Seize the Clay by SecondDimension

[raw]
made by SecondDimension for LD 44 (JAM)

Seize the Clay is a short game about Pottery!
Choose your material, sculpt a pot and paint it in a variety of colours. Controls are all handled by the mouse, just click and drag your way to pottery success.

Game was made in 72hrs by a team of 3:
Gameplay & Music by @SecondDimension
Art by @FailedStarfish & @AdamD

Notes: * I made the music during the weekend, but I ran out of time for proper sound effects * The calculation which determines the value of each pot is broken, so it's a bit random (will fix post-jam) * The progress bar on the oven works, but might look a bit odd (again I will fix this post-jam) * I know the link to the theme is a bit of a stretch, we just really like this idea wanted to try it!

screen shot 1.jpg

screen shot 2.jpg

screen shot 3.jpg

screen shot 4.jpg

moues-with-pot.gif

Ratings

Given 36๐Ÿ—ณ๏ธ 6๐Ÿ—จ๏ธ

Feedback

Dark1knight
30. Apr 2019 ยท 02:54 UTC
I found the graphics to be very nice and the sound very fitting, i just hopped for some sound effects for the actions. The game was a nice play and although i could not really understand how it fits in the theme, nonetheless it is a very polished game for a jam and had very nice crafting steps which made it a bit complex but in the good way.
tg1397
30. Apr 2019 ยท 03:06 UTC
This game is so cute! I really liked making the pots, even though I wasn't that great at it lol. I'm a little confused on how it gets at the theme - like, I can kind of see it, but I feel it could have been integrated better. I also think it could use some re-balancing - by the second day when I figured out how to actually play, I made over 3000 dollars when all I needed was 100. All in all, this was a really fun game!
KonH
30. Apr 2019 ยท 19:31 UTC
Great concept and overall mood!
turbogros
30. Apr 2019 ยท 21:22 UTC
hahaha i guess i'm a bad potter ! Seeing my bad skills was really fun.
The aesthetic is really cute :)
jjjjason
01. May 2019 ยท 04:02 UTC
So I know the big boys and girls up top are telling us the theme this time is "your life is currency" but based on the last couple games I've played I think the real theme is "super goddamn cute" and man this game nails it.

This game is very fun and pleasant to play through. I wish it had some sound effects to go along with the various activities but that's post-jam material. Art style, interaction mechanics, the wonky organ music all contribute to such a happy atmosphere.
WongKongPhooey
01. May 2019 ยท 10:40 UTC
I laughed out loud when I went to sculpt my first pot and stuck my ham hands right through the middle of it, shrinking the middle to the width of a twig. It's a great jam game that feels really polished and clean. It's also totally unique. Well done!
Tuomo
01. May 2019 ยท 13:03 UTC
Absolutely wonderful atmosphere! Music and the visuals are on point and executed perfectly. However I think that the gameplay needs lot of tuning. At first I thought that creation of the pots fun and interesting mechanic, but after playing through several days I noticed that it didnโ€™t really matter at all what I did to the pot. I did experiment where I created two pots according the order and one that wasnโ€™t anything like the order. Got best price out of the โ€œbadโ€ one..

Overall I think that your game is a solid entry. Artsy atmosphere really makes up the shortcomings in gameplay. Great job!
Akagane
01. May 2019 ยท 13:17 UTC
The music didnt play the first time I launched the game. One more thing is that the paper is the same color with the white clay, so it can be difficult to understand the form of a pot. Except grom these problems the game is nearly perfect!
Erkberg
01. May 2019 ยท 17:36 UTC
Pretty damn awesome game! The mechanics are quite innovative, the visuals are beautiful and cute, music is quite fitting and relaxing. The color mixing was a bit beyond me, I think there could be more feedback what color you currently have. Also, some sounds would've been nice. Still, a great game from you yet again, good job!
๐ŸŽค SecondDimension
01. May 2019 ยท 18:16 UTC
@dark1knight @tg1397 @jjjjason - Thank you all very much, we're really pleased with the mood of it. I agree with that some sounds effects would be good, but I just ran out of time (only just got the music done). Also I know the theme interpretation is loose, but we just really wanted to try this idea out.

@WongKongPhooey @KonH @turbogros - Thanks for the kind words!

@Tuomo - Thanks for your nice comments about the mood! I agree on the pot valuation, it is just straight up broken. I essentially made it check that the exact RGB colour value matched, but that is way too specific and makes it seem kind of random. Although porcelain pots are worth a lot more, so that could have contributed to it

@Akagane - Glad you liked it, I agree about the porcelain designs on the white paper, but we just didn't have time to change it

@Erkberg - Thanks! I did really want to change the paintbrush to show your current colour, but it was one of many things I had to abandon due to the time limit
saucygames
01. May 2019 ยท 20:51 UTC
Beautiful visuals felt like a story book! life is hard for an artist haha. "if i turn up the heat all the way it will bake it faster just like real cooking lolol"
Linheha
01. May 2019 ยท 22:11 UTC
This game is so cool! It's one of my favourite so far :) Really love the graphics and the gameplay, I found it relaxing and I love games like this!
Just one thing, maybe you could add more feedback on the painting part, like which color do you have on your pencil before putting it on the pot (or maybe it was made on purpose?), and also, I realised on my 3rd pot that the paint jar on the right was water (I didn't saw the icon right away), so maybe (it's just a suggestion) you could change the shape of this pot, to differentiate it from the others?
I hope you will continue making games like this! :)
Well done! :)
ruddgasm
02. May 2019 ยท 00:53 UTC
I absolutely love the art in this. It reminds me of a lot of childrens books, especially with the animal characters. Very cool concept as well. I really like trying to make the pots as close to the design as possible and enjoyed each of the mini games associated with it. I ended up playing for about 5 days before I started just selling cracked, paintless, shapeless, cylinders of clay and people still payed over $400 for each of them so it seemed impossible to lose at that point. Cool and unique with great art, my kind of game.
Jiri Hysek
02. May 2019 ยท 21:07 UTC
Amazing graphics and with music and chilled gameplay the game has really nice overal mood.. my children will love it, we have to play it tomorrow :)
ProdigalSon
03. May 2019 ยท 00:43 UTC
This was relaxing and a refreshing take on the theme, I mean it is really hard to connect it with the theme but I appreciate the change in tones and the relaxing mood this has.

My first attempt was...shall I say not good. lol
![Poterry_1.png](///raw/a67/8/z/246d4.png)


But then I made this master piece! Even has a heart to match the theme ;) lol
![Poterry_2.png](///raw/a67/8/z/246d3.png)

Nicely done
ColeSlaughter
03. May 2019 ยท 06:47 UTC
Well this is a downright gorgeous game! I love how much space it gives the player to be creative, you don't see that much in LD games. :)

As an engineer, I was particularly impressed by the sculpting phase of the pottery making process

Bringing down the temperature during the baking part could mmmaaaaaayyyybe be sped up a bit, but that's just me nitpicking.

This was a pretty relaxing entry!
inkyglow
03. May 2019 ยท 07:58 UTC
What a gorgeous game! Such a peaceful feeling, I really enjoyed it. The art is superb!
Tommyflower
03. May 2019 ยท 08:09 UTC
Being a potter and a programmer I've always wanted to make a gam like this one, but I could never think a good way of representing all the phases. This little gem makes my dreams come true! I absolutely adored the cute graphics, the music and the organic way to move from a place to another maintaining the context of the little studio. Every detail was well thought and the modeling phase realistic and intuitive to play. The only part I had trouble to understand was the kiln. The mechanics of firing weren't very clear to me. The thing is you want to choose the right temperature, but in this case you have to cue until you see the bar moving and then it wasn't clear how to stop the kiln. Maybe it's just me. A little idea for future development that comes from my pottery background: one of the most triky parts is filling the kiln with pots so that they don't touch each other (or they would stick!). Also if the temperature is too high the glaze can run and again you end up with pots sticked to the shelf. Beautiful game! I'll play this again and again!
Jin9310
03. May 2019 ยท 09:12 UTC
Wow I didn't really expect that I will have the opportunity to try pottery during this jam :) What a nice surprise and nice entry. Very cute graphics and overall mood along with really well handled pottery-mechanic. Even the painting feels really good and everything is nice and easy to control. Really nice entry!
koemeterion
03. May 2019 ยท 18:59 UTC
Loveley. Just that one word!
DeathBySnail
03. May 2019 ยท 20:50 UTC
Cool idea, worth bending the theme for. Love the huge dog hands.
LeviDSmith
05. May 2019 ยท 02:18 UTC
This is a really nice unique game, but it's too bad the Ludum Dare theme wasn't pottery games. I like how it rates your pieces after you complete all three. At first I didn't know how to sculpt the clay, then I figured out how to move the hands around.
Drauthius
05. May 2019 ยท 17:37 UTC
I couldn't figure out how to move the hands up and down, only inwards at the bottom, creating some very questionable pottery. Nice concept though.
Sam Machell
05. May 2019 ยท 19:35 UTC
The process of making the pots was fun but I found the paint specifically confusing. The lack of feedback made it hard to work out what I was doing wrong when it wasn't coming out well. Graphics are beautiful! Great job!
Webox
05. May 2019 ยท 19:39 UTC
Damn those are some beautifuls drawings and style. I loved it, super relaxing.. My pottery was a piece of.. sh.. Great job! it doesn't quite fit the theme but you said that in the description!
icedmetal57
05. May 2019 ยท 19:40 UTC
Really interesting game. Great art-style and music. Reminds me of Richard Scarry or Night in the Woods style art. Gameplay is pretty cool too. Took a moment to realize what I was doing.
MlleAB
05. May 2019 ยท 20:15 UTC
I loved the graphic style. Very good work on it! My remarks will concern music that lacks punch at times and perhaps too much of a plump. Then put in place a variable cooking time and faster energize the game It seems that there is a bug when waiting for customers, the time of appearance being very long
Great job to the team, I hope to see you again in October. Your team promises!
Stefan Jovanovic
05. May 2019 ยท 20:25 UTC
Such a beatiful graphics. Reminds me of Night in the Woods. Also gameplay is nice as well as the sounds. Keep up the great work!
SimplePotential
05. May 2019 ยท 20:45 UTC
I liked this but I never could figure out how to shape the clay. I could make it tall and slim or short and fat but no hour glass shapes or anything like that. Obviously possible form other people's screen prints though. I liked the take on the theme and the controls were done well (aside from what I'm sure is me not figuring out the aforementioned shaping). My stuff sold for about $1100 each but only played for 3 days so I guess shape didn't matter much
lukbebalduke
06. May 2019 ยท 03:09 UTC
Wonderful! I had a lovely experience playing your game! You all did an amazing job putting together the artistic style along with gameplay and audio so smoothly, creating a chill setting that makes this one of the best entries I've played so far!

I cannot exactly see where the theme is featured in this game, but honestly - I don't think I care that much haha!

Keep up the good work :)