LudumData

Alien Swarm by oxrock

[raw]
made by oxrock for LD 39 (COMPO)

Alien Swarm

The world's gone to hell and you're the lone survivor against a never ending swarm of aliens. You might not make it out of this alive but you're gonna give em hell before you go!

judging game link: https://oxrock.itch.io/alien-swarm

updated game link: https://oxrock.itch.io/alien-swarm-updated

Explanation:

Aliens can drop fuel cans. Collect the fuel cans and refill your generator to power your turrets. Turrets increase fuel consumption while activated. You're going to need to use them to survive but you also have to make that fuel last because you're gonna need it! Generator health and fuel bars are on the top right. If it runs out of health or fuel the turrets shut off. Add in more fuel and you can activate turrets again as long as it still has health. If the generator is dead, you're on your own.

LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR SCORE! I'd love to know how far people get. I'm wondering if ANYONE has even seen all the enemies.

Screenshots: closeEncountersShot.png

alienshipsShot.png

controls: * movement = wasd * fire = left mouse click * interact = e * escape toggles hide mouse * mouse y axis tilts the gun up and down * mouse x axis rotates player

tools used: * unity * GIMP * Audacity * BFXR

source: https://github.com/oxrock/LD39

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/alien-swarm

Ratings

Overall 473th 3.063⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Fun 368th 3.082⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 507th 2.694⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Theme 446th 3.292⭐ 50🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 564th 2.49⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Audio 380th 2.633⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Humor 138th 3.085⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Mood 504th 2.545⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Given 56🗳️ 41🗨️

Feedback

doorless
31. Jul 2017 · 06:37 UTC
interesting game!
Vegevan
31. Jul 2017 · 09:36 UTC
Hey there, I just played your game, that was interesting.
Here are some advices:
* It lacks of a tutorial, the time to understand it all requires to die once haha
* A splashscreen to tell "I'm ready to play now" would have been appreciated
* The theme is literaly applied, good job !
* The UI is efficient, I liked it
* The shooting system is fun, trying to adjust like with a real gun; however I played the web version and managing to keep the mouse in the game area while aiming was laborious. I don't know hot to solve it, can you block the mouse somehow ? I don't know, just telling.
* It definitly lacks of music haha

Nice entry, be proud of you ! :)
🎤 oxrock
31. Jul 2017 · 12:00 UTC
Hitting escape toggles the lock/hide mouse option allowing you to stay within the window. I have the commands listed in the description and itch.io site, but I agree a tutorial system of some sort would help for sure. There's just never enough time to get everything ironed out like ya want to.
Falk Bruskeland
31. Jul 2017 · 12:15 UTC
Liked the sound effects :)
Falk Bruskeland
31. Jul 2017 · 12:15 UTC
Liked the sound effects :)
demaw
31. Jul 2017 · 12:16 UTC
Nice
Cynical Monkey
31. Jul 2017 · 12:17 UTC
It felt colourful and fun, maybe a quick menu screen with controls, aim explained and think about size for itchio i couldn't actually get the whole game on my screen
AdroitConceptions
31. Jul 2017 · 12:40 UTC
A targeting reticle for the gun would be nice. Took almost a while play-through to figure out the game. It wasn't clear that the guns being on, but not active drained power. -- so that you should only have them turned on as needed.

