Pig-em-Up: Lassos Are Loops, Too! by Jamison
Overview
So, you're a pig. And the goal is to get "stuck in the loop" of the cowboys' ropes. In other words, try to get lassoed!
Once you're stuck in their lasso, pull 'em around to defeat them.
...is it the world's first pig-based beat-em-up?
About the Game
I made everything* from scratch during this jam, including the concept, code, sprites, music, and sound effects.
Tools Used - Engine: GameMaker Studio 2 - Music: FL Studio - Sound effects: SFXR, Audacity
*except for two fonts (see below)
Time Constraints
I really ran out of time with this game. I had two failed prototypes and didn't start this game until over 24 hours into the jam. As such, a few things were sacrificed:
- Content -- it's over after just a few screens
- A better title screen
- A real game-over screen
- Difficulty tweaks -- it's currently way too easy
- Hitbox refinement -- hitboxes are a little wonky
- The background -- I mean, have you SEEN it??
- Enemy variety, additional attacks, etc. I had planned for the enemies to be able to kick if you got too close, but I scrapped that in favor of making a functioning game first.
There are a few miscellaneous issues, too. It's kind of annoying when the cowboy you're dragging dies, because you essentially lose your weapon, and it happens when you don't expect it. In the future, it would be nice to keep dragging him after he's dead in order to continue attacking.
Also, the thing about game jams is the placeholder art tends to stay as the real art. So, please excuse the derpy pig :)
Fine Print
I made everything myself from scratch during the jam, other than the fonts used: - https://www.dafont.com/saddlebag.font?l[]=10&l[]=1 - https://www.dafont.com/kirsty.font?l[]=10&l[]=1
Ratings
| Overall | 314th | 3.882⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 66th | 4.132⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 88th | 4.103⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 462th | 3.912⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 719th | 3.647⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 372th | 3.672⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 82th | 4.076⭐ | 35🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 362th | 3.813⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 23🗳️ | 41🗨️ |
Please make sure to check our game thanks
The visuals are very nice and I had fun playing, thank you!
The motion/feel of the lasso swinging around after the pig gets roped is really good - given such a simple gameplay mechanic, it really has to be right on, so, nicely done.
Very creative take on the theme too - not at all the direction my mind went in upon first seeing the theme, but it absolutely matches it.
I didnt realize at first I was controlling the pig, so might be a bit more explicit on the beginning of the tutorial, for example having only the pig at first and then having a cowboy pop up for the rest of the tuto.
Hilariously take on the theme though, I had fun for this short demo.
The concept is great and execution was perfect!
I thought the bar at the top was a timer... it wasn't until the end until I realized it was my health. Getting the pig to flicker would be an easy way to show that it is getting damaged. I liked the hand at the top that told me to GOOOOOOOO :laughing:
Very very cool! :) I love the personality of this one, and the absolute bonkers gameplay suits it very well.
The physics were a little wonky, but once I got used to 'em I was able to intentionally fling cowboys into cacti and dynamite. I can see this being expanded upon in the future, nice job!!
Graphics are really good, audio is good, gameplay is very smooth and well executed and I really like the concept. May need more explanation on the piggy life bar, made some times to see it and then I still didn't understood what can lower my health.
@daimadoushi Good thinking about the tutorial!
@nikolai-shkurkin Ahh, thanks for the feedback, I want to make a better HUD that makes it more obvious. The pig actually does flash and jump when you take damage, but I could make it last longer and make it more obvious.
@piscythe Running into an obstacle while being dragged deals damage to yourself (this wasn't obvious at all, sorry!). So, jumping lets you jump over a cactus or box to avoid it, but still have the ~~cowboy~~ pigboy you're dragging hit it. Speaking of the dynamite, I feel like I made it way too easy to stack the cowboys and blow them up with multiple dynamites. I'll have to think about how to fix that. At the very least, a cowboy shouldn't drop his own dynamite directly at his own feet, maybe it should fly back further.
1. dynamite explosions
2. hitting cacti or barrels while the pig is auto-running (from being lassoed)
I think what makes the game a little easy is the fact that the bombs also hit the enemies, I always killed them with the bomb itself.
I really loved the sounds and graphics! Very solid and interesting, good job!
ssseeeeeeggggaaaaaa
fun game
@dizzy Thanks for playing! Yep, a last minute tweak to the trajectory of the dynamite made it fall right at their feet. I've already fixed that for my post-jam version (which I have yet to publish).
@guilhermesouza @floata-1 Yay, I'm glad the inspirations showed through! Definitely inspired by games like TMNT IV for SNES and Streets of Rage for Genesis/MegaDrive
@matterox Good thinking, I had the same idea but that was one of the first ideas to hit the chopping block for time reasons.