Todd and Bobb's Excellent Adventure by bigbadollie | LudumData

Todd and Bobb's Excellent Adventure by bigbadollie

made by bigbadollie for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

A boy and his dragon must keep the flame alive to escape the dungeon!

Help Todd and Bobb escape the dungeon. Keep the flame alive. The Flame provides life, sight and keeps the dead at bay while you race against the clock to escape.

This is a creation by Backslash games: Ollie Blanks, Nick Warren, Peter Davidson For Ludum Dare 46 Big props and thanks to Synty for the wonderful graphical assets used :)

TOTAL PLAY TIME: Approximately 5 Minutes (if you can survive!).

Controls Mouse and Keyboard Requried: - Todd will face the mouse cursor and move with the W (Forward) and S (Backward) keys. - Hold Shift to Sprint - Click the Left Mouse Button to Wave your torch to scare the undead away

Mechanics: - Your goal is to keep Bobb (and Todd) alive and get them to the exit - The main mechanic is the light provided by the torch, you must keep your torch alive or you will perish - Lanterns light your path, and to proceed you need to visit each one in order indicated by a glowing circle around Todd - Swinging your torch, Bobb taking damage, and sprinting all drain your torch's life, so use these abilities wisely and keep Bobb out of danager!

V1.1 released with fixes for: - Sounds being too loud in some places - A few terrain issues - Missing music in a couple of places - Improved How To - Some performance tweaks

Graphic Assets: https://syntystore.com/ https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/dungeons/polygon-dungeons-pack-102677

Music: https://johnleonardfrench.com/ https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/audio/music/orchestral/ultimate-game-music-collection-37351

Sound: https://www.imphenzia.com/ https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/audio/sound-fx/universal-sound-fx-17256

Youtube	https://github.com/BackslashOllie/LD46
Youtube	https://picusb.itch.io/todd-and-bobbs-excellent-adventure
Youtube	https://picusb.itch.io/todd-and-bobbs-excellent-adventure
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/todd-and-bobbs-excellent-adventure

Ratings

Overall	2143^th	3.032⭐	80🧑‍⚖️
Fun	2298^th	2.656⭐	79🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	1728^th	3.026⭐	80🧑‍⚖️
Theme	1157^th	3.692⭐	80🧑‍⚖️
Humor	1737^th	2.364⭐	72🧑‍⚖️
Mood	982^th	3.5⭐	80🧑‍⚖️
Given		64🗳️	74🗨️

Feedback

15. Apr 2020 · 14:42 UTC

lol yeah! We got this! :SAMJONES!

20. Apr 2020 · 22:32 UTC

![ToddAndBobbIntro.png](///raw/a07/d2/z/2ec02.png)

21. Apr 2020 · 02:55 UTC

I didn't get very well how to control the character... Good graphics though!

21. Apr 2020 · 02:59 UTC

Very cool graphics and concept!

21. Apr 2020 · 02:59 UTC

I would vote for graphics and audio.. but there are no such ratings

21. Apr 2020 · 03:00 UTC

Fun game ! I really liked the idea of collaborating with the dragon to reach your goal. The game is also quite solid despite having quite a lot of detailed assets, so props for that. The area of effect of the torch is a little low, and left clicks are not that responsive, which make it a bit difficult to progress. But all in all, great job !

21. Apr 2020 · 03:01 UTC

Nice graphics. I had a hard time with the controls. I like the concept a lot.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:04 UTC

Cool concept, although the character is hard to control I like the dragon!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:04 UTC

It was hard to scare away the undead, but a cool concept.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:05 UTC

Great graphics! I loved the mechanic of swinging the torch, but I think it didn't always send the undead away. Cool use of the two ways of losing lives too

21. Apr 2020 · 03:05 UTC

Nice artistic direction and cute idea ! Though, I must admit that I kind of ragequit when I lost my dragon after some time, because I couldn't get it back, the zombies kept on knocking me down x)

But great job overall, you can be proud !

