LudumData

Wobbly Warbler by EricFreeman

[raw]
made by EricFreeman for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

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Wobbly Warbler

Art, Design: Danielle Yoseloff

Code, Design, Music: Eric Freeman

Fight your way to the top of the tree!

Attacking enemies increases their instability giving you a higher chance of knocking them off the branch. Make sure to time your jumps over incoming attacks or risk being knocked off the tree yourself.

Your peck attack is fast but weak, the wing attack is medium speed and medium damage, and tail is slow but deals lots of damage. However, the knockoff chance is weighted based on instability % (number at the top) and type of damage (so slow attacks have a higher chance of knocking opponent off). Additionally, slower attacks have a higher chance of interrupting the opponent’s current attack.

And be careful! The enemies get harder as you go up branches. They learn more moves (like jumping over attacks or dashing forward/backwards) and also deal more damage, are more aggressive, and more! Will you make it to the top of the tree?

Keyboard / Controller Supported

WSAD/Right Stick - Move

R/Start - Continue/Restart

Left Shift/X - Peck (fast but weak, low chance of knockoff)

Left Control/Y - Wing (average speed, damage, and knockoff chance)

Left Alt/B - Tail (slow, high damage and knockoff chance)

screenshot 1.png

screenshot 2.png

screenshot 3.png

screenshot 4.png

Link https://ericfreeman.itch.io/wobbly-warbler
Link https://ericfreeman.itch.io/wobbly-warbler
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/wobbly-warbler

Ratings

Overall 419th 3.757⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Fun 332th 3.784⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 872th 3.194⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1382th 2.649⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 497th 3.878⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Audio 354th 3.681⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Humor 309th 3.657⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Mood 509th 3.622⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Given 22🗳️ 46🗨️

Feedback

Rafael Garcez
05. Oct 2021 · 13:07 UTC
cool graphics and nice music =)
Sasha V
05. Oct 2021 · 13:14 UTC
Oh wow this was unexpectedly brutal haha! I liked it, absolutely loved the graphics and visuals in general, like the fact that you had color themes for each branch - lots of visual style.

As for constructive feedback, I was a bit confused by the fighting system - like how different are different attacks? (kinda hard to tell with health going up and down every second) and what's the condition for winning? (percentages were different every time I won/lose, is it about the difference or some more complicated condition?) Also Ctrl/Shift/Alt controls didn't feel great but maybe it depends on keyboard layout :)
🎤 EricFreeman
05. Oct 2021 · 15:04 UTC
@sasha-v Thank you! Great feedback. Controls feel better on a controller. I wasn't sure how to lay out a fighting game for keyboards, but looking back I probably should have had your right hand control the moves. Also, it was hard to compile the data but on the help screen we break it down part of it. The peck is fast but weak, the wing is medium speed and medium damage, and tail is slow and lots of damage. However, the knockoff chance is weighted based on instability % (number at the top) and type of damage (so slow attacks have a higher chance of knocking opponent off). Additionally, slower attacks have a higher chance of interrupting the opponent's current attack. I couldn't figure out how to eloquently explain the combat system to the player on the help screen so we just show the basic table there.

