Squeeps by Ryusui
Life's tough when you're a tasty little furry critter.
You are a squeep, a tiny brown morsel hatched into an unfriendly world. Extend your meager lifespan by eating potatoes (not too many at once - squeeps have sensitive stomachs!) and avoiding death by drowning. Every now and then, a predator will emerge from the Wretched Pit - they're not very bright and they don't like water, but those terrible teeth will make short work of an unwary squeep. Once you come of age, find an empty nest and lay an egg in it - if (when!) you meet an untimely end, one of your children will carry on in your stead.
Extinction is not an option - unfortunately for you, it's mandatory. As predators become more abundant and food becomes more scarce, the end of squeepkind is not a matter of "if," but "when." How long can you survive?
You are a squeep, a tiny brown morsel hatched into an unfriendly world. Extend your meager lifespan by eating potatoes (not too many at once - squeeps have sensitive stomachs!) and avoiding death by drowning. Every now and then, a predator will emerge from the Wretched Pit - they're not very bright and they don't like water, but those terrible teeth will make short work of an unwary squeep. Once you come of age, find an empty nest and lay an egg in it - if (when!) you meet an untimely end, one of your children will carry on in your stead.
Extinction is not an option - unfortunately for you, it's mandatory. As predators become more abundant and food becomes more scarce, the end of squeepkind is not a matter of "if," but "when." How long can you survive?
| Web | https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/74940256/Squeeps%20LD26.swf |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=12635 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 100% | 1 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.09 | 287 |
| Audio(Jam) | 2.94 | 259 |
| Fun(Jam) | 2.93 | 261 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 2.42 | 477 |
| Humor(Jam) | 3.09 | 87 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.96 | 273 |
| Mood(Jam) | 2.74 | 332 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.02 | 366 |
I laughed out loud when my little guy barfed his stomach out.
Your outer loop (survive forever) could use some more interest sprinkled in as time goes on. For example, at each new generation or so, the squeeps evolve (and so do the beasts.) After I've laid my egg, there's no reason go continue with that generation since I can't lay another. You could let me lay more eggs to get a higher stat next generation or you could just force kill me after I've laid my egg. The "don't eat potatoes too fast" mechanic didn't really add any value or interest. I'd remove it.
Your graphics and sounds are appropriate and cohesive. Your controls feel good.
Good, simple, fun, solid entry. Well done.
1. All the SFX were made with my own voice modulated with Audacity. The egg cracking was made with me crunching cereal in my mouth.
2. Yes, your squeep can grow old and die. You can't DIRECTLY die by overeating, though overstuffing your squeep leaves you vulnerable by slowing you down and increasing your risk of throwing up.
3. You can actually lay at LEAST two eggs per squeep - it's just a matter of surviving long enough to do so.
4. The predator spawn rate is supposed to increase over time; conversely, the potato respawn rate is supposed to decrease. That said, eating potatoes doesn't permanently slow you down - though growing extremely old does.
The playing eggs mechanic is interesting, along with the various ways to gain/lose speed.
My best survival time : 14:23 ^^
The walking area is theoretically unlimited, but you'll only find potatoes, ponds, the pit, and predators (sheesh, how did I end up with such alliteration in my game?) within the borders marked by the little white rocks.
The sniff-radar will tell you where the nearest edible potato is. The respawn rate for each individual potato increases by a minute each time, so even if you dodge the predators, the game does have a hard time limit of sorts: the potatoes will eventually respawn so slowly your squeeps will inevitably starve. Though I have no idea how long that will actually take. ^_^;
I survived 16:16 on my first try :-)
A bit more transparency on the mechanics: your squeep will actually continue to take damage while he's bleeding. Multiple bites don't reset the bleed timer - they EXTEND it. So if you get ganged up on by a bunch of predators and still escape, there's a good chance you might die anyway. However, eating potatoes does restore your health, and if you're not bleeding, you'll regenerate health over time.
When I first implemented bleeding, I was planning on making it so that the predators could actually follow your trail, but I couldn't quickly think of a way to make it work properly, so I ended up removing the feature. As it just so happens, I've since come up with a nifty implementation, so whatever post-comp edition I do will probably have more dangerous predators. :3
I'm not sure if I posted before, so I'm reposting this.
Your game and the squeeps are adorable <3 The game isn't very challenging however, but it is fun and cute.
*Squeeps*
Also, the game you were planning for the evolution theme reminded me a lot of a game a friend made for a previous LD, maybe you want to check it out: http://www.kongregate.com/games/tilman/a-d-a-p-t-i-o-n?acomplete=adaption
Loving the eating mechanics, or overeating mechanics anyways. It's pretty clever to include that kind of realism for balance! Well done
Once your Squeep gets old enough (i.e. near maximum size), AND if you're not close to starving, the nests dotted around the map will pick up a pink heart icon. When that happens, you can lay an egg simply by touching an unoccupied nest. If you're good at surviving, you should be able to lay at least two eggs per "life."