Play game
Laser Looter's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Authenticity (Use of resolution restriction) | #53 | 4.667 | 4.667 |
| Audio | #145 | 3.222 | 3.222 |
| Overall | #150 | 3.542 | 3.542 |
| Graphics | #150 | 3.389 | 3.389 |
| Gameplay | #203 | 2.889 | 2.889 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Did you work in a team?
Two member team. One person did all of the ASCII art. The other coded everything.
Was the resolution a challenge?
An ASCII game can only be 8x8, so it's a huge challenge. We were initially going to have it be room-based, but found that it felt too crowded. We opted for a scroller instead.
What did you learn?
I learned a ton! I had never made a multi-directional scroller before. Our team hadn't collaborated in many years, so this jam was also the catalyst for that. I'm very excited to continue work on this game (in a higher resolution).
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
You did a great job with the graphics, and the color palette is particularly nice for evoking an old-school feel. The laser effect is choice.
Sometimes when I was at a corner, and an enemy was around the corner, it felt like I was in a real fight, ducking behind the corner and planning my next move. It's cool to feel that level of action in a game with this small a screen size!
Thank you very much for the kind words. I spent a good deal of time on the laser effect and I'm pretty thrilled with how enemy behavior turned out. The strengths you mentioned have me very excited to continue developing this game.
A self-imposed challenge on top of an existing challenge with ASCII over 64x64... Dang... You went all out. Well done!
Ha, thanks a lot. This jam is always a super fun challenge.
Interesting idea, and fun to play, the old school aestethics its perfect!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it! I can never get sick of ASCII.
ajshakjhkjah I can't open it on linux :")). I'm pretty sure it tured out great, though!
Did you try it in Wine? That worked for another user.
I almost always make Linux distros, but I'm moving and my Linux machine is in storage. Sorry!
Haven't tried it in Wine yet, as the last time I tried using Wine my old laptop crashed. This one's faster than the last tho, so I'll try.
Love the added challenge of using ASCII. Great job!
Thanks a lot!
And I do too! I always make ASCII games, but there's a big difference between 80x50 and 8x8. The worst part about the dimensions is that there's no center.
It was difficult at first but once I got used to the controls I really enjoyed myself.
Thanks for persevering! I did pretty awful the first few times I played it, but now I can ace it.
Really interesting concept! Looks like a lot of thought put into the style and gameplay. I found it very difficult as enemies moved very quickly and a bit erratically. The controls made sense to me and was a good way of doing a 4 direction twin stick shooter. Good job!
Thanks for the feedback! The enemies do have specific behaviors. The most common one aims for the corner of the player in an effort to dodge getting zapped by their laser. I think people get so used to really stupid enemies that just sit there waiting to get shot that these comparably smarter ones put people off.
The speed of the enemies will definitely improve once I don't have to be limited by the 8x8 screen.
ahh! I see! Very cool!
Ouch! I found it real difficult to predict from which direction the enemies would attack so I didn't go too far, even after a good ten tries. Maybe you could have the enemies move a little bit slower than the main character? But I love the esthetic and the take on the twin stick shooter that is really palyable in ascii.
Thanks for playing! The enemies do move slower than the player. Plus, levels aren't randomly generated, so enemies should become more predictable with more play-throughs. It seems a lot of people try to rush through the levels, but it's better to be cautious.
Thanks for the advice! I'll give it another try and be more cautious!
This was a lot of fun—it reminded me of games I used to play when I was a kid. Great job using simple symbols to evoke scenery.
Thanks for playing and the kind words. Once I have more time I'm hoping I can evoke the games I played as a kid, mainly Robotron: 2084 and Chip's Challenge.
i like atari style, it's very retro!!
Me too; it fits well with the low resolution restrictions.
haha! This is crazy and great, I love it. He's the best ASCII character there is!!
Thanks a lot! I think in a fight between the guy from Rogue and the Laser Looter, the LL would win.
The game just looked way too bonkers to pass up. Impressive considering the added limitation while using ASCII art. Made me feel very nostalgic.
Thanks for playing! Bonkers is a good way to describe it.
A twin-stick Roguelike? Nice!
Thanks! Two of my favorite things.