LudumData

Rhythm Rogue by vilcans

[raw]
made by vilcans for LD 41 (COMPO)

Nothing is what it used to be. Pacman has to learn to dance. Or at least to move in sync with the music. Once he enters the underworld, he also has to learn to eat percent signs instead of dots. Not even the ghosts - as present as they are in this strange, but yet so familiar world - behave like they used to.

Level11.png

Combining rhythm based movement with roguelike gameplay - what can go wrong?

This is a single button game. Just press space to move. If you don't do it on the beat, you will slip. Press space on every beat to move straight forward. Find the stairs and discover lower levels where more monsters and different level styles await.

Attack enemies by moving into them. Do it on the beat for the best effect!

The % signs are food. Make sure you eat! You will lose Hit Points if you're starving.

New from April 25th: Optimized the game so it runs better on older computers. Made Linux, Mac and Web builds.

Windows http://public.librador.com/RhythmRogue/RhythmRogue-0.2-win.zip
macOS http://public.librador.com/RhythmRogue/RhythmRogue-0.2.1-mac.tar.gz
Linux http://public.librador.com/RhythmRogue/RhythmRogue-0.2-linux.tar.gz
HTML5 (web) http://public.librador.com/RhythmRogue/
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/rhythm-rogue

Ratings

Overall 220th 3.583⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 308th 3.333⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 64th 3.972⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 49th 4.25⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 321th 3.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 36th 3.917⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 142th 3.472⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 5🗳️ 7🗨️

Feedback

nilstastic
23. Apr 2018 · 19:18 UTC
Ah, this is great! A really nice touch with the pacman beat. Finding the first enemy was quite exciting and as a surprise to exactly no one i messed up. =)

Good work!
Tommislav
23. Apr 2018 · 19:58 UTC
By the time I came to level 9 (and starved to death) I was a real pro at keeping the beat!
I had a great time playing this! Add in more variation, and I think I would play this a lot!
mrspeaker
24. Apr 2018 · 13:04 UTC
The source code looks like it's Unity - any chance of a linux or mac build? I really want to test it out!
Yngvarr
24. Apr 2018 · 14:27 UTC
This game is great! Unusual way to control a character that is also a cool way to develop a skill of keeping the rhythm (I guess). Surprisingly, he tune is not annoying at all. Nicely done!
🎤 vilcans
24. Apr 2018 · 17:18 UTC
@mrspeaker Yes, I'll publish a Mac version ASAP. I just found that the performance is pretty bad on my old computer, so I'm fixing that first.
🎤 vilcans
25. Apr 2018 · 20:36 UTC
See if this Mac build works, @mrspeaker !
ctran13
25. Apr 2018 · 20:44 UTC
Just tried the mac build... it can't open unfortunately :(
smbe19
25. Apr 2018 · 20:55 UTC
Cool idea. The controls felt really weird. It felt like I pressed on the beat but the direction cursor was all over the place. I had no chance to control the character well. Also the music sounded really weird, do you slow it down in real time according to some game state?
MCPlummet
25. Apr 2018 · 21:07 UTC
Neat game! It seems like the mac build isn't working because the executable file doesn't have execution permissions. If you cd into the app bundle, then into Contents/MacOS and chmod +x the RhythmRogue-0.2 file, the game will run. After I did that, it ran just fine.
🎤 vilcans
25. Apr 2018 · 21:11 UTC
@smbe19 The music and the whole game slows down if the computer can't keep up. Yes, it's a bit silly that a game like this would need a good computer. Did you download the 0.2 version which is a bit optimized?

If you don't press on the beat, you will slip and the character will be rotated in a random direction. If you press on every beat, you can move pretty quickly forward, one step per beat.
🎤 vilcans
25. Apr 2018 · 21:15 UTC
@ctran13 Thanks for trying. I used to make releases for Mac on a Mac, but I don't have one anymore, so I'm not sure how to get it to work. I thought tar.gz would be a good format for Mac. Did you manage to unpack it?

I just published a web version too, try that one: http://public.librador.com/RhythmRogue/
smbe19
25. Apr 2018 · 21:17 UTC
Yes, I used the 0.2 version. If the computer is too slow for the game it seems to be really unoptimized and doing stuff it should not be doing. I mean, my computer can run Crysis, but not Pacman? ;P

It is really hard to know when exactly "the beat occurs". I sometimes pressed space always in the same interval and it would work for a few rounds and then suddenly slip.
🎤 vilcans
25. Apr 2018 · 21:28 UTC
@smbe19 Yeah, it is implemented kind of hacky, but still it's not so badly implemented that it would do that. If your computer runs Crysis, it should be able to run this game.
🎤 vilcans
25. Apr 2018 · 21:44 UTC
@MCPlummet Thanks for the tip! I expected some problem like that as I made the build on Windows that doesn't have execute permissions. The new version (0.2.1) should have that fixed.
hypp
27. Apr 2018 · 05:07 UTC
As usual, well done! I had a really hard time following the rhythm, and slipped most of time. Great idea to combine Pacman with rhythm, but I think that the normal Pacman level layout would have been better. Now it's more like a Pacman skin on your rhythm game.
hypp
27. Apr 2018 · 05:08 UTC
Oh, I tried the osx version. Worked nicely, but I couldn't figure out how to exit the game???
🎤 vilcans
29. Apr 2018 · 14:37 UTC
@hypp On Mac I think you quit with ⌘Q.
rjhelms
10. May 2018 · 02:35 UTC
This is like 3 genres! Well, if "Pacman" is a genre.

I understand the choice of one-button controls, but this might be more fun if you could move with the arrow keys - waiting around for the movement arrow made the pacing a bit tricky. Perhaps if missing the beat sent you in the wrong direction instead?

All in all, though, a really cool experience.
Bernhard
11. May 2018 · 08:38 UTC
Really good game, wouldn't be as good if the music wasn't that spot on for it.
Died in level 8, that ghost was strong :o
I somehow felt that I was getting worse at keeping the beat as the levels progressed. When I died and restarted I was perfectly fine again until level 6. Maybe I should have downloaded the native build instead of the HTML5 version.
LeviDSmith
13. May 2018 · 19:14 UTC
Very innovative concept. I got to level 5 and the game froze, which I think was due to me maxing out the hunger value. After a while I figured out the the audible tick meant that you hit the beat correctly, and a loud beep meant that you missed. The gameplay felt solid, and the key presses felt in time with the music. I guess I should have read the instructions first, but I just tried to keep away from the ghosts instead of eating them.
Nico H.
13. May 2018 · 19:27 UTC
I think this is one of the best LD entires I played! I really like the idea and the style. :grinning:
There were just one annoying thing: After a rotation I very often miss the beat. Maybe I'm just too bad at rhythm games but as soon as I hit the button the right time it works out for me. It's just the rotation.
But anyway, it's a great game!
Doccrazy
13. May 2018 · 21:03 UTC
It felt like the music desynced from the input after playing a while, making the game impossible to play (web version). Otherwise I really liked this entry!