Summonology by MoebiusMeow

[raw]
made by MoebiusMeow for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

An automation puzzle game.

Design runes to guide the magical essence for a successful summoning process.

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Execution!

Click the buttom on the bottom-right side to start an execution.

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Condition Branch

The fire essence always moves to the side where the gap is.

While water essence goes the other direction.

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Essence sequence

Each object might container a serie of different elements.

The active element (by default, the first element) controls the behavior of the whole object.

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Spin

The sequence will "spin" to the next position whenever the object passes a condition branch.

The element next to the active element will become the new active element.

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Uncertainty

When demon element is active, the object can randomly go either way when passing a condition branch. Treat it carefully.

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Credit & Other stuff

Design & Program & Art: by MoebiusMeow :cat2:

Tools used: Unity, Krita, Blender, Flash

Opt-out: :warning: Audio from free music sources :violin:

Technically, there are 6 levels in the JAM version of this game. However there are some bugs which prevent players to complete all the levels. You can use the top-right buttons to navigate between levels.

Buf-fix: :warning: There are some post-JAM bug fixes in the embeded version. Take that into account when giving ratings. Known Bugs in JAM version: (fixed in patched version) 1. When you complete a level by fulfill all the requirements of the essence sinks, some trigger might be triggered multiple times which unintentionally skips levels. 2. In the level that introduce the branch machanics, the source never generates the water essence due to a random number bug. As well as other complex levels, the last possible sequence will never be generated.

Basic Guide

hint1.png

Ratings

Overall 154th 4.019⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 309th 3.75⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 48th 4.154⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 618th 3.635⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 156th 4.346⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 702th 2.825⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Mood 250th 3.942⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 47🗨️

Feedback

WMute
16. Apr 2024 · 05:13 UTC
Gorgeous style and concept, but a bit unclear how setup branches
Wumbomancer
16. Apr 2024 · 05:51 UTC
It's certainly interesting, just didnt get too complex with the problems. If this had a little more polish and content, I could easily see this evolve outside of just a game jam game. Definitely fun, thanks for the game!
LDJam user 389905
16. Apr 2024 · 11:55 UTC
Very good art and gameplay, like it so much!
LDJam user 339673
16. Apr 2024 · 12:26 UTC
This makes me feel that my intelligence is slightly lacking - but the gorgeous art, music style, and exquisite interaction fascinate me. I think it is a near perfect demo, and I feel the unique expression in it.(translate)
TomatoOmelet
17. Apr 2024 · 00:49 UTC
It took me a while to figure out how to play (Since I have bad eyesight and didn't see the info showing up on left upper corner). But great art, innovative idea and interesting level/puzzle. Surprised you are able to achieve this in a game jam. Noice job.
Macibacsi56
17. Apr 2024 · 11:01 UTC
Very interesting gameplay, truly excellent work.:)
Ruslana
17. Apr 2024 · 17:10 UTC
Nice puzzle game :)
OdinVII
17. Apr 2024 · 17:29 UTC
Cool gameplay! Very nice game, feel like the only feature that lacks is the ability to fast forward.
🎤 MoebiusMeow
17. Apr 2024 · 18:10 UTC
@wmute Thanks for your feedback! The in-game guidance is indeed a little unclear. To setup a condition branch you'll need to hold your mouse button and drag it toward the direction you want. The gap on the branch rune indicates the direction of fire element.

@wumbomancer I have to admit that I didn't get enough time to work on game content. The level design could have been more polished. This is my first attempt to a 3D game in a single-person gamejam, and it did take much more efforts than I expected. And, indeed, I want to continue develop this game into a more complete version after the event.

@mantodea @colinweiss @tomatoomelet @macibacsi56 @ruslana Thanks for your kind words!

