Digable Planet by Oddly Shaped Pixels

[raw]
made by Oddly Shaped Pixels for LD29 (COMPO)
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IMPORTANT: If you don't have a mouse or a mousewheel play the Post Compo version!
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The Galactic Governor has spoken: you're Mankind's only hope! Find the artefact (small purple jelly beans) buried deep beneath the surface of this unstable planet to give Mankind a chance for a brighter future!

Hint: There are several artefacts buried on the planet but only one will save Mankind's future! It sure won't be the first, it may be the second but it will definitely be the third one you found!!

Hint #2: If you don't succeed don't give up, you can do it! Finding the right artefact is worth the try!

To achieve your mission, you'll have to manage your resources, iron (blue rocks) and gold (orange rocks), in order to build machines that will help you find the artefacts :
- a Digger: allows you to drill and pick up resources. Careful, you don't want to drill the planet core!
- a Radar: it will give you a pretty good view of what lies beneath the surface
- a Cooler: if the planet core becomes out of control, coolers help it maintaining a reasonable size
- a Tower: as you'll see, you're not welcome by the planet natives. A tower will help you eliminate those who dare attack your machines!

When you don't need a machine anymore or if you want a digger to stop digging, you can destroy/sell it by positioning the mouse on it and left clicking. If the machine hasn't got any damage, you'll be refunded of half its cost.

Controls
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The game only plays with the mouse:
: Build a machine or Sell the current selected machine
: Browse the 4 different machines
: Restart



POST-COMPO
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After some feedback I've made a post compo version with alternate controls (especially useful if you don't have a mouse or a mouse wheel), some small bug corrections and a nice alert when a digger is about to drill the planet's core.

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.75 124
Audio 3.50 149
Fun 3.49 210
Graphics 3.93 130
Humor 3.08 218
Innovation 3.76 133
Mood 3.21 356
Theme 3.81 129

Feedback

Zathalos
28. Apr 2014 · 02:30 UTC
Pretty interesting game. Placing the structures around the planet in strategic places while trying to not overheat the planet was fun. It was a little hard at first but I got the hang of it. I only ever got 1 artifact though. Good job.
NicoM
28. Apr 2014 · 02:39 UTC
Impressive all over, great job:)
Deity
28. Apr 2014 · 03:34 UTC
Very good start. I like the concept. The endings/attacks are very sudden. Would be nice to get some kind of warning/siren when enemies approach.
Danman9914
28. Apr 2014 · 11:30 UTC
Excellent! The mechanics are quite unintuitive and are not explained well, but once you understand them it's quite fun.
fserb
28. Apr 2014 · 11:33 UTC
Fun to play.

Using the wheel for changing structures was very clumsy (specially because sometimes the wheel would rotate around instead of going to the next item) and I wish there was another way to do this (maybe keyboard or pressing on the icons).
aaronjbaptiste
28. Apr 2014 · 11:45 UTC
Great fun, got all 3 artefacts. If you set up your diggers fast enough you don't really need the cooling system or the defense, the diggers could do with being a little slower. Love the art style.
Jonathan Whiting
28. Apr 2014 · 11:54 UTC
Nice concept+look+sound. Feels balanced towards players who already know exactly what they are doing, lost 5-6 times without really knowing why before I started to get the hang of it. Especially harsh if you run out of enough blue to do more digging.
tayl1r
28. Apr 2014 · 12:18 UTC
Took me a while to realise what to do but that's probably because I'm dumb. Good job!
mortus
28. Apr 2014 · 12:47 UTC
Takes some time to get hang of it, but after some time it turns out to be pretty deep and strategic game. Will play it more for sure! Nice and matching music too.

