We used to be Neighbours by axoona

[raw]
made by axoona for LD34 (COMPO)
We used to be neighbours
A game about growing walls
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Red and Blue have been neighbours for ages.
But Red territory is so small and they are so many, they pass into Blue territory.
Blue need Red because they generate money, but they are also afraid of them.
You play as the leader of the Blue people.
Are you going to follow these fears to earn power...
Or are you going to try something different?

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Build your wall as big as you can, enroll soldiers, shoot at Red..
But the real objective of the game as you have probably guessed is to find an alternative solution...

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Instructions are in game. Click Instructions in the main menu.
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EDIT : If you wish some spoilers on the alternative ending, check out the game news on GameJolt
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Tools used:

Game developped in FlashDevelop in ActionScript
Graphics with Sketchbook and Gimp
Animation with Spriter
Sound with LMMS, Audicity and sfxr

The nastiest memory leaks were unfortunately corrected a few hours after the compo submission deadline when I had some sleep (1.0.5)

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version 1.0.6 adds trophies and high scores to the game (on GameJolt)

you can download the original 1.0.5 version from Drive.

If you miss alternative ending please check out the soudtrack!

EDIT : Arrg.. there was a horible bug in 1.0.6 in kongregate version which I uploaded post compo related to kong statistics which no longer work.. it should be all right now

EDIT : version 1.0.7 added description of the game mechanics in the instructions screen
version 1.0.8 adds medals on newgrounds

Ratings

Coolness 71% 3
Overall 2.89 767
Audio 2.68 454
Fun 2.46 864
Graphics 2.46 786
Humor 2.89 246
Innovation 3.00 571
Mood 3.09 384
Theme 3.06 857

Feedback

jamaster96
15. Dec 2015 · 12:44 UTC
Confusing game.
xodene
15. Dec 2015 · 19:32 UTC
Could be a good game but unfortunately it's too rough in its current state. The tutorial didn't really assist much and the text would fade away too quickly for me to read. Also the controls weren't really defined in it. That along with the clutered visuals made it hard to decipher the purpose of the game.
in3orn
15. Dec 2015 · 19:33 UTC
Nice try to educate people :)
joekinglake
15. Dec 2015 · 19:54 UTC
A little confusing, but could see this working as a cute game with a few more tweaks! Well done for completing :)
adsilcott
15. Dec 2015 · 19:56 UTC
though I never found the best way, it made me think about alternative ways to approach the problems. There's the potential for some nice social commentary in a system like this.
ohmmus
15. Dec 2015 · 21:55 UTC
Played for a while trying to figure out what the alternative solution is. I couldn't figure it out though. Care to share the spoilers?
RedBricksStudio
15. Dec 2015 · 21:57 UTC
Of course the graphics could be improved, but it's a Jam game.

I feel that, although the way of conveying hte message was original and fun in some ways, in some ways it's a bit too blunt. I think that this could be improved just by giving the player some more time to realize what the game means before jumping to the game over screen.

Besides that, nice game!
fxtagn
15. Dec 2015 · 22:20 UTC
Idea looks iteresting for me, i'v played 5 games, but cann't investigate any way to something like balance...
BubuIIC
15. Dec 2015 · 22:22 UTC
I liked the game. I also got the better solution, which I don't want to spoil here.
I did not really understand why my people were getting unhappy, even if I got rid of all the reds, if they are afraid of them.
🎤 axoona
15. Dec 2015 · 22:30 UTC
Hi thank's for your comments!
I have put a spoiler and hint on gamejolt news page
as for the points adn hapiness mechanics:
- you lose points when the red cross your teritory
- and you lose hapiness for two reasons :
if there is not enough money per citizen and when killing the Red (even though the Bleu are afraid of the Bleu, they are also afraid of the killings happening just next door or in their country..)
qkerguelen
15. Dec 2015 · 22:47 UTC
It's rare to see a multiending game! GG for that. Also it was quite fun and i liked the story behind it! Good job!
🎤 axoona
15. Dec 2015 · 23:03 UTC
aie, I didn't finish that comment...
continuing on game mechanics:
- you win points while building up your power: building the walls, killing the Red and enrolling the soldiers
- and the hapiness grows steadily when you have at least 5 coins per citizen (military and non military)
- the soldiers do not generate any value so they do not generate coins. only the non military do.

I hope you find this comment useful!
piper82
17. Dec 2015 · 21:18 UTC
very rough but conveying powerful message
Aglavra
17. Dec 2015 · 21:30 UTC
I liked the message of this game, but I cannot say I liked the gameplay much, and I don't see much connection with the themes.
danidre14
17. Dec 2015 · 22:51 UTC
A bit hard to understand at the first try. Nice game, however.
Picking a username is hard
17. Dec 2015 · 22:55 UTC
I found the secret :) I left a longer response on newgrounds as FSt-Germain
Muel
18. Dec 2015 · 22:33 UTC
That was so cute =)

I wish world was so simple.
drludos
22. Dec 2015 · 20:30 UTC
Very interesting game! I like the concept and "real-world message" behind it. I actually ended up with the better solution on my first run, so It's not that hard to find ;)

I think the game may need some additional balancing for all players to really understand the meaning of the game. In one run, I choose to recruit about 5-6 soldiers and to shoot manually all the red that were going in. The happiness decreased a little, but then got back to 100 quickly as the money rolled in. But after a few minutes, the game over screen appeared telling me I didn't use the best solution, while my current in game score could let me think that this was indeed the *right* choice.

But anyway, congrats on putting a game both fun to play and thought-provoking!
alliel_a
25. Dec 2015 · 11:41 UTC
nice game
LeReveur
31. Dec 2015 · 16:24 UTC
With a little adjustment on the balance, I think it would be a great game, but wathever strategy I tried, I'm surrounded pretty fast. ^^
Nicolas Gass
01. Jan 2016 · 17:51 UTC
Nice Game.
Big Cow
04. Jan 2016 · 22:00 UTC
Interesting concept. Over complex rules which take away from the fun. Great music!
kardfogu
04. Jan 2016 · 22:07 UTC
Ohhh my, this game is goofy, but it does teach a lesson to people they tend to forget nowadays. All hands down for the developer. I demand respect for this man!

Keep up the good work!

- Kardfogú
DrZanuff
30. Aug 2016 · 16:48 UTC
I Liked the game. But the old phone part was just too much boring and slow, and I think this is the purpose of the game, to show how was the technology back then, and we were all used to it. Nice man!