Conquer Earth by Lars DK
Link: http://www.edeb8.com/LD38/index.php
Current Post-Jam Version: http://www.edeb8.com/LD38/extended.php
Some tags: Strategy - Turn-Based - Board - Card - HTML5 - Javascript - Browser - Online
Requirements: Modern web browser (tested in Chrome, Edge & Firefox) with decent RAM
Instructions: scroll down
Behold, a game in which you play an alien who gets to blow up a little world called Earth. But be quick because there's other aliens who want to beat you to it. And literally put up stones in your path. And fight you. Sometimes with muskets.
Sorry for any bugs you notice. That'll teach me for making a deep strategy / board / card game all in one haha! Once you get used to the rules it's pretty intuitive and fun though! Questions to think about: what's your strategy? Do you eliminate the other players or stockpile resources? Would it work so well on multiplayer? What cards could I add to make the game interesting? And of course all the usual game design stuff - is it too shallow/complex etc ...
Voting Category Opt-outs: None. I made all of this within the time period of the jam, except for a few generic libraries I've used (ie JQuery).
Images:
Some challenges:
Can you eliminate all the AI players? Can you trap all the AI players behind blockades? Can you win in less than 100 moves? (tricky but possible!)
AND FINALLY ...
Click this amazing link to play now: http://www.edeb8.com/LD38/index.php
Here's the post-compo version (note: less bugs :grinning:): http://www.edeb8.com/LD38/extended.php
(further development intended - note this version has "smarter" AI so will pose slightly more of a challenge)
HOW TO ACTUALLY PLAY
- The map is set out like a physical board game. You can move the "board" around by dragging it.
- You are represented by a little token/counter of a spaceship. The spaceship must always be on a planet - you can move your ship to other planets by dragging it.
- The game proceeds in turns - each action = 1 turn. AI players can do the same things as you can, too. The game starts with 3 AI players.
- Orange planets allow you to mine resources. There are three resources in the top-left of the display - coin, titanium, and nuclear materials.
- Green planets allow you to purchase cards. Each game has the same deck of cards, which are shuffled and distributed to the trader (green) planets. Each trading post has 5 cards, which are replenished when you buy a card, until the deck runs out. Buying one card counts as one action so ends your turn (unless you're Roxie, the alien bounty hunter).
- Green cards you purchase go into your hand / card pile. There's a button to see that on the top-right. They help you gather more resources.
- Orange cards go into your hanger. They're tools like weapons you can use to do stuff like blow up the earth. Again, button to see them is on the top-right. To activate an orange card, open your hanger and click on the card.
- If you move onto a planet with another player, a battle occurs. Note others can also initiate battle with you! In a battle, each player discards one weapon. The player who discarded the weaker weapon loses (if it's a tie, you still lose).
- If you lose a battle you lose all your orange cards and your unspent resources reset to 3 each, plus you skip a turn and are sent to your home planet (the one you start on).
- If you are attacked on your home planet, and you lose, you lose the game. So if you lose, you'd better hope your home planet is protected! But be careful because you can also become trapped on your home planet (if there are defenses around surrounding planets).
- If you move onto the Earth too much, humans might start to notice you. If you're discovered, Earth may trigger a countdown timer giving you only 150 moves to complete the game. Unless of course you're the Sramopt faction, in which case you WANT this to happen!
Ratings
| Overall | 154th | 3.783⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 175th | 3.565⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 130th | 3.696⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 598th | 2.913⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 528th | 3.087⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 66th | 3.952⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 530th | 2.19⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 279th | 3.429⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 26🗳️ | 62🗨️ |
After a while you start to get a sense of where you can find various resources. Nadenudam/Prosadia is probably the closest early source of Titanium, although whichever AI starts in Tromoid may well fight you for it. Of course you want to be moving around every so often too. In my own games I've found about 10 mining turns : 1 trading turn seem a good ratio, although it might be more for more combat-focused players.
So to say thank you, I also tested your game. To be honest, I'm not the kind of person playing such kind of games very often. So take from my feedback what you believe is important ;-) I opened up your game and was impressed of the vector "world / globe" you created with just lines. I like this kind of mesh style and also the color look very good. I was impressed by JS / HTML5 canvas graphics once with I guess Paper.js - I saw that you created it without such a library (not counting J-Query) ... I'm impressed. I did not know that this was possible or it might be a lot of work.
