Succession by chrysiridia

[raw]
made by chrysiridia for LD26 (COMPO)
doubles as an atmospheric black metal album cover art generator

Warning: Inaccurate in-game botany alert (I'm not happy about it, the biology student in me is weeping)

In the context of botany, succession refers to the settlement of plants in places that either weren't inhabited by an ecological community previously (primary succession) or have been significantly disturbed to allow for new plants to colonize the area and assert dominance (secondary succession).

Lots of dissonant sounds in this one. Save your ears and turn your sound DOWN. (Or don't, but just as a warning.)

This is a slow-ass game, the kind of thing that, in its later stages, is better experienced running in the background. Also, because of the limitations of my toolset, it lags like hell when there's too much stuff on my screen, although it's the kind of game where that isn't really a big deal. That being said, I don't really know how to fix it with what I've got. I'm sorry!

---
EDIT (4/29):
Intentionally vague instructions/explanation:

-The number at the top left corner refers to how many of each seed you have.
-Seed 1 attaches to the screen. The rest fall.
-Use up all of the seeds to reach an end state. (I should have included a "give up" button of some sort. My bad.)
-Looking up how primary succession occurs might help. There's a reason the seeds are associated with the number keys.
-(less vague, added 4/30) Seeds only grow on top of where preceding seeds have grown (e.g. seed 3 grows on 2), and only if the preceding seeds have grown to a sufficient stage. (I should have made decomposition animations blargh)

Ratings

Coolness 67% 3
Overall 2.87 882
Audio 2.68 574
Fun 2.00 1238
Graphics 3.11 497
Humor 1.55 1015
Innovation 3.58 217
Mood 3.10 398
Theme 3.35 737

Feedback

karsyf
29. Apr 2013 · 05:12 UTC
I don't really get what's going on but it is mesmerizing. Actually reminded me a little of Starseed Pilgrim if that's what you were going for =D
Infernal
29. Apr 2013 · 05:12 UTC
Your description of it being slow, is very accurate!
cwilloughby
29. Apr 2013 · 05:13 UTC
Dang, this is really cool. It taught me two things. I don't know how to grow things, and I am not patient enough. Love the audio and procedural nature. Great work!
gilmore606
29. Apr 2013 · 05:16 UTC
I love this toybox un-game style. Great choice of sounds, I left it turned up despite your advice. :)
Jerm
29. Apr 2013 · 06:03 UTC
Had to play it a couple of times to figure out what to do, so maybe more instructions would be helpful. Not particularly fun (or maybe I'm just too impatient), but definitely moody and interesting. I liked the graphic style that was simple but had lots of detail.
techmonkey
29. Apr 2013 · 15:39 UTC
Cool idea, I enjoyed playing around with it.
🎤 chrysiridia
29. Apr 2013 · 18:41 UTC
Thanks all for the feedback!

karsyf: Haha, I've been playing a lot of SP lately, it definitely shows.

Jerm: I agree that I probably should have included more instruction with it (I tend to get the impression that people can read my mind, I should stop that).
ataxkt
29. Apr 2013 · 19:08 UTC
I wish I had the vaguest of clues of what to do, I really wanted to enjoy this! Sounds really pretty though. Rated you well for the screenshots of what clearly could have been.
eedok
30. Apr 2013 · 05:51 UTC
Very moody, not much instruction. Seed selection could use some graphics, but I'm sure you ran out of time. Very interesting work.
CherryNukaCola
30. Apr 2013 · 05:52 UTC
Hypnotic!
gmaker
01. May 2013 · 04:57 UTC
looks good! =)
AlanZucconi
01. May 2013 · 23:45 UTC
This game is a discovery! :)
nintendoeats
02. May 2013 · 15:02 UTC
Now that I get it...I think it looks really neat and I like the sounds. Mechanically it didn't strike me, but the "metal album art" generator aspect of it is appealing. And I don't even like Metal. or Metal album art.
Boiúna
02. May 2013 · 23:58 UTC
The atmosphere of the game is very engaging.
lightnarcissus
05. May 2013 · 03:15 UTC
Loving the abstract visuals even if I have a hard time wrapping my head around what exactly is going on.
DaveDobson
12. May 2013 · 06:28 UTC
Really interesting patterns, and I understood (eventually) what you were trying to do with biological succession. I kind of wish it ran a little faster so I could see them grow in real time. Nice work!