Dr. Cool Whale Against The Electronicles by Yorsh

[raw]
made by Yorsh for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Oh no! You, the famous Dr. Cool Whale, messed up badly! Your experiment somehow created an army of sentient and angry electronic devices, the Eletronicles!

DrCoolWhale.gif

Controls

  • Move: WASD or Arrows

How To Play

  • Each Eletronicle has a weakness to a specific frequency range. For eg. the Orange Radios are weak to mid frequencies and TVs to low frequencies.
  • Change to frequency of your signal by aiming at a different distance with your mouse. If you put your mouse far from your character, you will emit low frequencies. If you aim right next to your character, you will emit high frequencies.
  • Pick up the xp points on the ground (thunder shaped) to level up.

Patch Note

Original version available at the bottom of the itch page. * Fixed the TVs not playing their little video on the web version (0 gameplay impact, therefore critical). * Made the damage numbers turn red on strong hits. I meant to push this after the voting period ended, but as I needed to fix the TV screens, I wasn't feeling like discarding the changes and doing another update later. * Slightly reduced xp amount to level up. Same thing. PatchNoteNumbers.png

Ratings

Overall 19th 4.125⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 23th 3.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 27th 3.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 18th 4.396⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 9th 4.458⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 64th 3.688⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 84th 3.708⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 37🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 280624
Apr 20th · 02:36 UTC
Hello! The game page won't open — error 404
🎤 Yorsh
Apr 20th · 02:43 UTC
@torte478 Uh oh. It works for me tho on Chrome and Firefox (windows). Are you using another OS or Browser? Also could be Itch having troubles to handle LD uploads maybe.

EDIT: My bad I forgot to put the page public ahah
LDJam user 280624
Apr 20th · 02:52 UTC
Now we're in business! An excellent, polished game. I think it has every chance of taking a prize spot in this LD.

Congratulations on Compo and good luck!
William Corrin
Apr 20th · 08:04 UTC
Its genius. Having the signal frequencies change visually and having the enemies _be_ electronics that operate at bigger or smaller frequencies is just genius.

On top of that, the art is insanely polished. I'm genuinely amazed. There is even an upgrade system!

My only constructive criticism would be that the bottom part of the map shouldn't have walls on it (or shadows), as you can get obstructed by the camera down there and the enemies will hit you without you being able to see them.

Really great entry, props to you, you should be super proud!
Domenixius
Apr 20th · 12:40 UTC
Super sweet entry! I love the upgrade system and using the distance from the mouse for the amplitude of the wave is super creative!
I do feel like the initial movement speed is a bit too sluggish, and I wish there was a more discrete way of seeing what phase I am emitting maybe change its color depending on if it is considered high,middle or low? Also maybe make the enemies more visually distinct? Its super important to immediately see if it is a small or a medium one if you want to avoid damage and that is a little hard!

The upgrades felt really satisfying and the whale is super cute! Kudos for making so many 3d models in such a low amount of time!
🎤 Yorsh
Apr 20th · 13:21 UTC
@torte478 Thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked it!

@william-corrin Yup I should have tested the visibility nearby walls, it didn't even occur to me. Thanks!

@domenixius I initially wanted to use the color for some elemental modifiers like fire, so I actually actively avoided using it for other stuff. Agreed for the pink alarm clock, it's not pinky enough and about the same shape (I wanted to make a microwave with animations and sound effects initially, but as I ran out of time I went for simplicity). I actually noticed it and then forgot about it ahah. Thanks for the feedback!
Pimeko
Apr 20th · 14:33 UTC
Awesome entry! Loved the graphics, the wave system being based on the mouse proximity is super original and it blended perfectly with the rest. Good job :)
Rafa Fiedo
Apr 21st · 07:22 UTC
super mechanic!
At first I thought that it random frequency, but later I noticed that small devices has high frequency and big has low.
I had a lot of fun :D
Really like the 'visual feedback' from signal waves


![asdsadsa.png](///raw/b4b/86/z/71d6c.png)
BoltDaPikachu234
Apr 21st · 11:53 UTC
really like this, like how the signals work and just the type of game this is, also the artwork is amazing
Liam
Apr 21st · 19:23 UTC
Wow, honestly what an impressive entry. The look and audio is so well done but the theme concept is fantastic, I had a lot of fun on a few plays. It's a cool mechanic, absolute chaos of course but fun chaos. I did struggle with controlling the mid ranges (I think that's what the problem was) but perhaps a skill issue :laughing: Best of luck with the ratings, I think one of my faves so far.
Jacky San
Apr 21st · 19:30 UTC
Hey ! Really nice "Vampire Survivor" like game with a great idea based on wave length :clap:
Maybe ennemies are becoming overwhelming a bit too soon ?
And had often 2 times the same powerup on the 3 choice pop up :smile:
Good job on the art aspect, really well done for a solo game in 48 hours ! :wink:
LDJam user 371996
Apr 22nd · 09:20 UTC
Cool 3d game! The graphics and audio are so good with this gameplay. The "split" effect is really hard to control lol it might be a debuff for me. :shark: :tv:
🎤 Yorsh
Apr 22nd · 23:16 UTC
@rafa-fiedo Nicely done! Ideally I wanted to send a wave of the first enemy, then a wave of the second before mixing them together. It would have been easier to understand, but I had to keep the simple enemy spawner I made early that mostly spawns more and more enemies over time. Thanks for playing!

