Reloot by orbitaldot

[raw]
made by orbitaldot for Ludum Dare 53 (COMPO)

RELOOT

The HERO storms the fortress of a weather-controlling wizard. Behind them follows MOLT, who gently restocks the chests looted by the Hero.

ss.png

(Delivery theme: You deliver items to the looted chests.)

CONTROLS

  • [Arrow Keys] - Movement (hold UP for higher jump)
  • [Z] - Attack (alternatively, [Y])
  • [X] - Use Health Potions
  • [C] - Throw Bombs

CONTENT

All art, sfx, and music were made by myself within the 48 hour constraint of the Compo.

Software used: - Game Engine: YoYo Games' GameMaker (Studio 2). - Music & SFX: Image-Line's FL Studio 12. - Art: FireAlpaca.

Download

Head over to the itch.io page or download the links from Google Drive below

Ratings

Overall 30th 4.114⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 50th 3.977⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 38th 4.045⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 216th 3.841⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 23th 4.409⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 17th 4.227⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 131th 3.227⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Mood 131th 3.548⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 27🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

zundou
01. May 2023 · 11:10 UTC
Playing the same stage with 2 characters, each having unique objectives, was an innovative and enjoyable experience. The dot UI indicating the destinations made exploration more efficient, which was a great feature.
And, Both the graphics and sound contributed to creating a cohesive world, allowing for an immersive experience!
kgurniak91
01. May 2023 · 18:38 UTC
Damn, if I knew there's going to be Molt's phase I wouldn't have touched those damn chests! Interesting game mechanic, i liked it. The game reminded me of 1st mission in diablo 2 where you have to kill all the monsters in The Den of Evil. Really nice graphics and retro music, similiar to shovel knight.
blobo
01. May 2023 · 22:14 UTC
Okay, wow. What a concept! I love everything about this game. The artwork is amazing, the music rocks *so hard*. the "Secret alternate ending" had me chuckle. It's got it all.

I recorded myself playing to deliver extra feedback. All around, incredible work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OmH94fNv8c
flanne
01. May 2023 · 22:29 UTC
Molt's phase was a really interesting and creative mechanics. The graphics also looks great!
Sodoj
02. May 2023 · 10:23 UTC
What an amazing twist! I loved my time with this one and I can't add much praise that the others have already sung! Art, music, gameplay, everything is wonderful! Brilliant!
LDJam user 178793
02. May 2023 · 16:41 UTC
I don't have anything else to add that other people haven't said except awesome artwork! Really cohesive graphics and colors in such a short time, you should be proud! I also enjoyed the twists with Molt, really creative!
Rjdrag
02. May 2023 · 17:54 UTC
Great work. I could see this game having a cool story that develops as Molt finds himself pulled deeper into the situations and fallout created by the Hero.
LonelyGameDev
02. May 2023 · 20:40 UTC
Fantastic artwork and sound, but some of the collison size can use a little more polish(there more moments where I manage to hit something despite the graphic of my sword are not even close. same thing goes for the enemys) along with some of the design. I feel like there should have been something of a limited lifes system so I'd have to think a little more about where and how I move instead of just rushing the level. Tho it was pretty funny getting into the game without knowing anything and just using up all the chest only to realize I have to do it all over again and I made it harder for myself as the molt. Tho it sorta felt like a gimmick more then anything which is why i feel like limited lifes might have solve that. if it where added I think it would make me consider(as the knight) to balance what I take so when I switch to the mole I won't use too many lives

but considering it's a combo game it's really impressive just how polish and good it is. and it looks alot like a Yacht Club Game which is always a win in my book
Kirbloid
03. May 2023 · 03:13 UTC
The most impressive compo I've seen yet both gameplay wise with its take on the theme and especially the graphics. Played through it to the end because the twist was that clever. Great job pulling it all together. The music was especially a standout as much as the art was.
Frogman
03. May 2023 · 10:22 UTC
Amazing game! I loved the premise, it was super cool and such a unique take on the theme. The graphics were awesome - I especially loved the sky background, but everything else was really good as well. I liked how all enemies shared the same wind theme. It was also very cool playing the same level twice, but with completely different abilities and goals. The game was incredibly polished as well - from the enemy/chest indicators to the secret alternate ending. And the music was amazing as well, very catchy! The only nitpick I have is that I felt Molt should be able to heal when returning to the caravan (as it stores health potions, and dying anyway respawns you at the caravan with full health), but other than that, awesome entry!
Jaco van Hemert
03. May 2023 · 12:23 UTC
Restocking a dungeon isn't an entirely unique premise, but having the player also play the hero going through is genius. It's a classic case of having the same level, but making it feel very different the second time around. Very cool.

