LudumData

Congo Premiere by Slightly Ajar

[raw]
made by Slightly Ajar for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

Looking for a new career? Why not consider a position with the world-wide online megastore, Congo. Join the ranks of those with our elite delivery service for Premiere members. We use the newest cutting-edge technology, delivery drones, to deliver packages with speed and accuracy. Think you are capable of piloting one of these advanced pieces of technology? Give it a try on our new drone delivery simulator!

From the Developer:

With the exception of a couple months back in 2020 where I played around on Unity, I have only been doing game development since February 2023. This is really my first completed game, not counting prototypes I have played around with. I don't know why I thought I would give it a go in my first game jam with only a few months experience, but I figured it was just that, experience. Plus I felt that any feedback I receive can only help me in the long run, so please give any advice and feedback (good and bad) to help me improve. Thank you for playing my first game!

Apps Used - Unity 2021.3.18f1 - Affinity Designer 2 - Audacity - FL Studio 21

Source Code https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wiZ5EGk2Y6va2yQ0am9MiTE695xKvTu9/view?usp=sharing
itch.io Game https://slightlyajar.itch.io/congopremiere
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/congo-premiere

Ratings

Overall 615th 3.558⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 435th 3.596⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1072th 2.72⭐ 27🧑‍⚖️
Theme 40th 4.5⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 571th 3.712⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 537th 3.269⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 685th 2.925⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 943th 3.083⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 18🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

🎤 Slightly Ajar
01. May 2023 · 21:20 UTC
Thank you in advance for playing my game, and for any feedback you provide!
PsychoZZ
02. May 2023 · 14:47 UTC
It's not bad, but I would like to see more mechanics.
I can't say that it's a bad game. It's neat, decently drawn, but that's not enough for it to be a good game.
PsychoZZ
02. May 2023 · 14:55 UTC
Oh, when I wrote my first comment, I didn't read that this is your debut. I'm sorry.
Then it changes everything. In this case, execution accuracy and absence of bugs really come first!
Please continue in the same spirit. With this approach, success awaits you!
Sevla
02. May 2023 · 15:43 UTC
Pretty amazing art, the music is a little short but accurate. The controls are pretty good and have a nice flow. I made only 8 deliveries D:
Gonzalo Ferretti
02. May 2023 · 16:18 UTC
just a heads up! the embedded player here on ld doesn't work
Gonzalo Ferretti
02. May 2023 · 16:22 UTC
wow, this has to be the best all-around i've played today! :)
i loved the multiplayer not being implemented joke. keep at it!
joaosilva22
02. May 2023 · 16:22 UTC
Got 11 deliveries! It's a really simple game, but you've done a good job with the execution, keep it up!
I wrote it myself
02. May 2023 · 16:36 UTC
Congratulations on finishing your first game! I like the music, and the gameplay is pretty unique, well done!
🎤 Slightly Ajar
02. May 2023 · 16:41 UTC
@gonzalo-ferretti Thanks for the heads up on the embedded player. It is working on my end using Chrome. I don't know if it is dependent on browser, but I'm thankful I added a link to the version on itch.io!

@psychozz No need to apologize. I have the same thoughts about mechanics. I totally did not realize how much I would have to limit the scope due to the time limit. I appreciate the feedback!

@sevla @joaosilva22 @i-wrote-it-myself Thank you all for the feedback, I'm just ecstatic people are trying out the game!
bloodyaugust
02. May 2023 · 16:59 UTC
Great entry here! I thought the movement mechanics were... *ahem* _prime_. As was the joke in the main menu about ambitions for multiplayer. :sweat_smile: As you start in the jam scene, it's just one of those things you try and learn. This really is fantastic as a first entry! :tada: I had a couple of targets appear directly underneath me (same place twice in a row), and I'll admit I initially thought I was being clever and dropped based on the location of my _shadow_, cuz that's where a package would land, right? :face_palm: Anyway, well done, and come back again for the next one! :D
🎤 Slightly Ajar
02. May 2023 · 17:25 UTC
@bloodyaugust Yeah I couldn't figure out why out of 47 different targets being picked randomly, the same target would be picked twice on occasion. I should have probably should have added code that would reroll the number if the number was the same as the previous, but that realization has only come to me now. And the funny thing about the shadow comment is that is how I had originally implemented it, but changed it when I realized that it would only be like that in real life if the sun was directly above the drone, and based on the map art, it clearly was not so I changed it. I also didn't want to it be confusing, but I'm glad someone else had the same idea!
bloodyaugust
02. May 2023 · 17:29 UTC
You definitely had the right of it: the sun angle means nothing, it'd definitely drop straight down without wind. I was just being too clever for my own good. :laughing: A re-roll of the dropoff index would definitely work, now you know for next time! :smile:
Linkway
02. May 2023 · 20:49 UTC
Really, one of the best games in the jam. I like it. Gameplay is amazing. Simple, but satisfying. Graphics not bad too. Music - really cool. Overall, very good game, nice job. 5 stars.
NuiN
02. May 2023 · 20:51 UTC
Cool game, I like the score being the reviews you get, nice detail
🎤 Slightly Ajar
02. May 2023 · 20:53 UTC
@linkway Thank you for the feedback! I really wasn't too confident with the music. It was my first attempt at composing anything and was afraid it would get too annoying after awhile. Glad to hear (*get it?*) that someone enjoyed it!
Ethernal Tech
02. May 2023 · 20:54 UTC
Wow very good game, quite nice controls and overall quite fun!!
🎤 Slightly Ajar
02. May 2023 · 21:15 UTC
@nuin @ethernal-tech Thank you both for the feedback! I really appreciate you taking the time to play and comment!
StoicGoose
02. May 2023 · 22:17 UTC
Good controls for the drone. I would have like some more depth, perhaps get more time if being accurate or other actions. It could also be fun to avoid obstacles. I liked the star system, and tried to beat my own best score a few times.
DenisSobolev
02. May 2023 · 22:18 UTC
Simple and nice gameplay. I realy like art style, it's so sweet like a lolypop. Overall 5
Jeff Harper
02. May 2023 · 22:21 UTC
Fun little game, played it multiple times trying to get those 5 stars, only got 4 though. Art is clean and fitting to the mechanics which are simple and easy to master. Well done, solid game jam!
🎤 Slightly Ajar
02. May 2023 · 22:39 UTC
@stoicgoose I originally had it where the time increase matched score, but was trying to balance deliveries versus score and felt being more accurate and getting more time, might slow the game down a little. Glad to receive the feedback so I can learn to balance better.

@denissobolev @jeff-harper Thanks! The art could definitely use more depth in color, but overall I was pretty happy with it. I really went back and forth on what "my" style was, so I appreciate that you liked the art and now I know I can confidently refine that style for my next game.
LDJam user 261208
02. May 2023 · 23:18 UTC
I found the controls really cool to fly the drone.
The mechanics are very solid. I found myself replaying the level several times to try to beat my own record.
It seems to me that there is a luck factor as well. As apparently the delivery points can be anywhere on the map, it can be near or far, without giving you any benefit or harm related to distance.
JosephGallear
03. May 2023 · 13:57 UTC
Great and simple game with a nice level of polish for a game jam, the animation for the packages dropping down was a very nice touch.

The controls felt nice and gave about the right level of difficulty, although with it being a drone I would imagine it being able to also move left and right without turning?

One suggestion could be to award bonus time for hitting closer to the centre of the targets, e.g. +5 seconds for hitting the bullseye. This would make you have to think about whether to slow down and aim or just rush to the next target.

Overall a great game, well done!
🎤 Slightly Ajar
03. May 2023 · 17:16 UTC
@cabjhegas Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the game!

