Lepidopter Attack by dwrensha

[raw]
made by dwrensha for LD24 (COMPO)
Click to kill the moths! When you kill 75% of them you will move to the next level. The surviving moths provide the genetic basis for the moths in the new level.

The last level repeats indefinitely, allowing you to continue to apply selection pressures.

Ratings

Coolness 40% 719
Overall 2.75 493
Fun 2.29 590
Graphics 2.14 653
Innovation 3.73 58
Theme 3.50 146

Feedback

diki
28. Aug 2012 · 17:32 UTC
The idea of enemies getting meaner by natural - erm, player selection :) is not bad.
I found the game not fun, though, mostly because there is no clear indication of what kills the moths - is it just ball contact, or does it require a certain amount of force? The correlation between my clicking and them dying was not that clear, and with balls jumping all around, I did not feel any real control over the selection process.
🎤 dwrensha
29. Aug 2012 · 02:11 UTC
Each new contact with a ball, brick, lightbulb, or other moth causes some amount of damage. In particular, a ball resting on top of a moth might not kill it.
Jeremy1080
29. Aug 2012 · 02:35 UTC
I love the idea of this! Awesome!
pentaphobe
29. Aug 2012 · 14:49 UTC
Interesting idea - the idea of somewhat indirect attacks was initially a bit frustrating but actually adds quite a lot.
Would have been great to see a few more slopes, or perhaps materials which make the balls bounce more or less. perhaps gravity vortex?

nice work - very original :)
rwos
29. Aug 2012 · 14:56 UTC
The idea is very cool, I just wished there was a little bit more action, game-play wise. I would like to shoot those moths, not just drop balls on them! :-)

So, as a simulation it's pretty cool, it's just a bit lacking in the fun department. Especially so, since there is no way to actually lose a level.

The source code was a surprise (I had to re-compile for my 64-bit Linux machine) - it's written in Standard ML! That's cool!
Crushenator
30. Aug 2012 · 01:03 UTC
This was cool. I felt like I needed an air hockey or brick breaker style of paddle to hit the balls around at the moths a bit more. It was annoying not being able to manipulate the lateral movement.
daydalus
30. Aug 2012 · 01:23 UTC
I love entries that incorporate the actual theory of selection over time. Although it was tough to determine how the moths improved. Damage resistance, speed, etc? Neat concept here - maybe add some challenge to the player (must kill in time limit, moths dmg player, ?) and you could be on to something :)
🎤 dwrensha
30. Aug 2012 · 01:37 UTC
There are genes for: width, height, density, flying force, color, frequency of choosing a new goal to fly to, affinity to lightbulbs, affinity to balls, affinity to bricks, and affinity to other moths. I like to try to get the moths not to like lightbulbs.
Zelen3d
30. Aug 2012 · 02:46 UTC
I like how you have no "windows version" ;)
But seriously, interesting game that would be even greater with graphics and a squishing animation to know if the moth dies.
cappelnord
30. Aug 2012 · 09:24 UTC
Good idea with the surviving moths providing the genetic basis for the next round. The physics (especially of the moths) were a little weird though …
tdsmale
30. Aug 2012 · 22:46 UTC
Moth physics! :O
Josh @ Dreamland
30. Aug 2012 · 23:14 UTC
I like the idea, but you didn't give it nearly enough room to take effect. Three generations isn't a whole lot of time for moths to evolve; I don't think I'd have centered the game around the idea without tripling the number of rooms.
DaveDobson
31. Aug 2012 · 04:46 UTC
Looks cool, but I couldn't play without a Mac or Linux, sorry...
Jedi
15. Sep 2012 · 04:08 UTC
What DaveDobson said.