LudumData

I Call Upon the BEES! by ErikU

[raw]
made by ErikU for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

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Welcome to I Call Upon the BEES!

Welcome to my Ludum Dare 55 entry. This one was an experiment to move away from Unity and try a fantasy console, in this case WASM-4, and get a chance to write in Rust.

Play as a beekeeper in a simple, short 5 level 2D platformer. After not dedicating the full time to the jam, features were only beginning to come together, but they start to show some promise.

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Controls

  • ←/→ — Move left/right

  • ↑ — Jump

  • X/Space — Summon bees to cursor location

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Tools

  • Pixel Studio

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Credit

Credit to Yana for the palette.

Credit to 04 for the title card font.

Thoughts

WASM-4 provides a fairly low-level API, meaning much of the time was spent creating basic functionality such as limited frame rates, sprite sheets, static lifecycle management, and then editing levels in text.

The bees were done in a ECS style, with seeming memory limits around 500. It'd be fun to push this idea further, seeing where the computation limits are for a fantasy console.

In retrospect I would have liked to dedicate more time to the jam and see the idea through more thoroughly, adding more depth, artwork, sounds, and game feel.

Link https://github.com/ErikUggeldahl/LD55
Link https://erikudahl.itch.io/i-call-upon-the-bees
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/i-call-upon-the-bees

Ratings

Overall 423th 3.711⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 395th 3.658⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 9th 4.421⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 311th 4⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 299th 4.105⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Humor 335th 3.469⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Mood 627th 3.5⭐ 17🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 9🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 386211
15. Apr 2024 · 04:06 UTC
Really cute idea! I suppose you always have to jump on the bees though, right? I was having a hard time getting a second platform to jump to, because I also needed the bees underneath the character. But still really promising :)
aevek
15. Apr 2024 · 04:08 UTC
This a great little platformer! The use of the mouse to control the bees was really cool but a little tricky to juggle moving, holding the summon button, and positioning the mouse at the same time. I made it work though. I also loved the look, you used the palette very well.
Liu Pa Yueh
15. Apr 2024 · 15:03 UTC
The finish of this game is amazing! I like the idea of summoning bees too, it's just very difficult to control. I can't help but imagine that I could stand on a swarm of bees and fly all the time, like Monkey King...
Meppi
16. Apr 2024 · 14:30 UTC
I love the idea! The only thing that made the gameplay hard was controls. If moving and jumping would be also possible to do with WAD, then it's a perfect match! But who knows, maybe you wanted to make a little challenge ;D
Anyway, loved it!
ZhennaPerks
18. Apr 2024 · 21:38 UTC
Great concept, love the bees. Definitely found the controls difficult on a trackpad (laptop gaming strikes again). I wish I could have seen more of it but got stuck on a level that I just couldn't juggle. Vibes are immaculate. I really enjoyed the minimal color palette. Thank you for sharing!
LDJam user 267116
03. May 2024 · 03:23 UTC
Really cool mechanic, and a dope aesthetic. I really had to contort my hands to play the game, but I can look past that. Great job!
digital bacon
03. May 2024 · 10:19 UTC
Fun little game, love the graphics and the interesting mechanics with the bees. Excellent work!
Anton Florey
03. May 2024 · 11:33 UTC
The bees wobble downwards when you jump on them :O I really like the graphics and simple Idea of this game.
And I agree with others here, the controls made this harder than it should be :D
milq
03. May 2024 · 12:04 UTC
What a hidden gem! The bee mechanics are incredibly fun! The graphics create a special mood too! It might be cool to have a pixelated cursor icon that doesn’t disappear, though I'm not sure if this issue is because I'm using Chromium on Debian GNU/Linux. Besides this minor point, which doesn’t affect my rating, I must congratulate you on such an original idea that perfectly fits the theme. I believe this game deserves more visibility and should easily get the necessary 20 ratings! Great game!
JPatrick
03. May 2024 · 12:43 UTC
Absolutely fantastic mechanic of the bees, great implementation of the theme. Enjoyable platformer. As mentioned by others it is difficult to control the bees and the player at the same time.
TheSmellofOxygen
03. May 2024 · 12:53 UTC
Nice central mechanic! Would have been awesome to see it explored even more. Pushing objectives around with the bee ball, pollinating flowers to trigger something, or distressing npcs with them. I wish you had included WASD controls, as juggling the hands I used to play was not fun. I liked the bees, and the bee summoner's directional animations for commanding them. Some sound would have been great.
Derpmeowmeow
03. May 2024 · 14:57 UTC
I like the summoning of bees using X and the cursor. It's creative and fun, eventhough I have a hard time navigating through the third level. Nevertheless, great game!
monika
03. May 2024 · 16:43 UTC
Lots of potential here. The bee physics, the way you sink in them and the way they get pushed down when you jump off them, is amazing. The controls were a bit hard to handle at some points. I had hopes for a moment on the "follow-up" level that they could carry me while moving and though I was a bit disappointed that didn't work, the mechanic that was there was probably better and made more sense.

Also absolutely love the hair on the beekeeper.

![aristocrat.PNG](///raw/ed8/1/z/64f68.png)
Levi
03. May 2024 · 16:55 UTC
Incredible little game you have here. It was hard to use 'x' and the arrow keys at the same time as the mouse (not enough hands), but then I saw you could use Space and that saved me. Would love to see this game mechanic go to more places! Amazing. Favourite game of the jam so far.

Also thank you for making me aware of the WASM-4 console.