MONDO LABS by cannibalgirl
https://youtu.be/uV75-2a6pro
PLAY ON ITCH: WEB/HTML5 + WINDOWS
PLAY ON WEB / DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS
post-release notes & known bugs:
there's actually a bug where when you transferred to a new stage the text box is not showing any text - in this case pls exit and reenter the stage again.
you need to remove poop from the processing organs, otherwise they will get clogged and stop working!
HTML5 version recommended unless it runs like a potato. PC version has a bug and it doesn't display GREEN and RED boxes to show if a structure is buildable and some laser shooting effects are missing. HTML5 version is OK.
WELCOME TO THE MONDO LABS.
HELLO YOUNG BRAIN. TODAY WE WILL LEARN HOW TO HARVEST CANCER.
MONDO LABS is a game about creating and managing a cancer-harvesting factory inside a synthetic body.
- BUILD your way around in order to satisfy the mad scientist that brought you to life.
- MANAGE a network of transport belts, resource processing organs and cancer harvesting towers.
- GROW in the avaliable body area to the fullest potential, including building on the vertical walls.
- SATISFY the doctor and help him finalize his greatest creation.
- SOLVE 5 short scenarios with a grand finale.
CONTROLS:
All controls and systems will be introduced in-game so you can jump in without reading the instructions.
- MOUSE for interactions
- LMB to confirm
- R to rotate the current building
- RMB to clear the cursor
- WASD to move the camera
- Q/E to rotate the camera
- SCROLL to zoom
- DEL to enter delete mode
- 1/2/3/4/5/6 keyboard shortucts for buildings
made in 72h for LUDUM DARE 52 / theme: HARVEST
by CANNIBAL GIRL
tools used: Unreal Engine 4.23, 3dsmax, photoshop, adobe audition, ableton live, native instruments, freesound.org, private sample library
THXXX FOR CHECKING IT OUT, KEEP ON KEEPING ON :heartpulse:
notes from feedback and ideas for improvement:
- some concepts need better/slower explanation (e.g. clogging of the organs if the poop is not removed) :seenoevil:
- lv 02 complexity jump is too big (probably needs another map to explain the energy "pipeline" better) - or maybe some pre-built food processor :thinking:
- auto-deleting of structures when building on top (should be easy to implement actually) :eyes:
- auto rotation of the transport belts when changing from floor to wall to "match" the adjacent belt (could get frustrating if done wrong tho :thinking: )
- auto-turns if belt connected at 90 degrees (also can get frustrating if done wrong, that needs smart rules to be intuitive)
Ratings
| Overall | 42th | 4.161⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 81th | 3.968⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 91th | 3.871⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 227th | 3.983⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 157th | 4.177⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 45th | 4.083⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 236th | 3.321⭐ | 30🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 45th | 4.183⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 24🗳️ | 48🗨️ |
- good graphics, sounds, mood
- clear instructions for keys
- clear goal
- interesting idea
- a lot of content
Minus:
- a little bit difficult to understand how to play. I got stuck on the second level, because poop couldn't be produced and placed on a conveyor belt. This was not clear.
- I also feel like the game is a little too difficult.
The gameplay was challenging but still really fun.
I would have liked to be able to select the different buildings with the mouse, as right now trying to click the icons places a building instead which is annoying when I forget. Additionally, it is sometimes hard to know where there is a ledge/change in level, so maybe adding something on ledges would be helpful.
If you made this into a full game I would play it :)
Nice puzzles, impressive graphics, and the sfx fitted the game well. Nice one! I just couldn't believe that more and more mechanics were added in the levels, really impressive.
Well done!
I found some levels too difficult, especially the one before the meat production.
@hmrpf thank you for playing! very weird, usually the HARVEST ZONE had no issues but i'll look into it! you can always skip to the next level in the menu in case something weird happens (or if you just feel like it)
@the-vecter really glad that you like it and thank you for playing!!! good suggestions, will keep them in mind to improve. for easier building, it's also possible to use keyboard shortcuts
@greenphox merci for kind words and thank you for taking the time to play! difficulty and whole progression needs some fine-tuning for sure, it's still somewhat cryptic. with the difficult level, do you mean the level 02 where you need to defeat all cancer?
@eeperdeheap thank you for playing! i will look into the intro cutscene in lv4! :thinking: congrats for making it that far :two_hearts:
And very interesting way of modifying all those conveyor games like Factorio or Mindustry, very cool entry!
Also liked your ambient you posted on the main page (which made me wanna play the game), so you maybe would be interested in listening to our game empty space ambient :)
Difficulty was a nice add on, but I think some of the mechanics were a bit cryptic at first, but I could figure it out after some experimenting, but I know most players won't experiment and just turn that game off in frustration, cause they want everything nicely explained. Probably best example it that it's not obvious enough what to do with poop in second level. I also belive mirroring blocks would be a nice tool to use, cause I run into scenario were I would prefer to have a poop drain on the other side.
But besides that I loved that vibe and getting deeper and deeper into that dark world of this creepy organism, it's totally my style and vibe, I fell in love with it and I would love to see it as a full game! :two_hearts:
however, the only downside i'm thinking about (except the difficulty curve, but that's not such a major issue to me) is the design of the sprites that didn't really help me understand the use of each box or what the inputs/outputs were.
It's fun how complex the combo of structures gets & how inevitably chaotic the final 'factory' becomes. The addition of the underpass tunnels is a godsend, though I did run into a few occasions where I wanted to place one but it let out onto an edge, and the conveyors seemingly didn't work if I did that, so I had to readjust. It'd be cool too if the delete button had a hotkey, but that's really minor.
I really enjoyed this, it feels super polished! Really well done!
5/5 would beat cancer again.
@accatosh very glad to hear that you made it to the 4th level! indeed, you found out the "cheese" strategy that is totally valid as there is already quite a lot to take care of even without the cancer taking your free building space :v: note taken about the music, moar dark ambient always bettar :heart:
@amarokczukay thank you thank you! always a pleasant surprise to hear that it was a nice puzzle and not too complicated for a jam game!! valid point with the readability - i'm still looking for a good solution for this
@joshedev oh man thank you! mad props for finishing the last level as it takes some effort to complete :two_hearts: chaos is built in indeed; ledges bug - totally true, didn't manage to adress it in the time limit. actually all building actions have keyboard shortcuts including the delete (DEL on keyboard) - but this possibility could be explained/communicated better for suuuure
@najimi indeed it is a love letter to factorio! thank you for playing and kind words :heart_eyes:
@cutesquirrel thank you for playing (and beating cancer!!) :two_hearts:
also love me a mondo medicals reference, that absolutely takes me back
My only complain is that sometimes the selection on walls get really jank and it doesn't read mouse input.
overall awesome game
The theming was beautifully grotesque. The fleshy sounds and structures with the dark-ambient backing track did a very good job of conveying a dystopian Cronenberg theme. I think the fact that the premise is around turning cancer cells into meat did a lot to convey the theme. I really loved it!
No notes, save for a couple bugs.
- A lot of times, when I tried to select a new building to build, it would place a building instead.
- In the screenshot below, I would expect to be able to transfer energy like so:
Otherwise, what an educational and fun factorio-like puzzle! There was definitely challenge getting all the lines routed around each other. I think it's exploitable, with the rate of output. For example, I let a bunch of resources build up into the meat generator, then I added the poop outflow later, cutting off the water inflow, and still won :)
Btw, the poop smilies were too funny!
I did notice a few times when trying to place or delete an object it selected the wrong tile, and once or twice the level intro text did not load (so I couldn't see what was after the final showdown). But it was a really neat concept very well executed. Good job!