Advanced Battalion by designernap

[raw]
made by designernap for LD 43 (COMPO)

Push your troops forward to take out the objective! But be warned, some areas will require sacrifice to move forward. Rank up and become stronger. Be careful who you sacrifice!

Control Pad Recommended

Left stick move

Right Trigger Shoot

Right Shoulder Swap Soldiers

A to Jump

Controls.png

Keyboard -

WASD movement

Space - Jump

Left Mouse - Shoot

E - Swap Soldier

R - Reset Game

C - Credits

ESC - Quit

SCreen1.png

Uploaded version contains bugs and is rough around the edges but I ran out of time so will leave it in it's current state. There is a "Post Compo" version that contains new areas, fixes and polish that I didn't have time for, but please only judge the entry on the original.

Ratings

Overall 176th 3.583⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Fun 227th 3.317⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 290th 3.083⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Theme 234th 3.533⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 72th 3.942⭐ 62🧑‍⚖️
Audio 149th 3.316⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Mood 148th 3.424⭐ 61🧑‍⚖️
Given 57🗳️ 76🗨️

Feedback

Yaroslav Kravtsov
03. Dec 2018 · 23:25 UTC
I like this low poly style and casual controls. There is plenty of space for making a puzzle game. Only one thing concerns me - each time I need to run the whole level from the beginning.
🎤 designernap
03. Dec 2018 · 23:28 UTC
Thanks @yaroslav-kravtsov and yes! this is a good point. I added checkpoints in the post compo version but I simply ran out of time for the main submission :) Now when you play, the helicopter drops new troops half way into the level. Thanks for playing!
Nakami
03. Dec 2018 · 23:34 UTC
A bit to repetitive at the end.
I know this is a feature but the need to sacrifice soldier on purple door is very frustrating.
I like the control they are smooth and easy to handle.
And finally the I see that you push effort on art en design who are cool.
🎤 designernap
04. Dec 2018 · 12:30 UTC
@nakami Thanks for playing. Yes, the level design and mechanics suffered when I ran out of time. It it is any help, I fixed a lot of that in the post compo version :)
Odlog Oglog
04. Dec 2018 · 19:18 UTC
Very nice game :)
🎤 designernap
04. Dec 2018 · 19:38 UTC
Thank you @odlog-oglog On my way to check out your game this evening :)
Tamas Turi
04. Dec 2018 · 21:17 UTC
Nice job, I liked it! :)
kruemelkeksfan
04. Dec 2018 · 21:48 UTC
That is really awesome! And even a compo game, I wish I could make something this fancy looking alone in 48h :O only two downsides I noticed were: a) the weird control scheme, hitting enemies was really hard, either enable mouse-aim (could make everything too easy) or turn down the rotation sensitivity b) letting people walk through the whole level over and over, just to get some fresh meat to sacrifice is not the most exiting thing to do. But seeing every soldier who ~~was mindlessly killed~~ gave his life to protect the world from evil, again in the endscreen was worth it.
Jannick Larsen
04. Dec 2018 · 21:49 UTC
Awesome game! i love the sacrifice with the laser shields!
the controles are a bit weird since it moves right when i press W. i didn't test if the controller was better though..
i like the game!
Jupiter_Hadley
05. Dec 2018 · 00:50 UTC
Fun game! I included it in my compilation video series of games from the Ludum Dare, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/qbVCRHP5Rcg
velvetlobster
05. Dec 2018 · 02:50 UTC
nice effects! wish there was a way to shoot up though
BoopsGames
05. Dec 2018 · 06:41 UTC
I dug the game design. It ran slow on my machine, might have been the full screen.

I also really like the models! Solid compo entry!
🎤 designernap
05. Dec 2018 · 11:08 UTC
Wow! Lots of comments to wake up to! Good morning everyone and thanks for playing!

Thank you @tamas-turi !

@kruemelkeksfan Glad you saw the end screen :D Yes, the controls work much better on game pad than keyboard. I need to work on the keyboard mouse support.

@jannick-larsen yeah, by having the isometric 3/4 angle the movement is transposed at a 45 angle... which is a bit odd. But yeah, better on pad. Needs work on the PC keyooard side. Thanks for playing though! :D

@jupiter-hadley Hi Jupi! Thanks for playing!

@velvetlobster Thank you! yeah, the plan was to make it more of a puzzler about getting to different levels, but... ran out of time! ;)

Thank you @boopsgames glad you enjoyed!
Captain Tyx
05. Dec 2018 · 12:45 UTC
Interesting game here !
The graphical part is really well made, with a good staging (the war ambiance is well constructed) and with a really good level design. The war then, was a good choice to include the sacrifice theme, with expandables soldiers you have to waste in order to advance.

I however had some things who bothered me
- I would have liked to rotate my character faster
- Checkpoints would have been great in order to not doind the whole level each time
- The AI could have simply been improved by rotating in direction of the player
- Its a bit frustrating to not being able to shoot ennemies above.

I think the game is really more than correct for a Game jam game made in 48 hours by one person, I really think with more time and people it could have a lot of potential.

Great job then ! :-)
Tymus
05. Dec 2018 · 12:58 UTC
Hey, nice cinematic work, with the intro and the level design :)

find it a bit too bad that when you go through the door the other soldiers don't come with you, it makes the whole thing really slow, but other than that it's a really nice entry :D
Fylipp
05. Dec 2018 · 15:33 UTC
Nice concept! Sadly the keyboard controls are very hard to deal with.
🎤 designernap
05. Dec 2018 · 15:54 UTC
Great feedback @captain-tyx and I totally agree. The post compo version fixes some of this and thank you for the kind words! :)

@tymus Thanks! That intro took me about 20 minutes to make and added SO much to the experience :D

@fylipp Yes, the keyboard controls are very much lacking. It is better on gamepad, but that is no excuse. I will do better for keyboard support next time! :)
Bugord
05. Dec 2018 · 17:42 UTC
Graphics are cool, sad that there are no checkpoint (or i couldn't find it :D) but anyway, game is fun to play
Codesity
05. Dec 2018 · 18:56 UTC
looks interessting and its in 3D. This is from my perspektiv really cool. Good Work!
🎤 designernap
05. Dec 2018 · 21:12 UTC
Thanks @bugord and yes you are right.. no checkpoint in the submission. I added one for the post compo version though! :)

@codesity Thanks! I enjoyed making it :)
Amour Du Pain
05. Dec 2018 · 23:35 UTC
Hi Gary, there's no simple way to tell you how impressed I am by your work. I've been doing each Ludum since the 41st (that's not a lot, but I plan to miss none of them from now) and each time I'm just puzzled by the quantity and quality of content you manage to create in 48h.
For this game I'll point the same negative points as others : controls and camera are quite rigid (I should probably test with a controller later though) and the lack of checkpoints makes the compo version a little bit frustrating.
But the overall experience still feels so polished, from the animated menu to the end, and the design suits the theme really well. Well done !
shiqichuan
06. Dec 2018 · 04:36 UTC
Good game! I also found it's a little hard to control, but overall It's a really good game including good art and music.
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 09:19 UTC
Hey @amour-du-pain ! How are you doing? :D Thank you for the kind words. I really do put a lot of effort in and try to push myself. Minimal sleep etc so I am really glad that it is noticed and appreciated :) I will go check our your entry shortly! and yeah, ran out of time on the balancing front and the controls and PC versions needed a bit more love. Thank you for the support and playing though! See you next LD!
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 09:21 UTC
Thanks @shiqichuan and yes, that seems to be the general feel. Next time I should spend more focus on the controls for PC and mechanics rather than other areas... the grave system was probably not needed for example! ;D
merdeboi
06. Dec 2018 · 11:09 UTC
Nice graphics, fx and sounds. Was a bit of a long way to run to in the end, but overall well done.
BloooBird
06. Dec 2018 · 11:49 UTC
Great game entry again! I really enjoyed the graphics and feel of the game, I only played the compo version so the one thing I could complain about was the running from the start of the map, other than that almost everything felt well in this game, definetly one of my favourites this ludum dare
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 11:51 UTC
Thanks @merdeboi yeah.. a little too long. Needed checkpoints!

