FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD56 → Defenders of the Crystal Skull

Defenders of the Crystal Skull

By imagicaine, Igor Korobeinikov, mshrmgirl, Dzukika and Andriana Mantidfly

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall8013.2873
Fun7763.1272
Innovation9422.6971
Theme10362.5671
Graphics3943.8973
Audio3043.5871
Humor7242.6968
Mood5443.5172

Comments

2024-10-08 05:15

Didn't play well in browser or exe.

enad96 2024-10-08 06:53

HTML5 version ran pretty well for me! Very nice looking entry, first few waves felt a bit easy (you get thousands of bones). Great job!

damien-black 2024-10-08 06:57

I really like the idea of a tower defense game where you don't have static towers. Just an all out battle. From a gameplay perspective, it didn't make any sense to place units anywhere besides the very front. From a balance perspective, once I started getting ahead, the enemy had no chance.

The art is really nice. Good work.

Screenshot 2024-10-08 005354.png

avzgui 2024-10-08 07:04

Nice little defense game :) Feel like a necromancer ! :smiling_imp:

If may suggest a little update: keep choice selected to allow to spam creatures (it is quite frustrating to have to go back to the selector each time)

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-08 07:16

@avzgui Thank you very much for your feedback and playtime! Yes, it's a good suggestion to make spawn of skeletons constant, we'll look into it :)

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-08 07:19

@damien-black Huge thanks for checking our game! Yeah, ther are some balancing issues, but hopefully we'll be able to fix this stuff in future And thx for mentioning the art, it's like a honey to my ears :smile:

docgeraud 2024-10-08 13:56

Nice tower defense game! It was really frentic, which is a good thing. But almost immediatly I was earning more than I could spend by clicking. I wish placing skeletons was a bit more mindful. Also enemis were not moving a lot and I wasn't sure if my skeletons were attacking or not. But I still had a good time with the game!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-08 13:58

@docgeraud Thank you very much for your feedback! Yeah, we see this issues now :) Unfortunatelly had not too much time for testing, but hopefully will fix them soon. Thanks for playing and have a good day!

risminator 2024-10-08 14:09

I agree with avzgui, the ability to spawn several creatures without clicking would be helpful. The game is quite easy to beat, but the mechanics are fun and have potential for another game. I've always wanted a td game with units that move and attack the enemy's armies! And I adore the artstyle and sfx! It's detailed but cute and not oversaturated, it's just pleasing to the eye. Thank you for the game!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-08 14:12

@risminator And thank you for your feedback! We'll keep in mind that the genre we picked seem to be interesting for players, and will either develop this project or make some new stuff in the future :)

brdyy 2024-10-08 17:56

Fun and well made, though a little easy. I pretty quickly got more bones than I needed to spend, and was killing enemies as soon as they spawned.

jared-saizdelamora 2024-10-08 17:58

Super awesome game, was a lot of fun and looks great. Great work!

shaggy 2024-10-08 17:59

I enjoyed it thanks!

jahwffrey 2024-10-08 18:37

Nice and looks great, but ultimately you just get too many bones. Your description says that defenders have different weaknesses, but I didn't really see that indicated anywhere and I had so much money so quickly I just put as many mages near the crystal as fast as I could and cleaned up shop. The whole crystal/evil environment is awesome and I love the rigid sway the skeletons do when they attack.

rkhadder 2024-10-08 19:32

I love the mood of this game. The balance needs work as others have mentioned. I won pretty easily. Consider adding some sort of mining concept to spawn more powerful skeletons. Consider some wizard beasts as enemies. Congrats on your submission!

ashia 2024-10-08 19:39

ребят насрали с балансом. мне понравилось конечно чувствовать себя оверсильным но скучно получилось. арт и музыка класс

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-09 05:13

@rkhadder @brdyy @jahwffrey Yeah, we'll look into balancing issues, it's our main concern in this project Also thx for feedback guys! Good idea about powerfull skeletons and beast, we've had it too, but shortage of time did a thing