21. Apr 2020 · 03:06 UTC

Really cute graphical style, though might benefit from a soft ambient light so the shadows aren't so harsh. Overall, well done!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:08 UTC

The W forward steer with the mouse took a bit of time to get used to. and took a few tries to realize you have to pick up each lantern to get pointed to the next.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:09 UTC

Great graphics. Sound was a little rough though. The torch swinging mechanic was a little unresponsive - the timing just wasn't clicking.

Well done though! Here's to protecting our little dragon friends!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:11 UTC

I like the mood of the game, the graphics are really cool. Of course with more time the animations could be improved, but it has cool mechanics. I couldn't really figure out the attack very well, it seemed hit or miss (or maybe that was me), but cool overall. Good job.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:12 UTC

Great concept, love the graphics and Bobb is SO CUTE

I found it quite hard to figure out how to actually keep the undead back! I kept shaking the torch but most of the time they just charged into me regardless. Maybe I'm doing it wrong :D

This also made it super hard to rescue Bobb when he was lying on the floor being beaten up by a crew of zomboes.

Other than that I enjoyed :)

21. Apr 2020 · 03:12 UTC

the controls are relatively unresponsive (like a little laggy) but the concept and graphics are nice!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:12 UTC

Neat concept, but frustrating in practice. Attack doesn't work very well and I spent most of my time on the ground.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:12 UTC

The graphics are really well done. I liked the premise of the game. The character was hard to control. When you swung the torch around it didn't stop the enemies from attacking you or the dragon. Still, cool idea!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:13 UTC

Splendid graphics, gamplay little bit difficult. Knockdown mechanic a little unforgiving. Nice menu!

HomunculusGames

21. Apr 2020 · 03:13 UTC

Very well explained tutorial and nice atmosphere but was kind of hard to control the player's movement!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:15 UTC

Nice game and it looks great but it has very difficult controls.. why wouldn't I just be able to move and change directions using arrow/WASD keys instead of having to click in addition to up key.. :D Either way good luck ;)

21. Apr 2020 · 03:15 UTC

I will never let bobby die. He is too cute.
Very nice game! Hard, it took many tries to get through it.
The only issue I ran into was I would swing my torch and scare the skeletons away, but their momentum would make them still hit me. Great game, Good Job!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:16 UTC

The tutorial destroyed my eardrums so I ended up muting the game. Warding off enemies never really felt like the right play since the margin of error seemed to be incredibly small. When I tried to avoid them to see more of the level design I found out I have to light my torch at the shrines in a specific order. However! Despite all of these, it was graphically a nice game, and I like the concept of protecting a lil dragon!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:16 UTC

Very ambitious game! I could not tell if there was a win condition, and it was definitely overwhelming enough to make you lose eventually. I think you would benefit from taking the nice zombies and their slow animations, making them slow, but spawning more and more over time. This will make them still manageable and kite-able, while still raising the challenge over time!
I DID manage to lose in 3s! Is that the world record? xP

21. Apr 2020 · 03:17 UTC

The game looks really good but it plays really bad.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:18 UTC

Nice ambient sound and graphics. Got piled on by the enemies too much. Nice work.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:20 UTC

I like the concept of the game, and the presentation (art and music) were very nice! However, the controls are a little bit confusing, and at times, prohibitive to my enjoyment of the game. Make sure you clearly communicate to the player how the movement works. It is also important to give feedback to the player when they do an action: For example, when I swing my torch at an enemy, it can be hard to tell if I was successful, because there was no feedback (such as a sound effect) indicating if it worked.

Otherwise, nice game, and I am excited to see what kinds of things you can make in the future!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:24 UTC

Beautiful levels, very cool art style. Super moody.

My biggest issue with this game was that it didn't feel responsive. It felt like I was playing in slow motion, but maybe that was also because the game was lagging a bit on my computer.

