LudumData

HexCity by MartensCedric

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

A challenging brainfuck puzzle :thinking:

HexCity is a compo entry puzzle game about placing buildings on tiles while following very simple rules that leads to complex gameplay.

hc.PNG

You don't need to remember everything below this, mouse hovering will help you!

Placing Requirements

Here where the challenge lives : To place a building you need to meet every requirement that the building has.

| Building | Requirement | |--------------|----------------------------------------------| | Worker house | Farm | | Farm | Not next to another farm | | Mine | Worker house | | Wind Turbine | Worker house | | Factory | Worker house, mine and wind turbine | | Market | Worker house, wind turbine and factory | | Bank | Worker house, wind turbine, mine and market | | Rocket | Worker house, wind turbine, factory and bank |

cover.png

Score

Each building you place will increase your score by this amount :

| Building | Score Value | |--------------|-------------| | Worker house | -1 | | Farm | -1 | | Mine | 1 | | Wind Turbine | 1 | | Factory | 2 | | Market | 3 | | Bank | 5 | | Rocket | 8 |

Special tiles

| Color | Name | Effect | |-------------|--------|--------------------------------------| | Light green | Grass | None | | Blue | Water | Cannot place a building on this tile | | Beige | Sand | Score is not calculated on this tile | | Dark green | Forest | Score is doubled on this tile |

Download on Itch.io (Windows, Mac & Linux)

Source Code

Congratulations to Paxiuz for finding a solution giving 81 score on HexCity which is the current world record

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

Ratings

Overall 249th 3.372⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Fun 246th 3.209⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 135th 3.535⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Theme 237th 3.488⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 513th 2.279⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Audio 397th 1.971⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Mood 429th 2.658⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Given 67🗳️ 67🗨️

Feedback

SevMi
27. Apr 2017 · 11:07 UTC
This game is so cool. Really enjoyed playing it. Was good fun. ![HexCity.png](///raw/144/5/z/2956.png)
Who can beat my score? :D Honestly I didnt try super hard.
🎤 MartensCedric
28. Apr 2017 · 03:02 UTC
@sevmi Nice! You will need to try a bit harder as the current world record is ~~76~~ 81! Thanks for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed it :smile:
Togis
28. Apr 2017 · 19:11 UTC
This game is awesome!

Let me say that again: This game is awesome!!

Hehe, I had a lot of fun playing it on stream, even though my brain was not up to the task anymore to beat the world record! But I'll try again later, I also directly dreamed about finding the optimal solution, but that will be a story for another day :)

The art style is really made by dev on this one, but it doesn't matter at all as the game make up for it. A simple concept, pushed to the maximum!

Congratulation! And I totally agree with the "brainfuck" statement

(You can see me playing this game for the first time on the vod https://youtu.be/34z-nBWKdEw?t=2h50m16s )
anarbitrarymustache
29. Apr 2017 · 21:57 UTC
Had a lot of fun trying to build out my world. I've still got a ways to go to reach that record. Could really see this expanded into a multi-level game. Each level the size of the board changes with a goal - like "build two markets" or "build 2 of X, but on more than 1 X". Great entry!
🎤 MartensCedric
30. Apr 2017 · 03:31 UTC
@anarbitrarymustache Thanks alot! I'm currently working on an Android version of HexCity and it will have multiple levels! I am glad you enjoyed playing! :)
merrak
01. May 2017 · 04:57 UTC
It'd be interesting to work out an algorithm that computes the maximum possible score, rather than just brute-forcing it.
wtoa
01. May 2017 · 06:10 UTC
Fantastic job, I love these sorts of puzzle games! :)
Zeriver
01. May 2017 · 10:23 UTC
Neat puzzle game, at first rules seem complicated but player can get grasp on them quickly. Game really forces to min-max every move and think ahead, overall pretty fun entry.
Flaterectomy
01. May 2017 · 14:27 UTC
A clever little idea! I'm generally bad at puzzle games, so I couldn't get very far on my own. The concept by itself is strong. At first I assumed I couldn't build on the brown and dark green tiles. I now assume they're just decorative? Having the soil affect placement would be interesting if you want to make more levels post-LD (i.e. no farms in the desert, if you make rivers on hex borders a farm could be worth more points, etc). I also expected I could only build in hexes connected to pre-existing buildings. A victory/result screen when the map is full would also add to the satisfaction of the player.

The graphics are basic. They do their job, but with the few sprites you have this game could pretty easily get upgraded visually.

There's very little audio, but the click-sounds you do have give a good level of feedback. Nice work getting the minimal requirements for the audio sorted.

All in all, good job!
doppelgunner
01. May 2017 · 15:00 UTC
The mechanics are good but it needs improvement on certain areas. I suggest you place sounds or animation whenever the player interacts with the hud or game objects. Adding emphasis increases immersion and fun
🎤 MartensCedric
01. May 2017 · 15:50 UTC
@flaterectomy Yes, if you hover on sand tiles and forest tiles it explains that the forest tiles are worth double the points and sand tiles 0, you can build on them and you probably simply made in invalid move while trying to place buildings on them. Water tiles can't be built on though. Thank you for playing I appreciate the feedback :)
mmason
01. May 2017 · 21:24 UTC
I managed to get 54. It's an interesting game, it took me a while to place building because I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out several steps in advance.

all this game really needs is some sweet jams in the background to think to.
morbidcamel101
02. May 2017 · 00:32 UTC
Great concept! Work on it!
Iron Leonem
02. May 2017 · 00:33 UTC
Very fun and interesting logic puzzle. Very cool feel for the theme, and I enjoyed playing it. The graphics are simple and inelegant, but they are definitely cohesive. The sound was simple, and good for what was there, but I felt like there was more that could have been done with it. Over all, I really liked the idea! Thank you for sharing it!
redpanda
02. May 2017 · 01:29 UTC
Pretty cool game, for some reason reminded me nuclear reactor puzzle in Minecraft's IC2 mod.
junjunlowpoly
02. May 2017 · 04:03 UTC
Like the puzzle design. I wonder if it is possible to program to find out the optimal building configurations.
djfariel
02. May 2017 · 05:06 UTC
This was an interesting challenge. I can't think of how to really improve on it, though.
Oh, and the purpose of the "planet" in the center of our game is... well, it's a black hole. It attracts debris and gets rid of it. :)
simple-blue
02. May 2017 · 05:12 UTC
Really cool concept in getting the requirement for the pieces and the hex building working. A preference would have been to display the requirements directly on the item you were trying to build so I wouldn't need to have this game page with the rules open as I played and was looking back and forth constantly. Also made it a little more difficult at first learning what each item was. Nice game mechanics and everything to make this puzzle game challenging! Keep up the good work.
frankiesmileshow
02. May 2017 · 06:28 UTC
An excellent puzzle game! I wonder if some slight visual aid on where you can build any given building in the current grid would be a good idea, or if it would make the game too easy? Like, imagine if clicking on an building in the sidebar indicated all spots where that building can be put down right now? On one hand, this would definitely make the game more accessible to learn, but on the other, maybe that would be doing too much of the players' work for them? What do you think?

I feel that this could be a very solid base for a mobile game. You could make all sorts of slight variations on this, with different grids and specific goals. Some levels could be very densely designed (imagine a grid with a lot of water and a handful of pre-placed buildings in which you need to somehow fit 6 factories, or 12 windmills, or 3 rockets etc)

I played the game on stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/139473859 (playing at 1:05:20)
(although a live stream really wasnt the best place to play a game like that, I don't exactly make a great display of it there :) )
Hethsin
02. May 2017 · 10:08 UTC
Quite entertaining, pretty good job overall. Graphics are a bit simple, but a solid submission nonetheless.
mango-malarkey
02. May 2017 · 10:13 UTC
Really liked it! It got a lot easier as soon as I had more or less memorized the rules, before that it was quite frustrating. A suggestion would be to perhaps randomize the level, because the way it is now there is a "solution" - one way to get a maximum score even though that solution is hard to find. Nice effort!
japes
02. May 2017 · 11:31 UTC
Great idea - I'm probably biased when I say that though, since I had a very similar one!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/smallhexworld

(please give it a go and let me know what you think!)

I plan to come back to this and really try my best to get a good score, it really is an interesting problem to try to wrap your brain around.
As has been mentioned, the graphics and sounds are simple, but I think they achieve their purpose given that this was a compo entry. With the mouseover text it's not even necessary to read the rules up-front, I would actually take down the rules on this page and just make it clear that you can mouseover tiles for more info.

Well done!
merlin
02. May 2017 · 22:11 UTC
Good job, I really liked the idea with adjacency requirements and of course the hexagonal map :)
A relaxing soundtrack could improve the mood ;) Its a little bit plain right now, maybe some objectives would make the game more Interesting. I would also like some synergy effects between compatible adjacent tiles :)
🎤 MartensCedric
02. May 2017 · 23:15 UTC
Thank you everyone for the great feedback :smile:
Burgee
03. May 2017 · 04:54 UTC
The only 5 star innovation I've given so far. As an avid chess player, this game is one I'm going to play over and over. 33 is my highest score after a couple of attempts, and 70+ blows my mind, somebody did a lot of plannig to get that.
James Dunlap
03. May 2017 · 05:36 UTC
Great start on this game. It is extremely difficult to be able to place a rocket, but I am sure that is the point. It would be interesting to see it developed with multiple maps that have certain score goals and bonuses for objects next to water or other types of tiles as well. I was not able to get a very high score, but might be able to if I gave it more time. Unfortunately, right now, I am just trying to give good feedback to a lot of people. I may come back to it after rating is over, though, to play some more!
palemachine
03. May 2017 · 15:08 UTC
Great core gameplay mechanic, really challenging, had a lot of fun with it. Expanding on this idea would be tricky though, since right now there's definitely a single correct way of placing buildings that would get you the top score and you'd need to eliminate that in a bigger game to make it interesting.
Sean M
04. May 2017 · 03:15 UTC
cool! One idea to make this more interesting is to randomize the grid. This feels like a really sweet board game. Some kind of mechanic to randomize the grid and then play to see how high of a score you can get.

