People are the power

caranha 2017-08-01 02:12

Fantastic, I loved this game :-) The idea is original, and I am surprised in how many different people you managed to make with so few pixels! At first the instant picker is the fastest way, but soon I started to see the worth of the other options. I tried to go to 2GW to see if anything would happen, but couldn't...

A few things to improve: - The weapon picker is a bit too fast: Maybe give it a few frames after changing a weapon before allowing it to change again. - The messages on the top and bottom could flash once when changing, to grab our attention more.

Awesome game!

roycocup 2017-08-02 05:57

I loved this game. I found it confusing to operate but I think the idea is definitely the result of thinking story first and technique second. So well done and especially congrats for doing it in Pico :)

elgregos 2017-08-02 12:09

@caranha Thanks! Part of the game, which I didn't have time to add, is that the power you can harvest over 1 GW can be used to enhance your weapons and add new ones. So yes it'd be wise to over 1 GW, and that's why you can keep harvesting even after the "next level" message. But then there's a bug with cops later as they keep shooting you. 2 days were short, I'll keep working on it after ratings and add your suggestions.

@roycocup Thank you! In fact I was thinking of Akira's S.O.L. (in both anime and manga) with variations on how its power could raise and release, plus a reactive way to play without a mouse. And Pico's a blast!

roguenoodle 2017-08-02 12:28

Took me a little to figure out how it works, but had a lot of fun with this once I did. I seemed to have most luck with the Family Harvester at the start, switching to the SOL once the crowd thinned a bit. Very unique idea, and really impressive at Pico-8 resolution.

supremefist 2017-08-02 21:15

Amazing game, really loved the graphics! Beautiful game and super interesting idea and gameplay! Well done!

kabalatrance 2017-08-02 21:31

Holly molly, this is the most fun game I played so far. I only here for this short comment, and I'm off to buzzing people!!!

felixmcfelix 2017-08-03 01:58

Quite a different concept for a game, it took a little experimentation to get the hang of the mechanics but they're different enough from one another to give a good variety. The graphics are clean and readable, especially given the small resolution of the PICO, and the sound design is pretty neat (whole-tone scales!). I had fun with this, good work!

pbg 2017-08-03 02:11

You really nailed the theme on this, in addition to making a really playable game! It's pretty complete, I was impressed by how full the gameplay feels. It has a bit of a Rampage vibe in that you are terrorizing little people. I had a little trouble figuring out the weapons, and the pacifier is still not super useful for me. I thought the SOL used way too much power to charge - one bad shot ruins the level. Regardless, really fun - would be neat if you were driving around a little city or town and zapping people.

grena 2017-08-03 11:38

I really love the concept, capture people with different weapons. Well done on graphics for the PICO! :)

Some notes about what I think: - I finally when through levels with the Family Gatherer, I think it's the more efficient regarding power consumption and gather ability, so maybe other weapons could be balanced (SOL is very expensive and not that effective!) - I didn't find any difficulty in the progression, I felt like I was replaying the same level all over again, some people were shooting, but I didn't understand what it does :( - The concept is REALLY cool =)

elgregos 2017-08-04 16:32

Thank you guys! The time was a bit short (made it in 2 days) so the balance between weapons is not perfect. Indeed, the Family Gatherer seems the most effective, but the S.O.L. is quite powerful too, depends how you use it. You can almost finish the area if you begin with it. I wish I had more time too to make the areas progression more significant.

As your spaceship covers the entire area, current shooting people damage your armor but not very efficiently because all they have are guns, and you have a spaceship. Things are getting more harmful in later areas though, say 20 and further. You can skip areas by pressing Enter btw.

Once ratings are closed I plan to finish it and add what I couldn't make, like using the extra power harvested to create & improve weapons or spaceship defense, and add different shooting people.

hippy-dave 2017-08-04 16:59

Woo Pico-8! :) This is fun, and I can see if you expanded on it with the other stuff you had in mind, it could be even funner! Great work representing the people in barely any pixels. compelling sfx etc. Maybe throw in some music if you do work on it more. Good work!

simonhutchinson 2017-08-04 20:34

Neat! I love Pico-8. Great work on this--really original and fun. It took me a moment to figure out it worked when you released the button, but once I got it I fried a lot of people. Fun entry!

snirp 2017-08-05 11:32

Good one! Enjoyed it. Nice idea.

franklins-ghost 2017-08-07 05:35

Fun game, liked the way you interpreted the theme, thought that was well done. Was quite satisfying capturing the little people and seeing the screen clear out a little bit at a time. Did think the different weapons was also well thought out. Definite strengths to each one as you progress further.

johngun 2017-08-07 09:34

A very nice take on the them, very original and I loved that you used PICO-8 for it that's a huge plus in my book.

The different harvester modes was a little confusing at first but after some tries you get the hang of it.

Very nice work

chacho 2017-08-07 15:54

Good job! It's very original.

randomphantom 2017-08-07 16:29

This was pretty cool, and I love PICO-8 as well. Neat little entry! Would be great with a win condition.

orcdraco 2017-08-07 17:41

Nice entry! :)

le-slo 2017-08-07 17:44

I loved the concept, and worked really well for a couple of levels, until you discover that with "Family" Beam you can have it all and difficulty increasing really slowly. Maybe not having the option of choosing a beam can affect the way people play, as they are encouraged (forced) to play with different beams, but at the same time it is difficult to plan a strategy. It works!

jelch 2017-08-07 17:44

Cute little game! I liked that the beams were unique and felt very different.

bartol44 2017-08-07 17:49

Although I don't really like games with this type of graphics, this one was quite good. The approach to the theme was very well done. Capturing humans for energy is witty, and the actual balanace between energy used and energy gathered is pretty well executed. As for drawbacks, lasers were sometimes changing too fast, and some better feedback regarding weapons used or needed energy would be nice. Still, very well done, grab that 20th vote ;)

mathiouza 2017-08-07 18:17

Cool concept but too easy, to win, I just have to use one of the four modes. I really like the sound of the "weapon". Cool art too. Congrats :)

thaaks 2017-08-08 14:56

Wow! A Pico-8 game! And a very nice one too! I had fun guiding my beam to catch people and see them running away from it! I only used one beam type and didn't seem to have any problem to get enough energy to proceed. It felt a bit repetitive after 10 levels or so. But I loved the tiny little pixel people (impressive how many different mini pixel people you managed to create), I loved the minimal music and the sound effects. Overall a very cool game that has a lot of potential by tweeking and fixing the existing stuff and it certainly offers lots of ways to enhance the game with more features! Well done!

joebeard 2017-08-08 21:48

It sure was a lot of fun harvesting those poor pixellated people. I wish there had been more variance in the areas, but it was good fun and the graphics and sound were perfect.

bombjack 2017-08-11 21:44

simple concept but lot of fun! amazing game. good job ! :grin:

ganbaregameskyle 2017-08-13 02:49

This game is incredibly fun and surprising to see made with Pico-8. You can kind of cheat by spamming the instant picker for an easy win, but it's damn fun to do.

prodigalson 2017-08-15 18:32

To be honest, I did not understand what I was supposed to do :( but it was okay because I was having more fun looking at the art and the listening to the sound effects which are great!