Overall, nice job!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:25 UTC

Liked the graphics a lot, but wished that swinging the torch to ward off the monsters had a larger range. It was pretty easy to get overwhelmed by getting the swing timing wrong. That said, it's a good fit for the theme and a solid mechanic. Great work!

21. Apr 2020 · 03:27 UTC

Great graphics and concept. The enemies were not very responsive to the torch and moved pretty fast to attack. Maybe increase the effective distance of the torch and give the enemies a little bit of slower movement to give Bobb and Todd a fighting chance.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:27 UTC

Good job with the lighting. And what's not to like about protecting an adorable head dragon. Like others, it took me a bit to figure out how to move around properly, since the usual control scheme for this sort of game would be WASD to move north, west, south, and east independently of the character's facing. I also had trouble using the torch swipe effectively, and I found the cost of it to be too great. Fortunately, just running between the enemies was often effective.

21. Apr 2020 · 03:28 UTC

At first I tried playing this like an action game and fighting the zombies intentionally. After I realized it was better to sneak or run away from them. Also an important thing was holding Shift to run, I don't think the game ever mentioned that you could do that.

When I got the hang of everything the game was pretty fun, that bridge jump is hard to land!

triggthediscovery

21. Apr 2020 · 03:35 UTC

Good stuff, I especially liked the progression and the different areas, felt like an epic journey up and out of the catacombs. Checkpoints would have helped, I died at the final three stones a couple times, but honestly it made it feel even better when I finally got out.

21. Apr 2020 · 04:57 UTC

It is a little diffcult to me. But its fun! Good job

21. Apr 2020 · 12:12 UTC

Hey folks, thank you for the comments! Some responses to questions or thoughts :)

Missing voting for Audio and Graphics: We removed the graphics and sound categories as we used assets from others for most of those elements. The graphics were largely Synty's Polygon Dungeon set (which definitely is quite awesome!) and the sound I'll add some references to in the description. Our graphical work was mostly on the boy and dragon and the animations, particle effects and lighting.

Missing instruction for Sprinting: Noted, can fix :)

Comments on torch swing about cost/effectiveness, noted: can tweak :)

Comment on the tutorial sound: Sorry! I think we can fix that easily too, when the torch starts it used to start at full volume and the listener was too close to the player. Likely the model in our main menu still has that starting volume.

Character Control: We had some choices on the table and opted for this type of controller, it really works when you get used to it, but maybe we can do a better job of explaining the basics somewhere.

Thanks again for playing and voting! :)

21. Apr 2020 · 13:06 UTC

Oh, and we think the exit is pretty cool (reachable in about 5 minutes or less), so try to get there :)

22. Apr 2020 · 11:04 UTC

Nice graphics, although controlls are a little odd

22. Apr 2020 · 21:13 UTC

Great game and has so much potential. So sad when bob gets mobbed!

22. Apr 2020 · 21:21 UTC

@phuong-vo lol thanks Phuong, yeah it is!

22. Apr 2020 · 23:39 UTC

@theqiwiboy @nickw22 @guipuyol @milano23 @raeya @p-dude @landosystems @wubbaduck @bmacintosh : Thank you for your feedback, we found and squashed a significant issue with enemy AI that was causing it to be not very responsive to torch swings! Essentially they attacked even when in a feared state. With that corrected and the visual feedback now working properly, it should be a lot more enjoyable in that regard if you want to give it a go :)

22. Apr 2020 · 23:51 UTC

nice concept for the theme, I think the idea can be developed further good job

22. Apr 2020 · 23:58 UTC

@finnthepirate Thank you Finn! Appreciate the comment, and totally agree. Given it's linear nature this is definitely a game that could be grown by further level design, variety and a few more mechanics to add depth :)

23. Apr 2020 · 02:35 UTC

My siblings were watching me play, and at the end of the game, at the final cut scene, my brother said "where's the dragon?" The dragon was gone from the final cut scene in the bamboo field. (Cool game btw.)

