LudumData

Rat Delivery Service by Dinoraz

[raw]
made by Dinoraz for Ludum Dare 53 (COMPO)

DELIVER THOSE RATS!

A game where you play as a alchemist assassin, who delivers plagued rats to unsuspecting targets.

screenshot 1.png

The rats you acquire will have various stats, giving them extra proficiency in certain environments and scenarios.

screenshot 2.png

Deliver a rat with sufficient properties to take out your target, and your clients will pay kindly in return!

screenshot 3.png

Admittedly, it's a little barebones and is in more of a "freeplay" state right now, but I think it gets the concept across well enough.

-- NOTES --

May 1st

As of 3 hours after the Compo period, I had to drop a version fixing a major crash. This version had no features added, just the bug fix. The unfixed version is still listed on the itch.io page.

May 9th

I have released yet another version fixing some more crashes. No content was added, but this is still listed separately as the "More Fixes" version. Please do continue to report any issues encountered!

This version is also used for the new browser port. The browser may have some graphical issues and be generally less stable than the downloads. I would encourage downloading the game if you have any major issues.

-- CREDITS --

BGM is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st Movement (public domain, of course); but as a short-looping 8-bit arrangement made by me during the Compo. I got mixed answers on if public domain music is allowed for Compo submissions, so until further confirmation I've opted out of being rated in Audio.

Font is Arial, just downscaled with no anti-aliasing.

All other assets/programming made by me during the Compo period using the following programs:

  • GameMaker Studio 1.x (Engine/programming)
  • Aseprite (Art)
  • Famitracker/Audacity (Audio)
Link https://dracoraz.itch.io/rat-delivery-service
Alt Download https://dracoraz.itch.io/rat-delivery-service
Link https://dracoraz.itch.io/rat-delivery-service
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/rat-delivery-service

Ratings

Overall 180th 3.614⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 201th 3.386⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 85th 3.75⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 67th 4.227⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 142th 3.795⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 86th 3.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 61th 3.864⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Dinoraz
30. Apr 2023 · 18:24 UTC
I'll have more to say here once I rest up. Good luck yall!
August1413
01. May 2023 · 03:11 UTC
Great game, the rats are really cute :)
ludev
01. May 2023 · 03:41 UTC
This is so epic. I wanted to keep playing when the game crashed on day 2. It happened as I clicked on my contracts for the first time after picking up the free rat in the same room.
🎤 Dinoraz
01. May 2023 · 03:56 UTC
@ludev Fortunately after looking into it I figured out exactly what causes the issue, the bad news is I don't think I'm allowed to drop the fix for it since it's past the Compo period

It only happens if you complete every contract for a given day, so you can avoid this crash by leaving at least 1 contract unfulfilled each day (there's no penalty for this)

My apologies for the issues

Edit: I reread the jam rules and apparently bug fixes are allowed, so I'll give the fix soon
LDJam user 365085
01. May 2023 · 03:58 UTC
The rat noises are very cute
Bad_B4DGuy
01. May 2023 · 06:51 UTC
Nice game!Love the vibe and the text-based gameplay,and what surprise me most is the extra mouse catching gameplay.But the movement with keyboard is of no use.
aushijo
01. May 2023 · 07:06 UTC
cute rats
SlimeBOOS
01. May 2023 · 13:24 UTC
Cool game, the overall gameplay reminds me of an incremental game, but with a unique twist that not any old rat won't work for a request. It is nice that it shows how well you did on each request after doing the requests.
clemall
01. May 2023 · 13:52 UTC
I like the style and the vibe of your game.
It is quite fun. Good job :thumbsup:
josemwarrior
01. May 2023 · 14:05 UTC
I'm ended up with an army of 33 rats
LDJam user 258850
01. May 2023 · 14:30 UTC
Yes it does get the concept across, By free play I guessed you meant there is no end? so I got to day 10 with 30 odd rats and stopped ^^ would love to see some sort of end goal, and some extra rat building mechanics, like you can dunk a rat in water/dirt to clean or dirty them but only one use a day or something.
Lex
01. May 2023 · 17:26 UTC
Very nice theme and aesthetics. Arrangement or not the music makes a lot of difference for the mood. I wonder if you really needed the WASD mechanic at all, everything would work the same with just clicks on the screen.

