Ahr Ech

Man, peeps are really stepping it up this year. Love those tiles, and the portraits are fantastic.

I just spotted this on twitter and man, it looks so good. I'm also filled with envy, because I'm really wishing I had the spare time for Wizard Jam right now.

https://riv-hester.itch.io/rigid-body-rat-king -------------------------------------------------------------------- Alright. I've had waaay less time than I thought I would around now, but I want to try knocking something simple together over the next couple days, at least. It will definitely be nowhere near as fleshed out as Happy Happy Krampusnacht, my previous Wizard Jam entry. I started messing around a bit this morning with a list of potential titles and no real plan, and this is what stuck. Hopefully I can come up with a decent gameplay loop in time. It's not really a rigid body, just a physics ball with some flappy limbs that don't have collision, but close enough for jazz. But yeah, I'm just feeling this one out. Who knows where it'll go? I'm using Construct 2 again, and if anyone else is using that engine and could use some pointers let me know. I'm fairly fluent with it and happy to help, time permitting. Also, where are all the other Rigid Body Rat Kings? Did everyone think everyone else would do that one and pick something else as a result?

Thanks guys! Next time I need a break from my main project I'll probably come back to this and flesh things out a little more.

This is a really interesting mashup of systems. Great work pulling this together as a first timer!

Thanks guys! The Rat King himself only has one actual animation for his head, to give him a look of surprise or alarm when he hits something. Then the little rats have Idle, Squeak, Groom, Run and Fall. And Goldbloom has his walk cycle, which I made with the free version of Spriter. I had to re-export that a few times with the timeline stretched out first to 30, then 60 frames until it was finally smooth enough to not look like a slideshow compared to everything else in the game. That probably took the longest.

My boss saw me playing this on my lunch break and took over until ten minutes after the break was over. I had time to play an awesome game, eat lunch AND check twitter thanks to you!

Man, this came out so ace! Love that Dot Gobbler cameo, too. That kind of cross-pollination should be a diversifier next time!

Thanks a ton, really glad you all liked it! I'll try! I've got a few other projects that take precedence for now, but I'd definitely like to keep stacking rats in the future. I'm not sure Goldblum hates rats so much as he's indifferent and perhaps unaware of them. Even kings are beneath his notice when he's lost in thought, pondering chaos theory and Fly stuff.

Man, this came out so rad. I love that VHS effect so much.

https://riv-hester.itch.io/rigid-body-rat-king Alright, it came out even smaller than I though it would but it's up. There are two stages out of the five or six I wanted to get in that are both really short, but they work on a basic level. It's like a prototype of a proof-of-concept of what I wanted to do, but there's probably a little fun to be had. I certainly had enough fun working on it to make this worthwhile, anyway! And thanks so much everyone for your comments, support and input! Wow, awesome! Rat King loves you too, he told me so.

Thanks everybody! I caught the plague that's been going around at work, so things were a little slow today. I managed to get stack compression and jumping in, though. Think you'll ever get a chance to make that? I'd love to see someone else's take on this kind of mechanic. Ha, are Swedes known for their stacking prowess? I think I'm missing something here.

Great effects! I love those fireballs.

This is looking unreasonably slick.

Oh man thanks for the reminder, I forgot! Yeah, I'll try to work that in. No, you are. (buttering you up for the secret cash prize that definitely exists) I've got it covered, but thanks for the offer! Much appreciated.

Still need an animation for when rats chew through the string, but here's another thing that works now. I also got dropping / losing rats to work. They still just sit there on the ground though, so I think I'll get them running around next.

The Year of Luigi ultimately just being another source of shame and bitterness for him is perfect. This is too good.

Oh my god. Are you doing all this with your own action figures? I can't even describe how warm and fuzzy this makes me feel.

Thanks guys! It is now past 1am here and I have work in the morning, but I've got a hazard in-game and a start on environment art. Tomorrow evening I'll try to get a system in place for rats being knocked off the stack when colliding with hazards. Great ideas! Getting stacks past or under obstacles was already part of the plan, but I might never have thought of spending rats to jump, that's fantastic. And I've got a few little emotive animations already, but I love your ideas for that as well. I'll try to get all of that in if I can! Thanks man, really glad you liked it!

I'm messing with having rats stack instead of adding to mass like a Katamari. It's easier to do without breaking things and might lead to interesting mechanics or something. Who knows!?

Man, this is so cool! 2D platformers can be a lot more work than you'd think, but it sounds like you've got things on lock so far. Can't wait to see where this goes.

I feel like this has to be some kind of cultural milestone on a global level. And I'm afraid of what the ripple effects may be.

I love that you did concept art. Also, If I ever find out that the Vatican doesn't really operate this way I'll be devastated.

I am completely on board with everything going on here.

What a cool concept! The morse code system is really interesting.