LudumData

A Tale of Two Towers by Articulated9

[raw]
made by Articulated9 for LD 41 (JAM)

Changelog:

  • Added zip file download link.
  • Added speed control! Type 'FAST' or 'SLOW' to change the game speed.
  • Added the ability to RECRUIT new peasants. This should keep the game's pace running along. Thanks to those that suggested it!
  • Added a help menu. Mouseover the question mark in the bottom right corner for a handy cheat sheet!
  • The Baron can now recruit as well! Also slight balance modifications.

Well this went better than expected! It fits the theme and isn't entirely broken!

Behold my entry for the Jam for Ludum Dare 41!

Windows Screenshot 2018.04.23 - 10.57.15.76.png

Featuring:

  • Totally authentic Day/Night cycle.
  • Fully functional upgrade system.
  • Tactical espionage action.
  • Over 200 lines of written dialogue.
  • Stunning programmer art.
  • Sporadic nonfatal errors (probably).

Windows Screenshot 2018.04.26 - 09.29.34.53.png

Intro:

Your arch rival - the Baron - has declared war, and it's up to you to command your castle and its inhabitants in order to secure victory!

Windows Screenshot 2018.04.26 - 09.27.41.85.png

Goal:

The goal of the game is to build up your resources while fending off attacks from your enemy. Gather resources, repair your walls, and launch scouting missions to prepare you for future assaults. Upgrade your fortress to harry attackers and give your own men advantages.

Instructions:

The game uses a text-based interface. Type in keywords to access your various options and survey your castle and its surroundings. If you get stuck, type HELP - this will give you a rundown of the main commands.

Good luck and have fun!

Tips and Tricks:

  • A foolish Lord throws away his men on pointless attacks. Have patience, build up your forces slowly, and launch an assault with larger numbers for devastating impact!

  • A Lord is only as strong as the population he controls. Look after your peasants and your peasants will look after you!

  • A strong garrison is only necessary when you are under siege. Make use of your garrisoned troops by REMOVEing them in peacetime and ADDing them back when the enemy is at the gates!

Post-mortem:

I'm actually reasonably happy with how this turned out, despite it being rushed as hell and untested. I even got a few sound effects made which is fab. Managed to avoid feature creep, but as this was my first time dealing with a text-based interface I had to learn on the go which definitely affected my time taken.

Overall I learned a lot and had a ton of fun, so I'm calling this a success!

Windows https://articulated9.itch.io/a-tale-of-two-towers
Windows https://articulated9.itch.io/a-tale-of-two-towers
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/a-tale-of-two-towers

Ratings

Overall 488th 3.538⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Fun 569th 3.317⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 284th 3.692⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Theme 471th 3.745⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 884th 2.953⭐ 55🧑‍⚖️
Audio 701th 2.588⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Humor 495th 3.038⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Mood 588th 3.284⭐ 53🧑‍⚖️
Given 54🗳️ 63🗨️

Feedback

Cheesey Bob
23. Apr 2018 · 11:53 UTC
This was pretty enjoyable, if a bit slow paced. I would have liked the option to advance time manually. The art and sounds, though basic, do have some charm to them. I found the portraits and dialog quite amusing. Overall, a very well rounded entry.
CapnAT
23. Apr 2018 · 17:50 UTC
Curse you BARRONNN!
Dekobii
24. Apr 2018 · 08:01 UTC
A little slow but a nice harmony to the game, everything felt like it fit together well. Well done.
Toryf
24. Apr 2018 · 08:59 UTC
Really cool Gameplay, and nice Graphics maybe a little bit to slow.
Togis
24. Apr 2018 · 08:59 UTC
A very fun game to play!

The positive:

* fun concept
* a lot of immersion
* nice (in a retro style) artwork

The less positive:

* A bit slow paced
* Sometime hard to remember what are my options. Maybe adding an HELP command that display just all the options in one line.

The questions:

* Do I also have to type in caps? I think the game didn't recognize lower case orders, triggering me to push caps-lock.

Overall a cool relaxing game with interesting gameplay! Good work!


