Once Upon A Plague by icxon 2019-05-05T14:33:27Z
Wow, this game is gooood, well done. Nice "little" tactical RTS - it could be better, if it would have better (more extensive) controls, but we are talking about perfection in a jam right now :dvd:
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → oillen
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 57 | Depths | Star Depths | extra | ||||||||||
| 2023 | 54 | Limited Space | AI controled RTS | extra | ||||||||||
| 2023 | 53 | Delivery | LD53_LastDelivery | extra | ||||||||||
| 2023 | 52 | Harvest | Harvest Construct Produce Destroy | extra | ||||||||||
| 2022 | 51 | Every 10 seconds | Ludum Dare 51 - Template RTS Demo | extra | ||||||||||
| 2022 | 50 | Delay the inevitable | Aeldun 20.000 | extra | ||||||||||
| 2021 | 49 | Unstable | Shattered Star Realms | jam | 1299 | 3.04 | 2.78 | 3.31 | 2.88 | 2.88 | 3.00 | |||
| 2021 | 48 | Deeper and deeper | Enemy Lands | jam | 1808 | 2.71 | 2.55 | 2.71 | 2.11 | 2.63 | 1.79 | 2.26 | ||
| 2020 | 47 | Stuck in a loop | Ludum War | jam | 1625 | 2.54 | 2.58 | 2.19 | 1.59 | 2.22 | 1.75 | 2.21 | ||
| 2020 | 46 | Keep it alive | Battle for Kyrrdon | jam | 2065 | 3.08 | 3.37 | 2.79 | 2.54 | 2.88 | 2.58 | 2.26 | 2.85 | |
| 2019 | 45 | Start with nothing | From the Void | jam | 2.33 | 2.22 | 2.22 | 2.77 | 2.36 | 2.12 | 2.27 | |||
| 2019 | 44 | Your life is currency | Master of Lifeblood | jam | 1027 | 2.86 | 3.05 | 2.92 | 3.21 | 2.86 | 1.73 | 2.42 | 2.58 | |
| 2017 | 38 | A Small World | NoWorlds | jam | ||||||||||
| 2016 | 37 | One room | ShatteredStarRealms | jam |
Wow, this game is gooood, well done. Nice "little" tactical RTS - it could be better, if it would have better (more extensive) controls, but we are talking about perfection in a jam right now :dvd:
@bartman I am sorry, I haven't bought a GM:S(1) license, so there are no exports except Windows available to me.
@oddsocks workers are not fully automated, they collect or hunt only in a radius of 256 pixels and are good at getting stuck in your base
@bramreth panning with middle mouse? once thought I am old school X) I think i will add something like that next time, good idea. In truth I lost tons of time to real live nonsens, but Ludum Dare would not be the same without it ;)
thank you all for playing :dvd:
This game is one of my favorites in LD-44. Played it several times, maybe up to 10 times or so ... Although the graphics are well adequate to Compo, I would like to see perished enemies becoming what the game's name is ;). I deem every thing else as 'good' except fun, mood and my overall impression, they're 'very good'.
Hope there will be a post jam version, I am looking forward to it. The game looks clearly good, but I am wondering, why there is no sfx (e.g. shooting) but backround "music".
Nice inrepretation of the towerdefense genre combined with the theme. GUI and HUD work well, graphics are "beautiful" (at least i like them). And I am Happy to see another GameMaker game.
Cool game - just figured out that somebody had a clearly equivalent idea ... lol XD, partly with the same issues, like units get stuck in something and so on ... Defeat mankind! For the overworg!!!
Cool idea and a good mood :smiley_cat: the game is a bit averagy, but solid. Hope you will participate in future Ludum Dare or other events. Work on your realization and there will be nice games.
The game is clearly fun, the guitarheroish combatsystem for example is cool, but the balance or experience suffers from it's randiffcultness of enemies and shops. It is strong at graphics and audio, has a good mood and to me it is a perfekt take on the theme.
This game is at least 'good'. Binding of Isaac the Doomguy who is better at shooting would describe it quite well - it suffers a bit from the same 'problems' like in BoI e.g. you get offen unhelpful rewards like blood when your health is full, or tons of skulls if you are in dire need of health - the post ludum edition solved that issue already. A favorite to me in LD-44.
Although i think it is a bit difficult for a jam game (what didn't keep me from trying over and over again), your game is strong in Theme, Innovation and Media (sound & graphics)... the enemies seems cute to me ;) ... imho what could be improved is giving more space on the screen
wow this game is cerebral ^^ one of the first other games, that have a concept of debt to fit the theme :dvd:
First things first: It was an good idea, adding an economy to TD game :D
wow, thought I wouldn't made it till the end, but it worked out in the end - cool game and I am glad there are people out who use GM. It also fitted the theme night is coming - was this your secret favorite? ;)
This is a good entry ... to me it has a single flaw, you have no option to remove buildings. Anything else is solved as well it could be. :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
Quite good - but i can't scroll through construction gui, when i've unlocked some, but before i can see there will be some in the higher levels. It has an exceptional feature compared to other jamgames like this (e.g. mine or terra nil) : you can remove buildings! :D
Nice TD game - I hope there will be an upgraded post jam version :thumbsup:
I like the concept of adding stuff to the core object, to get endurance and points. Good at innovation, fun and theme.
game was as good as it was promising :dvd: - to mee the 1st level was quite hard compared to the others. The help overlay was a good idea and helped a lot
I like it! The majority of the game was done quite well. Maybe the controls could be better, in the first run my mind switched to wasd moving and building with curseror - then an angel visited me ... The resource gathering is one of the clearly innovative points, there might be chance for some tweaks there e.g. a walllike construction like bits (changing the terrain is cool too), and towers can somehow become resource sinks. Overall a good entry, with it's strongest points in mood and innovation, it's weakpoint is the theme (you start with something, yes you don't start with some souls ...) but I would blame the theme not your work. Well done :dvd:
Actually the proxi grafics are good and stylish, maybe except for the main character. Your game is good in mood - you couldn't belive how a ton of rocks fell from my chest, as I figured out how to get the small golden one up the cliffs. There are more "keep the fire alive" games out there, but I would say you (mainly) keep your character and his fish alive, so it fits the theme multiple times. The random mechanics can make a run quite exciting, also a bit frustrating, though replaying was fun ... and a bit sad sometimes.
freakishly nice game, graphics are gorgeous, the resource based combat works well, the random picktrucks don't feel that embarrasing as a lot of "lootsystems" are. Although the sound & music could be a bit more impactful and more powerful. I really like the mutations, though I would like I could choose a mutation than to get told which one I get from a nuketrashtruck. When I evaluate an entry of a team, I rate it more strictly, than the work of a single person or a duo, however meatball vs gymzilla got maximum on graphics, and only theme & music were average, the rest lies in between imo :dvd:.
An interesting mix of concepts, although there are some setbacks like that you cannot remove a connection & you can accidently start a connection you don't want, I had a lot of fun trying to beat the game (over and over). This is a quite an advanced example for an strategy game in a game jam. Well done.
Nice grafics with an consequent style on the one hand, on the other a fitting soundtrack & the right sfx, all together build up a good mood. Facing dangers of trenchwarfare meanwhile the pressure of your friends hemorrhaging life tells a story which needs words only to click the start button - good job :dvd:
This work has a loveley conception getting multiple minigames, which every one could be the core of an entry of it's own. Therefore it shows different interpretations of the theme (Theme :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: ). The games it self works well, and collecting these meta-points tie them together in a easy elegant way.
TLDR: LOL XD. Long: Simple game, with everything in it, what you need: freakish monsters, badass soundtrack, and a powerfull weapon!
This game made by Gabriel is very strong in mood, maybe one of the top games in this category. The Mechanics are simple, clear and effective, and foreshadowing early, that there are multiple outcomes in Last Hope's scenario, create a desire for replaying it instantly and before you finish your first run. Admittedly I would like to see things like a menu, with something like the option to restart the game without closing and some minor improvements & polish on a nice game like yours. In addition it is a quite well representative of the Point&Click genre - and I would like rate to games by how they are good at a genre, mix or spin of a genre(s) instead of "pure" innovation. Btw. in my first run I've already got the best solution, which I am unmildly proud of. ;)
hehehe trollolololol - what else to say? ok, it would be great when you could see the answers before twistering and then get the retrolling. Honestly funny!
