LudumData

Grovetender by Prakkus

[raw]
made by Prakkus for Ludum Dare 50 (JAM)

Edit (4/19/22): Added a v.11 build which you should play instead. It has clearer instructions and a more reasonable balance curve.

Intro

Darkness looms. After enduring for millenia, the time of The Sacred Grove is coming to an end.

All must fade. But...there was supposed to be more warning. The Mother Tree is still releasing her energy.

Surely The Grove will fall. If only you could buy enough time for her to finish, the cycle may continue.

How to play

Help The Mother Tree release all her energy before the gates fall. * Fill up the "Energy Released" bar before any of the "Gate Health" bars hits 0. * Chop down trees and cut up logs to collect WOOD. * Stand near a GATE and aim at it to spend WOOD to REPAIR it. * Stand near the MOTHER TREE and aim at it to spend WOOD to help RELEASE ENERGY.

Tips * Falling logs can knock over other trees and smash other logs, speeding up wood gain. * Water slows you down. Try making a bridge of logs to run across it more quickly. * More intense gate assaults happen occasionally with increasing frequency over time.

Tools: * Unity 2021 * Krita * FL Studio * Blender 2.8 * DOTween

Credits:

Concept/Design/Balance - Logan Stolmaker, Mark Pressler, and Davide Spiert

Art/Visuals/Animation - Davide Spiert

Sound/Music - Mark Pressler

Programming - Logan Stolmaker

QA - John Jackson cover.png gate.png gate1.png trees.png

Link https://prakkus.itch.io/grovetender
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/grovetender

Ratings

Overall 493th 3.674⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 655th 3.413⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 552th 3.457⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 328th 3.957⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 512th 3.87⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 466th 3.5⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 680th 2.944⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 291th 3.87⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 21🗳️ 30🗨️

Feedback

Jeremy Selwyn
05. Apr 2022 · 21:06 UTC
I had fun with your game, found like it fit the theme really well, and the grove was somewhere I would hang out (it is beautiful! I got 221 seconds
PureImprov
06. Apr 2022 · 01:29 UTC
Really like the atmosphere and concept! It's very well balanced, a lot to achieve in 3 days (:
Pawciu
19. Apr 2022 · 19:23 UTC
Nice mood. I was pretty impressed with the little details like walking in water SFX or leafs and sticks VFX when chopping down trees. Congrats!
dlan-bess
19. Apr 2022 · 19:39 UTC
Nice graphics, cutting wood was a little to slow for my taste given the distance between the different gates. Still great way of using the theme, good job!
🎤 Prakkus
19. Apr 2022 · 21:07 UTC
Thanks everyone!

@dlan-bess
Yeah, it was tough to figure out a balance for everything. In retrospect I think we should've had 2 gates and the tree, but originally it was just the 3 gates so we ended up with too many objectives to run between once we added the victory condition.

I just pushed up a new build which should have a smoother balance curve to help with some of that.
Knatt
19. Apr 2022 · 22:06 UTC
Loved the game, I especially loved trees doing damage to each other when falling. I found myself planning where trees fell, cutting them down to hit other trees, and using some to act as bridges across the water. I only wish they were a little taller! but still very Fun.
Prismapunch
20. Apr 2022 · 00:11 UTC
I like the concept, and I like that you're slowly running out of trees and time with it.
Quinn_Patrick
20. Apr 2022 · 00:19 UTC
This is an ambitious game that feels like it couldn't have been made in the compo. The environment is impressively large, complex, and detailed. The player's movement does feel a bit strange to me, however. It seems like the jump just goes straight up and straight down at a constant speed, rather than taking advantage of Unity's physics system. I also found myself wishing that the whole process was just a bit snappier. Faster movement, less swampy water, and faster tree chopping I think would all enhance game feel. I also think that trees should be knocked down by other trees much more easily. Chaining them together seems like something that ought to be rewarding, but instead it just feels like something that only works sometimes.

Overall, though, I found this to be a really impressive and complete project. Your team's creative visions comes through very clearly, and it is unique and beautiful. Nice work.
Pitxel
20. Apr 2022 · 00:30 UTC
Loved the concept, cool graphics and quite relaxing honestly.
Aumbra
20. Apr 2022 · 02:12 UTC
I loved the theme and the visuals. I think it all worked very well and was quite polished. Great job!
goldenXD
20. Apr 2022 · 02:36 UTC
good graphics. seems pretty complete and polished but a little bit simple to be honest.
LDJam user 267116
20. Apr 2022 · 09:23 UTC
This is a really neat game. It's got such a melancholy to it - cutting down the grove to save the mother tree is so tragic and evocative, and the fields of stumps toward the end are a really striking image. I never really felt like I needed to try to make bridges with the trees, but that's pretty inconsequential to the mood you created. Nice job!
yusovv
20. Apr 2022 · 19:48 UTC
Funny game. Got a good graphic! You are great!
LDJam user 236545
21. Apr 2022 · 00:57 UTC
Good graphics, and nice game concept. I was enjoying my time, and trying to rush the main goal while ignoring the gates, because it looked like I might be able to make it. But then suddenly a gate went from 17% down to 0% instantly and I loss. It was a bummer to end on a sour note like that, but I was having fun up until then!
TheCrittersCove
21. Apr 2022 · 00:58 UTC
Wow, this is a very ambitious game for a jam! A lot more mechanics to it than most. I do like that aiming how the tree falls affects movement. But honestly, I was too terrible at aiming them for it to help a lot. The trees also seemed to cut too high up sometimes to really be able to hop up on it easily. Other than that, the game is fun and has a nice environment. Great job on this!
4ahizon
21. Apr 2022 · 01:31 UTC
Very game. I enjoyed game design of balancing the assets is great idea. Especially of the trees and the consequences of it. The audio and arty style creates a good solid mode to the game.
LukasDonkers
21. Apr 2022 · 02:24 UTC
I wish the icons above the gates fit their names a bit better, I had a bit of trouble finding which gate was which! Lovely game though.
naplz
21. Apr 2022 · 15:47 UTC
loved the sfx and vfx, the art and the concept, very nice game!!!! Great job!!!
ThePirateNun
21. Apr 2022 · 17:44 UTC
this was really nice! really good feel and mood, it felt like a really well defined world. the gameplay got a bit repetitive after a while so maybe speeding up the balance a bit would be nice, but i still really enjoyed it! well done!
BoroBoro
21. Apr 2022 · 17:54 UTC
Loved the atmosphere and calming music, though getting the wood does feel a bit too tedious, still great job!