Bropocalypse by Wizard

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

In the not too distant future, the earth has been beset upon by a new strain of zombie virus, but even in the apocalypse one thing still plagues humanity: Gym-bros. Now enhanced by the virus, these Zombros (Zombius-Broius) want one thing: to get as jacked as possible. Not having any use for brains, these dark and twisted creatures instead search for weights to work out with, it also just so happens that you are the last decent person who uses a gym. Now faced with the threat of a horde of zombros, trying to steal your equipment, you must arm yourself and fend off as many gymbros as possible, no matter how futile it may be...

Controls: WASD to move. Your character will always point and shoot at the mouse cursor. LMB to shoot. You can collect extra ammo from fallen zombros.

NB: This is the first time I have worked with AI pathfinding before so it is a little janky but it works well enough.

NNB: I wrote this with the rules of the compo but time of the Jam. other than the path finding algorithm and a couple code snippets for the high score this was all made during the Jam.

Ratings

Overall 1347th 2.731⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1156th 2.9⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1336th 2.404⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1135th 3.192⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 862th 2.75⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 380th 3.5⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1202th 2.904⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 27🗨️

Feedback

sacredbacon
09. Apr 2022 · 19:44 UTC
I liked the zombie apocalypse take on the theme, shooting mechanics worked really well. Nice job!
Beelzeboss
09. Apr 2022 · 20:07 UTC
Cool game. Needs a bit more pop when shooting like particle effects and some screen shake. It's really cool that you managed to implement a highscore system. Good job!
🎤 Wizard
10. Apr 2022 · 11:42 UTC
NNNB: Anyone feel free to enter their highest score to see who gets the true highest score.
oc1d
10. Apr 2022 · 13:28 UTC
I did 97 Zombros. haha... nice one, I like the "Story" :-)
Seng
11. Apr 2022 · 05:07 UTC
Funny story. The curve on how fast Zombros spawn seems a little bit sudden. At first it was manageable but then they just flooded the gym. As mentioned by someone else some kind of effect when shooting would be really cool. The topdown view reminded me a little bit of Hotline Miami ~~so naturally I tried to grab a dumbbell as a weapon~~. There are probably lots of things that could be used as a weapon in a gym. But all in all still a nice take on the theme. Keep it up!

![zombros.png](///raw/8fb/21/z/4dd63.png)
Cloud Studios
12. Apr 2022 · 23:10 UTC
I like the spin on classic zombie games! Also, the voices of the zombies were very entertaining!
dob
13. Apr 2022 · 02:31 UTC
Fun concept, and ably executed. The backstory part was my favorite. Gameplay seemed quite easy at first - it might be nicer to have it ramp up faster. Nice work.
WFMG
14. Apr 2022 · 11:34 UTC
This is a pretty fun game exactly as it is. The shooting feels pretty solid and I like there being high scores. You did pretty well all in all, but there is a lot of missed potential. I am reviewing it from the perspective of a game dev and meathead.

First, in terms of gameplay: 1. You should indicate in some way which zombros are carrying dumbbells so you know who to prioritise. 2. You should make the spawn acceleration curve less steep, as others have said. 3. You should zoom the camera out farther or make the gym smaller. It's okay if we see zombros spawning. With more time, you could add an animation for that anyway. 4. You could add further attacks using the gym equipment, as already suggested. For example, you could throw weights at the zombros and it'd do more damage if it's heavier. I know that adds a lot to the scope of the game, especially as you'll need to create a generic weapon motor and controller and use polymorphism. 5. Kind of not nice to make the "save high score" button the same as the "replay game" button.

Secondly, in terms of graphics: 1. The zombros are NOT NEARLY SWOLE ENOUGH. What are these, DYEL zombies? Pfft. 2. The graphics are pretty crude overall. Some more appropriate sprites to make it feel more like a real place would make the game feel much more professional. 3. There needs to be more variation. You could have barbells, curl bars, loose weight plates, atlas stones, etc. Probably not treadmills because "Pfft, cardio.".

Thirdly, in terms of audio: 1. It deserves more voicelines. The voice acting is pretty good and convincing as a swole zombie. It's just way too few. 2. The music doesn't feel good on the ears. It just pops and pops and it doesn't help that the game is loud by default.

Finally, in terms of thematics: 1. This game really could have benefitted from knowledge of fitness culture. It is ripe for references to all sorts of people and things: Zyzz, Jujimufu, Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, Thor (strongman as a whole), Kyriakos Grizzly, Back Guy... the zombies could say "'mirin, brah?", "I'm very excited", "I'm very, very dehydrated!", "I'm gonna knock your 'ead off!", "AAAAAA!", etc. You could put funny exercise equipment in the gym, like 400 kg on a bar atop some chairs and even more plates, for zercher shrugging with, atlas stones, No. 4 CoC grippers, etc.

I'll have to admit, it makes me want to make something similar, but then I'd also have to license the rights to each and every character in it. And maybe you'd be mad with me and want to fite me irl, but idk if you even lift. :sunglasses:
usernam_e
14. Apr 2022 · 22:19 UTC
that was really fun, only real gripe is that it doesn't ramp up fast enough, and the beginning of the game can get quite boring
epeachyband
18. Apr 2022 · 14:08 UTC
Had fun, thank you:)
dlan-bess
19. Apr 2022 · 19:52 UTC
the voice of the zombros is well made :) a simple shooter but fun to play.
bloodycoin
21. Apr 2022 · 15:51 UTC
Ahahaha, at first it was like `ha-ha, these no-brain muscle heads are going all around gym to get` and then all of a sudden it's like `HEY, that's my gear, put it down.... Did you just pass it to the next guy in line... WHO told you can take things behind my back...` hecktic to `FINE, punching time it is` desperate :joy:

Nice, theme twist. Wonky AI pathfinding seems in line with zombie theme.

What could also benefit the game besides what @wfmg said is:
* Ability to move gym gear back into place, albeit at a slower pace than normally moving.
* Ability to do some workout with the gear to restore your life.
* Ability to do some workout in the gym, and raise your accuracy or run speed temporarily (you know, adrenaline and stuff)
* Put bro-zombies in a more wave-like manner, so then there is defense (action) phase, and then downtime-recovery (strategic) phase.