Graveyard dates by Adrien Dittrick

[raw]
made by Adrien Dittrick for LD 41 (JAM)

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A creepy-cute tale of a supernatural-fighting agent and an anarchistic witch from another world.

This game is a mix of action platformer and graveyard dating sim.

Blast your way through waves of enemies to complete your mission and traverse between worlds for love, while keeping an eye on your phone for important messages.

Play here: https://gamejolt.com/games/graveyarddates/335096

Original Soundtrack: https://soundcloud.com/spiderlili/sets/ludum-dare-41-graveyard-dates-ost

thumb_4mb.gif Features

  • 6 levels
  • 2 playable characters
  • Multiple endings
  • Dual-wielding
  • Text messages
  • Mission ranking
  • Date ranking

Controls

  • WASD /arrow keys: move
  • Spacebar / Z / W : jump
  • Left click: use ranged weapon, pick options on your phone.
  • Right click: use melee weapon.

https://gamejolt.com/games/graveyarddates/335096

Ratings

Overall 418th 3.596⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Fun 363th 3.529⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 303th 3.68⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Theme 181th 4.108⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 703th 3.298⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Audio 358th 3.422⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 306th 3.42⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Mood 282th 3.647⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Given 91🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

lawnjovi
24. Apr 2018 · 01:07 UTC
Love how the stories come together!
krunoslav
24. Apr 2018 · 03:22 UTC
Really fun game! Two characters, a funny story, great game!
It was not clear how many lives I had, some hearts in a corner could help. I was motivated to win the 3rd level know what happen with Indigo and Scarlet.
Great job!
ostoru
24. Apr 2018 · 03:24 UTC
couldn't play much of it, there might be problems with multiple monitors, also it leaks memory like a madman lays on the ground if you tell him to, but good idea and good execution
Jrpl
24. Apr 2018 · 04:46 UTC
Cool game, I like the concept. I liked it more than I expected I would!
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
24. Apr 2018 · 07:36 UTC
I might look into a bugfix version today!
(that would also get rid of those pesky memory leaks)
dragonslumber
24. Apr 2018 · 18:06 UTC
Solid game, really clever merging of those two genres!
DavidPIxel
24. Apr 2018 · 18:58 UTC
Loved the game! Although it crashed a couple of times and couldn't reach the end the overall experience made me have a lot of fun, love how both genres mix, it is a really good idea ^^ Only complains are the difficulty of the enemies, sometimes the "weird" movement when you land after a jump.
GregWLyons
24. Apr 2018 · 19:02 UTC
I liked the mixing of genres and the phone use, but level 4 crashed my entire computer =(
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
24. Apr 2018 · 19:06 UTC
I have built a slight update that reduces lags and crashes :)
xoxo4c756c75
24. Apr 2018 · 19:14 UTC
I had really fun playing your game but it crashed my computer in Level 4 :/
But it's a really fun and challenging idea!
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
24. Apr 2018 · 19:16 UTC
Aaaaaah this level 4 X)
Did anyone try the HTML5 version yet?
Seanale
24. Apr 2018 · 19:20 UTC
I love the concept, but my game crashed in the middle of the first level. It reminds me of scenes from movies where some super cool dudes have a nonchalant conversation in the middle of a battle!
tayl1r
24. Apr 2018 · 19:28 UTC
I tried the html version. I got white screen halfway through level 3, but it might be unrelated as youtube crashed too and my computer has issues running basically anything! It's a fun little game, I like the setup, it's very cute.
DoctorAlpaca
24. Apr 2018 · 20:03 UTC
Absolutely loved it. The story kinda confused me at the end but otherwise is an absolute highlight.
multiplexor
24. Apr 2018 · 20:07 UTC
Screw machine guns! I'm getting a sword!

Seriously, game is awesome, really like how you mixed both genres and how it all makes sense together! Really great!

Gameplay and level design is pretty neat too (Game was challenging but not impossible), sometimes the controls feel a bit clunky, but it's overall very playable!

Best game I've played yet! Great job people! Keep up the amazing work :D
jojocanard
24. Apr 2018 · 20:26 UTC
Too hard for me but mainly because I have two monitors and I keep having my mouse leaving the game and making me die very quickly.
Funny and very nice take on the theme.
blinry
24. Apr 2018 · 20:40 UTC
Neat idea, nice execution! I like the graphics, the music, and the writing! Also, the floatiness of the weapons/arms looks great!

