Snowman Builder Extreme by zenmumbler
"The best European low-budget PSX game of 1996" — The Virtual Herald
What would have happened if a very small group on a budget in 1996 cranked out a quick PSX title on such a small timescale and without artists but with the internet and browser capabilities of 2015? (but without things like Unity because true programmers write everything themselves, forever)
Snowman Builder Extreme
A game where the premise is that the best way to make a snowman is to kick it down a slope littered with snowman adornments and let fate handle the rest.
You can help fate a bit by pressing the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW KEYS to steer the snowball around a bit, but
it moves forward by itself.
Be sure to enable SOUND! It features a free Ska-ish song by good old Kevin MacLeod. Why Ska? The 90s! That's why. The whole experience of this game is an homage to 90s 3D games.
It even works on some mobile devices, where you can tilt the device to steer, but it's rather hard and I only tried it on an iPhone 5S.
There are 16 titles to be gained by picking up certain numbers of certain adornments and/or being really fast. Be sure to collect 'em all!
Seriously though. The game lasts 1 minute exactly by design. You have 1 minute. It is awesome.
----
A reasonable 3D chip is likely required, not because the scene is that complex but because WebGL. If you have any trouble, let me know. The game engine is a custom one made by myself over the last couple of months. Tested on Mac Safari, Chrome and Firefox and on iOS 9 Safari.
This game uses a lot of external assets so voting for Graphics or Audio is disabled. For a full listing and links click on the "asset sources and acknowledgements" link on top of the game page.
What would have happened if a very small group on a budget in 1996 cranked out a quick PSX title on such a small timescale and without artists but with the internet and browser capabilities of 2015? (but without things like Unity because true programmers write everything themselves, forever)
Snowman Builder Extreme
A game where the premise is that the best way to make a snowman is to kick it down a slope littered with snowman adornments and let fate handle the rest.
You can help fate a bit by pressing the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW KEYS to steer the snowball around a bit, but
it moves forward by itself.
Be sure to enable SOUND! It features a free Ska-ish song by good old Kevin MacLeod. Why Ska? The 90s! That's why. The whole experience of this game is an homage to 90s 3D games.
It even works on some mobile devices, where you can tilt the device to steer, but it's rather hard and I only tried it on an iPhone 5S.
There are 16 titles to be gained by picking up certain numbers of certain adornments and/or being really fast. Be sure to collect 'em all!
Seriously though. The game lasts 1 minute exactly by design. You have 1 minute. It is awesome.
----
A reasonable 3D chip is likely required, not because the scene is that complex but because WebGL. If you have any trouble, let me know. The game engine is a custom one made by myself over the last couple of months. Tested on Mac Safari, Chrome and Firefox and on iOS 9 Safari.
This game uses a lot of external assets so voting for Graphics or Audio is disabled. For a full listing and links click on the "asset sources and acknowledgements" link on top of the game page.
| Web (WebGL) | http://zenmumbler.net/ld34/ |
| Source (game) | https://github.com/zenmumbler/LD34 |
| Source (engine) | https://github.com/zenmumbler/stardazed-tx |
| itch.io | http://stardazed.itch.io/snowman-builder-extreme |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=17143 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 100% | 1 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.43 | 398 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.45 | 286 |
| Humor(Jam) | 3.45 | 159 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.84 | 713 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.04 | 662 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.93 | 284 |
It makes me try to do better every match.
I believe we need more visual feedback.
Sound can also have greater importance.
: D
Thanks for the feedback on Parallax, man! We will try to improve the game since is possible.
Fun game. I really liked the detail of the snow sounds when I'm colliding with the ground. Good job!!
I had 2 goes of this which is more than I give most game jams games, so thumbs up from me.
Proof that it is possible: http://zenmumbler.net/ld34/expert-proof.png
Simple, clean and fun game! ^^
I love the idea of trying building a snowman in this conditions, even if it's look totally random at the end.
Good job.
Only one observation: when you strat to play it's hard to recognize the "buttons" of the snowman on the track, try making them bigger.
excellent work!
It's a funny idea, well done!
Response for my game: Yup, no comic this time, sorry, but I used a new language and my first time at it too, so I did not get time to implement one. Also the idea never crossed my mind, but I assure you I will try to get in a comic in my next game! :D
Snowball moves in strange way, but it doesn't matter, bacause game is great.
The ball was starting to look very wierd in the end (9 hats anyone?)
Nicely done :)
If I had one criticism it'd probably just be that the sound that plays when you press start could be a little bit quieter but that's it.
Keep it up man :)
Raius: Yes, the sound is pretty intense, it's there as a nod to the Japanese SNES / PS1 games that played a more or less random sound when you hit start on their static title screens. Anyway.
Great entry!
Incredibly fun game.
Nice idea.