LudumData

Bouncy Battlegrounds by Sergei

[raw]
made by Sergei for Ludum Dare 46 (COMPO)

:exclamation: THE INFO ABOUT GAME CONTROLS AND OBJECTIVES IS BELOW THE SCREENSHOTS! :exclamation:

:exclamation: PLEASE, READ THE INFO FOR A BETTER GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE! :exclamation:

LD46 image3.png LD46 image1.png

Long live the king! Survive the battles and ambushes, keep the king alive!

How to play (controls): - Alt + F4 - Exit game (For Windows); - Escape - Restart battle; - Scroll Mouse Wheel - Camera Zoom In/Out; - WASD/Arrow keys - Drag Camera (For all platforms/browsers including Firefox!); - Hold Mouse Wheel Button and Drag - Drag Camera (Not for Firefox! See comments below.); - Click with Left Mouse Button on a player squad, Drag to prepare movement direction and Release the button to move the squad: LD46 image2.png

Win Conditions: - King captured the flag; - All AI squads defeated.

Lose Conditions: - King is defeated; - All player squads defeated.

Known issues (can not be fixed during the event due to the rules): - An attacking squad may take damage from the defending squad first which affects the attacking squad units count ant therefore attacking power; - Squad attacking power does not reset on movement stop, it resets only on squad collision which brings more unbalance to the game considering the above issue (the defending squad may defeat the initiative attacking squad quite randomly); - Camera is not restricted, so you may get lost the dark and never find your way to the battleground view.

Changelog:

  • [HOTFIX] Drag camera with WASD/arrow keys to handle Firefox blackscreen issue dragging with mouse wheel - commit

Dev Posts:

1) Meet Bouncy Battlegrounds! My first ever LD entry!

2) More information on Bouncy Battlegrounds

Youtube https://github.com/Artemyev-Sergei/LD46
Youtube https://artemyev-sergei.itch.io/ld46-bouncy-battlegrounds
Youtube https://artemyev-sergei.itch.io/ld46-bouncy-battlegrounds
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/bouncy-battlegrounds

Ratings

Overall 663th 3.295⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Fun 296th 3.58⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 155th 3.83⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Theme 848th 3.227⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1015th 2.284⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Humor 814th 2.027⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Mood 937th 2.527⭐ 39🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 58🗨️

Feedback

rsim
20. Apr 2020 · 04:02 UTC
Not really playable unfortunately - the middle mouse drag to supposedly move the camera just scrolls the web page, and left the game screen completely black.
🎤 Sergei
20. Apr 2020 · 04:25 UTC
@rsim, that's unfortunate, thanks for letting me know!

Could you toggle the Full-Screen mode? I think Full-Screen mode might help. Is a toggle button viewable to you? That's how the toggle button looks for me (it's a little bit "Hide and Seek"): ![FullScreenToggleButton.png](///raw/0dd/2/z/2d084.png)

I also click inside the game view at the start to remove focus from the web page, so my mouse input could be processed by the game only. This may help, too. Let me know if it helps, please.
watswat5
20. Apr 2020 · 04:56 UTC
The middle mouse glitch happens even in fullscreen. The concept is really cool though, I can see this being very strategic.
rsim
20. Apr 2020 · 05:00 UTC
Nope, almost the same result in fullscreen mode unfortunately - doesn't scroll the webpage at least, but does immediately make the screen completely black. This is on Windows/Firefox.
🎤 Sergei
20. Apr 2020 · 05:35 UTC
@rsim, @watswat5, thanks, downloaded Firefox and faced the same issue. Commited hotfix to support dragging camera with WASD/arrow keys. Published updated version on itch.io with the hotfix (see changlelog). It helped to resolve the issue for me on Firefox if you ignore mouse wheel completely. Let me know if it helps you as well, please.

I was using Opera all the time (it's fine there for me). Did not see that browser-specific thing coming. = )
ilPrinny
20. Apr 2020 · 06:35 UTC
really enjoyed this one! The game started to click when I realized how good using the 10 groups to push the king. When the levels started looping I was able to clear early levels with ease once I figures that out! I did have some issues when dragging units in a corner, if I started draging with no space them moved the camera towards the corner they where in, I wouldnt be able to aim in certain directions. good entry
🎤 Sergei
20. Apr 2020 · 07:02 UTC
@ilprinny, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you liked it! I think I could reproduce the issue you mentioned. I'll see what I can do with this some time later. Thanks for letting me know!
JonahSenzel
20. Apr 2020 · 09:24 UTC
great mechanics, could definitely use some explanation here or on the page on exactly how the numbers work, different troops etc.
MickM
20. Apr 2020 · 09:44 UTC
Very unique concept, I dont think I have ever seen this kind of mechanic. A little counterintuitive and would benefit significantly from some new player experience consideration but I really have that mechanic stuck in my head now.
Kept me engaged for a few runs, certainly the beginnings of something very unique. Would love to see this taken further!!
mlho7
20. Apr 2020 · 12:53 UTC
Great entry, really fun, million ways to win or lose, when you start it's hard to stop, really nice work.
Seagull
20. Apr 2020 · 13:07 UTC
Wow, nice one! Once I realise that you can push the king it was an easy game :)
Drag sometimes does not work when you are dragging offscreen.

Didn't quite get the math behind the battle. I think it's "more troops win with less casaulties", but sometimes 32 vs 32 gives like 20, and sometimes 10..
🎤 Sergei
20. Apr 2020 · 18:26 UTC
@jonahsenzel, @seagull, thank you for your feedback, guys! I decided to create a separate post on the game details: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/bouncy-battlegrounds/more-information-on-bouncy-battlegrounds Hope the post answers your questions!

@mickm, @mlho7, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you liked it!
Nick Barrash
20. Apr 2020 · 20:09 UTC
Dang this was an awesome game! It was fun trying to like ricochet armies of each other to make multiple attacks in a single move. Rock Paper Scissors worked well. I thought this brought a lot of really interesting elements together. Nice job. One piece of feedback was I didn't realize I had another army in the lower right hand corner on the first level because it was covered by the turn info.
🎤 Sergei
20. Apr 2020 · 22:50 UTC
@nick-barrash, I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, I think the first level should and can be better designed to avoid such cases because it's kind of a tutorial level, first of all. Thank you for your feedback!
Itskdog
20. Apr 2020 · 23:52 UTC
Cool idea for a game. Liked pushing the enemies and figuring out how to get the king to the flag.
tomdeal
21. Apr 2020 · 00:07 UTC
A very unusual idea for a game. This has a lot of potential, I liked it. Sometimes I was not sure why my army was losing with more or losing with less men, but it was very strategic nonetheless. Good entry!
acgaudette
21. Apr 2020 · 05:10 UTC
well done minimal prototype here. this has strong potential for a worked out release! keep up the good work
Shaolin Dave
21. Apr 2020 · 05:44 UTC
Certainly is a new gameplay mechanic. I could see these controls for something like a slingshot, or rolling a ball.
I think it'd be better if opposing units were more visibly distinguishable, but you can definitely build this into something more.
chertkov
21. Apr 2020 · 07:31 UTC
Although I usually don't enjoy strategies, I really had fun with this one thanks to the bouncing mechanic. Very solid entry.
🎤 Sergei
21. Apr 2020 · 18:13 UTC
@itskdog, @tomdeal, @acgaudette, @shaolin-dave, @chertkov, thank you for your feedback, guys! I'm glad you liked it!
SvartTand
23. Apr 2020 · 10:55 UTC
Really nice game! Here is the video of me playing it:

https://youtu.be/7JqY8UHaYJg

The game starts zoomed in so it took a while before i understood that and then it took a while before I understood that i can actually move the king. So some instructions on what to do in the game would be great. Then if a unit was in the corner you could not give it maximum amount of speed as the mouse hit the corner of the screen so you could somehow fix so that the mouse can be moved further than the game screen. The concept was really nice and i liked it but some audio would really have helped and some nice graphics would not have been bad either. A small thing that many forget is screen shake, I could see it working here also it adds very much to the game feel and is easy to implement.

But all in all i really liked this game and find these kinds of games really fun.
🎤 Sergei
23. Apr 2020 · 13:38 UTC
@svarttand, thank you for your text and video feedback! The video helps greatly!