Thank you @blooobird ! I am off to play Devilman Tossbaby now! :D
julianeder33
06. Dec 2018 · 12:33 UTC
Great game! What you did in the short amount of time is very impressive! Especialy how many Assets you got! Very cool Game.
Arvejeitor
06. Dec 2018 · 13:34 UTC
Good work there, nice graphic style!
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 13:35 UTC
Thanks @julianeder33 ! I tend to give it as much as I can :D
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 13:37 UTC
Thanks @arvejeitor! I am not sure I pick a style other than "what I can make in the time" but I am glad you like it :)
Julian Creutz
06. Dec 2018 · 14:39 UTC
A bit slow paced for my taste and I couldn't adapt to the isometric controls, but nice graphics and neat concept. Liked it overall!
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 14:54 UTC
Thanks @julian-creutz . The idea was to speed up as they rank up... which I did in the post compo version. I think I should have changed the base speed when I realised I was out of time :)
AwiX
06. Dec 2018 · 15:45 UTC
An interesting game with a kind of mechanics. I put a rating) Please rating and me, thanks in advance)
Wojciech Bruski
06. Dec 2018 · 16:07 UTC
Great job mate! this graveyard at the end... love it
scf
06. Dec 2018 · 16:10 UTC
Interesting idea, nice execution, however:
1. I don't like the WASD control with this isometry view, it's difficult to understand which way's which.
2. It becomes repetitive pretty fast. I understand that's part of the mechanics but maybe something could be done to make it faster.
Alexey Cherkasov
06. Dec 2018 · 16:12 UTC
I'm suprised how you made it without help :D And in just 2 days!! Fantastic work, controls, graphics and movings are pretty nice, only returning to beginning from next levels is annoying a little bit
🎤 designernap
06. Dec 2018 · 16:21 UTC
Thanks @awix , on my way to your game now!

@wojciech-bruski Thank you :D I am not sure how many people got there, but I am glad someone did!

@scf yes, it works better on pad, but agreed :) tried to address this in the post compo version

@alexey-cherkasov Thank you! I do try :D
Vlad Ilisan
06. Dec 2018 · 17:49 UTC
Cool game!
Floata_1
06. Dec 2018 · 18:26 UTC
cosy controls and fun game
Zarqus99
06. Dec 2018 · 19:17 UTC
The only problem it's the no-checkpoint. For the rest goodjob
andre-606
06. Dec 2018 · 19:18 UTC
Great game, especially for Compo. I kinda wish the enemies were a little smarter, because by the end of the game it becomes really easy to kill them by sniping them from afar or shooting them while jumping.
s4m4di
06. Dec 2018 · 20:30 UTC
can't believe it's in compo mode
LiamIsUnlucky
06. Dec 2018 · 21:37 UTC
This was the best game I've played so far in the compo I like the music the sfx like the helicopter and the bullets and the graphics are good but the art is alright. Some big flaws I'd pick out (not bugs) are that when the helicopter comes it spawns the soldiers right back at the start and so you have to move across lots of nothing every time you have to sacrifice especially not good with the slow move speed, the aiming is also quick tricky I used a controller and would have preferred twin stick controls where the left stick is movement and the right stick is aim, this isn't too bad though since the enemies are so easy to kill and the only times I'd die is when I have to sacrifice a soldier but if you continue this game in the future I'd recommend switching out the controls to what I mentioned. This game is great albeit some of the game play elements aren't up to par but the length of time you had to do this in totally excuses it.
teo989
06. Dec 2018 · 22:52 UTC
Well done man! The graphics are awesome. I enjoyed playing the game. Sacrificing mechanic feels exactly how it should - I felt disappointed that my trusty dude had to die which is how it is meant to be :) I would make a few slight changes:

1) I accidentally pressed Esc and it killed my progress. I would make it double tap or something

2) I would try to make the AI smarter but it works fine as it is

3) Mabye Sync movement with camera angle - camera faces top left so when walking forward (w) the character would also move to top left corner.

