Wild Ride by CaptainDreamcast

[raw]
made by CaptainDreamcast for Ludum Dare 47 (COMPO)

There is very few things Non-Player-Characters (NPC as us pro gamers call them) have to fear: They don't have to pay taxes, they don't have to hold smalltalk (except when they do) and they don't have to worry about Ludum Dare deadlines. But there is one thing, one singular thing that all NPCs fear more than we possibly can imagine, that makes them say "No, please" instead of "I am error": Being on the wrong end of a malevolent omnipotent being in a simulation game. Dan Stuckmann suffered such a fate: A nice day at the amusement park turned into a life-altering event as he found himself stuck on the "Wild Ride" for over 50 years (in case you can't imagine the horror, that's 50 years of amusement park food). But he has not given up hope yet and has come up with a crazy plan to escape the "Wild Ride" even if he himself won't be around to see it anymore.

So yeah, this game is based on a popular... I'm not sure what you'd call it, a story? It's based on the popular story of Mr. Bones' Wild Ride, in which a Rollercoaster Tycoon player describes in great detail how they tormented their little men inside the game by forcing them into an eternal loop of riding the coaster (here's an imgur link if you've never seen it before, it's pretty funny). Originally I wanted to make it more about survival on top of the coaster, but that was pretty boring, so after the first day, I threw everything out and made it a physics game instead. Hope the physics aren't too wonky, I tried to prefer "feeling good" over realism but it's still a struggle. But that's what the Ludum Dare is for, right? Trying stuff.

Either way, thanks a lot for playing!

Update: Dreamcast port is live now too.

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Ratings

Overall 257th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Fun 189th 3.563⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 50th 4.021⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 104th 4.042⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 401th 3.18⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Audio 380th 2.84⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Humor 37th 3.86⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 353th 3.065⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

Lestat
04. Oct 2020 · 23:42 UTC
Interesting concept to say the least. Cool graphics :p Good job!
Nikos
04. Oct 2020 · 23:45 UTC
The game concept is very intresting, and the intro is absolutely hilarious! The music is cool, and the sound effects are satisfying. My only gripe with this game is how frustrating it is. I would appreciate more checkpoints(that don't check anything) and sometimes my rollercoaster clearly went in the tracks but didn't latch on. Great game overall
Gironimo4
05. Oct 2020 · 16:16 UTC
Would love to see someone who is good at this play it out, because I can see it being hilarious/fun. But I struggled with it, couldn't get more than 3 or 4 different tracks. Solidly built though, just user error.
tpsy
05. Oct 2020 · 16:19 UTC
Really liked the game. One of my favorites from this Jam. The sound effects are good, the intro was fun, and it was challenging enough where finishing it was satisfying, but not too frustrating.
Quinn_Patrick
05. Oct 2020 · 16:21 UTC
This was a really fun experience. Obviously, it was pretty short, but I can excuse that. One complaint is that this game uses a few too many buttons for how simple it is, but that could be just me, I really like minimalist control schemes. I had a good laugh at the story, too, so good job!
Untitled Studios
05. Oct 2020 · 16:26 UTC
Fun! I actually really like the weird getting stuck on a rollercoaster for generations idea. Feels like it could be a cool weird premise for a more story-focused game.
edomiyamoto
05. Oct 2020 · 16:26 UTC
That was really fun. Sure gravity does...things, but it adds well to the gameplay. Been flying around for much more time that I expected first !
Barney25052
05. Oct 2020 · 16:45 UTC
Really difficult, but good concept.
Big Pear Studios
06. Oct 2020 · 02:02 UTC
Wait, I don't get it. I got to the top and tried hitting Mr Bones, but it doesn't do anything. How do I win?

Nvm, I got it now. I guess I didn't hit him the right way.
Big Pear Studios
06. Oct 2020 · 02:12 UTC
That was really fun. The art is charming, and the gameplay is surprisingly good. I don't know what it is about jumping from coaster to coaster that makes it so satisfying, but I ain't complaning. The music does get kinda grating, but I didn't spend long enough in the game for it to get annoying.

Good stuff.
Loig
06. Oct 2020 · 17:09 UTC
I loved the humor of this game, really. Plus the game is fun.

The only thing I would like to change is the fact that the wagons are always going in the same direction: when you jump vertically and fall back to where you jumped from, the wagons should go in the other direction.
M8rix
06. Oct 2020 · 17:22 UTC
Both very addictive and frustrating. Amazing story. And the ending was very worth the struggle! :) nice job
freeworld
06. Oct 2020 · 19:32 UTC
Fantastic game, fantastic execution!

Really interesting concept with the rail breaking.
I especially love speeding up like a madman and then just hitting random spots on the rails, hoping for the best :D

I'm guessing if you play this long enough it could get a little frustrating :P That's part of the game for me here though. The only thing I would complain about if you charged me for playing this would be the music that is getting repetitive with all the restarts I have to make :P

Thanks for investing time into the story aspect too, that made it all the more enjoyable :D

Again: great idea/concept and fun game you put together in such a short amount of time!
FireGamer3
06. Oct 2020 · 22:15 UTC
I like the RCT theme of it, really good idea! I have never seen a Dreamcast port of something before ha ha
Cryptomnesic
07. Oct 2020 · 02:36 UTC
Let me find a usb adapter for my dreamcast controller hold up
730
07. Oct 2020 · 14:33 UTC
I don't know why it took me so long to remember that the left/right arrow keys did something. When I remembered that it got pretty fun. Some stuff was a bit frustrating, probably due to being physics based but determining the uhh... launch-point is very uhhh... pixel-based, so like, it ends up not being very precise.
Games_by_Tom
09. Oct 2020 · 06:39 UTC
The story and intro are so well done. Every little detail has some (and if only tongue-in-cheek) explaination provdided ^^

The game itself is a bit too far in the "rage game" category for me (the games where you lose progress completely when you make a mistake), so I am yet to get to the fourth loop currently.

But I can say, this was an awesome experience. Especially the setting of the theme. ... and how it fits the theme ;) Very fitting music, (90s) professional dialogue and great jokes. And a port to Dreamcast! (as your name promised :D guess it's about time to buy one ^^)
GettingRekt
13. Oct 2020 · 20:08 UTC
Great mood, story, theme and even the mechanics even if it mostly ended up being trial and error and sometimes it was really difficult to successfully connect with a track. But overall, great game and I like the addition of a story, good job!
blobo
15. Oct 2020 · 17:41 UTC
This is by far the funniest compo entry I've played in a long time! The story is just flat-out hilarious, and the writing is friggin' genius. Great work all around!
EvanGreenwood
26. Oct 2020 · 11:05 UTC
Really enjoyed playing this game ! Good interpretation of the loop theme and the intro was quite humorous, well done!