LudumData

Something Something by sgstair

[raw]
made by sgstair for LD 38 (COMPO)

LD38<em>sgstair</em>screenshot1.png

Something Something

(a.k.a. "Sometimes stand-in names never get changed before the release")

Links

  • Notice: Not really complete, resource harvesting / building / attacking don't work. But feel free to kick around the pathfinding / map editor / stuff that does exist.
  • Full release (Windows Binaries + source): http://akkit.org/ld48/LD38sgstairRelease.zip
  • Source only (Compile with monogame): http://akkit.org/ld48/LD38sgstairSource.zip
  • Source on GitHub
  • Timelapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZBEnRs1Xw
  • Postmortem: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/something-something/something-postmortem-something-something
  • Most of the process was streamed on twitch, if you're into that sort of thing: https://www.twitch.tv/sgstair/videos/all

Post-LD

I'll be continuing to develop this game. Current plan is to stream progress on Saturday afternoons (US Pacific time). Will update this section with new builds as I make progress. * Post-Jam build #1, +3 hours, finished resource collection, building, attacking buildings. Stream VOD * Following Saturday, implemented population limit, started but didn't finish an input refactoring. * There's a bunch more work to do, I'll just keep working on it as I have time and hopefully put out a game in a month or two :)

Text!

This isn't quite a game yet, but it's getting really close to that point. I like it a lot anyway, but I wish I had another day or so. Ah well.

The original idea for this game was to make something like Starcraft, with a really tiny world. Some of the more interesting ideas in the space I haven't got around to exploring yet (multi-tile buildings, and taller maps that limit usable land)

This project was built with MonoGame - It should be portable to other platforms easily (though I haven't tried yet) via rebuild.

Controls are mouse only. Generally left drag = move, right drag = rotate camera Game mode is pretty standard RTS controls, click on thing, right click on other thing to interact If you save a map in the editor (with two "center" structures), the main menu will give you the option to play that. Not much else to say, hope you find it interesting.

I had a lot of fun putting this together, and I'm definitely going to continue to develop it after LD - I'm pretty happy with the structure and it will be pretty easy to add more features to it - I just didn't get the heavy lifting in time to start adding all the crazy features I wanted.

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/something-something

Ratings

Overall 511th 2.565⭐ 48🧑‍⚖️
Fun 523th 2.111⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 439th 2.6⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Theme 365th 3.128⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 327th 3.043⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Audio 405th 1.667⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Humor 404th 1.976⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Mood 488th 2.372⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Given 94🗳️ 70🗨️

Feedback

Endurion
02. May 2017 · 04:23 UTC
Can't fairly vote since there's not much of a game. However I really love that look :)

Once the workers are sent back home they can't be selected anymore ;)
candlesan
03. May 2017 · 07:06 UTC
Looks like the beginning of an RTS. Camera controls were intuitive. I wasn't able to figure out how to gather resources but I did make a few units and move them around. I wanted to harvest some stone or minerals but when I right-clicked with my workers on the mine they didn't walk over. Not sure if that part isn't implemented yet or if I was doing something wrong.
rustybroomhandle
03. May 2017 · 08:57 UTC
Made a few workers and moved them to the mine but they didn't seem to gather resources. Tried moving one to a tree too but it wasn't gathering wood. Otherwise I really like the concept, it could make for a great little contained RTS micro-scenarios. The art style is good, camera controls were, as above, intuitive. :) Would like to see it finished up and released!
🎤 sgstair
03. May 2017 · 10:22 UTC
Yeah, sadly resource harvesting isn't implemented yet. Probably less than an hour of coding away from making that work, but the deadline came :) Will have to prioritize better next time. Thanks for the feedback.
Legion
03. May 2017 · 10:56 UTC
Time constrains are always something to behold off, nevertheless I can see that you put a lot of work into this. I would like to play it when it's in a more finished state.
Lenon Kramer
03. May 2017 · 12:33 UTC
This is a genre I would like to tackle on a near future, so I know the grave challenge it is to deliver even a barebones Minimum Viable Product within so short timeframe. So I'll not dabble on that.

You made a camera and a character pathfinding that feels good, and also created a small map. This is a strong basis over which to build up. Those mini-scenarios on RTS could be an interesting tackle on the genre, bringing the fast-paced strategy to a whole new level, if done right.
unit684
03. May 2017 · 12:45 UTC
Nice job getting so far in the time constraints. There's a lot of work involved when it comes to creating an RTS in two days!

