Rock Stax by recursor

made by recursor for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

Stack stone blocks on pillars jutting from the landscape using your high-tech crane, but be careful not to unevenly distribute the load. There are 6 levels. Try them all. They aren't too difficult.

*Note: The WebGL struggles on some PCs (especially when running Firefox). If you notice stuttering and slowness, try the Windows standalone build (much faster) or try using Chrome (faster). **

Controls

WASD: Move crane Space: Drop object MouseWheel: raise/lower object RMB + Drag: Move camera LMB + Drag Up/Down: Zoom Q/E : Apply torque to held object Esc: Options Menu X: Mute/Play music

Notes

An XBox Joystick is supported but untested on the Windows build.

Version History

V 0.03 Fixed MusicPlayer being duplicated on main menu scene, proper cleanup of orphaned tweens, WakeUp() crane claw when dropping blocks.
V 0.02 Fixed crane colliding with blocks bug, 1st ice puzzle,laser pointer bug, mouse wheel scroll issue, WebGL perf issues (I hope)

Link	https://proto.pixelbytestudios.com/jams/src/LD49_recursor_src.unitypackage
Link	https://proto.pixelbytestudios.com/jams/src/RockStax_Win.zip
Link	https://proto.pixelbytestudios.com/jams/RockStax/
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/rock-stax

Ratings

Overall	36^th	4.053⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Fun	100^th	3.789⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	272^th	3.342⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Theme	19^th	4.368⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	180^th	3.684⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Audio	30^th	4.028⭐	20🧑‍⚖️
Humor	345^th	2.393⭐	16🧑‍⚖️
Mood	112^th	3.639⭐	20🧑‍⚖️
Given		21🗳️	13🗨️

Feedback

LeviDSmith

04. Oct 2021 · 02:28 UTC

Very nice! I made it to level 4 and managed to get two blocks to stay on the ice pedestal, but messed up on the third block. Seems like getting the long ones to lay flat is the trick. The crane controls worked great. Well done.

Bloham

04. Oct 2021 · 11:09 UTC

I was a little scared after I read the controls, but its easier than it looks like. What is not easy though is the Icy level! That slippery slope said I did not made it even if I had all the boxes on the pillars! But they needed to be stacked. Well, its a nice game, very difficult at the mentioned level but I am glad I tried it. You did a good job creating it and the sound is not special but fits in very well. you got 5 stars for Theme from me.

Souptik Datta

04. Oct 2021 · 21:24 UTC

Simple yet interesting game. Good work!

LaurenceOgden

04. Oct 2021 · 21:33 UTC

Really great game, I think this was what we all though of when we saw the theme unstable but you nailed the physics and the challenges. Only thing I would add is an easier way to display the controls on screen.

LDJam user 266940

04. Oct 2021 · 21:36 UTC

This doesn't even feel like a compo game, this is legitimate enough to find on the App Store or Play Store. Super, super fun and addicting.

Merri

04. Oct 2021 · 21:36 UTC

Really good and easy to play !

Phobos001

04. Oct 2021 · 21:36 UTC

The loose but well-tuned controls make it very fun to gently place blocks down without knocking anything else over.

I've noticed some times where I drop a block, and it starts practically sitting inside it before the collisions start to resolve. I don't know if this is a Unity thing, but you might benefit from increasing the physics timestep and solver iterations.

Also the very last level was kind of easy? I just kept putting stuff in the middle so it would stay put, until I couldn't anymore. Then just place the blocks in the corners and bim bam boop, all done :up:

Music is very nice. Gentle background ambiance while you struggle to place a T-Block on a tilted ice pillar.

Overall this is a great entry! Awesome work :thumbsup:

c64cosmin

04. Oct 2021 · 22:10 UTC

Really great controls, the sounds are super satisfying and the game feels good! Really love the red dot, it helps a lot with playing. Sometimes the blocks get frozen and I can simply stack on top. Enjoyed the game a lot!

coatline

05. Oct 2021 · 00:22 UTC

Finished the game! Very interesting and unique idea. The ambient audio fit the game a lot. I liked the congratulatory messages after beating a level. The theme fits very well here. This was a fun game!

maxds98

06. Oct 2021 · 16:43 UTC

Preety nice game. Relaxing sound. But it need some physics sencivity ajustment.

eptwalabha

07. Oct 2021 · 21:53 UTC

Very nice game an take on the theme.
I found a bug in your game on my second playthrough. If you wait too long before droping a block, it enters in "sleep" mode and is not processed by the physic engine anymore. Which means that when released, it won't fall and will hang mid-air until another block interacts with. This can easily be fixed by waking up your entity the moment you trigger the release.
Other than that, this is a pretty cool game.
Good job on your submission.

🎤 recursor

07. Oct 2021 · 23:05 UTC

@eptwalabha Thanks for the bug report. Apparently, I forgot to upload the Windows build where I fixed that bug, so I will do that now.

Jon Topielski

10. Oct 2021 · 23:42 UTC

Very nice entry. The low poly atmosphere worked really well with the puzzly vibe. The ability to lower the objects all the way down seems a little overpowered. If this were expanded, I think having the objects drop some distance would allow for more uncertainty/excitement. Still, great job!

🎤 recursor

11. Oct 2021 · 13:29 UTC

@jon-topielski Thanks for the feedback. The crane line length is a great suggestion and was something I meant to explore. I intended on creating some puzzles involving it but ran out of time.

PBG

11. Oct 2021 · 14:09 UTC

This is an excellent entry! Really on theme, and the flourishes like the crane are great. I really struggled with the difficulty - collisions seemed to come in and out, so when it looked like i was safe, i would drop a block and it would bounce like crazy. still, excellent entry.