Antiques Mech Show

coda-highland 2026-10-19 22:36 ♥ 0

This didn't go the way I wanted to at all, but I'm okay with the result.

Ludum Dare 36 "Ancient Technology" was my first game jam ever, and my team hated the theme. We didn't have any ideas for what we could do with it, and it was something that was going to require a specific asset design to fit. In the end, we submitted a decent, playable game, but the theme was nowhere to be found, because our graphic artist ghosted us after the first day.

"Old Tech" doesn't solve the problem with assets, and the assets are what dragged me down this time. Inspiration escaped me at every turn. To actually implement the vision I had would have required a LOT of graphics, and in the end I had to hack together something really ugly just so I could finish the game mechanics and get it out the door.

I cut scope repeatedly over the course of this jam. The final game only has three areas. I started with seven. My wife found a lot of good references and sketched out some designs for the graphics, but they mostly went unused.

That said, I like how the mechanics came together in the end. Is it a very sophisticated game? No, it only takes a minute to finish. Is it a very polished game? In some places it is, in other places, definitely not. (Sound effects would have helped a lot.) And the graphics that aren't slapdash are, I think, some of my best work.

I'm okay with this. :)

kwetka 2026-10-20 21:55 ♥ 1

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papaver 2026-10-28 02:25 ♥ 1

Interesting game idea. I somehow couldn't figure out what to do in the 'Brain' area, even though I tried several times.

coda-highland 2026-10-28 02:34 ♥ 0

@papaver The vacuum tubes can burn out. You just click the broken ones to replace them. You can identify the burned-out ones because they've got soot and a scorch mark inside, but it's still a little bit subtle -- finding and replacing burned-out vacuum tubes was historically a rather tedious task.

papaver 2026-10-28 18:46 ♥ 0

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Aaaah, now I see! I was distracted by all the blinking 😄

jeremy-ryan 2026-10-28 20:39 ♥ 0

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Neat little game!

I kind of have a soft spot for these "keep everything running smoothly" games where you have a bunch of buttons and levers and tasks to maintain the machine; it reminds me of Space Team or Captain Sonar. I think you did a great job of having the mech's movement be clearly visible and obviously important while still having an appropriate amount of UI real estate for the actual things you're interacting with.

Of the little maintenance tasks, I really liked the vacuum tube minigame, since it felt a bit more unique and I actually felt like I was getting better at it over time. I appreciate the real-world inspiration for that you mentioned in the comments.

Obviously you had to make some content and visual cuts to ship the game, but that's always a big risk for LD, and you did a good job of putting together something short but playable before the deadline.

The competition was tough this year, but I'm awarding you the **Most Accurate Vacuum Tube Troubleshooting Experience For A Giant Robot** award for your hard work.

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igorekkedziorek 2026-10-28 22:06 ♥ 0

cool little game. it was a horror game for me because it felt really stressful to see both boiler room and brain flashing red. but i quite liked the nature of it

darkshadow 2026-10-28 22:07 ♥ 0

Reminds me of that old zachtronics game with the steam mechs anything with steam gauges is great. I had no idea what to do with the "brain" though so didn't make it to the museum. Some sound would have been great but nice job with the walking animation.