LudumData

BALL BUSTERS by tedbolt

[raw]
made by tedbolt for LD 42 (JAM)

Players will be placed in the wrong side of the arkanoid field. They must survive the onslaught of the bat and it's ball to win. Get the ball passed the bat 3 times to win but you must do that before you die 3 times.

1 Player Mode -Defeat the bat by getting the ball past it -Reflect the ball with your bullets -Protect your platforms -Stun the bat with your bullets -Watch out for the drills that destroy a column of platforms

2 Player Mode -Go head to head with a friend -The bat must defeat the player by hitting themwith drills, the ball or destroying all the platforms -The player must survive and get the ball passed the bat

Windows https://tedbolt.itch.io/ball-busters
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/ball-busters

Ratings

Overall 647th 3.333⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 702th 3.125⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 366th 3.4⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 993th 2.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 548th 3.5⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Audio 632th 2.778⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 0🗨️

Feedback

Demn
17. Aug 2018 · 15:15 UTC
Hey there ! Played your game against the bat a couple of time (Idk how I'm supposed to beat this fucking bat it just wrecks me). I don't feel like it especially fits the theme, but I feel like this is a very fun idea and a good take on video game's classic overall. Sound design gives good feedback, graphisms are clear enough, and you managed to create a menu + a tutorial screen in the game, which is very good. Good job there !
🎤 tedbolt
17. Aug 2018 · 15:25 UTC
@demn Yeah the bat is pretty beastly but there's a few strategies to beat it (I think I'm the only one who can beat the bat haha). It's just the downside to making really shitty AI, only if there was just a little bit more time to figure out a better system or just tweak some values. If you get an opportunity to play with someone else you should! It's much funner with another person. Thanks for playing and the feedback
svntax
20. Aug 2018 · 02:04 UTC
I just couldn't beat the bat. I haven't tried the 2-player mode, but I really like the twist on arkanoid in this game, and it's pretty well polished.
Bastian
21. Aug 2018 · 07:13 UTC
Hey, I like your game!
Sound and grapics fit the retro-style. I like what you made of the space attack - approach.
I have had a look at both modes, sadly I couldn't test it with another person. But I am sure it would be fun.

Things that would make it even better:
* Some background music
* A scalable AI (that by chance makes some mistakes)
* Something to improve longtime-motivation like different modes or upgrades or different levels(?) or sth like that.
Jack Lance
21. Aug 2018 · 16:16 UTC
I managed to get it down to 1 life, but couldn't win! Very innovative and interesting, but also so hard!
Rialgar
21. Aug 2018 · 19:36 UTC
I loved the concept and the controls feel really good. The sound and graphics match each other and work nicely. The only issue I have is that the AI is basically impossible to beat. Maybe decrease the maximum movement speed of the bat or increase the stun duration to give the player a chance.
Maksime
21. Aug 2018 · 19:55 UTC
I had a lot of trouble getting used to the controls.

Using the spacebar to fire and W to jump is very counter intuitive when used to playing other games.

Would have liked spacebar to jump and LMB to fire.

The concept is very nice but man it is a hard game !

You should maybe scale the difficulty a bit down to ease a bit the progression.

The graphics are simple but effective, just like the sound effects.

Overall a nice little game.
Lexyvil
22. Aug 2018 · 01:04 UTC
The game is very unique, never had I saw a reversed brick breaker where you're against the bat. I do agree with @maksime about the controls though, for a game that only uses the keyboard, having a fire button is comfier on the left side of the movement keys. Maybe having the arrow keys as another option to control the character would be good~

So far the game is hard, which I like. Haven't beaten the bat yet~
🎤 tedbolt
22. Aug 2018 · 02:00 UTC
@lexyvil Please beat it... if not for yourself. Do it for me
Lexyvil
22. Aug 2018 · 05:33 UTC
@tedbolt Sorry, I couldn't win it after nearly half an hour. A suggestion I could give to make it somewhat easier is to increase the stun time of the bat with each hit, as it always seem to catch the ball. The difficulty is definitely 4.5/5 or 5/5 for me though~
CristiHKJ
22. Aug 2018 · 07:40 UTC
Great game! Very cool and interesting! :D
🎤 tedbolt
22. Aug 2018 · 14:26 UTC
@lexyvil Yeah I agree, that and a combination of slowing the bat a little could help alot. Appreciate the feedback, thank you!
DDRKirbyISQ
23. Aug 2018 · 05:42 UTC
Come on guys...it's not THAT hard. Beat 1-player mode on the second try!

I do agree though, that something could be changed. I don't think you need to make it flat-out easier, but rather, I think the player should get some sort of advantage as time goes on. Right now, the player gets more and more disadvantaged as time goes on because there are less blocks to stand on, but I think there should be something to make it easier for the bat to lose as well as time goes on. I think that would help the pacing of the game to feel more exciting as things go on.