Now I'm sure that I should have actually added some text info explaining the game controls and objectives in the game itself. = ( I decided to put the instructions in the game description here and on itch.io but I did not properly highlighted them as it turned out. I'll highlight the text info (it seems I am not permitted to add it in the game now due to the rules, so I will not change the game)! It is really important to the gameplay experience indeed. Thank you for letting me know!
Duke
23. Apr 2020 · 18:28 UTC
Couldn't really get much fun out of this, I'm afraid. The art was very much reduced to almost nothing and the gameplay loop and it's rules were a little too intransparent and obscure for my taste. I never was sure, what would happen if one army was hitting another. It felt like some soldiers were stronger than others and the size of the army wasn't really the main focus. Aside from that, the slinging mechanic didn't click for me in the context of some derivation of a round based strategy game. Still, it's good to see that you have a game with a closed game play loop that works. That's always good to see with compos. Kudos for that!
🎤 Sergei
23. Apr 2020 · 19:38 UTC
@duke, thank you for your feedback! There're indeed some important issues with the game balance requiring attention. For example, an issue where a squad attacking state resets only on collision, so it does not reset on squad movement stop without collision. It staggers the game balance because the squad gets able to counterattack with a full force and kind of diminishes the initiative bonus of an attacking squad. I can not hot fix them now due to the rules (the game's still playable) but if I decide to continue working on the game post LD, I'll be sure to try to resolve these issues to make the game better. Thank you for letting me know!
Llewellyn and Michael
24. Apr 2020 · 10:13 UTC
Cool concept, I got stuck on level 3? (I think) where they had 6 armies and I had 4. I did't understand the tactic as to what types of troops were defensive or offensive, maybe a tutorial or explanation of the troop types would help?
Minusc
24. Apr 2020 · 11:07 UTC
Haha, that's a really fun idea. A little hard due to some unbalance between the two armies, but still, it was fun ! Nice job !
OddSocks
24. Apr 2020 · 11:18 UTC
An enjoyable game, with a decent amount of challenge. Theme was spot on. Kudos.
Gorypixels
24. Apr 2020 · 11:36 UTC
Very interesting concept! Loved the Physics of "Launching" your troops arround like billiard balls jajaj The middle wheel movement was a bit twitchy, but for a jam game a super solid work, congratulations!
Baby Dino Herd
25. Apr 2020 · 02:41 UTC
A really clever idea that maybe could have used some tutorial levels to better introduce what happens during combat -- sometimes I would win handily and other times lose many troops, even if I was colliding at maximum speed. It was also not readily apparent that the red character was the king -- being so far zoomed out, it looked more like a rectangle than a crown (which I now see on getting closer). I'd definitely be interested in playing a more-balanced post-compo version!
blobo
25. Apr 2020 · 20:34 UTC
I wish there was a better tutorial, but the gameplay isn't too hard to figure out. I accidentally flew too far away from the map and got lost in the empty void, perhaps limiting the position of the camera could fix that. Great game!
p-r
26. Apr 2020 · 15:00 UTC
Love it, and like said above, has a lot of potential.
🎤 Sergei
26. Apr 2020 · 20:41 UTC
@llewellyn-and-michael, thank you for your feedback! There're some game balance issues and [this post](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/bouncy-battlegrounds/more-information-on-bouncy-battlegrounds) may give you more information on the matter! I hope it helps! I can not fix these issues now due to the rules but I think I can mention them as "Known Issues" in the game description here and on itch.io. Thank you for letting me know!
🎤 Sergei
26. Apr 2020 · 20:44 UTC
@minusc, @oddsocks, @gorypixels, @p-r, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you liked it!
🎤 Sergei
26. Apr 2020 · 20:50 UTC
@baby-dino-herd, thank you for your feedback! There's an issue with squad attacking power not resetting on movement stop and I think that's what happened the other times you lost many troops colliding at max speed. I think I'll mention these known issues in the description of the game (as far as I understand I can not fix them now due to the rules) and I'll add more tutorial-like information (about King, etc.) as well! Thank you for letting me know!
🎤 Sergei
26. Apr 2020 · 20:55 UTC
@blobo, thank you for your feedback! I'll add more information about the game and I'll remember the issues you've mentioned to fix them later (I can't fix them now due to the rules but I'll mention them in the description). Thank you for letting me know!
n8___
27. Apr 2020 · 00:49 UTC
I really like the the combination of slingshot and strategy game :) The first couple levels you could almost ignore the enemies but level three I thought the game really leaned into the mechanics.
Zalop
28. Apr 2020 · 18:40 UTC
Fun game! I love the art and the strategy of the game!
_delph
29. Apr 2020 · 12:28 UTC
Once I *think* I got the hang of how it worked / grasped what I was supposed to be doing it was quite fun!

Would be good to start zoomed out as initially it's unclear you're not seeing the whole battlefield, also a message in game that you're goal is to get the red piece (your king) to the blue flag would have helped a lot!

I never quite figured out how changes to numbers based on engagements were calculated, other than letting them hit you seemed be much worse for you - although it didn't seem to have the same effect the other way around, perhaps because it was about the force you hit them with and I just wasn't very good at that bit? :D Relative numbers obviously helped and eventually I figured out the thick faster moving bois hurt a lot more.
Kubeec
01. May 2020 · 08:56 UTC
Wow, strategy games is the hardest one for jams. Nice one!
🎤 Sergei
12. May 2020 · 17:37 UTC
@n8, @zalop, @kubeec, thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you liked the game!
🎤 Sergei
12. May 2020 · 17:47 UTC
@delph, thank you for your feedback!

Thank you for the idea on starting the game zoomed out! I think it would help indeed considering the lack of information I put in the game. = )

There're some issues that bring unbalance to the game and which I'm not permitted to fix during the event due to the rules. Thank you for letting me know! I put these known issues in the description.