BoltStorm by Kuality Games

[raw]
made by Kuality Games for LD34 (JAM)
Boltstorm is a game about a Knight that ventures into the dungeon to save his fellow knights, but instead he gets trapped and is attacked by merciless executioners!

Theme of BoltStorm is growing. Goal is to Save the knights, and as your chain grows stronger survive the attack.

Leveling up will increase your firing rate and add extra followers, but make the level more difficult while the enemy numbers increase. Post your high score!

How to play:
1) Download the .rar file.
2) Extract.
3) Launch the .exe file.

Team:
Valentin Georgiev - Programming
Caspar Severijnen - Programming
Luka Kvirikashvili - Art/Design
Jennita Joosse - Art

Ratings

Coolness 80% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.76 152
Fun(Jam) 3.65 161
Graphics(Jam) 4.24 110
Mood(Jam) 3.60 227
Theme(Jam) 3.49 689

Feedback

DevDad
15. Dec 2015 · 12:06 UTC
Fun little game ! With little more content and better AI navigation logic could be much better . Keep it up ;)
Warxen
15. Dec 2015 · 18:01 UTC
I like the concept and the gameplay, nice little polish in there such as screen shake, death animations. Camera movement was also nice. Altough One problem I had was that the scene was too dark overall. Giving the enemies little glowing eyes or adding a spotlight (Diablo 2 style) could have helped this. I did not get the the leveling system, a 'wave' system would have made more sense in my opinion, because it prepares you for your next challenge, which adds meaning to you becoming stronger(growing).
Mr.Chippy
15. Dec 2015 · 21:34 UTC
Fun... I could use a bit of polishing. The The graphics were great.
Max Amaden
15. Dec 2015 · 21:35 UTC
This game is absolutely brilliant! The graphics are really good, as are the sound effects and the game mechanics! I played it through a few times because it's so smooth and fun to play! Overall, a really polished project - I can't wait to play your next game!
puddelipip
15. Dec 2015 · 21:37 UTC
I liked it, would have preferred a bit less dark and a wider camera angle, nice job though, this could be fun!

(I'm able to fire arrows after dying for a while)
-SPiRiT-
15. Dec 2015 · 21:41 UTC
Very good game ! =D
I agree with Warxen, a wave system would be more accurate x)
LudoGames
15. Dec 2015 · 22:22 UTC
Very well made game. It sets a dark mood and attention to detail really gives it a nice feel. I like the juiciness and camera shakes. Good-looking and cute models, the gameplay is fun but I found a few dominant strategies. I think the game would benefit from better AI and maybe a different shape for the level. Good Job!
DinnerInTheDark
15. Dec 2015 · 22:22 UTC
Basic but fun. Pretty graphics!
crucknuk
15. Dec 2015 · 22:52 UTC
It's a shame there's not much feedback when you're taking damage. I went from 7 followers to 3 in a few seconds because I didn't realise I was getting attacked ^^

Nice atmosphere and graphics :)
smatcher
15. Dec 2015 · 23:25 UTC
Very nice game.
A minimap or something indicating where the ennemies and the knights are would be helpful.
MorganLeFay
15. Dec 2015 · 23:44 UTC
I found your game pretty hard to play because I found enemies and them attacking me hard to notice. But the game looks amazing! So much detail and and everything is just really pretty. I've you improve on the gameplay a little bit it will be a great game!
sergicollado
15. Dec 2015 · 23:50 UTC
Awesome game!
commodoreKid
15. Dec 2015 · 23:54 UTC
I think graphics look really pretty but you should differentiate entities and environment. I couldn't see enemies and my own guys most of the time. A secondary directional light only on entities or color adjustments could help. Walking sound is not the best. Other than these, it's quite good work. Of course it would be better with more content but maybe not in 72 hours. Keep up the good work!
🎤 Kuality Games
16. Dec 2015 · 13:33 UTC
Thanks for all the feedback guys! We'll be working on the bugs/issues you've spotted.
kirbytails7
16. Dec 2015 · 22:56 UTC
Nice. It's kind of hard to see the enemies coming with the camera angle and the color choices.
tobia88
18. Dec 2015 · 08:57 UTC
Well done! Fun...Pretty graphics!
Chubb1337
19. Dec 2015 · 11:23 UTC
Really good game, but a few things to notice:

-The screen shake is too excessive, made it painful to play
-It gets really though really fast
-I feel like the smaller knights should be able to join me when I'm near, not just when I hit them.

Besides those points, very good entry!
🎤 Kuality Games
19. Dec 2015 · 15:39 UTC
@Chubb1337 Thanks for your feedback, we'll make sure to address those problems, cheers!
Wevel
19. Dec 2015 · 20:48 UTC
Amazing fun, love the automatic crossbow that your group of knights ends up having. Cool particle effects as well
YinYin
19. Dec 2015 · 22:24 UTC
The camera was rather bad in a lot of places, so I ended up camping on a wall. Reached level 41 while lazily swinging my aim back and forth between the spawn points. Got bored of doing that and waited for death.

Besides that it is very nicely polished.
Tapehead
20. Dec 2015 · 14:24 UTC
the pillars and the camera view (if you are in the bottom of the screen) makes the game sometimes unpredictable but apart from that is this game very cool! i had a lot of fun with it! keep it up!
Yaroslav Kravtsov
20. Dec 2015 · 14:33 UTC
I reached level 30 by holding position in the left bottom corner. It was pretty fun.
Diel Mormac
20. Dec 2015 · 14:34 UTC
Awesome Graphics!