If you're interested, I've added controls remapping to my game 'Greed for Gems' as a post-compo feature. You said you couldn't play it before, now you can!
Gins
28. Apr 2014 · 18:15 UTC
Incredible that you could do this in only 48 hours :)
Very challenging, perhaps using 1,2,3 and 4 as shortcuts for the buildings would be useful.
eatsleepindie
28. Apr 2014 · 18:21 UTC
Really wishing I could sit here and play this for an extended period of time. This was a lot of fun. Feels incredibly polished, esp. for being done in 48 hours. Great work! I'd love it if I could map hotkeys to the structure building buttons, as it would allow me to keep my eyes on the planet and not the menu.
no.One
28. Apr 2014 · 19:53 UTC
Great ! loved the mechanics
Korwegian
28. Apr 2014 · 23:13 UTC
Great game, but really hard to manage the equipment. Kept having to sell diggers before they broke into the core.
pansapiens
29. Apr 2014 · 07:00 UTC
Great polished game on all fronts, I just wish there were more frantic levels after mastering the first ! One thing I'd like is a better audiovisual indication of when a Digger is about to hit the core - it was too easy to forget to stop a Digger, and the result was too punishing. Alternatively, just make the core expand significantly if a Digger hits it, so it's not instadeath but a big deal.
🎤 Oddly Shaped Pixels
29. Apr 2014 · 08:58 UTC
Thanks to all of you for the great feedback!

For those that find it difficult, here's a tip: try not to rush to get the artefacts, gather some resources first and then go and get them!

I've made a Post Compo version with alternate controls, especially to select the machines so now you can use the arrow keys or the 1-4 keys.

@pansapiens I wanted to do that but didn't have the time in the 48h. But it's now done in the Post compo version, thank's for reminding me of that!!
DMinsky
29. Apr 2014 · 11:58 UTC
Art, music, mechanic everything is awesome! Thanks for the game!
RetroEpic
29. Apr 2014 · 11:58 UTC
This was awesome, I didn't know how to keep from dying because I had towers and sometimes the people would walk past my buildings and be fine and others not. So wasn't totally sure on what to do. Nice art style and audio was great!
GamerTaters
29. Apr 2014 · 11:59 UTC
Cool game! Looks really great.
popogames
29. Apr 2014 · 12:01 UTC
Quite difficult until you get your head around what each structure does. Fun mechanics, good soundtrack nice artwork.
Therrato
29. Apr 2014 · 12:02 UTC
Some improvements would be being able to restart since i ran out of money and had no diggers left and couldn't restart, i would add sounds for when you are getting close to the core
MisterDerek2
29. Apr 2014 · 12:03 UTC
Nice job! This is great
mechabit
29. Apr 2014 · 12:04 UTC
Really fun game, takes a bit of getting used to, will definitely try to beat it later. I found the resource management to be a bit harsh but maybe I'm just crap at it.
BarkingCat
29. Apr 2014 · 12:06 UTC
I'm really liking this, espeecially the governor and his big teeth. it would be cooler if there were more resources, differently shaped planets and so on. Definitely an interesting game.
Andrew Adams
29. Apr 2014 · 12:07 UTC
Nice game. I like that there was strategy involved in more than 1 aspect.
Spotline
29. Apr 2014 · 12:08 UTC
Really fun and well done/polished ,congratulations ! just one thing : I figured a bit late that I had to destroy the diggers to avoid losing, it didn't seem intuitive
spotco
29. Apr 2014 · 12:09 UTC
Amazing game! (Challenging, but in a good way!)
Really great art & music too!
SuperIzzo
29. Apr 2014 · 12:11 UTC
It's interesting, though I never managed to win :(
It was a bit difficult to get into it at first, but once you find out how things work it becomes really engaging.
Christophe
29. Apr 2014 · 12:40 UTC
Great Game. Addictive!
nonentheless
29. Apr 2014 · 12:55 UTC
Man it's awesome. One of the best entries I've seen. Looking good, sounds good, complete working gameplay and a lot of fun. Nice job!
Mekuri
29. Apr 2014 · 13:06 UTC
Nice idea, and good graphics! A little hard at first, but gets easier once you get the hang of it. Well done!
Geckoo1337
29. Apr 2014 · 14:31 UTC
Pretty interesting game, but mechanics are quite unintuitive and are not explained well. I must try again. THX ++
Jared Sartin
29. Apr 2014 · 16:35 UTC
Awesome! Will spend more time in this :)
🎤 Oddly Shaped Pixels
29. Apr 2014 · 18:55 UTC
Thanks again for all the feedback.
I've tried to explain the mechanics better in the game description but the ingame indications are indeed not really well detailed.

@Therrato
Also, from the beginning <R> restart the game but I forgot to mention it in the description!! Sorry
FatJoe
29. Apr 2014 · 21:25 UTC
Really like the look of it, those pixels are in great shape! ;)

Took a bit to get used to but got the hang of it in the rest. Good overall I'd say. Great Job!
allinlabs
30. Apr 2014 · 00:28 UTC
I feel the game has potential but I can't wrap my head around the controls. Things happen too quickly, drill too fast and the first few games were hard.
On the other side, graphics are great, and I see the strategy in it. Just, my brain and my hand somehow refuse to work together and I can't beat it.
conormn
30. Apr 2014 · 01:35 UTC
Really great execution and mechanic! Well done!
dylanwolf
30. Apr 2014 · 02:17 UTC
There's a steep learning curve, but once I got the hang of it this was really fun. Nice graphics and music as well.
Jupiter_Hadley
30. Apr 2014 · 03:38 UTC
Interesting game, though I do not have a mouse wheel, so that sucked a bit. I included it in part 3 of my Ludum Dare 29 compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :) http://youtu.be/pi2GfgHfAZM
Dreii
30. Apr 2014 · 07:38 UTC
Nice art style and cool mechanics with nice mix of decisions! Hard to figure out whats going on at first though. Oh also liked the story mixed in with the little yelling guy :D
Thorig
30. Apr 2014 · 09:20 UTC
Love this game and music.
Celt
30. Apr 2014 · 09:31 UTC
Awesome one!!!
Crooksister
30. Apr 2014 · 13:23 UTC
Lovely art, has alot of potential to grow.
Bekokstover
30. Apr 2014 · 15:47 UTC
Great graphics, very nice concept! The game is hard though, and it's not quite clear what I did wrong when first starting out. And then I remembered I could sell things... still, I did not find anything other than these dogtags. Great work for such a short time!
l3dx
30. Apr 2014 · 17:28 UTC
Great game! Had to give it several tries!
gre
30. Apr 2014 · 22:12 UTC
Innovative game mecanism. There is a good equilibrium in the gameplay between the different buildings and also the fact you have to manage your tower (e.g. removing the digger before it reach the center, remove a tower to recover some resources).
I also liked the little bottom-right guy.

Good job.
EpiphanyG
01. May 2014 · 05:17 UTC
I'm really impressed with this entry. The graphics are really nice and the mechanics are great.

Really nice work! :)
terraco
01. May 2014 · 08:53 UTC
Pretty interesting concept
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
01. May 2014 · 12:19 UTC
Absolutely beautiful. Needed a little getting used to, but it's quirky and fun!
crocantidepollo
01. May 2014 · 16:39 UTC
Once you get the hang of it it's quite entertaining. Well done!
2HitAdam
01. May 2014 · 19:46 UTC
Lots of polish here and really fun and interesting mechanics. I thoroughly enjoyed it! But I'm with the others, it took me awhile to work out what I was doing and why I was dying so suddenly, but it was totally worth it in the end.
cirolve
01. May 2014 · 20:18 UTC
Interesting game, I have to say! It definitely takes a bit to get used to, but the concept seems sound, and the look of the game seems interesting.
Maschinen-Mensch
01. May 2014 · 21:00 UTC
Very nice approach! Much less similar in mechanics than in the basic approach to the theme compared to our game. I really like the strategic layer and the little spin on traditional tower defense gameplay. It's a bit hard to pick up initially, but once I understood what was going on it actually hooked me for quite a while. Personally I would have gone for slightly larger graphics for the contructions to make them more readable.
sP0CkEr2
02. May 2014 · 04:30 UTC
I need to play this some more because it looks like fun - I like the mechanics and graphics - good job
JavadocMD
02. May 2014 · 06:04 UTC
A very original game! The character in the corner that shouts at you lends this a lot of personality.
PapyGaragos
02. May 2014 · 11:26 UTC
I like this one, the concept is interesting and the art is really well done. A bit more feedback would be great, but the game is perfectly playable as it is
DrPrettyPatty
03. May 2014 · 01:35 UTC
This is awesome!! Great gameplay and balance between the core heating, enemies, and drills getting too close especially; great graphics; great music. And it's polished, I didn't see a single bug! Phenomenal job!
Hypnohustla
03. May 2014 · 08:51 UTC
This was a really good game. Definitely gonna play it some more! It has just the right amount of strategy and resource management while still feeling a bit like an arcade game. You're good at this. :)
petey123567
03. May 2014 · 19:20 UTC
Hahaha, that portrait :)
loxo
03. May 2014 · 20:25 UTC
Nice graphics and audio. Your game is challenging, but fun to play and fits the theme very well. And thank you for the alternative controls, the original controls are a bit tricky on a trackpad.
recursor
03. May 2014 · 20:49 UTC
Very cool game. I'd love to see more added to this. Good work!
Waterman7
04. May 2014 · 11:20 UTC
Nice entry! Presentation-wise it feels very polished overall.
The gameplay was a bit confusing at first and it took me some time to understand how I had to manage my resources. But once I got it, it was quite a fun game.
hyouko
04. May 2014 · 17:57 UTC
Rather challenging, and I think some of the mechanics (particularly the don't-pop-the-core one) could be better explained. But it's otherwise very well polished and quite fun. Recommended!
ruerob
04. May 2014 · 21:21 UTC
What a great game. 5 Stars in every category for me. Thank you very much.
ArcturusDeluxe
04. May 2014 · 22:11 UTC
Pretty cool game. Very polished - the graphics and music are excellent. I like that you took a strategy game concept and made it simple and accessible. Nice job!
Garris
05. May 2014 · 05:46 UTC
Oh man. I love tower defense, and every time I see a game that's tower defense AND other stuff, I get excited. Digable Planet did not disappoint. The mechanics were well-designed, graphics and sound were nice, and it was just fun!
Team-KwaKwa
05. May 2014 · 20:14 UTC
FUN FUN FUN! I like it, I'm on it since 1h!
Rick Hoppmann
06. May 2014 · 10:15 UTC
Whoah! I'm impressed, good job!
The pixel art is great, the texts fit fine, the gameplay is well balanced and the music is amazing!

My favorite entry so far! :D
zedutchgandalf
06. May 2014 · 13:36 UTC
After I found out what to do (which took me some time), this really was an incredibly nice game :) great job!
jsmars
07. May 2014 · 14:29 UTC
Great game in many ways! Really fun mechanics! Would be nice to see some kind of end screen with score etc to have some highscore to beat
TeamInCharge
07. May 2014 · 20:37 UTC
Well rounded game, music is totally suitable! Puts me right back in the 90s... You guys are pro :D
jorgemoag
07. May 2014 · 21:13 UTC
Very hard, but also it's very funny :)
rojo
08. May 2014 · 00:11 UTC
Nicely done. The game felt really complete & coherent, and I think it's a great foundation for a larger project.
Simon
10. May 2014 · 13:08 UTC
A very great game overall! Good job :)
vilya
12. May 2014 · 22:08 UTC
On my first playthrough I dug into the planet core without realising that was a bad thing to do. It took me a while to figure out why it was suddenly game over. Maybe the governor could say that you've drilled into the core, instead of just exclaiming "what have you done!?".

On my second playthrough I spent too much on radars and then couldn't do anything else other than wait for the game to end. "Selling" the radars didn't seem to return any resources to me, it just destroyed the radar.

I think this game would be a lot more accessible if you could add a tutorial for it, which introduced the different elements one at a time. It does seem quite polished though & feels very complete. Good work for 48 hours!
udo
13. May 2014 · 11:51 UTC
Quite simply excellent!
Satyre
14. May 2014 · 06:32 UTC
Nice one. I had problems at the start to understand what was going on, but this was my fault cause I skiped the descriptions xD. The graphics, sound and gameplay are great considering the short time.
aelita1992
15. May 2014 · 10:37 UTC
Nice game, kinda difficult. Hope you'll make it a full game one day, more planet maybe, some more upgrades.