Choose Your Side by Drew Van Camp

[raw]
made by Drew Van Camp for LD30 (COMPO)
*** Use the *Tab* key to choose!

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How will you turn the tide of war between two worlds?

Intervene as two opposing factions attempt to annihilate one another in a bitter war. Choose a faction to assist. Sabotage the enemy. Battle with fate itself and dare to tamper with the destiny of worlds!
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UPDATE:
Thanks for the feedback thus far! I certainly agree that more clarity is needed (see newly added description above). Being my first 48-hour game, such details suffered the break neck pace. It was hard for me to submit the game without ironing those details out, but I ran out of time. I think I might roll out a post competition version with some improvements.

Thank you so much for playing! Means a lot to me that you gave it a chance!

CONTROLS:
This was designed for either gamepad or keyboard controls. I've tested this using the Logitech F310 and I'm told that it works with the Xbox 360 controller as well, but no telling yet if it will do well with anything else. If you use a gamepad, let me know!

SOURCE:
I've never done any game jam or competition before, so if my source code needs to be provided differently, please let me know.

Ratings

Coolness 67% 3
Overall 2.91 856
Audio 3.12 320
Fun 2.76 805
Graphics 3.40 369
Humor 2.04 761
Innovation 3.04 649
Mood 3.08 475
Theme 2.96 749

Feedback

dhargan
25. Aug 2014 · 15:05 UTC
the game is kind of confusing. at first we choose a side but in-game we can change it by pressing tab again. also shooting button is not stated (I guess it is space tho). We can shoot but I guess after a couple of shots we need to wait a cooldown or change the side by tab.

long story short; more explanation please :D

besides that, graphics and audio is really cool. good job!
yodamaster
25. Aug 2014 · 15:41 UTC
Hm, don't know what's the goal here.
breadstix
25. Aug 2014 · 15:59 UTC
I thought the concept was very good. The game play also works for me. Maybe some instructions would help those not understanding.
Jod
25. Aug 2014 · 16:00 UTC
A short tutorial at the beginning explaining what to do will help you in future efforts!

Cool music!
SpringPowered
25. Aug 2014 · 16:03 UTC
I liked the style and idea, though I agree it was a bit confusing at first. I found that having that place to hide turned the game into: 1. hide 2. wait for enemies to reach correct point. 3. go out of hiding and fire away. 4. goto 1.
JoeDev_net
25. Aug 2014 · 16:04 UTC
Took me a while to figure out the controls and what I was actually trying to do, but once I did I was able to beat it.

It would be helpful if there was some kind of an indicator of the enemies health. I think they get darker, but I couldn't really tell and wasn't sure if I was doing any damage at first.
🎤 Drew Van Camp
25. Aug 2014 · 16:07 UTC
*** Thanks for the feedback! See the updated description!
ViliX
25. Aug 2014 · 16:25 UTC
It's quite difficult to understand at first, but it's worth it.
SuperPokeunicorn
25. Aug 2014 · 16:33 UTC
Took me a while to figure out what was going on, but it was really fun once I got into it. The lighting and particle effects made the game look really great. Good job!
koalamo
25. Aug 2014 · 20:42 UTC
Cool and interesting concept! Instructions would go a long way.
Pesty
25. Aug 2014 · 21:46 UTC
A bit confusing to understand - keyboard controls weren't responsive but worked ok with an xbox 360 controller, however after losing and refocusing the window I was unable to use the controler any more and the AI took over

A fun game but no clear objective and as I could switch sides at any time it seemed like it was just a sandbox?

Nice soundtrack for the game.
pjchardt
26. Aug 2014 · 01:51 UTC
The premise is quite interesting, and the graphics/music/mood are all very nice. I feel the execution of gameplay is a bit lacking. I did not experience any real feedback to inform me or guide me as a player, which led me to feel rather helpless to actually affect the world. Either way, great start to a game. Kudos on your first jam!
Team Luminous
26. Aug 2014 · 10:01 UTC
much fun,wow;
srsly though, good ai makes the game really fun to play
🎤 Drew Van Camp
26. Aug 2014 · 15:30 UTC
I'm thrilled that some people are enjoying this!

Once you get past the understandably confusing startup (largely due to a bug that occurred in the final hour of development), I think the gameplay becomes fun. It takes some practice to become effective and this game is clearly not for everyone as it currently expects in part for the player to project his own goal onto it. It could probably use improved keyboard mapping, too. (Gamepad is so much fun, though!)

If you're interested in trying out a bug-fixed version of the game, please look me up. I think I will polish it off a little bit to get it running more as originally intended. Plus this is a stripped down version of the more elaborate idea I had for it. I also have other games in active development with playable demos, including one I started last month that would also fit into the "Connected Worlds" theme.

Thanks, everybody, for the sincere and gracious feedback! Please keep it coming!
Zathalos
26. Aug 2014 · 17:01 UTC
After I read the description, it was much clearer what I had to do. The concept is interesting but the gameplay was a little lacking. I think if you added more units and RTS elements it could become a very unique game. Overall it enjoyed it and would like to see it become more. Good job. (I played with a controller and it was much better)
🎤 Drew Van Camp
26. Aug 2014 · 18:28 UTC
@Zathalos: Yes! I would have loved to have worked in more character types for variety and more strategic choices. Things just didn't work out that way. Most of my time was spent getting the bare minimum together and adding a bit of polish. Thank you for the encouragement and useful critique! Please look me up again for the bug-fixed version.
alvarop
27. Aug 2014 · 00:59 UTC
Great game, you already got my comments so there's point in repeating them! (heh...)
JaJ
27. Aug 2014 · 13:20 UTC
I love the vibe of this game. I'm not sure what the goal is, I tried to have the tribes destroy each other but didn't succeed. The mages won.
Naytron
30. Aug 2014 · 13:04 UTC
A little confusing to begin with, but once I got it I started to enjoy things! I like the colour on the characters representing the health - really subtle but very cool. Nice work!
KEFIR
30. Aug 2014 · 13:12 UTC
At the first thought is a bit confusing but concept is very nice and art style is great along with the music. I see a potential in this one!
sekaru
30. Aug 2014 · 15:27 UTC
Stating the objective/goal at the start would've been a good idea. The graphics were pretty good though.
SelfishGenome
30. Aug 2014 · 15:29 UTC
After reading the description and playing again, I am still not sure what is happening. Is it just the tab button? Love the style though. very polished art for 48 hours
2HitMatt
30. Aug 2014 · 15:53 UTC
I wasn't sure what to do, but the music created a cool tension type vibe.
H1S2
31. Aug 2014 · 06:25 UTC
it took me a second to figure out what`s going on. :) but after that it was fun to play. cool, pixel artwork!
Nuclear Napalm
02. Sep 2014 · 06:27 UTC
I like the deathmatch mode but I think there is not enough feedback about hit/miss, health and reloading. Nice entry anyway!
Manou
04. Sep 2014 · 10:24 UTC
Didn't get the gameplay, but it has interesting graphics and presentation.
🎤 Drew Van Camp
21. Nov 2014 · 09:34 UTC
*** UPDATE: I've got a bug-fixed version now, but not sure at this moment where the edit link is to add it at the top. I'll leave it down here for the time being just in case: http://drewvancamp.com/sites/default/files/game-tests/ludum-dare-30_connected-worlds/choose-your-side_bug-fixed/choose-your-side_bug-fixed.html