Minimalistic PotatoPeople by goerp
So here is my game. I Really had fun making it!
It's a very low-interaction strategic game.
The potato people are under attack!
But being the minimalists they are they only have potatoes to defend themselves.
(Yeah I know I'm not going to score high on 'Theme')
It's your task to save the potato people by changing the DNA of the potatoes!
I hope you can be a bit patient with the game, because I don't think it immediately obvious how everything works and the GUI is still somewhat buggy.
Reading the instructions is advisable (sorry)
Changing the DNA with the GUI is all the interaction there is. The potatoes do the work for you.
The standard set of rules makes the potatoes grow, but not very good and creates no shooters. So you have to add rules for that.
The last link is to an image where you can see a set of rules that almost guarantees you a win.
There is an ending for winning and losing. Losing is pretty easy so try to do that (just starting the gama and waiting will suffice, sometimes a bit long, just keep it running and play another game OR try to make a winning DNA!).
It's made for the Jam, but only because I needed the 72 hours. It's still all original content (I used the Flashpunk framework, though).
SOME STUFF THAT ISN'T IN THE IN-GAME INSTRUCTIONS:
-when cells cannot do anything for a few turns, they become dormant and wont perform any action (this does not go for shooters). Cells can awaken again if neighbouring cells die.
- only shooter cells can shoot
- you can change DNA-rules during the game, but this only goes for new potatoes. the old potatoes have the old DNA-rules.
- the little blobs running around on the ground are the people that should be protected.
- bombs can damage cells, but also all the cells that have grown from that cell
PS: I want to add saving and loading DNA. I'm not sure if it is against the rules (would be post compo then) but it would just make trying different tactics a lot easier, not change the game that much.
PPS: The music is a recording of a real C64 (and an electric guitar).
EDIT: OOPS forgot to post the source.
EDIT2: Posted a version with some bugfixes where the game would end unexpectedly and a bug where bullits are not firing in the right direction (which means you cant win).
It's a very low-interaction strategic game.
The potato people are under attack!
But being the minimalists they are they only have potatoes to defend themselves.
(Yeah I know I'm not going to score high on 'Theme')
It's your task to save the potato people by changing the DNA of the potatoes!
I hope you can be a bit patient with the game, because I don't think it immediately obvious how everything works and the GUI is still somewhat buggy.
Reading the instructions is advisable (sorry)
Changing the DNA with the GUI is all the interaction there is. The potatoes do the work for you.
The standard set of rules makes the potatoes grow, but not very good and creates no shooters. So you have to add rules for that.
The last link is to an image where you can see a set of rules that almost guarantees you a win.
There is an ending for winning and losing. Losing is pretty easy so try to do that (just starting the gama and waiting will suffice, sometimes a bit long, just keep it running and play another game OR try to make a winning DNA!).
It's made for the Jam, but only because I needed the 72 hours. It's still all original content (I used the Flashpunk framework, though).
SOME STUFF THAT ISN'T IN THE IN-GAME INSTRUCTIONS:
-when cells cannot do anything for a few turns, they become dormant and wont perform any action (this does not go for shooters). Cells can awaken again if neighbouring cells die.
- only shooter cells can shoot
- you can change DNA-rules during the game, but this only goes for new potatoes. the old potatoes have the old DNA-rules.
- the little blobs running around on the ground are the people that should be protected.
- bombs can damage cells, but also all the cells that have grown from that cell
PS: I want to add saving and loading DNA. I'm not sure if it is against the rules (would be post compo then) but it would just make trying different tactics a lot easier, not change the game that much.
PPS: The music is a recording of a real C64 (and an electric guitar).
EDIT: OOPS forgot to post the source.
EDIT2: Posted a version with some bugfixes where the game would end unexpectedly and a bug where bullits are not firing in the right direction (which means you cant win).
| Web (swf) or download | http://flash.goerp.nl/ld/ld26/MinimalisticPotatopeople.swf |
| Web (html) | http://flash.goerp.nl/ld/ld26/index.html |
| Source | http://flash.goerp.nl/ld/ld26/source/src.zip |
| Example winning rules | http://flash.goerp.nl/ld/ld26/winning%20rules.png |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=14225 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 92% | 2 |
| Overall(Jam) | 2.54 | 484 |
| Audio(Jam) | 2.12 | 405 |
| Fun(Jam) | 1.96 | 535 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 2.36 | 486 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.95 | 104 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.39 | 136 |
| Mood(Jam) | 2.03 | 498 |
| Theme(Jam) | 2.31 | 524 |
I also found some big bugs when winning or losing. I'll try to fix them as soon as possible.
I liked your little satirical intro, there have been a few really good intros to games this ludum dare. The game itself it seems is represented by what might be the most unminimalist interface I've ever been presented with outside of audio production software.
The game itself is a fairly interesting and unique concept (I.. think I understood it.. sort of..) which I appreciate a lot in games, being original is hard.
Good work.
It would benefit from a simple Lego Mindstorms/Scratch type of interface. But I'm glad I could do THIS in 72 hours.
Maybe I'll try to do that kind of interface. Would be good practice. Also add 'save/load rules' 'change rules order' etc.
(Try making leaves always into every direction, this way the whole game area fills up with leaves and you can never lose and never win, and if you add seeds to it, the whole game crashes.)
So, please make this creating of rules much easier and comfortable (maybe also add icons and pictures) and maybe a little bit more comprehensive tutorial. Then I would really like to come back and experiment some more with my precious potato DNA.
Unfortunately the clunky interface hampers my enjoyment of it. I could get over that if there just was a 'Restart level' button.
I do think it needs a visual drag and drop interface though.
So work on it a bit will ya.
Blinking is unexpected. I don't have it, but maybe my computer is faster or maybe I have a more recent version of FlashPlayer. I used Flashpunk so the graphics engine wouldnt take a lot of time, but I didn't expect blinking.
The longer I look at the game the worse it gets. Not much progress with a better UI, so this sounds like I need to refactor first.