MoonDoggle by realryanrogers

[raw]
made by realryanrogers for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

Moonbugs are overrunning the Moonbase! Hold them off as long as possible!

All download links are at: https://realryanrogers.itch.io/moondoggle Web Build: https://itch.io/embed-upload/5571219?color=333333

Note: There is a colors issue with the web build, so windows is recommended if possible. Thanks!

POST MORTEM: I had a great time working on this one, but I fell into the same trap I always do. I spent way too long fixated on some things that were pretty inconsequential in the long run, and didn't have time to spend on some more important aspects. As a result, the difficulty curve is pretty buck wild, the sounds leave a lot to be desired, and the bugs don't have enough variations.

All that said, it feels great to actually get one of these completed again. Thanks for checking it out!

Ratings

Overall 449th 3.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 415th 3.104⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 551th 2.604⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 478th 3.208⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 369th 3.271⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 327th 3.109⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 24🗳️ 27🗨️

Feedback

CrishNate
04. Apr 2022 · 20:56 UTC
Liked the concept of the game and get the idea, but there is something with the difficulty curve.
So begining of the game is nice and calm, so I can shoot some bugs easily. After a minute or two, I figured that I can shoot faster when I kill the orage onces and just spam click, but after a while they just start to zerg rushing (spaming) my base
If there is more power aps or upgrades for the base, it would add vary to the gameplay and help player defend the base
darandin
04. Apr 2022 · 22:13 UTC
I lasted 2:41 with 214 bugs killed. It definitely ramped up in difficulty quick, but I enjoyed the transition from slow to fast and how the player goes from calculated and precise to wild spray and pray.

Nice game and thanks for the submission!
PostPostScript
06. Apr 2022 · 21:39 UTC
Made it 2:55, this is fun! I like the idea of having enemies that give you powerups a lot, and it'd be cool to see situations where you have to pick and choose the order of enemies you kill, e.g. if you only have so much ammo (or if there's a cooldown like this), you'd have to wait for the right powerup. In this game, I think having the cooldown initially being so large was effective, as being able to spam after felt very satisfying! The visual effects are nice too! Good job!
LDJam user 280036
06. Apr 2022 · 21:41 UTC
The shooting feels awesome, and I like that the game gets progressively more difficult. At first I thought it was too easy but then shortly after I got overwhelmed :sweat_smile:

2:20 with 162 bugs killed.

Solid entry :) I think there is potential is adding more buff effects to the glowing bugs. Great job!
AutoGibbon
06. Apr 2022 · 21:46 UTC
218 Bugs killed!

Okay this got hectic real quick and I like that a lot. Games like this, I always want to hold down the button to shoot.

The shields UI was hard to read, being the same colour as the actual shields, however it's obvious you're going to die when the bugs decide they've had enough of your crap.
SeniorWombat
06. Apr 2022 · 21:50 UTC
Heh, your post mortem is practically the same in my case. I spent too much time on things I shouldn't have, which paid off with a rather unbalanced game :/.

However, I really like your game (217 bugs killed!). It's obvious that you worked hard on the various mechanics (shooting is awesome) and graphical effects.

Good job ;D
adncoach
07. Apr 2022 · 19:28 UTC
I like that there's virtually no cap on turret speed =)
And your progress does not get reset when you start over without relaunching the game.
Overall, it's pretty fun! ![Turret.png](///raw/95a/64/z/4d6aa.png)
Klumaster
07. Apr 2022 · 19:33 UTC
A solid prototype with nice sound effects. Would definitely benefit from something else going on (fast bugs? shooting bugs?) but it's a solid entry as-is.
Steve7411
09. Apr 2022 · 04:25 UTC
Turrets are always fun mechanics, and this is no exception. The mouse sensitivity was a bit extreme for me, so aiming was a challenge.
byazzle
09. Apr 2022 · 04:36 UTC
Solid entry! A pretty satisfying little shooter. More bug variations would make it more interesting (as you identified in your post mortem) as well as some varying power ups, including ones where you could choose when to deploy them (nukes, freeze, etc)
The game had a great feel to it, though. So good stuff!
coatline
09. Apr 2022 · 15:54 UTC
I sat and played it for longer than I thought I would for the sole reason that it was fun to shoot! The sound effects are solid and the visuals are appealing when firing. Many things could add to the experience (more guns, auto-firing, sensitivity slider, more upgrades, different projectiles). It was an overall fun and polished experience though :thumbsup:. Thank you for the game!
Diego Escalante
09. Apr 2022 · 19:48 UTC
2:35 with 203 bugs killed. Neat concept and the visuals are really nice! I do wish I could hold the button down to just fire as soon as the cooldown is done. Or if there is a way, I didn't know about it; the game doesn't teach you the controls.

With some more variety you could have a really neat game in your hands! Well done!
RubixNoob13
10. Apr 2022 · 00:06 UTC
I was spamming the mouse button so fast at the end that I didn't even see how many bugs I killed, because I was still trying to kill them all to the bitter end.

I agree with others saying that we should just be able to hold the button down to fire, because currently my mouse is mad at you lol

Other than that, it was a fun little game!
eyedromeda
11. Apr 2022 · 21:05 UTC
A cool idea and a great aesthetic. I like the environment, and the particle effects are a nice addition. The shooting sound effect gets a little repetitive though, and some pitch variation would go a long way for that. The mouse sensitivity was way too high for me, but that's really something that requires a slider to have it be good for everybody. The steeply increasing difficulty curve is actually fine for a jam game in my opinion. A lot of games linger on the same idea for too long, and this is short enough to not become boring at any point, and to incentivize multiple playthroughs.
Honey Pony
12. Apr 2022 · 00:00 UTC
I think it's cool how the gameplay in this evolves over time. At the beginning, I was very carefully aiming at each individual bug, and shooting a single bullet, due to the long cooldown. Then, as the bugs started coming faster and my cooldown decreased, it made more sense to aim less carefully and simply try to hit everything in sight.

I agree with everyone else that there should be a way to keep firing without repeatedly clicking. I actually tried playing using a macro to click the mouse, and interestingly, I only got to 3 minutes in (I had gotten ~1:50 without the macro). I think the game definitely manages to create an inevitable sense of being overwhelmed.

It is especially cool how the slow bugs become extremely important as the end of the game approaches. At first they are just a nice bonus, but at the end of the game, the only real hope is to hit a slow bug, otherwise it becomes increasingly impossible to kill all the bugs due to the huge range of directions you have to aim.

So, overall, this is a nice little game that builds a substantial gameplay curve out of a very small number of mechanics.
p-r
13. Apr 2022 · 09:53 UTC
Not sure if it's just me but I find the mouse control too erratic. It looks great
Christian Zommerfelds
21. Apr 2022 · 06:07 UTC
Very nice game. Congrats on finishing!

My main issue was mouse sensitivity. Somehow it depended on which monitor I was in, and at the lowest mouse sensitivity setting the game was just moving the camera in big increments. Maybe this is a HTML5 version bug or maybe adding a sensitivity slider is unavoidable for this kind of game.