Island Merchant by Bruno Molteni
Become part of the United Islands Merchant Marine
Embark on a shakey journey through the rough seas while keeping your precious boxy wares on your boat with your crane (and ship) piloting skills.
Load as many boxes as possible and keep your boat level!
Boxes!
Sunsets!
Cute Faces!
Can you beat our Final Score?
How to play
Objective
At the start of each level you have some time on the docks to load up your ship with boxes ( you may need to swing the crane to get to the boxes farther away). Be careful to watch the weight balance to avoid sinking your ship.
Once the time is up on the docks, the ship will depart and you'll be tasked with facing the open seas while keeping the cargo balanced.
Golden Boxes are heavier, so they will unbalance the ship quicker, but they give you extra points.
To control the crane or the ship just go up the stairs and get close to the control panel or the steering wheel.
Controls
Walking controls: - Move with W/A/S/D or Arrow Keys - Grab boxes with Space
Crane controls: - Rotate crane with A/D or Left/Right - Pull up/down the claw with W/S or Up/Down - Grab boxes automatically, release them with Space - Exit with Tab
Ship controls: - Move sideways with A/D or Left/Right - Exit with Tab
Changelog
- 07/10 - Fixed the crane, it was too hard to pick up boxes and changed from "Hold space to grab" to "Tap space to release".
- 08/10 - Crane control with arrow keys was fixed, the sailing part was cut a bit shorter and smoother transition of sea movement to fix crates clipping through the floor.
- 08/10 - General improvements to the UI to show correctly on all screen sizes and make it more obvious when the balance is off. Fixed crane physics so it shouldn't get stuck upside down anymore. Added fullscreen button on main menu. Hide crane when walking on the front of the ship to avoid camera clipping through it. Improved camera angle when using the crane.
| Link | https://hatecraft.itch.io/island-merchant |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/island-merchant |
Ratings
| Overall | 1115th | 3.231⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1233th | 2.942⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 617th | 3.442⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 270th | 4.038⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 581th | 3.788⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 825th | 2.78⭐ | 27🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 1275th | 2.808⭐ | 28🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 33🗳️ | 29🗨️ |
Thanks!
@federico-giorgi I changed the outlines to make them more consistent now, check it out ;)
It could really use a tutorial sequence so you're not wasting valuable time getting used to the controls. I spent most of the first level on my first playthrough just trying to figure out what was going on. Once I did it was fun though.
I really like this concept of making a dash for resources, weighing (no pun intended) which ones are safer or worth risking for points, then maneuvering carefully so you don't lose it all. One thing I would also change is the camera angles, it was a little awkward controlling the crane and it was hard to tell where you were dropping a box. The graphical style is very pleasing to look at, though, and I love the little bean character you play as.
@bangkerpow @nanobuilder @thieme55 I get all the comments about the janky crane! I put some time to work on improving it and if you try it now the crane should be a lot more stable and easier to control! :D
@bunnybones Thanks for the feedback, I pushed an updated version that should have crates that shouldn't slide around as much, so it's easier to manage, try it out ;)