DECAPHASE

alexander-epton 2022-10-03 16:01

this was cool . some loading hiccups in the web gl version. UI was really polished and intuitive. not sure how this addressed the theme but was good nonetheless

trouv 2022-10-03 23:37

Game looks and sounds great. Managed to get to level 58 with this setup: decaphase.png

As you can tell, I favored the lasers. I think the tricky bit with designing this kind of game is balance and specialization. The lasers may have been a little OP. I also tried an all-turret run and an all-wave run, both of which had only a fraction of the success as this mostly-tower run. As for specialization, it'd be nice if certain towers had more of a rock-paper-scissors relationship with certain enemies (they might've had some already, I noticed that the turrets occasionally missed flying enemies, but it was hard to tell), and had different upgrade paths with different specializations, etc. But that's a lot to ask for in 72 hours.

I had a lot of questions about how the game worked that I think could have been communicated a little better. What path through the arena were the enemies going to take? Were the enemies getting stronger as the game progressed, or were there just more of them? Did tower upgrades apply to all existing towers, or just new ones? Like I mentioned earlier, did the towers have any specialization? I think some more help text, level displays above the enemies/towers, paths drawn in the arena, would've gone a long way here.

With all that said, I think the game's presentation was really great. The music was seriously impressive for 72 hours. The isometric view, 3d models, lighting, animations, and abilities were all beautiful. Even the GUI, while simple, was quite pretty. It was all very moody and cohesive. My absolute favorite part though was that the simulation kept running after game over, with enemies having different "wandering" behavior. I think a lesser game would've had the enemies continue to attack the already-dead base, or just have them do nothing after game over.

So yeah, great job on the presentation, and thanks for repping bevy in 3d!

grif-in 2022-10-04 00:12

@trouv Thanks for putting together such an insightful comment! I think you're totally right about communicating more information. I hadn't totally thought about all of that, and it would be interesting to figure out cool looking cohesive ways of showing these things. Especially with the upgrades, enemy strength, speed, etc... With the pathing, I kind of like the idea of not knowing where they are going to go right away. I also think it would be cool if they took multiple paths when possible.

The music was really fun to put together, glad you liked it!

Regarding strategy, your laser idea is interesting. I don't know yet if they are totally OP or not. It's funny trying to balance a game in such short time. I've only played though after balancing (without cheats) maybe 5 times, so I don't really know what scores are possible. The highest I've gotten so far is also in the 50's. But oddly enough I actually haven't tried using the lasers much yet hahaha.

midblue 2022-10-04 06:47

Whoo! What a rush. I love a good tower defense, and this did not disappoint. Running the mac build was much, much smoother than webGL. I could see myself revisiting this to kill some time, and that's not light praise. I can imagine a setup that will really knock them down.... Okay, maybe just one more round.

austin-sierra 2022-10-06 18:18

I really liked this game hard to go wrong with tower defense and this is an excellent one. I tried to go full blaster three times in a row doing different upgrades but i couldnt get it to last longer than 10 mins! oh well great submission

jsloth 2022-10-06 18:37

This game had really nice vibes. Loved the audio and the look. Got to lvl 60 with all in laser maze. Good job.

jamdong15 2022-10-08 06:38

Hi, I came from the 3 Underrated Games post! :)

Wow, this game was so cool. Love the graphics and the music; there's a really high degree of polish to this. As other commenters have noted, this is one of those games that you keep coming back to again and again so you can try and get a higher level each time. That's, in my opinion, a mark of a well-made game, especially for a game jam.

In terms of feedback: 1. I struggled seemingly more than other commenters to figure out how the UI works; I think if the GUI were a lot bigger, it would've been easier to notice & understand. I also think that the size that it is now could potentially bring up accessibility concerns. 2. I agree with a lot of trouv's comments about making it more clear how exactly the level / difficulty is scaling.

Otherwise, wonderful entry. Congratulations :)

betovf 2022-10-18 08:44

Nice game! It lacks of some explanation of gameplay but it is quite polished and balanced. Good job :smiley:

mossieur-patate 2022-10-18 21:22

(in a rush to test many, don’t mind the cursory style)

[testing a desktop version because of {performance + audio} warning]

1. "Collaboratively made by @Grif-in & Surreal." -> you can have all authors displayed below the title (I think each one needs an account; unsure) 2. ah, I see on itch.io that Bevy was used! :) (dabble in it, still learning, out of curiosity) 3. soothing music! 4. already lost (level 13) XD I am too much of a slow perfectionist for ‘tower defence’ games, at least the first time around! Although I took some time at the beginning to note down something. By the way, I like how the enemies wander around after defeat :) 5. tried blocking the way (surrounding the base): forbidden to the lower left! Is there some path-searching algorithm at work to prevent it? Losing right after, at level 29 (**Edit:** looking once more at the laser capture, I notice there is a complete path for the enemies, which tends to confirm the player is not allowed to barricade!) 6. increased sound volume; ah, is the wave sound mouth-made? :) Some other sounds may be absent, such as enemies colliding with the base, which I think would have been useful 7. the speed changing feature is a nice one! :) Yet simple to make, but you had to think about it 8. spotted a bug: if you pause during a laser shot, its firing sound holds 9. by the way, the game does not lag on my hardware! :) (some Bevy demonstration games do, so I was afraid this many-entity 3D game would) 10. trying an all-laser run, without upgrading: stops ‘working’ at some point! Reached level 27. Ah, I like how the towers seem broken upon defeat! :) Ah, or is it merely their normal image, seeing a new one in a new run? 11. possible bug: sometimes, the lasers seem to target somewhere off the grid for an instant (some spawning enemy??) 12. question: what was used to create the music? :) 13. tried an all-laser run, with upgrading: almost like Trouv, ran into trouble at level 58, and lost at level 59! X) Although I stupidly forgot about reusing my previous idea of a slowering serpentine layout…

Great comment by @trouv by the way, happy to see people put some thought and words into the games and work out here. :) (I had the same question about the enemies’ paths, and the same pleasantly surprised reaction to their wandering. XD And the same noticing of Bevy!)

Since much was already said that I agree with, I will just complete with a bit more, on the criticism side (so, do not take offence at the unbalance! ;)).

**Takeaway:** a very well presented ‘tower defence’ game; I especially like the purity of having a genuine square grid where you place towers, as if playing some chess game. The downsides I see are the lack of originality, and the too classic evolution mechanic as the connection to the theme (a twist could have solved both issues at once! Now, I may be mistaken, but I do not see one presently). Also, small readability point: while the panel has the right information, that is a bit much information to take, at least at first; I think an idea to help parse the right panel quicker would be to associate a colour with each of the three turrets, both for buying and upgrading. (It seems natural to use their real colours, so blue for blaster, purple for wave, and green for laser.) As for the mood, I wonder if some backstory/context could add immersion, but this is up for debate; mystery is sometimes nice. ;) I am not necessarily a fan of ‘tower defence’ games (although I am versatile and could play about any type of game, really! X)), but I can see the qualities of this one.

teawhydee 2022-10-18 21:39

So incredibly hard but fun

grif-in 2022-10-19 08:59

@mossieur-patate Thanks for the in-depth review! Yes, the path finding will prevent blocking. The music was made in Reaper, I think almost every synth was Bazille from u-he. Level 59 is really good! 65 is the highest I've heard of yet. Agree with your thoughts on menu readability.

sparklingsushi 2022-10-19 20:14

Damn, that was hard but really enjoyed this one! Congratz!