As others said before, with a better AI and more variations in the command you will have an 5/5 game!

Keep working on this pleeeaseee :D

Congratulations!
Crashmore Studios
20. Dec 2015 · 14:36 UTC
Very creative take on the top-down shooter genre. I really liked the concept alot and it was definitely pretty fun to play.

The graphics were also pretty decent and they worked pretty well with the experience. The only problem though, is that the enemies didn't stand out enough from the background as it was pretty dark and they had some pretty dark textures. Don't know if this was intended as part of a difficulty, but still it could use a bit tweaking.

Otherwise, it was pretty nice. Well done! :)
wdebowicz
20. Dec 2015 · 15:29 UTC
I have a fun! I like the mechanism, I don't like that screen shaking it to big when you have bigger army.
Nega Drive
20. Dec 2015 · 15:32 UTC
Great game! Very nicely polished, particularly the audio work, which was punchy and satisfying. Gameplay is good too but I did find myself getting cheap damage from enemies spawning from behind pillars, maybe a more prominent spawn effect and making the pillars transparent when the camera is near them would help. Nice work overall.
🎤 Kuality Games
20. Dec 2015 · 15:42 UTC
Thanks a lot for your feedback guys! We'll be working on those issues, cheers.
dreadzilla
20. Dec 2015 · 15:51 UTC
Well done! Awesome game.
Rodaja
20. Dec 2015 · 16:23 UTC
Good game, although a bit hard. I didn't like the camera movement, it exposed my back a bit too much, and also the enemies spawning right on my nose seemed a bit unfair. Other than that, nice game, keep it up!
TerraCottaFrog
20. Dec 2015 · 16:39 UTC
The camera really messed things up for me. It just seemed broken because of the rebound from shots. It doesn't even make sense to have the kind of rebound from arrows:P
I think it would have worked better if the rebound applied to the character.
Joror
20. Dec 2015 · 16:43 UTC
Nice graphics & feel, gameplay does not evolve much beyond the start tho.
(different weapons / followers / enemies)
davidB
20. Dec 2015 · 17:43 UTC
Nice gfx, sound and variation of top down shooter (in fact it's not top view), I like the growing team idea.

On Windows: not AZERTY keabord friendly and bug in the menu (hover of the mouse is not correct Y delta)
camlang
20. Dec 2015 · 18:26 UTC
Lovely graphics and effects.The control feels very rewardind. But the camera angles are painfull. Quite often I would ram into a crowd of enemies simply because can't see them. The pillars are making it even worse.
intXparts
20. Dec 2015 · 20:35 UTC
Awesome game! The jerkiness of the camera made it feel really intense. Great graphics, sounds and solid gameplay. It was also successful in killing my display driver haha. Excellent work!
Pat AfterMoon
20. Dec 2015 · 20:39 UTC
It's fun and graphics are very nice.
Jod
20. Dec 2015 · 21:09 UTC
Great graphics! I experienced some lag, sadly, while playing it on my MacBook Air.

Nice chunky sound effects for the arrows, loved that. Great little animations and lighting, well done!
lurils
21. Dec 2015 · 19:59 UTC
really fun and gets pretty challenging as you advance, well done
KillaRiku
22. Dec 2015 · 02:13 UTC
It's fun, but the sounds are getting outta control.
rodobodolfo
22. Dec 2015 · 03:26 UTC
this was really fun and addictive! REally solid entry.
My only complaint is that Camera shake get out of control wehn my squad grew much. Great job!
Louspirit
22. Dec 2015 · 17:16 UTC
I really enjoyed the gameplay. for me the screen is tilting a little bit too much. Please think of the non qwerty keyboards nex time ;)
mxjones
22. Dec 2015 · 21:57 UTC
It was fun, I was playing the web version and had some troubles with it not shooting. I wasn't sure if it was because I was moving? Still fun to play though. Good job
Leon Möhring
25. Dec 2015 · 23:14 UTC
impressive graphics and very cool gameplay idea! would love to see more features and maybe a winning condition...
dx0ne
26. Dec 2015 · 16:46 UTC
Cute mayhem. It's fun but please add option to disable screenshake.
LukeZaz
27. Dec 2015 · 02:15 UTC
Excellent audio and graphics - especially impressive for a Ludum Dare submission.

Regarding gameplay:
Movement could've been more interesting (leaps, charging) as enemies simply moving in your direction made dodging a simple thing.

It also felt unfair that enemies spawned below me given my perspective causing a slight sight disadvantage in that direction. Finally, I found out that by camping in any of the maps corners I could easily go on for as long as I want if I had enough Knights with me.

Lastly, on audio, the shooting sound quickly became obnoxious enough to drown out all other audio entirely once my firerate and chain got long enough. Additionally, the single background track, although interesting and fitting at first, quickly became boring after playing long enough.
themadknights
04. Jan 2016 · 10:36 UTC
Really beautiful snake :D. Great work, I liked it.
Haokarlos
04. Jan 2016 · 12:11 UTC
Good job! Really like the graphics
WizByte_Games
04. Jan 2016 · 13:43 UTC
Wow I just love this game. Its like playing Snake and Geometry Wars in one.
rojo
04. Jan 2016 · 15:23 UTC
Had a good time blasting away with my firing squad! I liked the aesthetic a lot as well. I think some powerups or secondary fire modes would help mix it up and keep things fresh as you get later into the game.