I started your game by clicking the first link. And... ;-) I did not know what to do... so I pressed some buttons and links finding me back on the initial page because somewhere I have clicked on the Quit button.
(As I write these lines of text... I'm a really DAU gamer ;-) Sorry...
Ahhh... one thing which came into my mind was the character graphics. I saw them before... I guess in your blogpost on the LDJam main site? I do not remember 100%... But I think I liked them (with the Heart button). They are nice... I did not remember the other graphics from your game... So the paintings are "staying in my mind" and make your game unique...
I tested with googles chrome and after reading your "how to actually play" I played the second time with dragging and dropping my character from planet to planet. (Which was much more fun) In the meantime my little baby was awake and I opened the window shades. In the daylight it is much harder to read your texts, but I guess you are aware of that.
In my Chrome browser - the bottom of the planets was not visible. (Had to zoom in - but afterwards it was...
[Just as a hint]
So... conclusion... I'm impressed in what you created in 48 hours (I guess without a gameframework - and this is extra cool)
I liked the paintings... And I like the vector line Earth/planet. (I mention both separately since I think they do not match together. They looked to different in the game "flow")
I also liked the "symetric" planets and I was laughing about the first "destroy earth or something like that" sentence on the first screens. (Man this weekend was Earth day ;-) I first thought... Whooo ... very black humor ;-)
I had some problems with the game "controls" but that was my fault not reading your description. (I guess training sessions and in game "rule descriptions" will help people like me - but I know, that this is impossible to create in 48 hours on a Jam)
Congratulation... You created a very nice game... Be proud of it... ;-)
The game then (post-compo). I played twice. First time smashed a few AIs, bought a super weapon and nuked Earth. That was easy!
Next time played as the protector of earth. Had a rough start as I concentrated on economy rather than weapons so I got beat by the AI multiple times until I got hold of some proper firepower. Turtled the rest of the time on Mercury mining Titanium, bought the Death Star from Venus and nuked every AI to oblivion, but it didn't end? Apparently I needed to alert the Earthlings to win, oh well. I count that as a success nonetheless.
I find the world to be **not** small enough! It is mostly trivial to stay away from the AIs' path and they don't seem to pursue higher level tactics like trapping players on their home planet. An even smaller world would force the players to deal with each other often resulting in more conflict and drama.
A fine job. :earth_africa: :shield: :rocket: :anger: :rocket:
I was not brave enough to read all your description and missed the "How to play," but once found the drag-and-drop mechanic the rest of the game was a real pleasure to discover by myself. I'll call that great game design.
@HuvaaKoodia Thanks for the honest review and for really testing the game out! In all fairness I never really do art outside of these game jams anyway, so I'm ok with my art not being the best, while the "programmer" stuff like a simple 3D sphere comes a bit more naturally. The idea of not having character art at all came to mind too ... I spent many hours on those amateur drawings haha, including a few I didn't get to use ... but that's fine, I figured if it's just all lines and blobs it might be a bit too generic. Like the other commenter said I think characters make games more memorable. Maybe next time I should work with an actual artist!
Yeah ... I've spent ages writing an AI for this and as you say it's still very simplistic. Originally the idea was for a multiplayer game. For some reason I did the single player first though and AI for this depth of gameplay is tough! Interesting comment about the smaller world, I hadn't really considered that. My aim with world design was just to allow players to turtle or attack or whatever, give options ... but I guess with the AI having really just one strategy it makes more sense to make players do the same. Again I wish I'd completed multiplayer.
@sgadrat Awesome, thank you so much! I'm really glad it was intuitive :)
After playing few rounds of Conquer Earth I must say I really enjoyed the experience. Combination of board game and card game mechanics worked great. The gameplay was a bit slow however. I found myself repeatedly clicking "Mine" to get resources a lot. The RNG was unfair, sometimes placing all the starting weapons on the other side of the map. More distinctions between weapons wouldn't hurt either, but we all know how precious the time is during LD.
It would be great if it supported multiplayer, as the AI definitely has it flaws and I can see myself playing the game with friends.
The sleek design suits the game, it keeps the screen clear. The character art is... "unique". Music and sounds are very pleasant to listen to.