Enemies still went for the gas tank even after it was completely destroyed...
jharler
31. Jul 2017 · 14:47 UTC
I agree that a targeting reticle would've been ideal. It took a while to get used to firing without one. I love the colorful feel and humorous take on the theme. Nice work!
🎤 oxrock
31. Jul 2017 · 15:42 UTC
@jason-kennedy thanks for informing me about the generator bug. Enemies stuck fighting an indestructible object is definitely a big bug. Luckily It's now squashed and updated.
ryzy27
31. Jul 2017 · 18:14 UTC
Getting used to vertical movement took me some time, but it's doable. Laser aiming would definitely help, but that would be cheating, right? :) UI is clear and simple, I like it. Overall nice game, well done!
N4tticus
31. Jul 2017 · 19:04 UTC
Hey, nice job on the game! The colors being so bright make the game very visually appealing. I definitely agree with some of the previous comments that an introduction screen and a better method of aiming would help the game. Just finishing the compo is difficult, but you finished it with a pretty good product. Well done :)
Aterlamia
31. Jul 2017 · 19:06 UTC
Aiming was a bit hard, and it was hard to tell how much gas i needed, i filled the generator but it looked like nothing was happening. My advice would be to at least ad some music and maybe dress the game a bit up now the field was kinda empty expect for the platform you need to defend. I did like the sound effects and the game play was good enough for 48 hours.
Tero Pulkkinen
31. Jul 2017 · 19:36 UTC
Nice little shooting game. Pacman style enemies were also nice, and the physics works excellently. Nice explosion and shooting rays, and the logic otherwise works nice too.
Phlip45
31. Jul 2017 · 21:46 UTC
Nice job. Aiming was a little wonky but that is something that I can get used to. The main thing that bugged me was the ratio of gas picked up to what was put in the generator. I feel like it should be 1:1. It would feel more satisfying. Other than that, sound effects worked well, and different types of aliens and difficulty scaling seemed to work. I only got to 3 minutes high score, but there are just too many of them at that point =P. Also I'm bad at video games.
Bewelge
31. Jul 2017 · 23:40 UTC
Nice game! Aiming was a little difficult but I liked the graphics and sounds :)
GeraldFIngBurke
01. Aug 2017 · 01:41 UTC
Nice. Really liked the turrets. Game started real easy because I thought I could just have the turrets do the work for me, but I was wrong. The only problems I really had was that aiming felt a bit unresponsive. A targeting reticle would have been perfect. Just a simple UI image with a script to set its transform by wherever you store the info for where you're aiming.
sugarbyte
01. Aug 2017 · 03:46 UTC
Nice! I am awful at FPS games, so maybe the counted against my enjoyment a bit. The look of it is fun, and the sound effects really add a lot. Nice job, really impressive for a jam! :heart:
AkirAssasin
01. Aug 2017 · 12:47 UTC
The cartoony look and sound effects are very fun! However, I think the camera should move along the y-axis together with the gun so that it's easier to aim :)
GreepyBrainsDev
01. Aug 2017 · 18:26 UTC
Nice game but please make a better "up-down" aiming!
DayDreamerStudios
01. Aug 2017 · 19:55 UTC
The sound effects of the enemys are great! The aiming is a bit difficult but overall fun to play.
GoldRanger
02. Aug 2017 · 00:48 UTC
I love the aimming style! it's different with normal fps but it's another type of fun! Nice Idea!
Whiteninja
02. Aug 2017 · 04:25 UTC
I tell you what, I love that game XD
Seriously good job. The art looks so basic though. Could have improved that.
But damn that game is fun.
psychopsam
02. Aug 2017 · 12:17 UTC
Love it. Easy to control. Well within the theme and fun to play.
HuvaaKoodia
02. Aug 2017 · 12:32 UTC
Turrets! Who doens't like them.

The difficulty should ramp up faster. It got a bit stale already at around 3 minutes. Then at 5 minutes things started happening so at least it didn't take longer than that.

Safe and simple entry.
mrnyarlathotep
02. Aug 2017 · 12:38 UTC
Solid wave based shooter; as someone mentioned above, 'catching' the mouse in webplayer can be annoying, and using esc as a 'catch' toggle is problematic as that cancels fullscreen (and messed up the UI layout in my case when it happened).

Not sure if you're using 2 cameras for actual gun aim and visual gun position, but I don't think you are - would make aiming a little easier even without crosshairs if it was 'from my perspective' for the aiming, and the visual representation of the gun was an offset from that
🎤 oxrock
02. Aug 2017 · 13:31 UTC
I can appreciate the comments about people wanting gun sights to guide them or wanting the the gun in line with the camera to better line up shots. That said, it's simply not how shotguns work(which is what the gun is supposed to be). Obviously this game isn't heavily based in realism so adjustments are always possible, but those changes would simply make it feel more like a rifle. I'm at least glad that I added the line renderer showing shot trajectories last second because I'm sure there would of been a LOT more unhappy gamers.

Thank you everyone for the feedback thus far and especially the words of encouragement. I'll definitely keep them in mind for the next time around.
Zelos
02. Aug 2017 · 14:26 UTC
Pretty solid game.

It's always cool when someone tries to do a FPS for compo, and I understand that it's not that easy to do, but the controls are really a bit weird. There really needs to be an aiming reticule, as I never understood where I was even aiming. You say that that's not how shotguns work. Well, there are also no Alien Swarms attacking us yet, so in the future there may be. :wink: And it's a game anyway, so don't try to be realistic, but make it fun instead. It already does feel like a rifle to be honest and I didn't even get that it's supposed to be a shotgun.

The graphics are pretty nice and the SFX are okay. Other than the reticule there's not much I don't like about the game. Except for the missing music maybe. It's pretty challenging after the first few enemies, which I did like.

