BINDAFFIX by the31

[raw]
made by the31 for LD34 (COMPO)
Use the power of the BINDAFFIX to ascend the mountain! Battle enemies, train your team, and overcome obstacles. And do it all with only two buttons.

I had a plan to incorporate Growing, but as it stands the is just Two Button Controls.

Everything is explained throughout the game, but here are some more details if you need them:

--- Navigation ---

Tap left/right: move in that direction.

When you reach a signpost, you will keep moving. If there is a fork in the road:
o Hold the direction key to take the path closer to the mountain.
o Don't hold any key to take the path leading away from the mountain.

Tap a direction key repeatedly to move faster.

--- Combat ---

To make a move, you make two choices. If you pressed the wrong key for the first choice, just wait and the choice will be undone.

To attack, press Left, then press Left or Right to select an attack. (Note: some abilities do not have any effect.)

To flee the battle, press Right, then Left.

To swap your companions, press Right, then Right.

To activate the BINDAFFIX, press Right, then hold the Right key. This swaps your secondary companion with the enemy. Note that a healthy enemy will strongly resist.

--- Known Issues ---

The WebGL export appears to work, but has terrible graphics and can't save. Please only use it as a demo, not as a representation of the full game.

The linux export isn't marked as an executable file. I'm not sure how to package it in the right way from Windows, so until I fix that just mark it as executable before running it. Also, to avoid an error, run the game like "LC_ALL=C ./Bindaffix.x86_64"

The linux export may have an issue with weird flickering shapes appearing all over the screen the "Fastest" quality setting seems to fix it.

--- Changelog ---

V3 (2 hours 13 minutes post-compo)
o Fixed bug where level-0 companions wouldn't level up (1/0 experience points).
o Made the very first text box less pointlessly confusing.

V2 (uploaded 1 hour 40 minutes post-compo, after finally getting a chance to play the game for longer than a minute)
o Fixed the boulder heap to stay away once thrown. You could potentially get stuck in v1 by BINDAFFIXing a dead Troll to get the Tortoise. The heap would come back, and there would be no way to get back. (Fixable by reset to previous savegame.)
o Did some simple rebalancing to make leveling actually help.
o Changed some enemy spawn levels to make sense with game progression.
o These minor tweaks should make the game a lot more playable, but v1 (original submission) is accessible by replacing the "v2" in the urls with "v1".

--- Post-compo version(s) ---

V4 (2015-12-17 06:43 UTC)
o I added sound effects and an ambient track!

http://galacticgaming.net/hosting/ld34/Bindaffix-win-v4.zip
http://galacticgaming.net/hosting/ld34/Bindaffix-mac-v4.zip
http://galacticgaming.net/hosting/ld34/Bindaffix-linux-v4.zip

The known issues listed above still apply. You will probably need to enable the execute bit on Mac, now, too.

Ratings

Coolness 41% 1679
Overall 3.30 430
Fun 3.04 567
Graphics 3.83 157
Humor 2.65 353
Innovation 3.43 306
Mood 3.55 145
Theme 3.91 331

Feedback

amras0000
14. Dec 2015 · 05:49 UTC
I couldn't stop laughing at the bouncing animation. The general mood and graphics work really well, and the world is very pleasant to explore.

Possible improvements:
-I'd kill for sfx of wind and waves crashing into the island, even with no other audio
-the navigation was very confusing and I pretty much always ended up trying each combination of direction+holding/not holding the button. A cleaner system might have been somethign along the lines of:
---if moving right, hold right to turn right, don't hold right to turn left/go straight
---if moving left, hold left to turn left, don't hold left to turn right/go straight
-when you can't turn down a certain path, the character glitches out a bit but there's no further indication. Ideally I'd like a message to popup saying I can't go that direction, with a hint as to what abilities I need. Alternatively, at least mark restricted areas with a red direction arrow or whatnot?

Thoroughly enjoyed the game, though.
Elenesski
14. Dec 2015 · 16:32 UTC
I really liked the 2D graphic in a 3D environment; thought it was great. But two controls really made it hard to control the animal at a signpost. Perhaps they could stop at a signpost, pick a direction with the two keys, then both buttons to continue in that direction.

Game has potential. I'd keep trying to develop the concept.
MrAmlice
16. Dec 2015 · 04:15 UTC
Controls were a little bit rough for me. I found it a tad frustrating. The visuals are very nice and unique though, and the gameplay as a whole is quite nice, especially given the short development time. As a whole, I'd say a job well done!
omaha
16. Dec 2015 · 04:25 UTC
The visual aesthetic is lovely. The game is surprisingly difficult. I like it.
Andreas Brandt
16. Dec 2015 · 05:49 UTC
For the Theme two button controls i find the decision based games just perfect. The fact of using 2D graphics in a 3D environment was nice, but the design could be improved. Changing the direction was very difficult and has tricky timing. However the game was funny to play and i liked it :)
Nizan
16. Dec 2015 · 08:59 UTC
I actually quite liked the graphics! There's something very calming about it. Found the movement a little tricky - I liked the idea, but I think it bugged out a bit. Overall, good potential, but could use some work.
Jupiter_Hadley
16. Dec 2015 · 13:19 UTC
Lovely graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/rvwkTXA2Y10
rzuf
16. Dec 2015 · 14:36 UTC
It's like The Linear RPG, but deep, more bouncy and with some actual gameplay. :D
And the graphics are reeeally nice!
DrFallos
17. Dec 2015 · 12:09 UTC
This game is beautifull in many ways, the graphics and innovation is far beyound 5 stars. Makes me think about sketchtales and shelter at the same time, very solid entry!
alfie275
18. Dec 2015 · 22:47 UTC
Cool game, didn't manage to finish it, but here's my playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7MNXwWKuc
radmars
22. Dec 2015 · 23:47 UTC
struggled with controls
OwT
24. Dec 2015 · 23:05 UTC
Beautiful graphics! Had a soothing yet sad touch into it, which I found very compelling.
Only the controls were a little bit... let's call it 'wild', okey? ^^'
Anyway! Good job for such a little time!
bwatanabe
31. Dec 2015 · 07:28 UTC
I loved the mixture of 2D and 3D, it was really striking, and it makes me want to experiment more with that. I found the navigation kind of difficult, but it definitely kept me engaged.
_benhumphries
03. Jan 2016 · 18:35 UTC
The bouncing was really funny. Nice graphics as well. The gameplay itself wasn't that fun in my opinion, but great job! I think because of the restriction of two button controls the gameplay suffered, but I think it would be great if you built upon it by adding more buttons/controls.