Forest Runner by Tharbakim
Forest Run
Entry for the "Compo" event of Ludum Dare 50.
* This game takes a bit longer to play than typical entries. It's got some "roguelite" elements. *
Play
Playable at: * Gitlab Pages * Itch.io
Source Code
Viewable at: * Gitlab
Ludum Dare Entry
Viewable at: * Ludum Dare
Overiew
Controls
Movement is done with the arrow keys. space is used to interact with surrounding objects.
Basic Mechanics
In a nutshell, your goal is to make it through sections of forest until you find an appropriate hiding spot to hide from your pursuers.
The longer you take to clear through each section of forest, the less of a lead you'll have. Once your pursuers catch up to you they'll drag you back into captivity again, until your next attempted escape. Thankfully they're not very smart, and any items you acquire will carry over into your next attempt.
Win Condition
Although you can run through infinite number of forests if you're quick/lucky enough, it is possible to find a hiding spot and avoid your pursuers. This is not a game mechanic in of itself (if you're trying to hide around a corner, you're going to get bored very quick!) but there are things within the game you must do for this to become available.
Loss Condition
Although getting caught may feel like a "game over", it's an important part in unlocking the ability to hide from your pursuers. Thankfully you can restart an escape attempt right away - and if you found any way to make your life easier when escaping, you'll still have access tot hose too.
Post-Release Changelog
Fixed currency going negative by the Spring Water random event
Fixed the escape attempt counter not displaying correctly on the game over screen
Known Issues
- I've seen a couple freezes/infinite loops while generating new maps, but only when playing with a reduced map size in testing.
- The corner wall pieces at the edges of the map do not render correctly.
- There are no "T" shaped wall sprites, which causes the walls to render weird.
| Gitlab | https://gitlab.com/tharbagroup/ld-50 |
| Itch.io | https://tharbakim.itch.io/forest-run |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/forest-runner |
Ratings
| Given | 0🗳️ | 0🗨️ |
- procedural generation of levels
- character movement, rotation and running animation
- background level detail
The mediocre
- Interacting with objects feels the same whether or not you get coins
- The music gets super repetitive. Only needed slightly more variation
- Between forest events can make you go into negative money!
- The shop was only interactable with the mouse but you make us use the spacebar and cursors for gameplay. It was just unnatural to have to use the mouse again
The bad
- 10 minutes in I have done nothing but walk around (is this a bug) where is the main gameplay loop? Is this it? If there is more to the game, as your Loss Condition section in the description suggests, bring it in earlier! There are heaps of games to review, people don't have hours to wait for the gameplay to catch up to them. It's not like I was being quick either. Feel free to ignore this point if you think it was just a bug I encountered that made the chasers not ever get closer.
Summary
- Overall, it seems like a great base for a good game but right now just seems unfinished.
- Kind of felt like you spent ages making an amazing level generating script and decent assets to go along with it but forgot to make some engaging gameplay.
- Your initial idea seems good. Would love to play a polished version.
I liked the map generation, and character controller felt good (although I wish it would also be playable via WASD). Map borders were sometimes rendered a bit strange, though (I've added a few screenshots).
