LudumData

Unstable Internet by Lemma

[raw]
made by Lemma for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

You need to shoot a bunch of enemies to beat the game, but the enemies need wifi to move around. If they don't have good connection, they lag so much that your bullets don't do damage!

EDIT: embedded version not working! Play game at lemmagamedev.itch.io/unstable-internet (or use link below). MacOS-only version also available below.

Tutorial: + The blue circle is the range of the wifi. + Arrow keys or WASD to move. + Left click to shoot towards your mouse. + Enemies take a lot less damage if they have bad wifi. + Press space to toggle the wifi. + Reach the required kill counts to win.

Intentional game design: + Some enemies can teleport through walls if they are lagging too much. + Kill counts are only listed when wifi is disabled, because the UI is being updated very frequently for some reason, and it can't load with wifi on. + Also, traps! Watch out for those. It may be helpful to disable wifi and freeze the traps. + There are more enemies placed than you need. If you want to kill every enemy, get kill counts 99 50 30 10 5.

Random technical facts: + Laser traps work on a fixed cycle that doesn't pause when the wifi goes out. Spike traps, however, actually pause when the wifi is turned off. This means laser traps cannot desync, but spike traps can. + I forgot to change a single number in the code, so the kill counter for the cyan enemies is broken. You can count, right? It chould be fine.

Itch link https://lemmagamedev.itch.io/unstable-internet
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/unstable-internet

Ratings

Overall 566th 3.375⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 520th 3.25⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 519th 3.24⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 391th 3.813⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 615th 3.292⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 504th 2.917⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Humor 408th 2.81⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 501th 3.5⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Lemma
Apr 21st · 00:32 UTC
Sorry! The web build isn't working, and the page won't let me edit anything. Trying to fix that.
takhomasac
Apr 21st · 02:35 UTC
very interesting concept and funky music!
Isaac Hisey
Apr 21st · 03:43 UTC
Pretty neat! I like the super hot style combat with a 2D perspective. Audio was a bit much so I turned it down. I like activate and deactivating the trap via the wifi signal as well. Overall solid entry.
dan-whiffing
Apr 21st · 03:46 UTC
Neat concept, was fun exploring and finding the different enemies. They were a bit tanky so it felt a bit tedious trying again after my first failure. The music is interesting, almost hypnotic and disorienting. Good work
🎤 Lemma
Apr 21st · 03:48 UTC
@dan-whiffing Bullets do more damage if you're closer to the enemies, sorry if the description didn't say that very well.
MountainGoose
Apr 21st · 04:10 UTC
Like the tunes, web build played okay for me btw
Kamizenki
Apr 21st · 04:54 UTC
Very simple and neat gameplay, but it's fun to play. The concept of shooting Wi-Fi is something new to me; that's a great idea. Nice work
Rhookx
Apr 21st · 13:36 UTC
had my fair bit of fun playing it, the music is a bit daunting but nothing a windows mixer can't fix, cool concept and the vibe is cool ! good job
glem-fumeno
Apr 21st · 14:45 UTC
I love the fact that the embeded version on a game called "unstable internet" throws "Uh oh!". Other than that the game is cool. Funky music and cool aesthetics
MajoMirez
Apr 21st · 15:43 UTC
Cool concept! I like how it's designed so the enemies are easier to hit when they're closer, but it's also riskier. The cyan enemies are nasty, I like that. Good job!
🎤 Lemma
Apr 21st · 16:31 UTC
@mountaingoose I'm surprised the web build worked for you. Maybe it's an OS-specific issue.
cedaoan
Apr 21st · 23:03 UTC
Very cool and interesting concept, using wifi signal as the mechanism! Can be a bit hard but I enjoyed playing it!
loveapplegames
Apr 22nd · 10:46 UTC
Cool game, a lot of content for a jam game! I would advise giving more feedback when you hit an ememy, such as a particle effect. As it is now, the bullets seem to pass through the enemies.
LDJam user 374028
Apr 22nd · 21:42 UTC
I only managed to get this far. The spike + flame traps are hard to do because the player character moves too much and the tiles are too little. :') Still, it was pretty fun!

![enemieskilled.png](///raw/c05/b5/z/7260e.png)

P.S.: Oh and the switchable range mechanic was pretty innovative too I think! :)
Mr. Flower
Apr 23rd · 17:02 UTC
pretty nice game, I like the simple pixel art, the enemy attacks are varied in a very fun and unique way. Although something that detracted from the fun was that the shooting was weirdly inconsistent, I'd be shooting and the bullets would randomly stop shooting but the audio would still play. I assume this is just a bug, not sure if it's an issue with frame rate or something else, but worth trying on a laptop that's weaker. Other than that, really fun and great concept, especially with being able to deal more damage to enemies when they are closer, super good risk-reward system. Keep up the good work :D
NE-Aquilon
Apr 23rd · 20:05 UTC
Loved the concept, but I fell it can be used for so much more: intermittent movements, stasis, state rollback and etc. Still a nice game. Also loved bosses.
jnur
Apr 23rd · 20:24 UTC
Fun. The graphics were really nice, they had a consistent style that fit the vibe of the game really well. My only complaints would be that the music was a bit grating to me (but I do get the vibe you were going for), and the enemy hitboxes could've been a bit bigger. Overall I like the idea and the execution though!
IRKAR
Apr 26th · 10:20 UTC
Cool simple art and funny little guys)![Screenshot_20260426_131714.png](///raw/25b/76/z/72be9.png)
automatonvx
May 02nd · 19:10 UTC
Nice. I really like the art style in that kind of bloomy, glitchy pixel art style. The music kind of fit the art style, but found it a bit kind of unlistenable after not very long :grin: . Was kind of thrown by the lack of visual feedback when I was shooting enemies, with the switching on/off wi-fi mechanic I wasn't really sure when i was damaging them or not. Also really needs a restart button at the end. Played a couple of rounds, but never did that well. Had fun though. Nice work.
zevwax
May 03rd · 06:08 UTC
Like the graphics!