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A jam submission

Flatout Drillin'View game page

Help Hank prove the Earth is not round!
Submitted by in Principle Games (@ColliderMc) — 1 hour, 40 minutes before the deadline
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Play truth

Flatout Drillin''s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun#323.7303.730
Game Design#533.6983.698
Innovation#1613.1753.175
Audio#1773.2543.254
Graphics#1793.5713.571
Overall#1963.1883.188
Theme#8271.6981.698

Ranked from 63 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Viewing comments 40 to 21 of 54 · Next page · Previous page · First page · Last page
Submitted (1 edit)

Lot's of people are saying go mobile, but I'm not sure if that will have the precision that's currently required. Either way was it's a pretty nice game. My highscore was 639.

In the description you mention that Hank is trying to disprove the lie that the Earth is round. I don't see how that fits with the theme that the game is a liar. Though, I'm glad you didn't hurt the user experience just to fit in with the theme. One thing I was wondering is, what happens when you reach the bottom/other side or is the game endless?

Let's continue with the gameplay. The smooth transition from the menu into the game and that you shoot the menu buttons, were nice touches. The slow motion when you shoot at the enemies was also cool. However, the collecting of coins served no purpose. Perhaps you can add a store with upgrades. I also found the game to be pretty difficult in some ways, but too easy in others. For example the gravity is pretty high, so you quickly fall down. This also means it's quite hard to pick up a new weapon from the crates. I also had some difficulty with moving left and right with the gun (maybe just have A & D). Resulting in me often dying from the obstacles. However, the enemies take a very long time before they start shooting at you.

Now onto graphics and sound. Something felt off to me about the graphics, but I guess that isn't very helpful. Perhaps it's the use of solid colours. If I'm not mistaken, South Park and Kurzgesagt both use solid colours. However, Kurzgesagt looks great, while South Park looks like ... eh ... South Park. The world also feels flat. Yeah it's a 2D game, but there is no depth. It doesn't feel like Hank is falling through a tunnel; it feels like he falling in front of a green screen. Lastly the sound stuff. The sound balance was good and the sfx were alright; no high pitch coin pick up sounds ;-). Perhaps you can improve the music, but I don't know much about music.

Overall pretty nice, but some missed opportunities (like with the coins).

Submitted

Just saw your comment on how it fits the theme. Perhaps you can have the start button say: "Start endless mode". Though, people will still probably miss how the game fits the theme.

Developer

Hey there. Store is on the roadmap. Couldn't get it done within the week.

The game is endless. That's the lie.

There is a bug with gems now. As they play their SFX, the music ducks too much. Did you dislike the sound for generic coins too? Lemme know!

Difficulty balance: that's a tough one for sure... The enemies take ages to shoot (well, this enemy type anyway) intentionally. Later, when you reach 2000 ft or so, you will find yourself overwhelmed with crowd control. The game becomes much more strategic later, in terms of deciding whom to pick off and when.

Interesting comment about the graphics. Will talk with the artist, see if there's anything we can / should do about this.

Thanks for the useful feedback.

Submitted

Woahmygod, this has gotta be one of the most fun games I've played from the Jam!! Beautiful visuals, nice sound and a kickass gameplay loop :D The only thing I can fault is that maybe the theme was a little loose? But really its no biggy- this game is awesome regardless :D

Developer

The theme isn't explicit. We want to add it to the narrative in game at some point, but the gist is this:

1. Hank (protagonist) is setting out to do a scientific experiment. He will dig down through the Earth. If he gets on the other side, then it means the Earth is a 3D object of some sort, so he will prove he is wrong and the Earth is a sphere.
2. If, however, he doesn't get to the other side, then the Earth must be something that isn't 3D.
3. The game is endless, which means he will never be able to demonstrate the earth is spherical this way.

That's how the game is a lie.

Submitted

Hey nice idea, would be a good mobile game, great job

Submitted (1 edit)

Hey men, I work remote on another computer and it totally messed up that connection and instead of controlling the game it did al kinds of stuff on the remote computer. So I used the Win_64 version. Haven't rated your game because of this (cause I didn't play eventually ;) )

Developer

I've heard of this before. Not sure what causes it. You can use the link to play it directly in your browser if you want: http://www.inprincipleinc.com/games/FlatoutDrillin/index.html

Thanks!

Submitted

Loved the game. Flat design for flat earth was the best idea I have seen in recent times. By the looks of a vertical screen I believe you have already considered releasing a mobile version. If you add some power ups and a progressive difficulty this game can go places. Loved the blood effect both splatters and after hero's death on the machine as well. The game was a treat to play and graphics and music helped it in a good way. I tried NOT following the instructions as that was the case in most games, but quickly realized that was not it. And oh almost forgot the transition from main menu to gameplay was smoother than the butter, loved it.

Submitted (1 edit)

A fun and engaging mobile game. There are of course things that need tending before I'd suggest an actual release on mobile but guessing by the polish this game has, you know already know what those things are. Tons of potential if you want to pursue it. My 5yo really liked it but had a hard time with how fast you fall down. Might I suggest a "slower gravity" version? Really a fantastic game and with some upbeat music, a progression system and a bit more polish you'd have a legit mobile release.  Maybe I didn't get far enough but I never saw anything that applied to the theme? Straight up the theme was dumb so I don't really care. Great job!

Developer(+1)

Thank you. Glad to hear you child enjoyed it. Interesting comment about the difficulty. We're going to have to ponder who our audience is when balancing. Also, it's a little gory at the moment, which concerns me for a younger audience, to some extent.

