2017-12-05 14:26
It seems like a fun idea but the game is confusing and I don't understand how to play even after looking at the tutorial
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD40 → Human Rises
By Tine Arconn and tinis-games
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1092 | 2.68 | 49 | |
| Fun | 1132 | 2.25 | 49 | |
| Innovation | 723 | 3.01 | 49 | |
| Theme | 593 | 3.42 | 48 | |
| Humor | 926 | 2.02 | 45 | |
| Mood | 1043 | 2.38 | 47 |
It seems like a fun idea but the game is confusing and I don't understand how to play even after looking at the tutorial
I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do. There is 4 markets and I can switch products it seems :o
I didn't get what the Industries and home renovation are for, and also why the arable land decrease over time.
Overall I really like the idea! I think it's just too much information being thrown at the player right from the start and it might be beneficial to introduce mechanics/concepts gradually so that players can learn. I love this concept though!
I like the idea of competing with opponents but at the same time helping them to avoid revolutions. It is extremely hard to provide people with enough food without available sources on market. Just like real life!
A good old spreadsheet game... I got confused with the trading buttons though (it took we a while to understand how the worked, when trade was possible) and have experienced a bug with the help dialog (I couldn't close the window after opening it). But I'll come back spend more time on it.
So the concept is quite good, it is a little hard as we do not really know the rules of the game and there are not real feedback about what was modified and how you modify the parameters. However for a first game it is very good it is really far from bad !
I tried something like 10 games, did not manage to win but I will try a couple more games :)
It looks interesting, but i have no idea how it works. I'm running out of food quickly and cannot buy food from the market, although the civ has not yet failed (but also has no food).
To @dokalfar, @vfabien21, @rongo-matane
Thanks for comments and bug report, I'll try to change it soon. I don't know if I have the right to correct after submission.
For the market, my first idea was to be able to exchange "everything for everything", with different rates depending on the resources of the countries and their speciality. But that meant developing some form of A.I., and unfortunately I didn't have time. As I would say in the feedback that I write, I developed the game alone, when we should have been 2 coders. I had to simplify by fixing only one speciality per country (food, research, gold). I think I will work on this aspect in a future version :)
To @jackson1, @kromeboy, @schu :
Thank you for your comments! Yes, I had several feedbacks regarding the overload of information. A little tutorial could have been useful, because many aspects of the rules can be unclear. Afterwards, I also don't want everything to be explained and let the player guess the logic behind it. I find it more rewarding, but it is true that it is difficult to balance between course/learning and some information could be clearer, like "+" or "-" next to the parameters to know how they will evolve in the next round.
Spoiler on arable land, industry and home renovation: as the number of citizens increases, the more housing land is needed, and therefore inevitably the number of arable land decreases accordingly. Where else can humans build housing? The funding of "home renovation" makes it possible to slightly reduce the number of "housing land" needed per inhabitant (the old abandoned houses are basically habitable again). Industries earn gold, but each industry is built on land that could have fed the citizens.
To @kothead : Thank you ! This is exactly the idea at the grassroots, a forced mutual cooperation to finally be able to move forward !
To @gozz : Thank you ! As I said above, some information could be clearer, like "+" or "-" next to the parameters to know how they will evolve in the next round. I had tried Ludum Dare 34 in Compo, but unfortunately I had to give up for family reasons. I trained on the remnants of the project before this session, I'll try to finish this game too ;)
Fun game once you actually discover what to do! The instructions could be a little clearer. Otherwise good job!
It was interesting when you figured it out, but the tutorial should have been a bit more clear.
Cool concept. I just started going for as many citizens as I possibly could, which was clearly a mistake on my part. I agree with some of the reviewers that a gradual introduction to the mechanics would have helped the game.
Good idea which fits the theme. However, I felt extremely overwhelmed with information when I first loaded up the game.
The idea is interesting, but the game is much too complex.
The game was really complex, but it's still a really interesting concept that makes you think a lot on what to do next. However I have to note that sometimes when I wanted to trade with other markets the game would not let me do so for some reason. Hope next time you get to have to have some actual graphics and sound going. Still good job!
Interesting take on resource management game. I would like to see what a bit extra would do for it as it feels flat at the moment. Has potential though.