In regard to mood & theme this lovely lizard is a winner - I used to love snakes till I played this :snake: :crossed_swords: . Sadly I got quickly the r i g h t (hint hint) way to get into the ocean ... looking forward for the next episode "the swimming Iguanothon", subnautica will be nothing in comparison ;)
Cool, a wave based defense strategy/tactics game! I like the multitude of units available, though I would have liked to see a unit group control. The tutorial is genious and a artform of it self :smirk:
@kruemelkeksfan you are right, I encountered this annoying cockrach of a bug :bug: after the jam ended, when @inflamedgums showed me it in a discord stream ... the buildings did nothing wrong :pray: - it is all the GUI's fault :rage: the counter of the placements button read the resourceslist's entry (I used it to store constructed buildings) - however the construction buttons "consumed" these resources without giving you something ... :joy: it's from changing from an ad-hoc style (gui at the corresponding building like battle for middle earth) to the side GuI style like in C&C (or in this case Thandor, which was the actuall influnce on this title)
@kyle-bowman thank you for trying out my rts-prototype. Indeed some simple enemy spawns would give the game quite a bit more live. Maybe I'll manage to create an improved Post-Jam version till next week.
@lukas-shiley you might guessed it - i voted for tower offense :smile_cat: - btw. about towers did you encounter the bug, that when you place a tower near an enemy base it strangely belong to the enemies? - Surely it would be clearly better if the name of the units&buildings would be shown on the buttons either by a tooltip or directly labeled on the button.
The game is advanced in the movement section, which is quite fun.
Your game has a fun concept and it's coolnes is priceless. The Grafics are Stylish, a bit rought, but this is good. Personally I would like to have the game a bit less burdened by physics, so my invincible groteskiator doesn't whirlwind him self into the abyss of freeeedoom.
Nice to see another RTS in this Ludum! As it is a kind of Basedefense game, it is the type of Towerdefenses I would prefer. Would loved to see units that can be selected and commenced, but this solution works well, too. Red vs Blue has quite amount of content (units and buildings), and also various mechanics which add to the fun and the overall impression for me.
Boiling Planet's mechanics are a bit simple, yet good understandable and enjoyable. The rate of decay of dry dirt adds some pressure, without frustrating me - so nice. I think there are more comparable garden games,that are about tending and some puzzling , out there, and this one fit well in this genre (I would prefer to have "genre+" than "innovation" as a criteria) Of course it fits the Theme nearly by default. The graphics are okay,but this time, I think, the sounds have a better quality. I enjoyed it, however actually I am looking forward to Aeldun...
Schön seit dem RocketBeans MiniJam wieder ein lustiges Spiel von dir zu sehen. Das Spiel ist echt schön chaotisch und die Roboter bestimmt ordentlich entschaltkreist^^. Ich weis nicht ob man sagen sollte, dass man die, schön mit dem Mund gemachten, Soundeffekte vielleicht etwas mehr in einem Audacity gequält gehört sollten, weil sie irgendwie schon sehr zum Humor und der Stimmung beitragen.
This is an interesting entry. Although I would prefer to start in the current level when the commodore fails the tank, than being thrown back to the tutorial - i guess it was intended to have some rogue-like elements? The game builds quite a unique tension when you have to type in your control commands, giving you the the slower pace of round based games meanwhile giving you the pressure of realtime reactions.
A relaxing game about resource collection and energymanagement quite a nice combination, could be part of a beloved survival game. Made multiple runs, seems the green and yellow planets likes me, my best run was on a yellow one, that had intense lightning :sunny:
The game has a good graphic style, quite a big map and the controls of your helicopter are complex, which is often appealing for vehiclebased combat simulation. Imo the control layout should be a bit different, e.g. turning on Q & E and sidewards on A & D. Nevertheless the game is fun, and I enjoyed especially in the ego perspective.
cool mix of fps & towerdefense - works mostly well, iam a bit unhappy with the glitchiness of movement/jumping (no air control, or sudden jumps on landing), though it gives you a additional challenge. The map looks like it was dynamicly generated, and it makes you wish to discover sth. (I know its made in 3 days). However it is beautiful when you have a lot of (stronger) towers and behold the enemy airfleet constantly bombarded by flakfire. The small crafts has the minecraft creeper face as crest :green_heart:
This game is stragely funny - I actually I don't know what to say (it's rare when I am speechles) ... :smile_cat:
Yor game is clearly a good platformer, with some nice ideas - especially transporting the egg vs collecting pinapples motivated me to explore the levels either to max out collected pinapples and figuring out how to get the egg to the goal. Though what gave me a punch for my enjoyment is being send back to the beginning of the game (the main menu solved as a level is a beautiful idea) - being forced to replay all levels after the frog's death is in my opinion more frustating by punishment than challenging by a hard difficulty (you guess it, that is what I always say about Dark Souls (and call it a bad gothic clone :smirk: )) - it contradicts a bit the clever level design and the step by step approach of new mechanics. My comment might sound more critical, than I have actually enjoyed platformEGG.
Grafics stronk, Gameplay stronk. I mistread "Innovation" as "GenrePlus" so it's a 3rdPerson Herodefense, that's good. need some polish ( e.g. the skeletons infobar should disappear when slayn). But most important! Need more blood & gore, mine more of it!
Throwing aliens into the fire should ignite it more (or turns it green)^^ Game works quite well, it is a bit simple but quite fun. I know there are a lot of keep the fire alive games, but I think i would say in the innovation ratings I would say it fits its genre (so it's not negative for me).
Lovely strategy game, relaxing and has quite a amount of contents and mechanics, which I appreatiate. Also your GUI works quite well. Creating both ecology & economy, is a concept, that was one of two options I wanted to do in this jam (the other was "standard" RTS). Had quite fun ascending a little civ in Solar Colonizer - btw. how did you get your inspiritaion/concept for colonizing, did you follow a certain example, it seemed to my like a mix of the styles in ES2 and MoO?
Nice game, but who the hell puts a fork in an electrical outlet?
LD_46_AirplaneModeWTF.png
Good artstyle, both relaxing & but enough action that you have to invest attention. In the beginning I had no clue what the symbols means and thought initially they are a kind of items to collect - figuring out the truth was a part of the fun playing your entry. I have to add that I liked the soundtrack.
It's fun, actually I don't like racing games, so I am glad you actually made a shoot-em-up. I think the hitbox is one of your many adversaries. You found a good soundtrack for your game, it would be nice if there were also sfx, would like to hear the demons moaning when they got mowed from the hellish skies.
Really good at generating a mood, I felt confused like poor K4. From the gameplay perspective it remembered me on your entry "Blaze from Outer Space" - though imho there items were better used than in this entry. The first time you can actually use a item is after two combinations of them, the game did not tell you that items can be combined - I believe Blaze did, indeed I don't play a lot of point&clicks. and then you actually get literally the items you need and get told where to use them ... so it feels to me that it's hard at the start and then turns to idle-difficulty. Thats a lot of words for actually the only point I want to criticize on your game, the rest is pretty good from controls to artstyle - actually I would like to play longer & more complex versions of your games that might go for 1-3h. Well done Gabriel.
Thank you for playing my prototype! I am specializing in creating RTS - or Strategy Games in general, for Ludum and other Game Jams (currently one other). So in each iteration I try to improve on a template project, from which those games derive, or get updated. Currently I have some updated versions of old entries, though didn't upload them because of my expectation what state those game should be. Frankly my plan this time was like: in content comparable to my last entry plus at least a fake AI - obviosly I didn't managed it mostly by interference from outside events e.g. my mum went to hospital for an operation - it went well, at least she is getting on my nerves again...
Cool concept, I actually like the rule set, although I have one issue with the current ruleset: the frirst player can set a figure next to the head of the second player and what ever the second one does, the first player can take the head of the other players snake and wins. Ok I am a bit verbous about the one thing I want to criticise - so there are the good things: Concept, Visual Style & Interaction(GUI)
Nice game primarly about crafting, and solving conflict (fighting undead) in a different way. Inventory & Crafting system works well, though I would have liked to be told the effect of a potion when you consume it (the first time), like the tutorial did partly.
nice entry, strategy games in LD are rare! I had fun in building up my armies and planning the best routes. I wish there were some sounds, more battles than just plain negative events and more different units. good job!
Mr. Portgate Studios, I have 3 things to say: 1) it's simplistic 2) it`s fun 3) when is the next update for the masterpiece known as Aeldun?
@andidebob du Knalltüte XD ! Ist die Stelle beim Schmied ein Typo mit "... Er sees you..."? - also beim Humor seit ihr Top :thumbsup:
"the creation of a humanoid ... the power to overwhelm and destroy ... a product of a tortured brain ... your feeling of helplessness is your best friend, savage!" - Yuri
Funny production chain game, looks good and I had joy to play it.
not far from "Future Cop: LAPD" ;)
Nice rts, with interresting concept. I would prefer to have scrolling at least with arrow-keay or WASD, panning with the mouse is more for realxing strategy games where there is almost no time pressure. It is interresting & fun to figure out the right maneuvers on order to progress between the time loops.