Tip: You should avoid providing your game with an installer, a zip of your folder should be enough. We will test hundred of games sand it may be tiresome to install/uninstall all the time.
Durgan
24. Apr 2018 · 12:11 UTC
I enjoyed this one. Been many moons since I played a text-based game. I think it would be beneficial if you put your help command as one line of text. Instead of having to hit enter after every dialogue until you can type in your next command again. It is a slower paced game, but that is part of the nostalgia in my opinion.
🎤 Articulated9
24. Apr 2018 · 16:05 UTC
@cheesey_bob, @Dekobii , @Toryf, @CapnAT - Thanks for playing and for your feedback! I am working on a manual 'speed up/down' command right now and should implement shortly!

#### Edit: this has now been implemented! Type 'FAST' or 'SLOW' to change the game speed.


@Togis thanks a lot for the detailed review! Zip link available now :smile:. Do you know what you were trying to type? I tried to include upper and lower case for all the commands but could well have missed some.

Thanks again all!
🎤 Articulated9
24. Apr 2018 · 16:27 UTC
@durgan Thanks for your feedback! Am working on a clickable button that will display the help text in its own little box. Should have it up and running by tomorrow!
Togis
24. Apr 2018 · 20:05 UTC
@Articulated9 Ho sorry, I can't remember which command exactly cause me trouble :/
iamtalin
25. Apr 2018 · 08:39 UTC
This is a really awesome concept and probably the best interpretation of the theme I've seen so far. Great job!
RAFFE
25. Apr 2018 · 08:43 UTC
Nice art design and the gameplay is very neat! You did a good job!
Artur Hawkwing
25. Apr 2018 · 08:46 UTC
Very nice! I love the concept and found the game very fun! The only thing I think could significantly benefit it would be background music, but it is great as-is :)
fazz
25. Apr 2018 · 17:12 UTC
You might call it programmer art but your faces are great. Really interesting take on the theme, enjoyed it a lot!
differentname
25. Apr 2018 · 17:14 UTC
This is a clever idea for the theme! At first I really wished the commands would have been visible all the time, so I wouldn't have to keep typing help, but I guess the difficulty of remembering the commands is part of what makes that genre incompatible. I feel like I got the hang of it though.

I would have liked a way to make more peasants, like building workers and military in RTS games. I think I had a bug losing peasants when I built towers.
nardandas
25. Apr 2018 · 17:47 UTC
The game was really enjoyable, but I didn't feel like anything really happened. I could upgrade stuff, but I couldn't recruit units, so raiding the other guy was really just a waiting game. If I could've purchased units it would have been a 5/5 game!
🎤 Articulated9
26. Apr 2018 · 08:37 UTC
@iamtalin @RAFFE @Artur Hawkwing @fazz thanks so much for the nice feedback, it really means a lot! :smiley:

@Durgan @differentname @nardandas Awesome ideas!

#### Recruiting peasants and an easier command menu have been added to the game.

Thanks for the suggestions!
Alex13
26. Apr 2018 · 19:10 UTC
Very cool game , but I seek very easy tactics : recruiting is imbalance i'm recruit 896 peasants and then gather two times. I have enough gold to send 400 peasants in attack and win.
🎤 Articulated9
26. Apr 2018 · 20:06 UTC
@Alex13 Thanks for the feedback! Have made some slight tweaks to balance, if I carry on with the project I'll probably look into this more but right now I'm just stoked people are playing it :smiley:
japes
26. Apr 2018 · 21:18 UTC
Really great game! I loved it. This might sound strange but I really like the feeling of distance from the action. It's like you're a lord sitting in your castle and you have to rely on word of mouth to get information and send orders.

To be fair I will have to rate this as if there were no RECRUIT/FASTER/SLOWER options, but even so, great idea and well executed. Sure there are some balance issues as @alex13 pointed out, but I think if you spent some more time on this, it could really be a great game and even a new genre.

Well done!
🎤 Articulated9
26. Apr 2018 · 21:27 UTC
@japes Thanks for the feedback! And yep recruit and speed stuff was implemented after the submission deadline so totally fair.

I thought about halfway through designing this thing, "This would've been awesome in a sci-fi theme" because as you say, the vast distances rely on getting information second-hand, which could add elements to it. Perhaps adding different advisors with different levels of skill, that could affect the player's decision-making process? Anyway, I'm just rambling at this point.

