bloham 2021-04-25 20:52
Hi, how do I survive the first day? :)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD48 → Root Deeper
By brielley
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1007 | 3.46 | 49 | |
| Fun | 1360 | 3.04 | 49 | |
| Innovation | 347 | 3.73 | 48 | |
| Theme | 783 | 3.74 | 49 | |
| Graphics | 1 | |||
| Audio | 1 | |||
| Humor | 1.86 | 13 | ||
| Mood | 1072 | 3.37 | 49 |
Hi, how do I survive the first day? :)
I survived 44 days! Took me a while to understand how it worked. You get so much more water than CO2 D:
Good job overall!
There was a bit of a learning curve but once I got going it was fun! The art and UI are very polished. I could see this being a fun relaxing game if there were some soothing music to go with it.
@bloham, just generate energy from water and CO2 to make the energy and water you have meet the daily need. :)
@tinyhatgames You must be so lucky to experienced very few fires. I'm always running out of water myself in one fire after another! :D
@liammasters Thanks for your feedback! I'll try to add some audio next time.
took me a while to get the hang of it, but one I did it was fun. Nice graphics, I like the stones and the tree a lot.
Bit difficult to get the hang of.Novel Idea, good job!!
Nice game! I would have loved some music, sound effects for the leafs rustling and the fire burning. I would also have loved to see the roots grow out, or at least just be visible underneath.
@xenon27 Thank you. Next time I'd make a clearer turotial.
@lakshyaisagod You made my day, dude, Thank you!
@wizkid Thank you for your feedback! Yea, that's all I need to add to the game but I'm running out of energy last night and just simply choose to press the next day button. :D
Sorry. Can't get my co2 up. Nice graphics.
@mdotedot CO2 varies largely in different weathers. You must have lots of rainy days!
Very pleasant to play. It could use some calm background music or ambient sounds. Somewhere around day 19 I totally stopped receiving CO2. Not sure if it was a bug but it felt like one.
Hi, @owca ,thanks for your feedback. I've just tested it and I played until day 32, everything is fine around day 19, the daily CO2 output varies from 4 to 16 in these days. I guess is it you accidentally pressed the Generate Energy button and your CO2 is around 11 so it just used out immediately?
@brielley I tried again and this time I recorded my attempt to be able to analyze it :) This time I was out of water at day 23. I had following situation: root_deeper.png
Technically I could just go to "Next Day" and it should be fine (I had enough water and energy for one day)... but I clicked "Generate Energy" and it generated 10 energy and cosumed 10 water units. I left with 6 water and died :)
Maybe the "Generate Energy" should work in a bit different way? It wasn't obvious for me that 10 water units will be used. Or maybe having 2 separate buttons would be better (to generate +1 or +10 energy)?
@owca Thanks so much for your feedback! Yes, it's a bug! When Water - Daily Use Water < 10, the "Generate Engergy" button ought to generate only 1 energy not 10. Thanks so much! I'll fix it later. wait...it's my first time attending game jam, am I allowed to fix it after the submitting hour?
I liked the process. But it happens that you have no choice and you reach 3-6 days and die. Every day getting the minimum for the transition.
@brielley it's also my first game jam but according to the rules you can fix bugs after deadline: *"Certain Bug Fixes are allowed. You can’t add new features, but if something broke or didn’t work correctly as you were finishing up, you can fix this after the deadline. You are asked to highlight the changes you make in your submission (a short change log)"*
@barindwalin Yeah, when the extreme weather last for several days, there's no choice but to struggle until the last day and then die. Maybe I shouldn't make the weather to be completely random...
@owca Thank you! After that I've checked the rules too, and I've fixed that bug and written the change log. Really appreciate your help!
I really enjoyed the simulation :) dropped me right in, but I quickly got the hang of it. Good job!
@oeschmid Thank you. I'd make a tutorial next time (there're so many things I must do next time haha!
I ended up only surviving 29 days but I really enjoyed the concept of the game! Simple, straightforward and executed very well. Great job Brielley!
It took a couple of try but I got it! It's a nice looking game, here's my feedback: - Having the water cost of roots displayed would help a lot to understand what you are doing - The events can really blind side you but that might be by design and meant to force players to plan ahead
It can be a bit frustrating to start so many times just to feel I never got enough CO2 to get to the point where I was really making decisions, but the gameplay loop is rewarding enough that I kept at it! I wish there was some way to influence the amount of CO2 I was getting as a player, or that there was a some acknowledgement by the game when I maximized my roots and was swimming in water. That being said I really enjoyed the concept!Screenshot 2021-04-26 21.47.30.png
@pookipoot Thank you! In fact I start with a somewhat big idea and then after 7 hours development I awared that I can't finish it in 48h or 72h, then I changed my idea into this simple one. :) @gibss Thank you for your feedback. Yeah, I just let the energy number and daily get water number changed when root or root deeper, and it's not that straightforward, I should have a ui to show the cost and reward of roots clearly. @risk4bisk Congratulations! And thank you so much for this feedback, because it should have a large root image when maximized the roots! There seems to have a bug, I'll find it out and fix it later. And also thank you for the suggestion about CO2, yea, when there's one rainy day after another and the CO2 is very limited, there's not much space left for decision making. I just didn't find the balance point between the emotion that sometimes life just doesn't give you choices all you can do is just wait for the sun to rise again, and the fun that you made the right decision to save you from horrible situations. Thank you for point it out, and I think that's what I should improve after the Jam.