@odinvii It is a good suggestion! I just didn't come up with this idea when I develop the game. I thought players would spend most of their time in edit mode and logic puzzles. Thanks for pointing out!
Quinnster
18. Apr 2024 · 01:30 UTC
Really good puzzle game! Struggled briefly with understanding how branches and splitting work but I really liked the puzzles!
Smoky01
18. Apr 2024 · 12:14 UTC
The design of the game is simply wonderful, very beautiful graphics and cell selection shaders, I hope these are shaders, and I’m right). But the initial impression is slightly spoiled by the lack of training inside the game itself or short help. At first I was even confused about what to choose and how to connect the cells. But overall the game is great))

p.s. yes - yes, I saw the tutorial in the game description)

I’ll also add about working with the camera, its pleasant transitions and slight blur when zooming in))
IRoRoI
18. Apr 2024 · 12:25 UTC
Wow! I want to see this game on Steam! Cool mechanics and excellent implementation!
Dan Allison
18. Apr 2024 · 12:32 UTC
This is a really impressive entry, great job. Had plenty of moments where I felt clever for solving puzzles once I'd figured out exactly how to setup things. It is a bit unclear how to set things up but it's a jam game, can hardly expect a perfectly crafted tutorial so I don't think it's a problem here. One thing I'd add is that I think it would be better to be able to have an input for spins and splits rather than them happening automatically, feel like it might make it a bit clearer. But overall good job!
🎤 MoebiusMeow
18. Apr 2024 · 13:14 UTC
@quinnster I'm glad that you like it! And yes, as others mentioned, there should be more tutorials.

@smoky01 Yes, these are shaders, as well as the flaming effect and so on. At first I just wanted to draw some textures with Krita so that the background won't be too plain. Then I came across an idea that I could use this height map for more! And I created those cool effects with this texture.

![18205530.png](///raw/7bf/92/z/6450c.png)

As for the tutorial, I know. I have to admit. I could have done much better but I just didn't have enough time. :cry:

Thanks for your feedback anyway!

@iroroi I want it too! Actually I have designed a lot more mechanics than we have now, but I have no time to implement. I am planning to expand this game after the event.

@dan-allison Indeed there should be more tutorials. The grid of this game is quite unusual. It is not like the traditional hex grid. And I actually spent a lot of time designing the interaction. However, it turns out that I haven't done enough. You've got a point! Thanks for your advice!
Dan Allison
18. Apr 2024 · 17:35 UTC
@dan-allison I actually wanted to mention the grid in my first comment but forgot. I liked how unusual it was, felt like it really reinforced a kind of mysterious, arcane theme that ties in with the theme as a whole.
ffffchai
19. Apr 2024 · 07:53 UTC
Very polished game, both in terms of interaction, graphics and level design. I met two crashes on the spin level, don't know if anyone else had any. Anyway, nice work!
Mekyi
19. Apr 2024 · 07:58 UTC
Great concept and design! Would love to see a full game made out of this. Some things to improve:

- Creating a pure branch is something I struggled to do for a moment
- Visualizing progress for essence transfer
- Better UI interaction; maybe change camera movement to WASD/Mouse 3 and make right click erase.
- Hotkeys for different tools

Good work and thanks for the game!
Sozey
19. Apr 2024 · 09:44 UTC
Super cool idea! This is a beautifully designed game, and very visually pleasing too. It's also impressively polished for a game jam. Congrats!
ThomasZane
19. Apr 2024 · 10:02 UTC
The general idea is really great and I enjoy playing it.
But it took me a long time to figure out how to place a branch correctly, the tutorial is a little unclear.
UngarBlapp
21. Apr 2024 · 05:07 UTC
Haha! I had no idea what I was doing or how to branch,
but the concept is sweet and
the art is really well realized,
Overall great Job!
Fractal
01. May 2024 · 14:53 UTC
Very beautiful and original! I got completely lost when they started spinning, though. And the grid shape was very interesting, even though a bit tricky to wrap my head around :)
PaulDee427
01. May 2024 · 18:10 UTC
The presentation is great, both visuals and audio. The interface is clean and feels polished. Level 4 took me a while. I've played the game in the web version and unfortunately, levels 4, 5, and 6 kept crashing after running for a while, which was quite frustrating and made it difficult to experiment with the mechanic and get a hang of it.
When I figured it out though, the solution was incredibly satisfying and I managed to complete level 4 without it crashing eventually. I could totally see it being turned into a full game. The bottom line is that the UI is nice and the puzzles are addicting.