[SA Game Jam 2018] Dark Dragon

nickidebruyn

SA Game Jam 2018
Dark Dragon
Hobbyist
72hr entry

This game is a side scrolling 2D endless plat-former.
Get it here : https://nickidebruyn.github.io/unity/sagamejam2018/index.html

I struggled with getting time to do all that I intended but there is something at least.
You as player can control the dragon. Fly the dragon through the generated levels and collect "Fire Crystals".

The intent was that when you collect fire crystals you could unlock new capabilities such as fire shooting etc but I did not have enough time to work on shooting enemies and fire breathing capabilities.

But yeah, check it out and please leave a comment.

nickidebruyn

Okay I finally got something to share.
Today did not gave me much time.
I got some character movement and some parallax backgrounds going.

KleinM

Ah man love the art style!! great work so far!! really looking forward to playing!

BenCrooks

Awesome, it has a great badlands feel! what you might consider doing is making it clear what layer you actually collide with, I'm not sure whether it was the dark green or black :). I guess the player will figure it out as soon as they die though.
But then also it would be great with some parallax and some foreground objects

Nandrew

I'm really liking the look and feel of this, and seems to have all of the jetpack joyride frames in place. :)

How do you think you'll plan to home in on competition theme?

vince

Agreed with @BenCrooks on differentiating the dangerous colors from the safe ones. If the lighter colors moved slower to give a parallax effect as they mentioned, it should be clearer to the player that they are farther back, and thus not dangerous.

nickidebruyn

Hey all,
Yep, that is the reason for the black color in the front and the player being black as well.

I am also planning on giving the dragon only flight in the beginning and as the player progress unlocking new possibilities.
Such as collecting fire crystals to give home fire breathing capabilities.

There will be ground enemies which he need to shoot with maybe fireballs.

SUGBOERIE

I'd suggest reducing the value of the background elements or even slightly blurring them.

nickidebruyn

Hey @SUGBOERIE,
That is actually not a bad idea to blur the background.
Let me test that and see how it looks.

PS: I just got back from the Airshow...

nickidebruyn

Okay here is a preview of where I am now.
There is now a menu and a few different terrains to crash on.
The distant scoring system is also in place.

tasty_jose

With the blurred background this thing is looking clean! excited to play.

Nandrew

Very keen to see how it feels when the build comes around! It's already looking smooth.

nickidebruyn

Hi @Nandrew,
You are welcome to go an check my game out.

This is a web build so please shout if it is not working so that I can make a PC build.

Orimaso

Love the art style. Really clean look. Controls also feels natural.

CGVega

Feels very flappy bird-esque. Reminds me that I suck at these. High score 12! whoo.
I'm not sure what the orange diamonds do... I see my score is based on the other number, which looks like a counter.

vfqd

I really enjoyed the level of polish on this :) What generation algorithm did you use for the terrain? It felt like sometimes I could get all the way to 10 without even really having to dodge but sometimes I had to at 2. Also, it wasn't super obvious that the trees were obstacles you had to dodge, I know that's probably why you made them black but my eyes just kept blurring them into the background. Overall though, really nice work!

Tuism

Well polished! The parallax background looks great, I wouldn't have minded even more blur :) Gameplay wise it's basically a flappy bird, and just as unforgiving. The procedural generation is pretty good, seemed varied without generating any kind of dead ends, so that's good. I was surprised that the trees and foliage were hard obstacles, kinda didn't feel right since you're a "dark dragon" and all that powerful stuff :)

Great little game!

Rigormortis

Nice one! Spend a couple of minutes playing this. I was also surprised the first time I hit a tree, but was quick enough to adapt. I like the very first fire every time you started. I thought it was a nice touch that you can immediately take a risk and actually "practice" to at least get a very slight advantage by playing a lot.

konman

This game is as hard as nails. I like. It appeals to my stubbornness! I tried many many times. I console myself in the fact it is endless, somehow. At least I tell myself that. Its not me, its the game!

Wonderful little game with some mesmerizing art. The levels seem procedural? That would make it hard to create an easy learning curve for the player, unless it is constructed with such a curve in mind?

Overall a well implemented spin on a well known genre. The polish and art shines. Well done @nickidebruyn

KleinM

This game is SO difficult! Hahaha, but that is what makes is fun. I ended up just trying not to die and ignored the fire crystals. Maybe you should add a distance traveled in there as well and punish the player for not collecting a crystal. Good game overall, found no game braking bugs and the art is clean and beautiful. Is there a reason why you chose mouse input over keyboard input?

poleydog

I think your art style has a lot of potential and agree with the commenters above about the potential of taking it to a similar space to Limbo and Badlands. It's tough, but so are other games in this genre. I got a top score of about 7 lol. I really like the idea you had of giving a bit of personality through your titles when you die - I did spot a few typos though. Not a big thing. It might be interesting if it ramped up speed as you collected more diamonds. Well done on your entry :)

Wolfbeard

Really liked this game!

Could've used some music - contact one of the composers at the next jam - we're all over the forum.
I loved the dragon animation.
Loved the procedural level generation as well.

Weeabro

very aesthetically pleasing! especially the slightly blurred parallax effect.

Some more mechanics would have been nice (maybe allow them to be purchased with the gems?)

SpaceDassie

Really like the level of depth you created, it adds a lot to the game. Was really enjoyable and love the death effect and sound.
Some moving objects could be nice to add a more of a dynamic feeling to the game.