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-09 05:16

@ashia Да, оконфузились немного, дело говоришь Спасибо большое за фидбек, зарубим на носу!

trasevol-dog 2024-10-09 09:22

Nice entry! The graphics are really good and got me intrigued from the start, but the game felt too easy. Since you already have a menu system, I think it would have been worth it to parametrize the attack, speed and HP of the enemies and have a difficulty selection menu at the start. It's always tough to balance jam games, but this way you can just have three levels of balance and with some luck one of them is gonna feel right haha.

I really liked the walking animation on the enemies, it's a little thing but it's really efficient. The attacks both from my minions and from the enemies were clear enough to me. I do wish Archer Skeletons were able to shoot over the holes in the terrain, would feel really cool. :)

Really nice job on the audio as well!

Again, very nice entry, confrats on making it!!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-09 09:33

@trasevol-dog Thank you very much for this review! Yes, we already creating the difficulty system, but we can't upload it yet, since it will be violation of the rules, obviously. Anyway this, and some other changes, visual improvements are already planned and in process. Thank you once again and have a good day!

kirill228 2024-10-09 10:29

В семье скелетов родился сын. Назвали Костян. Баланс конечно всрат, но по поводу геймплея тоже вопросы. Разве костяны должны идти по линиям? С какой цель они идут? Чтобы встать на спавне врагов. Подобной игрой я вижу PLants vs Zombies. Там мы защищаем линиями растениями, которые стоят на месте и у нас сильно ограничен ресурс, что превращает игру в этакаю головоломку, где нужно продумать стратегию, как распорядиться ограниченным ресурсом.

keat-heat 2024-10-09 14:37

Great game! Only thing I wish I could have done is just spammed clicked on a bunch of spots to spend all my bones and spawn a bunch of skeletons in a giant horde xD

miku 2024-10-10 03:38

Like a lot of folks, when I discovered that I could summon an army of skellies, that was quite a bit of fun watching the adventurers getting annihilated. The game has a really nice look and mood to it and is a great basis for even more iteration! Good luck in future updates!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-10 05:16

@miku Thank you for your feedback. We'll definetly look into balance Most likely we'll iterate it a bit more after ludum is over, and add some new stuff too Thanks again and have a good day!

kultuk 2024-10-10 12:28

That was really nice! Loved the music, and it was fun (and stressful!)

Maybe add some hotkeys for the skeleton types? so i can choose them without moving the cursur.

Plus, GODOT FTW! :blue_heart: :blue_heart: :blue_heart:

smielke 2024-10-10 12:51

Really well-made tower defense game! The only drawback was that you couldn't keep the skeletons selected, so the challenge wasn’t about managing 'money' but rather clicking fast enough to summon new skeletons. Keep it up!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-10 14:32

@kultuk Thanks for your feedback! Yes, this problem with skeleton selection is quite obvious now for us, will hopefully fix it in future Thx again and have a good day!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-10 14:33

@smielke Yeah, a lot of people mentioning this problem, we'll try to fix it soon Thank you for feedback, and good day to you!

thereddevil 2024-10-10 15:58

The environment and music are really nice but it runs very poorly, also as other people pointed out already you basically can't loose as you can just spam enough skeletons to the start. With some balancing and maybe not allowing to place skeletons so far to the left so enemies would actually have time to split into different lanes this could be a pretty fun game.

thomas-gelman 2024-10-10 16:07

This is a cool game idea! The music was pretty good, although the sound effects could use some better balancing. I found the strategy to be a little too easy, the only place that made sense to place skeletons was the very front, and once there were enough placed the enemies couldn't really do anything about them. Some better game balance would serve this idea very well too, with some combination making more enemies come in, making enemies stronger, making them drop less bones, making skeletons more expensive, and having them come in from more areas than just the front. Impressed to see a 3D entry though, and thought the models and environment looked nice! Overall, still a fun entry and one I'm happy to have played!

lgk-productions 2024-10-10 16:15

Fun little game, I like the amount of feedback sounds and enjoyed the music. Some balancing would be needed and I'd make the health bars a little less obstrusive (maybe only showing health on damaged units). The skeletons are quite cute though, with some harder enemies you'd really need to think on your feet about how to place your units. Great job overall!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-10 16:21

@thereddevil @lgk-productions @thomas-gelman Thanks to all of you guys for your playtime and feedback There are some pretty good ideas and points you mentioned, we'll look into it And special thx to Thomas, it was really hard to make all this 3D in that amount of time and I'm glad you appreciated it Have a good day!

soul-grinder 2024-10-10 19:01

Interesting idea and different style of tower defence. I liked the 3D models of the characters and the overall graphics were nice too. Nice work!

el-pepi 2024-10-10 20:32

The game looks and sounds great. There isn't much to do after you cram a bunch of skelletons in the door

kseniya 2024-10-10 21:45

Beauty! simple and interesting) I love it!

cafearatus 2024-10-10 23:40

Very nice visual design! I like the idea, but the gameplay wasn't very balanced and I felt pretty invincible, but I believe that this could be a solid foundation for a very cool game when balanced and polished :smile: Good job!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-11 06:18

@soul-grinder @el-pepi @kseniya @cafearatus Thanks for checking our game out and providing feedback, guys! Have a good day!

gamebuilder 2024-10-11 20:35

The graphics in this game are very good, and I really like the color scheme. I was able to swarm the enemy with mages and archers early on in the game, and just kicked back for the final two minutes. A tower game with potential — it was fun placing different skeleton warriors and waiting for the outcome.

astrayrae 2024-10-11 21:04

Fun! I like the concept of not having fixed towers, makes it feel like a tower-defense RTS hybrid. The art is really nice too, really selling the crystal / skeleton aesthetic.

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-12 08:08

@gamebuilder @astrayrae Thanks for checking our project and providing feedback Really glad you guys enjoyed graphics, was kinda worried about it Have a good day!

magalek 2024-10-12 10:35

Really cool game, I love tower defenses, although as previous commenters pointed out, I just had to place the skeletons next to the enemy spawn and they didn't stand a chance. Balancing a game made in such a short span of time is hard, so I fell you. Nonetheless nice idea and visuals :)

wenyu-bao 2024-10-12 11:40

This game has a really creative gameplay, and the NPCs that run automatically are quite impressive! The art style is fantastic and creates a great atmosphere. However, I have to say I couldn’t quite see the connection to the theme.

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-12 18:48

@magalek Thx for your playtime and feedback. Yep, we already have a new build with proper balance on our hands, will upload it after the end of a jam Have a good day!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-12 18:55

@wenyu-bao Hey! Our main idea was that all units on the map are quite tiny on contrast with a huge cave and map, where the battle takes place. Besides that we play as an unknown force, which rules the skeletons, and metaphorically, they are quite tiny in relation to us Anyway, thx for playing and your opinion!

mremmele 2024-10-13 08:38

I really enjoyed the visual art and the overall mood of the game. As a fan of tower defense games, I found the concept of using dynamic units instead of static towers to be quite creative and refreshing.

One suggestion I have is that it would be great if the units returned to their original positions after a fight.

woona 2024-10-13 09:02

Great job! The game has some balancing issues, I only bought the most expensive creatures and it worked surprisingly well. 😁

The 3D scene looks interesting, there is a lot of stuff going on in it. The music is great! As for the unit models, they look fine, but animations are probably unfinished. Overall, congrats on completing the game!

