Worm Wranglers

=== LoJam x GDS 2024 Entry (8-day game jam) ===

Worm Wranglers 1.0.0

Made by rentonl, Finch and keekee with python + pygame.

Music by Kennedy Kimber Johnson

Buckle up and ride the wild sands – it's the Sandworm Rodeo! In this 2d action twin-stick shooter, you will attempt to guide your sand-worm around the arena without crashing him into the walls. Of course it won't be that easy... mini-worms will spawn and attack you from every which way, and even our main star has a few tricks up his sleeve that will be sure to flip your strategy on it's head. Can you make it to round 12 and prove to your fans that you have what it takes to be called a true worm wrangler? Play solo or team up with a pal for some local co-op fun. Influenced by local-coop action games such as Overcooked and Unrailed.

REAL WRANGLERS PLAY IN FULL-SCREEN!

Theme of LoJam x GDS 2024 - "Flipside"

About the versions:

• Itch.io web version
  • Single-player ONLY with mouse+keyboard
• Downloadable Windows version (Worm_Wranglers_1.0.1.zip):
  • Single-player with mouse+keyboard
  • Single-player with one joypad
  • Local Multiplayer Co-op with 2 joypads

Controls:

• MOUSE+KEYBOARD:
  • Movement: WASD keys
  • Aim: Mouse movement
  • Use Item/Melee: Left mouse button
  • Pickup/Drop Items: Spacebar
    
  • Dash: Right mouse button
  • Rotate Tiles: Q/E keys
• JOYPAD:
  • Movement: Left Analog Stick
  • Use Item/Melee/Aim: Right Analog Stick
  • Pickup/Drop Items: X button
    
  • Dash: Circle button
  • Rotate Tiles: L1/R1 buttons

LoJam x GDS 2024 notes:

• IMPORTANT: some notes on the web browser version:
  • It can take a few minutes to load without giving a lot of visual feedback that it's actually loading!
  • The music and sound meters in the options menu don't work on the browser version. There are also quality issues with the sound and music playback.

• The majority of the sprites were created by Finch using Aseprite + pixellab
  (AI assisted workflow). However, there were a few sprites that we used from oryxdesignlab.com tilesets. These are the arrow indicators, melee hit effect, pick-axe hit effect, desert tile, boulder tile and worm minion death animation.
• Concept art and stills by DALL-E (AI)
• Cheering sound effect by GregorQuendel. The rest of the sound effects were created using https://sfxr.me/ online tool.
• Fonts by TheWolfBunny64 and VEXED.
• Binaries made with PyInstaller are often marked as viruses by Windows. If you don't feel comfortable downloading it, please enjoy the web version.

Notable features:

• Local-coop play with controller support!
• Fast paced and frantic while still being casual and accessible.
• 3 wrangler tools to help you claim victory in the arena.

This game utilizes my existing custom WIP engine called RLEngine. Some of the features my engine provided before the jam:

• Input management
• Complex game state management
• Complex entity state management
• Map management
• Animated entities
• Pre-made widgets
• Item interactions
• Random map generation
• Particle Effects
• Enemy pathfinding 
• Joypad support 

Tools/Libraries Used:

• pygame
• pygbag
• Aesprite
• pixellab
• ChatGPT
• DALL-E
• https://sfxr.me/