LudumData

This Date Blows! by crow_seeds

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

* It’s date night and all seems to be going well. That is… up until you receive a surprise notification on your phone! *

On the date, make sure you’re paying close attention to whatever you’re facing! Try to keep your date happy with your smooth lines, but don’t forget to also keep checking your phone… as you’ll be receiving new notifications from your secret buddy every 10 seconds!

NOTE: Headphones Recommended! (You also can't play this game mute, like it's literally impossible muted)

Controls: * Space - Look at your phone/or date * WASD - Respond * Left click - Interact * Unplug Computer - Secret black screen ending * Your date loves eye contact, make sure to look at her and pay attention to keep her affection! * Where you look also changes what sounds you can focus on better!

this<em>date</em>blows2.PNG pee.PNG

Credits: * Khoi (@crow-seeds) - Programming, Lead, Sprite Art/VFX * Raghu (@r-money) - Date Voice, Writing, 3D Modeling * Said - Character Art, Screams * Mandy - Background Art * Byron (@Bxyzzz) - Music/SFX, Sprite Animation, Writing, Emmet * @la-bread - Music, UI Art * @mooobster - Sprite Art, Main Voice * Nancy - Title/Cover Art * August - Sprite Art, Goku * Faaiz - Legal Consultant, Tumbleweed Enthusiast

NOTE: Game doesn't work in Firefox when running it through the Ludum Dare website, visit the itch.io version or play the downloadable version!

itch.io https://crow-seeds.itch.io/this-date-blows
Me Website https://crowseeds.com/bomb/
Newgrounds https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/859198
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/this-date-blows

Ratings

Overall 500th 3.601⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Fun 484th 3.493⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 122th 3.926⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Theme 300th 3.949⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 635th 3.572⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Audio 312th 3.61⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Humor 79th 4.022⭐ 71🧑‍⚖️
Mood 395th 3.64⭐ 70🧑‍⚖️
Given 66🗳️ 121🗨️

Feedback

Gryph0n
03. Oct 2022 · 23:20 UTC
Highly amusing and a fabulous twist!
Nakami
03. Oct 2022 · 23:28 UTC
Thaaaat was awkward x)
I tryed multiple times but I always end up blowing up the whole things and giiirl it to hard to cute wire and to listen to you xp
Hard game but a fun game non the less !
airwaffle
03. Oct 2022 · 23:33 UTC
I'm really bad at this:D With a little bit more dialog variation, I'd probably keep losing at this game for hours.

Such a marvelous game and idea!
Sofy
03. Oct 2022 · 23:46 UTC
I did not get blowed :c
CrimOudin
04. Oct 2022 · 00:48 UTC
Nice game concept. I tried a bunch of times. I was unable to save everyone and get the girl. Funny too.
ty_
04. Oct 2022 · 00:52 UTC
wow, this game is really fun. it's so hard to hear the rules, but they are so cool! reminds me a bit of keep talking and nobody explodes. but the multitasking really adds to the effect. good job!
Coda Highland
04. Oct 2022 · 02:40 UTC
I don't get it. ^^() I can handle the bombs but I went like 30 seconds without any interaction prompts from my date? But from what I can see, it's a really intense game. Good stress. XD
LDJam user 0
04. Oct 2022 · 03:20 UTC
Pretty wild concept, but not really sure what I was supposed to do when. It was hard to hear the instructions on wire cutting, but I guess that was the point.
LDJam user 245646
04. Oct 2022 · 03:28 UTC
@Anonymous When you look at the phone, you hear the bomb operator better. Where you look changes which sounds you hear better, hope this helps!
Jack Edman
04. Oct 2022 · 04:16 UTC
Voice acting a 10/10
LDJam user 298734
04. Oct 2022 · 05:42 UTC
Wild game design，especially the character
Paul Avallone
04. Oct 2022 · 05:58 UTC
Very funny game. Super clever use of theme. I really had to use the multitasking part of my brain. Great use of fading in and out audio depending on who you are paying attention too. I had a great time playing. I would love to play a more polished and expanded version post jam. Fantastic job!
Pusheeneiro
04. Oct 2022 · 08:16 UTC
This art and idea is sick. I love this <3
cortexA233
04. Oct 2022 · 13:22 UTC
The idea fits the theme well, I love the illustration style of the game, it just like a game I have played in the BOOOM 2022 game jam (it's a Chinese game, you can download it from https://cowtransfer.com/s/07d88fe3ea0240), I like this kind of game with story and diverse interact. but the gameplay is a little bit difficult for a non-native English speaker, making some English subtitles will be much better.
blobo
04. Oct 2022 · 14:54 UTC
I absolutely love the idea of this game. Having to pay attention to a set of rules and hear about this lady's dead cat simultaneously makes for a hilarious and fantastic time. The occasional bomb jokes I said to my date, and my hand exploding... it's a funny game. Seriously.

