Groundhog Garden by svyatozar
Find the portal to escape the maze. And do it second time to maybe help other people get out faster.
Controls: mouse, touch or arrow keys to navigate, space/double click to leave a chalk mark on the ground, touch+hold+move on touch devices
It's actually a MMORPG: the server is written from scratch in C++, the client is javascript web app, also available as an Electron app (can be downloaded and played in windows)
Tools used: Linux, Gvim, Blender, Google.
Wednesday update: - Fixed jagged movement - If you see no one playing, you can log in from two different browser windows and find the other you in the room
Thursday update: - Increased movement 2.5 times by popular demand - Added HUD showing level number and how many players are currently online - Added ability to mark the ground with chalk. Other players will see marks you make while they see you! - Fixed the server crash bug when someone finishes all the maps - Added 2 extra-large maps 40x40 cells each, since the added ground marking feature should make game easier
https://youtu.be/WLxKcLvHVEk
Character model is Cori from Blend Swap: https://www.blendswap.com/blend/23381
| Youtube | https://wizstaff.com/groundhoggarden.zip |
| Youtube | https://wizstaff.com/ghog.zip |
| Youtube | http://wizstaff.com/ghog/ |
| Youtube | https://wizstaff.com/elghog2.zip |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/groundhog-garden |
Ratings
| Overall | 1439th | 2.96⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1298th | 2.87⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 925th | 3.231⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1437th | 2.84⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 1461th | 2.42⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 1183th | 2⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 1411th | 2.64⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 17🗳️ | 21🗨️ |
Kudos to you for implementing a multiplayer game in a jam :smiley:
I was lucky to have another player with me in my run so it played wonderfully and I was able to guide him thru the first 3 levels, then we sadly parted ways on the fourth level (that map too big for my likes).
I'd loved to being able to chat or at least drop hints on the map (something like "dont go down here: dead end").
Well done!
Thanks a lot for testing!
That other player was me, still playtesting and fixing bugs 3 days after event. Right when you finished the game the server crashed, so I had to put that bug on my to-do list as well...
I did notice that the bigger maps get way too complicated for human brain to handle. So I came up with an idea to let the people put a mark on the floor, that will stay even when the player loops. While another player is within your field of view, you will also see his/her marks. That's one way to communicate. What do you think?
Best regards and good luck with your game!
It reminded me Dark souls for the community side. Sadly there were no other players. In any case a good idea, a good entry.
Bigger map: 
(spawned next to portal)
This was a good submission. Multiplayer games in LD are always hard to pull off both due to the development time, and the difficulty in getting enough concurrent players. Luckily I signed on at the right time to find another player. The ghost replay thing sounds like a good idea to work around that, since you can benefit from other players' actions even if they're not online at the same time, although it'd make the game very easy if every solution was available.
I think you could go with some Among Us-style trickery here, by adding a competitive element (like a race to the end with leaderboard completion times) along with hidden hazards, like land mines that reset you. This way, even if you have multiple ghost replays available to you, you still need to decide which one to trust. Some might send you astray, while others actually try to help. You'd need to add some identity system, like letting people choose a color, or just a name that renders on top of the character. That way, players can distinguish ghosts from each other and can decide who to trust based on past decisions (however, a ghost could always decide to betray you!)
also, for the record, I didn't see any ghosts when I played. Maybe it was a glitch? Or do they get deleted from the server after a while?
2. They are not ghosts, they are glowing players. Once you find exit you start glowing until you find it again. Some people start calling them "divine". Lol!
I enjoyed solving the mazes, though. I quickly figured out a way to leave markings so that the correct path ended up being highlighted even on my first walkthrough, so the second time you have to go through the levels started feeling a bit redundant after that.
I did spot another player on my final page refresh. They were just standing there, so not sure if that was actually just a leftover from my own playthrough. I did leave them a little "hi" message out of marks in case they were a real player, though :)
Edit: Just read the marks were only supposed to be visible when there's another player in range. That's okay, however I feel it would be more interesting if they stayed around for, say, 24 hours. Would add a whole new element of messing with people - once the right path has been marked, people could try to "outdo" each other with the amount of marks, one side trying to mislead the player and another trying to reemphasize the right path ;)
Played a bit with you and PvPlayz27 when he streamed.
Great job on the maze generation and the online code, they both work solidly.
The idea is very interesting, I love the collaboration it can enable.
I found that mazes don't offer enough visual details to remember, so sometimes your second loop is just random wandering again.
Thanks for the game 💕