Oil Co Exploits by Arakade
Was broken when submitted for compo. Now fixed and improved for the Jam! (although still missing sound, music, finished artwork, etc, etc ;-) )
You are Oil Co. Inc. and are land-rushing the Arctic to grab natural resources for Profit! Let's just hope the silly environmentalists are wrong...
Best bit? Its environmental message! Games can be a force for change in the World. This one is based on a New Scientist article about the land-rush by multiple nations.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628854.800-industries-make-a-dash-for-the-arctic.html -- this was the article that inspired this game but requires New Scientist subscription.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628853.800-exploitation-of-the-arctic-must-be-reined-in.html - opinion piece re. same concerns.
I'll probably polish this and publish it on Android and iOS -- hopefully it's at least useful for Games For Change (Twitter @G4C) but I might try approaching Greenpeace or the Parliamentary group that the article mentions.
Really enjoyed LD48 :-) Will write-up a post mortem and see you at the next one!
p.s. Thanks for trying it out -- any and all feedback really welcome! It was a solo job using Unity (my first published game with Unity or C#!) + 2D Toolkit (first use) + GIMP.
p.p.s. Updated this text, screenshots and posted links to other platform versions after deadline :-) Android port added Weds.
You are Oil Co. Inc. and are land-rushing the Arctic to grab natural resources for Profit! Let's just hope the silly environmentalists are wrong...
Best bit? Its environmental message! Games can be a force for change in the World. This one is based on a New Scientist article about the land-rush by multiple nations.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628854.800-industries-make-a-dash-for-the-arctic.html -- this was the article that inspired this game but requires New Scientist subscription.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628853.800-exploitation-of-the-arctic-must-be-reined-in.html - opinion piece re. same concerns.
I'll probably polish this and publish it on Android and iOS -- hopefully it's at least useful for Games For Change (Twitter @G4C) but I might try approaching Greenpeace or the Parliamentary group that the article mentions.
Really enjoyed LD48 :-) Will write-up a post mortem and see you at the next one!
p.s. Thanks for trying it out -- any and all feedback really welcome! It was a solo job using Unity (my first published game with Unity or C#!) + 2D Toolkit (first use) + GIMP.
p.p.s. Updated this text, screenshots and posted links to other platform versions after deadline :-) Android port added Weds.
| Web (Dropbox) | http://goo.gl/8Zk62 |
| Windows (zip) | http://goo.gl/DWNlG |
| Mac OS/X (zip) | http://goo.gl/YmZ8O |
| Android (apk) | http://goo.gl/Gfz8o |
| Source zip (Dropbox) | http://goo.gl/PZNnQ |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=18287 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 50% | 3 |
| Overall(Jam) | 2.71 | 239 |
| Fun(Jam) | 2.21 | 281 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.29 | 150 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.07 | 125 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.29 | 163 |
Yep, I'm afraid it's not working for me (Opera), either. :/
You're all correct -- it's BUSTED! That'll teach me for changing the graphics in the submission hour! Turns out it didn't auto-generate a collider for the ice-blocks making the game utterly non-interactive! That's a one whopping big DOH!
So, given it wasn't really sufficiently complete anyway, I'm going to withdraw from the competition, switch to the jam and use these remaining 5 wee-small hours to improve it a bit and resubmit it. Hope y'all give it another try then?
(Anyone know whether one can get scores reset since I know I'd have rated this ... not great.)
Still, given my personal challenge was publishing something non-perfect, I'm actually calling this a #win ;-) Yay me!
Thanks again for giving it a go :-)
Really keen to hear people's thoughts on the *actually working* version now!!! Thanks in advance and...
Have at it! :-)
Looks good though, coherent art style!
The message in the game that making 'progress' in the game causes you to lose is clear, and I thought the graphics were good, particularly the effects on the text and bobbing ice.
At first, the game itself was a little less clear, however, so it took me a few tries to figure it out. The main things that could be improved were the lack of feedback on selecting the prospect and mine buttons, and that I didn't instantly know what the prospecting messages '8 here' etc. meant.
But, these things can be easily altered and, all in all, a a good effort. I finished by reading the New Scientist article, so I guess that counts as a success! :)
"no game over screen"? that's odd. It can take 5-10 seconds to appear after the last ice drops but it should appear. Um...?
Thanks re. the art style! That means a lot coming from you! (How do you do your gorgeous graphics? How long does it take?)
Re. ice wave (@Keevor & @ilo)
Thanks. This was a difficult choice. It was one of those common coding dilemmas of perpetrating a shortcut (hand placed ice) requiring increasingly more effort vs. better implementation requiring more up-front time with long term payoffs for future features (only the wave made it in). That's one of my biggest doubts on my jam approach. What do you guys think?
The other features it would have enabled ranged from lapping waves through wandering animals to a tower defense approach (in case destroying the North Pole wasn't sufficient to prove you a villain, you'd also be shooting penguins, polar bears, Greenpeace protestors and Santa and his elves!) I'm wondering whether to add this to the final version. Overkill? (Perhaps a sequel?)
@Keevor
Thanks :-) You're right - there was intended to be an extra lose condition of $0 but I ran out of time :-) Even with that, you're right there's something missing. Any suggestions? Perhaps its just a case of balancing? Tweak the costs and it might just resolve?
@ilo
Thanks - lovely to hear the message came through :-) I should have used tracking links just to see how many did similarly but nice to know one finished :-D
Re. approachability, yep - I actually wrote a whole in-game tutorial which would be shown incrementally where the bottom 1234 is. Obviously I switched the one liner in at the final minute :-D Still these are great lessons - time has always been my greatest enemy. If I don't release a final version of this in January, please spam my Twitter as a heinous procrastinator :-O
Only gripe I have is that it doesn't end, the last block just sits there. I got stuck with one that nothing in it but couldn't do anything.
Solid effort, you might just want to add some cues to how much prospecting/mining is going to cost.
Hmm that's a fair point. Obviously they're random drops based on an increasing probability linked to the global warming. However if random doesn't happen... What would be a good resolution? I /could/ cheat but the rest of the game tries to be a realistic model (including the past & predicted global warming temperatures from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming ).
IIRC different models say melting Arctic may be positive and negative feedback loop. I /could/ choose positive which would make those last ones go like hot-cakes!
Alternatively perhaps an "I've realised this might not be such a great idea" button where you retire? (And bonus karma points for players that just hit that before building any mines? ;-) )
Thoughts? Better suggestions most welcome :-)