Great Game!.
Interesting idea here. I need a few minutes to understand what I'm actually doing, but then it made fun.^^
@eugenik Thank you. I'm happy you enjoy it. @mighty-mufflon-games Thank you for your feedback. Yea, I should make a tutorial at the beginning next time!
Cool simulation. First time I tried it, I only survived 1 day... After knowing the gameplay, I had a really good and relaxing game experience. However, this time I died abruptly in day 26. Maybe I forgot to generate energy because I know I had enough water and CO2. Here is my suggestion: may you should notify player that you will die next day if you do not generate energy. Overall, fun game, cool idea! And good jobs!
@xyfeng Thank you so much for your helpful feedback! I've never thought of that before, and yea, you're right, I should add a warning when the energy is not enough to survive. And it would be useful at the beginning of the game to express the gameplay as well. Thank you!
I like the concept!
I like the idea but in my opinion it's not really that fun. The game is pretty boring and repetitive as there's not much to it. You just need to make sure that you have enough seeds and water to survive. You should have made this a bit more complex than that.
Really nice execution. The graphics and sounds ar very good. It seems that start game is always the same to get roots started and not die on 3rd day.
Довольно сложно сохранить деревце, когда природа так и норовит тебя уничтожить. Но деревце выстоит! Спасибо за симулятор дерева! ^_^
@ruslana Thank you! I'm happy you enjoy it.:) @gargantus You must be very lucky to have wonderful weathers and rare fire. Just as in real life, the lucky ones are always feel bored with simply being alive, while the unfortunate ones are struggling hard to survive until the last day of their lives, and the average are carefully planning their life to resist the next hard time. @mariszin Thank you for your feedback. Yeah, in the first 3 days when the tree is very small, survive is largely depend on what you met instead of what you did. Feel free to restart if your tree meet horrible weathers in the first few days. @xpoho (I used a machine translator, hope the translation is correct)"It is quite difficult to preserve a tree when nature strives to destroy you. But the tree will stand!" I love your words. It's really so touching and heartwarming. Yea, the tree will stand. :deciduous_tree:
@brielley Yeah, I think, thats correct! Thanks ^_^
Fire on the first days killed me multiple times. But then I've got lucky and had time to understand it, so it became really interesting. Also it looks lovely. Here is my last day :') 576567567456465.PNG
This is a great game. Really enjoyed it. I do think the instructions should be clearer! If it wasn't because I was intrigued by the music and looks I would have left. Now that I know how to play it I have done it multiple times. Really enjoy it.
@timewarp I'm sorry for the fires you met again and again at the very beginning, and congrats for finally survived through those horrible days. PS. From your screenshot I can see you root quite fast, and maybe root slower and keep your daily get water number ≈ 2 * daily get CO2 number would help to survive longer. :D @boxedmeatrevolution Thank you for your feedback. Yeah I do need to make a clearer instruction at the beginning of the game. And thank you so much for your patience. I'm glad you enjoy it at last!
Great game, I enjoyed playing it. Some runs felt a little unfair (maybe that was the point) because even when I had 6-7 water, I would get a fire and it would become negative so all your hard work just went to waste. Also, it might be nice to mention how much energy each new root would take because it suddenly took 2 instead of 1 and I died the next day because I only had 2 energy. Overall a very good entry so good job!
@darqweful Thank you so much for your feedback. The "root deeper" option requires more energy than the "root" option, and at the same time the deeper tiles will give the tree more water everyday. I'm so sorry I didn't write the instructions clearly, I'll improve it next time. :D
That was really nice ! A bit tricky to understand due to the fact that the "price" of each action is not displayed, so it is a lot of trial, error and memorization. I would have loved to know that "root" is 1 energy and "root deeper" is 2 ^^.
Otherwise, that's a cool concept and I spent more time on it that I should tell to my boss, so congrats =p !
@metalfox-dioxymore In fact, "root deeper"'s "price" can be 3 energy as well, if your "root" is still in the highest tiles, and "root deeper" has already reached the bottom tiles, that will happen ^^. Thank you for your feedback, I really need to write all the "price"s clearly! :joy:
Nice graphics and ambient sounds that make an atmosphere!
Some remarks: 1. Game lacks of pricing indication. Expectation: game shows prices for generating energy and roots with icons and numbers. 2. Sometimes game unexpectedly converts too much resources into energy. Especially when you already prepare to buy resources multiple times in a row. Expectation: game converts same amount of resources each time using same button and for converting more resources you can use a separate button. 3. You can root deeper and get -2 energy on the first day. Expectation: game checks current value of energy and prevents spending it when it is less than required.
Good entry!
