Trash Simulator 3000 by Esben Jensen

[raw]
made by Esben Jensen for Ludum Dare 50 (COMPO)

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Take control of state of the art equipment to clean up this city. In Trash Simulator 3000 you have the chance to save the environment, by emptying trash cans, and clean up other people's mess.

Drive the truck using WASD keys. If the truck gets stuck it can be reset with R. Drive alongside trash cans or back up to them to empty them. When the truck is full you must return to base to drop off the load. screen4-640x358.png

Ratings

Overall 553th 2.895⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 595th 2.395⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 567th 2.528⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Theme 606th 2.342⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 572th 2.526⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 440th 2.694⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Humor 355th 2.588⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 569th 2.333⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 6🗨️

Feedback

Tellyhead
04. Apr 2022 · 10:20 UTC
Playing this as the trash collector is outside my house, getting that real 3D experience. Loved the audio of the truck backing up
Vilmantas
04. Apr 2022 · 10:23 UTC
Took a while to get used to the controls, but it was really fun to try to get it into position to grab the trash. And also I got lost when trying to deliver the trash back to the dumpster. Loved the backing up sounds!
Jordan Pavlic
05. Apr 2022 · 00:31 UTC
Noticed that you actually get more points by knocking over the trash cans.... Proceeded to begin running down all the of cans at max speed hahaha
jk5000
05. Apr 2022 · 13:34 UTC
The idea is okay and I had fun trying it. The controls did not feel really good, and this sadly makes the game really difficult to play. Overall an okay little jam game.
PoshDan
06. Apr 2022 · 03:13 UTC
Did not expect to see the same type of game that I made with my friend! (it's also about bin loading)
Respect for making it in the compo category, it's difficult to get good driving controls under such time pressure.
Took me a moment to realise I had to full stop to pick trash up.
Well done!
LDJam user 285197
08. Apr 2022 · 21:49 UTC
The controls didn't feel very smooth and I wasn't really sure how this fit the theme. Good game idea though!
realryanrogers
08. Apr 2022 · 21:51 UTC
Controls too a while to get the hang of, but all in all I think it's a nice entry. Thanks for sharing!
alxander
09. Apr 2022 · 01:08 UTC
One man's trash is another man's treasure. Simple and entertaining little game, would have loved to see some different types of trash :D
IldenH
10. Apr 2022 · 09:58 UTC
I feel there should have been some consequence for having too much trash in the world so that there is a lose condition.
Jackaljk
10. Apr 2022 · 10:06 UTC
The idea is actually really good but the game feels way too clunky and unpolished. I think if the whole thing gets more silly and if you don't have to realistically stop and position yourself carefully to collect the trash it would be really fun. Also the top down perspective you went for leaves something to be desired. Anyway I appreciate the effort and the intuition, nice job!
lpettler
18. Apr 2022 · 18:19 UTC
Played HTML5 on Opera:
Tried as I might, I couldn't figure out how to pick up trash other than running over the cans and bags. I enjoyed and admired tackling the physics of a driving game by yourself in 48 hours. The sounds, the concept, and graphics were fun and polished enough for a Jam. I agree with @ildenh that a lose condition would have provided consequence, incentive to move faster, and would have fit the theme even better. Overall, good times.
Harksa
19. Apr 2022 · 18:13 UTC
I really like the idea of the game. Simple, yet effective. I liked the idea that if you run into a trashcan, trash just fly everywhere!
What the game lakes is a proper game over (I think? I've been playing for a little while, and I saw a lot of trash adding up and no game over).
It also needs some breaks to completely stop you from moving.
I think this game has potential and, with a little bit of work, could become something really nice! You got the basic idea, now you just have to continue developing it.
Keep up the good work :smile:
CiaranW
19. Apr 2022 · 23:02 UTC
My man in the truck is delaying the collapse of society, these animals are just throwing their trash everywhere! I enjoyed the concept, and think this could be the beginning of one of those fun party games (like overcooked or moving out). I think it would be a bit more fun if the map was a bit smaller (or there was a way to see the whole thing) and there was some kind of loss condition, so you would need to target the dirtiest areas before the riots start. Great entry though and great job getting such a complete gameplay loop done in the compo - nice! (Also I think tighter turning angles on the truck would give it a more arcadey feel, but might be more fun!)
🎤 Esben Jensen
20. Apr 2022 · 12:42 UTC
Thanks for all the good feedback. I just thought I'd add a bit of post-mortem in case anyone subscribes.
It turns out creating a vehicle controller is really hard, who would have thought ;-)
It is very typical of me getting bogged down in little details and forgetting about the bigger picture. In this case creating the vehicle controller and creating the physics of the trash bags took up a lot of time.

There is a deadzone when braking, so that the truck will come to a complete stop when the velocity reaches a certain low treshold. This should probably be adjusted to make it easier to come to a full stop.
I adjusted the turn radius several times. A tighter turn radius would make it more arcadey and possibly more fun. In the end I made the turn radius wider to give it more of a feel of a big vehicle. Adding things like oversteer and skidding would make the feel much better I think, but it would also be too much work.

A game over condition could be fun. So could an upgrade system to allow spending money on new vehicles and upgrades.