Also, the enemies get harder as you go up branches. They start having more moves (like jumping over attacks or dashing forward/backwards) and also deal more damage, are more aggressive, etc.
Sasha V
05. Oct 2021 · 15:09 UTC
@ericfreeman that's a pretty thought-through fight system, I'm sorry I didn't appreciate all of it during the play-through :) As for the controls on a PC, I think the traditional thing is right hand for arrows, left hand for action? (Good buttons for action are Z X C V in the left keyboard corner, I believe most of the games I've played use that)
🎤 EricFreeman
05. Oct 2021 · 15:16 UTC
@sash-v Oh yeah, that control scheme makes a lot more sense. No issue with shift sticky keys either then. I'll make sure to update them for the Steam ultra-deluxe edition release, haha. :)
AlexSolonnikovP4
05. Oct 2021 · 20:08 UTC
This is interesting game and funny, and cool:)
Georgy16
05. Oct 2021 · 22:29 UTC
cool action and game in general.
almightyzentaco
06. Oct 2021 · 00:22 UTC
I really enjoyed the overall aesthetic of this game. Very unusual music choice but it worked. The art and gameplay was compelling enough to get to me to play all the way to the red bird - but after a few times of getting my tail handed to me I quit. Overall very nice entry. The jump animation was very fluid and smooth, and satisfying to watch. The weakest part was the theme, as the instability was essentially just HP. Would have been neat to have a rock/paper/scissors mechanic so you could effectively counter attack as well. Good luck in the jam!
🎤 EricFreeman
06. Oct 2021 · 00:29 UTC
@almightyzentaco Thank you! Yeah, it's a little different than HP because sometimes you'll knock the opponent off early with a lucky strike (slow attacks are weighted higher there) or have a hard time if you use only the peck attack (fast and un-dodgeable, but low knockoff %). Red bird is actually the final boss, haha. And you can't quite counter attacks, but the slow attacks have a chance of interrupting the enemy attack and they have enough anticipation frames to give you time to jump over attacks if you time it right. Thanks so much for playing and I appreciate the feedback!
fabioecco
06. Oct 2021 · 01:00 UTC
hahaha I loved that and I wish I could rate it higher. Really great concept, art and controls. <3
Spike Studio
06. Oct 2021 · 01:02 UTC
This game is very fun! Great graphics and audio to pair, and you got a good entry :)
shared
06. Oct 2021 · 01:08 UTC
Pretty fun game, the fighting felt good and natural, however the keyboard controls were pretty weird, especially on the web version, where I couldn't even use ALT.
Still a very good game, loved the graphics.
MayChant
06. Oct 2021 · 01:08 UTC
I love this. The fighting style reminds me of fencing.
🎤 EricFreeman
06. Oct 2021 · 01:21 UTC
@shared Oh no! I found fullscreening the web version fixed the input issue. Hopefully that works for you. And yeah, the controls are weird, I didn't realize arrow keys + zxc would work so much better. We played with a controller while developing the game so it's pretty nice on that, haha. And I'm glad you liked the art! This was Danielle's first time doing pixel art and both of our first Ludum Dare. Thanks for playing! :)
DAk001
06. Oct 2021 · 01:24 UTC
Game about birds mental stability xD. Was fun to play, but I wish to see sequel
shared
06. Oct 2021 · 01:50 UTC
@ericfreeman Don't worry, the controls weren't that weird, I still had no problem reaching the end. If I had my controller handy i would have played with that. I still had a very good time.
J.Broccoli
06. Oct 2021 · 03:55 UTC
The graphics and overall vibe were really cute! I loved the sfx whenever you won too, and there was a surprising depth to the combat too, you can't just spam attacks. Great job!
Antom
06. Oct 2021 · 04:32 UTC
The little birds slap hard! hehehe
I enjoyed the game.
It would be cool if the character sprite could turn around to see which direction it is moving :thumbsup:
pk_c
06. Oct 2021 · 05:56 UTC
This is my tree ! see this wings you m**f** ??? am gonna flap your little bird face, and peck your head off.
LDJam user 235694
06. Oct 2021 · 15:39 UTC
Beautiful music. Jumping birds are very cute and funny. Good work
KuKuRammus
06. Oct 2021 · 18:35 UTC
Really fun game, felt like super smash bros with birds heh. I always wanted to go behind enemy to strike from behind, but for some reason I cannot move left/right midair. But overall really nice entry
Pixelydian
06. Oct 2021 · 18:56 UTC
Fun idea! Not what expected from the cover art but that's part of its charm. :) Had a little trouble with the controls when not in full screen mode, but once I got into full screen mode it all worked great. I liked that there was some strategy involved in winning a fight, rather than just spamming buttons to win. I liked the art/style and overall great entry! Good work!
🎤 EricFreeman
06. Oct 2021 · 18:59 UTC
@kukurammus Thanks! You can move in midair but there's no way to get to the other side of the birds. Jumping is more intended to dodge attacks (that's what the enemy AI uses it for). I didn't have time to add code for turning and facing other directions and AI behaviors to take advantage of that.
🎤 EricFreeman
06. Oct 2021 · 19:03 UTC
@pixelydian Thank you! I noticed a few issues with the webgl build of the game vs windows build (including the controls not responding and some audio mixer issues). I hope to address them after the voting is over, but fortunately none of the issues are game breaking. :) Thanks for playing!
FedeGelo
06. Oct 2021 · 23:24 UTC
This game is gorgeous! It also sounds good and is fun. At some point I felt the combat needed maybe one more mechanic or tool, but the last two fights required a bit of strategy to win so it felt good. I will say the control scheme is a bit weird, like it's designed to play with only one hand. Also them being shift and those work a little weird on a browser. It triggered chrome bookmarks once or twice.
🎤 EricFreeman
07. Oct 2021 · 09:58 UTC
@fedegelo Thank you! We will definitely be updating the control scheme to arrow keys + zxc once the competition is over. It feels a lot more natural when using a controller, haha. I've noticed webgl had a few issues with input, but running in full screen should fix those. Thanks for playing!
AdamCYounis
08. Oct 2021 · 03:32 UTC
Whoa! A full-on fighting game with competent AI in a game jam?! That's crazy! I had so much fun with this game, considering I was expecting it to end after the first fight. You did a great job of extending the value of what you made by incrementing the AI proficiency and making appropriate colour swaps and sprite variations as the game went on. Man, that one level transition animation elevated the game a lot. I really felt like I was working my way to the top. Outside of this, I thought the graphics and sound were competent, definitely adding to the experience rather than taking away. The concept's relation to the theme was nice to see.

