Mind's Eye

bthedestroyer 2017-04-25 04:24

Unique take on an RTS, gotta say. I do have to ask, though: When is not attacking good? Whenever you add something to your game, make sure there's a reason to have it there. If I can just do a small attack every turn without penalty, why would I choose to not do at least that?

Other than that, and some UI stuff (I thought I could no longer attack once the attack screen went statiky and I never knew how much health I had), this is a solid entry, though I don't know how much this fits the overall theme of "it's a small world." I get that you're a tiny guy, but the inside of Big Man's head doesn't really feel like a world. I get that Big Man's view is tiny, but just because your screen is tiny doesn't really mean much.

Overall, nice work :)

kosmo 2017-04-25 04:37

Thanks for the comments! Your health is your monitors -- once they are all static-y, one more hit and you lose.

Originally, light attack added a delay and heavy added two -- but this made the game quite difficult. We ended up removing the delay on light attack since there are times in later levels when you need to carefully choose when to heavy attack and when to light attack. Light attacks do not hurt armored opponents and heavy attacks hit all units in front of you. So while you could always fill the gaps with light, it is sub-optimal.

In terms of Small World, the idea is that there is a tiny little world inside of each of us where tiny little people control your inner workings. You play as Little Man in his Small World -- at least that was our idea.

Thanks again for the comments!!

xavier-indie-gamedev 2017-05-01 05:16

Hey man, this was the most fun I've had thus far on a Ludum Dare game, so congrats!

I got time played: 846s, level obtained: 9, basic dudes killed: 25, armored fellas killed: 8, spinny guys killed: 4

Love the concept, and the gameplay is quite innovative too. Well done!

kosmo 2017-05-01 05:45

Thanks! I really appreciate that :)

fernandoadolfo 2017-05-01 18:24

Really interesting concept for a game with turn based fights. This could be a good fight system if you keep developing it. Obviously is still too simple because is hard to do more in so little time but it is a good point to start. I like your work with the sound too.

Overall is really entertaining.

kosmo 2017-05-01 18:58

@fernandoadolfo thanks for the kind words! We are hoping to expand on it in the future (more actions, more enemies, etc.). Glad you enjoyed it.

geeitsomelaldy 2017-05-01 19:01

Could do with a bit more info on what each of the things do, and give some early indication as to when and how to unlock the padlocks.

james-dunlap 2017-05-01 19:19

Interesting take on the theme. I liked the approach and got it right away. It is also an interesting move and combat system that, as others and you have said, could be expanded in the future. I liked (and got) the health system, but I do see how it could be confusing. For some reason, I did not get the sound when I played it in Chrome even though the tab had the speaker on it. I did hear it, though, when I opened it in Firefox. Most likely not your fault.

pixzleone 2017-05-01 19:29

This is a very cool and innovative idea, I like it! The execution is good; the graphics are pretty cool, the music and sound fits well and the gameplay is overall nice. My only complaint is the speed of the game, because I felt like the difficulty ramp was too slow in the start. Well done!

aj-weeks 2017-05-01 20:18

I like the concept! Pretty well implemented too, for the short amount of time you had to work on it. One thing I would change is the controls, it took me a minute to figure out how exactly to do anything. Nice work though!

drtizzle 2017-05-01 21:46

I'm a sucker for MsPaint(style) graphics, so when I saw your cover-art I knew I was in luck!

Very cool idea, and pretty well executed! Interesting to play, and with some enhancements, this could be superb.

Well done!

kosmo 2017-05-01 22:21

@geeitsomelaldy It is definitely a little bit of information overload. We hoped that the images would be self explanatory, but we concede that things like face left/right and the stopwatch are inherently confusing. That and we never fully explain when to heavy attack.

