gzalo 2023-05-01 02:34
I really enjoyed those graphics! :)
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD53 → Monster Mail
By coderaurus
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 273 | 3.28 | 35 | |
| Fun | 347 | 2.80 | 35 | |
| Innovation | 237 | 3.21 | 35 | |
| Theme | 166 | 3.95 | 35 | |
| Graphics | 41 | 4.25 | 35 | |
| Humor | 196 | 2.86 | 32 | |
| Mood | 287 | 2.96 | 34 |
I really enjoyed those graphics! :)
The art is really good!
I managed to get an audience after 103 days, I guess i'm pretty slow :D
I love the map art. Nice entry!
@gzalo @rustywolf Thanks for playing!
@castitatis Thanks for playing, I think you did good.
It looks great, artworks are really nice.
I ended up not carring which character to pick for each quest, as they all seemed to do it well enough. So probably a bit too easy/unfinished in this aspect.
Reached the king in 76 days. I was waiting for some kind of twist - like the special thing to deliver was actually a terrible curse. Art for the map was nice, as was the monster portraits. I tried to be thoughtful with the different speeds and deadlines, but it never seemed to be an issue. Also, were the characters' reputation, charisma and defense supposed to do something? Was that for a stretch feature?
I see potential for the game. But right now it is quite easy. I don't know if there is supposed to be a challenging part to the game or if it should be just a chill game. I completed the main quest before obtaining all underlings. They have stats that I don't know if the game uses. It seem like obsticles were planned but did not make it in the game.
I LOVE the art though! Incredible job on the art!
@yorsh Thanks for playing. I wanted to make the quests little harder but I didn't have time to fine tune it, better if more people can finish the game.
@defrag That's an excellent idea! Maybe I'll change the ending... Game's easy enough to have no issues finishing, especially when you give a little thought to choosing units. The stats were indeed for another feature which didn't make it. I fell for the classic... over scoping. Thanks for playing.
@spaceylake Thanks for playing. No, game is easy. I'd rather have more people finish it in a jam, unless it's meant to be challenging. And it is lacking the core challenging feature which was suppose to use defense and charisma as well.
@coderaurus Yes good call, I usually end up making games too difficult so it's better to make them too easy for a jam.
interesting concept for the game, but it's kinda easy and boring, I wish at the very least you could speed up some parts of the game. I really love the art though!
Really clean art and UI for this game! I think this works well as a concept for an overworld kingdom management-style game! I think there could have been more telegraphing in terms of how long each destination would take, but you definitely build intuition over it. Overall I liked this take on the theme and the experience was very pleasant and smooth.
monster_mail.png
Really nice visually! Nice relaxing game but finished it very fast and I couldn't get the last monsters which was unfortunate. Overall a nice idea!
@rradu I totally get the boredom part. It's missing one core part from my plans which make things things a bit more interesting. Even few sound effects would have done a lot, honestly. Thanks for playing.
@ollie-d Thanks for playing. I guess there could have been something in place to estimate the distance, say "Short/Medium/Long."
@bridgeonastick Thanks for playing. You could've kept playing after the completion and do a bit of grinding to get the rest. I was okay having them as "post game content", though now I'm unsure why. Extra laughs would have benefitted everyone.
Really amazing style and choice of colors, very warm and nice. Interesting gameplay idea, love when someone explore different genres. Good tutorial at the start, but maybe you should state the player endgame and tools to achive it more clearly, it will help to understand the purpose of what's happening at the start. Well done!
the game is a little bit simple and some mechanics go unused, but i was really enticed by the premise & the inclusion of stats that don't have gameplay impact really had me thinking about where this idea could go! this is a really great core concept and would love to see it expanded upon.
it goes without saying that you've also done a great job with the art and presentation. i love the world and little creatures you've crafted here, it feels so cozy and full of charm! also like the random generation touches with the quests & characters
Amazing art, I find this game relaxing and I like that!