A very well-balanced entry. You have great design sensibilities!
Charles Viau
08. Oct 2021 · 03:36 UTC
hahaha Bird fight, really likes it, likes the art, likes the gameplay, my only critique really would be about the music. taht loop of 2 chords was... well... at some point I was like is the music going somewhere?, maybee thats Since i'm a music composer and sound designer i tend to listen more to this aspect in a game, because for me it is what brings your world to life. Your sfx were good but at the music level something was missing. If you listen to super smash bros track for example, theres always a musical theme playing behind and not that generic 2 chord progression in arpegios. Again i know you were 2 people only, and probably you didnt had enought time to make good music, so you are forgiven hahaha. Good job :)
Lumbigui
08. Oct 2021 · 14:10 UTC
Superb game! I really loved the art, AI, transitions and gameplay. This was a very creative entry. Really good job!
minibobbo
08. Oct 2021 · 18:48 UTC
I was very surprised when the happy blue bird hopped towards me and started to peck the crap out of me! I guess I should have read the instructions first :smile: I liked the cute graphics, calming music and the surprisingly brutal fighting. Lots of polish. This game is a sticky key nightmare. I'd recommend making some alternate controls for keyboard players, but otherwise it was fun.
🎤 EricFreeman
08. Oct 2021 · 18:51 UTC
@minibobbo Thanks! Yeah, different controls will happen after the comp ends. I turned off the sticky keys popup on my computer awhile ago so I forgot about it while testing. The updated controls will be arrow keys + zxc.
coryru
08. Oct 2021 · 20:45 UTC
What a pure blast this one is! A fighting game for a game jam entrance how wonderful! When the bird jumps up to the next fight it really ties the whole game together. I'd mention the slightly awkward controls but looks like you have noted it and are aware. Great Job!
etrealjunior
09. Oct 2021 · 18:20 UTC
Congratulations for the game, this fighting system was very characteristic of birds, I thought it was only a little limited what was done and ended up repeating itself a lot, I could put some different elements in the scenario, and when you get to the end it's not clear what the reward is , as it appears to be a boss, if you can give your feedback on my game I would be very grateful, a big hug.
GreenXenith
09. Oct 2021 · 18:40 UTC
Everyone is here! Or something... I really like the music. You keep hearing it, but the controls outside of fullscreen on web are pretty awful, I kept entering my search bar and bookmarking the page. Ctrl and alt especially are system keys, you know :) Not sure what the thing at the end was but it was fun to play!
🎤 EricFreeman
11. Oct 2021 · 17:51 UTC
@greenxenith Thanks for playing! Yeah, I realized controls were bad after the comp was over. I will be updating them after the voting period is done. If you fullscreen the game chrome won't try overriding them anymore. And the thing at the end was a shiny earing. Birds like collecting shiny things.

@etrealjunior Thanks for playing! The birds gain new abilities as you go up the tree. In the beginning they don't dodge or dash, but as you go they slowly gain those abilities, move faster, attack more aggressively, etc. And the reward was a shiny earring.
cdunham
12. Oct 2021 · 02:11 UTC
Nice little game! Adding more difficulty as you go up is a really nice addition. I couldn't just spam the same moves over and over, which makes the gameplay more interesting. Giving the player the ability to dodge and jump would've been nice too though.
🎤 EricFreeman
12. Oct 2021 · 15:12 UTC
@cdunham Thanks for playing! And press space or the A button on an xbox controller to jump. Just realized I forgot to put that in the help section and description on this page, haha.
Jupiter_Hadley
13. Oct 2021 · 11:22 UTC
Not what I expected! Interesting game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 49 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look. :) https://youtu.be/NQWyoBxprX0
LarrySeinfeld
17. Oct 2021 · 19:28 UTC
This was a unique idea, I like it! The strategy you can utilize with weak, medium, strong attacks and the skill in timing and movement made it simple and easy to pick up, but addictive. Also, the difficulty curve was just right (the birdies can get quite challenging). Great art and music too, awesome job!