Aura by Papaver

This game is about your personal space, your aura. Sometimes, you just want to scream:

Controls
- Move: arrow keys / WASD / ZQSD
- Boost: space bar
- Ask for space: shift /B
- Pause: P
Please, tell me what you think of my little game. I appreciate comments! :smiley:
Best played in Chrome or Firefox. (The Google Font doesn't work in IE...)
Hint 1: The purple things can be collected so that with SHIFT or B you can make some space for yourself!
Hint 2: There are buttons to mute the music and sound. :smile: (I was composing some music in LMMS, and realised I was composing something for flute. I started playing the flute in january; my apologies to your ears. :smirk: )
| HTML5 (web) | http://anneroos.home.fmf.nl/ld42/ |
| Source code | https://bitbucket.org/Anneroos/ld42/ |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/aura |
Ratings
| Overall | 181th | 3.81⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 455th | 3.362⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 174th | 3.69⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 104th | 4.103⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 752th | 3.207⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 379th | 3.276⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 428th | 2.896⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 131th | 3.768⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 29🗳️ | 23🗨️ |
Maybe it would be nice to make the starting point of each level a kind of safe space so that the player cannot be killed before they have even moved.
There also seems to be a bug: when another object keeps pushing into you, the lines like "I need more space" and "Please" replace one another in milliseconds so it's impossible to read them... and then you die:)
One more thing: I'm not sure how I feel about my sphere changing direction when bumped into. On the one hand, it helps to avoid walking into an object that's causing you damage. On the other hand, you momentarily lose control of the sphere, most likely resulting in walking into another danger...
But it's a fun game overall, and I'll probably return to it once I feel like playing something challenging.
The game is meant to be somewhat challenging (and a tiny bit frustrating, to fit the concept :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:). Did you discover the boost function and how shift/B can help?
I am myself also not sure about the changing of direction when you bump into another sphere. It does encourage you to avoid hitting other people. Did you try slowing down sometimes to avoid collision, and maybe even refill your energy meter?
It took me a while, but I managed to get through level 2. Level 3 seemed impossible. So, uh… thanks for making the most frustrating game of this jam. :stuck_out_tongue:
Oh, and for something more constructive: the flute music worked really well on the whole, but some of the high notes hit a bit…piercingly. It did add to the overall vibe, but maybe **too** much.
@Shakedimus: Thanks! I like how everyone creates their own scenario in their heads, that's exactly why I wanted to stick to these abstract blobs. :smile: I considered four-way controls, but it seemed too 'square' compared to all the round objects (and also with these 'tank controls' your blob behaves similar to the other blobs).
@RenD: Thank you! Indeed, sometimes you need to stop to catch your breath. :smile:
Adding messages during gameplay was a nice way to add a bit of context to the game, but placing all the story-important ones at the top of the screen, far away from where the player should be looking, makes them difficult to read.
The use of your flute for both the music and sound effects was a pretty clever touch, though that also meant it could be hard to separate the two, leading to some instances where the music and sound effects clashed pretty badly. On another note, I'm pretty sure your song starts note-for-note like the riff from the Rocky theme song - probably not intentional but I still thought it was funny.
I think the 'give me my space' mechanic could be better explained. I didn't make the connection between the purple stars and the shift button until about level 5, leaving me wondering why I couldn't use my ability some of the time. I think it would help by giving the player a free shout at the beginning of each level, and playing a sound effect and/or having the empty shout meter flash when you try to use it when empty. Just something to say "that isn't going to work and this is why".
I managed to make it to the fifth day, at which point it got so hard I couldn't go on. It just seemed to me that there were just too many people and I kept getting quickly overwhelmed. Not sure if that was some kind of 'supposed to lose' fight, but I though it was a fitting end nonetheless.
@niterich: Thank you for your detailed comments, you make many valid points. :smile: I will reconsider the bumping mechanic, more people seem to not like it. It's a nice idea to make the 'shout meter' flash!
And the audio/sounds count as funny in book.