The Inevitable Relay by Papaver
Three people, two segways. One will have to run!
Goal: get as far as possible, before you inevitably run out of energy. The person without the segway will lose energy, especially when running or jumping. So make strategic choices to switch who is running! The ones on the segway will slowly restore their energy. On your way you will also find hearts. Pick them up for an energy boost for your runner! Once the runner's energy is up, you lose. While switching, you can't control the character. So be careful while switching on slippery slopes.
Controls: Arrow keys & number keys 1, 2 and 3.
Tips: The level is a big lap. After you get back to the start, the hearts reset and you can try another round, probably with less energy than you started with. I scattered some hearts around the map (some are a bit more hidden), and I do not know yet what the optimal route is - which hearts are worth taking a detour for? I would very much enjoy to hear your highscores!
Tools: * Scripting: Godot * Programmer art: InkScape * Sound effects: Audacity & a microphone
PostCompo Update: (5th of April) I tweaked the parameters a bit, after finding out that you could beat the game by standing still and switching all the time... :stuckouttongueclosedeyes: Perhaps you can still beat the game, but now at least you will have to keep moving.
| HTML5 (Web) | https://anneroos.home.fmf.nl/ld50 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/the-inevitable-relay |
Ratings
| Overall | 893th | 3.381⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 323th | 3.714⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 125th | 3.929⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 236th | 4.048⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 1241th | 2.548⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 884th | 2.658⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 537th | 3.167⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 1050th | 3.125⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 20🗳️ | 22🗨️ |
Very creative idea, loved the anxious "switch?" at low health. I also wondered for a moment how you programmed the segways following you, but of course they simply follow your route exactly :-P
Congrats for completing the lap! What was your highscore?
Indeed, you can go for multiple laps, the hearts will reappear. But inevitably, you will run out of energy at some point. :wink: I have been thinking a lot about how the segways should follow, but with the jumping I opted indeed for an exact copy of the player's movements, directions and sprite states. That is also why there aren't any moving things. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Anyway, great entry! :)
!> You can either do a very late double jump or, even better, jump from the "floor"!
@thomz12 :green_heart: Thanks for playing and your comment! 5km is a very decent score! :thumbsup: Indeed, figuring out when to switch is key. I see two reasons to switch:
!> Your runner is almost running out of energy, or one of the persons on the segways is full of energy.
Also, maybe instead of losing immediately, just kill off the person who ran out of stamina and let the rest of the people continue. Just a thought. Really like the concept!
If you’d like to rewatch the playthrough, you can find it here:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450162412?t=07h30m29s
Good luck on your ratings, see you next LD! :D
💜 Elysia Griffin AKA Button Feedback Lady
https://www.twitch.tv/elysiagriffin
A bit more could have been done to distinguish the three a bit more, but their numbered hats was usually enough. Great job!
I think that the abstract style could go very far, with more worlds and world elements. I would love to see different styles of vehicle in different levels for the guys who "rest and recharge" while one surges ahead.
I think that this game is a huge accomplishment - great work.
I like the switching concept. Adds a fun mechanic to the racing / energy conservation gameplay.
The near-zero energy sound is definitely alarming, so good job there!
i liked cycling the racers to give them breaks, i think more could be done with having three racers, to add some puzzle elements to the platforming.
the level design was interesting, i think the sloped surfaces were too ambiguous though, some of them looked pretty steep, but i could still slam my way up them, while others are too steep to climb. having a consistent visual language about what is and isn't climbable would make it more playable.
1. Jumps needed to optimized. Afaict, jumps do take extra energy? So anywhere I could get away with a single jump vs a double jump, I went for that.
2. Never leave a person topped off. That's just wasting energy that could be regenned, so you had to juggle people around.
3. Frankly, you just couldn't miss any jump. There's this really harrowing jump at the bottom left of the map that I probably missed 6 times and I was just sweating the whole time watching my bars drop to nothing.
Fortunately, those misses weren't toooooo terrible and I still managed a decent score:
It was a relief to see the map loop. The reason is because I was thirsting for HP, and once I saw all the familiar gem locations, I could play fairly optimal because I already had practiced those jumps.
In general though, this concept is hilarious with the 2 segways which drew me in, but I stayed for the gameplay which imo, has some serious legs to it. Awesome job :)
Indeed, the game lacks some in-game instructions! But you know the familiar excuse: time was very limited... :wink:
This is a hard game. Jump controls felt to me a bit "limiting", but it might be because I normally play with controller and I am not used to keyboard controls. Funny sounds ... "switch" ... :-)