LudumData

Shoot 'em Down by Pennycook

[raw]
made by Pennycook for Ludum Dare 48 (JAM)

screenshot2.png

I wanted to try something a little bit different this time, so deliberately didn't make a puzzle or adventure game. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and I even had time to add in a story at the last minute. Phew.

Post-Jam Changes

Please note that the HTML5 version of the game on itch.io is the post-jam version. I couldn't find a good way to host more than one HTML5 version there, but the Windows and Linux builds are the originals.

Here is a list of things that have been updated so far, based on reviewer feedback:

  • Consistent art style (including new scrolling background).
  • Reduced player and bullet hit boxes.
  • Adjusted firing rate of enemies to increase gaps between bullets.

Keyboard Controls

  • Shoot: Space or Left Click
  • Cancel: Escape
  • Move: WASD

Known Bugs

  • HTML5
    • Exit option appears on the menu
  • Windows
    • The background scrolls too fast
  • Linux
    • None :laughing:

Tools

  • Godot
  • Aseprite
  • GIMP

Attribution

This information is also in the in-game credits, but I’d like to draw extra attention to:

  • Art by Jason Perry (http://timefantasy.net/) & Kenney (http://kenney.nl)
  • Music by Eric Matyas (http://soundimage.org/)
HTML5 (post-jam) https://pennycook.itch.io/shoot-em-down
Link https://pennycook.itch.io/shoot-em-down
Link https://pennycook.itch.io/shoot-em-down
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/shoot-em-down

Ratings

Overall 1315th 3.283⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1481th 2.935⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1802th 2.37⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1375th 3.261⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 300th 3.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1595th 2.848⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 28🗨️

Feedback

LakshyaIsAGod
26. Apr 2021 · 04:53 UTC
TODO: review game
Andrew Hoyer
26. Apr 2021 · 06:33 UTC
Pretty sure this is the first time I've seen a "shoot 'em down" - clever. Also, loved the dialogue, which was actually pretty funny.
Swoof
26. Apr 2021 · 23:07 UTC
Satisfying audio design and I loved the opening dialogue. It made me laugh out loud twice!
🎤 Pennycook
26. Apr 2021 · 23:09 UTC
@andrew-hoyer, @swoof: Thank you! I'm glad to hear the jokes landed -- gotta get those humor points somehow...
Smelly Games
27. Apr 2021 · 12:47 UTC
I long for Tohou sized hitboxes, I swear I'm normally good at these.
TheMightyTrout
27. Apr 2021 · 12:58 UTC
as per the other comments the dialogue was very funny although i rhink it could have gone a bit "Deeper (sorry couldnt resist)
the game was great, got hard at parts but was still very fun
Escortti
27. Apr 2021 · 13:17 UTC
I knew I couldn't be the only one making a SHMUP... well a SHMD. The opening dialog was great and so was the gameplay. Although I gotta admit it's too hard for me. Which was mostly due to the size of the ship's hitbox. Usually in SHMUP's the player hitbox is a lot smaller than the ship. Also big props for the audio and UI design.
wheybags
27. Apr 2021 · 22:44 UTC
Also felt it was too hard. The enemies seemed to shoot streams of bullets so dense you literally couldn't pass through them, so you have to defeat every one? I might just be bad at dodging though :p
🎤 Pennycook
01. May 2021 · 03:46 UTC
@smelly-games, @themightytrout, @escortti, @wheybags: Thanks for the feedback! I haven't played a lot of games in this genre, and so it's very useful to know that the player would expect a more forgiving hitbox. Some of the enemies shoot dense streams of bullets by design -- so there are some enemies you _must_ kill in each wave. Maybe I made a puzzle game after all...?
Tanner Shelton
01. May 2021 · 04:46 UTC
I liked the opening dialogue, as it was very clever. I had a really hard time getting past the first few enemies. I think it was much too difficult at the beginning. And the hitboxes on the enemies and bullets seemed large, so it was hard to dodge past. I think it could be great with a couple fixes.
Link270
01. May 2021 · 04:49 UTC
Overall not bad. I like the idea behind it, and the humor at the beginning was great. Some suggestions, you should have more dialogue happening during the game, that could lighten it up a bit. Allow your ship to be hit a few times before dying, and be a tiny bit more forgiving with the colliders. (It's "usually" a good idea to make colliders slightly smaller than the object imho) Another thing I would suggest would be to make some of the enemy ships to need to be destroyed. If that makes sense. For example I felt like I had to kill everything, I couldn't just doge pass any of their shots because they basically created walls. It adds an additional way to play, where you can either kill them all or quickly rush through a gap of their bullets, on that thought adding a small dash would be nice as well.

Good job!
LDJam user 236545
01. May 2021 · 16:54 UTC
Fun shoot 'em up game! And the intro dialogue was pretty funny.

