August 24th-27th 2012 :: Theme: Evolution
You are controlling the 'Seed' you have to collect the elements to grow, and to reach the final stage, while being in a space which have 3 gravitational zones.
(Game mechanics: the floor and two sides have gravity along with the seed. The elements above the seed get pulled towards it, however if they are on the sides or below the seed, they get pulled in the direction of the walls. Upon hitting the walls, they get destroyed.)
We didn't have a journal, so I'm going to sum up things here. Two of us working on the project. Apart from making games in one day, we are colleagues in a small indie studio - I'm being the creative director and Andras is the lead developer of the team.
We tried to have quite an abstract approach to the theme, while trying to come up with an easy but original game mechanic. This is our first Ludum Dare entry, and it was very cool to do something so quickly and see it working.
We made the game in 13 hours
Before that we had a one hour brainstorming session, where we came up with the game idea & logic.
I went on designing the visuals, having the first sketch made in 1 hour (with Paper on iPad, screenshot included below), while Andras started coding.
We were using Unity with 2D Toolkit
All artwork made by us
Music is from Magnatune (Tokee - Coma)
Maybe next time we should start a little bit earlier to have more time to polish and add extra stuff - we had so many idea how to evolve the game during development.
Downloads and Links
Ratings
| #15 | Audio(Jam) | 3.96 |
| #38 | Graphics(Jam) | 4.07 |
| #68 | Mood(Jam) | 3.19 |
| #96 | Innovation(Jam) | 3.07 |
| #123 | Theme(Jam) | 2.83 |
| #162 | Overall(Jam) | 2.90 |
| #220 | Humor(Jam) | 1.36 |
| #236 | Fun(Jam) | 2.07 |
| #1171 | Coolness | 0% |
Comments
Thanks for your feedback C&C!
As mentioned above, the game was made in a very short amount of time, because we started working on the last day only. We already have ideas about penalties, when you miss a ball by falling to the walls, adding dangerous and avoidable elements like you've proposed, also to get in some kind of scoring system with bonuses or combo points, and more interaction with the colors... The game in this state demonstrates the basic idea, and if we will have time besides our another projects, we will definitely improve it.
Time constraints are definitely the enemy during LD! I hope you release a post-jam version with all the great stuff you two had brainstormed!!!
I like the concept. The visual style is super nice and I loved the music. I kept on playing because I expected something to happen in the end, but the mechanics are too simple and there is no real challenge. Maybe it is ok for a Zen game.
Thank you for you comment Kumquat!
The only challenge right now is time, if you want to complete the evolution fast, you really need to figure out some good strategy to do so. If you play on Kong, you can try to beat others, there are already some numbers hard to get nearby.
Great music and graphics. I think it takes too long time for something to happen.
Oh this game so meditative! But I don't want to play it again... Nice work in any case!
Amazing. One of the most polished game in this jam. I love the concept and use of the theme. So, I link you must make features to become this concept more fun. Please rate my game too. o/
Nice game. Graphics were well done. In enjoyed playing. Very relaxing. Would love to see an updated version of this, since you guys have made such a good start!! Well done!
Thank you guys for your feedback and your great support, we are checking out and rating your games as well! Please don't forget to rate the game on Kongregate and add it to favorites, so we can keep you updated easily about the upcoming releases. You are giving us a great motivation to continue and improve this tiny piece of game to something bigger and more enjoyable for all of you! Thanks a lot!
Nice idea! Love the visuals and music.
Gameplay could use some tweaking, especially since I had no idea what was going on.
Great concept besides pretty graphics: I hope you'll improve this game.
Top marks for audio and graphics! Loved the artistic style you guys have used. The gameplay itself sadly didn't meet the lofty standards of the FX - it felt rather flat.
awesome visuals and good music, the game and the ending was a little bit lame.
I don't like that type of musics - but it went along so well that I didn't bothered.
The audio must be the best I've heard. The graphics create an interesting atmosphere. There isn't much gameplay however. What I would probably do is keep the graphics and sound and try a different game concept.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts in any aspect above! We are working on other projects as well, so if you like the visual concept of this game, feel free to follow us on Facebook and visit our website (the first link) to learn more. We have more talented artist in the team, not only in this particular style! :)
Regarding the gameplay, we've already made a couple of improvements, and hopefully you will like a post-jam version better.
The gameplay was a bit slow paced and not at all challenging, but the audio and visuals were absolutely beautiful.
Visually and musically speaking, it's really incredible. However the gameplay is badly poor and unchallenging. Certainly a lack of time I suppose!
Looks great, very moody music.
The game idea was good, I did not however find it very fun to play. I missed some sort of ending. Good job anyways!
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The graphics were really well made, and quite honestly is the only thing that kept me playing because I really wanted to see what would happen when I reached 100% but sadly all I got was text and a time (253 seconds). I wish it had more variety, more danger. After only ten seconds I'd already done everything there was to do.
How about adding bad elements that take away from the percentage when absorbed? Or perhaps incoming projectiles that you need to swat away with the spinning mechanic. I think there's a much better game here and you just need to keep exploring :)