LudumData

Blizzard by FallingFlatStudios

[raw]
made by FallingFlatStudios for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

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REAL GAME

Description: Welcome traveler and bare witness to the family of muffins. Watch as They try with every fiber of their being to out live the harsh winter months. There's not enough food to last our hungry friends, and they know the inevitable will come for them.

Gameplay: Walk into the cold forest to attain juicy berries for your young. A docile face on any of the muffins means they are healthy and happy, a frowning face indicates hunger, and a crying face indicates starvation. You can be selfish and indulge in as many berries as you desire.

Controls:

Move - WASD

Jump - Space

Eat - E

Last Minute Addition I've added some random spike obstacles, so it's not as easy to push cherries to the cave.

Real Reviews From Real Hoomans:

"I was a little hesitant at first. But after the accident the game just sort of clicked." 10/10 - Implied Journalism

"HELP ME! I've been locked in here for 4 days they have a robot that's prepared to (crack)... I LOVE THE GAME, MUCH JUMP, GREAT TIME" 10/10 - Robob The Reviewer

"Innovative! A love-crafted project for the agesss to misss thisss experience would be to deny yourssself a happy life. Excussse me while I hydrate my eyesss." 10sssss all around/10 - Ssslippery Expectationsss journalissst

Blizzard (Itch.io) https://fallingflatstudios.itch.io/blizzard
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/blizzard

Ratings

Overall 1245th 3⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1279th 2.684⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1174th 2.722⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1239th 3⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 563th 3.816⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 658th 3.222⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 882th 2.618⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 926th 3.263⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 17🗳️ 10🗨️

Feedback

kbf123
04. Apr 2022 · 23:17 UTC
Love the particle effects, the snow and explosions look excellent, but the game doesn't exactly offer much to do. It's pretty easy to get every last berry into your cave since you can push multiple stacks at once. When that happens you're kind of just waiting.
woahitsjeff
04. Apr 2022 · 23:34 UTC
Loved the visuals, very beautiful to look at. At first I was confused (cause I hadn't properly read the description), then I felt horrible about what I did in my first run 😅 - the following run was just sad knowing I'd run out. Well done!
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
05. Apr 2022 · 00:18 UTC
@kbf123 Thank you I'm proud of how my game turned out visually, but that left me with very little time to flesh out the actual game mechanics. I'll add some obstacles to ramp up the difficulty before the jam is over.

@woahitsjeff Thank you. I don't blame you for being a bit confused I didn't put much indication about the main objective into the actual game.
iva1
05. Apr 2022 · 07:40 UTC
Cute graphics, Im miss a score.
noskro
05. Apr 2022 · 07:59 UTC
I only played the game after the obstacles were added. And I have to say they make it way too hard (for me). I never once managed to jump past the 2nd spike. Maybe it was just too early for me, but I tried fpr over 10 minutes. Not sure how the game was before, but "Last Minute Additions" are usually not a great idea ;)

Besides that, I love the visuals. The game has a lot of potential and maybe I am just unlucky right now.
ReRonin
05. Apr 2022 · 08:56 UTC
Looks very charming! But the obstacles are really hard to jump over without hitting your head.
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
06. Apr 2022 · 18:37 UTC
@iva1 Thank you!

@noskro Ya, originally there were no obstacles at all, ergo there was no challenge at all; looks like I went too far the other way with difficulty. Thank you for the feedback, and I'll definitely focus on game mechanics over visuals next time.

@ReRonin Thank you! they are definitely tough to get through probably should have allotted myself more time to work on them.
lupercalia
08. Apr 2022 · 08:32 UTC
This is so beautiful. I like the different layers of graphics and audio, making the environment really rich and easy to immerse myself within it. I like your pixel art much(!) and i like the physics you made/used with moving. This isn't my kind of game, any game with spikes and trying it again and again ;-), but the audio and visuals and movement made it very satisfying for me to play. <3
Aka Black Dog
08. Apr 2022 · 08:36 UTC
The game's visual are awesome but it's really difficult to get through the first obstacles
amkingTRP
08. Apr 2022 · 08:44 UTC
I really like the concept and the graphics and effects suit it well, but I need to echo other people's comments about the overhead spikes; they make the entire thing too difficult.
If you had more time I'd recommend getting rid of the spikes, but introducing roving obstacles (e.g. monsters) that you could sacrifice berries to in order to get past (e.g. a berry might put them to sleep for a bit in order to get more berries past them).
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
08. Apr 2022 · 17:28 UTC
@lupercalia Thank you. I'm what most people would call a novice with pixel art and sound design, (I major in programming more than anything). I'm always trying to find that sweet balance of game mechanics to visuals for game jams, so it's always appreciated to hear how I've done.

@aka-black-dog Yep, I've found that jumping as late as possible, and jumping up with the grounded triangle, (kind of like your walking on the air above it), helps with making those treacherous jumps. Thank you.

@amkingtrp That's an awesome idea that fits perfectly with my game, I just wish I had thought of it (far better than arbitrary spikes), some frosted creature that hungers for either the cherries or the muffin animals. The monsters could even be the inevitable aspect of the game slowly moving towards the cave for the young muffins only held back by juicy cherries. I'll make a note of that. Amazing idea thank you!
thomz12
09. Apr 2022 · 12:32 UTC
Fun game, I actually kinda liked the challanging jumps!
Maybe add to the description that 'space' is jump, as after reading it I was very confused why I couldn't go anywhere :)

I was uncertain what to do here, or maybe I reached the end?
![Screenshot 2022-04-09 212915.png](///raw/578/z/4da44.png)

Anyway, good entry! I liked the snow effect a lot :)
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
09. Apr 2022 · 17:33 UTC
@thomz12 I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll add "space to jump" to the description, thank you for telling me, and to answer your second question that's most certainly the end.
tete
12. Apr 2022 · 17:53 UTC
I like the concept and the graphics are nice. I think the spikes add too much difficulty, specially the first one. I'd suggest starting with easier spikes and increasing the difficulty the deeper you went. Controlling the height of the jump somewhat would also be nice.
LDJam user 233659
13. Apr 2022 · 03:34 UTC
Aww this is super charming. I love the expressive characters and atmosphere, chilly winter vibes in a cold and quite unforgiving world. This is already enjoyable, but I think a variable jump height would really elevate this. :smile:
Grumpy Gecko
13. Apr 2022 · 03:49 UTC
I really liked the particle and sound effects on this one, seemed like the first jump was one of the harder ones to get but got the hang of the rest. Thanks for the game!
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
15. Apr 2022 · 06:10 UTC
@tete Thanks for the input. I've been getting quite a few responses regarding the spikes definitely should have play-tested them more.

@Mavvy Thank you! I put the most effort into the visuals, probably why the game mechanics are so unpolished. I'm not as experienced with variable jumping, (I've always had issues implementing it into a game jam), but I'll definitely look more into it and implement it into future game jam games.

@grumpy-gecko I'm glad you enjoyed my game! Sound effects and particle systems are not my forte, so getting any feedback I can is extremely appreciated. Thank you!
SimplePotential
16. Apr 2022 · 00:07 UTC
Pretty difficult for me, i only made it past the first jump once out of 25 times. That said, it seems like a pretty good game and I'm sure if I kept at it I'd get further along. The sprite explosions were wonderfully done. Nice entry
🎤 FallingFlatStudios
16. Apr 2022 · 04:07 UTC
@simplepotential Glad you enjoyed it. I tried to make sure the sprite explosion particles were as close to the original sprite as possible to create a seamless transition.