The artwork is amazing! The goofy design of the date, and her facial expressions are amazing. I wish there were checkpoints, because otherwise I don't think I'll be able to make it to the end of the date. The difficulty picks up a ton, and it's a hilarious fantastic cluster of on-the-fly bad-decision-making.

I recorded myself playing the game for more feedback:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC3LyPtTroI
Eugenik
04. Oct 2022 · 15:42 UTC
Gameplay was fun ) Good luck!.
MsPlanlos
04. Oct 2022 · 18:20 UTC
Funny game! Never had someone stare into my soul that deep.
merdeboi
04. Oct 2022 · 19:40 UTC
It quickly became too hard for me to defuse the bombs :smile: . The female voice was a bit too high compared to the radio, so I only heard someone whispering the first and stuff just exploding. Turned up the audio a bit, nice experience. Great visuals, nice varied puzzles, good use of the 10s theme.
bone17
05. Oct 2022 · 05:12 UTC
Surprise! When I saw the game I thought it was a dating simulation game!
Amythyst
05. Oct 2022 · 05:28 UTC
Haha love the concept, and the way it was introduced with the intro! Funny dialog, though I think audio levels may need a bit more work (I know that's part of the challenge). Overall really creative game!

Also your date looks familiar, think I tried to someone like her in another game, it didn't go very well then either lol...
nyxkn
05. Oct 2022 · 09:34 UTC
Absolutely great game idea! Maybe it was intentional but it was really hard to make out what the guy on the phone was saying about defusal, and had to repeat a few times to hear him properly. I also would have liked better visual/aural feedback about when a new bomb becomes available. Overall excellent concept. Art is great too. With some polish it could definitely be a very fun game.
Kizilejderha
05. Oct 2022 · 19:05 UTC
I love the idea and the voice acting. I would love to have some subtitles tho, I guess it would be kinda cheating but I didn't really understand neither what she was saying nor the bomb defusal guy (bomb defuser? bomb defusal specialist?). At least an option to tell him to repeat himself would be useful.

Art and music are cool and complement each other very well. Having a fully voice acted game with so much dialogue is a great achievement for a game jam game.

Very good game overall, even tho I didn't get to enjoy some of it.
n.feofentov
05. Oct 2022 · 20:04 UTC
Super cool idea and execution! I like that defusing is so diverse and you need to keep so many things in mind. Great job!
jaybaus
05. Oct 2022 · 21:15 UTC
I love the concept of this and it was executed really well with great humour! Awesome job and so much attention to detail :)
Denzil Gomes
05. Oct 2022 · 21:25 UTC
One of the more original ideas of the Jam, well done! A little confusing to begin with but a very fun and interesting game!
michaelaranda
06. Oct 2022 · 06:14 UTC
I really like this concept; it's very clever! I'm really bad at disarming bombs and talking to women at the same time, however, so I didn't get very far!
TobiasD
06. Oct 2022 · 10:58 UTC
Great concept and very funny! Well executed in a lot of ways, but it took me several gos to work out how to do anything. Would love a visual notification of when I had a new bomb to look at.
LDJam user 245646
06. Oct 2022 · 13:02 UTC
@tobiasd Bombs come every 10 seconds and the timer lets you know with audio, so you have to keep track! It's intentional to keep you on your toes!
Nash
06. Oct 2022 · 14:11 UTC
It is funny that our team also had a speed dating idea on our idea board before the jam. We did not end up going with it and I think your implementation would have been better anyways. Or how couldn't it when you spice things up with bombs?

As obviously designed, the game gets very hectic very fast. While I appreciate the work that was put into the sounds and sound design in this game, the end result is a bit messy sometimes. At least for me, the soundscape created needless anxiety because it was very hard at first to pinpoint who is saying what and where the sound is coming from. It is usually better to avoid having two characters speaking at the same time because it becomes impossible to listen either of them. All of this added to the hectic mood of the game which is probably a merit. Sound design is very difficult though and one cannot expect to get it nailed perfectly during a jam. The challenge you took is admirable.