I appreciate the kind words! :smiley:
theprint
26. Apr 2018 · 23:24 UTC
This game reminds me of some of the very first text-based RPGs, I used to play as a kid. So, yay for that, and well done.
stefenism
26. Apr 2018 · 23:47 UTC
I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun this game was.
shaw
27. Apr 2018 · 00:13 UTC
How this genre mashup works is beyond me but it does! Those character portraits are excellent and there is something extremely satisfying about your game. Good job :)
patvanmackelberg
27. Apr 2018 · 00:42 UTC
Very clever, for a 72 hour game it has a lot of detail!
Emery
27. Apr 2018 · 01:54 UTC
This was awesome great job 😄
Lost Dutchman Software
27. Apr 2018 · 02:12 UTC
Dialog and humorous artwork really made this an interesting play.
settings
27. Apr 2018 · 03:16 UTC
Such a great idea! I loved the gameplay as well.
Jonathan Daar
27. Apr 2018 · 03:52 UTC
Very unique and a nice change of pace from other games in the jam. I overloaded on peasants and gold and crushed my enemies.
Shivur
27. Apr 2018 · 06:13 UTC
Good game. Maybe no need to confirm every order, it already tidious to type them.
EkkoEkko
27. Apr 2018 · 09:18 UTC
its kind of unique game and its fun to play. The art is good also the semi pixel art. But I think its a little bit slow. But for overall its a cool game!!!
theamazingb
27. Apr 2018 · 18:29 UTC
This is great. It clearly combined two dif genres yet never felt like it was forced. This should definitely be developed further to add a little depth.It took me a second to catch on that I had to hit enter first, to scroll thru what my commander was telling me, then input commands. some ideas to add a little depth immediately might be to have some of your peasants get attacked while working ie, your peasants returned with X gold and x peasants. You lost y peasants. Something like that. There is TONS of potential. Like first having to turn peasants into knights before they can attack. Once I got the hang of it, I just grew my army exponentially. Send em all out to recruit, send em all out to gather, and soon you are unstoppable. A little balancing to avoid that wouldn't hurt. Maybe some sort of happiness meter where if they are overworked a certain percentage will revolt or betray you and join the barron, thus increasing HIS forces and weakening yours. Punishing you a bit for doing exactly what I did. When you go to attack, there should be a line telling you how much it costs per guy and how much gold you have available. I got a little frustrated trying to attack with all my guys until I lowered the amount of attackers and figured out it was 10 per guy. Mind you its all just ideas to develop it further. For 72hrs you did an amazing job!!
Carvster
27. Apr 2018 · 22:22 UTC
Fun little game, got frustrating spam typing commands when already going through a command though, quite tedious having to confirm every order after going through about 5 steps to get there and also always needing caps, would be good to have "quick" commands that skip some of the dialogue like "ATTACK WITH 4 MEN" then a YES to confirm that to speed it up a little, or even have the commands as clickable options rather than having to type everything.
GerardB
28. Apr 2018 · 00:26 UTC
A bit slow at times but phenomenal entry I greatly enjoyed this!
Mohamed_DKD
28. Apr 2018 · 05:41 UTC
extremely nice game, i like how it is text based but still has nice graphics and sounds :)
hexagore
28. Apr 2018 · 10:07 UTC
This is really great, glad I took the time to adapt and get used to how to control everything. After spending ages upgrading everything to the maximum (I think) and gathering up a massive pile of gold I sent all but two of my peasants to attack... and they were wiped out instantly. I didn't have the heart to continue after that, it had taken so long to get that many peasants!!! Still, I had a good time I was playing, this is a really solid entry. :)
cristiano.m.garcia
29. Apr 2018 · 02:47 UTC
I left my rating of your game, if you can leave your feedback in our game, Witch's Escape.

I hope you continue with the project.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/witchs-escape
TheMonsterFromTheDeep
02. May 2018 · 18:43 UTC
I played both (?) versions -- the one with recruiting and the one without recruiting -- and I think they both suffer from opposite problems: without recruiting, it takes a really long time to build up any sort of substantial force. With recruiting, it is almost trivial to build up forces in the hundreds of thousands.

However, it is a solid basis for a game, and the imbalance is not actually my primary complaint.

By far, the thing I found most annoying was several deficiencies in the command line interface. First, sometimes I would enter commands when the game was expecting me to press enter to advance a line of text, and then I would have to re-type those commands. Second, the game would say things like "you don't have enough men" or "you don't have enough gold," but wouldn't tell me how many men or gold I did have or, at the very least, needed. Finally, when upgrading, the game will not tell you that you don't have enough gold until you've already chosen the number of workers, which is really annoying.

But I did play for something like 40 minutes, so I did have fun.