I had to try a bunch of times to get past the first few enemies. It was basically a death sentence if you didn't kill all of the enemies.

Good job!
GaryS
02. May 2021 · 23:56 UTC
I love a shump and this was pretty cool. Good dialogue. ;)
I had a couple of notes - firstly, it seems that the ship moves slower when going diagonally than left and right. I've had that problem with movement myself in the past... It does add another element to gameplay in that it makes sense to move horizontally and work out the best order in which to destroy ships - but I'd rather be able to dance about all over the place! Second, I think the collision boxes are a bit on the big side! Third, the bullets are so close together that it doesn't seem possible to dodge them. This may be by design, but I think it reduces your options.

Still, lots of fun and very difficult.
🎤 Pennycook
03. May 2021 · 01:46 UTC
@tanner-shelton, @link270, @andrewkennedy, @garys: Thanks, folks! I've shrunk the hitboxes and adjusted the firing rate of the horizontal enemies such that it's possible to slip between the bullets. It's still hard, but no longer impossible. :smiling_imp:

I'm not sure what to do with the diagonal movement... I put that in on purpose, based on something I've done for top-down RPGs in the past. It might be that limiting diagonal movement for walking makes sense (you can't walk faster by changing direction, after all), but that a ship wouldn't have the same restrictions. I'll play with it and see what feels most natural.

Thanks again to everybody for the great feedback!
Matt Lowe
05. May 2021 · 03:47 UTC
Loved the dialogue and art! Great game overall.
Nick Howard
05. May 2021 · 13:32 UTC
I really enjoyed this!! I adore shmups, bullet hells, etc., and this was a unique take going down! Makes me wanna make a shmdown lmao
loveapplegames
05. May 2021 · 20:46 UTC
A nice shooter! But why so difficult? You have to be spot-on to kill the enemies before the bullets overwhelm you. Collision seems very unforgiving, I keep getting killed by enemy explosions and then I got killed by running into the sides!
🎤 Pennycook
05. May 2021 · 23:23 UTC
@loveapplegames: My hope was that if it was hard, people might keep trying until they succeeded -- inspired by games like Dark Souls. I think I went *too* far, though, and coming back to it myself even I can't get past the first few waves of the jam version. :sweat_smile:

The post-jam version is much more forgiving, and I think a lot more fun... I'll post an update here when I've figured out a good way to host both versions on itch.io.
🎤 Pennycook
06. May 2021 · 02:47 UTC
@smelly-games, @escortti, @wheybags, @tanner-shelton, @link270, @andrewkennedy, @garys, @loveapplegames: The post-jam version is now available, and I've tried to make things more forgiving. I completely understand if you don't want to play the same game twice, but if you're at all interested in giving things another go I'd appreciate your thoughts on whether I've improved things or not!
Prof.Suarez
06. May 2021 · 03:12 UTC
Hey man. Game was hard. Maybe destroying the hitbox once enemies were shot down. Power-ups would definitely be a plus. Shields too. Anything that could make me feel like a bad ass.
Escortti
06. May 2021 · 07:17 UTC
The walls were now a lot clearer. It's no longer a guessing game where the wall hitbox is. Still found the game brutal. I would still recommend smaller hitbox, maybe the size of the cockpit window. Or maybe reduce the number of bullets so there is more room to maneuver between bullets. Other possibility would be to just have less enemies on screen at the same time or lower the health on the enemies so it's faster to deal with them so they don't start to pile up. The beginning was manageable but once there were 6 enemies (with 4 spinning ones!) on screen at the same time it was extremely hard to get kills or get past the bullet onslaught. I also would recommend removing enemy hitbox and stopping enemy shooting immediately once they start to explode. Still might just be the case that I'm just not good enough. :shrug_tone1: I still think it's a great game despite my criticism. Hope you find my feedback useful!
🎤 Pennycook
07. May 2021 · 02:07 UTC
@prof-suarez, @escortti: Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep experimenting with the size of the hit boxes and general game balancing. Removing the hit boxes from the dead enemies is a great idea (and something I should probably already be doing) so I'll prioritize that in the next round of fixes.

As for the difficulty of later sections... I haven't tested them much myself (because it's so hard to reach them :laughing:) and eventually the waves start appearing in a random order. It's entirely possible that some of the later waves are impossible.
Echo GameWorks
09. May 2021 · 20:10 UTC
Enjoyed the art and controls. Super rough only being able to take one hit. Definitely gave it a couple tries though. Great work!
Ryan Harriman
14. May 2021 · 17:55 UTC
Really like the sprites. Also the effect when you hit an enemy is nice. Good idea to have the shots angle down so to make it more interesting trying to fly through. Very nice level of quality for a jam.