Come on, take a potato !

Submission (play the game)

New release 0.4 available

Next :
-complete scoring
-game over event
-thumbnail of each potatoes produced (after game-over)

Be good !

Graphics for each rates :

I’m not sure for texts, colors, shape… If I can save some time, I’d like to remake it.
Unless someone can tell me that it’s good enough.

Story: You are a worker on an assembly line.
Your mission: Build some  Mr  Potato De La Pomme De Terre
Tip: do things at your own pace (drag and drop elements on the potato)

For details, see my previous post : http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2013/04/27/hi-insomniacs-first-release-playable/

Click to play

Maybe too fast ? Try this and tell me what you fell :
- Version Speed 5
- Version Speed 6

Since previous release : adjust hitboxes, clean some code

Come and enjoy my potatoes: First playable demo here

En français, c’est ici

Story: You are a worker on an assembly line.
Your mission: Build some  Mr  Potato De La Pomme De Terre
Tip: do things at your own pace (drag and drop elements on the potato)

Explain ”minimalist” theme :

You noticed stuttering in the scrolling?
In reality, the assembly line speeds according to the mouse movements. So to achieve beautiful Mr. Potato Head will need to adjust your movements accurately and especially minimize your movements to the point.

In short, to succeed the player must be minimalist.

Next job :

• hitboxes adjustment
• balancing rates
• adding accessories (arms, legs, mustache)
• score of production (objectives, pace variations…)
• more graphics
• a tutorial / intro
• music

An idea based on potato, but where minimalism is the key of gameplay. In fact, I could take anything as an object instead of a potato, but it would be less funny.
A lot of code before a first playable-demo. I hope submit something during the night

Une idée à base de pomme de terre, mais où le minimalisme est la clé du gameplay. En réalité, j’aurait pu prendre n’importe quoi comme objet à la place d’une patate, mais ça serait moins drôle.
Beaucoup à coder pour arriver à une première version jouable. Mais j’espère en publier une durant la nuit

OMG it’s a game !

Ok, next idea

This time, I hope achieved a game-play…

IDE : FlashDevelop
Lib : FlashPunk

Graphics : Photoshop/Gimp, Illustrator

Maybe :
Ogmo editor, FormatFactory, LabChirb, Sunvox

A potato blooming in a pot.

AnteChristmas (compo)
TimeLaps

It was my 2nd participation to LD, and I’m very proud of it.
I dont see LD as a competition, but a personal challenge. Comunity helps to give motivation, and get feedback, and interesting discovery about creativity.

Here are my memories of that weekend.
Cet article ecrit en français

That I didn’t have time to implement:

• During the take-off sequence of the sleigh, reindeer should be harnessed just before Santa Claus boarded.
• An animated sprite to be held in the left sled (top screen) to capture packets and load them in the back of the sled.

Contents abandoned along the way :
Game-play:

• Failure condition / game over, life counter / failures
• Rhythm variation

Visual:

• Sequence where Santa blame the troll (caught breaking a packet)
• Making a background for top screen, and redesign the bottom screen (printed appearance, slight depth compared to sprites, reflections …)
• Give few semi-transparent to sprites, even a light shade (plan sets the offset.)
• Review design packages (details)

Skin:

• intro (cover G&W opening) getting to click to give focus
• instruction manual (controls)

Course of these 48h :

One false start
Rather late, I started writing several ideas in my sketch book. None of these ideas did not suit me perfectly. I could not think of anything other than the last idea that I found, so I left it there. It was a RPG reversing the roles, to adopt the perspective of blobs lv1. Aware that task was disproportionate to time I left, but mostly my skills, on head shots, I just closed without saving. At that time I was thinking really quit.

Saving break
While there were only 35 hours on 48, I followed the advice of “LD Survival Guide”, and I went out for a walk in the city (something I never do). I still wonder which way the theme « you are the Villain » Playing a villain in a video game, would take me to program a game type existing in sophisticated versions, and I felt not up to it (no experience). Consider the villain in a broader context, the difference between good and evil is in part to individual interpretation, I didn’t have time to dig into the issue to find a topic where priori to be unilateral.
It is by ceasing to think that I noticed decorations of the city. Christmas became obvious.
What’s worse to go against good feelings and pleasure rot naive children discover their gifts for Christmas morning. It is both cruel and superficial. A bit like Gremlins are on the wrong side, but in the end, is that they just do materials damages.

