LudumData

No Bullet Hell by gswong

[raw]
made by gswong for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

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Overview

​You are in hostile territory with no bullets of your own, yet your enemies are raining bullets down on you! How is that fair?​

Strategically navigate your way to victory! Take cover behind walls and plan your advance. You may not start with any bullets, but you can catch enemy bullets to use as a shield or throw back!

Clear out all the enemies and a boss will appear! Defeat the boss to beat this short game!

Thank you for playing and we appreciate your comments!

Inspirations

  • Hatsune Miku: Project Diva
  • Touhou Project
  • Superhot

Credits

@gswong - Whip cracker - "Just-frame" junkie

@tehabyss - First time game jammer - Bullet pattern extraordinaire

Youtube https://gswong.itch.io/no-bullet-hell
Youtube https://github.com/gswong/LD45
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/no-bullet-hell

Ratings

Overall 1059th 2.69⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 988th 2.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 737th 2.95⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 990th 2.632⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1034th 2.053⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 869th 1.765⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1043th 2.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

MusicBlox
07. Oct 2019 · 00:54 UTC
Game very short. I understand you only get 48 hours but still. At least the concept was very interesting. If you continue after the Ludum dare, Id love to see what this turns into.
Pavel Ivanov
07. Oct 2019 · 03:16 UTC
I didn't really get how this relates to the theme... Cool concept non the less!
SSStormy
07. Oct 2019 · 05:17 UTC
Concept is interesting. I eventually figured out that you can just spam click to absorb & shoot. The player movement felt sluggish.
Tero Pulkkinen
07. Oct 2019 · 10:39 UTC
no bullet hell...
PeachTreeOath
08. Oct 2019 · 01:56 UTC
There seriously aren't enough parry mechanics used in genres outside of fighters. There's Cuphead at best but I think it could be explored way more. Loved seeing it here in a shmup. Normally the only thing you think in a bullet hell is where to dodge, but w this mechanic you have to take a step back to analyze the pattern, and figure out where/when a good gap is to parry and then fire back, so a totally different approach to situational awareness. Another potential mechanic is Kirby-style stealing, where you parry a laser beam and get to fire that back once, adding a whole new dimension to shooting. Good foundation for sure.
🎤 gswong
08. Oct 2019 · 03:29 UTC
@ssstormy You're right about the click spam! That was by design to make the game not too punishing. We encourage everyone to play their own style, whether it's click away in the face of danger style or more strategic hide, peek, and shoot style.

We could definitely polish up the player movement as well. Thanks for the feedback!
🎤 gswong
08. Oct 2019 · 03:57 UTC
@peachtreeoath Thank you for your kind words and insights 🙏. Would definitely love to see more games use parry mechanics!
hydrate
08. Oct 2019 · 09:52 UTC
Very nice concept! You must risk your life to get a bullet!
optus23
11. Oct 2019 · 00:14 UTC
Awesome mechanic!!! I hope you improve the art and make an unique project!!
Eranot
11. Oct 2019 · 01:10 UTC
The concept is cool, but please change the way the movimentation works. For now with you barely touch a key the character already moves a long way and this makes really frustrating trying to move freely.
Mr ChocolateSalmon
21. Oct 2019 · 10:36 UTC
Love the concept! Execution was pretty good, maybe just the moving needs to be tightened up a bit. A bit more AI would also go a long way with this one. Overall though, I enjoyed it! Good job :sunglasses:
GullynGames
23. Oct 2019 · 00:21 UTC
The player movement felt like it lagged behind the key presses. It was easy once I realized that you could spam click to defend yourself.
Pedro Miranda
23. Oct 2019 · 15:28 UTC
Pretty cool game, i really like the mecanic, something like a counter attack thing. Missed some sfx but overall nice entry!
🎤 gswong
26. Oct 2019 · 23:47 UTC
Thanks for the comments and critiques 🙏. As beginners, we were admittedly not expecting to make something beyond a proof of concept. We'll take what we learned and look forward to expanding the team for the next game jam!
notgreat
27. Oct 2019 · 18:51 UTC
I liked the idea, but I didn't find the actual gameplay fun. The biggest issue is (as others have mentioned) that player movement is not precise: when I let go of the button, I shouldn't continue moving for a half second and then suddenly stop.

The bullets pushing the player around was also really weird, as were the bullets being pushed around by your counter-bullets. Like you had a physics engine built in and wanted to use it for something for no real gameplay reason.