Cool there are still people using gamemaker out there! To this point I have seen two games with this kind of puzzles, and I am curious that I am ignorant of a genre out there ;) ... You game feels well executed, controls are good, there are plenty graphics with a good artstyle, the music isn't my taste but it isn't disturbing to me, the voice guide is a great detail. A team with 7 members is till now the biggest group in Ludum Dare I got to know.
Cool level design, combining puzzles with timing-skill is a good idea for the loop theme. I think there is a kind of a bug in it, when I returned to the menue (by accident) and started on the fisrt level I could not proceed to the next level, but was only able to return to the main menu.
Nice game, tried all the maps & conquered them all, partly not really knowing if a strategy will pay off :D btw there seems to be a thing about trains in strategy indie games, do I smell a trend?
Good combination of theme, physics and dolphins. Personally I would disagree with saying the controls were a problem, to me the camera is the actual weakpoint in the game due to its moves making it a bit difficult to steer. Collected all 32 rings & stayed a while in the orbit. One question how many achievment have Torus the Dolphin? Collected Coconuts(all three of them), got Orbit and collection achievments - did I miss some?
It's a factorio lite, all the most important things work quite well - your conveiors are fascinating like the 'original' ones.
simple and fun shooter game, the repeating time loop makes you think about optimizing your actions. Personaly I find it hard to evade, due to the large y-size of your character - shots from above or beneath are far simpler to evade. The soundtrack is fun, and I like how Private Justin Time is constantly sweating... pilot-sweating.gif
Yo a time-looped soulslike ;) - nice first entry at LD. I've never seen a blender made game in LD... cool. good job.
Spaceinvaders but you have to stick to a loop - simple & fun game, with nice art and good sfx
It is a good solution to the theme, yeah it is a bit counter intuitive, but polishing a small game made during a 3 days jam or so, can easily take a week. So I would say It is pretty good in the most part, especially for working alone.
ok let's just puzze for 5 mins ... 30 mins later ... played the 1.1. version, allowing to get rid of items&monsters from the belt allows you to play for as long as you want & make no mistakes.
-Fun: (4) Controls are a bit abstract, but works really well. The general pacing is a bit slow, but building up & digging down is quite fun. I played it two times (total 2,5h) I think I go play it a third time...
-Innovation: (4) It is somewhat like lemmings, but you don't need to be afraid of suicidal workforce. It's a good foundation for the RTS I would like to have when I play Terraria.
-Theme: (4) You need to get deeper & deeper - not necessary downwards my first gold was in the cealing of my start area.
-Grafics: (3.5) The world is made in easy-to-read cells. There are quite some assets like the miners etc. Although textures, light & grafic-quality wasn't that much of a priority here (imo the right decission)
-Audio: (3.5) There is a small set of sound effects. The soundtrack was relaxed & fitting.
-Humor: (1) You can turn of this option - your game offers so much it doesn't need jokes...
-Mood: (2.5) Everybody get it, that you are underground. For more atmosphere you could use some lightning, fog & ambient noises (howling wind or a metalic glittering so you can hear gold nearby)
-Overall: ( 4 + 4 + 4 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 2.5 -> 3.5 ) I've ignored humor for the calculation. Your game is mostly good, it's not great in the media department, but it has interesting mechanics that function as intended, most of the time :P
The Points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4.5) The main menu is great, you can open it always & it offers audio & video options. There seem to be rare glitches but I couldn't reproduce them. The thing the game is in need of are tooltips.
-Genre: (4) There are not that many Plattfomrer Strategy games, but this is a good foundation for it, with a hint of rpg with it's items.
-Szenario: (3) There is no goal told by the game, it is more a sandbox game, where the collection of gold allow me to grow my workforce.
-Setting: (2.5) Besides being underground, I could not tell what else is in the world.
-Story(telling): (2.5) there is not much about what is happening ... there could be some hints for finding gold. Giving your miners name is a gimmick
Gameplay:
-Controls: (4) scrolling with multiple layouts, zooming out and in(towards mouse position) are great. Selection works, and characters inventory isn't difficult to understand. Assigning jobs(Tools) is well done. The automatic execution can get a bit confused, but nothing to struggle to hard. Waypoints or a walk command would have been great.
-Rules: (4) Automatic character movement is solved in an intelligent manner. building, mining & transport are solved clearly. Buying items & personel could have been made more clear (in the game).
-Complexity: (4) random world generation, yeah. There are a couple of activities & interactive objects (charcters, items, environment), the game seems to be focused on growing & exploring - the game could use of some adversaries & obstacles
-Difficulty: (3) The game is not hard to learn, it is more challenging to ones patience, finding your first gold. Imho some initial gold in any form (ideally being spawned nearby) would have been great.
-Content: (3.5) Replayability is given by world generation & the game world is quite large. You can create a "small" mining group. The Environment can/should be reshaped by the player.
-Fun (4.5) Other than farts the game keeps it's fun without starting to smell bad. Nitpickingly I would like to destroy something, like the enemies, with gutgases.
-Innovation (3.5 or 4) The game feels to me like, what distinguishes DOOM Eternal from DOOM(2016) has been done to Soldat. That would actually infuriate me, but LudumDare is something differnt and I have to accept that I am playing a plattformer not a monster-massacre-like. Farting through Hell is surprisingly something new to me - do you know Bierkrieg? it's nothing new...
-Theme (3.5) You solved "a single central resource" well, one of my themes, so I cheat some credits for you.
-Grafics (3.5) The style is consistent & a bit simple - but there are a lot of levels & unique details to them
-Audio (3.5) The sounds are a bit few but neat, and the game is lacking of fart noises...
-Humor (4.5 or 5) Fart humor top - more of it! Or add something verboten, because Hell.
-Mood (3.5) It's more a sinister & bleak version than a brutish fiery type of hell. The kind of evil menace is not that present, there are traps & enemies, though hell is quite chill here.
-Overall ( 4,5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 5 + 3.5 -> 4 ) Nice small game, that I played multiple times already. I've got all the peppers, a quick run mention by the devil, and now I am working on not dying.
The points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (3.5) I love how broken the walk animation is. I would prefer to have menus, but closing the game by hitting esc is ok.
-Genre: (4) I guess it's a interesting platformer, that is at worst in need of more of the things already in it. Compared to games I know, it is close to Soldat ( a Plattformer-Arenashooter), that has comparable non-tile based maps/levels & a almost similar jetpack system.
-Szenario: (4) The levels vary in part a lot & become slighty more difficult.
-Setting: (3.5) I am a bit missing the hell feeling. The art is made consequently, which is good. The levels however feel quite randomly selected, but it could be just me not getting the point.
-Story(telling): (3.5) The written story telling is meant as a tutorial & backgroud lore, not continuing it is a missed oportunity to tell us more. Your game seem to be not much about story and this is absolute O.K. & I am sympathetik to the protagonist.
Gameplay:
-Controls: (4.5) The Controls works almost always - when you keep pressing walk & restart you don't move. Cheers to have multiple layouts for the controls.
-rules: (3.5) Why do you need solid ground under your feet to recharge your gutgas? I am wondering why the farting man dies by falling and sometimes not.
-complexity: (3.5) You can solve obstacles/puzzles in different ways. By dealing with foes, there needs to be a satisfying method to defeat them - burning,traps etc. Explosive could have been used at least a second time.
-difficulty: (5) The game is challenging for the right reasons, meanwhile it give hints to help you. Having a button for quick restarting a level makes the game forgiving enough, that even sometimes randomly occuring setbacks are no problem.
-Content: (4) There are many levels, a small set of foes & obstacles, some pickups & quite a bunch of details You can chase differnt scores like peppers, best time, least deaths ect.
Although there were some moments in the game, that frustrated me, mostly that vision is disadvantageous toward the lower border to the screen , it kept me playing & trying again.
The Falling Dwarf incorporated the theme very well ( :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: ) by tying the depth of the chasm to your gameprogress. Advincing deeper makes everything more difficult, from retreating over enemies, traps, platforms ... to regain your lost loot.
-Fun: (3) Morning Shift was very short & the puzzle was very simple. Although compared to your other games (I know), it has the most complex & sophisticated mechanics of them. Both the drill & the Searchbar were cool ideas fighting back some ground.
-Innovation: (3) The majority of all point & click adventures I've played, were made by you - I talk about it in a minute.
-Theme: (3) you're going down a mine, this is going deeper, but the theme was deeper & deeper - I would say halfway done.
-Grafics: (5) (6 - 8) Pixel art is your thing. Style, colorscheme, Shapes, Proportions ... Animations executed almost perfectly.
-Audio: (3.5) the game is a bit silent, it somehow fits the mood, but there could be more & the soundeffects fits well.
-Humor: (4) Blue Raven: "Haha ... very funny"
-Mood: (4) There could be done more for the mood, grafical effects, audio, a protagonist that looks more like a worker. The environment, the forshadowing giant robot, the computer equipment, the background - but the silent Audio also leaves the feel of an abadoned industry/mining zone.
-Overall: (3+3+3+5(7)+3+4+4 -> 3.5 or 4) You sacrificed a lot of the game for it's art - said by one who did the exact opposite (among other bad decissions than making all grafics in 32mins - neeew R E C O R D). After playing it multiple times, I liked it more for finding more and more details.
The points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4.5) There is a button to leave the game^^ (+1). The close button for the PDA is a bit unwilling. The Main Menu is neat & tidy. The rest (though not that much) works very well.
-Genre: (5) Your games fit that what someone would expect what a point and click game should be. I can't tell you much what's about them, this is clearly your expertise.
-Szenario: (3) The task isn't quite complex, get three things & put them in one place, without a particular order Barry is a fauler hund! The blender should get him!
-Setting: (4) A skinny guy in a red hoody looks a bit antithetical to all the (welldone) desolate environment
-Story(telling): (5) A quick clear cut story about duty & laziness done in a effective way. The big Robot is a nice foreshadowing, powering it up has some spectacle. Blue Raven doesn't know what the blender is & larry don't want it ... Why that hate on the blender? Mystery...
Gameplay:
-Controls: (4.5) Simple & effective as a point&click should be, without the extras making it complicated.
-rules: (3) good that you need to drill with different strengths, but it would be nice, when igniton explodes when dirll it at strength 3. the blue raven on the handheld computer know more terms than the game suggest by it self "... very funny"
-complexity: (3) there are 2 interactive systems, both are more than combine & slot items. The opposition is a very short task to solve.
-difficulty: (2.5) The only thing I didn't get in the first run was the switch for the light in the mine. There is no frustration but no challenge. Indeed there is some help to make your task more easy & less tedious (which leads the game back to average waters)
-Content: (3.5) sry for saing it over and over - The game is short - BUT there are multiple things that can easily be overlooked... there are alot of small Details like the satelite dish, the useless blender etc., the tiles for the building & ground, the lift with a cool anymation a gui for the drill... there are indeed more things in the game, than one just might remember
@tudvari thx, now it's fixed - saved the itchio as a draft, silly me mea culpa.
@tudvari btw what happened to your game?
@xpoho you just gave me a goal for future development ...
-Fun: (5) I had immense fun with this game - the non LD points might explain it better.
-Innovation: (4) It has some vibes of tower assault, where the players faction has all the non mobile units, who is expanding into the creatures of the deeps territory, who has all the mobile units.
-Theme: (4.5) Going deeper and deeper into hostile territory as a tower offense.
-Grafics: (5) Maybe there could be more info & highlighting in your game, but there is so much already in it.
-Audio: (4) Ambient sfx, fighting & construction are neat - a soundtrack might be to much to ask.
-Humor: (3) Here and there I see a reference.
-Mood: (4.5) The blue & red colorscheme & the ambient sound add the most to the deepsea feeling.
-Overall: ( 5 + 4 + 4.5 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 4.5 -> 4.5 ) The game isn't perfect, but it managed to pull off so many & so well - it is great.
The Points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4.5) There could be some kind of menu, but that is nitpicking.
-Genre: (4.5) Imho some mobile units for the player & some structures for enemies (like nest etc.) would make it to a classy RTS, at the expense of innovation.
-Szenario: (4.5) The game has not a goal, it is clear you need to build up, from there all your small goals are created and therefore create a fun to play mission.
-Setting: (5) Abyssal Lab got a welldone deep under the sea vibe, supported by it's artstyle, colorscheme, sound, how the deepsea denizen looks...
-Story(telling): (3) The game don't tell you what is going on on it's own, though there are some hints of lore...
-Controls: (5) Scrolling, construction placement, GUI, HUD(info like resources) ... a there is a lot and almost always I managed to click the correct building, except rarely some of the corridors.
-Complexity: (5) Multiple Resources, parts of the economy are multilayerd, defense towers, a couple of enemy types ... are you insane?
-Rules: (5) From economy over expansion over combat over exploring, there is nothing I could complain much about it.
-Difficulty: (4) Sometimes a situation gets a bit out of control, but the game has a tendency to be a bit easy. It would be dope if there would be sometimes enemies that attack your base actively like waves of an invasion like event.
-Content: (5) I wish you would have done this as a jam and there would just be more, smth like different maps or so
-Fun: (2.5) It's relaxing, and I would like to have some more gameplay... Or some of the Hengen humor
-Innovation: (2.5) The game is a casual fun. It incorporates the theme as core gameplay, but nothing much else.
-Theme: (4.5) getting points by falling, so falling deeper is advancing your score is the core of the game, collecting the gold blocks adds something, while falling (i guess it's time based) to deep leads to failure
-Grafics: (2.5) squares & blocks are a bit basic - but effective. changing the background by hitting squares is gimicky.
-Audio: (3.5) relaxing soundtrack, soundeffects are ok, though there could be a special sound for getting one of the gold bricks
-Humor: (-) Why not capitalising on the usual entertainment af a typical hengen post?
-Mood: (4) Audio & style are very relaxed. The true challenge is to keep attention, so you don't fall to deep.
-Overall: ( 2.5 + 2.5 + 4.5 + 2.5 + 3.5 + 4 -> 3,5 )
-Fun: (3.5) the game feels a bit short despite having a acouple of levels, the tutorial is the longest part.
-Innovation: (4) I don't know many entourage based plattfomers ... every dwarf has his set of abilities and the group work as one in in a interresting manner
-Theme: (4.5) Moving downwards is part of the traversing in almost every level
-Grafics: (4.5) simple fitting artstyle not affraid of pitchblack darkness
-Audio: (4) Settings for Music & SFX Soundtrack fits Dwarf grunting soppurts you in selection
-Humor: (3) "Har har har" - the dwarves makes one smile
-Mood: (4) The Underground environments feel like dark deep chasms.
-Overall: ( 3.5 + 4 + 4.5 + 4.5 + 4 + (3) + 4 -> 4 )
The Points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4) The main menu is neat, especially for having settings (Audio) nice tutorial & credits scenes in the beginning there should be a way to end & restart the game (e.g. via a menu)
-Genre: (4,5) There are not many Plattfoners, where you control a group at once. It is a interesting amalgation of different ideas, sharing with a lot of other fighting J&Rs Safepoints, various equipment, lighting, collectables etc.
-Szenario: (3.5) The mission of any level is pretty clear, traverse from top left corner to lower right in order to advance to the next level. This is pretty solid, though there could have been more use to gold veins, checkpoints and obstacles.
-Setting: (4.5) Jump into dungeon diving with a daring leap towards dark depths. Ancient dwarven ruins overun by nasty goblins - there are drums in the deep.
-Story(telling): (4) The text tell you the most you need to know, the environment & characters are readable to tell you the rest. In the case you might continue this project, a narrator could tell some parts of the story.
Gameplay:
-Controls: (3.5) It's cool that there are controlschemes for Keyboard & Controller, and for keyboard has multiple layouts. (The current postjam layout with J & K and no arrow keys, is inferior imo.) For the controls for choosing a dwarf, I have similar feelings like to the system in "the shadow below Providence", where I would like to have a layout like WESD, so that the topleft button would be the topleft tentacle etc. Selecting a dwarf by hitting a key multiple times, can get you in (actually uneccessary) trouble with goblins. Imho the best solution for choosing the dwarf you want is by selecting them via number keys (for controller arrow/direction). Btw I have a electric stove/cooker with four fields that have a similar control scheme, handling multiple pans & pots ... made me biased.
-rules: (3.5) jump height for any dwarf is a bit inconsistent, it seems you need keep the space key pressed & time the arrowkeys more cautious. The red dwarf should hit enemies within range and close to him (goblins can underrun his range) Aiming with the line being influenced by mouse/stick movement would be the best for the green dwarf imho
-complexity: (4) There are four completely diffrent characters for differnt usecases. Goblins have two variants, there could be one more... Although the levels are all dark af, they vary in interesting shapes.
-difficulty: (3.5) sometimes the environment obscures to much, while you have to fight goblins there should be checkpoints before challenging situations
-Content: (4) There are quite a lot of levels, the Tutorial has the majority of the current levels, and could be compressed so there could be more "meat" for the game.
Grafic style & soundtrak are neat. The controls are good & a joy to use.
there are two things that could be better:
- the collision might be more tight, it seems to me, that there are collision zones (quads?) that are a bit bigger as an enemy looks like.
- the widescreen is disadvantageous to the main movement direction, downward. IMHO a square view would be the best solution, it's a "struggle" I have with allmost all topdown games currently, because upward & downward movements became uneccesary obstacles.
-Fun: (4.5) The tension rises with the barometer in this game. The controls are challenging & are good fun to learn.
-Innovation: (4) There aren't many games, where you have to navigate purely by abstract navigation tools, and here is it solved quite well.
-Theme: (4.5) I still get panic by all the alarms & noises, especially when a collision happens.
-Grafics: (3.5) It is an interresting idea, that there is no sight of an environment, instead all the controls are solved visually. There are not very many details, the game's true strengths are elsewehere.
-Audio: (4.5) the sound design is quite important there down there when you see nothing else then
-Humor: (1.5) that is an aspect your game doesn't need.
-Mood: (4.5) The game has quite a well developed feel of submarine tension.
-Overall: ( 4.5 + 4 + 4.5 + 3 + 4.5 + 2 + 4.5 -> 4 )
The Points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4) some kind of menu or restart option(ingame) would be nice.
-Genre: (4) I would imagine a game about submarine seafaring could look like this one.
-Szenario: (4.5) The mission is clear & has multiple stages, while all that is there is well crafted. I am not sure, if adding some optional or alternative steps, would go over the top...
-Setting: (5) Maybe a periscope or some advanced radar ... bah, the steelcoffin has the best feel.
-Story(telling): (3.5) Your adventure is told more in a indirect way. While there are some logs & info, there could be some updates & new findings on the way.
-Controls: (5) The controls are very complex & solved well
-Rules: (4) The collision sensor, and the silent running creates a lot of tension, and the alarm on a hit is quite ... alarming. The game is informing the player well and give always a second chance after a mistake, but not to much.
-Difficulty: (4) The game isn't necessary difficult on its own, it complex controls & displays are the true challenge a player needs to master there.
-Complexity: (4) Steering & orientation are bound to a wide array of something-meters, and anything you can do is a very necessary part of the game, especially when it is needed in a certain part of the progress.
-Content: (3.5) There is not really much in all parts of the game besides all the interresting instruments. Although the single level his a good length, and is well enough designed to play this game again, or ten times.
-Fun: (4) I have played the game 6 times. The 3rd time was to figure out, what happens when you lose. After that addiction kicked in.
-Innovation: (3.5) Economy & building strategy game with vibes of factorio (conveyer belts) and a twist through a time limit.
-Theme: (2) The theme is only fullfilled in the name. I am glad you prefered to create a good game over a theme fitting one.
-Grafics: (3) It's OK when the buildings are made simple, they are also easy to read, but the factories seem to be upscaled, their borders are far thicker than compared to others. There is also a strange flickering sometimes while placing a new construction. Sometimes the layering gets off, so a building "behind" another is drawn ontop of it.
-Audio: (4) there are sounds for interaction (clicking buttons & placing buildings) Neat soundtrack a bit relaxed. What about sounds of performing facilities, or warnings etc.
-Humor: (2.5) there seems to be some jokes & references
-Mood: (3.5) there is definitely some space groove, I just miss a bit the pending doom vibes the growing earth in the background was a good idea.
-Overall: ( 4 + 3.5 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 2.5 + 3.5 -> 3 )
The Points I would like to rate:
-Quality/Polish: (4.5) Your main menu could have a close/exit button. The grafics have some glitches - the mechanics (after playing multiple times) seem to be bug free. It's a bit over-the-top to have a intro-cinematic :D
-Genre: (4) The game is a good amalgation of different eco-sims & the timelimit is not disruptive. There could just be more strategy to it, to reach perfection.
-Szenario: (4) The Mission is made clear & progress can always be monitored.
-Setting: (3.5) Some assets like the rocket have some retro-scifi vibes, the facilities feel a bit blant. While the soundtrack is relaxing, there could be some sound of urgency, like alarms, messages from earth etc.
-Story(telling): (3.5) The messages tell you everything you need to know. Although Deeper-Geddon is not a storydriven game, you made clear what the situation in the game is.
Gameplay:
-Controls: (4.5) Interacting with buttons & placing the buildings works well, and there is allmost no chance to delete the wrong building. Scrolling with arrowkeys works ok - there could have been a borderscrolling.
-rules: (4) Processing & constructing works simply & well. When buildings would cost something, there could be a interresting dynamic of spending & saving resources.
-complexity: (4) The three factories have their recipes, the Red facility have a slighty more complex one. A mine can sustain multiple facilities - & multiple mines/factories can be linked to a factory. Mobile units or something else would be sick.
-difficulty: (3.5) you can fail if you want to ... the game helps you with it's tutorial, tooltips, GUI & HUD.
-Content: (3.5) There is one static map, it would have been nice when the resource fields would be random generated.
-Fun: (4) Besides some bugs & glitches and a "high" learning curve in the beginning, the game is interresting & fun to play.
-Innovation: (4.5) one clear step towards a terraria strategy game one day.
-Theme: (5) Digging deeper into the ground in order to get richer
-Grafics: (3.5) The grafics are simple, but effective & there are animations.
-Mood: (3) Dwarven mining company goes brrrrt. The game is more strategic than emotional, except dwarves getting lost ... in the sky?
-Overall: ( 4 + 4.5 + 5 + 3.5 + + 3 -> 4 )
The Points I would like to rate here:
-Quality/Polish: (3) there are some bugs/glitches, especially the dwarves that get lost the one way or another are painfull. ... and there was a gamebraking bug. Returning instead of restarting a match via the mainmenu is a bit odd. Nice to have some tooltips. It is good to have a mainmenu.
-Genre: (4) This game could be a great example of platfomer-strategygames (there should be a better name for this genre, honestly). What was LEMMINGS genre called?
-Szenario: (3.5) The goal seems to be mining more in order to upgrade - I wonder if there is something to discover in the depths.
-Setting: (4) Dwarves are mining, ho, ho ho!
-Story(telling): (x) It's about mining, not love triangles.
Gameplay:
-Controls: (3.5) Parallel to WASD there could have been a arrow key control, or border scrolling. Placing jobs works well, it's not necessary easy to learn how posts function, but it's not frustrating.
-Rules: (3.5) The way upgrades are obtained, maintained & how they were made usefull, was good. They Pathnode system is a bit odd and the dwarves should always check if they can go a path.
-Complexity: (4) There are Dwarves as active workforce, a main building with upgrades, those upgrades need a kind of maintenance, multiple resources to mine, environment to shape, & some interactive strucuters like the posts and the stacks.
-Difficulty: (3) There are no adversaries, the game is a economy simulation for a dwarven mining company. You could make a mistake into an idea, the game has not many obstacles and dwarves getting lost, quitting their jobs (some dwarves left the mine at surface) would add some spice to it.
-Content: (4) The map is quite big (and world generation in the future would be neat), and there are some assets to play with.
Dein Computerspiel macht eine scherzhafte Aussage über die Zustände eines Software-Entwicklers, der während Ludum Dare in immer tiefere und tiefere Abgründe seiner Seele hinabsteigt. Audio Effekte sind gut gesetzt und auch wenn die Grafik simpel ist, sind die Animationen witzig gemacht.
Art is beautiful, I don't think the levers need some kind of colour, more of a clear shape or movement or somekind of unusual shadow to identify more easily. Soundeffects and music are neat & welldone, especially the menacing sound when your spirit energy runs low. While accident-teleport instead of using a lever or checkpoint, the game wasn't that frustrating to play, thanks to the dense checkpoints for retreats. You managed to integrate my theme "a single central resource" in an interrestung manner, as I could only hope creators would do.
(+) the controls are easy to use, though there is a need to be mindful & caucious
(+) art is cute in appearance,still what meaning certain objects has is quickly recognizable (fortresses & monsterhives etc.)
