Terraforming Cookie Tower by Erendelous

[raw]
made by Erendelous for LD 42 (COMPO)

Help strange creature eat cookies and reach the top of the infinite Terraforming Tower

new2.gif

* Development tools: * - Unity 3D - Visual Studio - Bosco Ceoil - Photoshop

* Controls * - Use * W, A, S, D to move * - Spend your cookies in * shop * using the * "Buy" button *

So, that's my first Ludum Dare and I think it's pretty nice (for the 15 years-old-boy's first Ludum Dare):) Also, there are some trendy rogue-like/rogue-lite mechanics, that are pretty funny, and the * AMAZING * (maybe) soundtrack

* UPD * I published my game here https://erendelous.itch.io/terraforming-cookie-tower so I can regularly update it and make better there, like PostLD thing. Currently, I'm working on "global" update to publish it there.

* UPD 1.1 *

  • made using of the shop more comfortable with the * Space button *
  • made * tutorial * on the right side kinda * easier to understand *
  • enemies don't hug the exit now
  • bug fixes

* Enjoy! *

Ratings

Overall 704th 2.459⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Fun 690th 2.292⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 581th 2.729⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 515th 3.216⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 657th 2.297⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Audio 543th 2.069⭐ 38🧑‍⚖️
Humor 454th 1.933⭐ 32🧑‍⚖️
Mood 585th 2.145⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 34🗳️ 28🗨️

Feedback

lsummers
13. Aug 2018 · 06:03 UTC
The ZIP is actually a RAR file, so probably won't work for most people. The art style is great, and reminds me a lot of Guild of Dungeoneering, I was a little confused about how to play, but once I understood it I thought you nailed the theme. I enjoyed playing it :)
leviathon
13. Aug 2018 · 06:04 UTC
how many floors are there by the way?
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 06:06 UTC
@leviathon the tower is infinite, so it's kinda rogue-like/lite thing)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 06:08 UTC
@lsummers thanks, I'll fix the ZIP/RAR thing

** UPD ** fixed, now there should be ZIP archives
Mazzletov
13. Aug 2018 · 06:29 UTC
Wow, it was hard (?) as I didn't expect that and the respawn is pretty fast. I would have already died before I saw we restarted the game. Great work!
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 06:30 UTC
@mazzletov thanks for the feedback! Yeah, it's kinda hardcore)
Endurion
13. Aug 2018 · 06:33 UTC
It's kinda difficult and it feels esp. random. Either you're lucky and there's only a few enemies or you're dead meat.
Maybe make the first few floors a tad easier, and also slower to shrink would help.
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 06:36 UTC
@endurion thanks for the feedback! I'll think about it. To be honest, in the first version the main character was growing even faster and the prices in "shop" were kinda 20 and 10 cookies:)
Verbante
13. Aug 2018 · 07:40 UTC
Cool
Memel06
13. Aug 2018 · 07:41 UTC
Nice theme, the game is very challenging and hard to play!
Maybe the graphics needs some love (UI mainly) but hey, that's a 48h work, it's great!

Thanks for your work, and please give your idea some love working on a Post Jam version (maybe in WebGL!)

Have a nice day pal!
winnie33
13. Aug 2018 · 07:41 UTC
No idea if I'm missing something, but this game is really hard. 10% of the time I'll get past level one, but after that it's near impossible to get to level 3. The concept and upgrades all seem really fun but it's no use if the floor is gone after 3 seconds.

The idea with cookies is fun though, and I like the upgrades as well. If I actually had the time to buy them this game would be 10 times better :)

So, great game but sadly too hardcore for me.
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 07:46 UTC
@memel06 thanks! Yeah, WebGl version is pretty good idea)
Gulfick
13. Aug 2018 · 07:47 UTC
Is it endless game? If yes, maybe here need some score.
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 07:48 UTC
@winnie33 Yeah, it's really that hard, so you need to be pretty fast to reach the next level) Thanks for your feedback:)
Stillnotsure
13. Aug 2018 · 07:49 UTC
It's a really cool take on the theme. Only 1 life feels a bit harsh considering the random AI, sometimes you just get unlucky.
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 07:49 UTC
@gulfick yeah, it's endless. You can see the highest floor you've ever reached in the top left room corner)
winnie33
13. Aug 2018 · 07:51 UTC
@erendelous Ah, I just noticed on your gif! You don't _need_ to collect all the cookies on every floor (that was what I was doing). I got confused by the text next to the screen saying "... eating all :cookie: on the way". It goes a lot better now :)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 07:52 UTC
@stillnotsure it's kinda random, indeed. You know, in early version there were extra lifes, but they worked pretty bad. Right now I have new extra life idea, thanks to you:)maybe i'll add it later)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 07:54 UTC
@winnie33 :smile: yeah, you don't really need to eat ** ALL ** the cookies, it's just better if you want to spend them on something, but it's quite complicated to collect all the cookies on the floor and move to the next one :sweat_smile:
RavenFlame
13. Aug 2018 · 08:49 UTC
That's tricky. Love the idea, need to pray to the RNG gods before you play ha ha.
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 08:50 UTC
@ravenflame ha, yeah, something like that:)
TontonPizza
13. Aug 2018 · 10:57 UTC
good job for your first LD. all the comments are full of good advices. I ll just add that the music should not restart after each level, its killing the brain ^^ (or maybe that's how it loops)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 11:59 UTC
@tontonpizza it really restarts each level, that's because I made the music in last hours and, maybe, didn't really pay to it the attention it needs) Thanks for the feedback!
ngUpsiLoN
13. Aug 2018 · 15:25 UTC
Love the idea, but the game itself lacks feedback, and the movements of the ennemies are too random (sometimes you just can't reach the exit).

But once again I think it's a really interesting approach of the theme, GG o/ :D
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 15:29 UTC
@ngupsilon yeah, movements of the enemies are really kinda random, but it's because the gameplay shouldn't be too easy. I'll think about difficulty levels. Thanks for the feedback :smile:
ngUpsiLoN
13. Aug 2018 · 15:39 UTC
@erendelous yeah I understand :D but still, keep in mind that if difficulty come from random only, it feels unfair for the player. If I were you, I would try to find a way to make the game difficult without just being random (just adding more ennemies could do the trick) :smile:
XCVZXC
13. Aug 2018 · 15:53 UTC
Great game! its maybe slightly too random, but fun to play anyway
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 15:59 UTC
@xcvzxc Thanks for your feedback! Yeah, it's pretty random:)
thebmxeur
13. Aug 2018 · 16:29 UTC
Collision detection seems a bit off to me, also several time enemies just hug the exit letting no way to progress. Why not make the "buy" thing bound to "space" so it's easy to access ?
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 16:58 UTC
@thebmxeur ok, i'm currently working on update, so I'll add the space-button-using :) thanks for the idea)
Noam
13. Aug 2018 · 18:31 UTC
Good game, fun to play. I suggest adding a menu. Well done.
Chocolat-Endive
13. Aug 2018 · 18:33 UTC
It's quite difficult and random, but eating cookies is cool. With a gameover with high scores, it could be cool!
Allan Kong
13. Aug 2018 · 18:33 UTC
The sprites look crisp, the music and game gets a little repetitive over time.
Maybe add a variety of enemies and a different door location
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 18:34 UTC
@noam Thanks for your feedback:) I'll think about adding a menu)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 18:35 UTC
@chocolat-endive thanks for the feedback :smile: there's the highest floor you've ever reached on top left corner of the room, but I'll think about kinda gameover screen)
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 18:39 UTC
@allan-kong thanks for the feedback) Yeah, it's pretty cool idea about adding new enemies, maybe i'll add it later (if it isn't against the rules of compo about adding something to the published game)
Allan Kong
13. Aug 2018 · 18:52 UTC
@erendelous you can't change the game, but you can fix bugs
🎤 Erendelous
13. Aug 2018 · 18:54 UTC
@allan-kong or add something pretty small, but a variety of enemies and a different door aren't that small things. thanks for your feedback anyway, i hope you enjoyed the game :smile:
sankacoffee51
13. Aug 2018 · 22:52 UTC
It kinda hurts the eyes after passing levels one after the another, I reached level 35, but it was not very fun, I liked the concept of the shrinking world, but it's too fast-paced for me
Rilifon
13. Aug 2018 · 23:12 UTC
its quite a simple game. I would appreciate more if the bgm would loop instead of repeating everytime
amras0000
13. Aug 2018 · 23:41 UTC
I think everything I wanted to say has been said already but I'll just repeat it:
The game is way too easy. Ignore the cookies. Press "W", "D", "W" for about a second each, and win. Again and again. The instructions tell you to reach the "top" but I got to over 100 levels with no end in sight. And since the music resets at the start of each level I got treated to the first 1.5 seconds of your music over and over and over again, which started to annoy me a couple dozen levels in.

Small things you could do to fix the game: make the enemies start in random locations, rather than always at the center (just make sure they don't spawn on the player!). Make the music keep playing across levels, instead of restarting. Make the goal to collect cookies, rather than reach further levels. Make each consecutive level harder - faster enemies, more enemies, more cookies.

I don't think this is a bad game in design or in execution, but it's horribly broken right now, and the optimal strategy makes for really bad gameplay.

![level100.png](///raw/b39/1/z/188f4.png)
🎤 Erendelous
14. Aug 2018 · 05:24 UTC
@sankacoffee51 @rilifon @amras0000 thank you for invaluable feedback:) yeah, I know there are some problems with music and randomness, but, hey, I had only 48h) The tower doesn't really have the top right now, because the game is about rogue-like/lite experience. But I'll think about adding it. Collecting cookies was the main goal in the first version, that wasn't published, but, as for me, the gameplay was quite monotous. I think, that I can make some small changes here, so I'll make the update with some fixes as soon as I can (but, unfortunately, I can't add cookie highscore, because it's like new feature/big change). I hope you enjoyed the game :smile:
aaranos
14. Aug 2018 · 05:24 UTC
The updates put in kind of break the rules of the compo. Fixing bugs is good, but quality of life improvements are new additions not fixes. Please make use of versions to have one that was for the submission with whatever bug fixes are put in, and one for post ludum dare with new features if you continue to develop for it.
🎤 Erendelous
14. Aug 2018 · 05:27 UTC
@aaranos yeah, I think, I'll just publish my game on itch.io and leave here a link, so here will be just bug fixed LD version, and on itch.io I'll make important updates)
ZenriS
14. Aug 2018 · 12:01 UTC
Cool game and who don't like cookies. Think maybe the shrinking should smart slow and speed up the higher you go.
limered
14. Aug 2018 · 12:09 UTC
Cool. Sometimes i couldn't get the cookies because they were unter an enemy. I wish you good luck with your worldwide realease!
🎤 Erendelous
14. Aug 2018 · 12:09 UTC
@zenris nice idea, maybe, i'll add it to the game! Thanks for the feedback:)
🎤 Erendelous
14. Aug 2018 · 12:16 UTC
@limered thank you really much:) yeah, cookies sometimes are too close to enemies, I'm currently fixing that!
AwiX
15. Aug 2018 · 06:34 UTC
A good game idea, the music should be improved. The graphics are good.
But our game is better)))
🎤 Erendelous
15. Aug 2018 · 07:12 UTC
@awix strange comment, lol. I had 48h, not 72, and worked alone... But, hey, thanks, your game is not really bad, too:)
Nitin Kumar
17. Aug 2018 · 16:47 UTC
Good Game. Could be improved. Would be better if turn based but it would take away the frantic that it currently causes. Maybe give different spawns or a diminishing area in a different sense.
LastLeaf
17. Aug 2018 · 17:02 UTC
Quite challenging. I think first several levels should shrink slower. Anyway it is still nice and fun to play!
🎤 Erendelous
17. Aug 2018 · 18:35 UTC
@nitin-kumar thank you! turn-based system is too slow, and I want to make the gameplay as fast as it can be, but I'll think about different spawns :) Please, rate the game on itch.io, if you can)
🎤 Erendelous
17. Aug 2018 · 18:36 UTC
@lastleaf thanks) pretty good idea about slower shrinking on the first levels, maybe I'll add it :smile:
It would be amazing if you could rate the game on itch.io :)
n.feofentov
17. Aug 2018 · 20:22 UTC
Cool idea) I found bug: sometimes shop window is left on screen after passing the level. I guess it happens when level door and shop are close to each other. Good luck!
🎤 Erendelous
18. Aug 2018 · 05:25 UTC
@n-feofentov tahnks for the feedback! Yeah, there's that bug, I'll fix it in the next UPD:)
Irhileth
21. Aug 2018 · 19:38 UTC
The game time made me a little crazy. The screen shrinks very quickly to have enough time to read and choose what bonus the cookies gave me, and they are not very useful for a level so short.
Jazmin Giolito
21. Aug 2018 · 19:43 UTC
I think this is a nice idea, overall. I do think, as well, that there are some things to polish or reconsider, if you plan to continuing working on this game.
This is a quite hardcore game. Those are not my kind of games, tbh... but, even so, I played it for quite a long time.
My major observation has to do with audio. I like where you aimed for with the style, but I'd recommend to have the music looping "independently". That way, it wouldn't restart every time the player dies and the "scene" loads again.

Great entry!
🎤 Erendelous
22. Aug 2018 · 07:22 UTC
@irhileth @jazmin-giolito thank you for the feedback!) Yeah, cookies aren't really useful sometimes, I'm currently working on that problem. And I'm working on audio problems, too! In itch.io version, music isn't as crazy as it is in LD version