As for the theme, our game has it pretty deeply, but it's not advertised in game. Hank, the protagonist, is a flat earther. He has decided to use the scientific method to prove once and for all that the Earth is not a sphere. His demonstration process involves digging vertically into the ground. If he gets to the other side, then the Earth is indeed a 3D object. If he does not, then it's definitely not a sphere. However, the game has no end, so it makes proving either side impossible. :)

Now, this will be included in the game, somehow at some point, but my concern number 1, 2 and 3 are always gameplay. The rest comes after.

Thanks again for playing!

PS: My daughter got to 2800 ft. Can your boy beat her?!? The challenge is on! :D

Submitted

Wow... You thought out the theme so deeply I completely I completely missed it. I love your mantra of gameplay 1st. When my son wakes up I'll have to see if he wants to take up the challenge. Cheers! 😄

Submitted

That's a nice game my dude.

It is totally something you should make for mobile.

But let's speak about the current jam entry.

  • I loved the UX. It was so simple and so obvious to get started. No tutorial required cuz the player is already invited to click and see that it's actually shooting and moving the character.
  • Audio is balanced and sounds/music are okay.
  • Slow-mo when shooting is dope, I liked the way it is done.
  • Put a shop in this game! There are coins, I want to spend them to get upgrades or perks, or even skins and new maps!
  • Where is the lie? :/
  • Graphics are consistent and ok because the game is fast, but it can be polished by far to me, especially the background, the player character and the drill. That's a personal opinion but I think it could be better, even if it's more than ok actually.
  • Game is challenging. It's not easy at all, it can be frustrating. I made no progress after 5 tries. Maybe I'm super bad at this, but I think that since the game is super fast, it's hard to process everything in time.

Please keep going, I need some new games on Android ;)

Submitted

Outstanding work for a game jam. The attention to detail and game feel is impressive, specially the overall behaviour of the explosions and particle systems. I particularly enjoyed the slow motion mechanic when shooting the agents, it's just incredibly satisfying. The main menu idea is also pretty clever.

The aesthetics and audio are really well suited for the casual feel of the game. The music doesn't feel annoying or repetitive at any given point, and I believe that's because the attention is at the most part being drawn by the audio of the explosions.

My only two suggestions would be to implement some sort of shop to be able to spend the earned currency. I'd be more than willing to spend some coins so that I could select my first weapon beforehand, for example. The second one would be to release the game on mobile platforms, seriously.

Amazing work, guys. Congratulations.

Developer

Thanks. Both of your suggestions are on the roadmap. Thank you.

Submitted

Very well done! this game was super fun. Rated. Check out our game.

Submitted

Fun and polished. Really good game. Impressive that you managed to do this in a week, congrats!

Give my game a shot if you can ;)

I seem to be unable to play the game. I have a dual monitor setup and I end up having the game on one screen and the aim is calculated by the total width of both displays.

Developer

Hmmm. Have you tried pressing Alt+Enter to go into windowed mode, then move the window, then press Alt+Enter again? Alternatively, if all else fails, you can use this link to play in browser: http://www.inprincipleinc.com/games/FlatoutDrillin/index.html

So window mode and html5 thank you

Submitted

Great work ! 

Suggestion : Don't change the hand which hold the gun when you rotate the mouse maybe because it's weird but it's a little change compare to your nice work :D

Developer(+1)

Hey there. Haha, we spotted that immediately and we thought it was funny, so we left that in. To be fair, it would be an issue if we didn't to that, because the position of the gun would have to change on the X axis otherwise. Shooting left would have the gun protruding further than the body, compared to the mirrored version. It's 2D, so compromises are necessary. Cast your mind back to Street Fighter 2. Ryu seems to be perfectly capable of switching between right and left hand :D. But it's a fair point that we also noticed!

Submitted

Super polished for only a 7 day game! Well done!

Submitted

Absolutely excellent game! I wonder and am in awe as to how you did that in just 7 days, well done! I really liked the satisying time slow when you shoot an enemy and the progression to different places as you go. I got to the acid part. Great Job!! ps. how many people worked on this one? also, this should be polished and uploaded to the app store, it's better than most of the games on there already

Developer(+1)

Thanks. Two people worked on the game. A friend did the art, I did the rest.

Submitted

This a very polished and fun game. I really do not see the theme used in the game, but only you use it in the story. Overall a fine jam game.

Submitted

Its really surprising to believe how much you have done in just 7 days! the game looks so polished and it is so beautiful! it is really fun and i really enjoyed the shoot to move concept! Great job!


Please consider checking our game out and stating your views on it :)

Submitted

Great game! It is really polished for a 7 week project, congratulations! I liked the animations and audio, but my favourite was the "shooting does everything" mechanic (menus, movement, killing, etc). My only 2 critiques are that the game is a bit too hard in the beggining, which gets a little frustrating on the context of a game jam and that it doesn't seem to fit the theme much.

Submitted

Also, you seem to be giving some sincere criticism on people's games. I would be grateful if you could do that with mine, too!

Submitted (1 edit)

Really polished game!  I like the juicy particles and the no black outline sprite art.  The game feels so energetic and lively, I think mobile players would like it.  It's hard to think of suggestions, but perhaps add funny facial animations to the main character that trigger at different events/skills.  Super cool game!  Please check out my entry if you have time, good day!

Developer

Facial animations. Completely agree. Thanks for the feedback!

Submitted

This a was very fun and interesting idea to play.  Everything played smoothly and solid game as a whole. Kudos!

Submitted

Very fun game! Loved the art, the audio, everything!

As other people have said, i also cant catch the theme but regardless, great job!

Viewing comments 40 to 21 of 54 · Next page · Previous page · First page · Last page