(+) multiple levels
(+) an arrow shows where is the next target, so getting lost on a map is prevented
(+) sound effects are crisp & the soundtrack feels fitting & enjoyable
(o) some options would be nice, like muting the music ... ok there is a button, nevermind
(+) multiple factions
(+) there is a manual restart
(-) where land tiles are added to the main cluster or when
(-) when there are gaps in the main cluster, the pathfinding for melee units is broken
(+) It's strategy, but with no building or unit control. It looks like Driftland, but is entirely a different game ... I call it fun, ok?
(+) fun concept, where navigation and assembling creates strategy & tactics
(+) art, soundtrack and storytelling lead well to the mood of the game
(+) selfmade grafics, personally I like the other women's idle animation where their neck grows & shrinks
(+) all the characters texts felt like actual and genuine small talk
(-) I don't think the player choices matter, although the other characters are nice to you, so the player character can proceed
Fun: (-) the game is too short & simple (I didn't mean too easy, but it is almost too easy) (+) The world & characters are beautiful & interresting , that promises a lot of adventures. (o) The game needs to be more as it's current state, it is a (successfull) proof of concept. Innovation: (+) Communication only by pictures/pictogramms is an interresting concept, although there could be more going on. Theme: (o) is there something about the theme? I usually don't care that much about it myself... Grafics: (+) Art is well done both in concept & execution. (+) Animations are well done. Audio: (o) there could be some soundtrack, something like occasional tribal drumming in the distance. Humor: (o) the game is not about making jokes, that is all ok to me. Mood: (+) The artstyle & sounds creates a gloomy mood. --- my cathegories --- Quality/Polish: (+) There is a main menu, where you also return when the game ends by the character's death/victory. (+) Wow esc opens an additional menu! Genre: (o) another point&click adventure, that could be a lot of entertainment if expanded further. Szenario: (+) Your task in the game is initially unclear, what creats tention. Setting: (+) The dark forest/jungle seem to have a lot of mysteries, dangers & treasures, that could be explored. Story(telling): (+) There are "dialogues" that might inform or confuse the player, which is innovative Controls: (+) the game is easy to use (+) the cursor has a feedback if an object is interactable Rules: (+) interactions are easy & clear (o) there could be more objects/point of interrest. Complexity: (-) the game can be rushed with 6 clicks (including the main menu). (o) the game could use more puzzles, items, item combinations and/or dialogues with options. Difficulty: (-) there is only one interaction that is some kind of resistance, the adversary. (o) it would be cool if all options could be viable solutions, with the condition, that each option need some kind of preperation like solving a puzzle, an information out of a dialogue or gaining a certain item/ items combined. Content: (-) 3 of the 6 interaction can be ignored, they seem to be more of a distraction to me. (o) the Stones Glyphs could be part of a puzzle, or you need to find a missing one (o) the Warrior could be more part of solving the game, e.g. giving you a item or the knowlege to overcome the adcversary (o) all or at least more dialogues could be with options (o) a second level/area would have been great --- verdict --- Overall: Y is a proof of concept, it is a very short game with very few features. It holds up standards in some technical areas, what your older games didn't. As almost usual, the game is leading in areas of art and story. This game is quite lovable, has serious potential, but leaves me alone in want of more. final Suggestions/Ideas: It seems to me that your Ludum Dare games are "shrinking" more and more. You could be more open about joining the jam instead of compo - not only for additional time, although nobody prevents a jammer to release a game early, but to have a more loose rule set allowing cooperation and/or far more extensive preperations. In a jam you could create a improved version of your older games with or as additional episodes of an adventure... or get gud, do moar! ;)
@mrbell270 thanks for your comment, I am currently working on it - btw thanks for mentioning Subterfuge , it looks like it would be something to me.
@truewolves you are mostly right about the UI, I have updated my game's Ludum page (and also the itch page soon).
(+) many different interactions
(+) cute grafics expressing the creatures emotions
(o) does the monster demand special food and what are the effects of it?
(o) when fullfilling a creature's demand, other demands gets worse, why?
(-) using the shower button is still quite tricky, the player needs to hit it quite precisely
(+) there are Audio settings
(+) Music & sounds can be configurated seperatly
(-) neither do years progress, nor does the economy grow ... I don't know whats wrong on my side
(+) the soundtrack, lol
(+) funny idea for grandstragegy
(+) game seems to have quite a interresting complexity
(+) funny interpretation of the theme
(+) rooms have variations, like the food storage holding hams or a pumpkin and so on
(+) eastereggs ... lol
(+) the balance bar at the top of the screen is almost too much help ... almost :D
(+) multiple layouts for controls, yeah
(+) well made GUI, with tooltips
(+) economy with 5 different resources
(+) and a adjacency system for producing & storage buildings
(+) soundtrack can be muted
(-) it seems there is no winning condition, the monument?
(-) no manual restart, you have to lose or quit the game
(o) the maximum of a resource is 999? come on!
Screenshot_LD49_KingOfTheMountain_Victory.png
(+) the game has quite a bunch of levels
(+) there are random effects on some blocks, nice
(+) where it was necessary the effects of blocks were handplaced
(-) there could be somekind of landscape or some design for the blocks
(-) jumping is often not on point
(+) unique selfmade sounds
(+) there seems to be differnt versions of the "boing" sound
(o) there could be redundand controls e.g. for walking left you could press 'A' or left arrow
(o) a (level-)restart with a button could help
(o) you can stick at walls & "climb" them slowly by pressing jump again & again
(+) a lot of different items to place and use for terraforming
(+) mostly easy use & placing of items
(+) cute grafics, that are also informative
(+) reminds me of terraforming in spore
(+) extensive help & information
(-) I have to made up actual negative points
(+) i got an error, telling me the game doesn't work, pressed "ok", then it worked
(o) unreal games are a bit large (harddrivewise) for game jams (800mb+)
(+) the fire effect looks gorgeous
(o) perfomance isn't optimal
(+) small open world with some secrets
(-) the game is a bit aim-/goalless
(+) the caramboulage is a lot of fun
(+) "beep beep, ah my car!"
Screenshot_LD49_ConeZone.png
(o) please add a link to the Ludum page on the itchIO page, itch has extra topic on it's the game edit page for that matter ... there are people who use itch to search ludum games sorted by genre
(-) the game is a bit to quick paced, where even placing on cool down is just to slow & using pause
(-) random generator can screw a match easily, three times the same thing in a row should be prevented
(o) herbs shouldn't die off on their own (+) gui is easy to read
(+) gui is easy to use
(+) biodiversity strategy is a interresting concept, although not new, but not done often, so it feels fresh
(-) this game realy needs blood & gore or at least an option to it
(+) retro grafics, I almost think I am playing prodeus
(+) fitting and awesome soundtrack
(+) there are different tracks when you restart
(+) multiple levels
(-) weapons collected in a level, aren't brought to the next
(-) it can happen, that the soundtrack does not go on or get to the next track
(o) the lag during explosions gives them some additional gravitas
(+) there is quite a variety of foes
(+) enemies look menacing
(o) hostiles are sometimes a bit bulletspongy
(-) enemies are sometimes unresponsive and/or behave unintelligent
(-) collision boxes of doors, have partly "ghost walls" when opened, absorbing projectiles or blocking the player character
(+) deep level-design from the begining, with many secret passages
(+) weaponry: machinegun, assaultrifle, shotgun, plasmagun, missilelauncher ... woah great!
(o) weapon selection also by number keys would be neat
(+) shotgun has a good bargain of damage, projectile spread & range, so it is also effective on "midlle" distances, doom3 did you listen? ... did love their shotgun anyways
(-) shotgun's look and sound is a bit weak
(+) nice grafics
(+) time travel mechanic, allowing you to switch between "worlds", that can be used to overcome obstacles
(+) meaningful & intelligent made leveldesign
(+) each timeperiod has it's on music theme
(+) swingin arms while running, a nice detail
(-) there could be soundeffects for footsteps & jumps
(+) i got an error, telling me the game doesn't work, pressed "ok", then it worked
(+) movement controls by dragging isn't done often, yet
(+) 10 lives, 10!!! thanks for keeping me in the game ... for a couple of minutes :D
(+) telegraph lazörs
(-) sometimes lazörbeems were transmitted through obstacles
(o) the camera position could lead to false asumptions of the game avatar's relative position to obstacles or laser beams, although that could be just me
@hiroboto the symbols in the brackets meant the following: + = good, - = not so great & o = nitpicking & suggestions for later versions.
1. I get an error at starting the game. The error message is talking about "api-ms-win-downlevel-kernel32-l2-1-0.dll" missing, an equal behavior shows up in other Unreal Engine projects, although I just need to press OK and the game runs anyway (so I am happy anyway) - and my guess is that it comes mostly from my pc being veteranly old ... HonkIII, a another game made this ludum is made in unreal engine too, maybe it's dev crew knows more.
