LudumData

-Connection Interrupted- by binary_coder

[raw]
made by binary_coder for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

ld49cover.png

Establish, then maintain your connection to the network, and complete the download!

Play area is separated into two zones- the node terminal and a world viewer- manage your connection in the terminal, and view the physical network below.

Controls are pretty much just left click. Click to select/deselect the network nodes, then click the commands that appear under the nodes to control them. And "R" to restart a level. (Also note, the satellites will wrap around, so if you miss it on the first pass, dont worry.)

Tested on the few levels, but some of the traversal code is wonky, let me know if it does anything unexpected.

I've recently added a web version! I have made a few minor changes for usability (see below). (*+1 cool but entirely cosmetic thing. Feel free to ignore when scoring, it wasn't in the original version.)

Changelog: - 1.1 - Web export, plus some minor graphics fixes. Also added scrolling console output behind play area.* - 1.2 - Increased size and readability of the command buttons.

Link https://www.dropbox.com/s/7escbv5lm72vhlk/LD%20Jam%2049.yyz?dl=0
Windows (v1.0/Compo) https://www.dropbox.com/s/mtubl4swi878a1k/LD%20Jam%2049.zip?dl=0
Web+Windows (v1.x) https://binarycoder.itch.io/unstable-connection
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/connection-interrupted

Ratings

Overall 82th 3.897⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 192th 3.586⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 8th 4.328⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 130th 3.966⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 176th 3.707⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 275th 3.107⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 150th 3.534⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 20🗳️ 34🗨️

Feedback

Mathiouza
04. Oct 2021 · 00:24 UTC
Great! At first I thought that I had to finish the last level in one earth rotation, so I was a bit confused x)

I really liked the minimalistic aesthetic of the game, the fonts and the sounds really feels like I'm hacking something x)
MickM
04. Oct 2021 · 00:27 UTC
Looks interesting but I have no idea what I am meant to be doing - I can click on the two nodes but there doesnt seem to be any interaction other than selecting them? Also the mouse cursor disappears when it goes onto the "world map" - is this by design?
Can you give a controls update and ill have a go
Rory Kaufmann
04. Oct 2021 · 00:31 UTC
Great idea, original and fun. With some more ways of interacting, and maybe a story, I would see this as a proper puzzle game. The last level felt pretty difficult, seemed like some of the satellites weren't connecting to the first dish, even with line of sight. Unless the mountain is a blocker?
smilewood
04. Oct 2021 · 00:38 UTC
I love the concept of this game, I could see it being a really complex puzzle game with even more interlinked mechanics. The gameplay feels good to play, and the instruction in-game is enough to learn to play without feeling hand-holdy.Nicely done!
🎤 binary_coder
04. Oct 2021 · 00:41 UTC
@mickm Thanks for the feedback! The tutorial was very hastily done lol. Once you've selected a node, there should be a command list underneath it. You have to run ./control to make the node green, then ./download on the goal (yellow arrow) node to go to the next level.