@liam Agreed the mid ranges are hard to hit consistently (especially when it turn to chaos). It's lacking some feedback (or a simple text that displays the frequency). I'm glad you liked it!

@jacky-san Yup I kept reducing the enemies spawn rates again and again, yet it was always too much. Pretty sure I would have kept reducing it for a while if I had more time to playtest ahah (I was a bit scared to go too low and no one spawing anymore). I noticed the issue with the 3 choices, tried to fix it once, kept happening anyway so I accepted that it's a feature now. Thanks for the feedback!

@rubatotree Thanks! I would have liked to spend more time on audio tho but I'm glad you liked it. Split can be tricky yeah, I really like these kinds of buff that aren't straight up better (I think that's the first one I made actually).
Matt Giuca
Apr 23rd · 01:17 UTC
This is super neat, very polished, and a good mechanic. I am always a fan when action games make you change your play based on the different enemies and think about who you're trying to attack.

The TVs (low freq) have a lot of health, but it actually makes the upgrades more meaningful (even if the strategy doesn't change between runs): increasing low-freq damage is better because it helps you deal with the harder low-freq-absorbing enemies.
vidarn
Apr 23rd · 06:37 UTC
Loved it! Great concept and very well executed. It was super polished and both graphics and audio were great!

It was well scoped, well paced and had fun upgrades. Incredibly well made!
Saering
Apr 23rd · 07:36 UTC
Very nice entry! At first I was not moving at all, only trying to adjust the signal, and once I started to move, the mouse distance was way harder to control but it was pretty satisfying to do. I felt like sometimes the enemies were turning red but I could not keep the signal long enough to kill them as I was moving and dodging at the same time, which could be frustrating sometimes, but overall I like the mechanic, the upgrade system is interesting (not always a big fan of 3 upgrades system in jams but here I thought it was convenient) and it's polished!
I wish the signal sound was a bit louder, I was hearing the music more than the signal although it's the most important audio cue of the game.

Overall very solid! Congrats! :smile:
the graphics are stellar! I'm amazed at what devs can do in 2 days <3
Very polished, very on-theme! Very tense gameplay, and an innovative idea for damage dealing!!

Thanks for making this! It's inspiring
WeirdBitGames
Apr 23rd · 23:34 UTC
This game is delightful! I love the art style and the music is really catchy and fitting too!
caeonosphere
Apr 25th · 07:00 UTC
Hey, this is great! What an interesting idea to take a part of the input that wouldn't normally be used in this control scheme and turn it into the central mechanic. I also appreciate the creative upgrades, instead of just flat damage increases. I only managed 215 after quite a few tries. Those radios are just too damn tanky...
bereg
Apr 26th · 09:44 UTC
Wow! Great idea and execution. The mechanic really does feel new, unusual, and fresh. It’s fun to play, but it seems like the parameters could use some tuning. When the devices get right up close, there isn’t much you can do. Still, the game is excellent. The graphics and sound are great, and even the upgrades feel well thought out. It’s impressively polished overall.

One question remains: why is the whale fighting electronics?
Ismael Rodriguez
Apr 27th · 03:46 UTC
The frequency mechanic is cool.

It's fun to just pull your mouse around to mess with the frequency - but in the heat of battle it feels like don't have strong control over it (maybe it's just a me problem). My idea: mid by default, left click is high, right click could be low.

Overall, great job! :thumbsup:
VenomousMouse
Apr 27th · 12:34 UTC
Very nice character and good mechanic implementation. Cool little game.
BeastPanda
Apr 27th · 21:30 UTC
Loved the main mechanic. This game feels incredibly polished. The 3D models look great, and the small touches really stand out, like how the gun sound changes as you change frequencies. I also really liked that the enemies have clear attack animations you can read, and the upgrade system adds a nice layer of progression.

If I had to nitpick, it looked like I was offered duplicate upgrades. I’m pretty sure I got the low and high frequency upgrade twice, and I wasn't sure if that was intentional and they would stack in some way or if this was a bug.

I did have a bit of trouble controlling the frequency at times, though that might just be me coming in with muscle memory from other survivor style games where radial cursor control is not really a factor.
jurra44
Apr 28th · 15:48 UTC
Cool game! Pause state animations feels living!
zhangzhimu
May 03rd · 12:48 UTC
Such a lovely scene. I think the design of this little dolphin is very appealing and makes me want to play it. The gameplay is also very well thought out.
LDJam user 428640
May 08th · 13:56 UTC
The level of polish is really impressive. The theme is applied in an interesting way, though it might benefit from a more intuitive way to distinguish things. The art style is very cute. I think it just needs a bit more polish and tweaking to become even better. Overall, well done!