Need For Seed: Undergrowth by RhythmLynx

made by RhythmLynx for LD34 (COMPO)

Direct the growth of vines to avoid lawnmowers. If you run out of seeds, fly the bee to lots of flowers to pollinate them for more. Try to survive as long as possible!

I used both the 'Growing' and 'Two Button Controls' themes. I made this game in/for the wonderful PICO-8 fantasy console by Lexaloffle Games, you should check it out - http://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

Source is available from the itch.io page.

=== Update v1.1
Post-compo version with lots of improvements based on all the great feedback I've been getting in the comments, thanks a lot everyone! There's a changelog included with the updated version.

=== Let's Plays!
Some awesome people have been streaming/recording their impressions of LD games, mine included! Big thanks to these folk for giving feedback and helping spread the word.
- killswitch423 did a whole video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBY6bV8YWI
- Lars K streamed it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U397JBUuDWg&feature=youtu.be&t=7m15s
- Alvaro_as streamed it http://www.twitch.tv/alvaro_as/v/30132917 (jump to 04:03:47)
- Wasteland Dan recorded his impressions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqxXORTP7Gs&feature=youtu.be&t=1m32s
- ShaunJS streamed it http://www.twitch.tv/shaunjs/v/30293633 (01:33:35)
- ArchonTheWizard streamed it http://www.twitch.tv/archonthewizard/v/30288965 (03:06:00)
- Jupiter_Hadley gave her impressions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8PM6O3S2Ao&t=6m2s

HTML post-compo (itch.io)	http://rhythmlynx.itch.io/need-for-seed
HTML original (PICO-8 forum)	http://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=2891&autoplay=1#pp
Timelapse (YouTube)	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UnzuhcYywM
GIF Timeline (Ludum Dare ;)	http://ludumdare.com/compo/2015/12/15/gif-timeline/
Post-mortem	http://codetrip.weebly.com/blog/ludum-dare-34-need-for-seed-undergrowth
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=39966

Ratings

Coolness	97%	2
Overall	3.63	193

Audio	3.12	258
Fun	3.48	249
Graphics	3.53	261
Humor	2.82	275
Innovation	3.71	161
Mood	3.31	262
Theme	4.30	54

Feedback

jcmonkey

14. Dec 2015 · 03:41 UTC

nice little game. the lawnmower coming off screen was nice

zatch

14. Dec 2015 · 04:14 UTC

Cute, fun!

pvwradtke

14. Dec 2015 · 04:15 UTC

Now that's a nice twist on the classic snake game. Loved the retro arcade game feeling, sound effects included. Took me a while to figure out the controls, but once I did it, I was having a lot of fun! :)

JamesMowery

14. Dec 2015 · 04:18 UTC

This is pretty cool! I like the concept. The only improvement I would suggest is giving a little bit more of a visual indicator of where you're going to start sprouting next, as sometimes you waste some time trying to figure out where you are (also gets worse as more elements are on the screen). But other than that, I really enjoyed it. Kudos to you!

Halleflux

14. Dec 2015 · 04:18 UTC

The basic idea is very solid, but it was almost entirely luck based. I kept feeling like I never had any chance of doing anything in it, which isn't a good feeling to have.
Beyond that, though, solid graphics, nice sounds, and a good job implementing both themes rather well.
Great work!

takemikazuchi545

14. Dec 2015 · 05:14 UTC

Nice game, I really liked the sound effects. High points for mood for sure.

BloodJohn

14. Dec 2015 · 05:42 UTC

the sounds and graphics made to feel nostalgic. I couldn't understand anything, the game is overloaded with functionality. need tutorial or hints. how do I win?

irwatts

14. Dec 2015 · 05:47 UTC

Great presentation! I was unclear of my goals until the game over screen, but still enjoyed the experience.

Duobix

14. Dec 2015 · 06:05 UTC

Too much text for me-explaining things-and the constantly dissapearing vine made me curious WTF was going on :D I don't know if this was planned or not.

salmonmoose

14. Dec 2015 · 06:29 UTC

I feel like it was a little arbitrary how successful you could be.

BoUnDtOtHeEaRtH

14. Dec 2015 · 06:43 UTC

Nice game!

mukult

14. Dec 2015 · 06:54 UTC

Nice art and fun gameplay!!

John Drury

14. Dec 2015 · 09:01 UTC

Fantastic! Really enjoyed this. The concept has potential to be a mobile game.

NuSan

14. Dec 2015 · 10:44 UTC

Cool game, I like that you have a plant phase and a bee phase. Having feedback on where landmower and next plant/bee will spawn could let you plan instead of react to luck.

_stice

14. Dec 2015 · 14:25 UTC

Lovely game. I love everything about it! The audio, the simple, striking art, even how messy the screen gets as you keep playing.

laFunk

14. Dec 2015 · 14:28 UTC

Super awesome! Quite engaging; I didn't understand what I was doing for the first minute but I was already engaged. Brought me back some child memories for real. Super cool retro feel!

Decentsauce

14. Dec 2015 · 15:08 UTC

Sprouted for 134 seconds! :) This game is fun. Played for multiple rounds.

Ildfuglen

14. Dec 2015 · 15:27 UTC

Cool game! Got a bit cluttered as you progressed but I had fun, the graphics were great, the audio was okay and this is a nice little timewaster with pleasing aesthetics.

Thank you for your game, hope to see your games in the future as well!

jamaster96

14. Dec 2015 · 15:47 UTC

Hard to play.

Kapura

14. Dec 2015 · 16:31 UTC

Absolutely fantastic. The dual modes of play was a wonderful way to spice up the common two-button steering pattern of this compo, and the random vehicle coming in and destroying everything in its path kept the game from becoming overly strategic with the flower patterns. One of the absolute best I've played so far.

qbicfeet

14. Dec 2015 · 16:51 UTC

Love it! Very replayable with a nice level of depth to it, it's fun figuring out what strategies work and don't.

wilsk

14. Dec 2015 · 18:27 UTC

Nice work! Fun to play and a good retro feel. Thanks

Hegemege

14. Dec 2015 · 18:46 UTC

Both audio and visuals in similar retro theme, nice! Took me a few tries to understand how the game works, a sense of success after getting a nice combo :)

tgrehawi

14. Dec 2015 · 20:11 UTC

Love it. Pico 8 is really charming (though I must curse you for introducing me to a new way to sink my time with Lua) and the lawnmower reminds me of duck hunt dog with its frustration induction. Great work!

icereci

14. Dec 2015 · 21:37 UTC

My beautiful flowers died a lot :)

Optimus6128

14. Dec 2015 · 23:01 UTC

I didn't understand at first, having my growing plants for so very short time but later I got it and it was very addictive.

nunesbarbosa

14. Dec 2015 · 23:41 UTC

Great game, very innovative and challenging

diest

15. Dec 2015 · 04:34 UTC

Pretty well designed and very unique. I enjoyed it!

walaber

15. Dec 2015 · 04:37 UTC

awesome entry! great interpretation of (both!) themes, and just overall really well done. I love pico-8 games :)

lXxGarrisonxXl

15. Dec 2015 · 04:51 UTC

My friend just sent me a link about PICO-8 last week. good job on the game

Acerio

15. Dec 2015 · 06:06 UTC

Replayed this game several times it was really fun!

AdamAlexander

15. Dec 2015 · 06:46 UTC

Nice game, hard to get your head around initially.

Gamepopper

15. Dec 2015 · 13:36 UTC

Love the use of tank/vehicle controls to set where the plant grows. Game flows really well, very simple but very challenging!

justinooncx

15. Dec 2015 · 13:50 UTC

Pretty interesting game! Took me a while to figure out what was happening, though, and the randomness made it pretty hard.

anael

15. Dec 2015 · 14:19 UTC

Nice :) the plants falling reminded me of Fruity Frank on Amstrad, thanks!

SkullPixel

15. Dec 2015 · 14:24 UTC

Really cool idea!

SidewalkSleeper

15. Dec 2015 · 14:25 UTC

I really like this idea. It's neat, simple and immersive. Well done!

fullmontis

15. Dec 2015 · 15:24 UTC

A very well done and challenging game, I really enjoyed it.

I agree with others that having an indicator on where you are going would make the game a little easier. But to me that is the only gripe I have.

recursor

15. Dec 2015 · 15:35 UTC

Quite an interesting and original take on the theme to take it back to the old school arcade feel. Nice job.

BubsyPoochies

15. Dec 2015 · 15:46 UTC

I like the idea a lot, and it's kind of philosophical.
You want to replay it all the time to try and get better results and that's good. However the randomness feels kind of unfair.

Good job overall :)

GoodwolfStudio

15. Dec 2015 · 16:22 UTC

This has the perfect retro feeling. At first I didn't understand the controls/game mechanic at all (the movement kind of wasn't visible enough), but when you get trhough that it's a nice little game.

tedling

15. Dec 2015 · 16:28 UTC

Very cool game. Pico-8 is something I still have to try out for myself. The one thing that you missed: Handling what happens if the player moves out of the viewable area.

Dyn

15. Dec 2015 · 17:15 UTC

very cute pixel art and interesting idea

Jwatt

15. Dec 2015 · 17:28 UTC

A thousand points for the name alone. Bookmarked so I can try this after finals week.

