Loot! by atmospherium
You want entertainment, we got loot. That's the deal. Have fun collecting over 100 unique, very carefully crafted items that will aid you in your quest.
| HTML5 (web) | http://www.atmospherium.net/loot/ |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/loot |
Ratings
| Overall | 588th | 2.868⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 624th | 2.526⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 602th | 2.474⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 615th | 2.667⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 618th | 2.316⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 41th | 3.895⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 389th | 2.972⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 20🗳️ | 15🗨️ |
Not really much fun though, but I suppose that's the point.
Think about it. You could have spent the weekend making something *actually innovative and impressive* instead.
(Maybe you did finish this in 2 hours and spent the rest of the time doing something *actually innovative and impressive* instead, do tell?)
The ratings will spell the rest.
Overall: *Lousy (1.5)*
Fun: *Abysmal (1.0)*
Innovation: *Abysmal (1.0)*
Theme: *Lousy (1.5)*
Graphics: *Average (3.0)*
Humor: *Average (3.0)*
Mood: *Abysmal (1.0)*
I'm being completely honest, not mimicking anybody or even being annoyed. If this was longer and required more clicking then I might have gotten annoyed for sure. Brevity is the soul of wit, so you got that one right.
In all seriousness, I really would like to know how much time you put into this and if you learned anything from it?
**My goals** (which I feel I successfully accomplished):
1. Use tools I wasn't comfortable with in a game-making context. All of my other entries have used Unity, so I wanted to do something completely foreign. I used all non-game-centric JavaScript libraries (React and Redux with the visuals drawn with SVG). It was an odd toolset for Ludum Dare, but one that I think I'll try again in the future.
2. Have enough gameplay for it to feel like the player was "taking part" early on, but then have the game remove that control from them. Likewise, I wanted it to feel long enough to irritate the player, but not long enough to keep them from finishing. That was a surprisingly tough to tune and I'm pretty happy with the balance I ended with.
3. Make a statement about the current gaming landscape where false senses of progression replace actual progression. Destiny 2 was my primary target (it's one of my favorite games, but the "progression" system is infuriating), but things like Battlefront II and Need For Speed were in mind.
**Things I learned**
1. Manipulating SVG elements. There's a lot of really cool stuff you can do with them that I've never gotten around to trying. A lot of my experimentation didn't make it into the game, but I found out all sorts of interesting stuff.
2. Injecting listeners into Redux stores - all the achievement detection and unlocking was an interesting challenge to figure out, having never done anything like that before. The achievement system isn't flashy or groundbreaking, but I learned some really cool techniques from working on it. I'm pretty new to Redux, but I feel I have a MUCH better grasp of it from working on my entry.
3. Learning to cut functionality - at one point I had multiple currencies, unlockable nodes, story progression, all sorts of elements didn't quite work the way I wanted (but that I spent hours working on). In the past I would have tried to find a way to FORCE them in, but late Saturday I took an axe to most of it and was able to spend Sunday just working on stuff that ACTUALLY helped the experience. In the end, anything that distracted from the core target got cut. This is my simplest LD entry by far, but it's among the most polished (oddly, enough), which I think is just as important.
On the whole, I feel this was one of my most successful LD entries. No, I'm not in danger of getting any medals, but I more directly accomplished my goals than ever before.
Cutting functionality is certainly challenging. I've found it helpful to write down every single feature of the design in a big list with the critical (core) features on top. If time is running out and I still haven't finished the core, then I'm in for tough decisions on what to cut. Otherwise I can just stop with at least a functional (yet ugly) project to show off.
Interesting read; I'm glad you learned new things. The risk paid off!
I think I passed all the content XD
I like your humor, and saw your comment that you also did a challenge for yourself which is great!
Completing challenges for yourself - is a main part of a jam conception, so you did it right :)
Also it is very fun to look on your game from a theme perspective. "More clicks you did - more time you lost" XD
Actually I not really like clicker games because they take Skinner box as a main gameplay mechanic.
And your entry have an ironic overplay on this genre which is great. :)