FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD32 → Symmetric Torpedo

Symmetric Torpedo

By francoisvn

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness350
Innovation334.14
Fun813.82
Overall893.82
Mood1583.52
Graphics1653.79
Audio4702.85
Theme7283.14

Comments

suese 2015-04-20 04:04

Superb!

zeriver 2015-04-20 14:05

Took me a moment to get how to "optimize" missles but when i got it, it was really fun to destroy enemy submarines.

BTW: that sound when enemy missle is approaching gets really annyoing after a while.

sorak86 2015-04-20 17:52

pretty nice idea!
Took me a while to understand it tho

helekopeter 2015-04-20 19:44

AMAZING!

sbarrio 2015-04-20 19:48

Really interesting puzzle game!

10fingerarmy 2015-04-20 19:53

Loved it! At first I didn't understand to which axis the panel has to be symetrical to but I think it's the vertical one. Very well done and executed. All on one screen is also a plus :-)

cryogenesis 2015-04-20 19:55

Very interesting game. Incredibly well done!

2015-04-20 20:16

really nice puzzle game

fleegle2000 2015-04-20 23:41

I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing at first, until I read the rest of the page. Once I realized what I was supposed to do it was pretty engaging and challenging. Graphics are clean and crisp. I found that one sound a bit harsh on my ears (I think it's the one that plays when a torpedo launches?). Otherwise a great entry! Keep up the good work.

tppr2046 2015-04-21 02:02

Interesting!

mildmojo 2015-04-21 09:25

This is lovely. The UI is beautiful (I'm a sucker for control panels). It took me a few games to get the hang of the symmetry and to learn to look at the damage and accuracy meters and launch when they were "good enough" rather than trying to squeeze every last bit of perfection out of the tube.

The sound did a nice job of keeping the pressure on, and I like how the auto-replenishing "reserves" limit you from just firing off endless mediocre torpedoes. I haven't been able to get through the second wave, but I'll come back to this one. =) Congrats.

tuism 2015-04-21 12:25

Really cool concept! The initial moment of *wtf* can be reduced a bit, but as soon as I remembered the title, things made sense. I think the interface doesn't help that matter - it would be good to remove/recede some of the clutter, and placing them in a more logical manner around the screen.

For example, what's the significance of even having a load button? There's never a reason not to press it, so you might as well make it automatic.

I love that here's a blocks game that has nothing to do with "matching" :) Good stuff! :)

zielak 2015-04-21 19:03

Very innovative. Sounds do really great job to make the whole experience more frightening. Could be very well played on mobile (and very easily ported #haxe hehe)

onlyslightly 2015-04-22 00:02

I loved that mechanic. I got really anxious worrying about getting hit while simultaneously trying to balance risk/reward wondering whether it's best to launch now or optimize it further. It got really intense and I loved it. Definitely on my come back to play a second time list.

cgmorton 2015-04-22 02:34

Once I noticed there were bars measuring damage and accuracy, it started to make sense. But then it stopped making sense because I couldn't figure out why one configuration was considered more symmetrical than another...

I mean, great game, I just don't seem to 'get' it.

jimjam 2015-04-22 10:13

This is fantastically original and was a lot of fun to play once I got better at the arranging. Love it!
My only issue was difficulty. The opponent's non-stop torpedoes meant I only got to the second level on try # 2, but I definitely felt that I was getting better at it over time, so maybe the difficulty is just right then.
Awesome game!

pixel_reaper 2015-04-22 17:51

Very interesting, cant say I got the torps optimized though :P

madflame991 2015-04-23 19:06

I honestly had fun. It took me some time to figure out what's what.

pythong 2015-04-24 17:00

a bit hard to understand, but whn you get it, it's good. though not really fitting the theme

lerc 2015-04-24 22:01

I felt as though you should gain some hull strength between battles. By the time you get to the multi coloured patterns you are already on diminished strength.

thefuntastic 2015-04-25 15:33

Struggled to figure out the mechanic. Started by just playing. My first assumption was to try and create vertical rows of colours. In my mind this was the metaphor that you're clearing the path for the torpedo, so the more lined up things were the better it would travel. I then tried clumping colours together. Basically I went from connect four to match 3 mechanics. I re-read the symmetry instruction, but I couldn't figure out what the desired axis of symmetry was so I gave up and just tried the clumping strategy for a while.

I then tried spamming for a while and that's when I noticed that some torpedos actually miss. I then thought it would be nice to get some kind of info on how close I was to destroying the opposition. It was only at this point where I felt like I'd finished playing that I then ignored the clear an present danger of the other ship and tried to figure out the relationships between all the elements of the interface. This was the first time I actually "saw" any of these interface elements. This is interesting in that it shows you how effective humans are at filtering out information, especially when there is a clear and present danger.

So this was the first time I noticed the damage and accuracy bars. With this I started to build a model of the desired symmetry, but I still don't quite grok it. I also noticed that indeed there was a counter showing your oppositions health.

I did however really enjoy the feel of your main interaction. When I figured out how to use a six block area to move a tile to where I wanted it, that was a particularly nice moment. I enjoyed the sense of speed solving, and having to trade off how solved the puzzle was against just getting a new puzzle. I think there is something there and that the dressing around the game is completely incidental (eg its about the grid and not about smashing subs). This means that you could strip away the entire interface (I was ignoring anyway) and just have the grid. Would make for an interesting mobile game.

Also I think staring on a smaller grid with a target that doesn't fire at you would be a great way to gently introduce the concept. Also not regenerating health between rounds felt really punishing. ;)

fserb 2015-04-25 16:38

I really loved the interface and the idea. The concept of "symmetric" is very confusing (I think in the end the best I could get was: "sequence of lines of red and blue" which seems to maximize the chance of hitting, but not the damage). If the board on the right made a bit more sense this would be one the best games I've played so far. Overall, good job. :)

jk5000 2015-05-03 08:40

A nice game. But can quickly get tired of the sound.