Ideas for improvement: Jumping feels mechanic, because all jumps have the same height - dynamic jump physics would be great here! Also, the game crashed my computer, twice :( In level 2 and 3, I think. Feel free to ping me when you have figured out what the problem is. :)
Langotriel
24. Apr 2018 · 20:42 UTC
Fun concept that is inherently funny. Pleasing music tracks and serviceable sound effects! Well done! :D
Arqcenick
24. Apr 2018 · 20:45 UTC
Great game, near perfect made me remember a particular Hollywood movie about an agent couple. The combat is neatly done, the dialogue is well written. Action keeps me busy and interesting.
Level design is a bit repetitive but this is a jam game so what.
All in all it's a great game with polish.
Marcenat
24. Apr 2018 · 20:48 UTC
What a great way to tell a story, which is awesome by the way (and pretty dark, i almost cry).
The core mechanic works very well, as I really wanted to know the story so I was reading everything but getting hurt doing so.
Graphics are nice (especially the background), and the musics are very atmospheric, works perfectly with the setting.
Did not displaying the health was a choice to not distract the player ?
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
24. Apr 2018 · 21:04 UTC
Ah no we just didn't have time to implement game UI and hud X) @marcenat
BloodyOrange
24. Apr 2018 · 21:13 UTC
Hey, I really enjoyed playing your game!
I liked the combination of dating sim and action shooter/plattformer :D and I think it is really well executed.
But I also had some issues with the game in the first run as others mentioned before but the second run went well.
I really liked the graphics and the sound, but it was a little weired that the characters only looked in one direction eventhough I was walking to the left. Since I'm not a programmer I don't know how much work it is to mirror the sprite and implement it, but maybe it is an option?
Btw. how many endings does the game have and what is the best grade you can get in the end? :)
I almost forgot to mention, that I also liked the story!
Emmitt
24. Apr 2018 · 21:14 UTC
This is one of the most incredible entries I ahve found this jam. The story side of the thing is great, the mix feels so fresh, it makes you giggle and awe at the same time.
I find some room for inprovement, mostly in music and artdesign departments. In every other way the game is outstanding.
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
24. Apr 2018 · 21:15 UTC
Hey @BloodyOrange thanks for playing!
The game has 3 endings and therefore 3 grades:
- F
- FUN
- S+
yancharkin
24. Apr 2018 · 21:17 UTC
Interesting concept. You totally nailed the theme!
eott
24. Apr 2018 · 21:19 UTC
I love the concept, it's genius!

Unfortunately I couldn't finish the game (HTML5 version), because the memory leaks got so bad it ate 6GB of RAM. The gravity was also much too light, it made the jumping a bit annoying.
Tiberius
24. Apr 2018 · 21:42 UTC
Hi, I could only get to level two before it crashed, but I really liked what I saw. I dig the music too. I actually thought of a similar concept.
souzanod
24. Apr 2018 · 22:02 UTC
Real cool, a good mix of mechanics. They play well!
But I think that having an life indicator of some sort would help!
Alchemic
25. Apr 2018 · 00:22 UTC
Very nice, aside from the crashes. The concept is good, although the controls are a bit clunky. Very good artwork and music!
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
25. Apr 2018 · 07:21 UTC
All right @ostoru @DavidPIxel @GregWLyons @xoxo4c756c75 @Seanale @tayl1r @jojocanard @blinry @Alchemic figured out the culprit (it's the phone, I forgot to remove the surface.) Feel free to retry and complete the game to the end :)

BTW there are 3 endings, that depend on your phone answer in the graveyard. Chose well!
lewin
25. Apr 2018 · 11:50 UTC
Also on the leaking version you could press F4 twice every minute or so to destroy the leaking surfaces.
Aryia_Ventures
25. Apr 2018 · 16:41 UTC
I had great fun playing this on stream yesterday! Here's a clip! https://clips.twitch.tv/AmericanFrailScallionDancingBaby
Kwisarts
25. Apr 2018 · 22:20 UTC
Not a bad game, but the controls and design feel rather awkward.
* When you get hit, you bounce in a very weird way
* No invincibility frames while enemies have a very high rate of fire
* Enemies shouldn't be able to shoot at you when you can't see them. I kept being frustrated by the fak tree that, not only shoots at me before I can see him, but on top of that, he shoots pretty fast, making his shots pretty hard to dodge.
* it seems like the next message is triggered by your position or something? Sometimes it feels rather odd that you're asked something but can't reply until you've move enough.

I gave up on one of the last levels because it was getting too annoying to restart; it's nice to shoot fast but with eveerything being so fast, it feels... well awkward.

That said, I love how you incorporated the message mechanic and the duality good/bad.

PS: Good thing I saw about the memory leak in the messages, I just saw it applied to me too since I played the broswer version, remember to delete anything that needs to be deleted when you restart/the game closes!
moonlightbomber
26. Apr 2018 · 00:15 UTC
This game is fun. The only complaint I have is the knockback whenever the player character gets hit. Unless this is deliberately done as an homage to Castlevania, please remove it.
JackLeHamster
26. Apr 2018 · 17:25 UTC
Nice work! I got a lot to say, but as you know, one image is worth a thousand words. So how 'about you watch my Let's play video of your game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKZ-GMNkk6I

And let me know what you think about it 😉
🎤 Adrien Dittrick
26. Apr 2018 · 18:25 UTC
So I just added healthbars and dynamic difficulty :)
Should make the game easier.
Jupiter_Hadley
29. Apr 2018 · 09:57 UTC
Lovely idea! I included it in my Ludum Dare 41 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOCRSij5jBI
Richard N Silva
01. May 2018 · 19:26 UTC
Nice concept! I felt multitasking exactly like I do in real life when I am playing and texting my girlfriend!

The platforming is really solid and it feels nice both to attack and shoot the enemies.
Congratulations on the entry, great project!
Mr.MadCat
01. May 2018 · 19:32 UTC
Pretty cool game.

The genre mix up works pretty well and is yet conflicting. Cool.

Well done.
blubberquark
04. May 2018 · 15:22 UTC
I like your take on the theme and the story. Unfortunately, the platforming and shooting is the weakest part of the game.
cristiano.m.garcia
07. May 2018 · 00:02 UTC
Good job! Cool game!

I left my rating of your game, if you can leave your feedback in our game, Witch's Escape.

I hope you continue with the project.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/witchs-escape
Gizmolo
15. May 2018 · 03:55 UTC
Very interesting concept. No doubt 5 stars for innovation and theme. I would like to see this game fully fleshed out!
Ellian
15. May 2018 · 19:22 UTC
Hah, this is a very cute concept! I went in not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. Wish the gameplay wasn't so hard and punishing ahah
But man, it's a really good simple concept. Congrats!