LASER BEAM! by Pietrek

[raw]
made by Pietrek for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

In the distant future, you are one of the last left alive since the zombie apocalypse begun. You found shelter in an old weapons factory, where you found a half-finished prototype of a laser cannon. When trying it out, the gun jammed and now shoots every ten seconds or so. Bad luck.

You are alerted by a sound of breaking glass. It's the zombies, breaking inside through the windows. You may be a goner, but at least you can take as many of them as you can with you.

Defend yourself against the zombies. Move with WASD or the arrow keys.

Changelog: - Fixed the Web Assembly build, although we recommend playing on desktop

Ratings

Overall 1215th 2.477⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1215th 2.182⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1093th 2.636⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 754th 3.477⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1087th 2.386⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 743th 2.553⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 959th 1.975⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1173th 2.295⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 21🗨️

Feedback

Stalemeat
04. Oct 2022 · 01:02 UTC
Cool game. It fit the theme really well. I like the sound effect of the laser. Very pleasing. I like the addition of detail when the laser hit the wall. It ran smooth and I enjoyed playing it. Maybe having the zombies drop something that you can pick up for extra points would add to keeping the player busy while they wait for the laser to warm up.
Elros
05. Oct 2022 · 10:38 UTC
Nice game, runs smoothly. To make it a fun arcady time waster, I suggest working on the following elements:
1. A bar which counts down until the next shot.
2. Something to do, some depth to the movment so that you will have something to do between shots.
3. A progression system of your gun - as you aquire parts and data points on how to fix the gun, the zombies become stronger and more abundent...

Had fun! The smoothness makes the game quite enjoyable:)
Holtzzy223
05. Oct 2022 · 16:10 UTC
fun idea! is the player supposed to rotate all the time?
Nash
05. Oct 2022 · 16:47 UTC
Interesting take on the theme. I like the idea of a laser gun charging - fits the theme very well.

The game probably will have hard time keeping the player playing for longer though. The gameplay is quite static and it lacks player control a bit. I understand that this is probably where you were aiming at with the unstable laser. But it also makes the loop quite static. Without talking about adding new features, you could possible consider allowing to player control when to shoot the laser. The laser could still charge for 10 seconds but now you would give more strategic options for the player. Maybe the player wants to stack a lot of zombies together, nicely line them up and then blast them all - granting a nice combo point boost.

But overall, a nice and simple game. The take on the theme is original!
Ryan Dotsikas
05. Oct 2022 · 18:50 UTC
Nice job! I really like the implementation that you took for a game where you can only shoot every 10 seconds. The warm up sounds are a fantastic indicator for when you're going to fire, and I love that it sticks around for a little bit, allowing you to mow through a bunch of enemies if you line things up well. The player turns a little slow so you can't kill too many things if you don't line them up well but that's alright, it's part of the challenge! Great job!
Skel3ton
11. Oct 2022 · 20:39 UTC
I missed any music, but I really appreciated the sound signal that indicates when the shot will be fired
royal_10
12. Oct 2022 · 16:56 UTC
Nice idea and FULLY Polished Game.
jacobingalls
13. Oct 2022 · 06:27 UTC
Not sure if 5400 is good for a first try; but it feels like better than my second would be! Making the player slow really changes the tone as compared to our game and @skel3ton's. Makes it feel much more deliberate; and one where mistakes compound very quickly. I do wish that the player was a tiny bit faster than the enemies so that we can line up a shot with some cover. I also agree that the charging sound was spot on. Although I wish I had a visual indicator too, the audio was plenty of information for me.
Paul-Maxime
13. Oct 2022 · 23:33 UTC
- Very nice sound effect for the laser!
- I like the fact the player is slow and rotates slowly, it gives the impression the weapon is very heavy but very powerful.
- The windows don't need to be random, some runs are much easier because all windows are in the same corner.
- However, more and more windows could appear (or break) over time, making the game harder and harder?
- Zombies should collide, not merge into each other! :D
- Obviously, as everyone said, we need a way to improve our weapon, even if it still fires every 10 seconds.
LDJam user 281060
20. Oct 2022 · 16:29 UTC
I like the concept! It'd be nice if there were a little more strategy; maybe mirrors to bounce the laser?