Looks great, fun concept. Quite ambitious for a compo too, I can see you wanted obstacles on certain roads? With defense and you actually choosing the path. Something like that would make it have more energy because as is there are no real obstacles. Great prototype though! :)
@corporation Thanks for playing. Yeah I was wondering about the clarity and decided to go with little more cryptic, story driven path time. I think this would be a never ending battle nonetheless.
@dishwand Thanks for playing! I also want to see where the game could go with this premise.
@montigor Thanks for playing! First one commending the relaxed game play. I find it pretty rare in the jams.
@rasblo Thanks for playing. Yeah, I did a over scope this time around. There were meant to be different kinds of events which could either benefit or harm you, depending on multiple factors. And it was going to be the challenge in this one. I hope to return to this later!
Graphics look great! I think a pinch of sound would have really livened up the game. In your user page it said you usually use BFXR but were looking for a replacement, so I'll offer what I've used here.
My go to is 'mouth sounds'. As long as the game is somewhat silly it will fit right in, and you will usually get a boost to humor as well. Beepbox.co is very good for fast video gamey music, but it can also be used to quickly make sound effects as well. Just hit Shift + R until you get an instrument that sounds about right, add a note and chop it up in audacity.
Solid compo! Have fun out there!
"a human. eww." lol. I would sometimes forget which town i just accepted a quest from or even read the number of days as the town and end up confused about where i was supposed to be sending couriers. A better visual hierarchy of information and maybe even a "current quests" UI might have been useful! Maybe even giving the towns a different name instead of numbers? Also a lot of the game is spent watching the icons move which is straining. It could benefit from some little sounds that happen along the way to give a sense of change. Maybe there is more to manage while things are moving? The graphics are super nice and i love the story. would love to actually meet this king! great compo entry!
Nice game, a familiar one with a twist. Great graphics and how the map is portrayed, as well as the monster character art which was cute. As already mentioned above, some sound would have added even more to the overall feeling, but it's still a very well done compo!
goblinguild.jpg
Really loved the artwork here! For gameplay, there doesn't seem to be a strong incentive for the player to optimize completing tasks in a timely fashion. I think the game has a good foundation if you can elicit from the player a desire to optimize how quickly they complete each task.
Hi! Loved the graphics. Wish there was audio, though. I have some feedback:
QOL:
- the town I'm currently selecting a route for should be highlighted, it's easy to confuse a bit - Towns should have names, it would compliment the pretty map more! - Hirable couriers should not be greyed out, I thought they were unavailable at first - Couriers are a bit slow imo - I think the quest marker next to a town should be bigger and more discernable
Gameplay:
- There should be more incentive to choose different couriers for routes. It's currently a bit too easy - I did not really understand what the courier's stats actually do (except for speed which is obvious) - Choosing a courier for a quest and a route was a bit unintuitive
Overall this feels like it could be a very interesting game with more content and polish. The art is really good :)
@phlip45 Thanks for playing and the tool suggestion. Yeah, I wish I could've added some sounds. It would have done so much to the game. I even had the manager for that in place. Enjoy the games!
@ruddiculous Thanks for playing and feedback! I actually wanted to name the towns proper but had to skip it in the end. Some of the information could be clearer when selecting the route, for sure. I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
@aile Thanks for playing! The game needs some audio. Perhaps I'll do at least that later if nothing else. I had some good ideas for them too.
@asieke Thank you for playing. The main component for incentive is missing, sadly. I meant to add different factors on the way. If I was able to do that then I would've also adjusted the difficulty slightly higher than what it is now. I could've made the RNG harder, yes, but I preferred having more people being able to finish the game instead.
@aviv-levy Thanks for playing and valuable feedback. I also want some audio in the game. The starting town is actually darkened but I also considered highlighting it. I have no idea what made me keep the former. If I had 15 minutes or more I could've added the names as well. My logic for units is that they are unavailable until hired, which lead to greying out. There could be some change or indication when you have enough money to hire. I left the stats as a sneak peek for what I was going to do but ran out of time to actually implement. If you don't mind, do elaborate on the last part a bit more.
@coderaurus I didn't realise I need to choose from the bar below at first. As for the route, I wasn't sure what to do at first, but it's only a one time issue which can be solved with a quick how to play :)
About the units, definitely understand the logic, this is why maybe there could be two states for that, one that means "not enough funds" and another that shows like a green "hire" text or something
As for the stats, they do seem interesting, kinda giving me an Oregon Trail vibe, so I get that! But I feel like maybe it should've said that somewhere or that they should've been removed to avoid confusion.
Totally understand the need for more time btw ^_^ All in all this is really good for 48 hours! And the graphics are great. It'll be interesting to see how this game turns out if you keep working on it.
This was a super fun game :) I love management games and this scratched my itch pretty well. I would have really enjoyed if there were more thoughts and incentives on choosing which unit to deploy. Thanks for the awesome game and congratulation!
Nice art and idea. Could have been more challenging and strategic by making harder to gain enough reputation without using faster units and with a need to get units to the start city from the latest location before starting the delivery. A really good job overall!
Heya!
I really like the concept here. I was able to pick up the gameplay and finish on my first try, which is a good sign, though I had a bit of difficulty with some of the UX (highlighting clickable options or objectives, communicating steps for interaction). Maybe some animation would have helped make the towns with quests stand out a little more. More thoughts on design, I really would have liked to be able to see the map at the same time as the quest so I could make strategic decisions without having to click off the quest and review the place names against the time quota. Other than that, I did appreciate the way you increased difficulty and balanced income with hiring faster couriers.
Graphically, for a jam I think you were in a decent sweet spot for giving the player visuals that sold the story and communicated what they needed to. It's a shame you weren't able to get sound in there, but I've been there many times.
Overall, a solid / complete entry with a nice take on the theme. Pretty good work for a compo submission!
honestly the art style is my favorite part of this game, I've downloaded the open source project to study the art because it's just so good, my first reaction when I got to this page is amusement at the banner art and how you were able to convey form with only 2 colors, definitely gonna try to create something similar as a challenge! as for the game I think the gameplay is fairly simple, it's an interesting concept but it does get a little repetitive after a while.. bonus points for using Godot BECAUSE I LOVE GODOT BABY!!! wish there was some more music to it but damn man that art is just good! great work on this entry and even greater on that A A A A ART!
Great game! The artwork is great and I really like the concept. As other people mentioned, it seems a bit simpel and easy. Personally, I haven't figured out how to hire a new unit, as the head buttons were dark (and therefore unavailable for hiring) and I thought there would be a 'Hiring' button later. I think it might also be better to have the days only count up when a unit is travelling, as otherwise I felt rushed making decisions and I wasn't planning , as I didn't want to lose any time.
@jeffrey-hwang Thanks for playing, glad you got your itch scratched. Unfortunately I ran out of time to implement the core feature to make decisions meaningful and not just speed checks. I'll try to get it done at later date.
@adamcyounis Thanks for playing and the feedback. You made some great points and I've got them written down.
@0x-void-x0 Thanks for playing and the flattering praises. Didn't think anyone would take a look at the source for the art, haha. The gameplay fell short even though I spent a lot of time with it. I'll come back to the project and fill the gaps.
@le-don Ey, thank you for playing. Yeah, I figured that hiring units could be confusing without any good indication of being able to do so. I didn't make it clear enough but you don't have to sweat about the total days on top right. Once you hit "Go" on routing the timer for quest starts and there is no punishment for taking your time otherwise. I understand it might not be clear as a player.
Nice game! Looks amazing! The art is so beautiful, the gameplay is joyful!
Nice mood. You made great amount of work as for compo game! 5 for mood and GFX.