Foon →
Ludum Dare Explorer →
LD52 →
Straight Line Farming
Straight Line Farming
By kastaff, hiku and drawrunner
View on ldjam.com
| Category | Rank | Score | Count |
|
|---|
| Overall | 235 | 3.73 | 44 | |
| Fun | 111 | 3.90 | 43 | |
| Innovation | 85 | 3.88 | 44 | |
| Theme | 39 | 4.36 | 44 | |
| Graphics | 282 | 3.88 | 44 | |
| Humor | 178 | 3.47 | 43 | |
| Mood | 478 | 3.34 | 44 | |
Comments
Neat concept! It was fun planning out the next few turns in order to fill a tricky order. I just think there were some issues with the execution that limited it.
Personally, I think it might have made more sense as a level-by-level structure where you have to figure out how to fill four specific orders within X amount of time and money. The main problem I found was that most of the interesting puzzles came from having two clients at once. The problem is, why would I ever buy it? I'm making the same amount of money per person, but with half the amount time to fill each order. In fact, the farm size-increase also seemed like a downgrade. The larger my farm, the more I'm required to spend planting lines. I only used it once in the attempt that I won, because converting a four-line to a five-line was the only way I would have been able to fill a particular order in time.
So if I only ever have one client at a time, the game becomes really easy. It just takes a while. So it ends up feel like ten minutes of platespinning rather than an actual puzzle.
The game seems to have a lot of polish from a visual perspective. (Sound design notwithstanding lol) The graphics and animations made it pretty clear what was going to happen when I did various actions. The recycling animation was an example of a feature that isn't strictly necessary, but really nice to have since it acts as a warning when you missed something on your order.
Overall, I think there's a lot of potential here. I just think the puzzle design needs work.
hiku
2023-01-10 12:32
@zungryware Thanks for your feedback!
A level-by-level structure would have given us two choices: either generate the levels procedurally, which would have cost quite some development and could fail, or have a finished amount of handmade levels. We made the choice to instead have a replayable experience (that we could easily do a paper prototype for) where the player could try to beat their score by optimizing their choices better. I think handmade puzzle levels would have been a great minigame feature though! Next time, if we have a bit more time, I'll think about it. Thanks for the idea!
About the multiple clients purchase: If you don't buy it, you can't really optimize your decisions, and you end up taking a lot more time to complete the game. But I agree with the fact that the downside of buying it (more risky) can make the player a bit reluctant, so maybe we shouldn't have added the deadline feature?
About the size purchase: It was supposed to be more useful later in the game, when you get more and larger orders. But in order to make the game a more enjoyable experience, we decided to shorten it a bit, and to make it a bit easier, which made the size purchase a bit unnecessary!
@hiku In my opinion, a limited-length but handcrafted experience is often better than an infinite experience that just sends out the same content over and over. I don't think randomly generating content is ever a good way to create a puzzle game. It usually lacks the ability to craft a "catch", where the player has to come to some new revelation about the game's mechanics in order to overcome a particular puzzle. The paper prototype should be just as easy for a level-based game.
I think all of your mechanics were designed around the idea of the player replaying over and over to beat their old score. In that light, things start to make a lot more sense. The second client is suicide if you're struggling to win. But if you're trying to win in the fewest number of turns, a second client gives you the ability to fill orders in either order, so you can use actions taken from one order to set up the other one. But I think my first winning run took too long to achieve as it is. I don't really feel like trying to go for another.
hiku
2023-01-10 13:41
@zungryware Yeah, that's how we designed it ^^ But it's not clear enough for the player, which might get a bit lost, you're right! Thanks for your feedback!
svemir
2023-01-10 14:09
Pretty cool concept and well executed. Filling out the multiple orders was really satisfying, although I wasn't great at it! The engine sounds and all sound effects are top-notch!! Very fun game all around :)
The game looks nice and it plays smoothly. I had no issues buying bonuses or fulfilling the orders. The idea is cool!
zonoxx
2023-01-10 14:13
Just wanna say I really like the art, good sprites are hard to make, really good job on those! Really liked the puzzles as well, even though I agree that in the beginning its too simple. Overall really good job guys!
Fantastic game! I like how casual it is but can get complex fast if you mess up the layout of the field. I had some trouble at first, but got the hang of it after the 3rd try. The concept of just using lines on a hex is also unique to me, mixed with the diner dash-esque mechanics. Overall, great job!
Very cool concept, very well done cant wait for full game
Cool concept, it cames to be addicting for me haha
matimat
2023-01-10 16:44
A good time spent playing
Very nice work! Even if the country music makes me a little crazy haha, it really sticks to the harvest theme. I liked the other sound effects a lot tho! Puzzles are cools, art aswell, etc... Gj team!
talia
2023-01-10 17:35
Meep Meep I had a lot of fun trying out your game. The garbage can has made me very economical with the harvest to not have to throw away so much. Good concept!
bearacus
2023-01-10 18:49
Very fun game! I would rock this on my android to kill time during commute! The voice acting is charming in itself. The game worked perfectly and never stumbled into a logic issue. Great submission, good job.
Great game!
lerg
2023-01-10 20:30
Nice concept! I didn't understand how to harvest at first.
This is really good I like it!
hiku
2023-01-10 22:25
@bearacus We added an Android download link! ^^ Feel free to play it as much as you like :)
leggy
2023-01-10 22:26
Ahah, that was indeed funny! A bit complicated to understand at the very beginning but soon you get the point. Really nice match between graphic and audio and when I "died" I lol'd" :smile:
ghpxi
2023-01-11 07:16
the sounds are funny) I enjoyed it much, the concept is interesting, a bit complicated when you add one more customer. great job!
labete
2023-01-11 13:01
Fun game. Really enjoyed playing. The sounds are awesome, really livens the game up. The strategy part of the game was also interesting. As some others have said adding a second customer makes it a bit more difficult, since you have more chances to fail/miss an order. I liked the visuals as well. Lost once, very close to the goal. Took me 96 days to win.
Very fun concept that is executed very well. Easy to understand and it also has quite some depth to it. A really good entry, well done!
Really fun game, I like how you took the "fulfil customer demand" concept, but made it less stressful by making it turn based. The only problem I found is, I think I added an extra request that I couldn't actually see, so I of course failed those...
Overall - great game. Really like how you turned simple `Harvest crops` into brain-teasing-for-efficiency puzzle game.
Wanted to write a comment how it's usually not worth the risk to increase number of order requesters beyond two as well as land buying, but I see @zungryware has already all that covered in detail. Though I do agree, that it was choice to keep orders random instead of fully hand-crafted puzzles, at least for the jam version. Then again, I do agree, that hand-crafted content would be welcome, like a story element in between all other orders. For example: * A client wants to have crops harvested in specific order; * A client want gives you single seed of new type, and it must be delivered grown with some other vegetables; * Reoccurring client always demanding bigger orders of same type;
Then again, I understand that is quite hard to cram that into jam schedule.
From technical side: 1. I am not 100% sure, but it seems that buying `order time extension upgrade` does not actually upgrade existing orders only the future ones? I had quite a few times, clients would leave in anger, even if I had an extra day; 2. Again, not sure if this is happening 100%, but it seems like there are cases, where the game prefers first client order, even if I have everything aligned for second client. For example: `client 1: wheat x2 + pumpkin` and `client 2: wheat (x2?) + pumpkin + 2 corn` would say I am throwing `2 corn`. Not sure if this is has to be a super set of the first one. 3. It would be really great to have a tooltip on each purchase what does it do. Especially for the first time playing. For example I had expected buying land would allow to convert single green grass tile to farmland instead of adding full row.
