The Death Delayer by JakobTheQuizGuy
CONTROLS:
Mouse - Aim
Hold left mouse - Charge
Release left mouse - Shoot
WASD/ZQSD - Move
W/Z/Space - Jump
Shoot the ingredients the wizard asks of into the cauldron, so that he may brew potions to delay his death indefinitely!
Whew, this time I really did overscope. Graphically speaking I'm really happy, and I'm glad I took the time to make a music track, but unfortunately a lot of half baked to almost ready mechanics were left out. I just barely managed to implement a lose state, if I hadn't done that there wouldn't even really be a game!
Here's an idea of what I was planning:
(Don't worry about the duplicate sprites, during Ludum Dare I don't make the most efficient game systems lmao)
There were supposed to be a nice variety of items the wizard asks about. In the game you can actually shoot the wizard in the eyes, and tears will fall which you can catch. I was planning on having lemons and apples grow out of the little trees if you watered them with the tears. The trees with a red leaf would give apples and the trees with a yellow leaf would yield lemons.
The eyeballs would have bat wings and try to attack you, but if you shot them they'd lose their wings and you'd be able to lob them into the cauldron. The purple "fly" would be similar but would fly high above the cauldron back and forth instead of going after you. The stone is in the game but doesn't have a clear function, the idea was to always have something to make tears/attack enemies/attack flies.
In the full game the idea was that the wizard created you to help him gather ingredients for his potions which keep death at bay. Every so often he'd taste the potion and his eyes would animate with all the colors of the rainbow! At least I got to use his separate eye circle sprites for when you shoot them and they get irritated, as well as the 3D effect of the shade on his eyes.
I'm definitely planning on taking time management more seriously next time around. I almost didn't make it in time, and I almost felt like I had nothing to show, but I am proud of how expressive and dynamic the graphics turned out! Guess what I spent too much time on the first day... :D
Have fun!
Ratings
| Overall | 238th | 3.56⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 375th | 3.192⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 215th | 3.54⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 347th | 3.58⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 72th | 4.135⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 141th | 3.62⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 207th | 3.46⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 34🗳️ | 28🗨️ |
Other than that, the game could really use like a score system or an end screen or something. It just ends and resets itself with no warning other than the timer at the bottom of the screen.
I found it a bit unclear what I'm supposed to do with the rock and the tear. I also found it quite tough to throw accurately. I'd be interested in seeing a follow-up to this because I think there's a ton of potential!
I understand that the time limit got you, but I'll still share my experience of playing the game. I actually didn't have too much of a problem figuring out what to do. My issue was that once I did, I found it extremely easy. I could have easily carried on forever. So, in short, what this game needs most is some sort of difficulty scaling, and a metric of success, like a score or an ending.
I hope this game gets to 20 ratings, because if it does, you're definitely looking at a high placement in graphics.
I like how the wizard follows the projectiles, and the eye interaction altogether actually.
If something, I wish you had more power in the shot when charged.
Good job!