Anyway, good entry!
Megrez
02. May 2023 · 08:45 UTC
Rats are very cute. Looking forward to a more polished version
zantze
02. May 2023 · 16:18 UTC
Can't wait for the full version! Cute game
🎤 Dinoraz
03. May 2023 · 09:01 UTC
I appreciate the interest in further versions! I was initially unsure if I'd ever continue this idea, but I may do it if I can find the time. My first priority would be cleaning up the programming though, since it got a bit sloppy towards the end
LDJam user 299352
03. May 2023 · 09:37 UTC
This story has the potential, I would love to see more advanced version of this one. Graphics are great, I enjoyed playing it. Tho I've a crash in fixed version :sweat:
🎤 Dinoraz
03. May 2023 · 10:18 UTC
@ruslan-kossak Thank you! Do you have any more details you could share on the crash?
LDJam user 299352
03. May 2023 · 13:53 UTC
@dinoraz it happened on day 3 after after I picked a mouse in hallway and checked the contract I tried to enter the door, the location changed but the game exited with the error. Sorry I can’t be more specific 😅
🎤 Dinoraz
03. May 2023 · 14:37 UTC
Will look into it soon o7
Ismael Rodriguez
03. May 2023 · 16:07 UTC
Interesting little game. I like the pixel art, well done. The gameplay isn't my style, but I did enjoy concept.

Curious what you had in mind for WASD movement?
Kristallllllik
03. May 2023 · 20:20 UTC
I like pixel art ^-^ Rats are so cute!
LDJam user 338234
03. May 2023 · 21:39 UTC
i liked the disconnect between the chill atmosphere and cute rats to pick from despite the gruesome actions you're taking. with a few more options like using the WASD keys to inspect your room or being able to interact with the mice (maybe feeding or training them) or the crow (maybe it could speak and question your actions?) i could see myself playing a bunch of days in this game, though i understand that that was beyond the scope of the compo. nice spin on the theme!
🎤 Dinoraz
03. May 2023 · 23:44 UTC
@ismael-rodriguez Part of the original plan was to be able to explore a bit outside of the two rooms that are currently in the game, where some rooms would be more than a screen long and require you to move in order to scroll the camera. If I add on to this game in the future I will likely still implement this
Ismael Rodriguez
03. May 2023 · 23:51 UTC
For hitman type missions?
🎤 Dinoraz
04. May 2023 · 00:05 UTC
@ismael-rodriguez More so for resource gathering, although that's also a pretty good idea!
YurisCat
06. May 2023 · 07:51 UTC
Very interesting and creative game! I don't think our target would ever expect to be assassinated by a... um... mouse assassin! (Actually, a plague rat, haha.) When I had more and more rats in my dungeon, I began to worry about my own safety. I'm really looking forward to the full version of the game, but don't put too much pressure on yourself! You've already done a great job! Have a great day!:cake:
Johnsensei
07. May 2023 · 18:19 UTC
Interesting but I got a crash even after downloading the Crash Fix version:
___________________________________________
############################################################################################
FATAL ERROR in
action number 1
of Mouse Event for Left Released
for object ObjRatCage:

ds_map_copy argument 2 incorrect type (undefined) expecting a Number (YYGI32)
at gml_Script_LoadRat
############################################################################################
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
stack frame is
gml_Script_LoadRat (line -1)
gml_Object_ObjRatCage_Mouse_7
automatonvx
07. May 2023 · 23:27 UTC
I like the concept alot and the visual style is cute, I sent rats on a few contracts, mostly with success but wasn't entirely clear what was going, presumably the contract specifies some criteria with which to match the best rat for the job, but wasn't entirely clear how that worked. Oh well fun idea.
🎤 Dinoraz
08. May 2023 · 00:35 UTC
@johnsensei I'll try to figure this soon, thanks for letting me know!

@automatonvx Yep, figuring out the criteria is crucial for successful rat missions! Hoping if I get time to make a full version, I can implement some better feedback for the player
cureja
08. May 2023 · 18:13 UTC
Cute game! Very atmospheric with the music, tone and mice. Would love to see the game expanded past its free play state.
🎤 Dinoraz
09. May 2023 · 04:21 UTC
@johnsensei I think I found the issue now, thanks for providing the crash message!

Still unsure about the error @ruslan-kossak described, so if anyone runs into the same crash please do tell! o7

I'll be releasing another bug fix version soon (with still no more features added yet) but I'll have it separate from the current download since it has been so long now since the compo period ended, and I want to have both so that people can tell I haven't been cheating by adding new content.

@cureja Thanks for playing!
LDJam user 277876
09. May 2023 · 23:22 UTC
Wow, I adore this game. First and foremost 5 star innovation! I also loved the mood and story and really just everything about it! I suppose, to be fair and give critique, the gameplay loop gets rather repetitive and I wish there was some incentive to save your money so as to add more complexity than just memorization. But all in all I absolutely love how much of a world you were able to create with so few game elements and in such a strict time frame. Phenomenal job!
🎤 Dinoraz
10. May 2023 · 00:00 UTC
@glove Thank you! I'm hoping to expand upon this concept at some point, but of course I'm trying to be a bit cautious in how I do that since it is such a unique idea
Prismapunch
16. May 2023 · 20:03 UTC
really liked the style and tone, would have liked to see more of what is going on with the contracts and perhaps going out and doing them yourself to make the gameplay more immersive.