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Mini Jam 91: UFO

Hosted by ZahranW, ManuGamesDev, KingW · #minijam
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A jam submission

E.Fish - MiniJam91: UFO VersionView game page

A Minijam 91's endless game proyect involving both UFOs and fish.
Submitted by MissingWilliam — 1 day, 3 hours before the deadline
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E.Fish - MiniJam91: UFO Version's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Use of the Limitation#383.4123.412
Concept#563.1183.118
Overall#602.9412.941
Presentation#682.7652.765
Enjoyment#712.4712.471

Ranked from 17 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Team members
This game is solely made by me, MissingWilliam. My previous proyects are here, but are mostly in spanish because that is my native language: https://missingwilliam.itch.io/

Software used
The engine I used was Construct 2 - free edition (I don't know any coding and I, for now, can't afford any premium program), for the sprites I used Piskel (I have files to almost every single sprite I made as proof), Google Chrome Music Lab to make the base of the main theme, then Filmora X to change its tone and also to make better sound effects. The base sounds effects were made homemade (Fish going around is me playing around with an improvised water-container, fish splats are plastic latex gloves and all of them were recorded by WhatsApp's voice recorder.)

Use of the limitation
In my game, the player is inside a UFO, as the theme of the jam is UFO. However, he's also bringing 1 out of 3 fishes with him, and during the trip he has to take care of him, feeding him when needed, and changing its water when necessary, while also avoiding rocks. The goal of the game is to get the highest score possible by making your fish survive the longest in space. The game ends when your fish looses all 3 of its lifepoints. The game is played entirely by keyboard, also, and mainly just using the arrow keys (I may do a version with AWSD if I get inspired).

Cookies eaten
Probably about 15 or 20, considering how nice they are. In Peru (if there are also in the USA, sorry idk) there are these nice cookies called Casino, which are simple cookies with a flavoured "pasta". I ate about 15 of those damn delicious cookies while developing my game.

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Comments

MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

As I said before, I'm going to take your advice on what would make my game better. Obviously, I'm not going to upload it before the jam ends, but I want to see how much potential this project has.

Here's a list of things I'm planning to put on the 2.0 version, based on your comments:

- Fix the water-bottle bug (Apparently, none of you had problems with it and it's just me, but still)

- Add a controls diagram (Inspired by Rob Hoff's comment. That would make them more obvious and easier for everybody to realize what's going on.)

- More sfx (Inspired by Rob Hoff's, Tr33 Gam3 Studios's and Elvendwarf's comment. That would make the player know that something is happening, for example, with the food and water)

- A longer theme (QuietBenchZen pointed out that the background loop gets repetitive. I'll try and make an effort on making an extended version, probably at least 1 minute long, so the music don't get players tired early on.)

- A.Fish buff (Inspired by Micrikacik's comment. The idea is that this fish is challenging for the player, not impossible, so instead of lowering the hunger bar each 0.02 seconds, it will do it each 0.027 seconds, which is what I think is the closer between fair and challenging)

- Rounded score (thanks to Elvendwarf for giving me the idea of how to finally fix the messed up score, to make it work like a normal game. Credit also to Micrikacik)

- A fish image of the fish you've chosen at the game over screen (that way, if players want to beat their highscore with certain fish, or record videos trying some challenges with each fish, it's easier to confirm that they actually did it. A minor thing that I would like to add.)

Some of this stuff might get scrapped, but the A.Fish buff and the fish-image are the most likely to going to happen for real.

To finish this, here I got some leaks of the 2.0

Game's Cover

Pik Ur Fish Screen


Game Screen: A diagram of the controls was added, and it emulates the keys being pressed when the player hits them. Water bottles have changed its place.


If you got any other suggestions for the Re-Fished version of the game, I would love to hear you all! This is my best rated game so far so I would like to see if the changes I'm planning to do are of your liking or what other things would you recommend me to add to the final product. (Note that new mechanics are probably not going to be taken on consideration, since the game is based on the originals, and as I said before, 100 events hardly managed to get the game to work. The game code will be worked almost from scratch in order to find ways to add more events and save space, however, adding another mechanic would generally take too much events for me to add it.)

I hope you liked this post so far! If some new player is reading this and just finished the game, also feel welcome to give feedback about what would make the game better.

That's all for now! Let me now in the comments what else you would like to be added.

Reply
Rob HoffSubmitted2 years ago(+1)

Cool art, and interesting concept. The interface was pretty confusing to me, and it would be nice to get more visual feedback when pressing buttons to make it easier to figure out without instructions. Great work.

Submitted
Galactic Fish Collector
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, some people before have stated that when starting to play, it's not easy to figure out what's going on or what to do. After the jam I'm probably going to remake it to correct come design mistakes or to improve the experience in general. I get that only using the arrows with two of them doing something different can be confusing, still I hope to correct those mistakes in a future remake or smth.

Really thank you!

Reply
astronautcodingfunSubmitted2 years ago

Trully original!! Very nice!

Submitted
fishufo
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago(+1)

Thank you! I'm glad you like it :D

Reply
ernaniSubmitted2 years ago

I think you will go very far in this gamedev biz. You like to write and you are really trying your best to reply to everyone. Keep on going and will get there!

Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago (1 edit)

Thank you! Yeah, I think it's just right to answer to everyone since they are letting you know their opinion about your work, and are, indeed, kinda doing a favor to ya. So, excluding destructive-critical people (luckily I hadn't found one yet), I will try to respond to everyone. I'm here to receive any feedback you guys can give me, positive or negative, and unless you are unpolite, I'll write you all back at some point.

Really thank you!

Reply
ElvendwarfSubmitted2 years ago

Is a little bit hard to notice what's going on at the start of the game, once you got it, it goes fine, i woul've rounded the score to an integer num , having it as a float is a bit weird ^^" also I really liked the fact that you can choose between 3 different fish, that adds some replayability, which is nice

Submitted
No Fish in the Sea
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago(+1)

Oh hi there! Nois feedback you gave me.

Yeah, I've received some comments before on the game being hard to understand at first then going easier. If I could I would've added more instructions in-game, but I guess that adds up to the replayability too.

About the messed up scores.... yeah, to be honest I don't know what's up with that. On Construct, I just put that every tick, you would lose 0.05 score, so that way, in a second you would've lost 1 score point (I should've put it on seconds instead of ticks, but I ran out of events, RIP) and then, boom; 13 decimals cuz why not. I was expecting the game to just add two decimals to the score and that would've been it, sometimes Construct is weird.

Anyway, thanks for playing! Hope you had a great time!

Reply
ElvendwarfSubmitted2 years ago

I never developed on construct and i don't know if you can control time there, but what you could do is another variable that starts at 1 and loses 0.05 per tick, when that variable reaches 0 then you substract 1 from the score counter and put the time control variable i've mentioned to 1 again, keep in mind that framerate (tick calls) can vary depending on the users computer ^^ Sorry for that long text, of course i enjoyed your game!

Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

Thank you for the suggestion! I'll keep that on mind when making my next game, or maybe for a re-make of this game. That's actually a smart idea and I hadn't thought of that. Of course you can control time in here, so I'll definitely use it for further proyects. Also, don't worry about the long text, I wrote bibles to a poor soul some 5 comments below, lol. Anyways, glad you enjoyed it! I just played your game and its awesome too. Plain epic.

Reply
gator-rsSubmitted2 years ago

I liked how you need to react quickly, and the pacing felt sane. Although the category of game isn't what I'd usually play the game kept me invested for longer than I would have expected with the fish being so darn greedy. I'm excited to see what you have to offer in then next jam!

Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago(+1)

Aw! Thank you so much for all the support! Hearing that you guys enjoyed my work  makes me more motivated to continue developing games. I surely hope I won't dissapoint you or anyone on next jam! I'll probably join minijam 92 seeing how much support I'm receiving over here in my first jam. Really thank you!

Reply
gator-rsSubmitted2 years ago(+1)

I feel similarly to you, this is also my first jam and so far I'm enjoying seeing what others have to offer, and also what people think I have to offer

Reply
QuietBenchZenSubmitted2 years ago

Neat game. Creative idea for the theme/limitation, first game I've seen like this. Background loop is pretty short for a game where you're trying to survive as long as possible, it repeats over and over. Pretty fun to see how long you can make it once you get the hang of what's going on.

Submitted
Unidentified Fishing Organization
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

Hello there! Thanks for your appreciations!

I'm trully glad you liked the way I managed the limitation / theme, I've really tried my hardest to complete this game. I agree that the background loop is quite short, sorry! I guess I just runned out of creativity when composing the theme. Hopefully I'll change that after the jam ends. Thanks for the support!

Also, yesterday I played your game. It was probably the jam game I stayed the longest playing, really cool concept! I ran out of fuel all the time but meh, pretty nice game. I really appreciate your work!

Reply
QuietBenchZenSubmitted2 years ago

Neat game. Creative idea for the theme/limitation, first game I've seen like this. Background loop is pretty short for a game where you're trying to survive as long as possible, it repeats over and over. Pretty fun to see how long you can make it once you get the hang of what's going on.

Submitted
Unidentified Fishing Organization
Reply
Tr33 Gam3 StudiosSubmitted2 years ago(+1)

I have killed hundred of fish OH GOD.

joking aside this game was really hard for me. It took me a while to understand the game ,and I still don't get the window thing, but after that I could live for about 30 seconds.

6/10 - would be fun if I knew what I was doing

also maybe use something like unity..... its free and brackeys tutorials are amazing.

Submitted
U.F.O (Unidentified Fishing Operation)
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

Hi! Thanks for the feedback.

The game is entirely played with the arrow keys, as stated in the game page. Ik I should've put them in-game but I guess I didn't because I just wanted my game to have so many functions that I forgot about stating the controls.

Controls: You probably would like to use AWSD. However, they don't work-in game, sorry! Ik they are the most used but I wanted to make an "Intuitive atmosphere" thing that didn't end up working.

Left Arrow / Right Arrow: Move to the window in that direction. Collect / Crash with whatever is there.

Up Arrow: Feed your fish

Down Arrow: Change the water your fish is in.

I won't force you to change your rating, because that's your decision, but as you stated that you would've find it fun if you knew what you were doing, I thought this could help you give it a second shot, and even if you don't change your opinion, have the best experience you could have with it.

Thanks for playing and rating! I hope this helps you!

Reply
Tr33 Gam3 StudiosSubmitted2 years ago

the controls weren't the problem but thanks anyway. I was more lost at what anything actually did for example: why did I need to move the windows and how do I get more food?

Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago (2 edits)

Oh! That's simple.

You see, the windows are randomized. There are 8 possible outcomes (Well technically 4, but two of them have 2 more chances to spawn):

- 3/8: There's nothing at the window. (If you choose that window, nothing will happen)

- 1/8: There's a bottle of water at the window (If you choose that window, you will collect the water)

- 1/8: There's a brown food ball at the window (If you choose that window, you will collect the foodball)

- 3/8: There's a rock at the window (If you choose that window, you will cause damage to your windows. If your windows broke completely, you'll lose 1 life per movement, your windows can stand up to 6 rock crashes.)

PD: Don't worry, since I saw a chance of a rock spawning in both windows, I created an event that would change that. Basically, each thing was given a certain number: 1-3 = Nothing; 4 = Water; 5 = Food; 6-8 = Rock. So, this function makes that when that would happen, it reduces the number by 3. Meaning, if 6 comes out (Rock 1), you would get nothing instead, if 7 comes out, you would get water instead, and if 8 comes out, you would get food instead.

You can collect up to 5 of water per galloon (30 in total), and 3 food balls (pretty balanced, i know).

You lose 0.05 score per tick, so in a second, you lose 1 score-point. However, if you move, you get 10 score points, and doing things right for your fish (changing its water when needed, feeding him when needed) gets you 15 score points.

This game is about quick reaction to see which window is the better, and would give you the thing you need, while avoiding rocks and other threats.

Finally, your fish will lose 1 life per window if:

- The windows are completely broken (huge hole in the middle, you've lost at this point)

- Hunger bar depletes (it stops getting lower, just feed your fish with the Up Arrow Key)

- Water gets to stage 4 of contamination (very green water, use your water with the Down Arrow Key)

Your fish has 3 lifes. You lose if they got to 0.

Hope this helps you out better! Sorry for the misunderstanding!

Reply
MicrikacikSubmitted2 years ago (1 edit)

Nice game, good work! Music and sound effects are nice, but a bit repetitive. Grafic is also pretty good. I just think, that 3 foodballs storage is a bit less than needed for the 3rd fish, BUT it also brings hard challenge!

My highscore is 1378,0500000005 - rounding needed :D - with G. Fish (2nd fish - but i think it´s the easies one, because of water storeage)

Overall - great job!

Submitted
Fish Rush
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hi there! Thank you for playing and rating. Yeah, my creativity kinda runned out when I was making the music so it got a little repetitive and all. I actually wanted to make the food storage the same way as water storage, but water storage consumed most of my time and I barely got it to work. For context: I'm using Construct 2 - free edition, which only allows 100 events (a little bit more than 100 lines of code in most languages) and this system costed me half the events. That's why the food storage is more simplier and I came up with only one box, to contrast it and make the game harder, but at the same time, I would lessen up the ammount of events needed.

Yeah, about the score I actually don't know why so many decimals. I just put that every tick, you would lose 0.05 score (so, in a second, you would lose 1 score point). But somehow that caused that messed up decimals. Sorry about that! I'm glad you liked it!

Last thing: The 3 fishes are real (you probably know, but still just a minor curiosity). P. Bonito stands for Pacific Bonito, G.Fish stands for Goldenfish and A.Fish stands for Anglerfish. However, since Pacific Bonito and Anglerfish are too big for a pet, I instead designed them according to their babies, so P. Fish is inspired by a Pacific Bonito's baby, and A. Fish is inspired by an Anglerfish's baby. G. Fish is inspired by a regular goldenfish since it was the only realistic fish pet in-game. 

Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago(+1)

Also, here I got some fun facts about the water storage system:

1. Originally, there was going to be a sixth water bottle. However, it got scrapped since by some issues, it wouldn't work. However, as the rest of the bottles worked properly for the first time in hours, I just decided to let it go. If you could move the camera, there it is:

2. I ran out of events and I needed some way for the score in the game over screen to stop  decreasing (because of the -0,05 per tick. And only event I found out that would work was the water bottle system, so there they are some water bottles in the game over screen too!


Reply
patchwareSubmitted2 years ago

I like the setting, the concept and the art, but I struggled to keep my fish alive more than a minute. And that just hurts.

Submitted
salvage
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

Thank you for the feedback! I'm really happy to read all responses for my game, and its good to know people like what you do.  Really thank you.

Also, F for your fish.

Reply
EzilSubmitted2 years ago

Unusual gameplay, I like it. The game requires a quick reaction and it's really cool. Of the minor disadvantages, I can only note the not quite obvious graphic elements, but it still pretty nice

Submitted
UFO and Pirates
Reply
MissingWilliamDeveloper2 years ago

Thank you much for playing! Glad to see you liked it!

About the graphic elements, yeah...

Maybe my idea of a intuitive atmosphere didn't work. Also, I just noticed that the fish lives, cover one of the arrow indications, which is a design problem. I'll try to get better for further games. Thanks for the feedback!

Reply
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