LudumData

The Terraformer by Cloverfall

[raw]
made by Cloverfall for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

You are a Lone Automated Terraforming Unit, (LATU), deployed to a barren exoplanet in a faraway solar system. Your mission: Terraform the wasteland.

To function, ensure to maintain a Signal with your crew. Signal is supplied by already deployed Signal Towers on the exoplanet's surface. Place further Signal Towers, expand, and terraform the barren world into a green environment.

main.png

Mechanics

  • Signal: Signal (/ dBm) is your currency. Charge it close to Signal Towers, spend it to expand.
  • Expansion: Use your signal to build more signal towers to expand your range across the planet.
  • Terraforming: Your goal is to plant and sustain 25 trees to complete a successful terraform.
  • Care: To ensure the wellbeing of each tree, they must be watered. A lack of water is indicated through shrinking and yellow leaves.

Economy

| Item | Cost | | :--- | :--- | | Signal Tower | 50 dBm | | Tree | 25 dBm | | Water | 15 dBm |

Controls

| Action | Input | | :--- | :--- | | Pan Camera | Middle Mouse Button and Drag | | Zoom | Scrollwheel | | Move | Left Click and Drag | | Plant Tree | '1' | | Place Tower | '2' | | Water | 'Q' |

Link https://github.com/lucas19919/LD59
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/the-terraformer

Ratings

Overall 570th 3.37⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Fun 740th 2.778⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 544th 3.196⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Theme 520th 3.554⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 491th 3.625⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 363th 3.444⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 268th 3.25⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 470th 3.558⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 50🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

MrMastin
Apr 20th · 13:32 UTC
Is this Stranger Things theme?
skale
Apr 20th · 14:37 UTC
Haha, that's quite addictive. And those voice lines are awesome.
Also I should mention you have wrong controls in the description, it plants the tree on '1' and places the tower on '2'
LDJam user 312900
Apr 20th · 14:41 UTC
@skale cheers, fixed that. @mrmarstin not intentionally, maybe similar
Saering
Apr 20th · 14:46 UTC
Cute little game!
I struggled a lot at first with the camera and character controls, but I know that spherical movement is not easy to pull off. I wish there was buttons on screen to do the different actions, as I had to scroll down the page to check the controls, which is a bummer. Other than that, I enjoyed planting things around the planet, and I like the mood of the game. The voice can be repetitive after some time, mostly because voice lines can overlap.

Congratulations for the entry!
Belten
Apr 20th · 17:09 UTC
game looks great visually and i love the added voicework. Is there any way to beat it, or do i fill the planet with trees until its full?
LDJam user 312900
Apr 20th · 17:20 UTC
@belten thanks, yes once you plant 25 trees the game is completed
poddub
Apr 20th · 21:22 UTC
character control pretty tricky, but overall vibe really nice 🪐
drtizzle
Apr 21st · 09:53 UTC
Nice concept, and great execution! The highlight of this game are the voice lines, I had to laugh a little every time the robot said WATER, and i don't know why haha. Graphics are pretty slick, and the music fits the space theme well. Only orbiting the planet and controlling the robot is a bit finnicky, but overall its very well done!
goodwayman
Apr 21st · 10:24 UTC
![Clipboard01.png](///raw/ec4/36/z/71e67.png)

Interesting entry! I liked planting plants and managing the signal - the mechanics were very interesting and engaging. Sometimes it was a bit clunky as due to unknown reasons (had 100% signal) I couldn't place a tower, tree or even water a plant. I liked what and how robot was saying different things - that was really funny. Well done overall!
GeraldFIngBurke
Apr 21st · 17:12 UTC
I absolutely loved the voice in this. Game is absolutely adorable. Love the little robot dude just out here doing its best.
Eugenik
Apr 21st · 20:49 UTC
The concept of using Signal Towers to enable further expansion is a brilliant resource mechanic. It gives the whole process of terraforming a really strategic depth beyond just planting things. Congrats on a great entry!
Mekuire
Apr 22nd · 07:22 UTC
A truly unique game with excellent graphics and sound. Though I'm not quite sure why I sometimes can't place a signal tower.
alisher_fazilov
Apr 22nd · 07:23 UTC
That's an interesting idea. If you expanded the gameplay, added different biomes, and included some puzzle mechanics, it would be fun to play on Steam! But you need to do something about the controls—they're not very comfortable right now.
LDJam user 312900
Apr 22nd · 07:44 UTC
@mekuire @alisher-fazilov