But overall, great work!
LDJam user 245646
06. Oct 2022 · 15:19 UTC
@nash Glad you liked it despite the hecticness! The game is a combination of two of our ideas from the brainstorming stage (speed dating and bomb defusal). We thought the juxtaposition of the ideas was hilarious and figured there was gonna be a bunch of dating and bomb games for this jam, but no one would be dumb enough to combine the two. Audio engineering was really hard to get quite right in 3 days as the right volume balancing depended on the person, whether or not they used headphones, and other factors. We tried to make it clear that you hear the date better when you look at the date and you hear the bomb operator better when you look at the bomb, and it brought up many tricky questions like how different should the volumes be and should the bomb operator be louder/quieter?
amarokczukay
06. Oct 2022 · 15:37 UTC
that's not what i expected and that's why i liked it haha really fun concept and cool gameplay mechanic, i'm seduced!
Motti
06. Oct 2022 · 18:24 UTC
Innovative and difficult! cool game!
check out my jam game!
Ginxel
06. Oct 2022 · 18:46 UTC
this game freaks me out honestly but I love the concept hahaha!
DurkaGames
06. Oct 2022 · 19:50 UTC
We like a sound design, especially voices of the team. But, in a moment all the sound mixing in one big sound, so we can't take the information. Animations looks a bit weird, we'd rather to slow them down, but we understand this is the style :) Overall, great work, we like it.
LDJam user 245646
06. Oct 2022 · 20:01 UTC
@durkagames Based on our playtesting and current feedback, we weren't sure whether to have the bomb operator audio be quiet when looking at the date (makes hearing the date more clearer, though people were complaining they couldn't hear the bomb instructions despite being able to hear the operator clearer when you look at the bomb), or make it so you could hear both clearly when looking at the date (making it a mess, but you could hear the bomb instructions when you look at the date). We've gotten feedback asking us to both lower or raise the volume of the operator, so it's a bit tricky.
AnoiF.
06. Oct 2022 · 20:13 UTC
What an interesting game concept,very exciting!
JustARoom
06. Oct 2022 · 20:17 UTC
Very funny and I love the art, voice acting is amazing too. Had fun, although it was a bit overwhelming at times.
LDJam user 245646
07. Oct 2022 · 00:20 UTC
@anoif @justaroom Thanks for the compliments!
Borabee
07. Oct 2022 · 01:31 UTC
Such a wild idea and a great execution!! I had a ton of fun playing this. The graphics, the narration and the dialogue all contribute perfectly to the mood and humour of the game. I thought I was following everything pretty well and then at one point I looked at the bomb and it wasn't even wires anymore LOL Very nice!!
LDJam user 263763
07. Oct 2022 · 05:12 UTC
Lol, funny game, don´t expect the bomb, nice sounds and original art, also interesting concept, I can deactivate the bomb like 5 times, the date I think doesn´t go well lol, cool job guys!
LDJam user 263763
07. Oct 2022 · 05:12 UTC
Lol, funny game, don´t expect the bomb, nice sounds and original art, also interesting concept, I can deactivate the bomb like 5 times, the date I think doesn´t go well lol, cool job guys!
alks
07. Oct 2022 · 12:24 UTC
This is so good and creative! How do you all even come up with this :D Very inspiring! It's really fun to play and really funny :D Love the frickin shoe laces joke :D Voice acting is really funny and good! The girls outfit must be a DDLC reference? Great game! Thank you all for making this!
Trexxak
07. Oct 2022 · 17:47 UTC
Love the duality of the game and how you executed hearing both "worlds" at the same time, albeit one muffled. Could totally see a full on Dating Sim VN with progressively harder time-critical puzzles work just as well!
JMad
07. Oct 2022 · 18:32 UTC
That's what I call innovation, and brings a nice addition to the dating sim genre ahah. The amount of content is impressive. Voice acting and spacial sounds, yes please. I crave bad puns, thank you for packing them here. If you don't catch that one rule, you pay. Simple gameplay, just works. Great entry.

Definitely second the headphones recommendation, I couldn't play with speakers.
LDJam user 277851
08. Oct 2022 · 12:28 UTC
Crazy game, very funny. It seems like you're really good at making games out of these crazy ideas.
any way 10/10 in humor

(You can try to reduce the size of the noise to get a better swing effect)
puyo
09. Oct 2022 · 00:01 UTC
Awesome!
Adam Gallina
09. Oct 2022 · 19:26 UTC
This game was amazing! Very creative with intuitive controls
Codeman1010
13. Oct 2022 · 05:23 UTC
Absolutely amazing, it took me a few tries to catch all the instructions but bouncing back and forth and trying to keep track of everything was really satisfying. And the dialogue was hilarious the entire time, even on repeating playthroughs.
epeachyband
13. Oct 2022 · 06:09 UTC
Hell! This game is :bomb:
Thank you for awesome submition!
glenugie
15. Oct 2022 · 21:08 UTC
Social interaction AND urgent problem solving? My two worst skills, what could go wrong! But seriously, excellent game, well executed!
raddishradish
17. Oct 2022 · 04:13 UTC
Love the play on words and the game concept! The voiceovers and shaking art assets really added to the very stressful experience :sweat_smile: