Place of Power by flazm

[raw]
made by flazm for LD36 (JAM)
In the Relic forests, people are used to finding outlandish garbage - the legacy of past centuries. One day, people from nearby villages start to spread the rumour that an eccentric man has moved to the old manor near the mountain, and that he's ready to pay gold for the iron debris of old titans. So, little by little, people start visiting the manor that, in olden times, was called THE PLACE OF POWER.

You are an medieval alchemist. Your main goal to discover the secrets of the ancient technology and build the ultimate weapon. You need to make a lot of experiments to discover the best recipes how to transform materials into pure elements (like Gold and Titanium). You can make up to 3 transformations of each material before disintegration​. Actually disintegration available even on early stages of transformation, but usually it is not the optimal way of materials processing​.
Also don't forget to hire new workers and manage existing ones.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE GAME WAS MADE FOR LUDUM DARE JAM (72 HOURS) AND PROBABLY CONTAIN BUGS.

Tip: we are strongly recommend you to play with a sheet of paper to fix the results of the experiments.

----Controls----
Left click - take all items (Right click - take half of the items).
Left click - put all the items (Right click - put one).
Shift + left mouse button - move item to the stack.

Team AAAA:
- Artist: Alexey Testov / @Biuzer​
- Programmer: Andrii Vinchkovskiy​ / @AVinchkovskiy​
- Game Designer: Alexey Davydov / @flazm
- Sounds and music: Alexander Ahura / @ahuraster​

Feedback

steph88
30. Aug 2016 · 07:29 UTC
Hi, nice game and congratulations ! the use of pixel art is amazing. both the house both the tunnels... wow. Simple mechanics that still offered a decent amount of challenge.We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #36. We made the same thing at the previous jam.

Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description.
Zerochain
30. Aug 2016 · 07:35 UTC
I like the Pixel art Style and the Music fits perfect. Good Job :)
zulman
30. Aug 2016 · 09:41 UTC
Love it :) Very similar emotions to the first version of Basement, i think it because of visual. After 15 of playing green one mini was broken (not clickable) so i was out of Si.
Lojchin
30. Aug 2016 · 11:26 UTC
Nice Game!
🎤 flazm
30. Aug 2016 · 14:22 UTC
Hi @steph88, thanks for your comment! I have uploaded the game here - http://www.indiexpo.net/ru/games/place-of-power
@Zerochain, @zulman, @Lojchin - thank you guys! Yes the game is using both "Ancient technology" and "Under the surface" LD themes )))
Garfeild
30. Aug 2016 · 15:52 UTC
Graphics are top notch!
Mechanics of mixing and finding the nest way to produce resourses are great as well, but in the late game it become more grind than research, maybe because last stages of the game taking too long without adding new elements or maybe even small events happening in the mines and ruins.

Anyway it's a great fun to play game, good job guys!
ValiaP
30. Aug 2016 · 16:12 UTC
Finally beat the game! Although the winning screen makes me a feel a little empty.
Like the pixel art and the mechanism! It's like a pointing game with more depth to explore. But after a draw a chart of the most efficient routine it become pretty easy.
All in all, good job. Most addictive game I've played in LD36 so far.
joemid
30. Aug 2016 · 16:58 UTC
Wow! This is fantastic. Took a while to get rolling, but just the right amount of time to get me hooked. Great graphics, stellar sounds, and awesome mechanics! Top ten of 36, IMHO- as far as full featured games.
SMASH BASH
30. Aug 2016 · 18:37 UTC
Perfect execution! I played in this game for half an hour or more (I lost my time here). Advice about a sheet of paper is really useful. Game becomes very easy if you can crack proper combinations for each resource.

I agree with comment above. Game is really addictive. Combination of alchemy and idler mechanics is superb.
unoion
31. Aug 2016 · 00:19 UTC
Pixel graphics and idea of the game is great! Good job!
Nekrowolf
31. Aug 2016 · 08:32 UTC
Great idea. An excellent implementation. My favorite pixel graphics. The game is very cool)
Remicy
31. Aug 2016 · 15:03 UTC
I love this game, I played 2+ hours and I really enjoy it! My favorite game in LD36 so far!
Volcanic Giraffe
31. Aug 2016 · 20:52 UTC
Cool game. A bit grind-y, but the art and all the little things are making it totally worth playing. Great job!
justinooncx
01. Sep 2016 · 12:46 UTC
Jeez. I didn't expect to play this game for more than an hour! At first, I almost stopped playing, but then the experimental stage came into play, and before you know it, I had made a spreadsheet on the most efficient uses for each resource. It was surprisingly fun, and the art and music were pretty good too! Well done!
🎤 flazm
01. Sep 2016 · 18:21 UTC
Thank you guys! Balance is not perfect, but I am glad you have managed to get the idea of the game and having fun! )))
IQAndreas
03. Sep 2016 · 06:35 UTC
Wow. Breathtaking!

The pixel art, the sounds, and even the game mechanics all came together very nicely. Even the minor things like elements traveling through the pipes were well thought out, and added a fantastic touch.

I was expecting the lack of tutorial or even English text would cause me to get lost, but there was just enough confusion for me to explore the UI and figure things out on my own (and picking up the game was very quick). Nice use of colors to distinguish each element more clearly.

I wish I had some constructive criticism, but I got nothing; you guys really know what you're doing, and I'm baffled that you could pull it off in a weekend, even as a team.
Drury
04. Sep 2016 · 21:40 UTC
Yeah I can see why you'd want to mark proper combinations on paper - I didn't do that and realized my error a bit too late.

Not quite sure if I'd base the core gameplay on that requirement, generally people won't play games with a pen and paper in hand.

Other than that, it was awesome. I really liked the graphics, soundtrack, mood, and the general idea, just wish the game recorded what I'd discovered, it's pretty much impossible to keep memorized and as I said, pen and paper is no replacement for game mechanics.
BloodJohn
06. Sep 2016 · 06:01 UTC
Music and Graphics were very good. The main difficulty of this game is to understand how to play it. After that, patience and a drop per hour to obtain precious silicon. The idea of the game amusing - grinding of the ore to retrieve the item, is really reminiscent of chemistry lessons at school. :)
Insality
07. Sep 2016 · 19:44 UTC
oh shi~
where is my hour of my life?
all parts of all game was perfect. atmosphere and most powerful: gameplay

Got all of upgrades and i am a little sad to see so simple ending :)

anyway, the game is superb, amazing and it's should be more complex! do it!
barkergames
09. Sep 2016 · 02:30 UTC
Wow, pleasantly surprised.
I started playing and got sucked in. Time just disappeared.
I love how simple the game looks on the outside, yet it's much more complicated once you get started.
I love the art it's great!
Music was good.
I think this is my favorite so far!
Great job!
Chaoslab
10. Sep 2016 · 23:10 UTC
Good job. Decent pixel art, audio theme and mood.

Had some fun. Thanks!
Kizler
11. Sep 2016 · 17:02 UTC
After playing and realizing I was about to get sucked in, I quickly came back to tell you what an awesome job you've done. Glad I did after reading the comments I see I probably would've been playing for a very long time. Only thing I needed was a slight tutorial, I couldn't understand what I was doing and had to trial and error my way through building more.

Awesome job!
Franklin's Ghost
16. Sep 2016 · 11:07 UTC
One of the best looking games I've seen so far, the visuals felt so polished. Loved how you were able to use simple mechanics to make a more complicated game and the feedback with the controls was quite satisfying. Just wish there was a little bit more feedback with what you are doing cause it took me awhile to figure out what was occurring with all my choices.