Mousetropolis by Likirus

[raw]
made by Likirus for Ludum Dare 54 (COMPO)

Mousetropolis

  • Nearby beavers have constructed a dam that's flooding the entire valley.
  • The mice have nowhere to go and are gathering on the Ark Log.
  • But space on the Ark Log is limited...
  • How long can you keep the colony alive?

2_edit.png

Tools

  • JavaScript
  • Custom WebGL engine
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Blender
  • Audacity
  • Google Music Lab

Notes

  • Chrome, Chromium-based browsers, and Firefox should work, older Safari does not work because it doesn't support OffscreenCanvas, apparently the newest Safari supports it now, so it might work if you have the newest version
  • This is the first 3D game I have created with my custom WebGL engine, so if you notice anything weird, know how to open and read the development tools (F12 for most browsers), and you see any errors, please tell me.
  • Known issue: With slower internet, some of the models take a moment to load

Play

https://pingpoli.de/ld54/

Development Timelapse

I have filmed the complete development process of my game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-XYmaNPwXs

LikeAndSubscribe :smirk:

Ratings

Overall 140th 3.682⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 188th 3.455⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 210th 3.295⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 57th 4.182⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 160th 3.591⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Audio 116th 3.477⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 37th 3.675⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 114th 3.575⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Given 16🗳️ 23🗨️

Feedback

Hakro
04. Oct 2023 · 21:48 UTC
Very nice. The lore and ideas are great, made me giggle.
Also watched the timelapse, it's really interesting to see how things evolved overtime.
Nice entry, especially for one made without the engines that come with a complete editor.
IDidGame
05. Oct 2023 · 15:46 UTC
its pretty fun trying to balance the different needs, kinda stressful though, i lasted 377s
APG
06. Oct 2023 · 01:06 UTC
Good game! I really liked the progression of the houses, from tent to house to apartment to high-rise.
Geronimo
06. Oct 2023 · 08:41 UTC
Very solid entry, it was quite satisfying watching things evolve and sustain themselves, for a one man project (i assume) it's very good, and the voice acting is nice :D
🎤 Likirus
06. Oct 2023 · 10:47 UTC
@geronimo thanks :) Yes, it's Compo, so I worked alone. And creating mouse voices is indeed a lot of fun :D
NickFleming_
06. Oct 2023 · 11:33 UTC
Great game, enjoyed it a lot. I managed to last for 1040s before it got out of hand, too many mice, not enough space for housing and food/water production, even with everything at max. Which led to homelessness and crime and a game over.
NikaZ
06. Oct 2023 · 11:57 UTC
Fun game! Interesting gameplay with resource management on platform with limited space. Good job!
Endurion
06. Oct 2023 · 18:33 UTC
Ended with too much crime after a measly 268 seconds.
Really not bad for doing it all yourself. The camera movement feels quite laggy on my PC, other things worked smoothly.
henk
06. Oct 2023 · 22:06 UTC
I had fun playing this. I especially liked the various models and the little mouse voices. It'd be kind of funny if the log sank or something once you went above a certain population level. Right now you just sort of have to give up when all the space is used up, which is a bit of an anticlimax.
Christian Zommerfelds
07. Oct 2023 · 10:56 UTC
Haha, funny voice audio "new survivers have arrived" :)

In term of engine the game is great, feels very polished!

In terms of gameplay I feel like some things are missing:

* Explain how you make money?
* Does the position of buildings matter? It would be nice if it did :)
* I always lost due to crime, things get out of hand quickly

But I think there is a lot of potential, the game could easily be expanded into something amazing!
Defrag
08. Oct 2023 · 03:31 UTC
I enjoyed watching the timelapse of this game coming together. It's pretty neat seeing it get built in just 6 minutes. For the game itself, I had the same question as the reviewer above me - does placement matter? I feel like I should put the police station near the housing, but my guess is that location has no bearing. I also wondered what I could do to increase my cash inflow. I was perpetually out of cash. Finally, I also could not manage crime. Both times I played, I lost due to crime. Great audio, BTW.
amirrajan
08. Oct 2023 · 07:17 UTC
Loved it. "New Survivors Have Arrived" was hilarious audio :-)
🎤 Likirus
08. Oct 2023 · 07:54 UTC
@christian-zommerfelds @defrag Thanks for your feedback.

You are correct, the placement of the buildings does not matter, but if this was a more polished city builder, proximity boosts for something like the police would make a lot of sense.

I should have explained somewhere how money is generated. The housed mice pay taxes. Also, the homeless population increases crime. If you lost to crime and didn't have a lot of money, my guess is you didn't build a lot of houses.
LDJam user 377116
08. Oct 2023 · 17:56 UTC
I made it to 472 mouses. I love the voice acting, cheese towers and mouse trap police : D Well done!
Recher
09. Oct 2023 · 19:15 UTC
The game mechanics need to be more detailed in the description. I had to browse the comments to realise housing is the most important : it reduces crime AND increases income as only housed mice pay taxes.

Knowing this, here is the strategy:

- build things so that there are absolutely never homelesses, try to have positive income of food and water as much as you can.
- you don't need any police.
- when no more room, upgrade everything.
- as mices arrives, gradually replaces house by food and water, to keep positive incomes.
- you end with homelesses and the game ends, but you can be proud of your score.

I made it to 1014 mice with this strategy.

It's nice you learnt 3D while creating this game, but this sort of games do not need 3D at all. Just draw your buildings on a 2D grid and that's all. It was even a little annoying, because the giant buildings hide the view of the elements behind.

Totally love the "mouse voice acting".

Overall, I had a fun little time imagining these mice trying to survive on the raft, with less and less space.
Bernhard
15. Oct 2023 · 01:46 UTC
I had fun figuring out that houses are the key :-) It was a bit sad to have it end with failure, but maybe that's a comment on our society :fearful: