LudumData

Keep It Afloat by ZeGGamer

[raw]
made by ZeGGamer for Ludum Dare 46 (COMPO)

Keep It Afloat

You've taken the journey up on a flimsy DIY sky raft held up with a fire powered hot air balloon. Sadly, the local birds aren't too fond of this decision. Using your trusty green ball, send those fethered fiends back to the ground as to soar into the stratosphere!

Controlls

A and D to move, (Left and Right on Controlers) L to jump, K to attack, (Bottom and Left buttons) W to aim up, S to drop through one way platforms, (Up and Down) Escape to Pause, (Start) Shift to lock yourself in place horizontally for better aiming, (L1 or R1)

Tools

Gamemaker Studio 2 - Engine and Programming Aseprite - Art Fl Studio - Music BFXR and Bosca Ceoil - Sound effects

How to Play:

Stand by the fire to keep the balloon in the air.

Get Fire.gif

Shoot the birds out of the sky

Kill Birds.gif

But if your health or fire runs out, get ready to plummet all the way down to the ground

Death.gif

Note: The download version is for Windows only, so if you are on a Mac or Linux, please play the HTML 5 Version.

Youtube https://vintro-studios.itch.io/keep-it-afloat-download-links
Youtube https://vintro-studios.itch.io/keep-it-afloat-download-links
Youtube https://vintro-studios.itch.io/keep-it-afloat-download-links
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/keep-it-afloat

Ratings

Overall 212th 3.775⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Fun 103th 3.902⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 247th 3.653⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Theme 146th 4.069⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 307th 3.735⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Audio 157th 3.67⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Humor 270th 3.296⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Mood 398th 3.367⭐ 51🧑‍⚖️
Given 75🗳️ 68🗨️

Feedback

AndideBob
20. Apr 2020 · 07:22 UTC
A really fun idea, that works super well. I love that the stones you throw have gravity, so you can make predictive shots. It also gets really fun once the bigger enemies come into play. Really well done!
Prackli
20. Apr 2020 · 14:38 UTC
Controlls are bit hard and strange on a keyboard, but man it's so much fun, I like the retro style sounds you used.
topbraj
20. Apr 2020 · 14:50 UTC
I liked the graphics, and the gradual degradation of the balloon as it got damaged was a nice touch. Enemy variation surprised me as well - thought I'd seen it all until a bomb-dropping owl came rushing in (I was rushed shortly after). I think the link to the theme might have been a bit tenous, but that's probably me being too harsh. Anyway - nice work!
LaZZyDev72
20. Apr 2020 · 14:57 UTC
Not happy with the controlls But over all its good
:heart:
joonamo
20. Apr 2020 · 15:14 UTC
Good job on the projectile physics. I was able to grasp surprisingly fast how to aim at the birds! Nice music too. Thanks for making it playable on browser!
sanjuro
20. Apr 2020 · 15:15 UTC
Lovely graphics and tight rock-throwing mechanic. I'm really impressed also by the variance of the birds and from the deterioration of the baloon, and also sounds are really nice. The only thing that could have been better is the background, like moving faster when the fire is on. Excellent job!
🎤 ZeGGamer
20. Apr 2020 · 15:35 UTC
@sanjuro Great Idea, I never thought of that! My play tester said I should publish it somewhere and I was running out of ideas. Thanks!
🎤 ZeGGamer
20. Apr 2020 · 15:36 UTC
@lazzydev72 Yeah, I want to work on the controlls a bit more as it needs to click for the player for them to get to the late game. It works better with a controller, but not everyone has that.
njm_games
20. Apr 2020 · 18:22 UTC
Its really hard to hit the birds at the top. but it looks tight
Angelo Saez
20. Apr 2020 · 18:23 UTC
Great arcade game and it was really satisfying to have the ball hit the birds on the ball's way down. I also liked how it was intuitive/designed nicely enough that instructions weren't required.
Matt Burton
20. Apr 2020 · 18:27 UTC
Great premise, gameplay, controls, art. The whole shebang! One of the better game jam games I've played. Keep it up!
Belea
20. Apr 2020 · 18:28 UTC
It was difficult to control at first but once you get used it becomes really funny. Good Job!
GandalfDerWaise
20. Apr 2020 · 21:19 UTC
the controls are a little difficult/weird, but after getting into it, it's a really funny game - well done :)
anti666
20. Apr 2020 · 21:23 UTC
Love the sound, and graphics.
Gameplay is cute.

Would be cool if the balloon actually flew away after a while.
joekinglake
20. Apr 2020 · 21:30 UTC
It took me a little while to figure out i could throw the stones vertically up, once i realised i felt like i'd cracked the game. Ended up getting 900m after a few plays. Really nice job! The introduction of new birds felt like they were paced out really well with a solid difficulty curve that increased without feeling boring. Overall really nice job, if i could call out one thing, it would be the tutorial/controls screen that was a little overwhelming and a lot to take in as a new player, especially one like me who generally skim reads the tutorial - i definitely think this could be done with an onscreen set of buttons, or in-world tutorial in the first 100m or so. Great work, it's got a lot of charm and is nicely polished!
Kent Reese
20. Apr 2020 · 21:37 UTC
Controls a bit rough, but it's a good bit of fun once you get used to it.
sayumeki
20. Apr 2020 · 23:55 UTC
Great work! I think the game is really polished, I like how it introduces enemies over time and you have to balance between powering the balloon and knocking off the enemies. I found myself relying on the up-throw a lot as I wasn't able to reliably reach birds otherwise, though I agree with other comments that I like the gravity on the stones.

I agree that the controls screen is a little overwhelming, I think simplifying "DOWN KEY" to a picture of the down key for example would make it less cluttered.
henriquecanella
21. Apr 2020 · 03:00 UTC
Really fun idea and nice game :D
MaggardJosh
21. Apr 2020 · 03:58 UTC
Really fun mechanic and loved the many types of enemies. The difficulty ramp also felt like it was at a good pace! Wish the controls were taught to the player in-game or a quick tutorial was available, but obviously that can be difficult to do in a short amount of time. Overall great entry, had a lot of fun!
jk5000
21. Apr 2020 · 08:42 UTC
The graphics and music is overall pretty. The gameplay idea is also good, but sadly the controls makes the game nearly unplayable.
LaZZyDev72
21. Apr 2020 · 10:08 UTC
Wow i had realy good time playing your Game i Enjoyed Keep it up
chertkov
21. Apr 2020 · 11:41 UTC
Simple but fun take on the theme. Nice work.
🎤 ZeGGamer
21. Apr 2020 · 14:35 UTC
@jk5000 @kent-reese @prackli Hey, if any of you respond to this that would be fantastic, and anyone else who sees this comments if you could reply as well that would be great.

What exactly is it that makes the controls so difficult? It's hard for me to tell because developer bias, So I'm curious. Please let me know your thoughts!
Waqar Naeem
21. Apr 2020 · 15:59 UTC
very nice Game @zeggamer
blobo
21. Apr 2020 · 17:11 UTC
Woah nice! I had a score of 1346. I love the variety with types of birds, really cool game!
SeabirdDigital
21. Apr 2020 · 21:12 UTC
Great fun simple game. Very smart and well done. Good job
snesgaard
21. Apr 2020 · 22:06 UTC
Great idea, great pixelart, great controls! The only bad thing I can say, is that birds are jerks :)
Linx
21. Apr 2020 · 22:23 UTC
Very fun game! It was a bit hard to control with keyboard, mostly because you can't see the angle in which you're shooting, and it was a bit hard to figure out I should jump to the platform to set the flame (L to jump is not mentioned in the in-game controls screen, and I didn't read the game description before playing). Great fun, I really enjoyed hitting those fast birds, and sounds added a good retro mood as well.
🎤 ZeGGamer
21. Apr 2020 · 22:57 UTC
@linx Made a small bug fix and accidentally removed the jump text in controls. Opps!
Kirbloid
22. Apr 2020 · 02:10 UTC
Lots of high marks here, and an excellent take on the theme! Favorite bit of animation is when you plummet but the whole game was just oozing charm.
Vaanrile
22. Apr 2020 · 09:11 UTC
Really great work !
The concept is very interesting and the execution is really good, the graphics and sound design enhance the experience, the variety of the enemies make the game always interesting and not redundant and the difficulty curve is managed pretty well.
I was afraid of the controls at first, due to the fact that my keyboard isn't a QWERTY one, but giving the option to play with a controller is a brilliant idea.
Great job !
erebus
22. Apr 2020 · 10:43 UTC
Very nice job! Thanks for bringing it by the stream!
Alexey Akulovich
22. Apr 2020 · 19:33 UTC
Very inconvenient control (K/L, W/S), but it was interesting to play anyway. Special thanks for mechanic of fire when you go to the lower platform :)
Digitom
22. Apr 2020 · 19:36 UTC
Very cool concept and fits the theme nicely!
RomaRogov
22. Apr 2020 · 22:08 UTC
Cute game! Reminds me NES arcades, plays smooth and enjoyable
Camilo Quintero
22. Apr 2020 · 23:03 UTC
I really liked the physics of the balls! It felt nice to throw them to the birds, the screenshake also adds a lot! I like the execution of the idea and the speed of the game. Nice! :D
Exainz
23. Apr 2020 · 03:28 UTC
Very nice the pixelated effects are cool in this modern era...

And the style of little mario was Awsome

The use of theme😲 was gr8
Overall I felt like I am going into my childhood days.....
OgelGames
24. Apr 2020 · 10:08 UTC
Really nice game, and great concept, it took me a few tries to get used to the controls, but I found it quite fun!
Gorypixels
24. Apr 2020 · 20:14 UTC
A great simple game, were everything worked super smoothly (Which is something next to impossible for a Jam game) Awesome job!! :D Loved that final death animation also jajajaj
ProdigalSon
25. Apr 2020 · 23:06 UTC
I feel like I almost could have played this game on the original gameboy on a car trip. :)
LCStark
26. Apr 2020 · 07:56 UTC
A really good game! The controls can get a moment to get used to, but once you do they feel great. I think if you'd change the jump button to spacebar it would feel even better.

I love that the game gives you a lot of feedback - hitting the birds makes an explosion, both visible and audible, and the screen shakes. If your balloon air gets too cold, you get an alarm. Everything if clearly communicated to the player. I also like the slow difficulty buildup and a variety of enemies to defeat.

Great game, I loved playing it. ;)
FeralBRO
27. Apr 2020 · 01:21 UTC
pretty fun concept, and perfectly executed! the only thing our games have in common apart from the name is that in both you kill annoying birds, deep
Inka McAtee
28. Apr 2020 · 09:48 UTC
I am a big fan of the Story. It has in itself a sense and don't need a lot of words <3 Fantastic little Game.
Matootsy
07. May 2020 · 05:19 UTC
Despite the fact that you have to kill birds to keep a balloon alive (I don't like to kill birds. In theses times, they are much more important than a balloon. ^^), you have made a great addictive gameplay. The control is very good (Using W and S to aim) while and keeping the fire on. It work well. And I had fun to play it. Congratulation.