RoboKitchen by quadtree

[raw]
made by quadtree for Ludum Dare 51 (COMPO)

With orders coming in every 10 seconds, you've decided to automate your kitchen. Robots will enter from the left to grab ingredients from stations that you place. Click the buttons on the right panel to select stations, and then place them on the grid. Robots can only make 5 turns, so don't make them turn too much. You can see on the left upcoming orders.

Controls: - Ctrl+R - Return to title - Left Click - Place plan - Right Click - Cancel plan

2022-10-17: I've added a new version with threads enabled. I added threads during the LD, but I ended up disabling them because I was worried they'd cause unexpected bugs. In theory this version should be less hitch-ey and work better on older computers. I've also enabled scaling on all versions to increase the chance it'll work with different screen sizes. I've also added a WebGL1 version, in case browsers don't support WebGL2 correctly.

Ratings

Overall 414th 2.978⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 453th 2.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 277th 3.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 417th 3.065⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 439th 2.587⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 361th 2.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 289th 2.342⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 423th 2.425⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 19🗳️ 14🗨️

Feedback

Parpello
04. Oct 2022 · 12:47 UTC
I like the concept! I would've appreciated if it was clearer that every appliance has a cost and that i have to manage that too. I wish it was easier to reconfigure the kitchen after placing down ingredients.

apart from that, the hard level are challenging and engaging, I liked them!
TopperVideoGames
17. Oct 2022 · 08:27 UTC
I had some trouble playing this game, on the two different web versions only one shows the price of each appliance. The robots did not spawn very regularly, and there were constant pauses. The concept seems neat as an assembly line type of game, I would have liked to see a more stable version.

I then played the windows version. It launched in a window way too big to fit on my screen and I had to resize it. The game did run a lot smoother, but it was still rather glitchy. The robots would spawn in the upper left corner, and then come across the middle. After a while they stopped spawning completely. All in all the game did not work well for me. Good try!
LDJam user 298496
17. Oct 2022 · 08:38 UTC
Really awesome prototype, it would be really great to see a more refined version. It would also be great if we could delete counters, set priority, add walls etc. This idea has a lot of potential. Nice job!
Darkmax14
17. Oct 2022 · 08:50 UTC
Really neat concept, looks like the web version struggles a bit when you load/instance the scenes as there was some hitching the first time I selected each station type and the first time a robot spawned. With some polish this would be a really fun overcooked style panic cooking thing :)
chuckeles
18. Oct 2022 · 08:34 UTC
![CleanShot 2022-10-18 at 10.33.45@2x.png](///raw/f53/8/z/533dd.png)

Unfortunately I only saw this in the HTML version.
chuckeles
18. Oct 2022 · 08:34 UTC
And I'm on Mac so I can't try downloading the game. :disappointed:
tigerchris2000
18. Oct 2022 · 09:03 UTC
The idea and pressure mad by the time limit was a realy nice concept. A more intuitive UI would be helpful and a better longer startup time. Sadly the WebGL2 version crashed on me. If you would continue on it could be a fantastic party game.
Knatt
18. Oct 2022 · 10:30 UTC
I also had some trouble with the web versions. I like the what you were going for, it reminds me of overcooked in a way! Congrats on finishing the compo!
Papaver
18. Oct 2022 · 16:59 UTC
Interesting entry! I also would have loved to see a more stable version of this game. I played both web versions, those didn't work very great, so I also played the Windows build (threads). I played for quite some time, to try to figure out how the game works.

In the web version, I checked the console, and there are quite some things printed out, that doesn't help for the speed of the game! From the logs it seems that the pathfinding need some optimization, because often the game would freeze for some time during these calculations. It seemed like the pathfinding was not updated when you add stations during their walk, I saw a robot walking through a newly build station. I am curious what kind of path-finding algorithm you used, since sometimes the robots would do an unnecessary round of steps back to the same spot. But later I thought maybe this is the case just to pass some time, to wait till the station is available again? I was also surprising to see that two robots could be at the same spot.

In the Windows version, I completed my first level with a score of 663. On a random level I scored 933! It was not clear to me how the score was calculated. I wondered if there is a way to lose the level?

For a long time it was not clear to me when the robots spawned (because the game would freeze often) and what they would make. It took me a while to realize it takes ten seconds for the next order on the left to be on the top, and that at that point it will be calculated if that order can be made. If so, a robot is spawned.

Then the question was, why did some orders got canceled, while the stations were in the kitchen? I had already noticed the loading bars when the robots were at the water or at the cooking station, but only much later I realised that the other stations also have a cooling down period when they have just been used. Can this cause the next robot to not complete its order?

Some robots would spawn in the upper left corner. Are they waiting for the stations to be free?

Quite late I discovered that the stations on the right have a hover over text. But unfortunately, it was behind the other buttons. In general, a little more feedback would be nice. For example when the next order is at the top, maybe it can be highlighted, or flash, or fly towards a robot, to indicate that order is being processed. Some more feedback whether or not you have enough funds to build a station would be welcome. I think it would have been nice to give the robots a different color than the stations.

Levelwise I think it would be fun to also have levels for which the doors are not exactly opposite each other, and perhaps some extra walls or obstacles. I often ended up placing all the stations above and below the straight walking route.

Nice sound effects for each of the ingredients and actions. :)

In the end I managed to beat the Hard level with a score of 844! :)
yetanother
19. Oct 2022 · 01:10 UTC
Cool concept, I like that the robot do stuff on there own!
kleinzach
19. Oct 2022 · 01:55 UTC
I like the concept of making an automated kitchen. This fit the theme very well. I ran into a few glitches where it froze for a while, which made it hard to continue, but I like what you've got!
LDJam user 259831
19. Oct 2022 · 02:11 UTC
Cool idea! Much like everyone else, I had bugs where the game would freeze for a while. The pathfinding at times would bug out as well, making it walk back and forth for a little bit. Sound effects were nice at first, but they quickly became repetitive and annoying. I also wish the prices of the stations were shown. I really like the idea, and with some polish this would be really cool!
LavaMagmo
19. Oct 2022 · 06:18 UTC
Cool game idea! The only thing that i noticed is that it lagged quite a bit. Don't know if it's my computer tho.
Caveman54
31. Oct 2022 · 00:46 UTC
This was one of the games that I included in a series of youtube shorts that I rated and gave feedback to games I rated during Ludum Dare. Here is a link if you wanna hear my feedback. https://youtube.com/shorts/_E0Bz4w0Niw?feature=share