UnstaBall by WilloXs

The goal is to destroy all the platforms in a level. Instructions are included but here again just to be safe: A/D or Left/Right to move - space to (double) jump (only possible if the ball has a colour)

15 levels await! Im also really sorry for the music (it sounds a bit like tinnitus-to-go after a while - but you can lower it in the menu). The game also forces fullscreen on you so you can exit with 'escape' from the main menu.

Even though it has tons of collision-bugs, runs with about 2 FPS on my laptop and i really would have needed a partner for audio related stuff (you will hear) i would say it is my most polished LD game yet!
Have fun playing!
Edit:
I decided to put up a second almost identical version but with shaders disabled (for the laptops etc.) and changed the previously unbeatable level 11 (i think that doesnt break the rules)
| Link | https://willoxs.itch.io/unstaball |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/unstaball-2 |
Ratings
| Overall | 77th | 4.153⭐ | 38🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 30th | 4.271⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 217th | 3.829⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 820th | 3.471⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 391th | 3.986⭐ | 37🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 345th | 3.691⭐ | 36🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 374th | 3.75⭐ | 34🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 53🗳️ | 50🗨️ |
Edit: thanks for fixing the download link, the game's pretty nice and I love the sound atmosphere. :D
Somehow my anti virus prevented some files from being uploaded. Both versions should (hopefully) work now.
It's kinda reminiscent of Electroplankton, which I really enjoyed too. Nicely done.
It's fairly easy to pick up but thanks to all these mechanics you introduce over the levels it also has quite a bit of depth gameplay-wise.
I think the audio (especially the sound effects) is very good too. You're too harsh on yourself! :)
(PS: I love the titles you came up with for the later levels)
@lucdeligne thanks too. Im really happy about the names myself 😅. I guess the music isnt so bad if you dont hear it two days straight.
Thanks for playing to the other commenters as well.
Awesome job. The visuals are great and the design is solid. I like the variety of different tiles.
I think it could benefit from tighter controls ... it felt very sluggish and slippery, and I felt myself frustrated that I couldn't really change direction mid-air. I do like the momentum concept going on though.
Nice work!
As for critical feedback, the movement feels a little bit too heavy, some more control would be nice. Also, I didn't really like how open some of the levels were, I think it would be better if every level had a semi-clear solution instead of just being able to do whatever and still clear it.
On the audio side, it's working quite well, although I see what you mean about the soundtrack. My suggestion here would be to do less in the background track and let the melody come from hitting the blocks. Maybe have some soft drums to give it a bit of rhythm, and pads with low attack if you want a bit of harmony (as opposed to having a lot of sharp sounds already in the background track).
Short notes on the visuals:
- I find your in-game font a bit too small and the contrast a bit too low over the background.
- The background changing color is a nice touch, maybe transitions could be a bit slower, or mapped to player actions in some way? (e.g. take the color of the block you hit or just change after a hit) In my mind, this might add a feeling of responsiveness to the environment.
Overall, this was quite fun and challenging, it felt like the idea was clear and fully executed. Well done!
I agree that overall it felt really polished!
@tastiham @sam-gorman I played around with the feel of the controls a lot before making the levels. I wanted a sort of semi-low gravity feel and the floaty controls were fitting for that. I can see why one would prefer tighter controls but i liked these a bit more (but thanks for the honesty).
@mig-moog @hawkin I would have changed the music if i had thought of it longer. Maybe dropping out of audio and using a free but fitting track would have been better for the game.
@fre Hey i saw you somewhere else before. You really write well thought out comments - thank you! I like the background suggestion i'll keep that in mind for another time (may come in handy next LD). The font size isnt scaled for different monitor sizes. So text is small on big screens and even leaves the window on small screens.
I like the visuals, and the sounds were pretty good although I turned off the music.
On the music: it seems to me like the notes that the game generates algorithmically don't really come from one unified scale...? I think if you just generated random notes from a single pentatonic scale every time some action called for a note, you might get a better result.
The later levels are really difficult, which I think is mostly fine... I especially did have a pretty good time beating level 15. But level 13 annoys me, as it seems extremely precise to get enough momentum to reach either the portal or the blue block after hitting the red block. I did eventually manage to beat it after I realized I sort of needed to hit the red block while moving vertically...?
On that front I think the main improvement would just be to make the route in each level extremely obvious and relatively easy to execute. I don't think having to manipulate your velocity incoming to the red block is a well-broadcasted technique to the player, and so it should be left out of levels until the game teaches it somehow. (Or maybe I'm completely wrong about what I need to do, which I think would also communicate my point here... :smile: )
But, I did manage to power through, and I am ultimately glad that the game had a couple harder levels. The last level especially was fun to route, as I got to figure out which ways I would be able to successfully exit the portal, and then I could plan around that. It was good.
Overall, this is probably the best platformer I've played yet this Ludum Dare--it was extremely strong in terms of gameplay concepts and in terms of aesthetic design.
Well done!