LoopBots by Empty Set
Create LoopBots that repeat your actions in a loop in order to collect resources! Race against the clock and maximize your efficiency!
Playing the in-game tutorial is strongly advised for first-time players.
Programming, art, and music by me, Empty Set. I may polish this up and release it; if you'd like to follow my progress, you can find me on twitter at twitter.com/EmptySetDesigns
Itch page: https://empty-set-games.itch.io/loopbots
Here are my best times for each stage. See if you can beat me!
Stage 1 - 1:10
Stage 2 - 1:50
Stage 3 - 2:37
Feel free to post your stage times in the comments. I'd suggest using the 1.0.2 build if you want to go for good times so you can restart levels with the R button, but keep in mind that it's a post-jam release, so please only base your ratings on the 1.0.1 version.
Changelog:
Version 1.0.1: This is the initial Jam release.
Version 1.0.2: This is a Post-Jam update that mostly adds some minor quality-of-life type changes. The content/gameplay is essentially the same, but the experience should be a little bit smoother.
Detailed changelog for 1.0.2: - You can now restart a level by pressing R - Some sounds have had their volume adjusted - Pressing escape in a level now asks you whether you want to return to the main menu - An extra message was added to the tutorial to explain spikes and HP - Game now runs in full screen by default - The alignment of some text was tweaked - Removed some debug buttons left in 1.0.1
Ratings
| Overall | 605th | 3.63⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 678th | 3.435⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 494th | 3.62⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 491th | 3.889⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 675th | 3.707⭐ | 48🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 750th | 3.2⭐ | 47🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 712th | 2.821⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 919th | 3.273⭐ | 46🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 78🗳️ | 68🗨️ |
I do think there are a couple little annoying things in the UI. For example, sometimes I accidentally hit Z near home when I didn't want to finish recording, and so I was forced to throw away my progress.
My biggest point of ...confusion? is the time limit. It seems kind of out of place to me. As it's impossible to know where different things are in the level, you don't know what you should do until you've explored a bit... which ends up feeling like wasted time, because you could have been recording a robot to mine that ore!
That said, I can't say I actually ever ran out of time, so it isn't really *unfair*. You *do* have enough time to do all the exploring and then separately record your robots. But it still makes the game feel really high-pressure and, in my opinion, this game doesn't seem like it should be a high-pressure game, which makes the time limit feel out of place.
But, despite that, I had a good time. I think the game fits the theme pretty well, and the combination of platforming plus resource-collection-automation is a good combination. :smile:
@honey-pony Thanks for your detailed response!
Your feedback on the UI is useful. If I develop this further, I think I'll need to develop a more robust menu system so you can clearly choose what you want to do so you can, for instance, choose between "Complete Loop" or "Abandon Loop" or "Continue Loop", etc.
The reasoning behind the time limit is because I felt like there needed to be a fail state - otherwise there wouldn't be much pressure to do well, and dying from losing your hp didn't feel like enough. I tried to work in "exploration time" into the time limit so they weren't too stressful. I'd like to implement a way to record your best times so you can keep challenging yourself - but I didn't have the time.
Art - simple but appealing. I found the character interesting, and the loop bots are hilarious looking.
I thought the first level was an excellent primer. Simple, but necessary to interact with everything. No, I did not come close to approaching your scores.
I worry that people won't do the tutorial, they absolutely should, it's a gem of a game that's really well thought out.
Aside from that subject, graphics were nice, audio too and a big +1 for the tutorial that was really well done and very clear so congrats for this entry
Because the loop always starts and ends at the base, setting a good loop is basically a mixture of getting the energy consumption vs. ore mining ratio right, and also performing well at platforming after starting a loop.
The first half of this got more interesting in later levels for sure. It meant that it might be the best move to actually wait standing in front of the base for a bit before handing in the ore, so the Loop Bot would consume energy slower. Cool!
The second half - the platforming - suffered a bit from the controls, I feel. Up = Jump isn't my favorite, and controls did feel a bit slide-y in general. Certainly workable though!
I really appreciated how "complete" this felt, with a tutorial, levels with a timer (that felt doable but not easy! Got stuck on level 3, personally) and a main menu and such. Impressive in the Jam timeframe!
The jumping controls were a little finnicky, but ok when I got the hang of it.
Difficulty ramp was good, would have liked an additional mechanic at the end, but time is limited in LD.
Well done!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/the-dumb-robot
I love the mechanics, it's a very clever and original idea. It works perfectly, also, no bugs so far.
Thank you for the tutorial, it's way more important than more people think, you should make it mandatory as stage 0.
I hope you keep working on this on the future. Here are some suggestions:
- Circular menu around the main character to choose an action on the Base.
- Save progress and maybe a Select Stage Menu.
- Bigger characters and elements.
Anyway, those are suggestions to the future, you did more than enough for the challenge.
As you can imagine, you have my 5 stars. Congrats!
(drumroll...)
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Congratulations! Your game is by far the most unique among the "loop clone platformers"! The strategy of mining ores, the need to harvest power, this game is amazingly creative and original! I love the voice acting for the robots!