Hope to see you next time during LD39!
It's interesting you say that about it being slow. One part of me thinks maybe I should just double what you can mine in one turn. That sure would make games more decisive. Another thinks it's actually ok to mine more slowly as it makes things more strategic.
Originally I did plan more of a rock-paper-scissors combat system with 3 types of weapons countering each other, plus planet-weapons which were weak against everything else. But then I thought maybe that would be too complicated for people to grasp quickly. So yeah, it's something I'm thinking about. I experimented with a weapon called "David's Rock" which has a special effect allowing it to defeat the "Death Star" but yeah, the AI didn't buy the Death Star much.
I definitely hope to add multiplayer! Thanks for all your great feedback and good luck with your game too!
The game is fun to explore and figure out, and there was one game where I thought I was doing really well with economy and then got totally trapped by embargos - so your design demands a balanced approach, which is neat!
Graphics are succinct and effective. The non-title music track gives me a slightly "grand market" feel instead of "defending earth," but they're of good enough quality that I will be inclined to rate them highly nonetheless.
Looking forward to what you produce in future LD events!
Composing the music sure was interesting, not least because I was in a hurry. My initial thought was to make it really synthy and dark. But then I tried that and it sounded off, not really fitting with either the board game vibe or the strategy vibe (since it's not really either a scary game nor a game that encourages super-deep thinking in every turn.) So I tried to compromise between space cowboy stuff and space odyssey stuff. And it comes out sounding a bit celtic lol. I do totally hear what you're saying about it perhaps going too far the other way now, sounding full-on "grand market".
Thanks again for the feedback, it's valuable. :)
I really like the in-game graphics too, and the soundtrack is appropriately epic!
Anyway, about the game: it had a good sense of progression and strategy, but I felt like the polish was lackluster. When it first started up it was impressive with the menu screen and such but the gameplay itself seemed a bit clunky.
@technonugget that's a really odd error. I haven't seen it myself. I wonder if your system might be running out of memory somehow? What browser are you using? Becoming more clunky and the page eventually crashing sound like they might be side-effects of the webgl used in the menu somehow, since I can't imagine the browser's CSS layout engine doing that. Or maybe the memory used to stream the music is the culprit, or some combo. The actual game part should be fairly memory efficient but 3D graphics/shaders are what they are I guess.
Thanks for the positive feedback about the design though. When I finish these uni assignments I'm planning on building on it more for sure! :grinning:
Edit: Ok this new AI is much tougher lol... definitely can concentrate on other stuff now.
@Querk thank you for the feedback! It was a very busy 72h haha. Glad you enjoyed it!
Took me a while to figure out the drag and drop mechanics but after that, I had really fun!
The depth of the interaction possibilities there a lot more than I though on the first sight.
The soundtrack is pretty well chosen, for the gameplay.
And I love your drawings :grin:
Keep it up :smile:
@dj_pale Thanks, and you're right, it can be tricky, especially with the special effect which causes the piece to change size when you drag it (although I think it looks cool). Bit of a trade-off I suppose. I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway though!
Your gameplay is really quite fun and I could see this working out well in multiplayer, too. (not sure if you wanna go that far in your post-jam version, but if you make any major changes like that do keep me up to date!)
The graphics are simple, but I actually like that style. The music is a pretty great fit for the environment, too.
I'd love to play a paper/PDF version of this with some friends. The characters looked fun, and it'd be neat to apply that sort of narrative to these mechanics.
@simple-blue I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much!
It's rare to see a strategy type game in here. And this one works too. people of 5+ appearently can't make the same engaging contend as you :DD I haven't beaten the game once but I still enjoied it regardless.
It's very table top like and takes me back. Very nice work. plus the audio fits and is great.
From the loading screen to the main menu and beyond the art style had me going "OOooo!"
Loved the audio, and the constant art style applied. I love strat games, and this is something that I'd like to revisit and sink my teeth into. Lots of content, and feels very polished and complete. Loved the card mechanic!
Extra points for providing a nice options menu!
I'd defo be interested in seeing where this project goes in time.
Thanks for sharing!
