Beat Server by pickens-inc

[raw]
made by pickens-inc for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

After successfully launching his indie MMORPG, this lone developer needs to use his powerful sense of rhythm to scale up unstable servers, and keep the hackers at bay!

You just need a windows computer and some arrow keys to enjoy 5 full minutes of pure unadulterated mediocre techno gaming. In case it wasn't clear, this is a little narrative rhythm game and contains some flashing lights. All you need are the arrow keys!

We also have an online leaderboard, and I'm hoping one of you guys can knock us off the top spot...

This game was definitely a complete change of pace for us, we hope you enjoy!BeatServer.png

Cast

CameronPenner - The Guy

pickens-inc/Polyrogue - The Narrator

Note that there's no way of exiting the game. This is not because I forgot to add it. You are trapped here now. Or I suppose you could hit alt+f4. But... you know. That's no fun!

Ratings

Overall 33th 4.306⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 27th 4.278⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 234th 3.806⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 616th 3.667⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 430th 3.944⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Audio 6th 4.556⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 2th 4.722⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 33th 4.389⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 10🗳️ 16🗨️

Feedback

Kobrasadetin
05. Oct 2021 · 14:11 UTC
Very nice, the narration and music work well, and the game can be enjoyed as a single experience.
mrchip
05. Oct 2021 · 14:28 UTC
How does this have just 3 ratings? This is amazing...
For once a jam game that isnt plagued by bugs and just works...
adamk33n3r
05. Oct 2021 · 15:55 UTC
Wow, this was awesome. Job well done! Only complaint here is that it was exceptionally hard for me to keep track of which direction I needed to be hitting, especially when it got faster. I loved the voice over as well, made me laugh. He has so many friends! :laughing:
auxC
05. Oct 2021 · 16:30 UTC
This game is neat and well made! I missed a bunch of beats at the beginning, but got the hang of it quickly and started scoring some serious points... Until the part with the 4 monitors, that was brutal! :D

Oh and I LOVED the voiceovers! I wish I could pull something like this off in one of my games!
Veka
05. Oct 2021 · 17:02 UTC
Even though I'm rather bad at rhythm games, I liked this one very much.
Interesting twist and +5 points to awesomeness for that voiceover!
🎤 pickens-inc
05. Oct 2021 · 19:16 UTC
@kobrasadetin Thank you for playing! Absolutely, it was designed to be a nice, single experience.

@mrchip That's very kind, thank you! We wanted to get it as polished as we could!

@adamk33n3r Absolutely valid point! Definitely one I wanted to address but didn't get time. But hey, at least our
hero is popular now! Thanks for playing!

@auxc Thank you for the lovely lovely comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. For sure, even I can't 100% the final phase yet, but two of my friends just gloated to me about how they managed it and topped my score. Voicovers are great fun! You should go for it next time!

@veka Thank you! I'm glad you still gave it a chance even though it's not really your genre! Telling a story with the voiceovers was a lot of fun.
MattWoelk
06. Oct 2021 · 02:13 UTC
I love rhythm games!

This was challenging, and a lot of fun! Well done!

![beat server high score.png](///raw/c23/2/z/47528.png)
Steve7411
06. Oct 2021 · 15:57 UTC
Good sense of humor in the narration. I like the way the difficulty was scaled.
Simon Rahnasto
08. Oct 2021 · 20:09 UTC
I am indeed such a smart developer, and I have a lot of friends, because I made it to the top 5:

![5cac1d9498838c5ed990ac9ee6f06f57-png.jpg](///raw/db1/6/z/47db0.jpg)

Is that enough? No! I will continue to weave magic, using javascript and AI, the best way to improve your score!

This is one of the Ludum Dare games which I have spent the longest time playing, and I am not even "done" with it. I just love everything about it, from the great dialogue, to the sick music and this is coming from a guy who is not usually into rhythm games (I play Beat saber from time to time, but nothing else really).

I do love score attack games in general though, and the fact that you added a online leaderboard gives the game so much more re-playability.

So yeah, what can I say apart from well done! This is a fantastic entry and I love everything about it! :trophy:
Langotriel
09. Oct 2021 · 17:57 UTC
Hilarious and fun. Leaderboards are very much appreciated, even if I didn't make the top 5 :(

Very good submission!
Jake Summer
09. Oct 2021 · 19:24 UTC
awesome game! loved the art! it was super funny!
nardandas
09. Oct 2021 · 19:56 UTC
Really cool take on rhythm games! I found the voiceover charming, and the graphics fit the mood really well! The music was easy to follow, and the feel of hitting each note was really good! The inclusion of a high score board is really nice, the streak is nice as well.

I found the way each note presented itself kind of hard to follow. I had to look back and forth. The green overlay on the screens wasn't quite eyecatching enough to follow in my peripheral vision. I found when I was able to maintain fast streaks, it wasn't because I was reading the notes, but because I could follow them already knowing them from previous patterns. I think maybe a more eyecatching graphic on the screens would make following them more about reading, and less about instinct. They were also quite far apart, which lent to this effect.

Even with that issue, it was a really satisfying game! Well done!
Dogez
10. Oct 2021 · 18:43 UTC
Nice little story! I want fix my games promptly and quickly just like your Main Character 😅
Surfa
10. Oct 2021 · 20:41 UTC
I struggled a fair bit to get the timing right. Might just be me. The game waas good thought. Interesting take on the theme and a lot of fun. The voice-over was great, very funny. Overall very good jam game.
zimny11
15. Oct 2021 · 22:38 UTC
The game is great, music is super nice and the voice acting adds a lot to the game. Thank you for not ending the game if the player makes too many mistakes, because there are people like me who wouldn't be able to experience the whole game otherwise. I got 0% accuracy, and I was genuinely trying to do my best :(
Robonaut121
16. Oct 2021 · 11:54 UTC
Nice game! The music is really catchy, and the voice acting is great too! It's just I'm terrible at rhythm games, so I got 19% accuracy (•_•) Also, I'm not sure was this just my terrible skill, but it sometimes felt that the game developer was mashing button of his own accord...
Anyway, well done!
Caominh Le
16. Oct 2021 · 20:12 UTC
This game is so funny, especially the narration and the coder guy. Only thing is what nardandas said above that the notes were sometimes hard to see because the computer screens were short. Maybe if there was a screen behind each computer that had the bar instead of just the compiuter screen. But anyways, really fun and awesome game!