LudumData

Batteries in the Dungeon by DerpyJish

[raw]
made by DerpyJish for LD 39 (JAM)

Did you know?

Nowadays power can not only be launched across a room in a yellow bolt of death, but it can also be converted into balls of fire and great big rocks! But be careful, you wouldn't want to be running out of power!

Click to play

Or see more info below

Controls

  • WASD: Move
  • Left click: Shoot (Aim with mouse cursor)
  • Right click: Change weapon

Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at 19.35.37.png

This has been my first ever Ludum Dare, and it's been a blast! This is the first time I've gotten anywhere close to finishing a game, and while it's rife with messy code and programmer art, it's good enough a prize for me! AND... I'm know I'm going to have a great time playing all of the awesome (and significantly better) games that everyone else has made. You guys really are a talented bunch!

I also recorded the ~34.5 hours of development, and I'm gonna to make a time lapse out of it soon (just gotta find some software for my laptop that will let me speed it up fast enough!)

Goal

Kill the bad guys, power the crystal, and don't die. It's a hop, skip, and a jump!

Play now

The game has been tested in Google Chrome & Safari on MacOS. If you run into problems with the game just gimmie a shout and I'll try to get it fixed! :nerd:

Click to play

HTML5 (web) https://derpyjish.itch.io/ld39-jam-batteries-in-the-dungeon
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/batteries-in-the-dungeon

Ratings

Overall 540th 3.174⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 503th 3⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 634th 2.696⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 347th 3.609⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 702th 2.696⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 552th 2.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 18🗨️

Feedback

Mr Marcgenesis
01. Aug 2017 · 15:24 UTC
You should be proud, very proud of your first Ludum Dare! The game feels complete, and it quite fun to play. The game would have benefited a lot from some background music, but overall great game! :)
🎤 DerpyJish
01. Aug 2017 · 22:19 UTC
@mr-marcgenesis Thanks very much for the feedback! :grin: It really has been fun, definitely going to do it again in December! Looks like I'm gonna have to learn how to make some music! (I mean, I could use some good old Kevin Macleod I suppose, but where's the fun in that hey?)
zenmumbler
05. Aug 2017 · 14:25 UTC
Nice entry, was it really a Jam entry or did you finish in the weekend? Since you made all the art yourself you may have qualified for the compo. Having a randomly generated dungeon with monsters, multiple weapons and all that is quite the achievement for your first jam ever.

Don't forget to rate other games so your game will end up being rated by others as well! It's a good game, don't let it be buried.
🎤 DerpyJish
17. Aug 2017 · 17:26 UTC
@zenmumbler Thanks! No, it really was a Jam entry! I probably could have made it to compo but it would have been remarkably bare bones. I'm about to go on a game playing spree now, but thanks for dropping by and playing mine, I really should have started doing this a long time ago! :grin:
easy82
17. Aug 2017 · 22:19 UTC
I liked this one! The enemies were fun to defeat, and I like the mechanics. I think a music would have added a lot to it. Nice entry, I hope you make a post-jam version of it with a little extra juice. I see you have very few votes on it so far, you should play and rate others' games! There is still a couple of days left. :)
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 00:54 UTC
@easy82 Thanks a bunch! :grin: Out of interest how easy was it to figure out the mechanics? I used my non-game familiar family to beta test, and they had a bit of a hard time to say the least!

I've got no clue how to make music, but I'd love to give it a try (I know I don't *have* to make it myself, but why not, hey?) I'd like to make a post jam version as well, but somehow I find it a lot harder to motivate myself when I haven't got a meaningful countdown timer next to me :unamused:. I've just today started playing other people's games as well, let's see how many I can get though in just a few days! (I'm not too worried about votes on my game though, feedback is never a bad thing but honestly I'm actually just pretty chuffed I even made a game!)

Thanks again for the feedback!
Shaolin Dave
18. Aug 2017 · 04:22 UTC
Nice game. I think the controls could use some work, I was getting a "Zelda" vibe and kinda wanted to control it that way.
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 04:43 UTC
@shaolin-dave Duly noted! Thanks for the feedback, I agree the controls are tiresome after a while, and that sure seems a better way of going about it! :grin:
Baby Dino Herd
18. Aug 2017 · 06:21 UTC
Short but sweet! Really enjoyed learning all of the abilities and figuring out how to defeat the enemies. The jumping sunflower pot was probably my favourite enemy. The door opening animation was very satisfying, as well.
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 06:27 UTC
@baby-dino-herd Aww, thank you very much! The jumping flower is my favourite as well! (I like to call him Jeff :grin:). Though, I can't help but feel that my subconscious had drifted over to Undertale when I came up with him. Hey ho!

The feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks for dropping by!
pcmaster
18. Aug 2017 · 08:35 UTC
Your first entry, mister, is a very solid one! I love the programmer art, the sounds, the controls are ok. Congrats!
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 08:43 UTC
@pcmaster Thanks a bunch! :grin: I'm already looking forward to the next Jam! (Though maybe I shouldn't considering it's 3-4 months away.) Thanks for coming on by and leaving a rating! It be very interesting to see what people have scored it.
easy82
18. Aug 2017 · 12:43 UTC
@derpyjish: Figuring out the mechanics took me a couple of tries, say 4 or 5. I did not mind it, it's part of the game and it did not took that long. :)
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 22:15 UTC
@easy82 That's good to hear! Thanks for coming back to reply.
ectucker1
18. Aug 2017 · 23:39 UTC
It was kind of annoying that the game ended if I ran out of power, I often found that I could have still completed the level after running out, by picking up a nearby battery, but I had to restart anyway.

It would also have been nice of the movement wasn't gridlocked, making it a bit more of an action style game. It was often hard to get past enemies because I couldn't move how I wanted.

Still, the puzzles to defeat an enemy were interesting. Nice job.
🎤 DerpyJish
18. Aug 2017 · 23:54 UTC
@ectucker1 Thanks for the rating! The movement wasn't gridlocked originally, but I couldn't actually figure out how to create good movement so I had to ditch it, definitely something to learn ready for next time! Sorry to make it annoying, the randomly generated dungeons are designed so that there is almost never enough power to kill every single bad guy, so instead you have to move around them, but obviously that's not easy to figure out without already knowing!

Thanks again though for leaving feedback! It really is appreciated! :grin:
LeReveur
19. Aug 2017 · 02:21 UTC
That's good for a first time LD! Game is simple, concept is fitting the theme well, that's just as long as average expected on a LD game, that's finishable, there is a little challenge, and it's working to the end. So, good job, and welcome in the great world of LD!
🎤 DerpyJish
19. Aug 2017 · 02:33 UTC
@lereveur Thank you very much! :grin: I've always been curious about game Jams and LD has been an absolute blast. Glad to hear I made something worthwhile!
LudumAnthony
19. Aug 2017 · 03:34 UTC
Looks like I'm your 20th reviewer, congrats!

Overall a nice little game, reminds me of my first ludum dare attempt since i also attempted a top down Binding of Isaac style game. It was enjoyable, and figuring out how to kill each enemy added to the experience I think, rather than just having an instructions list. Well done!
🎤 DerpyJish
19. Aug 2017 · 03:41 UTC
@ludumanthony And that you are! Thanks a ton! :grin:

I'm glad figuring out how to kill the enemies worked out, obviously it's a core part of the game but I didn't know if I'd made it clear enough that that's what people had to do. Thanks for dropping by and giving some feedback!
Carsen D.
19. Aug 2017 · 07:44 UTC
Welp, I finished the tutorial, thought to myself, "this was a cool game, very neat mechanics! Too bad it is so short though." And then the *actual game* loaded. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with what you've managed to make for your first LD. Having different enemy types that take different strategies to kill, managing your power, quite a large level size, the list goes on. I thought you did make it pretty clear overall as to how to kill an enemy, or at least once you figured it out you realize that it made perfect sense (I tried to use lightning on the plant at first instead of the fire...), so don't worry about that. I thought it added to the experience as well, and made it like a Binding of Isaac or Crypt of the Necrodancer where you eventually learn all the enemies' weaknesses and such.

A big improvement would just be to add some music, as I think it would work wonders on the overall feel of the game. Otherwise, again, great job!
tapestry
19. Aug 2017 · 10:13 UTC
Great job on your Ludum Dare entry! I was really impressed by the random dungeon generation. The gameplay is solid and fun.

One frustrating thing was when you would move to a small room with a fast moving enemy, that was below the one you're currently on. Sometimes the enemy would move as soon as you enter the room, hitting you before you could react.

All in all,well done on your first game!
spacewarp
20. Aug 2017 · 15:03 UTC
Very nice entry! At first I was a bit put off by having to move each square manually (no holding down the key to move several) but I soon got use to it. The audio became a bit grating otherwise fine.
🎤 DerpyJish
21. Aug 2017 · 00:27 UTC
@carsen-d Thanks so much! :grin: I'm glad the core of the game worked out alright! I think mood and music is definitely something I'm going to have to work on. Thanks again for dropping by!
🎤 DerpyJish
21. Aug 2017 · 00:29 UTC
@spacewarp Thanks for rating! Yea, controls were a problem from the start of development, not good really, but I'm glad things were ok overall! :grin: Making better sounds will be another challenge in the future but I think it'll be worth it. Thanks again for leaving some feedback, it really is great to get the perpective of so many other people!
🎤 DerpyJish
21. Aug 2017 · 00:36 UTC
@tapestry Thank you for the feedback! I'm happy with how the gameplay turned out but I'm glad it worked for other people as well. I did come across that room but unfortunately not until after the Jam, and I don't think it counts as a 'game breaking' bug, but I find it helps if you shoot them with fire the first time you enter the room, as then they run away, and you don't need to waste another energy on killing them. (Watch out though, they always flee to the right if memory serves) Thanks for the feedback though! As I said to @spacewrap it's great to get opinions from so many different people! :grin: