LudumData

Escape from The Aquillus by Alex de la Cour

[raw]
made by Alex de la Cour for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

In the darkest depths of interstellar space, aliens have overran the dreadnought Aquillus!

In desperate need of a hero, we are unfortunately left with you: the ship's cook. With the rest of the crew dead, aliens infesting the hallways and the defence system set to kill on sight, surviving this nightmare will be no mean feat...and if that wasn't enough, the artificial gravity on board has short circuited, reversing every ten seconds!

Reach the door at the end of each level while avoiding hazards and navigating the timed gravity reversal to progress.

Best played in full screen.

Controls:

Movement: Left/Right Arrows or A/D

Jump: Space or K

Dash (when available): Left Control or J

Pause: Enter

Art, animation, programming, design and development by Alex de la Cour.

Music and sound effects by Eric Matyas (www.soundimage.org)

Screenshot2.png

Screenshot3.png

Screenshot4.png

Link https://alex-de-la-cour.itch.io/escape-from-the-aquillius
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/escape-from-the-aquillus

Ratings

Overall 167th 3.948⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Fun 227th 3.793⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 754th 3.129⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Theme 172th 4.121⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 146th 4.276⭐ 60🧑‍⚖️
Humor 716th 2.581⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 304th 3.741⭐ 56🧑‍⚖️
Given 68🗳️ 95🗨️

Feedback

Linnea Isaac
03. Oct 2022 · 22:48 UTC
I like the look and the controls are good. There were some spots where there wasn't much to do but wait out the timer though.
Jacob Diaz
03. Oct 2022 · 22:51 UTC
The control, art, and audio really link up together really well. The sound effects are really great!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
03. Oct 2022 · 23:02 UTC
@linnea-isaac thanks for the feedback!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
03. Oct 2022 · 23:24 UTC
@jacob-diaz thanks, I appreciate the kind words!
Altermox
04. Oct 2022 · 02:34 UTC
Excellent little game! Very atmospheric and cohesive with the art, sound, and controls.
Jazkottaja
04. Oct 2022 · 05:44 UTC
Really cool. well polished and a cool implementation of the theme.
IzhVaryag
04. Oct 2022 · 05:54 UTC
Good idea! I like it's graphics. But i caught a bug. ![screenshot.101.png](///raw/e94/c2/z/51d64.png)
Also has a problem with controls in chrome browser - when press and hold to "ctrl" and press "D" - chrome open bookmark window
ZungryWare
04. Oct 2022 · 06:22 UTC
Nice little game! Controls felt kinda sluggish, but that's probably just because of the slow movement speed and floaty jump. I wish the levels could have been broken in half, so I wouldn't have to do the same vault over the line of enemies just to retry the section with the spikes and turret. But it wasn't too bad. Nice work!
Iluvatar
04. Oct 2022 · 07:14 UTC
Very cool game Alex! Love the idea, makes you think and plan ahead. Graphics are amazing as always :)
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 15:00 UTC
@altermox thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 15:00 UTC
@jazkottaja thank you very much!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 15:03 UTC
@izhvaryag oops!! Thanks for letting me know. Any chance you can remember what you were doing when that happened?
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 15:05 UTC
@zungryware thanks for the feedback! I definitely could have shortened the levels, or at least put some kind of checkpoint after each round of obstacles.
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 15:06 UTC
@iluvatar thanks David, I really appreciate it!
RiptideStudio
04. Oct 2022 · 15:59 UTC
Great game! Spent some time on last level trying to go through the turret.
Sometimes in the earlier levels I found myself just standing waiting for gravity to reverse, which harmed a little to the flow of the game, but i don't see any way you could fix this and still fit in the theme of the jam.
Overall, excellent game for the jam!
TureGrappa
04. Oct 2022 · 16:03 UTC
I really enjoyed the shift in gravity and how the backstory complimented the bit of clumpiness when controlling the character, I had fun!
Phillip Scott
04. Oct 2022 · 16:12 UTC
Nice polished game love the idea - felt a little slow at times, but 10 seconds can feel short or long depending on the situation :smile:
moasip
04. Oct 2022 · 21:36 UTC
This game is awesome! It feels incredibly polished and the artwork is great. I love how you implemented the theme.
Grandblood
04. Oct 2022 · 21:38 UTC
Nice little polished game. Like the graphics and sound, fits together nicely. Good Job!
Charred Axolotl
04. Oct 2022 · 21:49 UTC
This was really fun and nicely-polished. I can't really say anything new, so I just wanna reiterate how impressive it is that this was made in such a short timeframe
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 21:51 UTC
@riptidestudio thank you for the kind words and feedback! I had to fight my natural inclination not to add more annoying spots like that turret in the last level after a few people told me the last jam game I made was too difficult :slight_smile:
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 22:02 UTC
@turegrappa thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 22:31 UTC
@phillip-scott thanks!! It was definitely hard to work out the timing, I think I could have put a bit more in there to fill in those gaps.
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 22:31 UTC
@moasip thank you so much for such kind feedback!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 22:45 UTC
@grandblood thank you, I appreciate the nice comments!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
04. Oct 2022 · 22:56 UTC
@charred-axolotl thank you!! It took a lot of work to get it all done so I really appreciate reading that :smiley:
IzhVaryag
05. Oct 2022 · 02:46 UTC
@alex-de-la-cour yes, I repeated it several times. You need to find a bottleneck and wait for the timer to be around 0 and press to jump button. You can look this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W5K38SxZovOlTfqE0wTgs_lK8wPqrAor/view?usp=sharing
LandoSystems
05. Oct 2022 · 06:31 UTC
Pulled in immediately by the art. Really cohesive and polished style, great work! The gameplay was fun too, timing things right to get past the obstacles was engaging throughout. I got stuck a couple times because I was clumsy but always wanted to give it one more try. Nice job!
Fawny Breen
05. Oct 2022 · 17:06 UTC
THIS IS SO GOOD, the animation and controls are super clean, and its a great use of the theme. My favorite thing about this is the little star animation in the windows it looks so good, I'm excited to see what you make next!
Helzinko
05. Oct 2022 · 19:03 UTC
Love the theme. Controls are smooth and graphics are nice. Very solid entry!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
05. Oct 2022 · 19:48 UTC
@izhvaryag ahh cool - I know exactly why it does that! Awesome. Appreciate the bug report!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
05. Oct 2022 · 19:50 UTC
@landosystems thanks so much for the kind feedback, I'm glad you had fun playing!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
05. Oct 2022 · 21:21 UTC
@fawny-breen ahh thank you so much! That really means a lot, I'm happy you enjoyed it so much!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
05. Oct 2022 · 21:22 UTC
@helzinko thank you very much, I really appreciate the nice feedback!
MossGames
05. Oct 2022 · 22:58 UTC
Really enjoyable game, super polished. This is the sort of tight platforming game that really benefits from a controller so good job making it playable with a keyboard.
Abdonatioera
05. Oct 2022 · 23:43 UTC
The art and music were very nice. I liked the way the jumping felt, kind of floaty, but it suited the game well.
Jaker
06. Oct 2022 · 05:34 UTC
The controls felt very polished and everything "worked". The 10 second mechanic felt inspired by VVVVVV :). I agree with the other comments that the movement was a little sluggish, but it felt close to "perfect".

The only technical issue I encountered was my browser sometimes trying to add a bookmark when I pressed Ctrl+D. I think browser games typically avoid the control key for this reason.

Overall a well-polished, balanced game with a good pace and fitting mechanic.
Gorr
06. Oct 2022 · 06:03 UTC
Really cool game. I like this art, game mechanics and levels.
![Screenshot_23.png](///raw/d31/3/z/527a1.png)
🎤 Alex de la Cour
06. Oct 2022 · 13:09 UTC
@mossgames thank you! Adding controller compatibility is definitely very high up the list of things that I want to figure out, fortunately it looks super straightforward in Unity. Glad it still played well on the keyboard!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
06. Oct 2022 · 13:17 UTC
@abdonatioera thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
06. Oct 2022 · 13:30 UTC
@jaker thanks for the feedback!! I've never actually played VVVVVV -- the gravity reversal was inspired by Crystal Caves, the old Apogee game that I played as a kid :grin:

Someone else commented on the ctrl+D as well - it's not the first time I've been burned by browser controls :angry: I uploaded my last game with ESC to pause but that had problems with exiting full screen. Definitely something I need to double check next time!
exaggegen
06. Oct 2022 · 17:40 UTC
Nice graphics, why there is a desire to discover what will happen next, a new enemy or a new skill? The theme is applied to the point. I got this bug too![bug.png](///raw/eb9/34/z/528e2.png)
Flying Dog Fish
06. Oct 2022 · 20:46 UTC
Nice game. Jumping animation looks really energetic. Theme is implemented well, but requires some waiting.
Brainloaf Studio
06. Oct 2022 · 21:14 UTC
What a fun game! The graphics and gameplay feel really polished overall, and I really like how you gain more abilities as you play. The levels themselves definitely feel interesting with the gravity-flipping mechanic, and I like how difficult they get a bit later on. My only small nitpick is how there's a few spots where all you can do is wait for the timer to flip, but that's mainly just the nature of the theme. Well done!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
07. Oct 2022 · 13:39 UTC
@gorr thanks so much for playing and completing - I'm glad you enjoyed!
Alex5041
07. Oct 2022 · 14:03 UTC
The game is good! I think that walking speed is a bit slow, but everything else is well done!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
07. Oct 2022 · 14:08 UTC
@exaggegen thanks for the feedback and the kind words! Ahh, that bug again :angry: I should probably get it fixed - thanks for the report!!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
07. Oct 2022 · 14:11 UTC
@flying-dog-fish thanks for playing and for the comments!
Nick_Gozak
07. Oct 2022 · 18:59 UTC
Good retro-style game.
I like this graphic style overall and sounds. They fits perfectly to each other.
But there was some places hard to pass (like in real retro-games))
Good execution. I like it really
🎤 Alex de la Cour
08. Oct 2022 · 17:44 UTC
@brainloaf-studio thank you for playing and for the kind comments! That's definitely true about the waiting around - I wanted some areas where you needed to be on one side of the other but possibly struggled to balance the space in between to ensure that the player reached there at the right time.
🎤 Alex de la Cour
08. Oct 2022 · 17:44 UTC
@brainloaf-studio thank you for playing and for the kind comments! That's definitely true about the waiting around - I wanted some areas where you needed to be on one side of the other but possibly struggled to balance the space in between to ensure that the player reached there at the right time.
🎤 Alex de la Cour
08. Oct 2022 · 20:35 UTC
@alex5041 thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
08. Oct 2022 · 20:56 UTC
@nick-gozak thanks! I had to make a real effort to not put more places that would be difficult to pass :grin:
Georgy16
08. Oct 2022 · 21:39 UTC
Difficult, but interesting and fun. However, it's frustrating that the UI in the menu works a little poorly.
figadei
09. Oct 2022 · 09:44 UTC
Nice polished game; great graphics and mood. The mechanic works well and the amount of things that are in the game is impressive. The walking speed feels a bit sluggish but maybe it wants to give a sense of space and low gravity? It doesn't matter anyways beacuse the level desing feels balanced and interesting! Amazing work
AlexSolonnikovP4
09. Oct 2022 · 09:45 UTC
Cool idea, I like it. Only I got stuck on the second level, in the sense that it turned out to be very difficult (. And so good work)
🎤 Alex de la Cour
09. Oct 2022 · 10:18 UTC
@georgy16 thanks for playing and for the feedback!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
09. Oct 2022 · 10:26 UTC
🎤 Alex de la Cour
09. Oct 2022 · 10:51 UTC
@figadei thanks for the comments! A few people have mentioned the slow walking pace, I'd like to say it's intentional but it's unfortunately not - but it's good to know I can speed things up a bit next time. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it otherwise!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
09. Oct 2022 · 10:55 UTC
@alexsolonnikovp4 thank you, I intended to make it more difficult! But I decided to reign it in except for in a couple of spots.
mikolak
09. Oct 2022 · 16:58 UTC
Perfect retro story framing, graphics, and sound - this could pass for a game that was actually released during the 16-bit era *chef's kiss*. There is one annoying thing - a very slight lag between the dash triggering and the invulnerability frames; especially since the audio effect triggers. Otherwise, solid Jam entry!
🎤 Alex de la Cour
10. Oct 2022 · 13:54 UTC
@mikolak thank you so much, that's really nice to read!! That's annoying about the gap for the invulnerability frames - I'll have to look into why that happened. Thanks for the bug report!
simba
10. Oct 2022 · 14:30 UTC
Very fun game! I managed to beat it after plenty of dying! I really loved your pixel art style and how the abilities were given to me slowy. Excellent level design too! Great entry, congrats!
Annika
10. Oct 2022 · 15:02 UTC
I had to puzzle quite a bit to make my way through the levels. Cute idea and very atmospheric music!
Pascal Fitzner
10. Oct 2022 · 15:02 UTC
The theme is well-executed; the only issue is that I occasionally got stuck on platforms. 
🎤 Alex de la Cour
10. Oct 2022 · 15:34 UTC
@simba @annika @pascal-fitzner thanks for playing and for the kind words and feedback!
Sigo
11. Oct 2022 · 17:37 UTC
Well done ! Great graphics !
fosf0
11. Oct 2022 · 20:05 UTC
The art, sound and concept are polished. Level design is fun! good job :)
OP Sidearm
15. Oct 2022 · 18:57 UTC
Really satisfying gameplay! Snappy and responsive 2D-player-controller and the graphics are fantastic too :smile:
And Ig you already know how easy it is to glitch out of the map :sweat_smile:
Volkolak
16. Oct 2022 · 15:06 UTC
Very fascinated by the simplicity of the gameplay and minimalist design. Nice done!
InitialPosition
18. Oct 2022 · 15:53 UTC
The atmosphere this builds is phenomenal. Had a great time with the levels, the introduction of new gameplay elements is smooth and the overall presentation is really well done. Music fits the game and the graphics are very pleasing to look at. My only complaint is that I could not control the height of my jump which sometimes let to deaths that I felt I could have easily avoided otherwise. Other than that, fantastic entry.
adjo
21. Oct 2022 · 17:46 UTC
The tile set used here is really nice, I like the animation out the window too. The movement did feel a little bit slow as did the jump. It took an embarrassing amount of time to realise the gravity switched every 10 seconds, maybe I should have read the instructions... :sweat_smile: