Cull the herd (HTML Game) by Ninnec

made by Ninnec for LD 43 (JAM)

Bug Fixes and Changes: From Submission to 12/5/2018: Fixed health bars not being visible, Fixed error where attributes were being shown to 0, Add instructions to left corner of the screen, made it so a wall players could get stuck easily is now walk-able, moved some platforms to make gameplay better
Thanks for playing!

Cull the herd is a platforming game with a twist. Before you actually begin playing through the level, you will have to breed the creatures at your disposal to create one suitable for overcoming the challenges you will face. You will go through 4 rounds of breeding. At the start of each breeding cycle you will be asked to cull the herd, sacrificing 6 creatures who you do not wish to breed. Afterwards, based on the remaining creatures’ attributes, 6 new creatures will be spawned. After repeated generations of breeding, you will be left with a final crop of creatures, and a random creature from it will be chosen to be your avatar for the level. You can hover your mouse over any creature to see its attributes, all ranging from level 1-5. The attributes will affect both its appearance and its performance in certain tasks, so breed wisely. If an obstacle seems impassable, try restarting and breeding a new creature perhaps more up to the task!

Further controls for the game are as follows:

While in the Cull the Herd Stage:

To move camera during cull the herd stage use w, a, s, d Click on the members of the herd you don't want to breed with your mouse Press G to skip this stage and have a completely randomly generated member of the herd

While in the survival stage

To move avatar in game use w, a, s, d press L to go back to the breeding stage Depending on your avatar's strength you may be able to push blocks Depending on your avatar's swim you may be able to swim up a waterfall Depending on your avatar's health you can handle more attacks Depending on your avatar's jump you may have access to more routes Speed is self explanatory :-) Be careful as fire and spikes hurt you and eventually kill you.

windmill level.PNG

HTML5 (web)	https://breeder.itch.io/cull-the-herd
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/cull-the-herd

Ratings

Overall	955^th	2.794⭐	36🧑‍⚖️
Fun	979^th	2.441⭐	36🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	284^th	3.471⭐	36🧑‍⚖️
Theme	680^th	3.221⭐	36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	899^th	2.529⭐	36🧑‍⚖️
Given		34🗳️	36🗨️

Feedback

Codesity

05. Dec 2018 · 16:32 UTC

Looks like a thorough gameplay you made. The Graphics and Design have a great flavour. Good Work!

Tosunami

05. Dec 2018 · 18:29 UTC

Idea is really good, good implemented but in practice it's a hard game to play. good job anyway!

2016mcook

05. Dec 2018 · 19:32 UTC

Interesting game concept. The font for the controls were a little small, the fire objects came from nothing, and the controls were a bit floaty. Overall, the game needs some polishing but, i enjoyed what I played

lathspell

05. Dec 2018 · 21:56 UTC

The concept is really interesting, as some have mentioned.
The breeding stage feels a bit slow, maybe one breed could be skipped, or add a way to sort the creatures by stats
In the platformer, reducing the drag of the player and taking away the jump collision will make it really fun.
Great idea that with some more time can turn into a funny game.

NateTheGreat

06. Dec 2018 · 04:20 UTC

I love games that incorporate unique concepts like natural (or in this case unnatural) selection! For the creature selection stage I didn't really have a strategy besides clicking the ones with the worst stats but it felt like it took a pretty long time. The platforming felt a bit slippery and I got stuck in a few places but still a fun game overall!

legavroche

06. Dec 2018 · 06:03 UTC

This game had a lot going for it, and I think if you had a bit more in-game guidance for players then the experience could be much better and smoother. Overall, I think you have a great framework to work upon and I hope you continue working on it post-jam!

Pellanor

06. Dec 2018 · 06:36 UTC

Lots of cool ideas. Breeding stage takes quite a while, and potential avatars can overlap annoyingly. Controls felt a little off. Could be a symptom of making the controls based on the avatar variables.
It would be nice to have a preview of the level before breeding so that we have an idea of what the stats will be useful for.

Rolly

06. Dec 2018 · 06:36 UTC

I would have preferred less content and more polishing, but you came up with an original idea as a basis for a good game. Add audio, animations, make movement a little smoother, and it will be a game I definitly want to play! Nice job.

LiamIsUnlucky

06. Dec 2018 · 21:58 UTC

Needs more polish e.g the background has a weird filter on it, it would be better if it was pixel perfect

eldogg

06. Dec 2018 · 22:30 UTC

I like the breeding part, took me the second go round to figure out what implications it would have. It's cool that different levels could be solved in different ways.

I think the jumping could do with being dependent on how long the button is pressed for, I bred a good jumper, but it kept jumping too high for me to get between platforms.

Good entry and excellent original use of the theme.

Shito

06. Dec 2018 · 22:36 UTC

Interesting concept. I like the idea of breeding your own avatar. However the jump and run part was quite difficult for me. I think less levels but a little bit more fluent controls would have been better.

aortega

06. Dec 2018 · 22:53 UTC

I bumped against a wall, lost the ability to jump and couldn't proceed. Seeing higher numbers during breeding was exciting, but it took way too long. The graphics are painful to look at. The controls were not very precise. Making a game in a weekend is hard, and you made it to the end, congratulations.

devharts

07. Dec 2018 · 05:22 UTC

I really like the concept of breeding critters with different abilities and then using them to navigate a platformer world. I could see it having good potential if you want to take it further -- for areas to focus on I'd suggest streamlining the breeding process (maybe through a UI or some other visual way for comparing the monsters) and general polishing of the platformer levels. Nice job making a two phase platformer game in a single weekend!

morriss

08. Dec 2018 · 05:07 UTC

The Graphics and Design is really cool ,hope you get good ratings!

Vimlark

08. Dec 2018 · 07:41 UTC

I like the concept a lot. But like others have said the breeding was a bit slow and the platforming controls were pretty loose. Good job overall, I did enjoy my play through.

KsardX

08. Dec 2018 · 09:09 UTC

Interesting idea. I like it, but the graphics are strange. Background is too bloory and the breeds are to small, sometimes it was hard to see them during gameplay. Controls were weird. Though, it's a game worth playing. Good job.

SKDF

08. Dec 2018 · 18:18 UTC

The concept seems interesting and I'd have loved to play it more thoroughly, unfortunately you've made only one control scheme (WASD and no arrows) and it's a hassle to play for people like me with a non-QWERTY keyboard :/

Hare Software

08. Dec 2018 · 23:09 UTC

Really fun concept, but in practice still a bit hard to play. The movement feels like walking on ice, which does add a bit of challenge. The breeding mechanic is really fun though. Well done and hope you keep working on this version!

Akusan

09. Dec 2018 · 17:34 UTC

The concept was really cool. I was so surprised that after the 1st phase, there was a platformer afterwards. Pretty cool! The art style was really cute too. Personally I think if you just focus on the fun part and add more features to that and make it more fun, you could cut the generic platformer section.

Too bad there is no sounds or character animation. Nonetheless, great job on your entry and thanks for sharing!

royur

14. Dec 2018 · 17:29 UTC

i like the concept. hard to play though...