Development of game-play
As soon as I found this synopsis (ruin Christmas), I considered this aspect of Game & Watch. As solution that I had envisioned for its various advantages: smart graphics and relatively simple programming. At the same time, I am quite a fan and collector of these old-school games.

The idea of ​​the conveyor belt come from G&W Mario Bros., where Mario and Luigi are working on packaging wine bottles. Thus at the end of line either load the sleigh. But the device (several treadmills in reverse direction) did not seem appropriate, for lack of space. At that moment, I imagined instead of hitting packets disturb the elves on an assembly line.
I really wanted two phases of the game, and therefore the action in each split screens. As Zelda, where alternating phase platform and fight against a boss.
For controls, I’m inspired by Green House, where the character had to make round trips from one screen to another. But mostly the game Fire Attack (one of my favorites) for the breaking-packets phase (watch several locations at the same time).
The idea of ​​Santa Claus watching packets came to me during coding, because it had to something to annoy the player. I don’t know what inspired me for this feature. That may explain why it’s not entirely successful in the game that I posted.

Realization
I started by setting up the global visual to define the dimensions of both screens. I got the design of the Game & Watch from this website npes.free.fr thing I did not mention in the credits, since I’m the author (released last year).
Positioning of the elements is a crucial thing, I realized that I had fixed faster final visual elements. I like hard work, and in this context I made it a point of honor that the sprite frame is consistent with the LCD technology of the time. This involves not overlap sprites, which earned me some feedback reporting missing packets broken on the conveyor belt. In fact, these places were already occupied by the sprite of hammer. A broken package having no impact on the game play, I took the part that they can seem to disappear in some places.
I worked on the bottom screen until Sunday noon. Lack of time, with everything to make the top screen, I try to list all the essential things that remained. Then I start to make sprites for the top screen. It took me much longer than expected. Each hours, I was reviewing my list for setting priorities, ie, which seemed essential to game play.

Term
There remained just one hour to complete, and two things needed to be done. Most visuals for the top screen were ready. I had to choose between the top screen code, and code a failures counter witch implement game-over. The top screen seemed a priority. Without it the game would have seemed incomplete. While I recognize that without a game-over, there is no issue, I put so much energy to draw sprites on the screen at the top, I didn’t want to waste these feature. Now, I think that at this moment I overestimated necessary work to develop a game-over condition. Also I was really tired, and I decided to devote my energy to code top screen, rather than estimate the time needed to develop each parts.

Sheets of my sketch-book

Play online

3rd DEMO !!

Play now
(Be carefull, SFX here !)
Please, send me your feedback if adjust volume is needed.

Let me tell you more about this game.
Titled “AnteChristmas”. You play a Troll, maybe Santa-Cloth be confuse with his Santa-sprites… You’re hobby : breaking toys ! (no mercy for cute kids…)

Controls : Arrow keys LEFT, DOWN and RIGHT to move
Press SHIFT to hold your Hammer, release to hit a package.

Warning ! Santa Clothes is watching you !

You can test Here ! I hope you can leave me some feedback.

Click on the G&W to give focus.
Controls : Arrow keys, LEFT – DOWN – RIGHT

HIT : Press SHIFT to hold your hammer, and release on good time to hit.

Dont forget to clic to focus.
Play

yé

I’m making a Game & Watch… Titled “AnteChristmas” !

After a long time of reflexion, I have something. (but maybe not enough time)

First graphics

2nd participation, I hope create a real game this time.

IDE : FlashDevelop
Lib : FlashPunk

Graphics : Photoshop/Gimp

Maybe :
Ogmo editor, FormatFactory, LabChirb, Sunvox

Post-Mortem version, with display-setup, and few extra contents.

Version Post-Mortem, avec paramètres d’affichage, et contenus additionnels
→ (notamment le jeu en version française)

Download (RAR-archive) : Post-Mortem RAR Version

Download (ZIP-archive) : Post-Mortem ZIP Version

Presents Tiny Flat
Inspired by young life of a couple, who lives in a flat for single male.

I wasn’t able to start building the main feature I thought. So I focused on the treatment of the theme.
My idea was to train the characters in the search for a tiny apartment less, and more suited to the life they want to build together.
But this is not lost. I want to thank LudumDare which allowed me to start this project. It’s up to me to continue and bring it to a stage closer to a game, an interactive picture.

I’ve made a template to make some flat-mans, for saving time.
I have to draw a girl, not a flat-boy…

Hello beauty, goobye timer…

My connexion was dead during a long time.
Freebox, my nerves thanks you…