But these are just tiny details. The game feels really alive and I enjoyed playing it very much :) Good Job!
JCPD
06. Dec 2018 · 23:30 UTC
Great game ! I love the shaded and the post process you put in this low poly style ! Nice respect of the sacrifice theme too, best game I’ve seen in the compo;)
morriss
07. Dec 2018 · 04:58 UTC
Really nice game and great pixel art graphics!I like this low poly style and casual controls too.
🎤 designernap
07. Dec 2018 · 10:25 UTC
Wow! goodmorning all! where did all these ratings come from?! :D ok, one by one...

Thank you @vlad-ilisan and @floata-1 !

@zarqus99 yes, agreed. Fixed in the post compo version... but should have seen that sooner :)

@andre-606 yeah, another area that fell short in my entry. Totally agree :)

@s4m4di yep! all on my own :) if it helps, I sleep very little over the weekend, take a day before to rest up and prepare and two days after to recover. I really give it my all! :D

Thank you @liamisunlucky for the kind words. You are completely right about checkpoints and I should have done that in the time I had. It is better on pad yes, and many people have mentioned PC controls are bad for this game. Thank you for the feedback though as this shapes how I will do future compos :)

@teo989 that is really interesting about esc. I had never thought of that before. I play so many games that don't allow you to quit that I focussed on making sure you could, rather than how. This is something I will change. Thank you!

Thanks for the kind words @jcpd and @morriss

I am not heading off to check out all your awesome entries!

reading all this feedback is great btw. Thank you for taking the time to play and leave a comment.

Have a great day! :D
madjackmcmad
07. Dec 2018 · 21:42 UTC
I pressed C in game and thought I beat it, but actually it's the credits sequence.

Couldn't figure out how to shoot with the keyboard. Was the goal to just run and jump into purple fences? Enemies didn't seem to shoot at me and if I got by bullets it didn't seem like anything happened.
Team Infernus
08. Dec 2018 · 00:59 UTC
I quite enjoyed this. I thought the idea behind it was very solid. I played with the keyboard, so the controls were a bit clunky, but I could see them being better on controllers. As some others mentioned, the pacing and level design could be improved, but I think in the end the core gameplay was good.
Truc_e
08. Dec 2018 · 02:56 UTC
I love the aesthetic, the title screen and the intractable environment were amazing. The sound was really repetitive to me and the controls seemed a little bit strange and unnatural to me but it was fun to play!
masterkrepta
09. Dec 2018 · 20:12 UTC
This was a really fun game to play. The graphics have an almost LEGO feel to it that makes this feel like a fun casual squad based shooter.
🎤 designernap
10. Dec 2018 · 09:16 UTC
Hey everyone! thanks for the comments and ratings :) I will go check out your games if I haven't already.

@madjackmcmad yes! this is a common theme now. I realised this when @teo989 suggested I make esc a "double tap", so for all future jams I will make quitting and credits a "Hold to progress" with a timer bar I think :) YOu have also made me realise I Completely forgot to explain the PC shooting! it is on the mouse! My mistake and I apologise for missing that out. Updating the header above now!

@team-infernus yes. Overwhelming response that "Pc controls are bad" I will make that better in future jams :) Thank you for playing!

@truc-e Thanks for the kind comments! Sound was thrown together in the last couple of hours and for sure needed balancing. Next time!

@masterkrepta Wow! thank you! I hadn't really looked at it through that lens before so that is exciting to hear. I will take that as a huge compliment.

Thanks for playing everyone!
Antoine Vion
10. Dec 2018 · 21:23 UTC
Hi !, Nice game, I like the concept and the mechanic, it was fun ;)

The mood is so cool!

very nice job ;p
🎤 designernap
12. Dec 2018 · 18:20 UTC
Thank you @antoine-vion ! glad you liked it :)
wisstopher
16. Dec 2018 · 18:11 UTC
I had fun when I played it at yours. I would have liked the spawning to push up with the player as it was a chore when the player had to restart from the beginning, I was sacrificing my time there :wink: . The shooting was also sometimes a little fiddly. Other than that it is a great entry! :smiley:
I need to revisit the updated version when I have a moment.