Ludum Dare 33
Moderator: Content Developer
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Final round of voting is up, one of these will be selected as the theme.
Update your schedule and capabilities before the compo using the new Google doc
Notice: I have some net issues at home currently and uni will be without power during the compo, but I'll get something running even if I have to tether. Might end up not being in an ideal setup though.
EDIT: Seems I have gotten wifi-up back again so I should be able to use that over the weekend, and rely on tethering for the rest. I'll setup the repositories when I get home.
Update your schedule and capabilities before the compo using the new Google doc
Notice: I have some net issues at home currently and uni will be without power during the compo, but I'll get something running even if I have to tether. Might end up not being in an ideal setup though.
EDIT: Seems I have gotten wifi-up back again so I should be able to use that over the weekend, and rely on tethering for the rest. I'll setup the repositories when I get home.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
This is really annoying, they've picked all the crappy themes.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
But it has Companion, and we've done some heavy thinking on Companion previously :)
Re: Ludum Dare 33
have we? I can't remember...
Re: Ludum Dare 33
yes: http://imgur.com/lFmMCHBhokomoko wrote:have we? I can't remember...
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Please update the Attendance and Skills tables in https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vs1 ... ijdkm5palm before the competition.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Our game is complete: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-3 ... &uid=52862
Re: Ludum Dare 33
nice!
misc suggestions
- faster human movement animations
- add slow fat humans with more biomass
- add instruction on beginning that you need to research tech before shooting
(actually thought the game was bugged as couldn't fire before picking tech)
- add escalating difficulty and/or something to generate a sense of urgency
(like a timer and progressively tougher enemies that chase you, like big AA vehicles, fighter jets and finally nukes!)
- human respawn limits (after a while I just maxed everything)
- humans shouldn't explode if colliding with buildings as they are beamed up
- upgraded lasers too strong compared to upgraded napalm
(note : I got the game and map sdz and played through springlobby single player)
misc suggestions
- faster human movement animations
- add slow fat humans with more biomass
- add instruction on beginning that you need to research tech before shooting
(actually thought the game was bugged as couldn't fire before picking tech)
- add escalating difficulty and/or something to generate a sense of urgency
(like a timer and progressively tougher enemies that chase you, like big AA vehicles, fighter jets and finally nukes!)
- human respawn limits (after a while I just maxed everything)
- humans shouldn't explode if colliding with buildings as they are beamed up
- upgraded lasers too strong compared to upgraded napalm
(note : I got the game and map sdz and played through springlobby single player)
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Thanks, appreciated. My thoughts (not necessarily shared with the rest of the team).raaar wrote:misc suggestions
You're right but I totally missed that one.raaar wrote: - faster human movement animations
=)raaar wrote: - add slow fat humans with more biomass
This is something I disagreed with the team. Although the UI could be better (perhaps no fire cursor when you have no weapon, flashier/better visible "unlock available", etc.), I don't think the users should have everything explained to them. We even added control instructions in the bottom right (which I disagree with), and every keybind was visible. The joy of discovery (in our case the tech tree) is what drives many people to play games. Check this video starting at around 4:45, it mentions some of my thoughts regarding hand holding (although mostly game mechanic, not UI related).raaar wrote: - add instruction on beginning that you need to research tech before shooting
(actually thought the game was bugged as couldn't fire before picking tech)
We wanted that and had some ideas (some very similar to yours), but alas no time =)raaar wrote: - add escalating difficulty and/or something to generate a sense of urgency
(like a timer and progressively tougher enemies that chase you, like big AA vehicles, fighter jets and finally nukes!)
Yeah, game is easy, more of a sandbox that you can't lose. You can actually win if you beamup an alien babe, but it's really sandbox driven.raaar wrote: - human respawn limits (after a while I just maxed everything)
Agreed. They also sometimes explode when fired by the enemy AA due to friendly fire.raaar wrote: - humans shouldn't explode if colliding with buildings as they are beamed up
Balance is lacking =(raaar wrote: - upgraded lasers too strong compared to upgraded napalm
But but you won't be able to have the *designated experience*!raaar wrote:(note : I got the game and map sdz and played through springlobby single player)
PS: I think we'll be able to put this one on rapid, maybe even add (cooperative) multiplayer once things get re-coded for it.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
That may be true for regular games, or games that people pay for.gajop wrote:This is something I disagreed with the team. Although the UI could be better (perhaps no fire cursor when you have no weapon, flashier/better visible "unlock available", etc.), I don't think the users should have everything explained to them. We even added control instructions in the bottom right (which I disagree with), and every keybind was visible. The joy of discovery (in our case the tech tree) is what drives many people to play games. Check this video starting at around 4:45, it mentions some of my thoughts regarding hand holding (although mostly game mechanic, not UI related).
