LudumData

A Friend by Echonia

[raw]
made by Echonia for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

A handcrafted "Tamagotchi-like" game about taking care of a weird pal.

A Friend Screenshot.png

Very simple mouse controls.

Please play in full screen. Might have some bugs.

ALT+F4 to leave build mode. (Will update soon with buttons)

Lack of a real ending and purpose. Didn't had time to finish my death & end game animations.

This is my first GameJam "in solitaire" assuming all roles and creating only "unique assets" and code and I'm a newb programmer so I lack gameplay elements . A good challenge, one of my most advanced programming exercice until now. I've learnt a few concept and tools I'm going to be using a lot in my WIP projects.

Had to create more animations than I thought I would, but I wanted my submission to look nice.

A few sounds, by me & one by my little sister. A handcrafted soundscape from my friend ema as background music (More of his music here: https://editions1of1.bandcamp.com/album/laemnt)

Tools:

Programming & Code: Unity, Visual Studio

Art: Adobe Photoshop

Sound Design: Ableton Zoom Microphone

IdleSpriteLD.png

Youtube https://maximesauvage.itch.io/a-friend-ld46
Youtube https://twitter.com/mEchonias
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/a-friend

Ratings

Overall 2391th 2.788⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 2399th 2.519⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 2425th 2.42⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1017th 3.75⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1714th 3.241⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 825th 3.404⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1182th 2.88⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1615th 3.16⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 24🗨️

Feedback

kokiriboots
21. Apr 2020 · 03:09 UTC
Nice visuals and very good sound.
canti
21. Apr 2020 · 04:10 UTC
That ASMR feeding sound lol. Cute ghost frien. Wish there was more gameplay. Got to 51, is there any more beyond this?
🎤 Echonia
21. Apr 2020 · 04:31 UTC
@canti I'm so sorry there's nothing behind those incremental numbers, hope it was not too much of a waste of time.

You're supposed to received quests updates until it asks you for 1k poops tho. I'll update soon so we can spend it and so it feels more precious. (If I don't give up)

I hope you still like your ghost friend.
Vex
21. Apr 2020 · 05:14 UTC
Those sounds! Very cute little game. Would make a lovely mini-game with a little bit more content.
🎤 Echonia
21. Apr 2020 · 13:34 UTC
@vex Thanks for trying my game, I'll produce a bit more in the next weeks!
rubyleehs
21. Apr 2020 · 15:14 UTC
First of all, congratz on your first jam!

Sounds were great, visuals was too! Simple, but pretty effective at showing what is needed, espiecially if this is your first jam.

Gameplay was ok, but needed more. Fun for a while but I personally lost interest after ~10 mins, that said my tamagotchi died when I used to had it.

Theme-wise, a tamogotchi game fits it almost perfectly - tho is a ghost really alive? hmm >.<
Lestat
21. Apr 2020 · 15:28 UTC
Fun and fits the theme. Good job!
VaizAragorn
21. Apr 2020 · 15:28 UTC
It was good for your first jam! I really liked sound effects, also cute ghost was good drawn. I used to have one tamagotchi but I lost it tho. Hope you imrove this more. Keep up the good work!
EyesOfLamia
21. Apr 2020 · 21:41 UTC
Love the artwork for the ghost, very cute!
EyesOfLamia
21. Apr 2020 · 21:41 UTC
Love the artwork for the ghost, very cute!
laau
22. Apr 2020 · 00:10 UTC
My mother never let me own a tamagochi, protecting me from the idea of death (?). Luckly now i'm an adult and can have as many cats i want lol.
Cute game!! Nice job!
🎤 Echonia
22. Apr 2020 · 02:37 UTC
@laau I will definetely add a pet cat for the ghost as something you can purchase with poops!
laau
22. Apr 2020 · 03:49 UTC
@echonia hahha! Ghosts would definitely get along with cats lol. I'll be looking forward to see the upgrates of your little game! 😊😊
GibsS
22. Apr 2020 · 08:00 UTC
Cute game, I was missing some reward for collecting the poop but for a first jam, nice job!
Baptiste Guerin
22. Apr 2020 · 09:42 UTC
Fun cute game!!
LaVeilleuseGraphique
22. Apr 2020 · 16:50 UTC
I'm fond of the ghost pixel art (especially his pink cute cheek)! It would be nice to get a notification when completing a mission. And I didn't really understand the third progress bar. Perhaps a label would help? Anyway, nice work :)
🎤 Echonia
22. Apr 2020 · 17:02 UTC
@laveilleusegraphique it's my next task then. as of now it's mostly a smokescreen, just "hey there's a number growing in the background"

The third progress bar is just the hunger level of the ghost.

The *more* he is hungry, the *less* he will be happy
But eating *boosts* happiness

It's not necessary to show the values at all actually. As long as the ghost tells he is happy or sad through is own animations...
NathanT
24. Apr 2020 · 16:57 UTC
Love the retro sfx. Art was top notch for this genre. Got a some good laughs from the dialogue. Nice entry!
🎤 Echonia
25. Apr 2020 · 19:54 UTC
@NathanT Thanks for your kind comment!

In order to achieve those retro style SFX I wrote a little melody for a Master System VST and harmonized with an arpeggiator version of the same VST, sped up the tempo to a ridiculous high value and voilà !

I've learnt not so long ago that speeding the tempo of piece that is already existing was the way they did some SFX for Super Mario and I had to try.
NinjaCatz
04. May 2020 · 17:47 UTC
More action would be fun, but I understand that there was a little time. Nice job!
🎤 Echonia
05. May 2020 · 14:06 UTC
@ninjacatz thanks for trying. Ludum Dare will help me improve, can't wait for the next one!
JMad
05. May 2020 · 19:43 UTC
Seaweed lived a wonderful life, eating books and craping bombs. Gotta love the animation :)
🎤 Echonia
06. May 2020 · 20:09 UTC
@jmad Seaweed is a such a good name for this ghost! (And not only because there's two things I like merged in one word)