Good luck to your team with your future projects!

arcadeeleven 2024-10-13 10:48

Played in html and worked well. Really nice entry, I like the mood and the graphics! Good job !

riv 2024-10-13 20:07

Nice game! I love the art, the audio and the idea! Although maybe you could increase a bit the difficult, or reduce the amount of gold that the player receives. Anyway, nice work!

fabula-rasa 2024-10-14 10:07

The idea is great - I'm definitely a sucker for traditional role reversal concepts :wink: Music is nice and fits well, in my opinion.

The variety of available units is good. The game itself is much too easy, though. It feels like there is never any danger, and you literally can't spend the money you get fast enough. You can litter the whole map with your skeletons, while any enemies are just obliterated on the spot.

It would also be nice to be able to choose a unit to place with a keyboard key ain addition to clicking, and for a chosen unit to stay chosen (so you can just click and place multiples in a row without a need to choose the unit again).

I love your cover art - everything about it is great. The colors, the technique, everything.

eranot 2024-10-14 12:04

Very well made for a jam! The enemies could be stronger, I just spammed mages and it worked

hermeses 2024-10-14 12:43

Great game! A bit easy but very well executed! Also kudos for the grapics!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-14 12:56

@fabula-rasa @hermeses @eranot Thank you guys for checking our game! Most of the stuff you mentioned, including balancing, hotkeys etc. is already in a newer version, that will be uploaded after jam end Thanks again and have a good day!

jcomcl 2024-10-15 14:06

Pretty good game from an aesthetic point. A bit easy though; I couldn't spend all my bones if I tried

renier 2024-10-15 15:52

Awesome art and fun game just gave us too many bones at the start maybe scaling the difficulty a bit would help but overall well done!

anifan-gelati 2024-10-15 21:06

Игра для настоящих хардкорных геймеров, иначе не знаю, почему не прошел до конца(

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-16 05:28

@jcomcl @renier Thanks for checking our game and providing feedback, guys! Have a good day!

weine 2024-10-19 16:03

Cool game! Well done graphics and controls. I actually liked the zoom effect a lot. It think you could have used a little more time for balance, though. I didn't realize there was a whole big map until the last few seconds because I never spawned my skeletons anywhere else than by the entrance.

lenzgolo 2024-10-19 19:29

really liked the look!

scrapmetal 2024-10-22 13:55

This was great!! Art, sound and vibe are so killer. :ok_hand:

Possible quality of life tweaks? (that might make the experience even more fun/enjoyable?)...

1) Keep the skeleton type selected in the UI. So the player can just keep clicking to place that type of unit. Would make it fun and easier to just place a bunch of grunts etc. (It's a minor thing, but having to click back on the right side constantly made placing units get really tedious).

2) Maybe some upgrade/progression to unlocking new units? So you start with just base grunt, then after killing so many enemies, or leveling up, you unlock ranger etc.

3) I kept wanting to zoom in sometimes :)

I did love being able to place units anywhere tho. Reminded me a bit of a super old game bungie did (myth?). Loved it! :smile:

smiley405 2024-10-22 20:37

Was really enjoyed playing it but after spawning few skeletons it felt slow on my old laptop and had to switch to my other pc just to play it. Loved the game art and really has a cool aesthetic look.

adnonymous5 2024-10-23 04:44

I'm always impressed by 3D games done in these jams, and the art style and color palette were vibey and cool! I do feel like placing the skeletons was maybe a little clunky, just felt like there was more clicking and waiting involved than I'd like. Overall, good tower defense game

emmagsmith 2024-10-24 05:15

Very cute graphics and the gameplay is really fun! Not sure how it ties into the theme but I enjoyed it.

helperwesley 2024-10-24 21:15

Good concept, wish there were hotkeys on 1-3.

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-25 23:07

@helperwesley We already fixed this issue and added this hotkeys in a new version Will release it after end of a jam Thx for your feedback and playtime!

igor-korobeinikov 2024-10-25 23:09

@adnonymous5 Thx for checking our game, man! Really glad you enjoyed the graphics, was worried about it. In any case, thank you so much for your feedback, will keep it in mind. Have a good day!