@josephgallear Thank you for the feedback. I had 3 sets of controls I was trying to decide between:
1. Up, Down, Left, Right
2. Forward, Backward, Rotate Left, Rotate Right
3. Forward, Backward, Rotate Left, Rotate Right, Strafe Left, Strafe Right

It was a little bit of analysis paralysis and felt that option 2 was a good middle ground. I'm still not sure if that was the right decision. I'm sure there was a better balance that I didn't think of.
MAR Zockmeister
05. May 2023 · 18:24 UTC
Fun little game - first drone game I played here so far. Also nice visual and controls are fine bringing in some difficulty. Maybe some obstacles or things like that would increase the challenge. :smiley:
7331
05. May 2023 · 18:48 UTC
ATBGE hahah!
Simple game, simple mechanics, simple graphics but flawless execution! Well done! From intro to ending everything is very thoroughly done.
🎤 Slightly Ajar
05. May 2023 · 21:01 UTC
@mar-zockmeister @7331 I was hoping to add the occasional wind gust, but time got away from me. Thank you for the feedback!
Digx7
05. May 2023 · 23:45 UTC
A fun short little game. The art style is really good and really cohesive. The music feels a bit repetitive but even having music in a game is a win. I'm curious what you were hoping for with multiplayer. Regardless I really enjoyed it.
🎤 Slightly Ajar
05. May 2023 · 23:56 UTC
@digx7 My thought with multiplayer would be to have competing drones (players) all racing to the same delivery location, so the first one there gets the delivery, with the remaining players taking a small hit to their rating due to lack of speed. Even for the solo game I wanted to add a mechanic where you could only carry a couple packages so you would have to go back to the warehouse to pick up new ones, giving the others a chance to make deliveries while you restock. I also wanted speed to be a component in the rating calculation, but couldn't figure out how I wanted it to affect the equation.
BangKerpow
05. May 2023 · 23:59 UTC
The art style looks really good here. I would have liked for the camera to lead the drone rather than trail it. Really fun game.
synthol
06. May 2023 · 00:13 UTC
A simple suggestion while playing that I noticed is you could add a button (R button maybe?) so the player can restart in the middle of the game. The game also says "too optimistic" for multiplayer but maybe you could do an update with that? Multiplayer would be awesome for this game. Either way nice game especially for your first complete game! Here is my high score: ![high_score.png](///raw/936/85/z/5b6e6.png)
🎤 Slightly Ajar
06. May 2023 · 01:18 UTC
@bangkerpow That would have been a good idea. I added a dead zone to the camera and I think that might be one of the issues. I couldn't tell if maybe the camera was too close, but something felt off. I think having the camera lead would have been a great idea. Thanks!

@synthol Nice score! Yeah I realized too late that I didn't have a pause to exit or restart the game. I am tempted to work on this one a little more to see if I can get multiplayer to work, but I am trying to finish up another project, so I will think on it a little more. Thank you for the feedback!
longv
08. May 2023 · 09:09 UTC
I'd say this is a great achievement for your first game even though you just have a few months of experience. So be proud of yourself :smile: The art is nice and the control is smooth. Maybe if you want to develop it further on, a few more objectives would be nice.
magicstunts123
10. May 2023 · 18:37 UTC
Would have been funny to hear some drone noises...but i guess they would be annoying after one playthrough. ^^
Overall a really polished good little game.
🎤 Slightly Ajar
10. May 2023 · 20:42 UTC
@longv Thank you for the kind words. I wanted to also have limited number of packages per trip and have to go back to resupply, but time got the better of me.

@magicstunts123 Thank you for the feedback. I originally had a drone noise, but I was having difficulty implementing them in a way that wasn't just a constant *droning* noise in the background. I wanted to do it to where the volume is increased when you first hit a key and then ramp down to a constant noise, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.
Flying Butter Studio
11. May 2023 · 18:36 UTC
Fun to play and well polished, good entry for me, i had great time thank you and continue like this! :smile:
🎤 Slightly Ajar
11. May 2023 · 22:09 UTC
@flying-butter-studio Thank you!
Flightless
17. May 2023 · 08:31 UTC
Nice graphical design! :thumbsup: I was not sure if the goal was number of total stars, or average rating. So I did two runs - one trying to get the best rating, and one trying to get the maximum number of stars :slight_smile:
🎤 Slightly Ajar
17. May 2023 · 15:29 UTC
@flightless Yeah, I'm still not 100% sure which is more important. When comparing items on those online shopping sites, I look at the rating, but caveat it with how many reviews made up that rating. So my thoughts were that the deliveries would be what you want, and the stars/rating was the tie breaker. Ultimately those are just my thoughts, but would be curious to see what others think. What is the better rated item: the one with 5 stars and 10 reviews, or the one with 4.3 stars and 100 reviews?