Solar Signals by pmarincak

Construct a solar-powered network! The network you make is your own creation! Will you strive for greed to get the highest coins per second? Or create a sun-powered orchestration worthy of Apollo?
Credits
- ART/PROGRAMMING/DESIGN: https://bsky.app/profile/paigemarincak.bsky.social
- AUDIO: Kenney
- ADDITIONAL ART: Kenney
- STARTER TEMPLATE: Kenney
Technical Stuff
- ENGINE: Godot 4.6.2
- ART: BlockBench

Controls
- Mouse
- Use the left mouse button to interact with elements
- Use the right mouse button to cancel (where applicable)
How to Play
- Connect buildings up to a solar panel grid to receive power (signals)
- Some buildings will generate coins, others will make sounds, whereas others will help expand your network
- The network you make is your own creation! Will you strive for greed to get the highest coins per second? Or create a sun-powered orchestration worthy of Apollo?

Other Notes
- Total Dev Time: 28:57:05
- This is an idle game - I've adjusted the waiting period to be fairly short for Jam-players. Should be able to unlock everything within 10 minutes if optimized. 15 minutes if you play around
- Yes, signals were used to program this :P
- No AI was used in the creation of the game including assets, code, and research - we read docs like god intended
- First time using godot outside of messing around with it
- Wanted to try using some of Kenney's assets. 3D solar punk models are made for the jam. I typically make 2D games so this was a lot.
- Started with Kenney's city builder template and built off of that (TY)
- Because you can make your own music with this game there is no BGM track - unlock the bell and drum!
- For musicians / optimizers: !> * Each solar panel receives a signal once a second and distributes it same frame. Length of the chain does not matter. !> * The router / distributor can be used to delay a signal to every 2s or every 3s. If you chain these well you can get even more delay. !> * Let me know what your max coins / second ends up being or if you make any music :)
- Had to cut quite a bit, but I hope you enjoy!
| Link | https://atemly-games.itch.io/solar-signals |
| Link | https://atemly-games.itch.io/solar-signals |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/solar-signals |
Ratings
| Overall | 781th | 2.868⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 786th | 2.579⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 787th | 2.583⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 753th | 2.789⭐ | 21🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 618th | 3.278⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 777th | 2.794⭐ | 19🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 22🗳️ | 10🗨️ |

I ended up at 147/s. I'm no musician so I took the path of greed. I have no idea if there's a more efficient layout, I tried messing with the distributors but it didn't seem to be a net game and was more for the musicians I believe?
It was quite simple, and the gains become exponential quite quickly, however that's perfect for a jam. This was nice and cozy, thank you.
- You have 30 coins so the only thing you can do is buy the house.
- Place it near the solar panel.
- Connect the house to the solar panel.
- Coins should start ticking and you've cleared the tutorial.
The fact that everything else is ordered is a fluke apologies to everyone


It's fun to fill out the board, the start's a bit slow, but once you get a good cash flow it's satisfying to place buildings faster and faster.
I think the game would benefit from some sort of active mechanic to keep the player's attention. Like the DNA bubbles in Plague Inc, or even just a clicker game mechanic. Anything to fill up the dead space for the player so they've always got something to focus on. I'm sure without the time constraint there'd be much more to do in the game though, and as an idle game it doesn't *really* need to be constantly engaging, but it's always a nice thing to have.
All that aside, well done with this!
consistently I don't know how I got the ones I place to be placed in the first place, so maybe a bit of text explaining that. but other than that, a really cool Idle game I would probably spend ages on when I am supposed to be working.
Really could use a short tutorial or some tooltips - I spent the longest time thinking that the 500 cost building was an upgraded solar panel instead of an upgraded house and that I needed to connect them to houses through the "trees".
I love a grid based game and the way it all fits together and lines up is very satisfying! The colour scheming is lovely and the UI is very clean and clear (except from the accidental cost ordering you mentioned before!). One incredibly nitpicky thing on the UI is that the first solar panel is the only icon in the shop that has a different orientation for the green tile.
I enjoyed the charm of the audio feedback when clicking and appreciate the tone variation so it doesn't get irritating! The little "tings" fits the visuals very well.
As other have mentioned, it was quite difficult to pick up and figure out what was going on without tool tips. With the absence of sufficient time, it might be nice to just add what the buildings do in your description. Saving up to waste all my money on the upgraded house which was not a solar panel was a little annoying! It's hard to plan what to do next and how to spend when you have to experiment to find out what things are.
It took me some time to figure out what the point of trees were and how the alternation between effects worked when hooking up multiple outputs to one panel which was cool once I got there! When I had a house, drum and bell hooked up, I do feel like it should have cycled round each per second rather than the bell and drum triggering at the same time with a second pause, and then the house (if that makes sense?). Not sure if that was intentional but it could be nice to allow more creativity in the music making. Another fun thing could be the length of wires causing delay to the output as well.
Having different ways to play and enjoy the game is a really nice touch as well. It means that the game was more interesting for longer.
Overall, really great submission that is well put together and such a solid base for expanding on the idea as I'm sure you would have if you had the time!
- You can use the extender (small tree) with distributors (big tree) to delay and add pause (or any building that does not make a tone) If you chain them you can add different lengths of pauses
- What do you mean about the rules? I think they are correct but to be fair it leads to a 404
It's generally recommended you opt out of any categories where 3rd party assets or assets you made prior to the jam are used. Although rereading your description now, I might be misinterpreting how much 3rd party was used so apologies!