We made a game about a bear dual wielding gatling guns. It's good. Play it. You will have fun.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avRx-U6SNHk
Also check out the soundtrack to the game here!
https://closecallstudios.bandcamp.com/album/akimbear-ost!
Not sure where else to put this... but we recorded ourselves making AkimBear till it's completion! https://youtu.be/Hs7_0OlLuzc
Also check out the finished game here! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
Bear - Check.
2 Guns - CheckCheck.
3 colourful levels - CheckCheckCheck.
All songs and sound effects made from scratch during the jam - Check.
All assets made from scratch during the jam - Check.
Infinite Ammo - Check.
Jazz Drums - Check.
Animals harmed during the making of this video game? - ...Obviously not, they're robots. No Check.
Fun as hell to play - Check.
"check" it out here!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
Wow! could not have asked for a more positive response to our game! Thanks for all the amazing comments and playing our game. :bear:
If you haven't checked it out yet, it's about a bear with 2 machine guns. What more do I need to say? Go play it. It's fun.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
Check out what we did with our time here! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
https://youtu.be/Hs7_0OlLuzc?t=3
AkimBear was just featured on this website! Check out their review and impressions here :bear: https://www.freegameplanet.com/akimbear-browser-game/
And play and rate here! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
Music :notes:
The soundtrack for AkimBear started off as a joke and quickly morphed into something that actually fit the game quite nicely!
Its purely frantic jazz drum solo soundtrack was originally a play on one of the games influences; Banjo Kazooie. A game about a bear and a bird going on adventures,
meeting whacky characters and having a good time.
It was pretty apparent that from a character design standpoint that having a bird be a character simply wouldn’t work in the game given the main characters rogue like attitude as well as it would more of a rip off of Banjo Kazooie as opposed to a head nod.
So instead of seeing the bird as a character visually, I decided to having him be a part of the soundtrack.
Birdman is a film released in 2015 that made waves among audiences and critics alike. It was all portrayed as being 1 continuous shot and is soundtrack had little to no melody, rather was all scored by a single jazz drummer. This always stood out to me as an interesting design choice in the film as it both shared an interesting sound musically, but also played well to the lead character’s, played by Michael Keaton’s struggle. It was chaotic and yet felt intimate in a way a full symphony just could not be able to capture. So I adopted the idea of a full soundtrack of only drums. Here's an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fQ-xd1whA
And thus; in spirit the Bird and Bear were back together!!
The more I sat with the idea, the more I found reasons why it would fit best into the game. As the game is a 2D side scroller I recalled a similar style portrayed by another director; Wes Anderson. Often he would have long takes of a simple dolly shot as the camera tracks a character. Some of the these shots would be scored by a drum solo. Not only does this make the scene feel just plain cool, it also helps portray how chaotic everything is surrounding the character.
https://youtu.be/llWWGgiBY4U
The main theme for AkimBear was made on Native Instrument’s Maschine, a pad based drum machine with its jazz kit. While I do play real drums, my kit is cheap and horrible sounding. Also Everything for this game was made in one apartment room with 3 other people... so I figured this method would be the most appreciated. :heart:
The menu music was made on a Lowrey vintage organ.
SFX :microphone2:
The sound effects were kept to a minimum due to the soundtrack being so wild, so I kept it simple. In other words, I made a loud, meaty, thicc machine gun. (And some shells drops for good measure!)
So here’s a recipe I made so you can save a trip to a firing range!
DIY MACHINE GUN SOUND (1-3 MINUTES)
You will need:
1 Zoom recorder
1 strip of pizza box cardboard
1 tin (I used a planters peanut container)
1 fan
and basic editing software.
Step 1: set up the zoom mic close to the fan.
Step 2: turn on fan.
Step 3: insert tip of the cardboard pizza box strip gently into fan
Step 4: after removing the strip of pizza box cardboard, turn off fan and get your tin ready.
Step 5: tap with your fingernail on the metal top or bottom of the tin until you’re satisfied with the sound you made. (this is going to be the high pop you that you’re going to mix in with the bass-y cardboard sounds, so you want a nice pop. A flick will also to the trick.)
Step 6: In your editing software chop up some of the sounds you recorded and lay the cardboard fan sounds over the tin sounds.
Step 7: Apply so many filters… I used a low oscillating Flanger with some reverb and a bass boost, then raised the highs for nice crisp punch. Obviously this is the part with the most freedom, so have fun with it!
Bonus Step: For bullet shells; drop something light and metal on a floor tile. (We used a ring but you could use a bottle cap or something of similar size. You want something that can bounce a little, and has a nice “ting” when dropped.)
And that’s it! Had a ton of fun making the sounds, and hopefully this was of some use! I always make all the sound effects for my games because I feel it adds an extra touch of myself to the game. Plus… it’s just a lot of fun to do! Give it a shot, and get creative!!!
Oh, and check out the game here:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
And if you want to here the soundtrack, check that out here:
https://closecallstudios.bandcamp.com/album/akimbear-ost
I had a ton of fun making the art for AkimBear! :gun: :bear: :gun:
Here are some notes about my thought process while making the art!
I only recently have seen the light of understanding colour pallets and Hue Shifting, so it was a ton of fun implementing those concepts and putting them to use!