@pixzleone We actually agree with you about the difficulty ramp up. Originally it was WAY harder but our friends/family who we had playtest it were having a hard time. We figured for LD, a tad too easy is better than a tad too hard. We are hoping to continue to develop it and make the curve a bit smoother (so it still starts easy, but doesnt take 15 minutes to get difficult)

Thanks everyone for the awesome feedback! We love hearing you are enjoying it :)

benbennett 2017-05-02 05:19

Fun game! It took a while to become difficult, but I love the concept. The effect of blurring the consoles for damage was confusing for a while, I thought the game bugged out but I eventually figured out what it meant.

piscythe 2017-05-02 06:01

I really like the design of the combat system. Most of it was intuitive, and I quickly learned what the heavy/light attack dynamics were. I really like the enemy design with the "no light attack" symbol on the shirt. However, after playing for a while I felt that things got a bit monotonous. Eventually I just ended up sitting on one side of the arena, hitting whatever popped up on the one side of me, then unloading everything I had in the other direction. My interest was regained once I understood the damage mechanic - those blurred-out consoles are an excellent way of showing damage. I reached level 10 on my run.

kodiqi 2017-05-02 08:41

Fun idea and an interesting take on turn-based combat. I'm not sure if having to WSAD between consoles is the most efficient method of inputting commands; purely mouse-based inputs would surely be quicker. The WSAD of your little character does fit well with the Small World theme but if you are going to expand on this game then it may become frustrating at later levels. Speaking of levels, is there any advantage to increasing your level after level 4 when you have opened up all the command slots?

This could definitely be expanded on, more levels and upgrades would keep players coming back for more. It could make for a fun & chaotic multiplayer/Twitch game too (i.e. different people controlling each console).

kcreanor 2017-05-02 12:43

This is great once you get the hang of it!! Reminds me of the old roamer robots you used to have to program to move around the floor, but with added chopping so that's always a plus! Agree with previous comments that mouse input would make me play this more, but otherwise a nice unique game with a lot of potential! Well done, great game :smiley:

kosmo 2017-05-02 15:33

@Kodiqi The idea of controlling the little guy inside your head was absolutely because of the theme -- although we do quite like the mechanic. We were hoping to go in a slightly different direction and have more things that little man needed to do to make his world more of a game in itself -- but we are also exploring alternative control schemes.

Leveling up after 4 doesn't increase your power, but it does increase the spawn rate and difficulty of the enemies you face.

Thanks for the input!

mutfak-studios 2017-05-02 17:18

I gotta say this game has unique gameplay elements. You need to plan your moves for 4-5 turns and consider enemies moves while doing that. Its like a chess I love it! But it has its flaws. I think it needs a grid system even though its just left and right tiles because movement is a bit confusing. And I don't see a point for having to choose where to look and where to move seperated. It should be move where you look I guess.

philomory 2017-05-02 17:32

Excellent entry, though I'll agree somewhat with the other comments about the difficulty ramp. All told I got to level 12 in the end (didn't keep track of my other stats).

Unlike @drtizzle, the graphics weren't really my bag, but to each his own. My main suggestions if you plan to develop it farther are to improve the UI (make it more clear how health works, as I too initially though that a staticky screen was an unusable screen, and expected it to get un-staticky after a turn or too), add some power-ups for additional move options (temporarily turn light attack into a lunge that hits two in a row, temporarily make waiting defend, etc, and maybe a consumable board-clearing resource, like bombs in some shmups).

spaceman 2017-05-02 17:57

I actually think this a really cool interpretation of the theme! I thought the game was pretty fun, but at first (since you only have one action) it was difficult to understand the difference between the heavy and light attacks. I also had some issues with the controls, but that's probably me just being a slow learner (kept accidentally hitting space). It might be better if you added a "confirm" button before each turn.

kosmo 2017-05-02 18:22

@mutfak-studios Thanks for the input! The lines along the ground were meant to be seen as a grid without making it too obtrusive.

@philomory In a development version we have (but haven't posted since it was work done after the jam period) we have added little lights under the monitor to show that your entered actions are in fact still there even though you cannot see them.

@spaceman You aren't alone. We have also been working on streamlining the controls based on all of the terrific feedback we have been getting.

Thanks everyone for playing and commenting! :)

philomory 2017-05-03 09:23

@Kosmo I'm afraid those little lights may not have helped me, as for several rounds I just _assumed_ the screen was unusable and didn't even try to activate it, with even just one level of static. It was't until a few turns later when the screen was still staticky that I thought, "Hm, maybe I can still use that?"