@rory-kaufmann Thanks! I had a few ideas that I didnt get to unfortunately. yes, the mountain does block line of sight. It's doable, but not easy haha.
MickM
04. Oct 2021 · 00:52 UTC
Ok got it, clicking on the command runs it.
I love it. The attition of sattelite retrans is fantastic.
Really nice game. Could definitely see myself playing this again in future, would love to see you keep developing it!
guine
04. Oct 2021 · 04:06 UTC
Nice job! I loved!
AaronFournet
04. Oct 2021 · 22:51 UTC
Very cool game! I really liked the aspect of "hacking" the nodes. The sound effects fit really well! I had some trouble at first knowing to click the commands but reading the comments here helped. I was playing the game for a while and was so engaged I lost track of time haha, Very fun!
NathanT
05. Oct 2021 · 03:28 UTC
Clicking on ./control required me to read the comments here to figure out. Otherwise ran very smoothly. Loved the split screen and retro aesthetic. Unique jam. Good job!
marbles
05. Oct 2021 · 03:36 UTC
Pretty fun! The sound effect for downloading is satisfying. I think the first level after the tutorial is hard or maybe the UX contributed to the challenge of it. The commands are too small, it's hard to click on it and they didn't look like they were clickable. I had the same experience with mickm above in that I didn't know what to do at first. Also, not sure if it's the game or if it's itch but the mouse movement seems slower and combined with the small commands it's difficult to click.
Diego Escalante
05. Oct 2021 · 03:55 UTC
I got a little lost at the very very beginning because I didn't notice that `./control` was clickable. But once I unblocked myself the game really took off. I initially thought it was a neat concept but then the real-time component appeared with those orbiting satellites and I thought the game was super cool then. I didn't get too far though, I just couldn't multitask well enough to look at what I was doing, and also look at the map to see how I needed to react. Still, great concept, nice work!
OllieOA
05. Oct 2021 · 04:25 UTC
This was really quite a unique experience. I really like the emergent understanding of wtf was going on. Perhaps the "Download", "Move L", "Move R" prompts etc. could have been a bit larger (though that might be the fact that I am playing on a 2K monitor).

Loved the satellites, though the range and number of connections seemed a little bit intuitive.

Overall though, great work and a unique and intereting interpretation of the theme!
lukeoco1234
05. Oct 2021 · 05:15 UTC
Super cool concept. I too struggled at first with understanding the mechanics but got into it pretty quick. Didn't have the patience to get all that far into the levels but that doesn't take away for the nice level of polish this game has. It functions well and looks clean. Great stuff!!
nshbae
05. Oct 2021 · 07:13 UTC
What a wonderful concept of radio signal! I really enjoyed your game! (Almost failed to clear the last stage until I learn that satellite spawns repeatedly!)
Rocketcat241
05. Oct 2021 · 07:47 UTC
Nice! Really gave me hacknet vibes, but with the addition of the satellites it really made this game a lot more interesting. It was definitely very confusing at the start, I didn't notice that you could click on ./control so if that was a bit more obvious somehow I think this would be a great game.
Lakea
05. Oct 2021 · 08:32 UTC
This is a really nice game and can see it tunring into something much greater if you decide to continue it.
Like other it took me a moment to realise im supposed to click the node then click control, but once i got that I was able to play the whole game and really enjoyed it.
🎤 binary_coder
05. Oct 2021 · 12:54 UTC
Thanks for the feedback all! I've made the command buttons a bit more apparent, hopefully that helps. (The compression on the web version isn't doing me any favors either...)
grimmpaperman
06. Oct 2021 · 06:40 UTC
Really enjoyed this game. The concept fits so well with the theme. The mechanics of keeping the satellites and antennas aligned is so simple, but was made very interesting by the gameplay. Great job!
Tardif Adrian
07. Oct 2021 · 20:09 UTC
I got a bit confused at the first level, but when I really appreciate your game ;)
The art and the concept are simple, but do the job very well.
Congrats on this game dude.
Skyward4d
08. Oct 2021 · 13:05 UTC
You did a got job of introducing the player to mechanics in isolation before putting them together into puzzles. And the different types of nodes were all intuitive to use with no instruction.
For the first few levels, I wasn't sure where the challenge element came from, but once the time-sensitive elements were introduced it all really came together.
Really good job, creative take on the theme and the audio really fits the game's style.
erikkire
13. Oct 2021 · 19:19 UTC
Took a while to get the controls. Had to read some comments. Not so interesting at start but to my surprise, it quickly got rather fun to play. Like the graphics!
loveapplegames
16. Oct 2021 · 15:19 UTC
Good work, really original take on the theme! It crashed on my on level 6. It wasn't always clear to me why a satellite keeps connection to a particular antenna, apart from being in the antenna's range. Also, using commands seems a complicated way to keep the antennas aligned in real-time. Manipulating the antennas in the bottom view directly seems more appropriate.