LudumData

Pet Watch by Skyward

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

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GAMEPLAY

  • Earn a living by taking dog sitting jobs in this pet care simulator! Use your phone to take jobs, buy stuff for the pets, pay bills and even listen to music! All the buttons(some apps are just for show) on the phone work, hold down the power button to close the game.

  • Make sure that your dogs are not hungry and are happy. Make sure to clean up after them by dragging their poos to the trash or they will get sick.

  • The more pets you sit, the crazier the dogs will be and the longer you'll have to watch them for.

  • Make sure the dog's have beds or they'll get sad.

  • Pulling your hair out with dogs running everywhere? Put one or two on beds to have them sit still. Just don't have them sit for too long though or they'll start to get sad.

SCREENSHOTS The phone doesn't actually do that in game, that's something wrong with the .gif PetWatchGif2.gif img1.png img3.png img4.png

CONTROLS:

  • In game, make sure to read the Help app!

CREDITS Skyward : Code, Music, SFX

ZDoctor : Music

JinJou : Music

v1.1 Fixed a bunch of bugs, fixed not being able to pay your bills, updated help app

Windows https://captainquantumelephantman.itch.io/petwatch
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/pet-watch

Ratings

Overall 1022th 2.889⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 966th 2.778⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 486th 3.25⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 413th 3.611⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 981th 2.611⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 560th 2.917⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 599th 2.861⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 902th 2.806⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 29🗳️ 5🗨️

Feedback

Dorblin7z7
06. Dec 2017 · 03:38 UTC
Fun idea, but the tutorial needs a lot of work. I couldn't figure out how to feed the dogs until I had killed about 10 of them :(
Gets pretty hectic!
🎤 Skyward
06. Dec 2017 · 04:10 UTC
@dorblin7z7 Thanks for the feedback. Explaining how to play is one of the things that I'm worse at in game making. I'll update it so other people don't kill 10+ dogs haha. :)
Dorblin7z7
06. Dec 2017 · 05:46 UTC
It's hard work to make the game easy to play! :)
velvetlobster
07. Dec 2017 · 00:04 UTC
I liked the idea of the cell phone in the corner. This has a pretty complex system, but with a lot of potential I see.
CallumLTurner
07. Dec 2017 · 00:08 UTC
Game is ambitious and love the use of a phone as the method of implementing the in-game menus. I feel like the game could benefit from being slowed down a little at least at the beginning, but I could just be bad at it :P.
Congrats on the game!
Goat Toaster Games
07. Dec 2017 · 00:27 UTC
I really loved the cell phone idea, especially with the music app!

I agree that the game could be a bit slower at first. The dogs die a little bit too fast to begin with, might be better if they took a bit longer to die and then as the game progresses they die faster to increase difficulty.

Really great little concept!
🎤 Skyward
07. Dec 2017 · 00:34 UTC
@callumlturner What do you mean it could be slower?
@goat-toaster-games They start to die if you don't feed them, they don't have beds, there's too much poo, or if they're sitting for too long. Were the dog's randomly dying?
Marc Jones
07. Dec 2017 · 00:43 UTC
Really clean graphics and decent audio. Having your interactions with the world happen via your phone is a nice touch, and could easily be expanded if you wanted to take the game further. This might be a design decision, but I found the interface a little bit clunky. Having to go to the store to buy items, then back to your home page, then to the storage page, then use it, was a little frustrating. Perhaps having the items appear in a room in the house when bought would make it flow better. Overall, an interesting simulation game and impressive given the time constraints.
settings
07. Dec 2017 · 00:50 UTC
Ok, cool game! The apps are pretty nice, and I think it was a cute way to tackle the theme haha

Take care with the sfx: most barkings (if not all of them) are clipping at the end of the audio file, you have to make a small fade out at the end of the files. At first I was mistaking the bed for a steak, and in the beginning I thought they were hungry, but it's probably just me (you even explain it in the tutorial).

In my opinion there should be a key shortcut to getting and turning on the phone. I understand it makes the game considerably easier, but I found it very tedious to have to click on the phone to use it. And finally, maybe place some light on the outdoors? I lost several dogs when they went outside because I couldnt see them T_T
SlavicGames
09. Dec 2017 · 10:03 UTC
I'm completely lost :) Dogs are dying too fast, phone is good idea but UI ergonomy is missing. With few changes what people have suggested it would be much more playable.
🎤 Skyward
09. Dec 2017 · 20:55 UTC
@slavicgames If the dog's are dying right at the beginning it's probably because they don't have beds. They tell you what you need to give them with the emotes. For the beds, go into the storage app and click the bed then click where to place it. Sorry, I'm didn't really have time to do a tutorial but the help app should answer most questions...
Dj Depressive
09. Dec 2017 · 23:13 UTC
My virus protection said that your game was a virus, but I decided to ignore it's warning (you should fix that). Fun game, good work!
🎤 Skyward
10. Dec 2017 · 00:08 UTC
@dj-depressive I've noticed that most games made with Gamemaker Studio 2 for Ludum Dare have that problem. I have no idea how to fix it. Help would be appreciated. :)
Acr515
10. Dec 2017 · 04:16 UTC
Pretty cool game! I really like the phone for the outlet of the menu. The game was way too fast for me though, I ended up killing two dogs without being able to figure out what to do with them. This is still pretty neat though, good job!
SaraMartins
10. Dec 2017 · 15:01 UTC
This was a nice idea and a different spin on the theme. However the dogs die way too fast, so the game should be a bit slower at the start and then gradually increase in difficulty.

The art was nice and the phone a cool idea, however the lettering was way too small on my screen to be readable, specially the help app. (I couldn't increase the size of the window).

Overall good concept, with some fixes might be more enjoyable. :)
UmSingeloPugManco
18. Dec 2017 · 13:37 UTC
I don't know what engine you made your game in, but I'd like to try it. Can't you make a Linux or web version? xoxo
🎤 Skyward
19. Dec 2017 · 00:53 UTC
@umsingelopugmanco I made it in GameMaker Studio 2 and I didn't pay to be able to export to Linux or Web versions, sorry!