LudumData

Firestarter by barce

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

LogoFirestarter.png

Screenshot3.png

Screenshot4.png

Screenshot5.png

Description

The Boss was very clear... Storm the place, deliver a message for those who wronged us and maybe, set everything on fire.

Firestarter is a 2D sidescroller beat'em up where you walk the shoes of Fuku, a high-schooler who deviated from the path of decency and hastily became one of the most valuable members of a local gang.

Fuku also comes with a peculiar set of skills that help him when he is on duty. Since he was a kid, he discovered an extraordinary ability to produce and bend flames.

It's a tough life but in his own words: "At the end, everybody may hate me but they forget I am just the delivery guy".

FYI

Sadly, the leaderboard feature doesn't work if you play in a browser. In order to be able to appear on it, you should download the executable. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience :pray:

Credits

  • Alvaro Infante - Code
  • Joaquín Volonté - Code/Game Design
  • Vincent Silva - Code/Game Design
  • Bruno Arce - Game Design
  • Maru Silveira - Art
  • Nico de León - Art
  • Rodrigo Noguera - Art
  • Santiago Ramos - Music and SFX
Link https://jvolonte.itch.io/firestarter
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/53/firestarter

Ratings

Overall 263th 3.879⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Fun 488th 3.547⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 987th 2.844⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1104th 3.106⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 25th 4.682⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 163th 3.955⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 400th 3.409⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Mood 307th 3.833⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 47🗨️

Feedback

blobo
02. May 2023 · 01:11 UTC
Marvelous. As always, the art and animations are extremely stylish. The explosions, and flame, and overall impact of these animations coupled with the screenshake add so much juice! This game has style.

The fighting took some getting used to, and for a while I forgot I could block. The heavy attack felt *so* good, though I realized it's not that much stronger than simply getting a good combo with the light attack. Perhaps it's base damage could be a bit higher?

The layout of the stage was a bit confusing at times. Some elevators took me to unexpected places (and sometimes enemies were prepared at the door for me) though I started to find my way around at the end.

Finally, the game crashed- which is a shame! I had a lot of fun and would've loved to keep the run going. I recorded myself playing, so hopefully the cause of the crash can be identified. Stellar work all around, I loved it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRyeGxc0xzY
🎤 barce
02. May 2023 · 01:17 UTC
hey! @100th-coin how are you doing? Thanks for the heads up, we are working to fix it ASAP. I hope you like the game :raised_hands:
🎤 barce
02. May 2023 · 02:09 UTC
@100th-coin Thank you so much for your review! (and for the testing report :joy:). We are so glad that you liked it and played it for such a long time! We wanted to create a sense of labyrinth with the elevators, but maybe it was too much of a thing haha.

I agree with you that maybe the heavy attack should have a higher base stat, we might take a look to it :wink:

We will take a look to the crash so we can improve the experience of the upcoming players, thanks again for your fulfilling review!
Kristina25
03. May 2023 · 20:37 UTC
No comments! Everything is just perfect)!
Connor Magson
03. May 2023 · 20:43 UTC
It boggles my mind how anyone could make all this beautiful art in < 72 hours. Well done everyone, your game is so cool :grin:
sbeif
03. May 2023 · 20:57 UTC
This is amazing, the level of polish is astounding. Great art and music and the combat feels natural, which is not easy in a beat em up. Only the theme here is a bit of a stretch but since this edition's was so uninspiring I can't blame you. I'm not 100% sure what happend at a certain point when while interacting with a machine I respawned at the start of the level. I had fun and I'm glad I played it, great job!
LDJam user 285972
03. May 2023 · 21:02 UTC
Wow! This game looks great! The art is outstanding and the audio fits the mood well. I love the character and this little funny intro the game starts with! The sound effects are great as well!! ♡

I can not comment on the gameplay much, since I'm just very unexperienced in this type of games and could not go for far despite trying really hard,,, But I'm glad I played it! It felt like a very stylish and cool experience and for that I'm thankful!

Good luck! I hope this game receives the love and support it deserves! ♡♡♡
Joao Mazzarolo
03. May 2023 · 21:14 UTC
Good job! A very well made game, extremely polish and with fantastic graphics!
slimetrash
04. May 2023 · 22:55 UTC
loved this, felt like something i wouldve played on newgrounds 10 years ago
Savolae
04. May 2023 · 22:58 UTC
Absolutely amazing visuals with smooth gameplay. Felt like the shop was a bit too expensive, but had a great time nevertheless. This was an extremely polished title for only 72 hours, great job!
the neon shark
04. May 2023 · 22:59 UTC
Reeeeealy good aesthetic. Oldschool Flash game vibes.
Aymco
04. May 2023 · 23:00 UTC
Incredible game ! the art is just perfect and everything is polish. Just some bug with the attack, i was able to attack and directly block and spamming attack and block was strange too.
Well done for this game !
Rocket and Blanky
04. May 2023 · 23:01 UTC
Excellent entry! Congrats to the team!!
indigoninja
04. May 2023 · 23:05 UTC
I'm really impressed with the art and audio here! The controls felt pretty good, but need something to spice it up a bit. If your team is planning to continue development, I'd suggest giving combat more depth either with more attack options/combos or with more varied enemies. Overall though, good job!
slimefriend
04. May 2023 · 23:07 UTC
This was really cool! That combat system was really well executed, every attack felt punchy and powerful. My only wish is that the enemies had a little less HP or punched less often, I found myself getting hit even after blocking their attacks several times. Still, it's a minor gripe in an otherwise pretty great game!
geck0
04. May 2023 · 23:37 UTC
Amazing art style and smooth gameplay for an LD game. It looks like you're a good team.

It's a fun game, but I don't know if it ends at some point or is infinite xD I do all the "tasks" and then I spawn again to do the same (with a power up if I had enough money at the last ending)

I had some problems the first time I died because the "Submit" button didn't work and I could only press "Exit", maybe a "Skip" or "try again" button might help if you don't want to submit (or if you read it doesn't work in the html version hehe). After exiting, my browser only opened the game after many attempts to update the game.

But this inconvenience was worth it, I wanted to keep playing this anyway :P
mitur
05. May 2023 · 21:34 UTC
Very polished game, had a great deal of fun with it! :fire:

The only thing I felt I wanted was an indication of the heavy attack full charge, so that I could release it safely and maybe an ability to turn around while charging it :)
RenardGames
06. May 2023 · 06:28 UTC
Very good job!!It looks very polished and the graphics are really nice!Would love to see it expanded into a whole beat em up!
Francis
06. May 2023 · 22:01 UTC
The attack animations felt very satisfying, but in the end I found that I could just sit there and spam heavy attack over and over and be invincible basically. I think the enemies had too much HP and it felt like I was hitting like a wet noodle, contrary to the cool animation. I didn't really like the confusing level layout, it ended up in a lot of backtracking. The light combo was cool, but it felt more risky to use light attack than heavy so I just stuck to that. I lost when I got sandwiched between two enemies and I couldn't break through. It'd be nice if there was a way out of a situation like that.

Overall, I enjoyed the art style, audio, and overall concept. There are some good ideas and foundations here, but it wasn't that compelling gameplay-wise yet.
ardorugus
07. May 2023 · 03:35 UTC
Cool and polished with some retro vibe. Loved the concept. Great art and level design!
🎤 barce
07. May 2023 · 03:44 UTC
Thank you all for the feedback and your kind words! :hearts:
🎤 barce
07. May 2023 · 03:49 UTC
hey @francis, I guess you were not that invincible if you died by getting sandwiched. :joy: We wanted the enemies to be hard at first in order to give more impact to the upgrades, so the player could feel the progression with every improvement. Maybe it was too much HP for the first level though.

Regarding the sandwich issue, you could try blocking and timing both enemy attacks in order to find the opening and fight them back, for sure the heavy attack or just sitting there won't help you in that situation. In terms of level design, we were inspired by Team Rocket's hideout in the classic Pokémon video games, we tried to make it feel like a labyrinth. Maybe a minimap could have been helpful but we didn't have enough time. :upside_down:

Thanks for your feedback! Have a nice day.
SmDaniels
07. May 2023 · 19:13 UTC
Nice style and atmosphere. Lighter reminds me JoJo Golden Wind ahaha. I think elevator sound little bit loud? Would be nice to see neon streets! And also some heals maybe? Or maybe i miss it :) Good job!
🎤 barce
07. May 2023 · 21:04 UTC
Hey @smdaniels. Thank you for your feeback! Neon streets would be something great for sure! Regarding heals, you can buy them after you finish a level. Thanks again for playing!
vidarn
08. May 2023 · 06:19 UTC
Super polished game, with great graphics and sound. It all fit together really well and the combat was satisfying. I like how the game felt like a modern take on the old school beat 'em up.

Good job with the intro as well. It set the stage nicely without being to long.
Prismapunch
12. May 2023 · 21:24 UTC
very very impressive the amount you've been able to accomplish within the timeframe. defined style, cool animations, and great sound design.