23. Apr 2020 · 02:39 UTC

@theqiwiboy omigosh he used to be there too! I probably blitzed that in today's fixes thank you for noting it and playing the game! :)

23. Apr 2020 · 03:20 UTC

@theqiwiboy thanks again! after an emergency patch Bobb is back, your brother need not fear, no dragons were harmed in the exit from the dungeon :)

23. Apr 2020 · 06:12 UTC

Controlling Todd was a bit difficult, but I liked the atmosphere and overall concept. I think it could be a promising game with some updated controls and some more fluid movement options.

23. Apr 2020 · 13:40 UTC

@mirck782 thank you for playing and for the feedback! We toyed with different controller options but for the isometric view we went with we found this one the most suitable. That said, it seems like this sentiment is common so we would definitely want to look at this for any future development!

23. Apr 2020 · 19:55 UTC

I really enjoyed the Egyptian tomb atmosphere, and think that the dragon-on-your-head and torch mechanic is pretty unique. On the flip side, it was hard to control the game (perhaps mouse makes it easier, but my trackpad certainly didn't). I also felt like I was having trouble recognizing terrain sometimes, and fell through all kinds of holes and cracks. Got to the first monolith, but not far beyond :(

23. Apr 2020 · 20:16 UTC

@eldar thank you for playing and for the feedback! I can only imagine with a trackpad (I haven't tried it yet). Definitely noted on the controls. The first Monolith on the bridge is not bad, it's about a 5 minute game to the end, and you definitely get better with the controls as you play :) Thanks again for playing! :)

24. Apr 2020 · 00:07 UTC

Really cool concept, I thought the light leading you to the next lantern station was a cool idea. Really great job on the level design and feel of the game, it definitely fit the theme well.

I wasn't too big of a fan of the sprint not being infinite. Since attacking the enemies cost energy, it seemed that my only real chance of getting far was to dodge all the enemies, but with the sprint only lasting a few seconds and then having to press shift again (after already holding it down) I would often just forget to sprint again and then die. It could just be me not being used to key board and mouse, but it was just an observation I had.

Really good job guys, I enjoyed played and it looks really good! :)

24. Apr 2020 · 01:04 UTC

@prothean Thank you for playing our game and for the feedback! The controls definitely take a while to get used to and I also find I sprint most of the time. We wanted to balance that with the energy so it wasn't too easy to evade, but I understand the frustration in getting swarmed.

Thank you for the kind words too! @badounnm who did most of our level design worked hard to fit all the assets together nicely :)

24. Apr 2020 · 14:18 UTC

Love the game! keep up the great work! :D

24. Apr 2020 · 14:36 UTC

Game is awesome. UX is on point. I've know what to do on every step of the game! From menu to gameplay. Character controls a bit unusual but it works!

Sandra Jasionowska

24. Apr 2020 · 15:13 UTC

Gave me vibes of my recent LD 42 game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/darkest-shade-of-night :smile:

I agree that controls are quite hard to get used to and player moves a little too slow. Great graphics and lightning tho. Also, level desing was interesting. I liked the mood. Nice submission!

24. Apr 2020 · 15:55 UTC

@coolguy6316 Thank you!
@Runuchok Thank you for the comments, the controls are a bit different yes :)
@sandra-jasionowska I'll have to check that out! Yes, we find too that without sprint it's a bit slow, might tweak that a bit! Thank you for the comments! :)

24. Apr 2020 · 16:32 UTC

The graphics for this are nice and cute, I like them a lot!

I also really liked how the tutorial was presented. It clearly showed what each element was and there wasn't a big wall of text!

The overall game concept is great - there's this exciting back and forth between needing to get fuel for your torch and not leaving your companion behind. At one point I realised my companion was quite far away and battling towards him before my torch ran out was so stressful (which is a good thing - I love it when games create tension/anxiety through their mechanics). I failed, but that moment was fun!