In a sense it's my own fault for making unwarranted assumptions, but that's how it is with UI design. My suggestion is that if you press spacebar without at least visiting each panel, you get some sort of indication to go use it before ending the turn.

khorm 2017-05-03 17:15

Really unique game that I havent seen before, there's definitely some stuff with the interface I was a bit confused about but others have already talked about that. The art is, well, lets say not my favourite this LD(who am I to talk really...) but still works pretty well with the game, the gameplay was maybe a tiny bit repetative but with uppgrading of abilities and enemies if felt quite nicley balanced, overall was a fun experience - and props for doing something different!

teekeks 2017-05-04 02:41

THAT was a unique experience! Nice!

iron-leonem 2017-05-04 02:42

FANTASTIC game!!

slash-random 2017-05-04 07:29

It was a nice experience to play your game. I really like your interpretation of the theme. Thumbs up for that unique idea.

omiya-games 2017-05-04 19:53

The turn-based aspect of the game reminds me a lot of the airship battles from Skies of Arcadia...and that's a good thing! I really like the step-by-step assigning of instructions that really makes you think through what you're supposed to do next. I thought the direction the character is facing was redundant, given that the direction they're walking towards imply the player wants to face that direction, and you can't walk past enemies anyways. I also didn't see the point of don't-attack command.

maartene 2017-05-04 19:57

Nice take on the "program your character" game type. I actually pressed space on several occasions which translated to a busted turn. Perhaps mouse based input would have been better? BTW: it took me a bit of time to figure out that the order of actions in turn was based on the order of actions chosen. Perhaps that could have been more explicit in the UI. Definitely one of the better entries I played.

andrewl 2017-05-04 20:09

Love the graphics. Found the gameplay a little unusual at the start, especially when the controls had static on them, but got the hang of it. Excellent work for 48 hours!

willbl3pic 2017-05-04 20:32

I loved everything about this - the silly sprites and sounds, the effect of the screens going static as you lost health, everything. I only got to level 5, but I loved every second of playing it!

unit684 2017-05-04 21:13

Really unique mechanic executed very well. I enjoyed planning out moves ahead of time and it fits the theme very well. I think perhaps you should be able to attack or move rather than both at once, maybe have points or something that get used up when you attack or move. Very nice game :)

izunah 2017-05-05 02:07

When I started reading the comments, I was thinking that this sounded like a really cool tactical game with programmable movement; something that is quite common in modern board games but I don't think is really done in any modern computer games. As it turns it it was a really cool and really fun mechanic. You executed it quite well; and while I was bad at it, I still had a great time. Thanks for making this.

kosmo 2017-05-05 02:39

Guys thanks so much for all this amazing feedback. @micah and I are big board gamers and we did draw on some of the mechanics of a few board games we like when designing this. We agree that there is some untapped potential with this style of control in video games.

Again thanks everyone for all the kind words!!

g12345 2017-05-05 19:41

Oh! A turn-based strategy game in 48 hours!

Not as complex as Advance Wars, but still very interesting to play.

Took me a while to understand what every command does but after that it became a killing machine!

Not bad for a jam game... I still don't know if I can make something like this in 72 hours yet (like not, maybe if I have more preparation), and it's an achievement to do this in such a short time!

Also, the theme interpretation is nice, it's something different than all those planet games I've been playing lately.

cheesymoo 2017-05-08 21:20

It was fun!

alanag13 2017-05-09 02:38

I really liked the concept of this (I have played and enjoyed many board games like Mechs versus Minions with this mechanic), although it took a little bit to understand what each of the different options achieved and when it was best to use them. I also found that I instinctively really wanted to click or use the arrow keys to make the selections. Overall a unique mechanic I haven't seen in other games yet and a fun take on the theme.

nedmakesgames 2017-05-09 21:57

Great game! The controls were a little awkward, I couldn't use the arrow keys and it seemed more intuitive to me for return and space to be switched. I loved the music, and the graphics had their own charm. Great concept too! Good job.

nergle 2017-05-17 17:58

Super interesting game play once you figure it all out.

eli-delventhal 2017-05-20 00:01

Great concept, and well executed. This is a good one.