Thanks for the feedback. When placing the signal towers there is a certain minimum distance they need to be from each other, I was planning to still indicate that but we ran out of time. The idea with the biomes also sounds really fun, and I will actually look into that. I tried to sort of emulate the controls of a blender with the mouse wheel drag, but I fully agree they are a bit cryptic
Spliddo
Apr 22nd · 08:26 UTC
I can see this be on mobile and work great for killing some time. Great thematic concept
Kit Gorn
Apr 22nd · 16:07 UTC
It’s an interesting idea, but I feel like it needs more work. The controls aren’t very responsive, and I’d prefer it if the camera followed the character automatically. Also, the key bindings (1, 2, Q) are a bit strange; it would be better to have visual buttons on the screen that you can click with the mouse.
I really liked the music, though. It reminded me of Stranger Things.
Pavel Goncharov
Apr 22nd · 16:08 UTC
I like the gamedesign of a placing towers and trees. Maybe you can build something beyond this concept.
Zamizmi
Apr 22nd · 16:22 UTC
Graphics looked lovely and the robot reminded of Daleks, great!

The lack of feedback for "unsufficient funds" was really frustrating in the beginning, and froced to re-read the instructions several times to get a grasp of how the game works and what is the goal.

Player control feeled very tricky and "worked" against the players will several time, maybe there is a sphere related bug?
Oleksandr Marynenko
Apr 22nd · 16:29 UTC
I really like how the game looks - the trees are beautiful, and the lonely space atmosphere is great. At first, it was a bit hard to understand what to do. The sound and the robot’s voice add a lot of charm to the game. The robot’s movement feels a bit strange to me - maybe I didn’t fully understand the movement mechanics, or maybe it’s due to the curvature of the planet’s surface.
GARYglhf
Apr 22nd · 16:40 UTC
Идея очень оригинальная. Мне игра понравилась и я прошел на 100%. В конце игра просто останавливается а хочется увидеть что вся планета стала зеленой, и было бы классно в конце сделать перелет к другой планете). Управление тяжеловато иногда робот ехал не туда куда нужно, полив деревьев срабатывает не всегда. Игра мне понравилась и я получил огромное удовольствие от игры... хочу ещё планеты)
Kseniya
Apr 22nd · 16:42 UTC
Cool idea, really like the cute robot and its phrases.
ChknTikka
Apr 22nd · 17:06 UTC
"Oh yay a tree" Loved the voicelines and the feel. Very pretty game and nice atmosphere. Well done!
VenomousMouse
Apr 22nd · 17:50 UTC
Nice and cozy game.
Fractal
Apr 22nd · 22:06 UTC
Nice vibe and sounds, but quite often I just couldn’t place trees for unknown reasons, and watering didn’t work either most of the time. I ended up spamming '1' while moving around until I finished the game.
Andrian
Apr 23rd · 13:12 UTC
This game reminds me a lot of Sebastian Lauge’s YouTube series. I highly recommend checking out his videos on space and terraforming! The idea of growing trees on a moon-like surface is brilliant. The Stranger Things soundtrack added an epic feel to the atmosphere, and the voice acting was spot on. However, the key bindings felt a bit off for me. Other than that, it’s a great entry!
LDJam user 312900
Apr 23rd · 13:29 UTC
@andrian The inspiration for the planet idea actually came from Sebastian Lague's series haha. We are currently planning on working on this to add procedural planets etc. Thanks for the feedback!
Ben Morledge-Hampton
Apr 23rd · 16:45 UTC
Cool concept! I had fun juggling the needs of all my growing trees and managing my signaling network. As others have mentioned, the controls feel a bit clunky and it's not always clear why you can't perform certain actions. This is still a really solid entry though!
Prakkus
May 08th · 04:53 UTC
Nice, gives me Astroneer vibes with how you're pushing out your 'safe' area over time as the planet fills in with towers and it becomes easier to maintain more trees. Loved the voice lines and the cool space graphics. Like some other folks, my bot was also pretty bad at going where I told it to but it's just a lil guy so I don't blame it.