#LDjam50 & Future of Sack Attack

Hello fellow gamers and devs!

I finally had the opportunity to participate in a Ludum Dare game jam for the first time solo (didn't do compo though)...and for the 50th/20 year anniversary! (Theme: Delay the Inevitable) Normally I don't get the privilege to do weekend game jams because I typically work weekends but I was out of work this past week for some surgery so I figured why not take advantage of that time...was painful but I made it through it and was pretty happy with the end result: Sack Attack https://nate-bit-games.itch.io/sack-attack

PS - The concept may have  been inspired by the idea of medicating post surgery  >.> (DON'T DO DRUGS!) - honestly wasn't taking  many meds. I  just dealt with the pain and insomnia by distracting myself with the jam - medicated with game dev. 

As it goes with all game jams, I didn't get everything done in the game that I wanted to. After all I did still need to rest as much as possible.  ..but there are still some things I'm debating on adding in the future once the game jam rating is concluded. Let me know what you think and submit your ideas or feedback in the comments or on the Ludum Dare submission page here:  https://ldj.am/$281027 - Of course the jury is still out on what is good and isn't about the jam entry but I will look at all feedback and try to incorporate as much of it as possible if it will enhance it as a final product and is feasible.

What didn't get done:

• Beer Bottles - I wanted to add some more elements of difficulty but it may have been a blessing I didn't. Planned on having empty IPA beer bottles fall into play from off screen after a time to interrupt your gameplay flow. They would get in the way of  your sack but you could kick and destroy the beer bottles for extra bonus points and/or kick it out of the playing field/off screen to return to a normal game. May play around with this with some control tweaks
• Custom Sacks/Players - Wanted to allow the player to customize their sack designs with a simple image swap. Also considered currency  or coins that would either roll or fall into play and you have to kick them to collect then use the currency to unlock new designs. Could even allow you to customize your player in a future version if I implement a currency system
• Gradual  Increase in Visual FX Over Time/Relative to  Score -  Originally wanted to have the trippy visual effects increase as your score got HIGHER to increase difficulty but ended up just leaving it on mild. Not sure but I think I like it better being constant anyway. Will have to try the increasing FX later.
• More Layered Music Tracks - Similar to the increase in visual FX over time with score, more musical components would start to play as score increased.

What didn't work/needs reworking:

• Space to Start/Serving the Sack - Wanted a way to require good timing to be necessary to start the round but the way I ended up doing it was a quick sort of last minute game jam way of doing it and feels off and has some issues with physics force. May change the launch system to have the sack stay stationary in the middle of screen and randomly select a direction/angle in direction of the players to launch up into the air to.
• Hit Box Tweaks - There is a way that requires a bit of both luck and skill to achieve but it is possible to  get the sack stuck in a loop and just rack up that score. Will have to find a way to fix the exploit ...especially if I add leaderboards .

Ideas for the future:

• Leaderboard(s)
• AI Enemies (story mode)
• 2P VS Mode -  (local or online)   Similar to pong/tennis - make the sack hit the ground on your opponents side to gain a point
• Power-Ups - Big Feet, Big Knees, Big Sack,  Speed Boost/Slow Speed
• Trick Shots - Use the sack to hit targets in specific order or within certain time

Again if you have any ideas you would like to see implemented in the game please feel free to discuss them in the comments below, on the game page  or LDJam submission Page. If you have a game you submitted for #LDjam50  you would like me to rate and review please feel free to link it in the comments as well.

Can't wait to see how this game takes shape in the future and what other great games people came up with for the jam!