Endless Duel by goldenXD
No matter how many duels you win, you can't escape your destiny...
This is a 2D shooting game where you duel evil robots, but a new challenger spawns every 10 seconds.


| Link | https://themagicapple.itch.io/endless-duel |
| Link | https://github.com/TheMagicApple/EndlessDuel |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/endless-duel |
Ratings
| Overall | 427th | 2.952⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 394th | 2.857⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 475th | 2.333⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 116th | 3.905⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 223th | 3.5⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 340th | 1.969⭐ | 18🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 309th | 3⭐ | 22🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 25🗳️ | 28🗨️ |
The gameplay could've been very fun if there was a lot more content in the game itself... as it felt very bare bones. In terms of design, there are a lot of things you can do to make the game itself more engaging.
1. Adding some sort of power-up system or progression system or SOME sort of goal to achieve. Having a shooter with no end in sight CAN be fun if there was content in it to justify continuing through (ie. having some sort of stakes involved. Something to lose)
2. Graphics were very pretty, but I feel like with an understanding of balance, theme, aesthetics, design--you could really make these graphics shine.
3. Using your level-space appropriately. There is a lot of extra room you could use to fill the game up with content. I understand you want the character to feel like they're in an endless duel, but other then just being stuck in a platform in the middle of space, there's not much else.
Don't treat this as me saying your game is bad, the movement and shooting fluidity is very nice. I just want you to improve and make the best game you can :D
Good work on the jam!
Shooting felt pretty good though!
- The notion of the area in which the player engages in endless duels is very well thought out. However, the narrowness and lack of area the battleground supports limits the "fun"ness of the core gameplay. It sucks out what could have been an amazing core gameplay component. Maybe considering altering the area? Also, dying if you touch only the very edge is extremely frustrating for any player. Maybe considering draining the health instead?
- The graphics were eye-candy for anyone honestly! That was one of the main strong suits of the game! If this was expanded further, the game would have won me over completely with the graphics department. Great graphics dont depend on ray-tracing and exaggerated shadows.
- The enemies AI was kinda clunky which made fighting them less enjoyable. They are already quite solid, but its just some room for improvement that would've up your game to another level.
**Overall, one of the best compo games I've encountered in terms of striking a balance between all the elements of the game. Exceptional.**
I wished the enemies had a little slower introduction into the arena, as they abruptly appeared and started firing. That was hard to anticipate, and felt a little too punishing.
As with other entries, the use of the theme as a "stage reset" didn't feel very strong to me, as it's not connected to the player's action. It's not really a reward or a punishment. I'm not one to say "you have to implement the theme!!", but toward the beginning of the game, most of the 10 seconds was empty space waiting for the clock to run out. For that reason, maybe a different way to implement the theme would have better maintained momentum.
That said, the game you built around the theme was fun to play!
While, I did want the extra time after killing a wave to mean something, the amount of time I had between waves got pretty short anyways. If there had been some SFX, it could have been even more immersive. Doesn't really feel like an endless duel but more a matter of time for now, as you can't really avoid all the enemies, and have a limited HP regen. If there were items on the floor, and rather increasing the strength than the number of enemies, I could see this become potentially endless!
Good work though, enjoyed the game!