Taffaz

15. Dec 2015 · 17:47 UTC

Cool game, took a bit of getting used to but enjoyed it.

Gravity Games

15. Dec 2015 · 18:34 UTC

Really nice game, it reminds me of Atari 2600 games. The sound effects were pretty nice, it was fun to play, and I admittedly laughed at more than one of the puns on the title screen. However, some elements of the game were not quite clear at first, most notably the pollination.

AthenaOfDelphi

15. Dec 2015 · 20:08 UTC

An all round nice game that's fun to play. Great job!

Zeezgames

15. Dec 2015 · 22:03 UTC

I liked this retro feel and the game was fun although took me a while to get used to :)

Well Done!!

pjimmy

15. Dec 2015 · 22:40 UTC

awesome, cool game, love the vintage effects

DrTeaSpoon

16. Dec 2015 · 02:04 UTC

Cute :3

alvarop

16. Dec 2015 · 04:41 UTC

This had a very arcade-y feel, solid gameplay - although a bit cryptic at first - and nice game design ideas.

I enjoyed playing it, a lot. However, I felt like the placement of the vines and bees was a bit random and sometimes it would cause the game to be unfair. Besides that minor inconvinience, I think this is a solid game!

Trasevol_Dog

16. Dec 2015 · 14:48 UTC

Really nice gameplay, had fun :3

Archonthewizard

16. Dec 2015 · 23:08 UTC

Interesting idea. Became more fun once I got the hang of it. Could be more intuitive and less deterministic though.

KZdev

16. Dec 2015 · 23:11 UTC

I had a lot of fun playing this

KunoNoOni

17. Dec 2015 · 03:30 UTC

The graphics for this game took me back to an earlier time when games were about gameplay and not flashy graphics. This is a beautiful game full of simple yet engaging gameplay. Well done!

Webravenz

17. Dec 2015 · 16:25 UTC

I don't understand everything but it's was fun !

Adam Gould

17. Dec 2015 · 23:55 UTC

That was really well made!

Joror

18. Dec 2015 · 00:10 UTC

Cool little game. Had some time figuring it out a bit. The screen gets a little too cluttered at times to see where I am. All-in-all pretty nifty.

oz2mura

18. Dec 2015 · 02:43 UTC

I was hooked once I figured out what to do. Devising strategies to how to get the most out of each run. I bunched up flowers together, only to be foiled by the lawn mower. Wanted to keep playing, but I has more games to rate!

my best score. :o http://i.imgur.com/1Jikuhe.png

Overall awesome!

pianoman373

18. Dec 2015 · 06:42 UTC

Nice arcade theme. The font is kinda hard to read though.

Efuvex

18. Dec 2015 · 07:03 UTC

Hmm nice graphics. Probably most drawn to it by the humour ahaha :) Got 75 seconds (is that how highscores work?)

Jod

18. Dec 2015 · 07:54 UTC

Supercute, loved the graphical density! Took me a while to figure out what to do!

Larzan

18. Dec 2015 · 08:58 UTC

Nice idea of a snakesk-game, good look, but i didn't really understand the mechanics, the time ran off so fast...

KayZ

18. Dec 2015 · 14:11 UTC

Very nice game. Played it several times. Survived for 154 seconds in my last game. The post compo version has some nice additions.

Zanzlanz

19. Dec 2015 · 04:50 UTC

Very cool idea for the theme! I like how the role of RNG adds a skill mechanic to the game. Feels pretty balanced!

Excellent job!

batmanasb

19. Dec 2015 · 06:45 UTC

All the dead plants make it hard to seed (pun intended). It's a nice little game, really grows on you.

Jwatt

19. Dec 2015 · 15:52 UTC

A fairly unique experiment on using both themes, but it's very RNG as a game.

It feels very much like an arcade game, thanks to the whole PICO-8 environment. (I'll translate this to a high mood score.)

20. Dec 2015 · 12:28 UTC

This is great! It feels good and like a real game, and the difficulty is right where it rewards a little practice. Sometimes having unlucky spawns can feel pretty unfair, though.

aemiliu5

20. Dec 2015 · 14:03 UTC

Need for Seed: Most Planted :P

Drauthius

22. Dec 2015 · 00:38 UTC

Was a bit confusing at first, maybe something could have been made to indicate what the player is controlling.

Jonathan Whiting

30. Dec 2015 · 17:37 UTC

Nice little thing, the timeouts felt a little harsh.

Jupiter_Hadley

31. Dec 2015 · 20:01 UTC

Really neat, little game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/i8PM6O3S2Ao

Guard13007

04. Jan 2016 · 19:41 UTC

My only problem with this is that the randomness of spawning fucks me over a lot, especially when I spawn off screen going away from the screen and literally have no way to fix that. o.o