ryzy27 2018-12-04 13:12
Hey, I could not open your game on Windows 64 bit. That's the error I'm getting.
error.png
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD43 → Blood, Sweat and Taxes
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2.37 | 6 | ||
| Fun | 2.00 | 5 | ||
| Innovation | 3.00 | 5 | ||
| Theme | 3.37 | 6 | ||
| Graphics | 2.00 | 5 | ||
| Humor | 1.00 | 4 | ||
| Mood | 2.00 | 5 |
Hey, I could not open your game on Windows 64 bit. That's the error I'm getting.
error.png
@ryzy27 Thanks for the report, I'll look into it tonight after work. I probably just messed up the packaging somehow and will need to just do a rebuild of the 64-bit build.
In the meantime, try the 32-bit version and let me know if that also gives the error. Out of curiosity, which version of Windows are you on? Doubt that's gonna make a difference, but I've seen dumber things happen with Windows before.
wow, this is certainly ambitious with all the options for crafting! I honestly felt a little overwhelmed by all the options and wasn't sure what to do. And a HUD that showed my current inventory instead of that one square would go a long way I think. The game reminds me of Agricolla, one of my favorite board games. Good luck!
@alec Thanks for the feedback, glad this was able to trigger some (hopefully) fond memories for you. The inventory screen was something that was tricky to pull off, breaking it into the categories helped keep it readable but still provide a way to show everything. In a future update, I'll probably end up completely redoing it so it is better formatted and perhaps have a toggle for a "show only owned items" version.
The options are definitely overwhelming and unfortunately the game isn't explained well outside my post because I didn't have time to include the main menu (which would have had in-game explanations and control listings). This is again something I want to include in a future update, because I really was kicking myself having to cut that from release in order to make submission time.
Did you have any issues running the game, since that seems to have been the case for at least one other player so far?
@falseincarnate nope, the game ran flawlessly on my mac!
@ryzy27 It seems that I accidentally included the 32-bit version of the UnityPlayer.dll file in the 64-bit folder. I've rebuilt the version and updated the version available for download with the new build/dll file. I also confirmed able to run it on my machine in 64-bit, so you should hopefully be able to run it too. Please let me know if you still get the error with the new version.
Works fine now, thanks!
As for the game itself. It's really impressive and complex. Maybe even too complex. If you were to cut down on the features and polish what you already had I would have liked it better. Adding some feedback and sound would be great.
I have enjoyed it a lot nontheless, after initial figuring out and I know how easy it is to fall down the rabbit hole and keep adding more to the game.
Great work!
The game is honestly a bit overwhelming as it is, with a lot of things available from the start and no clear idea of what you should be doing. It feels very obscure gameplay-wise. I also have a bug when I interact with what seems to be the shop cells, where the game opens the last menu I used instead of the cell menu.
The ideas you describe seem fine, but I believe you tried to put too much stuff without the time to polish it. If I may, I would suggest to try to have less mechanics and try to improve and polish them, before adding more variety if you have the time. Being able to finalize your game is more important than the raw volume of content ;)
Anyway, It's a very ambitious game, congrats on being able to publish it in time for compo !
Thanks for the feedback!
Definitely agree it is overwhelming and not really well explained. I had hoped to include instructions and such on a main menu option, but having to cut the main menu for time definitely left things in a lurch there, so I definitely apologize for that.
Sound was something that I unfortunately have no real experience with so I made the decision to just leave it out altogether. Lacking significant feedback was more of just an oversight on my part, and looking back really should have been a priority I built on from the start.
The bug with shops I'll look into tonight or tomorrow, those didn't get the level of testing other parts because they were one of the last things coded prior to submission, so I'm sure it was something stupid I passed over in my rush. I've also noticed that the shrines aren't showing their upgrade requirements, which was also another bug that I missed by having to cut end testing. Expect a bugfix for both by the weekend.
EDIT: Bug-fixed version uploaded!
An interesting interpretation of the theme
Unique take on the theme and cool concept. The user interface could be improved though such as showing what items you gave when in the different menus and the amount of money you have.
Also when accessing a menu, every single option is shown. Instead of that, you could make it so that only the options that are possible should be shown. (eg. only show 'plant corn' when you only have corn seeds)
A mini in game tutorial could also help players to understand the game a little easier.
Overall a cool game which just needs a little bit of polish
I dig the idea, but like others have said before me, there are some feedback issues! :smile: I wonder if direct movement control over a player character has sufficient added value for the concept. Part of me thinks a single screen with all elements, and mouse controls rather than the number-key controls for the menus would've worked out better. But for what you have now, things like an inventory display on screen rather than hidden behind several mouse-clicks in the menu would be big QOL improvements.
The art is a little rough, though most things convey what they are well enough. I'd have liked to have seen cows and chickens in their tiles so I would've seen what the tiles were before interacting with it. I still don't know what some of the tiles are, they just say 'upgrade required' without letting me know what they are.
I appreciate the effort and ambition though! A pretty big scope, and you seem to have gotten it working technically, but that seems to have been at the cost of a clear interface.
@generictoast @flaterectomy An always-visible inventory (or at least partial one) definitely seems to be a common request, and one I'll definitely experiment with after voting is done (when we're able to do new features without breaking the rules/spirit of the compo).
The menu feedback definitely needs an upgrade, right now the menu closing is generally the only way to tell if something happened. Not my greatest design choice to be honest, but one that luckily isn't impossible to change down the line. A few of the menus do somewhat hide options that aren't available, but those are mostly ones that are locked behind an upgrade (notably the brewery and furnace crafting stations which require upgrades to unlock "higher tier" recipes and usage), so they just don't name the option outright. I did consider having those show as blank instead of "Upgrade Required", as well as cases like your example of only showing options you have the requirements met for, however I didn't want to have players mistaking a blank menu as incomplete or a waste of time, and would rather they see what COULD be done there and what they'd need to do it.
The art style is incredibly rough and cartoon-ish for the simple reason of I'm not a particularly talented artist. This game is 100% programmer art, and I won't deny that at all. Post-voting, I'm going to dig up some public domain assets or contact my more artistically inclined friends for better assets. Visible cows and chickens in their pens will hopefully come with that visual upgrade, as will displaying the names of the interact-able objects in their respective menus.
I've definitely got plans to improve the user experience, such as in-game help and control listings that were dropped because of not having enough time to implement a title screen / main menu. If you have any questions or additional comments, I definitely appreciate the feedback!