When players play/rate your game in LD, they have no reason to keep playing. Half the games suck and aren't worth the attempt to figure what you should do, so they make a half-arsed attempt (and we're starting from a disadvantage since they had to download the game and it's freakin 130MB) and if it doesn't work they just move on.
They didn't hear anyone recommending this game.
They didn't pay anything to play this game.
They just close the game and don't feel like they missed anything.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
I think our game looks pretty nice and there are screenshots that suggest it has more.hokomoko wrote:That may be true for regular games, or games that people pay for.
When players play/rate your game in LD, they have no reason to keep playing.
The key disagreement was wasd and click to shoot. I thought that would've been obvious. Unlock available should just make the whole tech window flash but I didn't know how to code that easy and fast while using chili. (Probably would have to resort to default opengl and had no time for that)
Split how to make chili objects flash to viewtopic.php?f=14&t=33829. (Silentwings)
- Forboding Angel
- Evolution RTS Developer
- Posts: 14673
- Joined: 17 Nov 2005, 02:43
Re: Ludum Dare 33
As someone who has a game on steam and has dealt with a lot of this shit... Let me affirm that on screen controls and handholding are needed, desperately.
This isn't 20 years ago when figuring out how to play was part of the experience. This is now, where you tell the player how to play the game or they go elsewhere.
This isn't 20 years ago when figuring out how to play was part of the experience. This is now, where you tell the player how to play the game or they go elsewhere.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
wow, game was fun. maybe could be more difficult at the end :)
Re: Ludum Dare 33
This is my main grief for most LD games.gajop wrote:wasd
(My keyboard is azerty.)
Re: Ludum Dare 33
you're a gamedev just edit the bindings luaui file...
Re: Ludum Dare 33
OK: https://github.com/SpringCabal/Area-17/issues/35zwzsg wrote:This is my main grief for most LD games.gajop wrote:wasd
(My keyboard is azerty.)
Re: Ludum Dare 33
After adding arrrow key support:
The controls feel nice and smooth. Though I suppose it's much easier to achieve with a flying saucer that never has to collide or pathfind.
The little humans are nicely modeled/animated.
The goal isn't very clear. Winning came by surprise.
There's a nice amount of content and polish/buglessness for a LD game.
The controls feel nice and smooth. Though I suppose it's much easier to achieve with a flying saucer that never has to collide or pathfind.
The little humans are nicely modeled/animated.
The goal isn't very clear. Winning came by surprise.
There's a nice amount of content and polish/buglessness for a LD game.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Very true. I think we should've added the "Find and save the princess!" and the alien you have to rescue should be made more visible.zwzsg wrote:The goal isn't very clear. Winning came by surprise.
While the original game wasn't buggy (it did have some FPS issues), it got a bit more polished (especially balanced after).zwzsg wrote:There's a nice amount of content and polish/buglessness for a LD game.
I recommend you check the next release we make today/tomorrow.
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Version 3 is up: https://github.com/SpringCabal/Area-17/releases/tag/0.3
This is how it looks when someone plays it: http://www.twitch.tv/techvalleygamespac ... 2?t=25m20s
Him rating it: http://www.twitch.tv/techvalleygamespac ... 2?t=48m20s
Notice he had FPS issues but it worked better than Gravitas. This is supposed to be the balanced version, or as hoko likes to call it, "ridiculously hard you fool", but he managed to get a hang of it. Pretty great and cooperative streamer (agreed to copy files with some totally gimped springsettings for a few extra frames) and had the patience to learn despite the FPS lag. Much better than the last time's guy who was wondering why he can't run "Java .BAT files without unzipping things".
Note that the Stream had 30s+ audio latency and he couldn't read my text so communication wasn't ideal, but still went well I think.
This is how it looks when someone plays it: http://www.twitch.tv/techvalleygamespac ... 2?t=25m20s
Him rating it: http://www.twitch.tv/techvalleygamespac ... 2?t=48m20s
Notice he had FPS issues but it worked better than Gravitas. This is supposed to be the balanced version, or as hoko likes to call it, "ridiculously hard you fool", but he managed to get a hang of it. Pretty great and cooperative streamer (agreed to copy files with some totally gimped springsettings for a few extra frames) and had the patience to learn despite the FPS lag. Much better than the last time's guy who was wondering why he can't run "Java .BAT files without unzipping things".
Note that the Stream had 30s+ audio latency and he couldn't read my text so communication wasn't ideal, but still went well I think.
- KingRaptor
- Zero-K Developer
- Posts: 838
- Joined: 14 Mar 2007, 03:44
Re: Ludum Dare 33
Nice :)
It took me a while to figure out haste is needed to unlock cloak/teleport (actually I pretty much discovered it by accident).
(I'd draw connecting lines manually on the tech window using the gl functions)
It took me a while to figure out haste is needed to unlock cloak/teleport (actually I pretty much discovered it by accident).
(I'd draw connecting lines manually on the tech window using the gl functions)