I think it fits great with the theme, and well done :)
the.jahn
04. May 2017 · 03:20 UTC
This is a tricky one.

It's hard for me to play though because the window is too tall for my screen, which is a shame because I was having a good time with it.

Good work.
OccultOne
04. May 2017 · 05:22 UTC
I could not get the game running.
Bunnery
04. May 2017 · 10:35 UTC
As a lover of board games too - I really enjoyed this one. Easy to play - but difficult to master! Need to play more to get a half-decent score.I like the clean colourful design - nice work!
furazin
04. May 2017 · 14:15 UTC
A good solid and polished game made in 48 hours. Graphics are simple and with no bugs while you play. Theme of "Small World" is funny here.
Geckoo1337
06. May 2017 · 20:55 UTC
Really well done - a good project which fits with the theme as well. The colors are a little bit too weird, but it's a detail. The gameplay is enjoyable. The aesthetic is simple, but I assume that you could improve it with more time. A solid entry ++
unit684
06. May 2017 · 23:23 UTC
Really nice jam game! I'm a pretty big fan of puzzle games and as with most good ones, this is simple in concept but difficult to master.

I think if you were to develop this more, perhaps start with some smaller levels and only a couple of buildings and build it from there. Different types of tiles that can only contain certain buildings might be interesting. Different level layouts would also change things up a bit.

Having said that, I imagine it would take quite some time to master the current level. I managed 64 on my second attempt, probably should have played on the forest tiles a bit more!

P.S. My internet is failing to upload a screenshot :(
🎤 MartensCedric
07. May 2017 · 02:27 UTC
@unit684 I'm glad you enjoyed it :smile:

>I think if you were to develop this more, perhaps start with some smaller levels and only a couple of buildings and build it from there. Different types of tiles that can only contain certain buildings might be interesting. Different level layouts would also change things up a bit.

I'm currently working on an Android version and everything you said there will be in it :smile:
feips
07. May 2017 · 12:11 UTC
Really nice game, great work!
bobsleigh
07. May 2017 · 13:55 UTC
Good puzzle game! It's a nice challenge to try and beat up other people score. It's actually quite difficult, and it your case, it's a very good thing!

It was hard to keep track of everything sometime, and it would have been nice if you could just replace a building, and the building that don't have the requierement would just be disable for a while (by making them a bit red-ish). Also, it'd be nice if you could place something without the requirement: helps keeping track of your idea.
GrassWhopper
07. May 2017 · 15:37 UTC
woah, really complex game, had some trouble with at first, till i started slowly realizing what was happening.

nice game, with some more interesting terrain, perhaps, more variations, and visual queues on for the player, to notice things better,
the art is very distinct, and you can tell what each building is, just through a quick look, which is really nice.

also, if you plan on a future build of it, a better intro level/tutorial would add a lot of simplicity to it.
part of the challenge was figuring initials out.

was a somewhat complex puzzle, nicely done with it. great job :)
Chaseplays
08. May 2017 · 01:13 UTC
I loved this! It took a simple idea for a puzzle game and made something great out of it. I think it could have been better if there was a level-based system, because all of the structures being introduced at once was a bit overwhelming. I really loved this concept though - and I really mean that. The idea of getting a score based on fitting everything together was a sort of puzzle jigsaw puzzle game, if that makes sense. Great work!
devpaul
11. May 2017 · 14:38 UTC
Well, all I could do was 70, even with making notes. It's good to finally see a Compo entry, all I have played so far was Jam Games. How do you came up with such an original puzzle game ? I always wanted to create a puzzle game but I can't come up with anything new, I always feel like I just copying other games.
acotis
16. May 2017 · 19:06 UTC
Great idea! The pick/put sound provides nice feedback. One thing I found frustrating was the restrictions on where I can physically put things: I want to be able to put down a factory even if its requirements aren't met, so I can see how the board stands and what needs to happen next. I'd also like to be able to remove things (not just undo my moves). That said, very clever concept and if you ever feel like polishing it up I'd say go for it.
Jupiter_Hadley
18. May 2017 · 21:47 UTC
Challenging game! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxqXCwu79k