Pet Life by ForeverTrash

This is my Ludum Dare #46 4/20/20 entry. This is my first Ludum entry that i've actually finished, so I hope you will all enjoy it for at least a little while. I used Construct for the game engine, Photoshop for all graphics (except Ludum Dare logo), and audacity for all the sounds ( except main music ).
Pet Life, a home for your animals. Buy different types of animals, and feed them and play with them to keep them alive and happy! The more updated it gets, the more options there are for and endless gaming pet experience. I was hoping to add more features, such as multiple animals, toys and stuff in the shop. But alas, I made what I made with the time I had possible. I hope you all enjoy!
The full source code is available if you wish to learn from this or build onto it!
The absolutely ONLY two things I did not make myself during this 48 hours, was the LUDUM DARE logo included on the Cover Image and Main Menu of the game! As well as the main game music, this was made by SirJoan620 during Ludum Dare for Ludum Dare entries. All visuals, code, and all the other audio was done by me during Ludum Dare!
| Youtube | https://atrashstudio.com/pet_life/ |
| Youtube | https://atrashstudio.com/pet_life/Source.zip |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/pet-life |
Ratings
| Overall | 924th | 2.925⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1000th | 2.5⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 825th | 2.9⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 319th | 3.875⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 339th | 3.7⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 438th | 3.181⭐ | 38🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 509th | 2.757⭐ | 39🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 596th | 3.118⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 38🗳️ | 52🗨️ |
Nice work! Here is some feedback I noted:
* Sometimes when moving left and right, I found myself moving really slowly instead of at the normal fast pace. I'm not sure why.
* Do I just passively gain money over time? I'm not sure if I missed this in the tutorial.
* One thing that was confusing for me was the mix of keyboard controls to move and mouse controls for the menu. I think it might have been better as a fully keyboard game?
* Does your inventory show how much of each item you have? It wasn't clear to me if I had an item or not, especially since "use item" is still highlighted even if I am out of that item.
It would be nice if there were like jobs that you could do that would give extra money to feed the animals with.
(You should probably disable ratings for Audio since the music isn't yours)
A piece of feedback is that the T and B buttons kind of feel awkward to use on the keyboard.
Good job!
Overall, the sound, the feel, the aesthetic as well as the UI were well done. I had a small bug that I mentioned to you but I refreshed and it didn't come back. Shrug. OVerall though, great job.
It's a neat idea with some good presentation. I think it'd need a mechanic aside from buying + feeding, like minigames to earn money.
As feedback, I'd really like to have an item counter in my inventory. First time around I didn't know why i couldn't use the items, turns out I spent them all.
NOTE
*As well as the main game music, this was made by SirJoan620 during Ludum Dare for Ludum Dare entries.*
You can opt out of ratings for music, if you didn't make it yourself. :wink: Or did I understand it wrong? :confused:
@ironygames Haha, sarcasm or do you really like the transparent trees? But thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I will definitely take your review into consideration moving forward!
@scintillae-creations Thank you so much! It was a daunting task, but I did it! And I didn't opt out for music/sound because the rest of the audio was made by me homemade and I'm super proud of it, and as far as I was concerned it wasn't an issue because a) I paid for the license b) it was made during ludum dare by another participant for ludum dare entries, so it wasn't made outside the compo time.
@projectaroid I'm so glad I finished, it was a super rewarding experience. Glad you had fun.
It was still fun to play. You should change the 'studio name' from 'a trash studio' to 'not trash studio' maybe :thinking:
At first I almost killed my horse, trying to figure out what to do, but later I got a hang of it.
If you would add few more mechanics that could be enjoyable for hours, trying to manage a group of animals while listening to chilling music.
Cheers!
I'm curious why I fed the horse, he was happy and fed, but his hearth was always at 1.
Just a few things I came across that I think could be change or improved. When the shop is open, you are still able to walk around as the player, I feel like this shouldnt happen as you need to walk to the lady to access the shop.
Whenever you have items in your hand, and you get close enough to the horse, they are shown ontop of it while you are stood behind. I realise this may be so that the player can see what they are holding, but i feel it breaks mood. Maybe the player could stand infront with it?

@ryzy27 Haha I'm glad you had fun. This is such a loving comment though you have no clue how much it means having someone say they could play one of my games for HOURS if it was more polished and more mechanics/features/ect were added. Thank you!
@symnel Thank you for taking the time to play my game, I wish I could've added more features like you mentioned but it was a formidable task. I only got this far, but I'm still super proud. Definitely could've done way more with more time given though. Thanks again!
@louiejams I'm glad you liked my game! And the art haha, I used to watch a ton of cartoons as a kid so it's my favorite style for sure. But thank you for the recommendations, I will definitely keep them in mind for the future! But haha, I actually did notice that bug, it's just how I have my layers stacked I forgot to fix that, easy fix that i'll definitely remember next time. Thanks again for playing, and thank you for the feedback!
It was a little confusing at first, but I got the hang of it and could keep the horse alive.
Really nicely done artwork, I like that you have a deep background, and full movement. Keep at it and you're going rock out some awesome games! :)
I'm a programmer looking for a graphic designer or a team to team up and maybe work on new games, are you interested?
email:m.shahiri.m@gmail.com
my LudumDare Game:
Social Distancing For Ladybugs
Pros:
- Great art
- Catchy music
- Interesting concept
Cons:
- Money seemingly came in much too fast, there was no way for me to lose it felt like
- No way of knowing how much of each item I was carrying
- Very, very simplistic gameplay, brought down by some odd control decisions
Overall, a very nice entry, you should be proud of yourself!