Still Waters

valicitor 2017-05-02 20:02

Cool game, Great art, relaxing music... But god damn, it's such a chore to keep them all alive, in the end I just threw the other three overboard and managed the one... who died because he couldn't do everything... very well made, perhaps needs a more patient person to play it.

lyxil 2017-05-09 15:47

Thank you, Hanzo mains! ;)

I actually liked this a lot! It's simple, clean time/resource management game. Certainly fits the small world theme, 4 people in a cramped boat. It really is hard to keep them alive because their stats drain so quickly, and I feel there should be more warning before they die. But once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed playing! Definitely attempts to capture the feeling of urgency and hopelessness associated with survival. Well done :)

la-mecanique-du-plastique 2017-05-10 15:36

"Thank you Hanzo mains" ; P

It was very hard, but after two or three shots I managed to reached the island with two men nearly alive. I think what made it even harder was that I was embarrassed by the colliders of the environnement and the characters that kept be blocked many times, it was a bit infuriating. And also I think it's damn harsh to take them all alive to the island as their resource come down so quickly, I had the feeling at some point I should sacrifice two of them to get to the end (but maybe it's the hard reality of it !).

It's a good job overall, I definitely had a good time. Congratulations !

sputnik3d 2017-05-12 14:31

Neat concept! It was a bit difficult to navigate the boat given how crowded it was. But at the same time, it probably does capture the frantic nature of being in a survival situation on a boat. Graphics were decent and music was good. Good entry!

cenullum 2017-05-12 20:17

I like humor of game :D . You should add casting shadow and make UI more compatible. And game fit nicely to theme.

tacomabert 2017-05-12 20:36

Pretty hard. Ran out of water. Did not see a way to replenish the water like fish, but maybe that was by design (need to ration). I had a hard time keeping up with their demands, and it seemed like they were not satisfied even after just eating or drinking. Maybe make the people working use more energy, hence need to eat/drink more; the people resting shouldn't get hungry as fast.

Graphics were awesome. Loved the water. Music was nice and sound effects were decent.

We would love your thoughts on our [game](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/super-natural-defense), too!

avavt 2017-05-12 20:57

Thanks Hanzo you damn killer

The game is so hard! It was hectic but quite fun(ny)!

My issue with the game is that there's only 1 chair and people can only rest on a chair! Why can't they just lay down on the board and sleep?

Maybe that's just a design decision and probably that was part of the fun, but another thing I really want to have is the ability to "switch out" people: for example character 1 is rowing, and I want to be able to control character 2 to take his place to row. Character 1 will now be "free". This will remove the frustration of having to swap place 3 times each time I want to switch places. Especially the chair. All of my character are dead next to the chair T_T

Overall it was very funny. The mood was not what someone would expect from a "stranded" game (you die slowly from lack of resources), but if one's not too traditional about that he can see the charm of the game.

icxon 2017-05-12 21:11

Thank you, Handsoap Mains! 3 people left.

- Controls are bit hard (since it's almost no space on board) - Nice day/night cycle and the way music changes - Ships with a pop music were fun, but ruined atmosphere a bit - Good resource management system overall, I see how it can be easily expanded.

Привет русскоговорящим! :upside_down:

bambivalent 2017-05-12 21:47

I like the sureality coming through mood and music. It's fine like this. I hope I get them to the isle someday. If you'd also rate [our game](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/gentrifry/), please do so.

guitarbro 2017-05-12 21:51

Great atmosphere and nice audio. My biggest complaint is that it's not obvious what to do. I had several people die seemingly out of nowhere (I realize now that they starved). Some more audio cues would help with that. Also, it's really hard to maneuver around the small boat with collision between characters (you probably want to turn that off).

tajamsoft 2017-05-12 22:11

What a good idea for the theme :)

The game is very atmospheric, the graphics look very good (The day night cycle adds a lot!) and the music fits perfectly.

I believe the controls could be made easier, moving around the ship is too hard!

carsen-d 2017-05-12 22:14

Thanks Hanzo mains :P

Very interesting and engaging management game. Pretty difficult to keep everyone alive though with the amount of water you get. I only got to the end with two left, and even then one died as soon as we reached land (oops!)! Pretty fun though, and has an interesting contrast between feeling calming from the atmosphere and the music, so frantic as you try to juggle people to keep them alive. Nice job!

canochaba 2017-05-12 22:26

Nice concept and well connected with the theme. I agree that the controls are a bit difficult but it was a great work. And yes, I dream everyday to go on a round-the-world trip :D

lars-dk 2017-05-12 23:23

Awesome game! I played the webgl version.

Things I liked: > Clear link to theme > Pretty shaders & animated characters > Atmospheric, well-composed music

Things to work on: > Plan your UI carefully to teach people. I struggled to understand how to do things like rest or drink or switch people. It was easy to die unintentionally without warning. Bars are easier to interpret than colored icons. I'd avoid locking the mouse. UI was the biggest issue with this game. > Reward the player for their achievements as they play. If the goal is too difficult they'll give up otherwise. The game could definitely be gamified further. > Instead I'd have made the environment less full of ships and other details. More atmosphere like fog would have suited the intended mood well.

hellsquirrel 2017-05-13 04:27

По канонам жанра, первым умер афроамериканец) Прикольный концепт, учитывая срок его реализации :slight_smile:

atmospherium 2017-05-13 15:02

Thanks Hanzo mains.

I think you're on the right track with this. Most of the survival games that are made for jams end up completely unbalanced (either WAY too easy or WAY too hard), but you guys got a good balance of difficulty. I only had one person left alive when I made it to land, but I made it (I also had just run out of water, I believe). Good job on balancing. It was also immediately understandable what you had to do, just difficult to execute.

Visuals were good (nice water) and music fit the tone (at least at the beginning). I wish the audio would have changed as time was running out. I liked the touches of riding past the other boat with music playing and stuff like that, I could have used more.

Good work.

pascalman 2017-05-16 20:03

Very, very nice game, good job!

jod 2017-05-20 11:51

Impressed by the art and music!

I loved that this is a survival game where you control multiple characters! Things went a little bit too fast for me though, since I needed to look after four people! Very good fun, though.

If you add some dialogue to those characters, things would really be awesome! I'd love to see more of these really original concepts in Ludum Dares!