Other than that, the idea is great, the sounds are well placed, the pixel art is very cohesive and clear and the gameplay loop is very catching. Great job :thumbsup:
chompdev
2023-01-12 23:22
Excellent game idea! I really enjoyed this one, especially on my 2nd-3rd run when I understood the strategy a bit more. The ability to plant partial rows for less cost was nice. I really like how complex it gets when you have tougher orders, and you're trying to decide whether to sacrifice a few extra crops this turn to make future planting easier. Lots of excellent design decisions in this one, and the pixel art, music, and sound effects are just the cherry on top!
High score: Day 46
score29.PNG
hiku
2023-01-12 23:54
@bloodycoin Thanks for the feedback :)
Yeah, I think those are great ideas that we could definitely have implemented if we had a bit more time ^^
I think we joined the jam a bit unprepared, after a week of work, and we could have gained almost a full day if we were better prepared and organized. The fact that we still managed to make a game that we're proud of makes me very motivated for the next ludum dare!
About the technical side: 1. Hmm? I can't seem to replicate this, it highers the deadline on existing orders when I try to, and they only leave when they hit 0 :o Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
2. Yeah, the first order is prefered, so in a few cases it seems weird. In this kind of cases I think the choice made by the game should always be the one that works best for the player, I didn't think of a better solution to that during the jam. I think the priority should go to the largest order, right?
3. I actually think the most important thing we could have added to the game is the tooltip thing, I definitely agree with you!
@hiku Totally understandable and I think is great game. There is also https://globalgamejam.org/ in a couple of weeks :slight_smile:
1. Yea, I couldn't reproduce this again either. Maybe I just missed, that is was the last day already while playing :joy: 2. Imho it should be sorted: `biggest number of crops` then by `least time left`. So as you said prioritizing bigger orders.
bobbo
2023-01-13 12:50
Great little game! I played on Android :) nice game loop, felt satisfying planning ahead, using space wisely. I love a hex tile game, something about them, they're always good.
The audio was a bit obnoxious and I don't think added to the game feel much. I would have gone with making it a relaxed calm game. 😁
Nice concept! and That funny voice LOL
I really enjoyed this game while I played! So, thanks for made this game! Cheers!
oH NoOo! --------
I suffer with anxiety attacks recently the damn things come out of the blue I cope with them but it's hard. Had one a couple of hours ago so whilst i go through the weird feeling aftermath i been playing some Jam Games and I have to say this really made me smile and perked me up a bit, cant say i was very good at it but it just felt fun to play and the presentation was great. Well done for making such a good game and perking me up a bit.
We are glad this game made you a bit more happy @deadgoodnik :)
I like this game!
rincs
2023-01-14 12:41
I played until maybe day 140 something, I didn't get to screencap cause I thought I still had a day but then I died and so I lost the chance to take a pic. Ah well. That was fun! Having two customers was challenging but I enjoyed it better with just one.
keichits
2023-01-14 20:23
Very interesting idea and beautiful pixel-art graphics. The sound effects is really fun XD.
I see a lot of effort here.
I really enjoyed!
Really like the idea and how it looks also the music fits perfectly. The game is already high quality (outside of the sound effects I suppose although they're cute in their own way :D) but some tooltips would be nice and give it that tiny bit of more polish. Also I have to admit it took me couple of games to realise I had to select the tractor to harvest crops, I was pretty confused in the start :D
I'm not sure about the puzzle difficulty, on one hand it seems ok but I think for more playability it might do with added difficulty as it seemed like I could beat the game quite easily without buying any upgrades.
Very well done, I really like it!
flatgub
2023-01-22 04:03
Really well designed puzzle game, also the sound effects are really funny! Great job!
very addicting game! the concept is simple but leads to really complex situations, i like that a lot! sfx and voices were super fun. art was really nice and simple too.
the only downside for me was that i was unable to know what the upgrades were before clicking on them (to be honest, i'm not even quite sure about them all, even after i tested them), but apart from that, it's a very cool game, fun to play!