah, I don't really call that easy - but that was about as easy as the level generator I wrote could output! The only thing I could easily vary to get still get a decent-ish puzzle was the grid size. I definitely agree with you about hand made levels - the problem with doing that for the LD though was that I didn't know enough about how the game would work out in practice! Whilst making it I only decided at about 4pm on Sunday that it should be turn based (!) if it had turned out the puzzles were really easy it would have been rhythm based. Also, I know of (at least) one bug to fix ;-).
Kultisti
23. Apr 2018 · 21:10 UTC
One of the best puzzle like games I have played this jam! Love the "show solution"-option. Overall pretty enjoyable, maybe a little bit hard tho :D
kromeboy
24. Apr 2018 · 00:52 UTC
I thought that the easy level was supposed to be easy :-D
Great game! It would be great to have some sort of seed to replay and share levels.
🎤 jf1989
24. Apr 2018 · 06:33 UTC
@kultisti - yeah - it definitely turned out that way! Hopefully I'll be able to tune something later with more time :-)

@kromeboy - that's a great idea! Hopefully I'll put that into a later version
MrSchlag2
24. Apr 2018 · 17:34 UTC
Indeed, this puzzle game is really hard, even in easy mode !
Mixing those two genres create a great game as if they were not incompatible at all !
fashionbatman
24. Apr 2018 · 17:43 UTC
Awesome idea! I really had to think about every single action I took. Great job!
Talops
24. Apr 2018 · 19:47 UTC
Wait, a turn-based/puzzle game that actually keeps me hooked? I am seriously impressed.
The concept is excellent and could well serve for a larger game, really well done!
Come and play my danmaku too! :D
🎤 jf1989
25. Apr 2018 · 13:00 UTC
@mrschlag2 - hah, yeah, apparently I failed on the theme there XD!

@fashionbatman - thanks very much, glad you liked it!

@talops - thanks! Your game is on my list to check out when I get home from work today ^_^, and yeah - I'm hoping to try adding more to this concept/start tuning things later - it turned out much better than I would have guessed!
fazz
25. Apr 2018 · 15:44 UTC
Great design! Might just be me but it could do with an easier setting to build it up a bit, I found it quite challenging < a good thing though. I agree with some of the other comments that a bit of sound would've added a lot to this, just some low bit synth effects from bfxr would do the trick.

It's a shame you didn't have time to hand craft a few levels (as is the way with Ludum Dare). I found a few of the solutions involved moving a square, then waiting for 10-15 turns, then moving a few more squares. Perhaps the proc gen algorithm could be tweaked to reject certain level designs if the solution involves sitting around watching for most of the level. But considering everything, a really great game!
taviandir
25. Apr 2018 · 17:00 UTC
Im super impressed by the solution bot! All generated levels were WAY TOO HARD though, even on "easy". Couldnt finish a single one, and the suggested answer was like professional chess player level complex, haha.
sh1rogane
25. Apr 2018 · 17:09 UTC
Holy hell this is hard. I could manage easy but the other was too much for me.
Good idea and executed good. Has potential as a puzzle game with a few more mechanics and a more gentle difficulty curve :thumbsup:
KunoNoOni
25. Apr 2018 · 21:52 UTC
I enjoy puzzles games so I was right at home with this one. I completely understand not having enough time. I ran into that problem myself. I agree the generated levels are a bit hard but a little tweaking can fix that issue. Congrats on completing and submitting your game!
Schuster
26. Apr 2018 · 21:00 UTC
Nice game, definitely mixes in with the puzzle genres too.
Hilvon
26. Apr 2018 · 22:43 UTC
Wow... That was an interesting experience.

A lot like playing chess. When you have to keep track of what tiles are being threatened on the next turn. Managed to beat easy and medium... :smiley:
tomdeal
26. Apr 2018 · 22:52 UTC
Ha, that is a great game. I Really liked it! Two minor things: Maybe the "easy" level could be a bit easier, and you could add a visual cue at the cannon front indicating that there will be a shot next round (in addition to the squares below). I had some problems in the beginning to understand why there suddenly was an arrow in the field next to the cannon. Good game!
oneseedfruit
27. Apr 2018 · 16:07 UTC
Pretty awesome puzzle game! I can see myself playing a game like this a lot!