@retrome Thank you so much for your detailed feedback. Yeah, I should write the price of the "root" and "root deeper" clearly, and maybe design two seperate buttons for generate one or generate ten energy. However, the third is just one of the game machenics. When you "root", there's a "risk control system" to check the current value of energy and prevent you from "root" when you don't have enough energy to survive after "root". But when you "root deeper", the higher reward of everyday water requires not only a higher cost of energy, but also a higher risk which means there's no "risk control system" any more and you need to calculate and control the "root deeper"'s risk yourself. And thank you for your feedback, it's really something I should write in the first day's instructions next time!
It took me a few tries before I got the hang of the game but it was nice and relaxing! Like other said it took me a while to learn how expensive it was to root. I also noticed that the price to root doesn't seem to get more expensive as the time went by but maybe I'm wrong? I also didn't really understand what the fire did? Maybe I played too fast?
It's still a very nice game, and I loved being a tree for a while!
We had similar ideas, but with very different approaches! Beautiful graphics! As some comments above, it would be nice to know how much root or depper root will cost.
@saltysa Thank you for your feedback. Yeah, the price of "root" is fixed, while the price of "root deeper" varies depending on how far your "root deeper" reaches. In the fire, the tree will lose half its water (and the minimum lose is 10). If you meet a fire when your tree is quite young or the root is not big enough, the fire can be dangerous.
@marcionix I played your game just now! Yeah, our ideas are so similar, and I really enjoy your approach that I have the autonomy to control where to root and see the consequence of that! And also thank you for your feedback, yea I really should write clearer instructions next time!
I think I was a little tired playing this one, it took me waaay too long to figure out the daily income and outcome and stuff. With the random weather I think sometimes there is a better chance to proceed and sometimes you are just doomed, but it's fine. The fire surprised me :smile: Overall, this game is very nice, calming, fun to play :slight_smile:
My LP :slight_smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yRNuvGmCSE
Interesting idea, kind of a tree management game. Took me some time to notice the daily get/use indicators; I'd probably made the UI bigger since other parts of the screen are not interactive anyway.
@molpe Wow, thank you so much for your video! And thank you for your feedback as well. I'm sorry for the doomed time your tree has been experienced. And I'm sorry for the lack of clearer instructions which is the thing I should definitely improve in the next Jam!
@maniulo Yeah, it's kinda like a management sim, though the goal is not to become the next big thing but to survive as long as one can. And thank you for your suggestion about UI, I'm the kind of person that will be attracted by numbers especially changing numbers at first sight, so I just didn't aware that they may not be noticed at the very beginning of the game. Thank you so much, I should make the important informations more attractive next time!
Nice tree survival. I had trouble understanding what to do at first and what different buttons actually do, but once I got past that it was fun to play.
@boclow Thank you for your feedback. I finally added a "How to Play" instruction on the web page. Hope it will help to prevent other people from experiencing what you experienced. :joy: And I'm very happy that you enjoy it in the end. :smile:
Very calming game. Reached 26 Days. I would have loved to have a bit more control over it, but nevertheless a fun experience.
Strangely addictive despite being largely RNG-based for the beginning of the game and the UI being a bit unintuitive at first and allowing you to "shoot yourself in the foot" very easily. Finally made it to day 100 and beyond on a good run. :D
@grangerer Thank you, yeah, there's not much thing to control in this game. It's my first time attending a game jam, and after a "I can never finish it in 48h or 72h" trial, I'm just tring to make a simple one so that I can finish it in time. :D
@ddrkirbyisq Yeah, as a gamer, I found myself strangely addict to RNG-based mechanics very easily as well. Maybe it's because it's kinda like life. We don't know what we'll meet, no matter how we planed, there're always surprises, as if everything happens randomly, and we just love life, love it for what it is. And thank you for your feecback about UI, I'd make it more intuitive next time!
Sureley an interesting idea. Some more interactions with the tree or the surrounding would have been nice.
I really enjoyed your little game. Calm and relaxing, but not to trivial. I would have prefered, if the roots would have been visualized. The first few rounds I was playing, I wondered, if it is just digging and the roots grow later.
@klaus-peter Thank you for your feedback, yeah, I'm totally agree that more interactions with trees and surroundings would be more fun than interact with buttons. I'd improve it next time! @majadroid I'm sorry, the roots graph will only be shown after maximizing the root. If time permitted, I wanna make every root and root deeper visualized as well. And thank you for your feedback, it just occurs to me that I can make a branch of roots visualized after "digging" several times, and then another branch, if the branch number is not too large then the work won't be too much and I can finish it in a game jam. And that would largely improve the game experience. I just didn't think it out during the jam, and thank you so much I'll keep it in mind next time.
My best is around days 10–11, then I always lost due to a weather change, I think the fires and suddenly drained water. But thematically it made sense that during the first few days, with a small weak tree, anything could overwhelm it! Congratulations on successfully finishing your first game jam. c:
By the way, when you click on "root deeper" before "root", it results in this funny visual where the first tile is completely skipped. :D
@ynneblack Thank you so much for your feedback. Yeah, it looks super weird! Sorry I didn't notice that design bug, and thank you for reminding me, I'll keep it in mind next time! :D