LudumData

City Surgeon by Bitoddgames

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

citytitle04.jpg

The City Builder genre meets the Arcade Claw Machine. WARNING: It's a little unstable and may crash. Download a desktop version for smoothness, better sound, and breathtaking shadows.

Build cities as part of Metro-archipelago’s cheapest construction firm. Can you place new houses with a low enough casualty rate for your legal team to handle? You had better hope so, because this work is paying for your daughter’s education. She’s got big dreams.

Mouse left and right to rotate the crane. Mouse forward and back to extend the crane. Right click to lower crane, Left click to raise it. Space to let go of the payload.

Good luck!

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Game by…
Alex Cap - Music, Sound and Design (everything you hear in game, except the screams)
Carl Larsson - Programming, Design, and Applied Engineering (the crane)
Dan Colman - Programming, Design, and Applied Psychology (he made the little people)
Jon Pulsipher - Programming, Design, and Voodoo (he spent hours on a bug that just disappeared. Was it all just a dream?)
Wyatt Strain - Art, Design, and Camera filters (bloom)

HTML5 (web) https://jonapulse.itch.io/crane-game-sim-city
Windows https://jonapulse.itch.io/crane-game-sim-city
macOS https://jonapulse.itch.io/crane-game-sim-city
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/city-surgeon

Ratings

Overall 75th 4.07⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Fun 29th 4.186⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 341th 3.628⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Theme 627th 3.558⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 181th 4.151⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Audio 122th 3.866⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 35th 4.186⭐ 45🧑‍⚖️
Mood 178th 3.8⭐ 42🧑‍⚖️
Given 42🗳️ 45🗨️

Feedback

metjm
24. Apr 2018 · 03:34 UTC
Fantastic game, well polished and fun. By far the best one i've played up until now.
fitz13
24. Apr 2018 · 03:36 UTC
Wow. That was really satisfying. And I totally missed where you said spacebar to drop cargo. That would have made my playthroughs more... safe.

I could watch the crane extend and retract all day. (Just like, 60 seconds tonight though, honest)

Aesthetically pleasing, controlled very well, and the music was on-point.

But most of all, it was fun.

Thanks, guys!
Sean Oneil
24. Apr 2018 · 03:44 UTC
That was really fun! The only issue I had was that pressing escape didn't free the mouse, and I had to force quit after I was done playing. (Windows)
nardandas
24. Apr 2018 · 04:04 UTC
I really liked the concept, but I was sad I only got three level! The control scheme was a bit difficult to use as you couldn't really tell how your mouse movement affect the crane exactly, but the game was fun anyway. I hope to see a few more levels of this.
Evan Leibman
24. Apr 2018 · 05:59 UTC
Overall I thought this was amazing for a Jam game, and a lot of fun to play. I actually wanted more when I was done. A few things feel like they can be refined, like how squirrely the crane is, especially being controlled by mouse, and how 'jumpy' the houses are (how easily the fling around on the end of the crane). It also could help to display the controls at the beginning of the game, as I had to do a little guesswork. The music, graphics, and gameplay all added up to a charming experience! I had a lot of fun wrecking the buildings on my second go through.
DraughtVader
24. Apr 2018 · 07:58 UTC
Fantastic game. Wanted more! :medal:
Arqcenick
24. Apr 2018 · 08:02 UTC
Well made game and polish!
One thing is the claw takes forever to stabilize, so it turned out to be a waiting game for some sections.
However the graphics are well made, well polished. The game mechanics makes sense and it has a skill based component.
heyycap
24. Apr 2018 · 08:05 UTC
@metjm @fitz13 @Sean Oneil @nardandas @Evan Leibman @DraughtVader

Thanks all for the amazing feedback so far! The original inspiration for the first half of the genre mashup was surgeon simulator, so it was kind of intentional that the controls are a bit squirrely, so it's not too easy to place the houses and really easy to accidentally knock the buildings over. That is where the fun happens!
Dekobii
24. Apr 2018 · 08:12 UTC
Great game! One of the best uses of theme, creates a fun and cohesive experience, and the game was well polished.
firellon
24. Apr 2018 · 08:14 UTC
That was really fun and polished, though crane is incredibly hard to control, and the house feels like it's made of some super light material
Good job guys!
TechnoNugget
24. Apr 2018 · 08:17 UTC
# Pros:

* lol
* tedious in the best way
* lawers are okay with 200 people dying from the construction of a house
* it was fun to actually try as well as mess around

# Cons:

* only 3 levels

I just want more levels. Game is actually pretty damn fun
heyycap
24. Apr 2018 · 08:31 UTC
@Arqcenick @Dekobii @firellon @TechnoNugget

Thanks so much for the thoughtful comments and for playing!
Darylsteak
24. Apr 2018 · 08:35 UTC
A very nicely done game that has nice, simple graphics and great gameplay . It was very nicely polished and I had quite the fun.
YinYin
24. Apr 2018 · 09:41 UTC
Hah. Actually nailed the very first gig without casualties. Just to rack up 242/200(?) acceptable after the fact.

0 on the second as well (and I'm amazed at how that's possible with those wonky physics!). Self preservation on the NPCs be blessed! (had to wait for quite a while on 3 shocked pedestrians to clear the site)

Unfortunately crashed on loading the third one, but it was fun never the less.
heyycap
24. Apr 2018 · 09:52 UTC
@YinYin I don't think they were expecting air-dropped houses.
Eldemarkki
24. Apr 2018 · 12:58 UTC
Cool! Very nice music and also I loved those cubic graphics.
Reivert
24. Apr 2018 · 13:04 UTC
Gleeful graphic and audio, great stuff guys.
Apart from the bug from the house being bounce and getting sideway, This game is rad af.
Corvin
24. Apr 2018 · 15:26 UTC
Nice artstyle and great game, really funny to play :D
For the next time: add more levels.
MaximBegunov
24. Apr 2018 · 16:18 UTC
Felt great both when trying to place a little house on the spot very carefully and when just spamming your mouse all across the table and destroying the whole level. Overall a fun game in which I couldn't find any major flaws in controls, graphics or design. Good job!
Anthony Krafft
24. Apr 2018 · 16:21 UTC
Fun, addictive, beautiful to look at. Please build upon it, this is a very solid game!
OccultOne
24. Apr 2018 · 16:38 UTC
I'll echo what others said and say that this was certainly fun and addicting, made it to the end and was a bit bummed there wasn't more, but I'm supposed to be working so this is for the best. Great job with graphics and the overall tone of the game.

I'd love to see this with controller support. A personal nitpick: Maybe swap to a blob projector rather than casting a shadow?
rainysolar
24. Apr 2018 · 17:09 UTC
Oh, I destroyed the whole city for building a small house. 10/10 :D
heyycap
24. Apr 2018 · 22:26 UTC
@YinYin The desktop versions should run without crashing.
heyycap
24. Apr 2018 · 22:26 UTC
@Reivert That's not a bug. ;-)
LandoSystems
25. Apr 2018 · 04:00 UTC
That's a great little game. Super silly, I really enjoyed it! I agree with others that this should be improved on, more levels other types of things to place, refined controls. Great work overall!
fasterthanlime
25. Apr 2018 · 09:46 UTC
This put me deep into debt for the next three centuries. Someone call more lawyers!
llq
25. Apr 2018 · 10:47 UTC
Sorry, I have to say. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice Game.Pretty fun, and you got a good idea, and graph.
microwerx
26. Apr 2018 · 04:47 UTC
Oh my!!! That was fantastic. When I squashed someone with the house, I gasped! Bravo, well done sir.
Human
26. Apr 2018 · 07:51 UTC
I had fun with destroying the buildings. Controls are confusing after several tries I still not able to control the machine properly.
Artur Hawkwing
26. Apr 2018 · 07:51 UTC
This is awesome! Not at all easy, but honestly that made it better. Great job :)
Amazura
26. Apr 2018 · 23:26 UTC
well.. I burn out the whole city for a single small house :laughing: . It's really awesome! good idea and gameplay, I like the graphics as well. Nice work guys!
Dovakla
27. Apr 2018 · 18:10 UTC
This is pretty fun. It's short and sweet and very unique. Swinging the crane around feels satisfying, even though it's intentionally difficult.

I think it would probably help a lot if the player could rotate the camera around the city. I think it also should probably use a perspective projection, since making it orthographic makes it very hard to judge distances.

Good job!
joemid
29. Apr 2018 · 21:14 UTC
Gorgeous, challenging, fun, and hilarious! You had me at the title, and the game gives so much more. Love the little idiots running around and all the sound fx. Thanks for delivering! Being able to trash the block after endgame is also a great idea. One of the best I've played; for sure. Thanks again for the game!
SecretPocketCat
03. May 2018 · 22:20 UTC
Killing 249 people? That's OK. Dropping the house into the ocean? Can't have that!
The game is hillarious, the music is really nice and fits the gameplay really well and the visuals are truly great.

Nitpicks:
* pressing ESC to show the cursor doesn't seem to work
* the controls coupled with the angle are a bit of a hassle (which's probly the point)
* the crane/house sometimes bugs out and flies all over the place for a few seconds
* gotta agree w/ the others - want more than just 3 levels
cristiano.m.garcia
06. May 2018 · 20:31 UTC
Good job! Cool game!

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