The theme is also incorporated pretty well. So overall very nice job.
Loktor
02. Aug 2017 · 19:59 UTC
** First impression **: Nice a 3d tower defense game :)

** Gameplay **: I like your shooting mechanic, but as others have said it was really hard to aim, maybe it would have been better if i just hit an enemy that he takes damage?^^

** Sound **: I found the sound effects really fitting for your game great job there :)

** Graphics **: You managed to make various fitting 3D objects :O that is really quite something for a compo :)

** Overall **: Great compo entry, good job you can be proud :)
JCMonkey
03. Aug 2017 · 02:46 UTC
i had like 3 or 4 mob types at 245 points, after a while, this basically turned into a run and collect gas game.
Steve Johnson
03. Aug 2017 · 03:06 UTC
I like that there are mechanics to both push you out of the starting area and pull you back into it. However, it didn't feel like the difficulty ramped up at a good pace, and shooting didn't feel very satisfying. I also wish I could have repaired my turrets.

Good work making a complete game in 48 hours!
sketchycode
03. Aug 2017 · 03:43 UTC
Overall decent entry, aiming was a bit tricky since I kept wanting to stand at the top of the ramps and aim down and it didn't seem like the gun would point that way. Nice job.
ModalModule
03. Aug 2017 · 07:36 UTC
My only complaints are there should be more gas cans, and the aiming should be rethought, primarily because my cursor kept ending up off the game window, which would then ruin the game! :( But I enjoyed it outside of that. Oh and music would be nice! :)
Artur Hawkwing
03. Aug 2017 · 16:31 UTC
Very fun! Definitely one of the more challenging games I have played, and very entertaining. I liked that sound effects. It would have been nice too see slightly hilly terrain and texturing on the ground, but overall the agme was great
BobbyTables
04. Aug 2017 · 02:18 UTC
The game was a blast! I enjoyed it so much I played it again. Second time I made it 4:48 with 355 points. I loved the theme despite it being my downfall (I didn't manage my guns as well as I should have and when they ran out, so did my life). All in all a great game! I'm curious what your highest score was?
🎤 oxrock
04. Aug 2017 · 03:03 UTC
@bobbytables my best legit run has been 7:56 scoring 995 points.

I'm sure i could make it better, I just haven't put the time in to be pro yet.
ryte2byte
05. Aug 2017 · 17:54 UTC
Cool game. I am a fan of the action/TD mash-up.

So, first thing's first: I'm one of those 'Inverted Y' freaks, so aiming was very difficult for me. If it wasn't for the targeting laser (Which works WONDERFULLY, BTW), I would have been truely screwed.

The only real problem here is that gas can drops appear to be random. My first game I had plenty and barely had any the second go-around.

Leaderboards weren't working when I tried. Just sat at 'Fetching data' for a while.

Maybe it's from growing up in the era of Pac-Man Fever, but I adore your aliens :)
ditzel
05. Aug 2017 · 21:45 UTC
Your thumbnail images/underrate your game. At first I thought "oh, what is that? Paint?" :smile: But your game has amazing assets
🎤 oxrock
06. Aug 2017 · 09:19 UTC
@ryte2byte the leaderboards work for windows/local webgl builds (i assume mac and linux as well but I don't have machines for testing) but for some reason the webgl's version stops functioning once uploaded to itch.io

@ditzel wow, thanks for that compliment. All models were made in engine by simply sticking default 3d shapes together and modifying their scale and material. I'm simply not fast enough in blender to warrant creating models in a 48 hour jam.
drtizzle
06. Aug 2017 · 22:00 UTC
**Score: 815pts after 7:24 (2nd on the leaderboards :sunglasses:)**

Very nicely done, a lot of fun to play! The aliens were really creepy, looking at you with their lifeless eyes. It was really cool trying to keep your shit together, killing aliens, collecting fuel and health. It was one big balancing act going crazy. Once the UFO's came I died almost immediately, so maybe they're a bit overpowered.

The only criticisms I have is that the aiming is a bit weird. I got used to it but I would rather have seen a more conventional FPS control. And the walking speed is on the slow side. When you shoot an enemy from a long range you'll have to walk really long to get the fuel. Also the drops could be a bit more balanced. Sometimes I only got health packages for one minute long, and shortly after that I had loads of fuel.

Overall a lot of fun to play, and that counts. Well done!!!
🎤 oxrock
07. Aug 2017 · 08:15 UTC
@drtizzle the drops rates are set to a percentage chance increasing with monster difficulty. Sadly RNG can really be feast or famine. I'm really glad you liked the game, thanks for the feedback! :)
Pedro Romero
08. Aug 2017 · 11:41 UTC
Great game.
Is very challenging to try to optimize the turrets and also collect the fuel at the same time, and is great.
The only problems I see are some pacing issues and that is very hard to target (maybe a crosshair will be enough)
GanbareGamesKyle
13. Aug 2017 · 02:40 UTC
It's rare for a game to be so bad that it's good. Unlike movies, a bad game is generally too annoying or painful to play to be enjoyable. However, you've somehow made a game that managed to be so bad that it's good.

Congratulations, I think?