BYSS by Gareth Jenkins

[raw]
made by Gareth Jenkins for LD33 (COMPO)
Pick a monster.

People will get in boats if near. They'll run away from the "monster". They might jump in the water if the "monster" is too close. The monster won't do anything but try and follow the crowd. You can choose a new monster at any time. Creating a monster kills the person.

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Turned into something of a miserable simulation experiment. Action games are definitely easier in jams.

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All standard Unity assets apart from https://github.com/prime31/GoKit. Models myself, apart from free asset store guy w/ animations. Music & sfx all by me during jam.

Ratings

Coolness 58% 3
Overall 2.50 877
Audio 2.72 467
Fun 2.16 895
Graphics 3.61 213
Humor 1.82 770
Innovation 3.13 389
Mood 2.73 625
Theme 2.97 705

Feedback

Benier
25. Aug 2015 · 09:10 UTC
Despite there not being much in terms of game play, it was fun just to observe the simulation anyway!
SeaMonster131
25. Aug 2015 · 09:19 UTC
Cool graphics effects and sounds.
peterthehe
25. Aug 2015 · 09:57 UTC
Nice concept but slightly confusing. Cool selection effect.
Pampattitude
25. Aug 2015 · 10:06 UTC
Didn't get why I lost. The game kept asking me to select a monster but then I had a lot of monster and people died but some could be saved. Then I just picked a monster, did nothing and won. It's a little confusing. But the game's gorgeous.
parDal
25. Aug 2015 · 10:16 UTC
I really liked the graphics and sounds, the whole atmosphere gives a very tense feel.

But the lack of gameplay really turned me down, the first 2 islands didn't have any chance of failure at all, and although I liked the idea of sacrificing your "lives" to have a little control of outcome, the seemingly random nature of the monster really breaks the mechanic, one time I converted a human and there was zero kills, another I did with the very same guy and drowned 1 of them, there's no premise of challenge like that.

But still, pretty well made.
bigbuggames
29. Aug 2015 · 14:10 UTC
A game almost fully based on the AI of both sides, the humans and the monster. Contemplative gameplay, felt like playing a tower defense game (which I love) in therms of not having to click much, just being aware of what is going on and making decisions to reach the goal.
I must say, it's confusing and hard to get used to it at first, a tutorial would be great.
Jet Spy Dragon
29. Aug 2015 · 14:33 UTC
I love the graphics and music... but I don't get where is the game. I don't even know if it fit the theme or not... I'm a monster? or an observer?...
Schrodinger Games
30. Aug 2015 · 14:22 UTC
Great mood! Congrats!
Jelinib
03. Sep 2015 · 05:19 UTC
I can't seem to access any of the downloads.
"ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED"

Even tried disabling my antivirus. I'm perplexed!
Jelinib
05. Sep 2015 · 04:49 UTC
Oh, it's working today!

The graphics look pretty clean. Lots of beautiful shadows. Nice choice of textures. The misty effect is awesome too.

Gameplay feels slow since there's lots of waiting around with minimal player interaction, but pretty unique idea. Nice job!
Lukbebalduke
06. Sep 2015 · 14:39 UTC
lacks gameplay, but i liked the water effect.
Interesting entry, =)
Xanjos
06. Sep 2015 · 14:47 UTC
Not sure what I'm supposed to do exactly but I loved the graphics and audio.
LewisChaplin
06. Sep 2015 · 15:37 UTC
Interesting to watch sometimes the monster walks where I would the wrong way in my mind. nice entry.
Qaterknan
06. Sep 2015 · 15:43 UTC
The main strength of this game is its mood, but you could have worked better with the audio. I like the idea of different maps and the graphics are rather solid. Well done.
Archonthewizard
06. Sep 2015 · 15:53 UTC
This game idea is really interesting. Would love to see where you take it. However, for the compo, I don't think you're supposed to import any assets at all.
ManuelGF
06. Sep 2015 · 16:04 UTC
Gameplay is a bit confusing but I understand what the simulation is about, I like the idea. Graphics and audio are nice too.
Darkflint
06. Sep 2015 · 16:45 UTC
An interesting simulation with nice, very fitting music and good graphic. Only a bit confusing, but overall pretty nice.
KaiseanGames
06. Sep 2015 · 16:50 UTC
Nice sim. Too bad it has no action. Also, when boat is there, people ignore the monster. Anyway, graphics are great.
eddynardo
06. Sep 2015 · 16:51 UTC
really nice graphics, i wish there where more things you could do, like build walls or give weapons to humans to see how they will react
AnglerteamGames
13. Sep 2015 · 16:59 UTC
I really like the interpretation of the theme and the tension created when choosing to change your monster. Perhaps with faster gameplay and a few tweaks this could make a great 'herding' simulator / puzzle game.
Catmoo
13. Sep 2015 · 17:02 UTC
A nice game to observe, it's like I was cheering for the monster to try and kill more people :)