LudumData

The Bullet Box by MonsieurDuck

[raw]
made by MonsieurDuck for Ludum Dare 54 (COMPO)

the bullet box temp.PNG How long can you last in the Bullet Box? Remember, every shot matters...

TL;DR

This first person shooter can be played as many times as you want, try and reach your own high score!

You're in a box, with seemingly some bad goblins, but you'll soon realize they're not the ones that are the most threatening to you...

screenshot3.PNG

About

48 hours, Ludum Dare 54' compo. The art assets are from Unreal Engine Marketplace, but the music, sound effects, and programming were all done in 48 hours. All code/blueprints were made from scratch within the timeframe. It's also my first time going solo in a game jam, and my first time using Unreal for an actual game! Super happy I have at least something to show for.

Engine: Unreal Engine 5.3

Music: Ableton Studio + my MIDI keyboard

Fuel: Funk music + Lots and lots of caffeine

There's so much I wanted to add to the game but didn't have the time. I think the idea has a lot of potential, and I want to expand it on but alas 48 hours is only so long so another time then.

CONTROLS

  • WASD (or gamepad) to move
  • Space (or :a: ) to jump
  • Mouse or Joystick to aim
  • Hold Left Click or LTrigger to charge
  • Release Left Click of LTrigger to fire
  • Esc/P or Select to pause

screenshot2.PNG

Link https://github.com/MonsieurDuck/LudumDare54FirstPerson
Link https://monsieurduck.itch.io/the-bullet-box
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/the-bullet-box

Ratings

Overall 215th 3.462⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 187th 3.463⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 145th 3.574⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 156th 3.778⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Audio 86th 3.63⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 125th 3.021⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 274th 2.907⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 32🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 372425
02. Oct 2023 · 22:17 UTC
I dig the music! I pretty quickly learned the worst thing you can do is shoot a few bullets without charging because they end up super fast and impossible to avoid. I like that every time you shoot you're adding more danger for yourself as well as the enemies. I think that also hits on the theme nicely since you're effectively reducing the play space if you're shooting a lot. I also it's neat that you can charge the weapon without shooting to almost use it as a melee weapon. I got pretty far doing that, but since it requires you to get up close I got killed by something behind me that I couldn't see. Seems like a good trade-off though. I definitely think this gives you a cool space to experiment with different game mechanics given more time!
FunnyPumpkin
03. Oct 2023 · 00:11 UTC
Pretty intense gameplay and looks pleasing!
InstantTrain
03. Oct 2023 · 00:23 UTC
Interesting. The more shots a player fires, the more danger fills the arena. For the sake of being merciful to the player, I do have to wonder if there's room for allowing bullets to disappear after a certain amount of bounces, or a maximum amount of bullets in the box at any given time (frankly, that would also be merciful on the player's computers as well).

When it comes to losing, I think a good rule of thumb is that players don't enjoy dying to things they can't see. Due to the fact that the Bullet Box takes place in a cube, there's going to be a lot of bouncing around with projectiles, and I did end up getting killed to bullets bouncing behind my head/the camera more often than not. In a world where there was more time to work on this game, I think adding some sort of sensor or warning to alert the player for danger behind them could be useful. All in all, an interesting game!
InstantTrain
03. Oct 2023 · 00:23 UTC
Interesting. The more shots a player fires, the more danger fills the arena. For the sake of being merciful to the player, I do have to wonder if there's room for allowing bullets to disappear after a certain amount of bounces, or a maximum amount of bullets in the box at any given time (frankly, that would also be merciful on the player's computers as well).

When it comes to losing, I think a good rule of thumb is that players don't enjoy dying to things they can't see. Due to the fact that the Bullet Box takes place in a cube, there's going to be a lot of bouncing around with projectiles, and I did end up getting killed to bullets bouncing behind my head/the camera more often than not. In a world where there was more time to work on this game, I think adding some sort of sensor or warning to alert the player for danger behind them could be useful. All in all, an interesting game!
🎤 MonsieurDuck
03. Oct 2023 · 00:30 UTC
@instanttrain thanks for the feedback! I agree, dying to what you can't see does not feel good. I wanted to add some sort of minimap or sensor, but the mechanics behind them were too complex in too short of a time. I ended up adding sounds based off how close they were, but it wasn't as clear. I think the game works better as a top down as well, but I wanted to try and make a fps so I just went with it.

@rcxa yeah haha there's a bit of a learning portion at the beginning. Thanks for the kind words, I'm probably most happy with the music out of everything so I'm glad you liked it too.
LDJam user 237413
03. Oct 2023 · 01:24 UTC
I like the idea that you're your own worst enemy, but I agree with @instanttrain that bullets should eventually disappear. Nice one
PassbyKamenRider
03. Oct 2023 · 02:00 UTC
Like the idea that your own bullets will hurt you, but I agree with other comments that it would be better if bullets should not exist forever. Overall a nice fps made in 48hrs, I'm trying to switch to unreal from unity so your game provides helpful information for how many designs I can add for a 48hr unreal game!
Gamer Fates
03. Oct 2023 · 03:20 UTC
Pretty cool, glad to see unreal 5+ being used. How long did it take you to learn the engine?
cogcomp
03. Oct 2023 · 18:19 UTC
Nice one. I started off blasting everywhere and very quickly realising what I did wrong :laughing: I was hoping that I could cancel out my own bullets as well. That way it would require some practice instead of letting the bullets fade away which others have suggested. That will just motivate players to play the game at a slower pace.
LDJam user 315170
03. Oct 2023 · 18:34 UTC
I really like the double-edged mechanic that your bullets have, you need to be careful about where and how you're shooting your bullets so that it doesn't backfire on you. However, I do think that the bullets should not last forever, and the tiny bullets should be nerfed a bit so they're more usable. The small shots travel so extremely fast that it is almost a guaranteed death. The ragdoll animation when you die is very funny too, good job!
🎤 MonsieurDuck
03. Oct 2023 · 19:34 UTC
@gamer-fates I just picked up in the last two weeks, did one tutorial on youtube and then tried making this game haha. It was quite frustrating trying to figure out because there's not a lot of documentation, but I found it's overall pretty streamlined for a fps.

Thanks everyone else for your comments, I definitely agree there should be a little more counter play overall to the forver bouncing bullets. It definitely encourages slower play which is not too ideal.
don.shinski
05. Oct 2023 · 00:22 UTC
Nice mechanics and good take on the theme. Good work!
PabloAbraham
05. Oct 2023 · 02:16 UTC
I played 'The Bullet Box' and really liked the idea of having to think before shooting. I was always hoping not to waste bullets. The minimalist atmosphere adds a lot to the tension. It would be cool if the bullets had some kind of feedback when they disappear, because sometimes I found myself looking for them. Overall, great work for a 48 hour project!
jk5000
05. Oct 2023 · 19:06 UTC
You will in no way be impressed.

I liked the music and the visuals. The gameplay is simple and pretty fun. The biggest enemy is clearly my own bullets. Overall a fine little jam game.
LDJam user 235915
07. Oct 2023 · 08:03 UTC
Interesting game! Really limited space!)
Robbobin
08. Oct 2023 · 10:21 UTC
I really enjoyed this! Could definitely see this being expanded into something really unique and special.

I'd be interested in seeing some different control schemes explored - something that has more interesting movement than a basic FPS.

The mouse sensitivity also felt way too high for me personally - would've been nice to change that.
LDJam user 378522
08. Oct 2023 · 12:24 UTC
Pretty cool idea, definitely fits the theme of limited space!
real_flamingicecubegames
08. Oct 2023 · 19:55 UTC
At first I thought "How hard could this be?" and I just blindly spammed the gun onto anything that moved. I then kept thinking "Why the hell am I dying?" before the terrifying realization set in.

I really dig the use of the theme here. Making my own hell was quite fun. Also, having goblins that deter the player from just camping in one spot was a great touch.

I actually would play an expanded version of this. Good work.
LDJam user 239490
09. Oct 2023 · 02:35 UTC
This was more challenging and interesting than I thought it would be initially. I like that your shots bounce off the walls and become a hazard for you. It gets really crazy once several enemies are spawning in at once. I like that you can hold a shot to make it bigger as well. Good use of the theme too. Maybe an update could include different weapons that have different bounce effects, etc.
MozokEvgen
10. Oct 2023 · 11:10 UTC
Got killed and thinking "Am I just arms". And right after that reading: "Yes, you are just arms". This was the funniest moment for me)
I've tried to play in "melee mode" - just hold LMB and run across the cube)
bentglasstube
12. Oct 2023 · 07:38 UTC
Pretty interesting concept for a shooter. As others have mentioned, it feels a bit crappy to die to something you couldn't see at all. I understand the audio volme as a signal but I felt like that took away from the music which I really enjoyed. Overall a fun game that just needs a little more polish.
MiniBetrayal
13. Oct 2023 · 01:47 UTC
Fantastic Idea. I did find a way to cheese it though. If you press and hold the fire button, you can run around and kill goblins with the glowing ball without actually releasing it. I got up to 92 before the enemy wizard (?) goblins were spawning faster than I could kill them that way and got clipped by a blue ball i didnt see coming.
LDJam user 238639
15. Oct 2023 · 18:27 UTC
The bouncing bullets are a neat threat, but the first-person perspective and the game being in 3D make it difficult to meaningfully track and dodge the bullets. There also seems to be a bit of lag when moving with WASD. IMO it takes too long to get up to full speed when moving, especially if I need to be dodging fast-moving bullets everywhere. There also isn't much that can threaten you if you just stand in a corner and try to dodge the occasional bullet from yourself - the DVD logo method. I feel like the default goblins that just stand there could've been cut from the game or programmed to at least pose some sort of threat. It's also pretty much essential to include a mouse sensitivity setting in an FPS.
OddballDave
17. Oct 2023 · 15:20 UTC
At first I didn't realize my own bullets were hitting me, but once I got that I was cooking. The only issue gameplay wise is not having any clue that a bullet is about to hit you in the back. Other than that it works great. Audio is spot on, so 5* for that. Controls were great. All round a fine entry. Good stuff :8ball: