Shape Shifts by htspencer88

[raw]
made by htspencer88 for LD35 (COMPO)
My first ever submission to Ludum Dare!

I had an absolute blast making this, I hope you enjoy.

WASD or movement keys to move.
Space to jump.
Shift to shift to the next shape.

Good luck!

Shape Shifts is a top down platformer where you attempt to collect fuel in order to "shift" to the next shape. All while the clock is ticking down. Each shift grants you more time but will take you to trickier places.

The next shape appears above the current shape allowing you to plan ahead.

Smart manoeuvring twinned with skilful shifting will get you very far!

Updates:

Uploaded new versions of the standalone clients that actually close when you click exit (Horray!).

Ratings

Coolness 45% 1350
Overall 3.50 224
Audio 2.79 422
Fun 3.38 288
Graphics 2.79 580
Innovation 3.88 84
Mood 3.32 205
Theme 3.25 543

Feedback

Persimonn Pomelo
18. Apr 2016 路 02:10 UTC
Very Interesting, like the concept. Took a while to wrap my head around what's going on, still not sure about everything, but managed to work out the basics (I think). Nice atmosphere and sound. A more detailed explanation of what's going on might be helpful for others. Fantastic effort for your first entry. Congratulations.
pixlark
18. Apr 2016 路 02:11 UTC
Pretty fun game! It took a minute to get used to, but once I did I spent a good 10 minutes straight playing it.
jdmazz
18. Apr 2016 路 02:11 UTC
This actually felt kind of innovative in it's minimalism. Very interesting. And I actually feel like it has a cold feeling/mood to it, as well. Good job!
馃帳 htspencer88
18. Apr 2016 路 02:14 UTC
Hey guys, thanks for the really great feedback :D

I've added some more info in the description that is otherwise on the instructions screen so its more up front and centre. Glad you like it!
Dasginger
18. Apr 2016 路 02:37 UTC
I think some of my confusion came from not realising that the semi transparent shapes are the next layer, until I'd died a few times. I didn't mind though, it's got a good mix of reflexes and strategy, fun game!
Karl Schmidt
18. Apr 2016 路 02:41 UTC
Very interesting game! A tutorial would have helped, but some trial and error + instructions did the trick too :) Some notes: I think the compo requires all the audio to be original, I noticed attribution in the credits. Also the Quit button doesn't seem to work on the OSX version :) Great work, it's definitely fun!
馃帳 htspencer88
18. Apr 2016 路 02:46 UTC
Hey Karl, I used the Otomata page to procedurally generate the music based off its little cellular automata tool(check it out, its pretty neat!) for the two tracks. Is that ok do you think? I assumed it was kosher due to bfxr being allowed/encouraged.

And I shall look into the Quit button not working on mac, thank you so much for the heads up as I can't test on that platform! Glad the game itself works :D
Karl Schmidt
18. Apr 2016 路 06:13 UTC
Oh I think that's ok then - I didn't realize that's how the sounds were made :) Glad to help with the Mac testing ?
hugheth
18. Apr 2016 路 14:21 UTC
Better instructions in the description has helped - this is pretty fun and challenging. Really pretty too :)
Hyoga-3D
18. Apr 2016 路 14:22 UTC
In my opinion the controls could be better, because somethings I just fall because I could not control the ball, but maybe that was intentional, then ok. But nice game.
馃帳 htspencer88
18. Apr 2016 路 14:56 UTC
Hyoga-3D: Yeah I know exactly what you mean! I was really struggling with the controls and I can totally understand how they would feel slippery.

My issue was that I wanted to ensure enough acceleration that a player could still make big jumps but not too much that they would overshoot most smaller jumps.

I combated this a little by having full air control and let you jump before shifts in order to get the placement better but its not a perfect solution.

I wish I had more time to fiddle with it but this I think struck the best balance given the time constraints. It also is something the player can get better accustomed to so I took that into account when designing the rest of the game.

Thanks for the feedback!
Headmade
18. Apr 2016 路 20:03 UTC
Nice idea but I had a hard time getting it. It's hard to read which platform is solid and which is not. Also I didn't understand what relevance the shapes have.

I read the description twice but it didn't help much. Maybe I'm stupid or still tired from the jam but I would have appreciated a step by step introduction to the mechanics.

Still it's a very nice entry for your first time. Congrats!
iceburg7
19. Apr 2016 路 02:26 UTC
This is a cool little game. It feels very arcade-y in a lot of ways. Like a difficult system where each time you go in thinking you might make it a little bit farther.
mitya1234
21. Apr 2016 路 06:06 UTC
I liked the concept, It's quite logic but i don't like sphere as a main character :)
Freank
21. Apr 2016 路 16:53 UTC
Hi, nice game ! We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description
TheCams
26. Apr 2016 路 18:51 UTC
Really nice concept. A tutorial would have been awesome, but still managed to get it thanks to the instructions
OddballDave
04. May 2016 路 21:30 UTC
It took me a while to get the hang of it. Nice game.

Good stuff.
Ludipe
09. May 2016 路 22:05 UTC
Nice concept, though some feedback to point out the height of the character would be cool, maybe a simple shadow so it's easier to measure jumps.
haveric
09. May 2016 路 22:12 UTC
I had a hard time with the learning curve, and the instructions didn't help all that much. Once I figured out what I was doing I really loved the idea. The timer gives great urgency and tempo... but I wasn't sure what I was trying to accomplish. good use of simple graphics, good use of simple sound. controls felt floaty and combined with the lack of depth and height perception was frustrating. Still, lots of fun. A little work and it'd be great.
OnlySlightly
09. May 2016 路 22:16 UTC
Really cool mechanics at work here. Took a bit to get a hang of, but afterwards I really felt in tune with the game and got faster and faster at pulling off the jumps and shifts mid air. Great job!
brandann
09. May 2016 路 22:24 UTC
Very fun game, a little too easy to run off the edge but that is OK. had a lit of fun playing, A tutorial would have helped a lot in the beginning to know that the faded platforms were the ones I was shifting to.