Loved the music -- excellent -- and the art style is very Shovel Knight / SNES era, and beautifully done.

I would have liked there to be some penalty for dying as Molt; just going back to the caravan feels a bit anti-climactic, and makes dying in some cases just a minor inconvenience, and in others, an advantage. Also, the camera jumping upwards just at the top of your jump was very jarring and weird feeling. A smoother motion would have been better, I think.

There were a few times where the colliders felt a bit off, where I'd jump into a ceiling when I thought I'd gone past. Maybe a more forgiving collider for the player would feel better?

Anyway, this is great. Well done.
josemwarrior
03. May 2023 · 16:25 UTC
It was quite fun
RNGames
06. May 2023 · 02:26 UTC
✔️ I really like the retro aesthetic: it was done really well, from the visuals to the sound.

✔️ The concept that someone has to come through and restock the dungeon is a funny criticism of the hero trope in video games.

✔️ Good difficulty.

➖ The camera was a bit weird.

⭐ Overall: One of my favorite so far!
Cinterre
06. May 2023 · 22:36 UTC
The art style and music is really good! Really impressive amount done for a compo. Physics felt a little floaty for my taste but that's my only complaint!
Cubellia
06. May 2023 · 23:00 UTC
This was such a fun idea and an excellent execution! I really liked the marker system, plus the graphics on the whole looked great! Awesome work!
LDJam user 245646
07. May 2023 · 01:57 UTC
At first I was playing the game, thinking "where does the delivery theme fit", and then I got to the delivery section. Oh my god, this is such a clever use of theme! Going back through the level and delivering items to the chests is such a subversion. The graphics were great and the tunes were really catchy. Only complaints are that I wish there was a faster way back to the caravan other than just killing yourself and the aspect ratio of the game made it hard to read what's going on up ahead, so you just get ambushed by an enemy because you couldn't see far enough ahead. Despite this, it was really fun, one of my favorite compo games so far!
Firespike33
07. May 2023 · 03:30 UTC
Really like the premise of this and the visuals, especially the enemy designs. It's also good to see another retro-style platformer in the contest since there weren't as many as I expected (although there are over 2 thousand games so maybe I haven't gotten a big enough sample yet).

The sluggish camera and the lack of death penalty were my main dislikes. When I was playing as Molt I just killed myself after every delivery to get back to the caravan faster. Also something is pretty screwy with the jump physics, because you can do a little double jump right after short hopping.
🎤 orbitaldot
07. May 2023 · 20:41 UTC
First off, thanks for playing the game everyone :) I want to quickly address some of the key points brought up in the comments so far:

- **The camera**: Yeah it's a bit janky. I should have focused on fixing it at the end since I had a few hours to spare before the compo deadline, but alas...

- **Navigation/backtracking**: I probably should have made Molt start in the middle of the level rather than to the very left. There actually is a way to warp around the level, but it's not totally clear in the game's design (I probably could have added a yellow dot indicator...?):
![doors.png](///raw/bb4/c3/z/5b910.png)
The doors open in Molt's turn, and standing still in front of them warps you to the other door respectively. At least people found the Death speedrun strat :) Speaking of which:

- **Death penalty**: Death is more punishing in the Hero's stage, since the Hero has no incentive to return to the beginning of the level, while Molt does. I did not want to make death too penalizing in Molt's stage (e.g. undoing chest restocking progress) due to the previous point since it'd be annoying to do all chests again after dying. But this probably could have been addressed as well by starting Molt off in the middle of the level.

I'm playing around with ideas for a post-jam version (which will probably focus more on Molt's part, since the Hero -> Molt twist can pretty much only be executed once :D, but with some extra twists nonetheless), so the critiques about the game's weak points are very helpful. I'm glad that people enjoyed the game despite those, and again, thank you all for playing!
weeping-rupee
13. May 2023 · 00:07 UTC
Love the look, interesting gimmick! Nice and forgiving too. Played it on my stream if you're interested: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1818416980