LudumData

Stem by Yamzho

[raw]
made by Yamzho for LD34 (COMPO)
STEM
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Here's my entry for LD34 ! I tried to comply with both themes, so you control with two buttons a plant that you need to grow as far as you can. You need to collect water, light and fertilizers and, at the same time, avoid bugs, clouds, fire and snow.

Some little insights :
- The lower your light level is, the slower you go.
- The lower your fertilizers level is, the harder it is to steer.

Also, I'm sad I could not find time to add some sounds to the game (I lost three and a half hours trying to find a game breaking bug).

I hope you'll love my game ! Have fun ! ;)

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Controls :
Left and right arrows to steer.
R to restart.
Esc to quit.

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Post-compo updates :
- Difficulty balanced. It is (a bit) harder now.
- Steering is now determined by your water level
- Your "maximum growth angle" is now determined by your light level.
- Your growth speed is now determined by your nutriments level.
- The game window is now 1280*720 instead of 800*600.

More post-compo versions to come. Please rate the initial release only to be fair to others. Follow me on Twitter (@yamzho).
All platforms (.jar) http://gamejamsresources.yamzho.net/ld34/Stem.jar
Source (.zip) http://gamejamsresources.yamzho.net/ld34/Stem.zip
Post compo - All platforms (.jar) http://gamejamsresources.yamzho.net/ld34/Stem_postcompo.jar
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=40804

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.22 491
Fun 2.95 633
Graphics 3.88 136
Innovation 3.05 548
Mood 2.97 468
Theme 4.10 157

Feedback

Afendar
14. Dec 2015 · 12:39 UTC
Yeh Yamzho !!! Good game :). Graphics are simple, without the end of bug is better. Animations are good but pity that there have no sound. Great job guy ;)
Somnium
14. Dec 2015 · 16:41 UTC
Fun game!

I especially like how the different stats and obstacles tie into the game mechanics.

The graphics and UI are effective as well.

Great take on the themes!
DracoLizardStudios
14. Dec 2015 · 16:45 UTC
Loved this game! I have a very high liking to the stile of the graphics, and the game is very fun and interesting!
rockford
14. Dec 2015 · 17:43 UTC
So cute. Miss some challenge at a time, but very good idea and stick to the both themes! tks
dmecke
14. Dec 2015 · 17:44 UTC
Nice idea well made into a game!
At first I found it very easy and it took a while that I found out that it actually increases in difficulty (it does, right?). An idea could be to split it up into several levels. Each level could introduce a new concept (item, good or bad) so the user gets continuously new content and and the game keeps interesting longer ("what else is here to see?") as well as it is easier to understand what all the items do.
ccglp
14. Dec 2015 · 17:45 UTC
1570cm. 13/10 would grow again.

It's a great game, maybe with a relaxing background sound and a little tweaks here and there you would have a complete game!
Akhera
14. Dec 2015 · 17:46 UTC
Good concept with nice art, but does the difficulty increase at all? If it does it's way too slowly. I had to lose on purpose to end it. Having a score counter during play would be nice too.
🎤 Yamzho
14. Dec 2015 · 18:09 UTC
Thanks all for the comments.

Yes, the game could have been harder, so I released a post-compo version which is.

I'll also probably release more post-compo versions, including the ideas I find interesting !

Finally, as said in the description, please rate the initial release only to be fair to the other contestants ! :)

Have fun and try as many games as you can !
Piepenguin1995
14. Dec 2015 · 18:58 UTC
This is great! The intro is very well done as are the animations, and the concept is pretty neat. Shame that there's no sound, but I really like it.
MicroMacro
14. Dec 2015 · 20:13 UTC
I would have loved to run this, but every time I try to play it, it gives me a Java exception. :\
Chubb1337
14. Dec 2015 · 20:13 UTC
The graphics are very smooth, and I like the stem with the little leafs and thorns. I only played the compo versions as that is the one I'm rating, 't was easy
JohnGalt
14. Dec 2015 · 20:15 UTC
Interesting system with 3 different attribute. Neat arts. I enjoy it a lot.
VascoF
14. Dec 2015 · 20:15 UTC
Looks really nice, but is a bit too easy.
cynicalmonkey
14. Dec 2015 · 20:58 UTC
Hi, another similar game to mine, but on a different path :) I guess I am not the original thinker I thought I was!

I liked the style you chose everything stood out really nicely graphically. I think it needed some sort of evolution to it, not necessarily a difficulty spike just something you are growing to!
sharpfrog4
14. Dec 2015 · 21:23 UTC
Cute!
CodeNMore
14. Dec 2015 · 21:37 UTC
Nice game, good graphics and nice controls. I wish it got faster sooner, but nice job!
grama
14. Dec 2015 · 21:46 UTC
loved the game. cool mechanics, nice visuals. it had some lag issues for me, but great entry. cheers!
AdenMansonGames
14. Dec 2015 · 22:18 UTC
I love the graphics and really addicting gameplay :)
nunesbarbosa
14. Dec 2015 · 23:49 UTC
Good game, gets old really fast.
batmanasb
15. Dec 2015 · 02:26 UTC
The game is very shaky, hurts to look at
Ingon
15. Dec 2015 · 03:40 UTC
Nice game, simple idea, good implementation.

A bit slow though, maybe some of the enemies could be faster/targeted?
SirSoltex
15. Dec 2015 · 05:19 UTC
Great game! love how the intro explains things as you play the game.
CremaGames
15. Dec 2015 · 12:08 UTC
Loved it. Wish it were a little more difficult? I don't know, but I like the minimalistic graphics and the good concept. Congrats!
Nega Drive
15. Dec 2015 · 14:37 UTC
Cool stuff. Simple gameplay, but it works well, and keeping an eye on all the stats adds some flavour to it. Great graphical style.
MisterMortal
15. Dec 2015 · 15:10 UTC
Fun little game, love the clean simple graphics. It would be perfect mobile game ;)
A Flat Miner Studios
15. Dec 2015 · 16:21 UTC
Great mechanic that's easy to understand from the start. Love the minimalist look. Found myself playing for a long time!
Erlend Aakre
15. Dec 2015 · 17:05 UTC
Nice little game. 1775 cm! :D
gogo199432
15. Dec 2015 · 17:56 UTC
Interesting game, fun for the first few minutes. After that it kind of drops :D The graphics were nice :)
MadmenProductions
15. Dec 2015 · 20:03 UTC
The games nice and look great but lacks replayability, which I assume is what you were going for having a score.
GoodwolfStudio
15. Dec 2015 · 20:29 UTC
Among the growing plant games this is one of the most fun to play. However the challenge is a bit low and there could be some kind of timer or points that grow over time so the player knows he's doing good.
Dejvo
15. Dec 2015 · 20:37 UTC
Very nice game. superb presentation, cool idea and great concept. apply a bit of polish, add more features (like the plant would grow flowers depending on nutrition you've given it), and it'll be a good full fun game :)
Jishenaz
15. Dec 2015 · 22:46 UTC
Lovely art style. At first I thought it was easy, but as I said that, it started getting harder lol. I could imagine simple, care-free music being used in this game.
Zeezgames
15. Dec 2015 · 23:09 UTC
Ahh i liked this game i admit was a shame there wasnt any audio but it was still a good game and glad u sorted the bug out so we could play it :D

Well Done!
Peekotus
16. Dec 2015 · 00:08 UTC
Really cool game but no sound :(
banana4life
16. Dec 2015 · 14:04 UTC
I think with background music it would be better.
Xanjos
16. Dec 2015 · 17:15 UTC
Too bad there's no sound but I like the idea plus I love how well you've incorporated both themes into the game.
alpha_rat
16. Dec 2015 · 23:31 UTC
Simple and effective idea, I like the choice of very simple and flat graphics, thet look pretty good. It lacks some sound effects, and gets a bit boring and repetitive after a while as the difficulty doesn't seem to inscrease (or maybe it does, but way too slowly to be noticed or challenging), and there is not a lot of evolution going on.
alpha_rat
16. Dec 2015 · 23:37 UTC
After reading the comments I gave it a second try, and there is indeed a little inscrease of difficulty. But I still think it evolves too slowly to stay interesting
thecatspajamas
17. Dec 2015 · 07:24 UTC
I liked the visuals, and it was very clear what was good and bad. I thought it would be like snake where i could go back on myself, and I found that there was some limit to how far I could turn left and right.

I couldn't determine what the win condition was. I grew to about 1 meter and then let the controls go. I kept growing and eventually died, but I wonder if the game is too easy.

Overall I hope you continue to work on this project.
mar3k
18. Dec 2015 · 12:32 UTC
Simple, yet fun and relaxing game.
Jupiter_Hadley
18. Dec 2015 · 15:42 UTC
Very simple, but well made. I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/l1a-s63Ve1s
Zanzlanz
03. Jan 2016 · 20:36 UTC
Impressive work with the thoughtful interface and game design! It seemed to progress a bit too slow for my taste, but I did appreciate the way in which the health and difficulty worked. Awesome job!
Haokarlos
04. Jan 2016 · 16:43 UTC
The starting menu is so beautiful that I would use it as desktop background hahaha I like the plant animations. I wish some more originality were added to the game design of there was some sound feedback.