2. I judged the control scheme as innovative (so there is a +)
3. (+) :D
4. telegraph lazörs are cool, although this behavior would fit matter based streaming emitters, that would utilize ions or plasma, although plasma is ionized any... ok I stop nerding.
5. ok, that's nasty
6. agree, ty
btw. thank you for playing & commenting my game
(+) controls gives the player a lot of options, for interacting with the environment: building, collecting, destroy, repair and paying tribute
(+) detailed & beautiful grafics for environment & buildings
(o) grafics could use some animations
(-) it is quite tricky to get out the building menu, when you currently can't build anything, that becomes a trap as long you don't know building prices
(+) it is quite long, by reaching the goal of 52 rounds
(o) a shorter time span as a option would be nice
(-) no manual restart
(o) it would be neat, if music & sounds can be disabled/enabled seperatly
(+) there is a menu system
(+) complex shooting, shooting support & interaction with the core/energy system
(+) more and more functions during game play
(-) the area for seeng the meteors is a bit to small
(-) slow projectiles feels sloppy
(+) There is a lot of gui elements & they work well
(+) ground made up by blocks ... I do like them, they give the 2D some 3D's element
(o) pixel art should be in the same size / pattern
(o) the battlemaps could be bigger (5x5 -> 8x8)
(-) random events can easily end a run, especially when the path
(-) it is not clear when loot is gained from slayed monsters, maybe a lootbag/-stack are spawned by a monster's death?
(o) diagonal movement & attacking could be quite cool
(o) prices should not go up when you don't buy, and save exp for movement lvl2
(-) when getting a health upgrade, there should be no need for being healed full
(+) easy to use controls
(-) random emitting & electron bombarding can screw you over sometimes
(+) detailed description of the game in the game
(+) Gameplay is actually easy to undestand
(o) I would have liked a "stay in the game mechanic", e.g. to restabilitize the nucleus
(o) ...and a little bit harder
(+) fitting soundeffects & useful sounddesign
(+) fitting soundtrack, almost cosy
(+) sound is mutable, +1 on quality
overall: I've played it 5 times in a row
(+) grafics & gameplay both simple but very effective
(+) nice variety of improvements & shiptypes
(+) 2 resources gives the player to think about the economy, without being it to much
(-) the scrolling (switching between galaxy & starsystem) is one of the games enemy, disrupting player control
(+) the game is quite quirky
(+) there are a lot game modes
(+) easy control system
(+) meaningful but lean set of card functionality
(+) game has a tutorial
(o) there could be some background instead of simple onecolor black
Would have liked better vision for the player, besides that this game was high octane action, evading projectiles, shooting down missiles, tactically taking out one part of the spacestation after another ... fighting this kind of multipart boss was fun, says someone who hates bossfights (prefering fighting hordes or engange in complacted economies/alchemies)
@chusmimax thank you for randomly playing old Ludum Dare games :laughing: ... oh dear that was my first game in the extra format I have done, new concept, almost no preperations ... of course the eco is broken :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
after playing it almost 30 times, I would say it belongs to my alltime favourite games from ludum dare - although I am more a Settlers 3 child, I liked the Settlers 2 mechanics. I could say the enemies might do more, but I didn't do so in my game, so I have nothing to complain left. :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
This game defeated my Keyboard ... lol - @andidebob are you going participate in Rocket Beans Jam this year?
Space RTS ... YEEEEEEES!!! It's competently made - I am almoust overwhelmed how much strategy games got traction in this Ludum - yeah there is no sound, you know why I have a vast library of Game Soundtracks - Cheers :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
Top-Down Space/Air combat games are in need of a comeback ... got quite the vibes, from a x-wing and tiefighter game back then I was a child
The Floating Island Theme was well done here XD - funny simple but not so easy strategy game :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: ... the soundtrack is dope btw.
This is a wonderfull game, a realtime economy sim / city builder, like once I did (from Void) but your game is more finished. I like the style, I've critized the layout of this one before jam, and would stay with, that the Resources and Infos should not have been scattered ... but this is actually nitpicking
This is a cool orbital TowerDefense, tooltips, telling you what the sattelites cost, for the construction buttons would have been nice
WTF? :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: 9/10 would play again
ha haha hahaha ... lol :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
btw. the social critique is on point
This game belongs to the category of "want more content", the end was kind of a beautiful and had a sense of wonder. The tools were easy to use and there was a good variation of them. A little bit of action would have been neat :D
needs three things:
1) Tooltips
2) a downloadable version
3) this soundtrack "zerg must die"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGhzAaqYsc
that was a crazy ride - interresting version of a biathlon: Running for you life and answering questions about random trivia ... I forgot eventually shooting vermin lol
Great Art
O.K. Gameplay
Good story
Longer playtime
:dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
This game is fun, and the customer names are funny and their demands became a joke...
Still I had some issues, mostly with GUI/Collision related game elements,from cutting the wrong parts of a plant to the top GUI preventing to harvest the blue flower of those red Dren plants, and at worst at a certain point plant parts were not accepted for jobs anymore.
Though I enjoyed it, it is relaxing and stressfull at the same time and I had a good time playing it while listening to Morrowind's soundtrack :D
I had a blast playing Orchard Archer at 3:00 AM ... the game's physic based archery is welldone and shows how much 'joy of use' can be the focus of a game. :dvd:
The game allows you to do some nonsense LD_52_OrchardArcher_01.png
It is hard (O.K. I had to go afk, then this happenend :smile: ) LD_52_OrchardArcher_02.png
Finishing isn't trivial solving all quests need to be celebrated LD_52_OrchardArcher_03.png
There are a lot of Secrets, from figuring out how to step over the spikes without harm, to returning to the game after getting to the final 'screen' LD_52_OrchardArcher_04.png
Staying in the fight is the true challange and worth a risk. LD_52_OrchardArcher_05.png
:dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
Played it on Browser and had quite fun.
In my the first completed run, I thought the green and red room was the most difficult part in the game, but in the next attempt after it I made through it with one try ... but the triceratops elsewhere got memoryholed :laughing: LD_52_Total_Extinction_01.png
GENERAL:
This is a great entry, although a short game, it has almost everything in it. I would recommend this to show to students of Game Design and other types of education/training ... It shows how Media, Gameplay(Programming) and Narrativedesign can work well together.
MEDIA:
The Pixel Art is on-point, showing a good sense of lighting, mindfull color usage, following a consistent style is more important than flashy effects. Maybe there should have been a highlight on the students face, but we are talking about 2 or 3 Pixels ...
There are fitting soundeffects & Characters talk in a mumblespeak so you can recognize who is speaking without being disturbed reading the text.
GAMEPLAY:
Yet again your game hold up a good standard with it's dialog system & point&click typical mechanics of finding and using small items... Having a crafting sequenze is a highlight in the game.
The only weak part of it is how short this game is, but it is a great vertical slize ... that makes one wonder how a fully fledged out or a hour long version (made in an extra at Ludum Dare) would be.
NARRATIVE:
The Setting is a kind a surprise - or better said a well made subversion of my expectation - initially looking like modern day or a couple decades ago - there is some lore that this is not our world.
Homunculus' story is told well paced, with no need of an intro, but in gameplay, starting with a dialoue that leads to a couple of tasks ending with a sequence holding a surprise at the end - as expected ;D
:dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
... I have just figured out, that the play button at the beginning of the page here doesn't start a video, it start the game embedded on the website here - O.K. cool!
Ok jam entry, simple gameplay mechanics (shooting(effects&explosion) and evading) used well.
The harvesting and energy could have a deeper meaning in the game, e.g. you need energy to fire and repair your ship, or charge shields.
While the style is adorable, enemy ships appearing midfield instead of rolling in over the top border is a unnecessary taint.
There could be more of ... everything: one or two more weapons, shields, more enemies, and enemies that shoot more, destroyable asteroids ...
In conclusion your game is too simple & easy, looks & sounds pretty, you did mostly well in polishing, and I would like to see that your next creation is cautiously more ambitious.
The soundtrack reminded me on spore and a soudtrack for asian nations in civilization IV ... and going through the tile-lexicon sounded like the Don't Starve characters.
There are some combos that are wierd and others I would expect but they doesn't happen. For example I would expect that villages can transform flower tiles (meadows) to something, like a ground for cattle, or that floods could turn oasis-tiles into something.
Personally, I would love to see an Ecosystem Simulator, where you influence the environment ... ok I want a glorified map editor with interaction and simulation.
I had relaxed fun with toying around, so here are some screenshots for you, when I played it the third time:
LD_52_HexYield_01.png
LD_52_HexYield_02.png
LD_52_HexYield_03.png
After playing your Game, I would agree most with @someone comment the most, except that I think the harvesting distance is clear after a couple of tries (it's almost touching distance) - that gives the Myconoids the change to shoot at the player right when they are harvested... so the meta is to firespray them and immmediatelly harvest them to minimize damege. With @jk5000 comment I do disagree on the point, that the game would be super simple - it is imho a complex game for compo especially that the gamemechanics of dashing, firespraying and harvesting work so much together not to forget that there is enemy behavior, projectiles and a Level/Score system. The harshed thing I have to say, is that Mycotic Uprising should have a bigger window, it is quite tiny on a 1920x1080 screen.
CowMower2k needs 3 things to Perfection ;D
- Restart Button
- Cows mooing when mowed
- (red) Particle effects
still having a good direction - I am looking forward for your Games in the Future.
- would love to see a village with buildings
- the the combination of a stack system and an adjacency system for tiles is a good idea and is somewhat polished executed
- normally I dread randomized cards, though the other gamemechanics mediate a band hand
Just wanted to ask if there would be a non VR version - after reading the comment section, I would like to ask when it is going to be released, this weekend maybe?
Pro: - Bugs getting splattered - Multiple features (tools,tiles,plants,bugs,water etc.) working together
Con: - Dirt tiles dry up to fast (though the coolest solution would be, if they can stack charges of water) - sometimes detection for harvesting is complicated
and here is a screenshot during the battle for the last needed potato LD_52_StarchDefender.png
btw. I like to remind @jk5000 that this is also not a super simple game like Mycotic Uprising is not a super simple game(hehehe flame).
I think something is wrong with my instalation of the game ? LD_52_BeeHarvest.png
Although it is a simple game, it is effective at entertaining.
The Prototype has potential, and I am looking forward for the post-jam version
Yeah I also had the problem with the Spacebar action, it seems to be more often with tiles adjacent to one above, but retrying helps sometimes...
The game could have some danger like falling of the asteroid - in future versions maybe?
LD_52_MoonHarvest_01.png
First of all: The soundtrack is quite a bang and thank you for sharing it as download via your itch.io site!
The Grafics are all okay, yeah there are no super detailed models, but the rough "resolution" and the strong shadows make a good first expression. The sounds existing in the game are quality wise good enough.
You put a lot of effort in making the goal and setting of the game clear, I appreciate it. The game has not so much of a story but lives quite well from its flair, especially when the Combine driver is commenting the situation "WATCH THE PAINT!!!"
The best part of the game is the gameplay. It is a somwwhat simple and dumb shooter, just how I like them. There are enough features to spice things up, like your objective to defend (and repair) the combine and addition like the weapon shop. There are 8 different guns in the game and (so far I know) 3 types of enemies, the normal green zombos, the green glowing spitter/throwers and the Big Ondes - so I would say Farmtown Mowdown has quite amount of content for a jam game.
...
Here are my suggestions (from one of your blogposts) again:
The zombies are quite silent, often you hear them the first time when they attack the combine. It would be nice if they would make some noise when shot.
Some weapons are good, like the double barrel gun, though most “precise” guns feel a bit to weak. Personally I think most of these plus the starting gun would be fine if they need one hit less, to get rid of a standard green one
The Zombies are straight forward, and it is more difficult to defend the mower, than your self. My suggestion is, that zombies are more likely to attack the player, when either they got hit, are in a not to small radius of hearing gunfire, or are close to the player even at the combine.
If the changes makes the game to easy, there could be consumable healthkits introduced, so the player gets no autohealing at the end of a wave…
In addition having a system for gore, gibs and or more blood would be nice … it’s Zombies, you know.
... and I like downloadable games and play them every now and then - so would you mind?
This is the best game you made in a Ludum Dare and my first time I need to hand out 5/5 on everything ... it has more gameplay as usual, is longer as most of the last 5++ entries and is the least linear game you made as far as I know. It is also somewhat a King's Quest 8 to your Point and Click Adventures - so there is something I can insult you with ;D ... I needed to play it three times, first time the science bot glitchbugged in a conversation loop, second time I won and the third time was necessary so my boy got his sweets.
LD_53_Meme_Iluvatar.png
just wanted to share my game experianze: LD_53_Meme_Hengen.png
after collecting the upgrades shotgun + homing + a couple of shoot speed, you will get quite far in the game... PEW! PEW! PEWPEWPEWPEWPEW !!!!
LD_54_CosmicChaos_01.png
As I have not played it a third time, I cannot make my usual thought out critique for your game... and my game might be finished next weekend so I can't rate either yet. So I try to connect this game to the rest of yours (as far as I know them). ... After the devestating war against the Homunculi Breed, that take place more than a century ago, a young woman Trinity gets into cosmic trouble, because she lied to a friend. The blood ritual allowed monstrous creatures to migrate from Hell to Earth, not to destroy mankind but to live among them. After countless "nutrition" & car accidents people decided to get rid of the monsters, so they created robots & cyborgs. Just an interresting century later, being a cyborg was the norm, although the implants had their own disadvantages and there were a lot of major problems with economy and society, e.g. so called "mutants" became the outcasts of society. The history of mankind went on, so once fashionable technologies come and go, in one era there were majestic giant machines that were maintained by small teams of technicians, just to be replaced by an complete robotized economy that is based around recycling, because of resource depletion. The need for new resources brought mankind finally to the stars, leaving cyborgs, monsters, robots, demons, clones and all the other BS behind them. Such trailblazer might got lost every now and then, even some manage to return to civilization ... one brought the first Xegorg to earth, this was such a great idea, that every spacefarer was ordered to eleminate every xegorg on sight, in order to prevent more of them reaching earth. This attempt failed one day (which will be the topic of one of your future games) so the Xegorg reached and changed earth. Millenia later a lone Hero ventured into the dark forest to meet the power of the crystal, which could bring back the rule of mankind over their former homeworld. So Trinity seems to be a essential puzzle piece, you have to know... but there was one of here forefathers, a true hero and brilliant general, who once upon a time saved a Kingdom. Maybe it would have benn better GOD told her to learn to code and give up music ... and maybe that lying might cause problems that might escalate a little bit.
@lincolnsalles My games for ludum dare are made with GameMaker:Studio (1) - this sdk isn't easily available anymore, it has been replaced by GameMaker:Studio 2 (it seems to be called just GameMaker on steam - I haven't looked at their webpage for a while)
Maybe Quasilyte(https://ldjam.com/users/quasilyte) would be a better adress for you, as far as I can see he uses the modern GM:S 2 and made quite a couple of strategy in recent times ( https://quasilyte.itch.io/ ) - I do recomment playing Assemblox, it's quite a good RTS game made during a Jam
I am really happy you are working together again - you do compliment each other more than one might think. Mechanical Mutiny has some issues, but with some tries it works out quite well. Initially I thought it is some kind of a Party-Versus game using a hot-seat-turnbased system, because I didn't read any instruction and just wanted to try out the game. The game follows some standards so it was no moonlogic to figure out the inventory system and the tooltips were quite helpfull,too. And making any form of strategy game feed in to my biases.
:dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd:
Meme_HengenSimex_Barbarians.png
Brilliant on theme and innovation ... for some nitpicking: some sfx would have been nice. There are also details worthy to be mentioned e.g. the shaking the camera on environment collision, when you jump and hit the ground or just hitting the wall. Also the use of the two soundtracks as feedback for being in the comfortzone or the D A N G E R Z O N E - where you move faster, interrestingly - this was a good idea!
Nice economic-simulation game, that appeared to be small, but it has quite a lot of content. The GUI should have been sorted a bit different, more like:
1) What you build
2) Building Costs
3) abillities/productions/maintanance
4) Tootltip & Flavor text
Allowing playing sandbox after completing the "missions" was a nice addition
LD_54 Sunfarer 02.png
I see a bearded man, what do you see? Tell us in the comment section below!
This is a nice little game (or prototype as you stated) - personally I would like to have some kind of proper restart mechanic, except from loading the page again. The design of the NOT-Fly is actually quite appealing, at least I do like it, it's like an animated sketch - maybe your next game could appear (almost) complete in that kind of style.
This is one of my favorites in this jam, also found Assemblox on your itch, which was great to play, too. I dont realy know on what I could nitpick here, sometimes the RNG of the build places can make a bad start, as soon as you can get a hold and figured out when to produce the big bots you will win reliably.
:dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: :dvd: