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Thanks to Blobby for the logo.
[b]RandJam
There are many coding challenges but RandJam is different: RandJam is stupid.
You have 30 days to make a game based on the output of a random name generator (here's the one I used:
http://videogamena.me/). You don't have to take the first name you get, just whatever sounds funny or interesting. The purpose of RandJam is to test your creativity, and work with absurd concepts that wouldn't normally enter the mind of any sane person. Working on a project that you don't have any vested interest in (unlike that MMO you've been planning for 8 years) should help you make quick decisions and end up with a finished game at the end of the month, no matter how weird or broken it is. Be as crazy as you like.
Rules
* All programming languages are permitted.
* Your game must be free to play.
* Please include a reference to RandJam13 somewhere in your game (maybe use the logo above).
* To enter, post the name of your game below, along with some indication that you are going to make it.
* If I have not added your entry to the list in my last edit please shout at me.
* While there cannot be any objective criteria for "wacky names", please try to pick one that challenges you to make something unique and interesting.
* Don't be shy: share your progress with us, even if it's just a screen-shot or a boring flowchart, it really does help to motivate each other.
* Deadline is April 30th 2013.
Trouble finding a name? Here are some interesting ones that have yet to be taken:
Cyborg Sunshine Jamboree
All-American Transvestite from Hell
Space Wheelchair Kombat
Enormous Piano Strikes Back
Primal Dating Attack
Cosmic Ostrich Smuggler
Bloody Rainbow Marines
Satan's Tennis Simulator
Spectacular Nazi Boxing
Dracula's Chipmunk in the Middle East
Cthulhu's Surf of Death
Obsessive-Compulsive Thief of the Third Reich
Heavy Metal Makeover Assault
Search for the Dentist from Mars
Ultraviolent Cheese Competition
Communist Moon Soldier
A Boy and His Turtle Task Force
Entries
OBese87 - Zombie Donkey Crime Scene Investigation
BigAdd - Orbital Badminton 3000
TheComet - Deep Space Janitor Ignition
Blobby 101 - Religious Mutant Demolition - play
Fluffy Rabbit - Low G Hobo Legends - download
Ortu - Cantankerous Helicopter Caper
MissJoJo - American Dog Feud!
Pauli - Curse of the Yeti Desperadoes - download
mr Handy - Hitler's Rabbit Factory
budokaiman - Vegetarian Fighter Returns
INH - Zany Hair Salon vs. The Space Mutants
Shellfish Games - Grand Wheelchair Destruction
Thraxas - All-Night Arcade Shoot - download
The Zoq2 - Medieval Dungeon Advance - play
The Zoq2 - Remote Programming Slaughter - play
Since this isn't a real competition and we don't need a respectable person to judge, I thought I'd have a look at the games submitted and give my thoughts.
Reviews
Low G Hobo Legends by Fluffy Rabbit -
The idea of chasing pennies in low gravity is actually kind of fun. I was a bit disappointed that the playing area was so small, which also meant the pennies often spawned right on top of me. The AI of the hobos is broken and they don't seem to be able to collect the coins on the rare occasions they move over them, but even major bugs can be excused given the time constraints.
The sound was the best part of the game for me, the music was pretty good (I assume made by Fluffy) and a good use of sound effects used.
Overall I think LGHL has potential, maybe with a bigger playing area and multiple denominations of coins and multiple coins spawning at the same time to add a bit of strategy, and this could be an okay "toilet" game to spend a few minutes on.
by Thraxas -
This game is set up pretty well but there are a few issues. My main concern is the blurring of the ducks as they moved across the screen, I don't know if this was an FPS issue but it was uncomfortable and actually made me feel queesy after a while. The positioning of the ducks was also suboptimal: the game starts fairly well with multiple rows but after a while their numbers thin until only a single line of ducks remains (I tested this a couple of times and got the same effect), at that point I felt like I was working on a conveyor belt as quality control for a factory that makes red ducks.
The inclusion of the red penalty ducks show that Thraxas knows how to make these games interesting, with more development time I could definitely see people playing All-Night Arcade Shoot (maybe with a more exciting name), especially on a touch screen device.
by Pauli -
This game actually has more horror elements than most AAA horror games. The fact enemies can spawn outside your line of sight and start attacking you instantly is very unsettling, they also take a few hits to kill which creates a kind of panic when you spot one and frantically click away at it. I would like to see the yetis get closer if you don't kill them quick enough, but not shuffling towards you like zombies -- this is a big problem in some horror games because it removes the element of fear, if you can see all the enemies coming towards you from different angles, even if it's overwhelming, it is no longer horror and becomes a time-management strategy game -- I'd like to see the yetis fade back into the snow and maybe appear again nearer the player. As time goes on in the game a blizzard could gradually pick up, allowing the yetis to get closer and closer!
I have to point out the technical issues though: my mouse cursor kept escaping from the game window, and sometimes the "yeti indicator" pointed in unhelpful directions. There's also a tendency for the camera view to jolt right or left at some points.
On the whole this is a surprisingly fun game that could really benefit from some sound assets.
by Blobby101 -
The opening titles and menu screen look very nice, but perhaps they shouldn't have had so much attention given the current state of the game. There are some nice animations with some subtleties, like the glowing stained glass windows and the jostling crucifix necklace of the religious mutant.
The first thing that struck me as odd (besides the tentacled priest, Obese?) was that enemies appear from the left side of the screen, "behind" the player. Effectively then, the "baddies" are chasing you towards a pair of doors at the far end of the church (which don't appear to lead anywhere), but if this is the case why am I running down a corridor in plain sight of armed soldiers?? Why is there no message on screen to indicate that I should "Get to tha choppa!"
The player is also given a gun, which brings a few more issues with it. Firstly, why is the player required to press a key to pick up the gun in the first place? Is this a choice? I tried playing without picking up the gun but nothing seemed to change, the soldiers still shot at me. Secondly, it was very hard to tell whether I was in line of fire or not and this made despatching enemies a bit of a stab in the dark. Thirdly, the gun runs out of ammo and there is no replacement; now, I can't tell what Blobby's intentions are here but one leads to good design and one to very bad design. If the enemies were intended to drop ammo when killed then that would be bad design because the player is supposedly supposed to be running away from the soldiers yet he is being rewarded for backtracking and killing them. If ammo drops were intended to spawn further down the corridor then this is good design because it encouraces the player to keep moving and not get stuck in a static gun battle, lest he run out of ammo.
I don't really know what to say about this game because it's quite ambitious, and therefore there are a lot of loose ends and missing elements of the game. This is another entry with potential but I feel it probably needs the most rethinking of its mechanics, which is maybe a little unfair since it is one of the more complex entries so there's more room for error. I'd like to see more instruction given to the player and some way for them to understand the intentions of the Religious Mutant, does he just want to slaughter everything, is he running for his life, does he want to spread his mutant religion across the world, is it up to the player to decide? Maybe throwing in some obstactles, some potential traps to outwit and neutralise his pursuers and this could be an interesting game.
by The Zoq2 -
It's quite a shame that this is so barebones because I'd love to see some sort of RTS that uses a form of scripting to control units. I could imagine players pitting their best AI scripts against each other in epic robotic warfare. Making it real-time would be interesting because players would have to prepare scripts beforehand for use during battle.
Alas, we don't have that game (AFAIK). All I can say is that it works for what it is currently intended to do. It would have been nice to have included a reference on the website for the available commands and proper syntax, I had to go looking through the thread to find out how to program the robot.
by The Zoq2 -
A promising start to a rogue-like. I liked the field of vision mechanic but it would have been better if walls were cleary distinguished from areas that were simply out of sight from the player. There's a nice bit of strategy in knowing which weapons work on which enemies, which forces you to plan your attacks and decide who to take out first in a group. It wasn't clear whether I was just roaming around the same dungeon or I was supposed to be finding doors and stairs to advance further. I found moments when I could take cover in an empty room but there didn't seem much point in me doing so, maybe regenerating health and/or stamina could make use of those moments and give the player something else to consider; I like the idea of having to hide and sneak about a bit, after being injured you might stagger into an empty room to rest and recover all the while knowing that enemies are lurking and searching for you, you slump down in a heap praying they don't find you, "just a few more... seconds, just need to catch my AAAAAAH!"
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Religious Mutant Demolition by Blobby101
Best Graphics -
Religious Mutant Demolition by Blobby101
Best Sound -
Low G Hobo Legends by Fluffy Rabbit
Best Game Design -
The Curse of the Yeti Desperadoes by Pauli
Overall Winner -
Medieval Dungeon Advance by The Zoq2
Okay, it might look a bit odd that the overall winner has no other awards but I thought that both CotYD and MDA were good games that have a lot of potential, since there were a few subtle design choices I liked a lot about CotYD I wanted to give it credit although I do think MDA is the better game.
The difficulty in learning is not acquiring new knowledge but relinquishing the old.
