{"author_link":"\/users\/kernon","author_name":"kernon","author_uid":1238414,"comments":[{"id":1080976,"author_name":"Leonardo213","author_uid":"leonardo213","epoch":1728251131,"text":"its ok","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081007,"author_name":"BroMakesGames","author_uid":"bromakesgames","epoch":1728254125,"text":"I think it could be a fun game idea, but at this stage it is a very small prototype, as you mentioned.\nI'd make a preview of the sign being placed and maybe ability to snap to grid as it was a bit hard to control it precisely.","format":"md","likes":5,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081010,"author_name":"richjbaron","author_uid":"richjbaron","epoch":1728254263,"text":"I like the idea! but agreed with it being hard to control the signs. I think the player's non-instantaneous rotation contributed for me. probably best to have their angle snap to the camera angle for precision.","format":"md","likes":2,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081024,"author_name":"kernon","author_uid":"kernon","epoch":1728255199,"text":"@bromakesgames I actually hadn't even considered a build preview. But that makes so much sense! Thanks for the feedback!\n\n@richjbaron I do have one small fix that I didn't get around to which was to actually have the creatures move towards the centre of the sign after hitting the area of influence before changing to face the direction the sign is pointing. I think this would help a lot with the precision problem. But then I'm wondering if this as a 3rd person puzzle game actually even makes sense or if it makes more sense for it to be isometric or even just straight up 2D? This is why prototypes are so much fun to play around with and learn from!","format":"md","likes":0,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081027,"author_name":"Turaku","author_uid":"turaku","epoch":1728255396,"text":"Kind of reminds me of pikmin. I think if placing the signs was easier, like press F to make a half-transparent sign then rotate with mousewheel and then press F again to confirm, it would feel a lot better.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081032,"author_name":"DropMania","author_uid":"dropmania","epoch":1728255794,"text":"Pretty cool idea! I think with some more intuitive controls and some graphical enhancements this could be something :D","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081232,"author_name":"BrotherBrody","author_uid":"brotherbrody","epoch":1728260773,"text":"Interesting idea, but needs some more development time!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081311,"author_name":"William Corrin","author_uid":"william-corrin","epoch":1728262805,"text":"Idea = great. Execution needs some work. The signs are kind of bugged in multiple ways, and i think instead of the player's forward direction being the means to place signs, it should be the camera's forward direction with no y component.\n\nNeeds more time in the oven. Great entry for a jam though!","format":"md","likes":2,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081404,"author_name":"Custodi","author_uid":"custodi","epoch":1728266609,"text":"Understand your concept, idea is working. Here some advice\n- Need add a fuction to remove only one flag\n- Add more tables types (teleport\/tramploline\/accelerator and etc)\n- Need to thing about table placement, be more intuitive and easier\n- And add more obstacle content.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081543,"author_name":"Foursay","author_uid":"foursay","epoch":1728273226,"text":"I\u2019m really enjoying the herding mechanic\u2014it's fun to watch the tiny creatures follow your signals! I do have a couple of suggestions:\n- It would be great if the signs could be placed based on the camera view rather than the character\u2019s perspective.\n- A 'forward' sign at the start would be helpful, since I'm not the best at calculating rotations, haha. \n\nOverall, great entry! Well done!\"","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1081977,"author_name":"RefraX295","author_uid":"refrax295","epoch":1728292153,"text":"Cool concept. The controls are a bit finicky though and it would be great if you could remove just your last placed sign instead of all of them. Would be cool to see this idea expanded upon.","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1082187,"author_name":"Derly","author_uid":"derly","epoch":1728299573,"text":"really enjoy for prototype. but the game needs a lot of tweaks to be truly cooler","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1082585,"author_name":"Zz1p","author_uid":"zz1p","epoch":1728309040,"text":"It's a good idea, but you can feel the dampness of the game, modify it a little and add graphics and it will be mega cool!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1082840,"author_name":"badbons","author_uid":"badbons","epoch":1728314466,"text":"Amogus! I liked the idea. Perhaps future ideas could also be to add different kinds of creatures that each need different care and precautions etc","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1083307,"author_name":"Sviborg","author_uid":"sviborg","epoch":1728323730,"text":"interesting concept! \ud83e\udd29 The mechanics are simple but fun and have huge potential for expansion. Great job on the prototype! \ud83d\udc4d","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1083355,"author_name":"RascarCapackDev","author_uid":"rascarcapackdev","epoch":1728324614,"text":"I like the simple concept. A bit of work on the game feel could bring a lot!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1083557,"author_name":"Emelme","author_uid":"emelme","epoch":1728328149,"text":"not bad","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1084268,"author_name":"dooskington","author_uid":"dooskington","epoch":1728336803,"text":"Interesting game mechanic \/ prototype!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1085929,"author_name":"Jesse Martin","author_uid":"jesse-martin","epoch":1728347382,"text":"Pretty Good, needed a reset key just for QOL","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1092761,"author_name":"Kirass","author_uid":"kirass","epoch":1728408905,"text":"Cool idea! Super!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1097270,"author_name":"Chuckiee","author_uid":"chuckiee","epoch":1728455824,"text":"Nice idea, I think 1 sign would be enough since you can rotate your camera and that sign could point to where you're looking. Got the creatures to end but didn't get any win screen :( ","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1104498,"author_name":"Guerrier32","author_uid":"guerrier32","epoch":1728580343,"text":"very cool game concept. We want a sequel ;)","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1110859,"author_name":"brainles etertainment","author_uid":"brainles-etertainment","epoch":1728807058,"text":"Fine starting point. Whistle is too loud, made me shit my pants :'(","format":"md","likes":2,"spam":"N"},{"id":1116339,"author_name":"Mardood","author_uid":"mardood","epoch":1729280490,"text":"Decent starting point. Whistle is very loud, made me piss my shorts :( AMONGUS","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"},{"id":1118941,"author_name":"Jcourt","author_uid":"jcourt","epoch":1729670171,"text":"I like the concept here! I've actually wondered before if a sort of \"herding tower defense\" game like this could work (almost did one for this jam actually, but decided to go with something simpler instead), and this prototype was fun to mess around with.\n\nI like a lot of the future ideas you listed as well. If I was going to make a game like this, my assumption was that it would work best as a top down thing, without any real player character, but I think your last idea above, about manually interacting with buttons and things, is very interesting and worth exploring.\n\nOther people have mentioned controls and things, and I agree, but if you keep working on this at all, I'd be interested in seeing how it turns out!","format":"md","likes":1,"spam":"N"}],"format":"md","images":["ld56\/wayback-placeholder.png"],"links":[{"url":"https:\/\/kernon.itch.io\/ldjam56","text":"Link"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"95911","g_author":"1238414","g_event":"LD56","g_eventkey":"115","g_subevent":"JAM","g_urlkey":"445025","g_title":"Tiny Creatures","g_status":"WAYBACK","g_place":"1057","g_commentcount":"25","g_site2_node_id":"401371","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":{"n_key":"401371","n_urlkey":"445025","n_parent":"395186","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-creatures","n_slug":"tiny-creatures","n_type":"item","n_subtype":"game","n_subsubtype":"jam","n_author":"238414","n_created":"1728080702","n_modified":"1776936981","n_version":"1251487","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD56","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9,"_trust":2,"author":238414,"body":"This is a very small game prototype. I'm a solo dev focused on learning to scope what I can design and build within a limited time frame.