The art style is nice and I'm impressed with the pathfinding. The camera controls are nice and smooth (although a zoom would help) and the UI looks very clean. I'd love to play a potential future version of the game.
DiegoCTorguet
03. May 2017 · 13:05 UTC
I appreciate your work making all this from scrath. It's really hard and I see you put your effort into it.
Keep on it and make a game of this!
ryte2byte
03. May 2017 · 18:43 UTC
Kudos on at least attempting to pull off an RTS is 48hrs. Quite a genre to take on in LD. It sure is a heck of a lot of progress for two days! I'm sure you'll get it next time!
adrian0901
04. May 2017 · 05:08 UTC
For the little part of gameplay that you did, this deserves 4/5. Waiting for the full post-jam version.
kothead
04. May 2017 · 06:02 UTC
I like the idea of combining RTS and voxel-like maps. It would be a killer feature, if workers had an ability to construct and destroy blocks to make new passages, to find new mines or even to flood entire enemy base. And awesome map editor you got here.
frankiesmileshow
04. May 2017 · 07:58 UTC
Trying to make an RTS during a game jam is a mistake I made once, as part of a big team (that included some industry pros!) in a Global Game Jam a few years ago. We didn't end up with much more than what you have here. And we were a whole team! That game genre is a tall order for sure. I hope you keep working on this a bit, it could turn into something cool! Maybe I aughta give an RTS a shot again sometime.... somehow an RTS that doesnt need pathfinding maybe, that would already be a big help! (I notice yours does have pathfinding, that must have taken a big chunk of time all on its own!)

Played the game on my stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/139989925 (at 23:46)
ragnta
04. May 2017 · 18:51 UTC
I can't build anything, just train a worker. How to build a house or mining? or attack?
🎤 sgstair
04. May 2017 · 22:54 UTC
@frankiesmileshow The pathfinding took a few hours to put together but it's functionally pretty simple - It's a two-tier approach, since the game is tile based it does an A* search for a path through the tiles, then computes a path within each tile to connect to bordering tiles in the path. Very basic so far, but I have a lot of ideas for expanding (pathing around obstacles inside tiles, slight wandering, other stuff) - I did run into your stream the other day, but didn't realize that you had run across my game, thanks for linking

@ragnta Building is also unimplemented at this point. :( Very close to being ready, but can't be done in the LD build. If anyone cares to look into the source, the engine code exists to create/manage the build task, but UI for picking a build location isn't done and workers don't execute on the build/resource collection/attack tasks yet. I should mention I'm super proud of the game engine core, it's very generic. But probably overengineered for an LD :)
Iron Leonem
05. May 2017 · 03:43 UTC
Really fun art and take on the theme! I want to see what you can do post jam with more time!
wildmusketeer
05. May 2017 · 04:34 UTC
Really great base for a game! Even though there wasn't much gameplay there, I like the concept of an RTS that you can freely rotate around in, and I also really enjoy the minecraft-y 8bit aesthetic. I tried out the map editor, and it's pretty sweet (not sure how to drag around in that though, since left click places things)! Really impressive accomplishment for building from scratch! Would love to read a post-mortem on what you think went well/didnt for this. Hope to see this flushed out more in a post-jam version!
🎤 sgstair
05. May 2017 · 05:42 UTC
@wildmusketeer - Thanks for the prompting, I was on the fence about writing a postmortem but I have now decided to do so this weekend. (Side note, map editor has a move tool, and also holding left shift will move from any tool)

I've been planning to spend this Saturday and the following Saturday, at least, finishing this game up and trying to realize my original vision (which is way more ambitious than it even seems now... It's been almost 8 years since I last entered LD, I may have become a /little/ overconfident). I'll be streaming the process on twitch, and will be happy to answer any questions that come up along the way.
Bumblepie
06. May 2017 · 08:11 UTC
I can see the potential here, the camera controls felt intuitive and the aesthetic, while simple, had its charm. However, there's obviously not a whole lot you can do in the current state. Look forward to seeing what you make with it!
Fingerpass
06. May 2017 · 11:39 UTC
I trained two workers, and right click them to the mine. But it doesn't seem they are mining, ---no resources are growing and workers are idle.
Hope for a guide in the game.

But as a compo, RTS is a the highest choice indeed. And I also want to have a RTS try the next LD. :)

Nice work!

If you have time, I would appreciate you taking a look at our game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/run-cola-run
valiap
06. May 2017 · 14:27 UTC
Voxel architecture and sprite plane unit were a reasonable choice for a RTS game. And it turn out to be unique. Sadly the building and attacking features weren't finished. But i thinks it's potential.
Good work!

体素的建筑和2Dsprite制作单位对RTS来说是个不错的选择，从结果看效果很特别。可惜建造、攻击等功能没有完成，不过可以看出有一定的潜力。
Chupachu
09. May 2017 · 10:57 UTC
Thank you for playing my game and the positive ratings, I really appreciated it. :D I really liked the artstyle of this game and the theme it was going for, I feel that you did that very well. The camera controls were also pretty nice. However, I feel that the game falls short in terms of responsiveness. Most of the time, you feel like you aren't in control and there's not really a clear direction for how to interact with the environment. The theme was nice, despite the fact that I wasn't sure about how to play, I felt a pressure to figure out quickly when I saw the enemy's base. I felt a need to rush to get things done simply by the presence of an enemy base and the idea that he could attack me. I felt that the theme, camera controls, and mood were definitely the highest points of this game. Your artistic skills are definitely very good and you can create a very good atmosphere, I just feel that the actual gameplay isn't as strong as it should be for this kind of game. These things can be fixed pretty easily next time, just remember to make sure that it's a game you really like to play before you add polish. Don't decorate the house before you put the foundations up. Other than that, I feel that the game has really good potential and if these issues are addressed, could be a great game. Thanks again for reviewing my game on stream and for all the positive comments, it meant a lot to me.
🎤 sgstair
10. May 2017 · 02:28 UTC
@Chupachu Thanks, you're very much correct, and I realize my biggest problem was that I spent way too much time on graphics before I got the actual gameplay working. I just finished writing a [Postmortem](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/something-something/something-postmortem-something-something) that concludes with exactly that (CC @wildmusketeer)

Also, thank you to everyone I haven't expressly replied to, I do appreciate the feedback and I plan to play your games and provide some feedback after I finish the insane project I started to play 100 random games :)
athomicus
11. May 2017 · 10:18 UTC
nice start and idea it can be fantastic rts keep coding - well done
Smiling Cat Entertainment
11. May 2017 · 11:02 UTC
It's a good start - I'd suggest rather than having the players micromanage each worker's task, that you just right click on the resource and an unoccupied worker comes to harvest.
UnidayStudio
12. May 2017 · 10:58 UTC
Wow" I've watched your timelapse, I can't believe you made the entirely engine from scratch! That's amazing! I'ma game engine programmer too, and I know how much work you have to do. And you made it!

The game is a good start for a great and polished project, the camera movements are very intuitive. My suggestion, if you wanna keep working on this game (and this will be awesome), is to start to, indirectly, show the player what they have to do, and why (simple storytelling).

The game engine itself, I really liked! The terrain editor works very fine too. Very interesting entry!

Good job!
RabbitTortoise
12. May 2017 · 12:38 UTC
I'm impressed how much stuff you got ready in 48h. RTS games are hard to do (at least from my experience). It's unfortunate that you didn't get more features in. Camera felt pretty good and the choice of simple graphics was good. Also, multi-unit select, please. Good job.
Skosnowich
13. May 2017 · 00:23 UTC
Sadly there isn't much implemented in the game, so there is not much too say. I played around with the map editor though, which works pretty good. I think it is a solid base for further development, so keep going.
Mordokay
14. May 2017 · 04:03 UTC
Its a good start ... developing a RTS takes a lot of time and most of it is spent balancing all the elements. Its very easy to have game breaking elements in a RTS. Your map editor looks good and you have a good starting point to possibly add new features... keep up the good job!
CliffracerX
14. May 2017 · 05:40 UTC
Interesting proof-of-concept, and smooth controls. I do like where this is headed; you should definitely consider expanding post-LD sometime. Audio felt conspicuously absent, though.

"Brainwashing". :thumbsup:
Lucas Ferrantelli
14. May 2017 · 10:17 UTC
Great game dude ! GJ !!
MrGussio
14. May 2017 · 18:13 UTC
Even though your game isn't fully finished yet, it definitely has potential for something cool. I'd love to see this game develop towards a real RTS, might be playing it myself then. Keep up the work man, great game :)
NvrSkipGameDay
14. May 2017 · 19:46 UTC
This is a really great base RTS - I had 3 workers going non-stop to mine and gather wood, created some soldiers and an archer and assaulted the enemy base (which maybe makes me a warmonger as they seemed pretty peaceful). The pathfinding for the NPCs was really impressive, they knew exactly where I was telling them to go. Cool mechanics, great implementation - especially for the time constraints.
Random-storykeeper
17. May 2017 · 02:13 UTC
I dig the Minecraft aesthetic. It was fun clicking around the map area and getting a good perspective on the little map. It's a shame there wasn't really anything else to do. I had a look at the Map Editor, which was interesting. It seemed to have a mind of its own when it came to zooming in and out. There was also a time when my cursor wasn't quite aligned with the in-game cursor (my actual cursor being lower), so I kept putting the game out of focus trying to place certain tiles because I kept hitting the Start menu instead. Overall, it's a cute experiment, and it would be interesting to see where you are going with this.
Kate Kligman
17. May 2017 · 05:45 UTC
I wasn't able to get this to run on my Macbook Pro running Bootcamp with Windows 7 Pro. The map editor seemed to load, however.

![sgstair_crash1.png](///raw/e4a/z/46e1.png)
MCjammydodger
17. May 2017 · 11:06 UTC
I like the look of this game, shame important game play elements weren't implemented in time, it could have been rather fun. I also liked the map editor feature.
🎤 sgstair
17. May 2017 · 22:14 UTC
@random-storykeeper, the mouse tracking problem sounds like an aspect ratio issue I've seen, did you somehow go fullscreen? I'm not quite sure how you could get into that state because I did disable window size changes, but I will eventually fix the codebase to deal with active area size changes.

@kate-kligman Interesting. I'm having difficulty understanding why this might happen. If you have the chance can you hit the save/load buttons from the map editor to see if it causes the same crash for you? Thanks for the report, I'll see if I can figure it out.
bloodyaugust
19. May 2017 · 02:08 UTC
I like what I'm seeing so far. Please continue work on this, there's never enough RTS in my life!
DaisyChubb
19. May 2017 · 13:05 UTC
Great start so far, I think you are right to keep working on it and I look forward to seeing it grow.