Carrot: Journey to the Surface by DJTequila

[raw]
made by DJTequila for Ludum Dare 52 (JAM)

Carl is a Carrot who has dreamed of the surface world since he was a sprout. Now the only thing standing between him and being harvested is worms, fungus, and a whole lot of dirt. Help Carl reach the surface so he can be turned into a delicious soup. (Don't worry, he likes it).

Dair.png

Running.png

Patch Notes v1.0.1 (Post LD) - Improved boss movement - Fixed a bug where fireballs wouldn't target the player - Fireballs can be extinguished by hitting them - Added delay to the win screen

Ratings

Overall 626th 3.152⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 544th 3.119⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 620th 2.909⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 792th 2.523⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 692th 2.667⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Audio 422th 2.929⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 414th 2.868⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 715th 2.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

bufalloo
10. Jan 2023 · 07:51 UTC
love the diversity in user actions and interactions
MidoriMelody
10. Jan 2023 · 13:31 UTC
This game was pretty cool. It was hard for me to get the hang of using the arrow controls to do attacks instead of moving but I got used to it. I also really liked the beginning tutorial.
🎤 DJTequila
10. Jan 2023 · 16:19 UTC
@bufalloo @midorimelody Thanks for playing! I tried to make the directional attacks unique. I considered having only one attack button, I think that's more intuitive. Just didn't have time to implement it.
JavaSaurus
11. Jan 2023 · 19:54 UTC
Nice and clean :) Does what it needs to do ! Having the directional buttons for different attacks didn't bother me as much, but I'm also used to playing Binding of Isaac :) Well done, thanks for making this !
Blueanoli
11. Jan 2023 · 19:59 UTC
I liked the music and the art style. Controls were a bit hard to learn for me
Sam Cousins
11. Jan 2023 · 20:00 UTC
love the smoothness of the animations, feels responsive
Whismirk
11. Jan 2023 · 20:06 UTC
It's surprising how many actions you managed to implement ! It was quite fun to move around with all the options you had, though you could sometimes get stuck if you accidentally killed all the enemies you could bounce on. It's cool that you even managed to slip in a boss fight !
Marryvss
11. Jan 2023 · 20:57 UTC
Nice idea of the theme :D
BoxedMeatRevolution
11. Jan 2023 · 21:10 UTC
I was harvested and cooked into a soup! Dream accomplished. I liked the big snake enemy at the end, the soundtrack, and variety of platforming challenges throughout the level. Even though there were many attack options, I only ever used drill and carrot throwing, and it would have been nice if there were other enemies that the other attacks were needed for. I'm sure something like that was planned but time ran out. Overall I enjoyed playing!
🎤 DJTequila
11. Jan 2023 · 22:35 UTC
@whismirk Thanks, I'm glad I got the boss fight done, it was kind of last minute. Was able to reuse some of the code I'd already written for the enemies :wink: Maybe I could have made certain "mission-critical" enemies respawn.
🎤 DJTequila
11. Jan 2023 · 23:07 UTC
@boxedmeatrevolution I completely agree. Ground attacks are risky, Baby Carrots are free, and Drill just does it all. Balancing was difficult since I knew I wanted the mobility from bouncing on enemies. Definitely would have done more with the enemy types and AI if I had time.
JamesBoink
12. Jan 2023 · 14:42 UTC
Interesting approach to the theme - but I can't exactly agree that it had anything to do with harvesting. Controls are very nice and i liked the way player is supposed to move throughout the level. About those patch notes - I don't see that you have fixed anything critical and other than that you shouldn't upload any changes to the game so unless it was gamebreaking I think you should possibly revert to older version.
🎤 DJTequila
12. Jan 2023 · 17:18 UTC
@jamesboink Thanks for playing!

> Certain Bug Fixes are allowed. You can’t add new features, but if something broke or didn’t work correctly as you were finishing up, you can fix this after the deadline.

I thought because they were minor changes it was okay, but I'd rather not take advantage of this rule. I reverted and created a separate post ludum dare version.
spyranteros
14. Jan 2023 · 16:35 UTC
Pretty straight forward, I loved your take on the attack mechanic, it's very interesting. Idk how the boss fight was before the updates, but it was a very cool fight! I played the new version since I wanted to get the best possible update and not comment on bugs you've already resolved ^^
🎤 DJTequila
14. Jan 2023 · 16:45 UTC
@spyranteros Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Boss fight in v1.0.0 was similar, except the fireballs always went in the same direction instead of towards the player, the boss would turn around repeatedly if you got too close, and you couldn't put out fireballs by hitting them. Nothing game-breaking, but it was definitely less polished.
Flying Dog Fish
14. Jan 2023 · 16:52 UTC
Great idea and a nice and fun game. The animations are cute, only the spinning effect can't be seen clearly - maybe some wobble would enhance it.
XOREAXEAX
14. Jan 2023 · 19:55 UTC
Nice job! A lot of content in this short time :) The controls feel good and I like the simple but consistent style
Yahel Dooley
14. Jan 2023 · 20:52 UTC
This was a fun play. I liked the arrow key specials! They felt good and the especially the drill down mechanic. You achieved a lot in little time. Excellent work!
Andy-Link
15. Jan 2023 · 21:48 UTC
I liked it more that I expected to be honest! The drill mechanic is really fun when you get it. But I think that checkpoints could have been a nice touch. I always die where you need to jump from one small block to the other and not fall into the fungus. Restarting from the beginning every time was a little frustrating. Also once you fall into the fungus you don't know if you're gonna make it or not! Too bad I'm... too bad to see the end :)
Rocktavious
16. Jan 2023 · 02:37 UTC
I have to say with a complex control scheme like you had the tutorial text and simple introductions of each really did a great job. Great work with the tutorial! (this is something i always forget to add to my games)

The jump overall felt too floaty especially in constrast to the carrot top spin move. The character moved around a little to on ice to me - reduce that movement or make the platform bigger - i keep slipping off stuff.

Having to jump to shoot felt weird i ended up just doing that and the drill most of the time.

Overall i think you did a great job keep at it!
Zidoolan
16. Jan 2023 · 20:27 UTC
Great game. It look me a second to remember the keys (that's a me problem though lol) but the sheer amount of actions you can do is outstanding. I love it and would love to see more. Great job!
amarokczukay
16. Jan 2023 · 23:11 UTC
nice controls, i like having many attacks. however, the game is kinda punitive, because sometimes, you kill an enemy but can't manage to land where to are supposed to, and you need to restart game to try again.
LDJam user 267116
17. Jan 2023 · 04:50 UTC
Very nice game. Cute character and a great assortment of abilities, although the drill attack is OP for sure :sweat_smile: I've always wanted to be a soup myself so it feels good to be represented in a game. Nice job!
betovf
17. Jan 2023 · 15:55 UTC
Nice game! I love the carrot animations :laughing: I find the controls kinda hard to use.