\n\nThe game is focused on a single core mechanic, placing signs to direct the tiny creatures away from harm and guiding them to their destination. I was able to implement all the core mechanics I defined up front as well as a few that I discovered were essential along the way. It is otherwise deliberately simplistic in visual style and makes no effort to provide any notion of replay value. One simple level to mess around in to validate the core concepts of the gameplay, that's it. I do find it pretty entertaining to whistle at the creatures though.\n\nSome ideas of where this could go include:\n\n* Limited number of signs available to complete a level\n* Different coloured creatures that only respond to different coloured signs\n* More types of signs, for example one that makes the creatures jump over obstacles, or one that causes the creatures to stop and wait for another whistle before proceeding\n* Additional hazard types and other obstacles, such as rocks that must be jumped over or navigated around\n* Unique characteristics for different coloured creatures, for example some might move at different speeds\n* Additional interactions for the player while the creatures are moving, such as needing to interact with a button that can raise\/lower a lift to help the creatures proceed\n\nNow the question becomes, is the game idea any fun? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!","comments":25,"comments-timestamp":"2024-10-23T07:56:11Z","created":"2024-10-04T22:25:02Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"grade":{"grade-01":35,"grade-02":35,"grade-03":35,"grade-04":34,"grade-05":34,"grade-07":32,"grade-08":34},"id":401371,"love":0,"magic":{"cool":112.62318892654,"feedback":51,"given":36.625,"grade":34.142857142857,"grade-01-average":2.606,"grade-01-result":1057,"grade-02-average":2.485,"grade-02-result":1038,"grade-03-average":3.045,"grade-03-result":741,"grade-04-average":3.188,"grade-04-result":862,"grade-05-average":1.844,"grade-05-result":965,"grade-07-average":2.283,"grade-07-result":878,"grade-08-average":2.188,"grade-08-result":1047,"smart":3.043571017749},"meta":{"author":[238414],"cover":"\/\/\/content\/e43\/a3\/z\/65916.png","grade-06-out":"1","link-01":"https:\/\/kernon.itch.io\/ldjam56","link-01-tag":[42336]},"meta-timestamp":"2026-04-23T09:36:21Z","modified":"2026-04-23T09:36:21Z","name":"Tiny Creatures","node-timestamp":"2024-10-06T15:57:04Z","parent":395186,"parents":[1,5,9,395186],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-creatures","published":"2024-10-06T15:57:04Z","scope":"public","slug":"tiny-creatures","subsubtype":"jam","subtype":"game","type":"item","version":1251487},"text":"This is a very small game prototype. I'm a solo dev focused on learning to scope what I can design and build within a limited time frame.\n\nThe game is focused on a single core mechanic, placing signs to direct the tiny creatures away from harm and guiding them to their destination. I was able to implement all the core mechanics I defined up front as well as a few that I discovered were essential along the way. It is otherwise deliberately simplistic in visual style and makes no effort to provide any notion of replay value. One simple level to mess around in to validate the core concepts of the gameplay, that's it. I do find it pretty entertaining to whistle at the creatures though.\n\nSome ideas of where this could go include:\n\n* Limited number of signs available to complete a level\n* Different coloured creatures that only respond to different coloured signs\n* More types of signs, for example one that makes the creatures jump over obstacles, or one that causes the creatures to stop and wait for another whistle before proceeding\n* Additional hazard types and other obstacles, such as rocks that must be jumped over or navigated around\n* Unique characteristics for different coloured creatures, for example some might move at different speeds\n* Additional interactions for the player while the creatures are moving, such as needing to interact with a button that can raise\/lower a lift to help the creatures proceed\n\nNow the question becomes, is the game idea any fun? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!","title":"Tiny Creatures","wayback_recovered":true,"wayback_source":{"capture":{"original":"https:\/\/api-jam.ludumdare.com\/vx\/node2\/get\/401001+401002+401003+401004+401005+401006+401007+401008+401009+401010+401011+401012+401013+401014+401015+401016+401017+401018+401019+401020+401021+401022+401023+401024+401025+401026+401027+401028+401029+401030+401031+401032+401033+401034+401035+401036+401037+401038+401039+401040+401041+401042+401043+401044+401045+401046+401047+401048+401049+401050+401051+401052+401053+401054+401055+401056+401057+401058+401059+401060+401061+401062+401063+401064+401065+401066+401067+401068+401069+401070+401071+401072+401073+401074+401075+401076+401077+401078+401079+401080+401081+401082+401083+401084+401085+401086+401087+401088+401089+401090+401091+401092+401093+401094+401095+401096+401097+401098+401099+401100+401101+401102+401103+401104+401105+401106+401107+401108+401109+401110+401111+401112+401113+401114+401115+401116+401117+401118+401119+401120+401121+401122+401123+401124+401125+401126+401127+401128+401129+401130+401131+401132+401133+401134+401135+401136+401137+401138+401139+401140+401141+401142+401143+401144+401145+401146+401147+401148+401149+401150+401151+401152+401153+401154+401155+401156+401157+401158+401159+401160+401161+401162+401163+401164+401165+401166+401167+401168+401169+401170+401171+401172+401173+401174+401175+401176+401177+401178+401179+401180+401181+401182+401183+401184+401185+401186+401187+401188+401189+401190+401191+401192+401193+401194+401195+401196+401197+401198+401199+401200+401201+401202+401203+401204+401205+401206+401207+401208+401209+401210+401211+401212+401213+401214+401215+401216+401217+401218+401219+401220+401221+401222+401223+401224+401225+401226+401227+401228+401229+401230+401231+401232+401233+401234+401235+401236+401237+401238+401239+401240+401241+401242+401243+401244+401245+401246+401247+401248+401249+401250+401251+401252+401253+401254+401255+401256+401257+401258+401259+401260+401261+401262+401263+401264+401265+401266+401267+401268+401269+401270+401271+401272+401273+401274+401275+401276+401277+401278+401279+401280+401281+401282+401283+401284+401285+401286+401287+401288+401289+401290+401291+401292+401293+401294+401295+401296+401297+401298+401299+401300+401301+401302+401303+401304+401305+401306+401307+401308+401309+401310+401311+401312+401313+401314+401315+401316+401317+401318+401319+401320+401321+401322+401323+401324+401325+401326+401327+401328+401329+401330+401331+401332+401333+401334+401335+401336+401337+401338+401339+401340+401341+401342+401343+401344+401345+401346+401347+401348+401349+401350+401351+401352+401353+401354+401355+401356+401357+401358+401359+401360+401361+401362+401363+401364+401365+401366+401367+401368+401369+401370+401371+401372+401373+401374+401375+401376+401377+401378+401379+401380+401381+401382+401383+401384+401385+401386+401387+401388+401389+401390+401391+401392+401393+401394+401395+401396+401397+401398+401399+401400+401401+401402+401403+401404+401405+401406+401407+401408+401409+401410+401411+401412+401413+401414+401415+401416+401417+401418+401419+401420+401421+401422+401423+401424+401425+401426+401427+401428+401429+401430+401431+401432+401433+401434+401435+401436+401437+401438+401439+401440+401441+401442+401443+401444+401445+401446+401447+401448+401449+401450+401451+401452+401453+401454+401455+401456+401457+401458+401459+401460+401461+401462+401463+401464+401465+401466+401467+401468+401469+401470+401471+401472+401473+401474+401475+401476+401477+401478+401479+401480+401481+401482+401483+401484+401485+401486+401487+401488+401489+401490+401491+401492+401493+401494+401495+401496+401497+401498+401499+401500?authors&parents&superparent"},"object":"objects\/sha256\/91\/91bfdb13d62893a5c7c26a7ee452ac52a1ca57332d6ec989faabc73e9fd741a2","record":"shard-1\/json-live-urgent-v3\/records\/8b0a0d501753f1b9ceeb5d938c126df27dc450035f55db12251a93fadeef6585.json","sha256":"91bfdb13d62893a5c7c26a7ee452ac52a1ca57332d6ec989faabc73e9fd741a2","source":"https","stored_at":1784022545}}