Dr Shrink and the Horrors of the Infinite by Conor Wilson
EUREKA! Dr. Shrink has finally perfected the formula for his shrinking potion! He just forgot one little thing: how is he going to grow back??
A silly little platformer where you fight past the tiny creatures in Dr. Shrink's lab multiple times, growing smaller and smaller each time.
Play the Post-Jam Version here!
This was my first game jam and I had such a good time!!
NOTE: The embedded build on ldjam.com appears to not work for some machines, so please follow the link to my itch.io page below!
Controls:
- Movement: ← → / A D
- Jump: ↑ / W
- Throw Shrinking Catylist: spacebar
- Use Potion Machine: ↓ / S
Tools Used:
- Engine: Godot
- Gameplay Code: GDScript
- Art: Aseprite, and a lot of external assets (credited below)
Credits:
- Main learning material: Net Ninja's Build a Platformer with Godot
- Artwork:
- Net Ninja's Godot Platformer Assets
- Elthen's Pixel Art Scientist Sprites (paid for)
- Elthen's Pixel Art Rat Sprites (paid for)
- Craftpix.net's Octopus, Jellyfish, Shark and Turtle Pixel Art
- ShanDsparil's Ants and Bugs
- MisterZEDMan's Simple Ground Tiles
- Some that I made myself in Aseprite (also much of the above has been adjusted for the game)
- Music and Sound Effects: Net Ninja's Godot Platformer Assets
- Fonts: m6x11 by Daniel Linssen (aka managore)
List of Known Bugs:
Here's a list of known bugs that I will resolve in a fixed version of this game after the jam (fixes are all viewable in the Post-Jam Version on GitHub): - ~~Music does not loop.~~ (Fixed) - ~~"Catalyst" is spelled wrong multiple times.~~ (Fixed) - ~~Shrink Catalyst in final level has low chance of spawning out of reach if you're VERY unlucky.~~ (Fixed) - ~~Platforming can be very tricky due to lack of quality of life features like coyote time.~~ (Fixed) - ~~Shrink Catalyst projectile does not spawn from the centre of the player in final level.~~ (Fixed) - ~~If you activated the Potion Machine from inside of it's hitbox, you have to leave it and re-enter it to be able to use it.~~ (Fixed) - Some enemies are unavoidable in the final level and have to be tanked. (Will address in a future update if that ever happens)
Let me know in a comment below if you find any more and I'll fix it in the post-jam version!
Ratings
| Overall | 268th | 3.833⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 196th | 3.821⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 31th | 4.179⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 35th | 4.397⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 124th | 3.872⭐ | 41🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 360th | 3.737⭐ | 40🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 54🗳️ | 86🗨️ |
Also, turns out that the ldjam.com embedded build is actually working on some machines. Please use the itch.io link if it's not working for you!!
Pretty challenging on the last segment as well, took me a few tries
Really clever - I think this works really well and definitely nails the theme. I saw the tiny platforms when the game booted up and had a feeling I would be shrinking multiple times, so it was cool to be able to scout out the level early on.
I think my only complaint is that it was a bit too easy. I never really felt threatened by the the enemies, and when I was at the smallest form, I realized I could just run through all the enemies without taking enough damage to die. Of course for a game jam, it's better to be a little too easy than too hard.
Especially for your first game jam, this was a really solid entry. Good work!
- Infinite throws of the potion seemed a little overpowered (but was really useful at times)
- The music (which is super vibey) stops after about a minute
- It is a little finicky to shrink sometimes; like you have to try a few times and move around a bit
- I couldn't always tell if I was going to be able to go through a surface or collide with it so maybe that distiction could be a little more obvious
- It was a little weird that my potions could go through any surface even when I couldn't
Overall, I think the game is so fun! I would love to see it expanded!
I also think "catalyst" is misspelled twice in the game.
The music not looping in particular is super annoying because I had it looping fine and then I must have disabled the loop somehow just before exporting :rolling_eyes: oh well it's the nature of the beast that some things would go wrong.
First and the most important one, platformers need something the collective has been calling "coyote jump". Because your game is lacking it, very often jumps may feel unfair, or your character unresponsive. Check it out and try to implement it to your post jam version of the game would love to check it out.
Second important note, are unavoidable/ unfair enemies. When you shrink to much the mouse enemy has to be tanked. There is no way to avoid it since your jump is to low now and you cannot outrun it. Same with spiders, I feel like there is to many of them and they are relentless and feel like they spot you immediately.
Now what I loved about your game, and I really mean it is the concept. The idea and the clever use of theme was brilliant. Such a cool concept you almost made me want to make game like that, when you can see the level at first and than just shrink and shrink and unlock new passages. It's amazing how many new paths you manage to stuff in to one level. Some really impressive stuff for your first game.
Please continue your work on games, and I hope you will update this one and let us all know.
PS Just read the description part about known bugs and I can see the coyote time has been addressed already. Should've done that before I posted this wall of text. Oh well I guess I learn something today as well :P
It's a unique concept, top marks for innovation, if you did develop again beyond the compo , a few tweaks to the jumping / throwing mechanics would make it more fun for sure.
love the concept and the implementation is quite genious! The art is also superb!
Only nitpick i have is that sometimes the jumping felt off, but that-s about it
Keep up the good work! <3
For your information, the game on the Ludum page doesn't run for me in Chromium on GNU/Linux, but it works on itch.io. Honestly, I have very little negative to say. The only suggestion I would make is to create all the graphics yourself, as this would make the game feel more complete and personal. While it's okay to use third-party music, creating your own graphics (or collaborating with an artist) would make your game shine even more.
Nevertheless, my sincerest congratulations, it's a great game and I had a fantastic time playing it!
You might want to consider Coyote time in the future though. A lot of my struggles were jumping just a fraction of a second too late, and that's pretty rough feeling.
But yeah, a very impressive first game.
All the criticism and tips I would give are already pointed out above, so I'll leave you with a well done :smile:
Impressive for your first game jam.
I love how much mileage you were able to get out of designing a single level. The character's size really does change the whole dynamic of the traversal, which must have taken a lot of thought and planning. Well done!
Very cute graphics and animations, it was fun to play :)
The itch version should be working fine though!
https://quietlantern.itch.io/dr-shrink-and-the-horrors-of-the-infinite
[The post-jam version with all the fixes to the bugs you all found is available on the itch.io page :ok_hand:](https://quietlantern.itch.io/dr-shrink-and-the-horrors-of-the-infinite)
[I also made a Post-Mortem blog post that you can find here :smile:](https://ldj.am/$406585)
See you guys next time :v: