
Show HN: A game I made in 48 hours - joemanaco
https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone
======
joemanaco
Author here: Last weekend I participated in the Ludum Dare Game Jam (#44,
Theme was "Life is your currency") and did a game from scratch in 48 hours:

TIME ZONE

How to play?

Arrow Keys Left/Right: Move left/right Arrow Keys: Up: Jump X: Shoot

Instructions: Try to reach the exit before your life counter reaches zero. You
can earn valuable time by collecting Life Capsules. When you destroy an enemy
they will drop Life Capsules. But be careful: Each shoot costs you time.

Play at itch.io:
[https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone](https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone)

Source code: [https://github.com/JochenHeizmann/timezone-
ld44](https://github.com/JochenHeizmann/timezone-ld44) (will add Readme/Build
Instructions later on when I got some more hours of Sleep)

Soundtrack: [https://soundcloud.com/jochenheizmann/timezone-ludum-
dare-44](https://soundcloud.com/jochenheizmann/timezone-ludum-dare-44)

Ludum Dare Game Page: [https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-
dare/44/timezone](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/timezone)

I did everything from scratch (Code, GFX, Audio, Level Design). I've used
Monkey (which transpiles to Javascript) to code it, Photoshop for the pixels
(Artwise I was inspired by Downwell, which I tried to mimic, but I suck at
art) and Logic and Renoise for the Music and Sound FX.

~~~
airstrike
why not support WASD? we've been using our left hand for directional controls
since at least 1981

[http://www.sextonsmusicandgames.com/80s-classic-arcade-
games...](http://www.sextonsmusicandgames.com/80s-classic-arcade-
games/y8azyi81bholy5zxwr7dhmtty5lvou)

probably want to make jump / shoot right-hand actions as well, like in most
games

I really like the concept and wanted to play the game, but as it stands the
controls are too annoying for me

~~~
doodpants
Why WASD and not ESDF? People have been touch-typing with their left hand in
that home position since the late 1800s. (Or do you actually operate WASD with
your pinky, ring, and middle fingers when gaming?)

~~~
airstrike
Don't be dense. WASD is the most common layout, but sure, if you're that
opinionated make it ESDF then. My point still stands. Left and right hand
controls should follow a common sense approach

~~~
doodpants
Maybe I'm weird, but being right-handed (like most people), I prefer
directional controls on the right hand and action buttons on the left. Your
characterization of the former as "left-handed" and the latter as "right-
handed" controls seem backwards to me. So, to be honest, I don't even use WASD
(or ESDF).

~~~
nkrisc
WASD is an incredibly common movement control scheme for video games. I'd go
so far as to say it is the predominant four-directional control scheme for
video games made in the past 20 years that were made to be played with a
QUERTY keyboard.

> being right-handed (like most people), I prefer directional controls on the
> right hand and action buttons on the left.

It is right-handedness that led to this because it was used in conjunction
with a mouse, so all those right handed players had a mouse in their right
hand, meaning their left hand was on the keyboard.

If you, as a right-handed person, use a mouse in your right hand and the arrow
keys in your left hand, you are very much in the minority. Even for games that
don't use a mouse, this convention (and muscle memory) is so established that
it makes sense to use WASD, even for right-handed players. However making it
configurable is always desirable to accommodate the minority of players who
might not want to use WASD for any reason.

If you're not an avid gamer or primarily gamed before keyboard + mouse was
common, this might indeed seem strange. But for anyone who's gamed
consistently in the past 20 years it is very normal.

Why not ESDF? I don't know why initially but today WASD is established
convention.

~~~
filoeleven
> Even for games that don't use a mouse, this convention (and muscle memory)
> is so established that it makes sense to use WASD, even for right-handed
> players.

A further argument for movement from the left hand comes from consoles, which
starting with the NES if not earlier have consistently (always?) had the d-pad
on the left. I remember having some trouble reversing that learning for the PC
platforming games that used the arrow keys for movement.

------
sonofgod
Took me a while to work out you could actually make time from killing enemies
-- I saw they only created one time crystal, and that it took about three to
kill them, then died due to being out of time, so didn't realise that the
monster's ones are significantly more valuable. :)

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks for your feedback.

Yes, I wanted to implement a separate crystal for the enemy loot to make it
more obvious, but I ran out of time.

------
cyborgx7
Great animation. And the movement feels really good too. I like the premise,
but the one hit death on the enemies is very frustrating.

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks for you Feedback.

I think I have to tweak the hit boxes a little bit, so it's more forgiving.
And probably also change from insta death so you only loose time/life when you
hit an enemy.

~~~
cyborgx7
A little more forgiving hitboxes would already help a lot. There is a lot of
"I barely touched him" in there. But playing it some more, and getting it bit
farther in the game, I'm already really enjoying what there is.

Edit: Finished level 3 with almost 2 minutes to spare. Would definitely play
more of this. Specially levels that focus on forward momentum, like level 1.

~~~
joemanaco
Yes, I think for a more complex post-compo version a lot of thought has to be
put into the level design to consistently push the player and give him this
feeling of "Shit, I'm almost out of time" \- but also with the possibility
that he saves himself in the last seconds.

~~~
cyborgx7
My mind instantly goes to a random, infinite level, turning it into a runner.
But I don't want to backseat design your game. I actually really appreciated
when I reached the end of level 1 and learned I don't have to keep restarting
from the beginning. That was a nice surprise.

------
apexkid
This game is incredibly difficult in the first level itself.

~~~
joemanaco
Yes, I made a playthrough on YouTube if you prefer watching it ;-)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSW4QmNz1JY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSW4QmNz1JY)

------
ahallock
Impressive game for only 48 hours of dev--need more levels! Was able to get a
pretty speedy deathless run after learning the patterns. Actually skipping
most enemies seemed to be a good strategy. Also enjoyed the mechanic of
bouncing enemies into position to progress faster.

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks.

------
emilfihlman
Way too hard, you should also continue jumping as long as up is pressed.

~~~
joemanaco
Yes, it's very hard :)

You should be able to adjust the jump height by pressing/holding the up key.
Didn't that work for you? Which browser/os?

------
DanBC
I love this! I am _terrible_ at it.

~~~
joemanaco
Thank you. Yes, it's intentional a quite hard game. :)

~~~
wqweto
It's even harder playing it under Remote Desktop over slow connection!

~~~
joemanaco
LOL :)

------
tronko
Greate game. As a backend developer, is amazing that you did that in 24 hours.

PD: the music is the best part of the game, perfect for coding :)

~~~
joemanaco
Thank you. Hey, I'm also a backend developer by day ;-)

------
tomcam
Lots of fun and great sound, too

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks!

------
heed
The character sprite and animations look very similar to downwell:
[https://youtu.be/kY83H8BdxhI](https://youtu.be/kY83H8BdxhI)

Not a criticism, just an observation.

~~~
joemanaco
Yes, a lot of people mentioned that. Indeed I had the mobile version opened
next to me while I pixeld it and tried to recreate this minimalistic style.
The idea was that because I suck at pixelart I would probably be able to
create a consistent and nice looking game in this simple style.

And I think especially in the sprite I took a little bit too much
"inspiration".

I replaced the sprite now with something more unique. You can play the updated
version here:
[https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone](https://joemanaco.itch.io/timezone)

------
mpfundstein
I think it would be great if you could remove the 3,2,1 countdown in the
beginning. Just let me restart ASAP!

------
linuxftw
Great game. Hard, but not impossible.

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks

------
Zecc
Took me some time (heh), but I've finally "compelted" the game.

I really did enjoy the music.

~~~
joemanaco
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback.

------
terrycody
awesome game, may I ask what the knowledge u need to build such a game? More
details are appreciated!

~~~
joemanaco
Coding wise the game is pretty simple. It has no real physics or anything
involved and basically simple "Rectangle-Collisions". You can have a look at
the source code (although it's pretty dirty with lots copy/paste involved
during the hard time constraints).

As mentioned I did it in Monkey, but it should be also easy to recreate it in
vanilla javascript, because all you need is a basic canvas you can render to,
and there you go.

The real hard part was to get all the differents parts involved ready in time.
For example the art took me alone around 10-12 hours because I'm really bad at
graphics and I put a lot of effort and lots of trial and error in the
animations.

The music I did in Logic Pro and Renoise, and it took only around 2 hours
because I'm quite experienced in doing music (doing it since my childhood).
But if you listen carefully you will find out that the arrangement is very
simple, and it's also not mastered. Turning this in a full-blown-not-so-
repeatedly track would take several days I think for me (I sticked to the
80:20 rule here ;).

The level design I did in Tiled, and I had the Tiled loader ready before the
Compo started.

------
LandR
This is great!

~~~
joemanaco
Thanks :)

