crane-simulator by eptwalabha

[raw]
made by eptwalabha for Ludum Dare 49 (JAM)

Crane simulator

Enter the wonderful world of building constructions with this state of the art simulator. title-screen.png It's so real, I had to remove the sounds and musics so you can distinguish between this and the real world.
I know... it's that good... trust me (although you shouldn't)

How to play

You are a construction worker for a very respectable housing company… let say Evergrande.
Your goal is to build all the projects as thoroughly as possible... the problem is... your crane is kind of broken and you can only drop building block from the sky.
in-game.png Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Did I mention the deadlines on top of that?

A building is completed once it matches at least 80% the objective.

Controls:

Sorry, I couldn't make it easier... - Tab: view the project - Mouse: operate the crane - Mouse scroll: change block type - Left click: drop the block - Right click: delete the block - Middle click + Mouse drag: move the camera around - Ctrl + Mouse: rotate the block - Ctrl + Mouse scroll: zoom in/out

Files:

I made everything, except for the fonts that I probably found on freefont.org
Which means that all files in this project are free to use and are all available to download on github.

that includes: - ld49.blend: contains all 3D models and materials - all image files - the code (but you will probably find atrocious things there)

If I forgot to include anything, don't hesitate to ask in the comments.

What next?

~~I'll try to post a HTML version soon~~ [done]

Ratings

Overall 851th 3.452⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 825th 3.357⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 673th 3.381⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 577th 3.714⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 973th 3.357⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1059th 3.119⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

bassguitarbill
05. Oct 2021 · 22:13 UTC
This game made me understand why construction is so noisy.

This is a really cool concept! The controls are a challenge, but there are a lot of different actions you can take, so it is unavoidable I guess. Having them show on the UI would have been a nice touch. Good job!
ditam
05. Oct 2021 · 22:15 UTC
Well done! I have no idea how to win (never got above 20%), but I had fun nonetheless. The 2D projection makes for a very clear UI for a 3D game.

What determines when a new type of piece is loaded into the crane? I wasn't sure if I was clicking something accidentally, or reaching some other achievement or time limit.
Quoc
05. Oct 2021 · 22:18 UTC
Really sweet game
Chargrills21
05. Oct 2021 · 22:24 UTC
Awesome game, very fun. It just seems that there are too many controls which can be performed. Great submission!
🎤 eptwalabha
05. Oct 2021 · 23:25 UTC
@bassguitarbill , @ditam , @quoc , @chargrills21 thanks to all of you for playing. I know, I need to improve the controls a bit.

@ditam The objective of the level can be previewed by pressing `tab`. That will show you the building that you are expected to build. Blocks are automatically loaded on the crane. You need to use the scroll wheel of your mouse if you want to change the type of block to drop. The preview on the left side's only there to let you know what type of block is loaded in case your camera is completely zoomed in.
ditam
05. Oct 2021 · 23:33 UTC
@eptwalabha A-ha, it was the scroll wheel then! (I was rotating the view with scrollwheel-clicks, and I must have kept scrolling here and there.) Thanks.
kingslee142
07. Oct 2021 · 22:18 UTC
I really like the game idea! Well balanced and looks quite polished! Well done
Denhette
07. Oct 2021 · 22:20 UTC
Really fun game! It's a bit hard to control, but I definitely had fun trying it out!
XSchaumiX
08. Oct 2021 · 13:02 UTC
Nice game! I struggled a bit in the first level but after getting all the controls right is was a really fun to play! Liked the idea and the theme fits perfectly!
GreenXenith
09. Oct 2021 · 17:33 UTC
Really cool mechanics. Never being able to get above 80% is kind of annoying though, even when I get it near perfect. Also I have no idea what determines the stars. Half the time im not even done building when it moves on.
🎤 eptwalabha
09. Oct 2021 · 20:16 UTC
@kingslee142 , @denhette , @xschaumix , @greenxenith thanks for playing this game.

@greenxenith yeah… about the 80%, I did not have time to polish this part of the game.
As it is, the game considers that you win the level as soon as the percentage of similarity with the objective reaches 80% (this is why you cannot go above this percentage).
This is not what I had initialy planned. I wanted to unlock a submit button at 80% and let the players choose when to end the level.
Once submited, the game would compute a first score (that was initialy going to be money)... Then as soon as the player close the score panel, a catastrophe occures and shakes your building (godzilla passing by, an earthquake, a volcano errupting, ... you name it). Once the catastrophe is over, the game would give you a new score on what remains of your building (extra money).
For the stars, the system works as such:
``` pseudocode
stars = 0
if (cost < budget) stars += 1 // that was scrapped… so everyone gets at least 1 star XP
if (time_left / time_limit < .8) stars += 1
if (time_left / time_limit < .6) stars += 1
return stars
```
I know that it's not great, but it's something I did in a hurry to replace the money system I didn't have time to implement.
Ceetjeuhh
10. Oct 2021 · 11:20 UTC
Very nice! Great concept, and fun to carry out, though very tough. I would have liked some way to slowly lower the blocks, maybe by holding the left mouse button? Not so slowly as to make it trivial, but enough to have some hope of completing some of the later designs without building a ton of extra supporting bits.

Would also have liked a way to check the controls from in a building session - when I quit and went back to the menu to check the controls, the game couldn't load levels again until I refreshed my tab. But that's minor ofc.
joonamo
10. Oct 2021 · 11:41 UTC
Fun little physics puzzler, I find it very happy to think that a real crane would just be dumping prefabs at a construction yard :joy: It was a great feeling when I realized to use extra pieces as support before dropping some of the more complex shaped buildings, good job.

It took me a while to understand how to play. I wish all controls were shown on the UI all the time, especially rotating blocks was not intuitive wihtout checking the LD page. I also found myself holding tab almost all the time, maybe the goal could have been shown there as a ghost image and TAB could be used to turn it off if needed. I also wished there was a restart button.

All in all, fun game! :construction:
ache games
16. Oct 2021 · 04:58 UTC
The movement is really smooth, Well done!!
Jonathan Lorenz
20. Oct 2021 · 12:23 UTC
Your game is actually pretty similar of what I intended to do for the jam :) A simple construction game with some puzzle elements, nice and relaxed. I found the tower I was constructing surprisingly stable ^^ Good work!