I can say that it is my first time and I'm pretty comfortable with it, but I could not get everything I expected. And probably has many errors, but I think that is enough. It's my first game!
Extra Note: I didn't use more than the Java API. :D All the power of Math API.
The game tries to make ecological niches, and see how far you can go. The bodies that are old do children evolved. The bar indicates: orange life, oxygen cyan, and hunger pink bar. Basically when they are hungry or are suffocated them go for food, or oxygen.
I can't entirely tell what is going on here, but I'm guessing it's supposed to be some sort of a life sim. I think this game highly detriments from not having a proper explanation; I'm literally just clicking random places and putting stuff down. I don't know the consequences for doing anything, really.
Interesting idea, the game is quite meditative. I have 1666 points at the moment. I think you should create start script for persons without java background, or place your game as applet to some hosting. Good job.
I feel like I don't get this. I saw that you put a tutorial in, but it might be nice to have a more in depth explanation (even just on this game page, not necessarily in game).
That said, I still like it. You put a lot of thought into this clearly, and the game itself is satisfying if confusing. I just wish I knew what the little guys were thinking. In any case, great work :)
I *think* I get how the simulation works, but the goal seems unclear, since whenever stuff gets eaten/dies it seems to reappear in the box thing. It looks like it's doing something really cool in the simulation; I just wish I could understand it more deeply.
I could undestand the way of playing thanks to the explanation. For the goal I guess you must find some balance where all the creatures can have their needs fulfilled by their own production ?
Looks like you have the simulation part in place, but I think the user interface needs quite a bit of work. It was very hard to follow what was going on - sometimes you could definitely see the creature (or whatever) going for some item you dropped there, other times it just died without making the move. All of this was made quite a bit harder and more annoying by the fact that all my clicks didn't register for some reason. There could perhaps be more clarity in the whole graphical design and maybe you could have some of the rules/guidelines visible during gameplay, since most of the stuff was hard to remember once the game got started.
I had to keep checking back on what the three bars suppose to represent. Definitely a nice simulation game after you resolve some of the flaws that most users had provided already.
Nice entry! I agree with most comments, the only problem is that it is a little cryptic as it is right now: difficult to understand what is going on until you get used with the several abstractions. Maybe if you placed graphics and clear measurable objectives so that players can gradually come to understand the inner workings of creatures and resources, and get used to manipulating it, it could become even more satisfying and accessible. Anyway, good work! ;)
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That said, I still like it. You put a lot of thought into this clearly, and the game itself is satisfying if confusing. I just wish I knew what the little guys were thinking. In any case, great work :)
"I don't really understand how this game works, but at least it's fun to look at :)"
Interesante juego.
And waste marching across the screen is very cute.
You should really work on your post-compo version and add some more gameplay and it will be awesome!