My only complaint is with the control system. Maybe I just needed some more practice but it didn't feel intuitive to control. Some games like ResidentEvil use a slightly awkward control scheme (such as stopping the player from moving whilst shooting) to create tension and put more pressure on the player during combat.
I think the control scheme for your game caused more frustration for me than tension and would have benefited from a more conventional control scheme, especially as there is already enough tension during combat whilst trying to defend your companion. (That's just my option of course!)

Overall you made a great game, especially with the time given! I'd love to see more, well done!

24. Apr 2020 · 16:49 UTC

@tom-stephenson Thank you for playing and the feedback, especially the description of the moment :) I hear you on the controls, we are definitely aware of that feedback as it's completely different from what most of us are used to using :)

24. Apr 2020 · 22:48 UTC

This is one of my favorites! I love the little dragon on your head! The mechanics feel great. Sometimes it feels a little stiff, but overall it makes sense. It's super cute with excellent artwork and music! Awesome job! :smile:

25. Apr 2020 · 09:03 UTC

Good game with mysterious art style! But I didn't understand how to control the character. Enjoined playing it!

25. Apr 2020 · 13:16 UTC

@bitpokit Thank you for playing and the kind words! We definitely chose some great assets and @badounnm did an awesome job with the level layout :) Credit to the creators as well mentioned in the game info :)

25. Apr 2020 · 13:17 UTC

@coolestdoggie Thank you for playing and the appreciative feedback! :) I hope you managed to get the controls sorted since it's quite satisfying when you do! :) It's basically that the cursor is the characters facing, W forward (and shift sprint).

25. Apr 2020 · 17:57 UTC

I liked the mood of your game. The control wasn't really familiar to me though so it was hard me to control at first. Neat graphics. There were so monsters while Todd could swing the torch so slowly :smirk: and they won't even die :scream: . haha

25. Apr 2020 · 18:22 UTC

@ancientpears Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, we definitely went with a non-traditional control scheme although you do get used to it! :) They don't die it's true, they just flee, it's really about resource management, movement and flow :)

26. Apr 2020 · 11:19 UTC

Good graphics, and a really nice mood! Movement feels a bit clunky, but it's just a learning curve, can get used to it. Otherwise, very cool!

26. Apr 2020 · 11:33 UTC

@oakwarrior Thank you for playing and the feedback! Your username is familiar from one of the twitch channels I"ve watched in the past few days :)

26. Apr 2020 · 19:36 UTC

Cool stuff! You have a great concept going on. The dragon on my head is so cute. Must protec!

26. Apr 2020 · 19:52 UTC

@midnightmist thanks for playing and the feedback! :)

28. Apr 2020 · 12:44 UTC

Interesting idea and the graphics / atmosphere were brilliant (really liked the "How to Play" section which showed off the animations). As a lot of other people have said, the movement is a bit odd (I think it would work better with WASD/joystick with respect to the camera rather than the cursor) and I messed up a lot because of getting confused by it.

28. Apr 2020 · 13:39 UTC

@amkingtrp Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, it seems like that's a consistent trend and we definitely acknowledge that challenge. It was interesting tinkering with a new movement scheme but I understand how it might be too confusing or foreign for people to get into the game :( Thank you again!

09. May 2020 · 20:36 UTC

Thanks for submitting your game for me to play on my livestream!

If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/615952171?t=4h26m43s

Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D

💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady

https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin

10. May 2020 · 17:40 UTC

@elysiagriffin Thank you for playing it and for your feedback, it was fun watching you play ;) You might see me lurking on your stream between now and then too as I haven't seen enough Animal Crossing yet lol!

11. May 2020 · 19:55 UTC

The cute dragon on my head that I shall not forget :D Initially I felt the controls wouldn't work.. but I grew to like them after playing it for a little while. You managed to make a game of luring enemies and outpacing them surprisingly rewarding and interesting to play! Good job

12. May 2020 · 04:48 UTC

@honest-dan Thank you Dan! It was fun to watch you play it on your stream! :)