With that out of way i really enjoyed your game! I like turn based games and this one adds to it card game mechanics and resource managment! AI provides a challenge and depending on what mode you are playing it might be easier / harder to succeed. This game is fun to play and really interesting i actually would like to see this game more developed (more game mechanics and maybe encounters like in Faster Than Light?) i think this game has a chance to interest a lot of players. Art style is minimalistic but elegant and fits this game. In overall really cool game and good job on developing it in so short time.
I am planning on developing this further as soon as I get time again. Watch this space :)
@bumblepie Thanks for the detailed review! Game balance is tricky, especially on such limited timeframes. I did make some adjustments in the post-jam version, buffed some things, nerfed others. Gathering rate and vision can of course be addressed with buying cards, which is fairly intentional to encourage players to buy those upgrades.
It's tricky to just boost production or reduce costs because if I did that, the AIs would attack you faster, probably with even better weapons, and all the cards in the deck would run out sooner. This pace allows for more strategic thinking. I've had quite a few "comeback" games myself. AIs have the same basic rules that players have, after all. Especially on the post-jam version, the AIs are actually fairly intelligent in terms of when they make use of trading opportunities to maximise their production. It might be helpful to turn the fog of war off (that's why I provided the option) in the settings to see how the AI plays (this also does make the game a bit easier). Also don't feel like your nearest trading post is the best option - depending on how the cards are shuffled, often you might find the best cards are on the other side of the map!
The only other alternate victory condition I've implemented is Sramopt's, who (using the most obvious strategy lol) have a 1 in 20 chance of forcing a win if they can survive to move 155, and an extra 1 in 20 chance for every second move thereafter. I certainly could increase those odds but then would that be balanced? I'm not sure. It might be worth testing further.
As you can tell I think about this stuff a lot haha, but I'm also aware that nobody knows this game better than I do, and heck, I lose a good third or so of the time (not suggesting my own strategies are perfect though). So I see where you're coming from and why that must be frustrating as a newer player. I'll think about it for sure!
The reason planets light up was that an early design idea was that players could click on planets to see what resources the planets contained. You're right that changing the cursor when you hover over them is a bit of a useless holdover now.
Making the game real time would have saved clicking, but also made the game much more complicated to produce. For example, having to code logic for if you meet an enemy ship in between planets. I also found turn-based much easier to model, although I might try make a real-time game for a future Ludum Dare.
Losing ships isn't the end of the world, but it does mean losing all your orange cards (which can be a significant problem) and accumulated resources. More resources = greater ability to use a planet-killing weapon against Earth (ie the ultimate goal). Additionally, it sends you back to your home planet and forces you to skip a turn. If you lose a battle on your home planet, you lose the game. So if another ship happens to be beside your home, and they have a weapon, it's generally game over.
If you play with Stok, you get +1 line of sight from the start to allow for that "planning." Personally I don't need it but I did consider it would be useful for some players. Cards can also be brought to extend your line of sight, at least one of which is quite cheap. AI doesn't actually make use of extended line of sight information (it only looks at neighbouring tiles on the current turn, which is why pathing can be really stupid around blockades), so it won't buy those cards in the post-jam version. At least one of them is really cheap, too. So I'm going to stick by that this wasn't a bad design decision per say, more a fault of lacking a tutorial.
Great to get so much feedback :) Definitely useful and thought-provoking.
I really like the usage of the theme - showing earth's insignificance compared to the warring factions moving all around them. Great presentation as well, felt somewhat "board game-y" in a way that really worked for me. In face, I think a modified version of this as a board game would be a lot of fun. Obviously line of sight goes out the window at that point, but it feels like there are quite a few other good mechanics that would make up for it.
Good work!
Very nice to play.
About the tutorial: as indicated before I completely agree. The tutorial in this game was scrapped as I ran out of time.
How I did it in 72 hours: by destroying my health, mostly. Also, being ignorant of bugs.
Difficulty, odd rules etc: the extended version is significantly more challenging. I do think the core rules are ok, although with a tutorial I might have been able to set the story a bit better so the mechanics make more sense.
Thanks again guys!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQvFJMpbZ5A
@jupiter-hadley thanks so much, awesome to actually see somebody play the game on video, seeing what sort of things people get confused about and stuff. Helps me when I'm writing a tutorial for the post-compo version. Glad you found it interesting :grinning: Also I had no idea the name "Ludum Dare" was pronounced that way haha!