Cool game with some interesting mechanics. I wish I could see: > My budget (ie why I was losing gold or something else) > Tooltips about policies > Graphs about the progress of different nations over time > More types of policies and more policy options (probably with a different UI) Market trades seemed back-to-front and the game UI seemed designed for larger screens. Sims are hard to get right in this respect. Music and sound effects were lacking. I thought the UI background was nice. Overall this game was tough to get into and left me wanting more, but I had enough fun with it in the end.
A menu based resource management game, a tough genre for a jam. Your take is functional and there is some logic to it, but as the rules are not explained efficiently it is very hard to play. Got to turn 20, but trying to guess my way though didn't suffice for more than that.
UI and design questions (issues!): - There is no indication on the amount of fish and animals. I can let them repopulate, but when should I do that? - Home renovation and Housing level both reduce Housing need? How exactly? Is one of them better in certain situations? - Industry. What does it do? Does it produce food, happiness, housing, gold or something else? - Trading. The Peaslands run out of food fast. Why can I only buy food from them and not sell? - Is there any randomness to the rules? Sometimes food seems to run out much faster, even if doing the very same things? - Is it possible to win at all? How many turns does it take?
Technical issues: - Pressing the help button twice breaks the close button - The GUI sprites are blurry. You should use the *Tiled* Image type in the UI Image component with the sprite borders set accordingly in the sprite editor. - Restart button would be nice
Good idea, I do like the genre. The implementation, especially when it comes to conveying vital information, is lacking.
Overall: *Below average (2.5)* Fun: *Guesswork! (1.5)* Innovation: *Above average (3.5)* Theme: *Good (4.0)* Humor: *Bad (2.0)* Mood: *Nonexistent (1.0)*
Your game is very hard to get into : we have to read a wall of text right at the start, it would be more efficient to introduce the player gradually to all of your game mechanics. There are also some UI issues that other players already mentioned, which is problematic in a game that is only played trough its UI. Overall, i think that with a bit of fine tuning, your game could become enjoyable and its a shame that the game jam format didn't give you enough time for that.
I felt like I was just thrown into the deep end right away. I have certainly made games like this before, and while I always feel fine with the mechanics myself, mostly that is because I programmed them so I understand them. I recommend playtesting with new people early and often with new people every time and don't explain it to them at all because that is what most of your players experience will be like.
Wooooo that's a tough game to win! I really liked the ambition of the idea, juggling multiple cities with multiple resources. My gameplan was to juggle the #s in a way to make sure nothing ever closed in on zero. I tried multiple times with multiple policies but couldn't get the hang of it though, and I only mildly understood why I couldn't trade to market sometimes. I don't have any suggestions that the other players haven't covered already, but that was my gameplay experience and I hope it helps.
Concept is nice but hard to understand a bit) :wink:
Thank you for your feedback ! I'm working on a new version, to insert several ideas that you suggested to me or that I didn't have the time to do in the deadlines :
- Add a tutorial, which explains little by little, without revealing too much about the game mechanisms either, - Review the market system, so as to be able to exchange all possible resources, and so that the market offers changes every turn, - Improve graphics, by displaying lands, adding icons and reviewing the user interface, - Display, once a policy has been conducted, the gains and losses that it brings via "up" and "down" indicators, and see overall changes (a bit like in the game "Reigns") - Add "hearsay" that I didn't have time to do in the first version (for example: "fishermen are having more and more trouble finding fish lately" or "it seems that the Richiztan made a food shortage, the tension is rising at home") that allows to give indications without revealing too much, - Add sounds and background music, - Add a menu and an end, with a "restart" button.
To answer some questions that I have not answered yet, there is no chance in the game, everything is proportional to other parameters. The game is made for wide screens (1400 * 800 px) and I don't think I'm doing responsive design.
A little confusing, (possibly due to a language barrier?) which is unfortunate in such a complicated numbers game, but over all, a very cool idea, and a puzzle I wish I had more time to solve.
Boy, there's a lot to process there. I think making some of the numbers more visual (bars or something) would cut down on the main page clutter.
This is pretty confusing. First glance I have no clue what's going on and the tutorial doesn't help much. It would be nice if there were a few tutorial levels to slowly introduce concepts. I've never played spreadsheet games before but it does look like a fun challenge once the mechanics are understood
I found this game very hard. Don't know if it's because I'm doing it wrong (I tried six or seven times), or if it's a balancing issue. That said, I know - oh so much - that balancing this kind of game is like a mathematic hell. ^_^
Clever idea. A little confusing but good job!