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Project Memory: Delay Extinction
Project Memory: Delay Extinction
By Hekateras, raxah and neverpure20
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 295 | 3.84 | 48 | |
| Fun | 634 | 3.43 | 45 | |
| Innovation | 189 | 3.83 | 46 | |
| Theme | 249 | 4.03 | 46 | |
| Graphics | 256 | 4.18 | 48 | |
| Audio | 228 | 3.85 | 47 | |
| Mood | 315 | 3.84 | 47 | |
Comments
iluvatar
2022-04-05 11:38
First of all, I need to say that this game hit hard close to home. It just feels like taken straight from the 90's strategy games. Graphics, music, vibes. Amazing.
That's why it made me sad, that I couldn't figure out what should I do exactly. I couldn't buy/invest into anything, I clicked and pressed all the buttons I could, but nothing. I was just able to open pages like "Ranchers" but couldn't buy anything, even though I had my reputation for it. Please help, I would really like to try your game one more time and give it a proper rating :)
Really beautiful and nostalgic aesthetics! Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to exactly play the game, it seems like it's more observational.. I really love the music though! Please let me know if I missed something so I can retry it :)
@Iluvatar Thanks for the feedback. Were the icons greyed out? Purchasing things requires Funding, not Reputation. Try starting a new game, opening the Rangers tab, buying a Ranger and placing him on the map. Or try purchasing an Ambassador animal - if you click on PR Center again, you should see the animated portrait in place of the button and can know for sure that it's working.
I absolutely LOVE the aesthetic of this game, really reminiscent of classic strategy games. You've done a great job!
iluvatar
2022-04-05 12:00
@hekateras, YES! It's working now perfectly. I think it was probably a problem with Itch.io. This happens sometimes, that the game isn't as response as it should be, when you load it up. So I guess, a simple refresh did the job :)
Anyway, I really like it, and felt like a great experience :)
siskan
2022-04-05 12:06
Really nice concept! It was engaging to play. Lots of variables made it interesting and I like the strategy elements. The song played was super and the graphics on point style and quality wise.
I'd like an easy way to keep track of how many turns remain of my rangers though, I ultimately lost because several disappeared at once while being low on funds. In the web version all graphics but the menu only displayed in the top left quarter of the screen. Everything was fine with the downloaded version.
@Nectanebo Please check out the short video tutorial I just added, it should help a little. Right now the purchase rewards are a little underpowered so the main gameplay is about placing Rangers on the map and moving them around to prevent Poachers from hunting your elephants.
@hekateras Oh alright! Now it makes sense, chasing down the Poachers. I'll go play it again
It's a good game, thank you guys! I like music and the problem you chose, it's so touching and real.
Very good idea. I had a resolution issue, so the game was very tiny. That said, I still liked it. I would buy a full version of this game.
njs
2022-04-05 16:55
Agreeing with other players here - it was hard to figure out what to do at first, it might be an idea to note on your itch page that you need to click the ranger picture again when the tab's open, that wasn't immediately clear.
There's the basis for a really good game here. I can't think of an in the wild conservation game, but it's certainly something I'd be interested in, and this could very easily be expanded on and made into a full release with other animals, environments, etc.
It was a good game, nostalgic, top marks.
Wow, this is like the first game that I really enjoyed and spend more than hour on *0* Looks and plays really lovely!
@reneantunes You could try changing the page zoom settings of the page in your browser options, it might help with the resolution
@hekateras Thanks for the tip; sadly, that didnt' do it. It stays the same size in the top left corner of the itch.io game window regardless of scale. It's okay though its still playable, not a big deal. Cheers.
Nice game and great topic, the problem is well handled
I really love this game. It's not perfect, it a little too much about micro-managing rangers, and some options feels useless. Some more strategic elements could be nice. But I love the interpretation of the theme, I love elephants, the music is awesome (a great old-school vibe), graphics are superb too, I had no issues with controls. And wildlife conservation is a really important subject. My favorite LD50 game so far.
eleph.png
Even the good ending is sad, in a good (?) way. I'll remember this game.
I just finally beat this myself. (Shhhh.) The trick to the poacher-ranger tactical side is to identify which regions a poacher can move to next turn. Poachers will **always** move, and they will **never** move to a region that has a Ranger in it, **even if the Ranger is leaving**. You can use this to cut them off and then you're fine.
I'm not a huge fan of strategic games, but guuuuys... I'm so glad to see one project like this here! It's a very impressive game overall, but considering it was made for LD its INSANE that you made such a great game like this! The aesthetic is dope, but the thing i got more excited was the choice of the mood. It's a game inspired by african visual, and that's very unusual in the industry games. It's so inspiring that almost make me cry. Serious.
I love all the micro-management systems that you put in there, and it's easy to see this game works for schools with an educative project but also with the public in general. I think that the rules just need to be clearer for the user, maybe a 1st play with tutorial (totally understand why it wasn't implemented in this version, there's no time for such a huge effort), and even make the actions grow progressively in the game could help a lot to understand it.
Great entry, hope to see more of it in the next jams. Keep it up!
I was very surprized to see such serious theme in Game Jam. But I'm glad to see your game. I have a master's degree in biology, and all this troubles are understandable for me. Please, don't let your idea die - it worth developing.
Well, my record is 30 days, but I will continue)
jozef
2022-04-06 23:02
The number of mechanics you have managed to implement, while intimidating first, is just incredible given the short time you had. I absolutely love the art style, reminds me of some of my favorite strategy games from my childhood. The only issue I had was that there could be some more visible feedback when selecting and choosing an action (in PR center for example). Overall it is a great game with great message, good job!
@gandelianna I feel you completely - I have a master's degree in biology too, and some of what I learned helped inform the flavour and mechanics for this. I'd love to take this further, though we'll have to see how much we can do. We all have day jobs, after all. :)
@platyBOSS @Jozef @Chocolat-Endive @Ghatazorg We greatly appreciate the kind comments!
Very good idea overall and great execution! I can imagine playing it when I was younger. This would be great as a board game. My one gripe is it seemed my rangers did nothing at all? They would be in the same area, if not super close to the poacher, and they would just let the poacher move to a different area. I feel like maybe that could be reworked a little. But fun!
@GrimPuppet Thanks for the feedback! The ranger mechanics take a while to get used to since it's a lot more about positioning than about direct ranger-on-poacher action, but the main thing is that if a Poacher spends enough turns on the same tile as a Ranger, the Poacher WILL disappear, and they will also disappear immediately if on the same tile as a Ranger and with no tiles they can move to (because those tiles are blocked by Rangers). The itch.io page has a more detailed explanation of it. Hope that helps a little. (And I totally understand being lost here, it took me a while to beat it myself XD )
p-r
2022-04-07 21:10
This game is amazing, and I'll definitely going to play it again. It is addictive, polished and very well designed, the sound work is incredible, doesn't look like a jam game at all.
hechi
2022-04-07 21:46
Excellent game, very successful choice of theme, I liked the way you used it to make a powerful social criticism.
At first I found it difficult to understand how to predict the movement of elephants, rangers and poachers, but after reading carefully the explanation on itchio it becomes more understandable and enjoyable. I seem to have assumed that the description the developers put on the ludum dare page is the same as the one on the itchio page. Maybe it would be interesting to add that information here as well for clueless people like me.
I found it very interesting and fun, well done! :smile:
arzi
2022-04-08 00:01
I think this is the first 'serious' game I've seen for LD, really cool! The mechanics work pretty well too, even if the game is quite hard with so many poaches coming in all the time! Great job!
Thanks for bringing your game by my stream for feedback! If you’d like to revisit the play and commentary you can view the highlight at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1448957658
A lovely edu-game, and something I could see playing for hours in a similar fashion to the way I used to play Civilization before bed.
As I mentioned on stream, I would have appreciated, especially for a turn-based game like this, if some of the mechanics were a bit more transparent. Especially the mechanics around elephant/poacher movement and poacher capture. An optional mode that separates the elephant, poacher, and ranger movement stages and pauses between each would probably help beginning players and then you could have a checkbox to go to "fast movement" which would be more like the current behavior. Animations seem to happen in a different order than the canonical order (I see elephants moving late?) which is also confusing.
raxah
2022-04-08 16:41
@marcmagus Thanks for playing our game on stream and for the good feedback. We plan on working on those things for a post-jam version.
ginxel
2022-04-08 17:50
I feel like the music could've been more tailored towards the environment, using more African instrumentation. Personally I would've gone for a more Zoo Tycoon type of vibe for the music but the sound design works perfectly fine. I love the graphics and the concept is also very relevant and bonus points for creating a game around animal conservation <3
tvorojok
2022-04-08 21:42
excellent sustained style of the whole game, the topics chosen are relevant and important. I got high while I was playing, thanks for such a project!
etherion
2022-04-08 22:01
Great game, great theme. Enjoyed the audio, graphics were well suited to the game. Controls were confusing, and I definitely felt like I never had enough money (which is probably intended). Wasn't really able to play around with PR or Rehab, as I felt I had to throw all my money at more rangers.
Glad to see another "administration" game in this edition!
I have some considerations of what I missed (many of these happened in my game too and I missed it)
The feedback on the buttons is of great help, as I watched the video before playing I knew how it worked, however clicking the buttons, or hovering the mouse over it had no change, and sometimes it was difficult to know what was clickable and what was not.
During the game, it was not possible to know that it was possible to move the rangers around (which was also solved by the video).
Other than that the game is very solid, I didn't find any BUGs, and the art is really nice.
Unfortunately, the setting made me a little sad, but it is the reality of what is happening and has always happened.
Hope you are successful in the game! Congratulations!
If this feedback has positively helped your game, please leave a "<3"
PS: I'll leave this photo of a baby elephant.
ele.png
This was a pleasant surprise! :) Loved the art and music. How things work probably could have been explained in a bit more detail, but the whole game looked very cohesive. Would be keen to play this again if you develop it further. Great work!!
frosty
2022-04-09 21:34
Really polished art and music, and novel take on the theme. In the itch.io window, the game only takes up one quarter of the viewport though (firefox on mac). UI was a little confusing at first, but otherwise an excellent entry!
fromage
2022-04-12 04:36
This game has a great message and some cool tactical options, though none of them seem to do as much as the rangers (and I have no idea what poaches losing morale does, though I am all for it, heh).
I just wish I had more info...a comment here helped me with understanding how ranger positioning can stop poachers, but especially early game with few rangers and randomly (as far as I can tell) moving elephants, it was rough to feel like my choices made much impact.
raxah
2022-04-12 14:39
@fromage Thanks for your feedback. Conveying a proper how to play, as well as balancing all options equally came a bit short in the 72h time frame we had, sadly. Currently there are strategies that lead to a win, where you either play only with rangers or without rangers at all. This is not the way we intended how the game should be played, so we are currently working on a post-jam version that addresses this issue.