Vineyard by Alvan Arulandu

[raw]
made by Alvan Arulandu for Ludum Dare 49 (COMPO)

Build an army of purple grapes to defend against the evil greens. But don't worry, barrels of alcohol never explode...

Refer to https://claeb101.itch.io/vineyard for all downloads / instructions. If itch.io does not work, use https://claeb101.github.io/LD49/ for a playable WebGL / HTML5 version. Thanks!

Home.png EndGame.png

Change Log: - Fixed spawning and explosion bugs - Added ability to exit application + usability items - Added background music (previously only FX) - Fixed UI scaling and weird position issues on Mac

Ratings

Overall 453th 3.054⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Fun 417th 2.963⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 499th 2.574⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Theme 527th 2.389⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 286th 3.393⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Audio 268th 3.13⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 237th 2.846⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 381th 2.942⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

JCMonkey
04. Oct 2021 · 02:53 UTC
there seems to be a bug where i cant put down a grape to block the guy at the very bottom. i keep losing to that. i tried in regular and full screen. the game seems like a twist on plants vs zombies, but that thing keeps me from playing properly.
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
15. Oct 2021 · 15:42 UTC
I agree. A few minutes before the deadline of the compo, I had to rearrange the placement of the spawner and place area and ended up misaligning it by accident. Sorry for the frustration :(
Harrison Dunn
18. Oct 2021 · 14:28 UTC
The art and animation are stand-out here! Great job on finishing this in such a small timeframe!

The gameplay was easy enough to figure out, but it lacked much decision making. With only effectively one unit and one bomb to stop things that get by, it feels like it's just a game of spamming guys and hoping for the best. Because your units walk towards the enemies, a lot of the action ended up happening "off screen" and I'd have to move the camera over to see if my troops were effective, but then I'd have to go back a screen to spawn more guys. It felt a little cumbersome. I think it'd have been more effective to just have your troops be stationary or only move within the confines of your spawning area.

Well done though! I loved the sprites :)
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 14:48 UTC
@harrison-dunn Thanks for the feedback! I had initially planned to make more troops, but I could only make the bomber and shooter unit within the time constraints. After the rating period ends, I plan on making a few more depending on interest.
CG_Fred
18. Oct 2021 · 17:37 UTC
In a way I enjoyed that it was not grid based but at times it was really annoying when you place your shooter and it is slightly above and the other grape just rolls past. The peak feature was a good idea but the camera panned so far that you get slightly dizzy after a while. All in all a good game though.
Cr1stal
18. Oct 2021 · 18:09 UTC
Very good game, interesting mechanics, nice visual
Cr1stal
18. Oct 2021 · 18:09 UTC
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🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 18:59 UTC
@cg-fred I agree that this is quite frustrating. Perhaps a "snapping" feature could help in the future.
Nebiros
18. Oct 2021 · 19:27 UTC
Cute game ! I like the graphics, and the sounds are fun !
Had a moment where the action took place off screen but I had fun defending those barrels !
Nice one !
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 19:50 UTC
@nebiros You should be able to move the camera to see off-screen action with A / D. Did the battle move upwards somehow?
mar3k
18. Oct 2021 · 20:19 UTC
Love the idea which is similar to flash games I used to play when I was a kid. Also the sounds are awesome (and hilarious). Great job
Basset Romain
18. Oct 2021 · 20:25 UTC
Nice work, really good art, kind of frustrating to see bombs go by troops that miss their shots as bomb are pretty fast.
Eva Knight
18. Oct 2021 · 20:48 UTC
Good basis for a side-on rts type game, though the unit placement was very tricky!
C1FR1
18. Oct 2021 · 20:48 UTC
Really well put together game with nice textures, although the gameplay could have used some more focus in my opinion. Also it was a bit hard to properly use the camera, more continuous camera control would have been easier to use than the screen switching I think (if that makes any sense?)
schwede
18. Oct 2021 · 20:56 UTC
My record was 113 seconds!

Pixel art for life! The game gave me the impression of a consistent pixel art.
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 21:38 UTC
@c1fr1 I completely agree that more direct camera control is valuable.
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 21:39 UTC
@schwede Thank you so much! That's really great to hear given this is my first full pixel art game. My record is 120.54s and the best I've heard so far is 135s in case you were wondering.
blearn
18. Oct 2021 · 22:00 UTC
This is a fun game. Overall a good entry. I think the camera would be better if it were continuous rather than discrete. At times it felt a little difficult to protect the barrels from far-away stray bullets- perhaps some kind of "shield" unit to place down could be a nice addition.
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
18. Oct 2021 · 22:03 UTC
@blearn It's funny that you and a number of people have mentioned that. My initial idea was to be able to place walls that the enemies had to navigate through. The bombs would then explode the walls allowing you to build your own traps and defenses. It ended up being a matter of time, but this and adding more troops are improvements at the top of my list after the rating period.
LeReveur
18. Oct 2021 · 23:13 UTC
I can't do better than 91.65s, but it was fun trying to reach the 100. Good job!
Chairshot Games
19. Oct 2021 · 01:05 UTC
Fun game! The gameplay is both fun and innovative. I love the art, music, and sound effects. Great job!
Honey Pony
19. Oct 2021 · 23:26 UTC
This game is pretty solid given the amount of content that it has. One point of confusion for me is that my barrels often explode when there are no enemies nearby, and I'm not precisely sure what's causing it--maybe it's my own bombs? Or maybe it's enemy bullets?

I think that the aspects that the player cannot control--e.g. all my pistol troops getting themselves killed by advancing right before I can form a larger group--are not necessarily problematic. I think that they force the player to think more strategically, and it's also interesting how I am not able to do anything the computer can't do. (That is, the computer can't just stockpile troops until it has a huge group, so... neither can I).
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
19. Oct 2021 · 23:40 UTC
@lereveur @chairshot-games Thank you so much!
🎤 Alvan Arulandu
19. Oct 2021 · 23:40 UTC
@honey-pony This is a mechanic that was labeled a feature and is still up for debate. Towards ~60-100s enemy bullets that miss your bombs may stray and hit the barrel. This was my original idea as it requires the player to be on their toes; it also adds to the instability of the barrels. However, I understand that it's hard to defend against these as it requires a really quick response on behalf of the player. I'm thinking of adding an indicator or slow-mo effect of some sort to give the player more control in these situations. But, I am totally open to suggestions. Thanks for the feedback!
LDJam user 228990
20. Oct 2021 · 21:26 UTC
Nice game. I love the art style you went for and also the particles.

Good job!
Misfire_dev
21. Oct 2021 · 10:20 UTC
I liked the game a lot :) the camera was a bit disorientating at times, maybe a smoother transition, or just more viewing options would help? But the graphics and sounds where great, really light and playful and the mechanics felt solid, (high score of 91) overall great job :)