INTERSIGNAL by zimny11

-DESCRIPTION-
A puzzle game about analyzing signals from deep space. Scan objects, extract signals, then process them through the analyzer. Deal with low-value noise signals. Plan the order of analysis, and make each decision count as you balance different signal types to achieve the highest possible score.

-CONTROLS-
Use mouse left click to select objects and signals
Use WSAD to move camera around
Use scroll wheel to zoom in and out
-GOAL-
Get as high final score as possible.
Your final score is limited by your weakest color category, so balance matters more than specializing in just one color.
Example:

Total blue value is: 5
Total red value is: 4
Total yellow value is: 7 + 3 + 3 = 13
Your score is the lowest of those 3 numbers, so it is: 4
Your noise penalty is: -1
Your final score is: 3
-TOOLS-
Engine: Godot 4
Music: Reaper
Art: Piskel

| itch.io | https://kanamedia.itch.io/intersignal |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/intersignal |
Ratings
| Overall | 455th | 3.542⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 472th | 3.304⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 221th | 3.717⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 267th | 4⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 396th | 3.804⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 337th | 3.5⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 501th | 3.5⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 26🗳️ | 25🗨️ |

After several games, best score I got was 19. It would have been 20, but I had a red signal left over from noise conversion that I had to use, and it destroyed one of my blue nodes. Shame I couldn't just discard it, but oh well, such are the rules of the game. ;)
Art-wise, it's a really pretty game! I love the three scannable objects, seeing them made me wish for some larger exploration or strategy game where you'd be able to see more of them around. ;) The interface is pretty good looking too. Even though it's just moving a couple of signal nodes around, it gives you the feeling of operating a larger electro-mechanical machine, full of dials and switches.
The only thing that felt off a bit was the two animations on the data analyser - connection between the two top-left nodes and connection between the two bottom-right ones. It kinda made me think there might be some sort of mechanic to gain bonus points from having both nodes be of the same colour, or specifically two blue ones in case of the top one and two yellows (or maybe red-yellow?) in bottom ones. It felt appropriate, given the colour-coding of the signals, so there was a bit of confusion with that.
Sound design is pretty nice too. I like the discreet space ambient tune in the background.
Oh, and there we go. As I was writing this post, I've managed to beat my record. :D

I better stop now, I'd like to rate some other games as well. But yeah, definitely well done!

Anyway, this was fun! Took me a bit of time to get used to it, but once things clicked, they were very fun! I especially enjoyed gradually discovering strategies, such as intentionally keeping the three-noise-generated signal as backup for only when I absolutely needed it or intentionally placing noise signals to move the cursor one step despite it reducing score in order to match up the rest of the signals (initially I didn't understand why was that even possible). I also found the star balance being pretty interesting, with blue being very rare (and thus valuable) compared to something like yellow, which could be increased pretty easily.
I did find the RNG pretty frustrating here, though. Maybe I'm just bad at it, but it always felt like I hit an unlucky streak eventually resetting my existing signals or (more often) just not getting enough of a color. One attempt, I spent pretty much the entire game using only the pulsar and trying to maximize blue, yet still got under 20 of it in the end! I'm not sure how one would solve it - if there's not enough the game becomes too deterministic/easily solved, I know - but right now it felt like I was more hoping for good RNG than strategizing :(
Nevertheless, I still had fun, and played it for half a dozen attempts or so! The ambience was nice and I really liked the planets in the computer screen too. The UI was surprisingly intuitive once it clicked, but I wish it was a bit cleaner where you're at at times (eg. your current cursor location being more visible, perhaps showing where will it land when highlighting a new signal instead of having to constantly count tiles, displaying your current scores at all time etc.). Overall though, again, I enjoyed it! Very nice entry!
Awesome entry! My first game was super bad, but then it clicked and I had fun replaying it for several tries! Makes me feel stupid, but in a good way :joy: I like that the random element is dealt to you and you choose how you handle it, it feels great to overcome a seemingly-bad rng :sparkles:

Gameplay was a bit hard to understand at first though!

I enjoyed the puzzle system, really nice game that makes you think. I had one round with 5 grey noises that felt unfair. Getting into the game was not too easy because there is a lot in the screen going on that has no meaning and there is no immediate feedback what is interactable. For example, when i hover over a planet it should light up so i understand what i can click.
I did see the tutorial and read it, and liked that it was my choice to open the tutorial. I think it could be good to first start with the goal of the game and then go into how you achieve it. Not sure though. The marker which tile is currently active in the color wheel could be clearer. I sometimes was not 100% sure what tile it was. You could also draw a little arrow to the input box that you need to click after selecting a noise, such that the arrow would only show up once you selected a noise. That would guide me better through the process. I think many people will skip the tutorial and not understand the game, but you can alleviate this a lot by making the game easier to understand on a UI/UX level.
One thing that was a bit crazy is that the game launched really small and i accidentally found out that you can zoom in. No game ever did that to my knowledge, both a bit funny but also i wonder why :D
I took two or three turns to figure it all out, and then i really had fun and was engaged. The descriptions and design was clear enough to not get frustrating. The #1 improvement that would also be quite easy would be UI responsiveness/feedback on what is interactable. Really cool game as usual :)