Minos' Pond

seconddimension 2017-05-05 13:31

Wow there is a lot going on here! So it seems like each island has a different resource, and all the islands need all the resources... so every region gathers what they can and shares it among the others? I think that's a great idea that has potential to be expanded.

It seems like you got a lot of the mechanics working here, I think my issue is mainly around the interface and the feedback. Some of the buildings were tiny and blended in with the grass, and having tooltips to explain what things were would have been really helpful. Also some way to jump between the islands quickly. I think you should keep working on it if the idea interests you, there are a lot of things you could do with it.

fernandoadolfo 2017-05-05 13:41

Nice game and really complete for being made in so few time. The idea remembered me the small world in one of the Simpsons chapters. I enjoyed it alot. I can't say anything bad about this game. Good graphics with pixel art style, simple sounds but useful enough and a really nice gameplay which it make it even addictive. Really nice job with this game.

iron-leonem 2017-05-09 02:28

Great little title! I thought it really stood out in mood and aesthetic. The gameplay felt a little staid, but it was really, really well executed. Your tutorial and how much content you generated in a weekend is inspiring! Great job over all!

kataware 2017-05-09 03:44

Alright so this game was a true beauty for the amount of time given. The things that stuck out to me:

-Gameplay -Replay Ability/Fun -Graphics -Sound

The gameplay was incredibly addictive, replayable, and fun. I myself am a huge fan of games like these, these simulation type ones, but only if they are pulled out well. It was done exceptionally in your case. The tutorial was great and everything

Plus that speed up button helped so much.

The game's graphics style actually reminded me of an uncompleted LD game I made a long time ago, though I scrapped it in favor of other ideas.

The HUD was something to me that I wasn't sure about. Sometimes I liked the pleasant layout and such, but in the end, I would find myself being wierd over the aesthetic. Sure it was polished, but something about it seemed strange to me. Its probably just me being wierd (I'm a wierd person after all!), so you can disregard that.

I guess what I was trying to say is, some more polish and content, and you sir have a nice game ready.

blackrose 2017-05-12 00:04

There is a lot of work on this game! Its a fun game and a good concept ^^

ryte2byte 2017-05-13 00:57

I love sims and city-builders. I need to spend a bunch more time with this one to really get a feel for if everything is working nicely or not, but it seems to be a very promising start. I love the Minos and their different environments and how cooperation is the key to survival.

Also, WOW, look at all the art you made in a LD game!

Now I'm gonna rip your UI to shreds. Sorry.

I REALLY don't like that the X button is what you use to confirm building something. Very counter-intuitive. Feels like that would be a cancel button. There's also a problem with your building placement ghosts showing on the green terrain or even on some of the buildings. There should always be some way to cancel building placement as well. Oh, and tooltips or an infobox available when choosing stuff. I'm not gonna remember what all these things are when starting out. Not thrilled with the UI being semi-transparent at all, either.

It is a great start! City-builders at just super UI heavy and you need to get that beast tamed.

philomory 2017-05-13 01:41

This is really cool, and I'd love to see this expanded. Unfortunately, I do have to agree with what @ryte2byte said about the UI; though of course it's understandable you can't polish everything in a JAM game, if you expand this further (and I hope you do), the UI needs some serious attention.

One other problem I had which prevented me from getting _super_ far is that I was able to build a Tree in front of my wood house. After that, whenever a wood Mino made a delivery, he'd get stuck and be unable to leave. Future Minos making deliveries wouldn't get stuck, they'd just drop stuff off without entering the door, but eventually the poor stuck Mino would die of hunger and thirst. Once that happened, there'd be room for another Mino to get stuck in the door and the cycle would repeat. They were dying like this as fast or faster than new ones showed up; by the time I stopped playing, I had 20-40 of all of the other Minos, but only 8 surviving wood Minos.

Anyway, those issues having been noted, I think this is fun concept, and I hope you make a post-jam version.

reflextions 2017-05-13 17:12

Thanks for all the comments! They're really helpfull! The UI definitely has quite a few problems and would be a priority if we took it a step further!

applejam 2017-05-15 19:34

It's definetly a lot of content for a jam game! I've struggled with UI, but nonetheless, good work!

zener 2017-05-15 19:35

Cool game, huge amount of work you have done!! I hope you continue with if post jam

mrgussio 2017-05-15 19:50

I really liked this one! Great to see some story and sim kind of games in the jam, thought it was really awesome! Also you don't very often see cutscenes etc. in LD games, which does defenitely make your game special :)

maxgun 2017-05-15 19:58

I see there was some time and effort put in this game and that's nice, good job!

Just have to say the game's quite confusing at the beginning and takes some time to get used to. Also, is there any end? Played for some time but didn't see any end goal.

bomb-x 2017-05-15 21:05

I like this kind of simulation games !! There is a lot of potential !

But i don't understand the target/end? There is one? It took me a while to understand that you can upgrade everything.. Maybe some threats that come to disturb you could be fun :)

reflextions 2017-05-15 22:28

There is an end game - to upgrade the science center to level 6. Threats and more are definitly something we would want to implement in a full version.

zotapianola 2017-05-16 00:59

Very nice! At first I thought I was going to play something to close to Earthbound/Mother, but I'm glad It was something totally different. Very interesting. I liked the controls and the fact that you could also zoom in/out with the mouse. The graphics are neat and cute as hell. The sounds you picked were great. Maybe a nice tune playing in the background would be nice. So, anyway... I'd love to play the complete version in the future!

reflextions 2017-05-16 01:32

@Zotapianola the sounds were actually made during the jam with BFXR by my partner. There should be bgm as well, but it doesn't always load. Thanks for playing and the feedback!

deathstorm 2017-05-16 12:26

Very intersting an very complex game

Great Job don't stop developing

inigo 2017-05-16 18:34

Very nice nice entry! I have been playing for a while and it seems there are still much to do. A very solid game, congrats!