Inventorium by Ramanujo

[raw]
made by Ramanujo for LD 42 (COMPO)

This is my ~~disaster~~ "learning experience" of a game, named before I tragically ditched all plans earlier this morning (sunday). This was made in Rust using the ggez game engine, and is pretty much the first thing I've ever done in Rust.

I was originally planning on an inventory management arena game, but that proved to be much too large a scope for me seeing as I was learning the language and the engine. Late last night (technically today) I ditched that idea after spending most of my time just learning an engine called "Piston" which was ditched along with my original idea. Today I spent using the simpler engine "ggez" to scrape something together, but it is probably the type of project you put together in an hour for most people. Let's just say I'm looking forward to other people's games.

I recommend turning down your volume.

NOTE: You may need to have an audio device connected or the game crashes trying to initialize the sound system. This is why you don't spam unwraps on every function call.

Running:

Just run the Windows executable on windows, or build from source with Rust and SDL2 for Rust installed using cargo run

Controls

  • WASD to move
  • Mouse to Aim
  • Space to shoot

Tools:

Language
Rust
Engine
ggez
SFX
BFXR

Ratings

Overall 506th 3.146⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 269th 3.417⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 472th 2.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 153th 3.958⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 673th 2.146⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 540th 2.083⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 467th 1.868⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 592th 2.075⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

Tinamil
13. Aug 2018 · 01:47 UTC
I really like this actually, just in terms of fun factor. It's a very neat balance between trying to decide when to shoot, because a missed shot is just as bad as getting hit by the enemies. If it's not already, I would say that getting hit by the enemies should be worse than missing a shot, by making getting hit either cause twice as much wall growth or just instant loss.
coldfire83
13. Aug 2018 · 01:49 UTC
For a "disaster of a game", I had some fun with it. I'm especially impressed that this was done using Rust. That being said, the game would probably be more fun if the enemies started off slower, and sped up over time.
Firebelley
13. Aug 2018 · 01:51 UTC
I was pleasantly surprised to discover the wall mechanic. I really dig the risk/reward of shooting the bouncing balls. Great execution on the theme!
chipolux
13. Aug 2018 · 02:48 UTC
Had my speakers unplugged earlier, and got this error on startup, just fyi, goes away when there actually is an audio device to initialize!
```
thread 'main' panicked at 'called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: AudioError("Could not initialize sound system (for some reason)")', libcore\result.rs:945:5
```

I like the concept, it reminds me a bit of some classic JezzBall. That risk of shooting and my bad aim has made me say that the best strat is to just never shoot. Sound and graphics are pretty rough, but that can be polished up, the core mechanic is fun!
Zlabya
14. Aug 2018 · 01:46 UTC
nice game, I got a score of 20 when I decided not to shoot lol.
bloodyaugust
14. Aug 2018 · 03:00 UTC
Thank you for the volume warning. :laughing: I did enjoy the concept, regardless of how bad I was at it. :smile:
Predominant
14. Aug 2018 · 03:16 UTC
Awesome to see a Rust game in the mix! Nice work :)
Jimbly
15. Aug 2018 · 01:37 UTC
That was amazingly good for the complexity - though it might be buildable in an hour, it fits the theme wonderfully, plays pretty well, and feels good, and I haven't played anything quite like it, despite many things similar, of course =).

I'd like to have been able to shoot by clicking with the mouse, that would have felt a lot better than the space bar. Took me a while to realize I even *could* shoot =).

Having the board shrink whenever you miss a shot seems doubly cruel - I'm *already* down one ammo, so the board will shrink when the guy hits me later, since I can't kill him, and having it shrink twice made it really hurt.

I got to a score of 36 on my 3rd or 4th try, had to only fire when I was *really* sure I was going to land a hit =).
thristhart
15. Aug 2018 · 19:51 UTC
great use of the theme! I'm also picking up Rust for gamedev purposes, high-five! (though I didn't use it for this LD). Shooting is a trap, always be dodging!
incobalt
15. Aug 2018 · 23:44 UTC
This isn't bad! You should explain the actual game a bit more in your description. I didn't know what controls to use at first! It can be tough to scrap work in the middle of the compo, so don't let that discourage you. You made something, and under a larger time crunch than a lot of people!
skytiger
16. Aug 2018 · 01:00 UTC
I think the enemies move a bit too fast to be able to reliably hit on any level. Feels better to just dodge and never shoot. Other than that I like this game. Some good sound effects and responsive movement makes for a not too shabby project!
nicksmaddog
16. Aug 2018 · 01:12 UTC
I had a lot of fun with this. I think being able to shoot with a mouse button would feel more natural. It would also be awesome to save your high score.
Yetman
16. Aug 2018 · 14:28 UTC
I enjoyed this a lot. The game idea is simple, easy to understand and challenging. I found bullet to be harmful early in gameplay but becomes useful when the area becomes small. My best score is 28 but I will try to get better. I really wish that I can fire with mouse clicks instead of space bar so that my hand can focus on dodging alone. I also like that the controls are tight which is great for dodging games. Great job.
Balance686
20. Aug 2018 · 01:06 UTC
I was pleasantly surprised by this. The premise is simple and the game is fun to play. The pairing of the retro visuals/sound effects works well and you incorporated the theme.
As others have mentioned, I think shooting with the mouse would work better. Also I think it would be better if the level only shrank when you collide with an enemy. The whole punished for missing shots thing is a little sadistic :P
Nice submission!
LastLeaf
27. Aug 2018 · 15:20 UTC
Great concept! The minimized art is suitable for the game!

I also made my LD42 game in Rust, though it compiled to WebGL with emscripten. The coding experience was great!