Grizzle started out as looking like a relatively cute bear, however my teammate @ecmjohnson said he should look tougher, so as a joke I gave him a cigarette and an eye patch. The team dug it, so we stuck with it. His arms were kept small so we could hide them under the guns and not have to worry about them looking bizarre if rotated 360 degrees.
I tried to add as much bounce to the character while walking to emphasize his weight, and also made the cigaret bounce with his walk to add an extra sense of movement.
The squirrel was inspired by the Junior Senior - Move Your Feet music video who wanted to blow up the world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlQpGeTbIE
The Bird was added because we wanted to add a reason to not only be aiming at the ground at all times. So I made this fella:
In the lab, it’s revealed that the animals you’ve been fighting have been robots all along! (Hence the explosions. You didn’t think we were that cruel, did you?) And of course had to have antenna and be chrome to prove it.
Last level: It’s always a laboratory.
Some of my favourite games of all time are the original The House of the Dead games.
(Specifically The House of the Dead 1&2) And I always found it funny that in that type of game, the final twist was always that “it all came from one evil lab” so I thought it would be fun to play off that trope with our main character, Grizzle, being a genetic experiment. And of course, there are ALWAYS test tubes with the enemies you fight in them. Because “science is... evil”?
The Explosions were inspired by a combination of Sonic Mania, Contra 3, and Bomb Chicken.
Elevators Each levels elevator is different! Each signifies which level you’re on by changing it’s roman numeral as well as changing which of the 3 lights flashes. Look closely when you boot it up!
I added the No Smoking sign on the elevator doors very close the end of the jam as a last minute detail to make Grizzle seem even cooler. He don't care about the rules, he's got his machine guns and nothing's going to stop him.
Honey:
The Honey pots were an idea pretty early on in development as a form of heath and we ran with it.
Not only did it work as a pick up, but also as a way to transition between levels smoothly while maintaining a consistent aesthetic. Plus it just looks tasty... Mmmm...
And yeah! That's about all I can think of that's worth showing! I had a blast creating all this stuff and exploring colour pallets!
If you have any questions let me know and i'd be more than happy to discuss.
We decided to let our parents have a shot at playing our game; AkimBear! :gun: :bear: :gun:
Thanks again to our parents who were such good sports about this. :heart:
https://youtu.be/VvlCvQbdm3w
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/akimbear
Grrrr :gun: :bear: :gun:
Grr gr grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grr gr grrr gr grrrr, gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr! Grr gr grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grrrrr gr grrr grrrrr grrr gr, grrrr gr grrrr grrr gr! Grr Grr.
Grrrrrrrrrr. :heart:
Grr gr grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grr gr grrr gr grrrr, gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr! :cactus: Grrr grrrrrr gr grrrr gr grr grrrr grrrrrrrr... Grrrr...! Grr gr grrr gr grrrr gr grrrr grrr grr grr. Grrr grr grr? Grrr! :eyes:
https://youtu.be/avRx-U6SNHk
GRR. Gr? :thinking:
Grrr grrrrrr gr grrrr gr grr grrrr grrrrrrrr... GRR.
https://youtu.be/VvlCvQbdm3w
Sorry... It's way harder to type with bear paws than you would think. Thanks for supporting our game AkimBear!!! :gun: :bear: :gun:
This is by far our most successful game jam to date. We have had a blast making the game, and creating content surrounding Its release!
We hope you've enjoyed playing AkimBear, and if you haven't tried it yet why not give it a shot!
Lots of love,
-Team Human Simulator
Here's a trailer for our game BATCLASH, a fantasy beat em up that focuses on competitive co-op! Check out the game here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/batclash
https://youtu.be/R7BOX3NtoYs
We made a game called BATCLASH that's a fantasy beat em up that focuses on competitive coop!
Challenge a friend or play solo to try to beat the dev's high scores.
Full 3D environments and a soundtrack that will get your blood pumping 🎶📢 Check out the trailer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7BOX3NtoYs
And try it out here! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/batclash
Play our game.
https://youtu.be/R7BOX3NtoYs
Come hit things HERE:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/batclash
Come play our 3D supernatural arcade beat em up!
Available for Mac, PC, and Linux.
https://youtu.be/R7BOX3NtoYs
PLAY IT. CRACK SOME SKULLS. 💀 https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/batclash
https://youtu.be/OWp9xXKA510
CHECK OUT THE TRAILER FOR OUR VIDEO GAME BEAT STURGEON ENJOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWp9xXKA510
Dr. Quackmn: An accomplished duck who has been in the field since he witnessed the traumatic childhood event of seeing his mother lead his brothers and sisters astray through a series of lethal traps. From that point on, he swore to save lives and that’s just what he’s going to do.
Dr Froggerson: As the head of the swamp division for amphibians, he quickly leaped the ranks becoming one of the most renowned medical practitioners on this side of the world as well as across the pond. Letting his patients croak is not in the cards.
Chief Medical Sturgeon: Uhh.. He’s a fish whom after watching hours of internet videos of medical practice, figured it looked easy enough and decided to try it. We don’t exactly know how he managed to get into the hospital, let alone become the chief surgeon of this operation, other than the obvious pun of Sturgeon = Surgeon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWp9xXKA510
Try it out! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/beat-sturgeon
Check out the hit fresh song all fish, frogs, and ducks are grooving to. :fish: :frog: :duck:
:musicalnote: https://closecallstudios.bandcamp.com/track/fetch-me-my-tools :musicalnote:
And check the game out as well. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/beat-sturgeon