No Food Nomads by ScalphaMission
Over time many great civilizations have risen and then inevitably fallen, including the one we know today. The true year is unknown and earth, known to the current civilization as Narkanear, is in a state of ruination. Solar bursts have devastated the once lush planet and turned the over-world into a desolate wasteland. Somewhere along the path of time a previous civilization built the Hollows across the globe to mitigate the effects of the Solar bursts. These Hollows were an attempt to try build a sustainable future for humanity by preserving renewable food sources. However, these Hollows that were once considered a bastion of hope have evolved into an inescapable danger filled with aggressively sentient food. The secrets of how they were built, and their true purpose, are lost to the current civilization and they are now only viewed as an exhaustible source of nourishment…
As a Hollow nears depletion the people who live within them split into nomadic tribes and journey out in search of a new Hollow to inhabit. Not all tribes are successful in locating a new Hollow and perish. Those who are fortunate enough to find one start with nothing and must strive to sustain their survival. These groups are led by an individual best suited to face the dangers that the Hollows present, a Foodie. The Foodie is responsible for delving into the Hollow and procuring provisions for the tribe. Should a Foodie not return, a new tribe member takes up the mantle.
Your tribe has successfully located a Hollow and as the Foodie you must delve into the depths and ensure your tribes survive. Will you be able to unlock the secret while you are there…?
| Youtube | https://scalphamission.itch.io/nomads |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/no-food-nomads |
Ratings
| Overall | 238th | 3.786⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 172th | 3.768⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 140th | 3.839⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 278th | 3.714⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 507th | 3.607⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 283th | 3.536⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 531th | 2.78⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 209th | 3.815⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 17🗳️ | 26🗨️ |
In any case, super cool idea, it'd be neat to see it expanded upon.
@purpoappo The randomness of the generation sometimes leads to unforgiving maps, however, if you prioritize methodical navigation you should be able to make it to the bottom for an alternative ending!
@pinosaur We were wanting to use something minimalistic so as to not take away from the room bordering. In hindsight we probably should have went for a black outline or something similar so it contrasted better.
@philomory In essence, the villagers are your spare lives. It may not have been noticable, but when you die you "become" one of the villagers and a grave is left. So you can choose to run all the way through, without giving a thought to food, but you will end up with less villagers at the end. There is no real consequence with whatever method you choose. If you are interested in playing for a challenge I'd recommend trying to reach the bottom with all 10 villagers alive.
You have to understand what to face and when, and how the inventory works, which I learned more and more about over time.
It's a pretty interesting and fun game once you're into it! Just the mood and music is a little dark, especially if you play it longer. ^^"
@bredera Thanks!
Not standard game controls, but after a few minutes they feel ok. I definitely like this game, good work!
@dib Themetically you should think of it as if you were the last survior. Since when your Foodie dies another member of the tribe takes their place. Congrats on reaching the bottom!
@porocyonak That was a design error. Originally we were planning on having an interactive tutorial which would guarantee 10 food on the first delve, however, time constraints and other issues got in the way. It's possible to get 10 and keep everyone alive as you reach the bottom, but it requires a bit of RNG to get the correct layout.
@scalliondelight Thanks for the feedback, we'll keep that in mind on our next entry.
Though I dislike that you have to select the upgrades everytime you go down. Whenever I went back I wanted to go down immeadiately instead of selecting the updates one by one. It would probably also be good to make the player start on at the first row actually containing something having to go through emptiness everytime is also making it a bit boring.
@brandon-anderson Thanks for the feedback on the audio :)! If you are interested in future games you can follow us on itch.io [https://rainetheglutton.itch.io/ and/or https://scalphamission.itch.io/].
Anyway, I loved the concept (and the Scott character haha) and played a couple of times (I reached the end one time!). It would be a great Post Jam game, congratulations!
@ryuu The controls were a limitation of a second jam that we entered (Mini Jam 38) which required us to only use the arrow keys as controls. The wrap around you are describing was an unintended bug that we didn't notice until after the end of the Jam. Since it wasn't gamebreaking and still limited the player to two options we opted to not release a post-jam bugfix. Glad you enjoyed the game and were able to reach the bottom successfully. How many of your tribemates did you have remaining?
@alexascher Glad you enjoyed the game. Were you able to reach the bottom?