Nifty idea, wonderfully consistent graphics. Difficulty could use tuning -- seemed like clicking on the green fellows always resulted in no damage (had to basically just sit out a round to see how loss would happen). And I'm not a high-APM kind of person.
Interesting about no damage, will have to investigate. How many different ones did you click before your retribution was activated? Thanks for the feedback!
I had plans to tune a difficulty curve, but that was pushed back pretty early. Is it allowable to update things like that once this is in judging? I wouldn't think so, but I'm really not sure.
Yeah I agree that the difficulty is pretty flat. Would be happy to put a curve in there to up the challenge, but I'm pretty sure that's a no-no. Will consider it for a future update.
If it's Flash, why no Linux and Mac downloads? :P Very original game, although I'm still not really sure how you have to play it. Seems like spreading the media out is a good tactic, but still...
Really cool idea, I like the minimalistic style and word clouds. Does it get harder at any point thought? It feels like it isn't really proceeding anywhere.
Very cool game idea, but I felt it was too easy. A bit more challenge would have made it better. Still a good game though, and one of my favourite entries so far.
Nice use of simple mouse controls. You could extend the concept with levels that have reflective or absorbing structures. I blew up after thinking too much about the angle praise. That's deep. :P
And again, thanks so much for the kindness all! If it was allowable, I would be adding a bit to make it grade up in difficulty and some other modes. I'm very happy that you all have enjoyed it thus far :)
Great game, graphics and sound are really nice. it's really easy though, does anything happen, I got to 9 retributions before I just didn't click anything to see what would happen.
It's still pretty linear, only had 8 hours total to design, build and compose. I have plans to add some more content (difficulty curve, different modes and some AI changes) after the compo is all over. I don't want to change things during judging.
Wow. The art style feels really original, the sounds are great and the game somehow manages to be quite creepy when played alone in a dark room in the middle of the night.
The gameplay is ingenious, but later became a bit repetitive.
Anyway, one of the best games I've played so far :D
I got 87,500 points. I really liked the graphics and sound design, they contributed to a strong mood. I wish their had been more feedback about how gameplay worked. I see that my media people can be connected, does that give me some kind of bonus? Is there an advantage to having them arranged a certain way?
The arrangement advantage is in where you activate them. One thing I wanted to add was having the critical text fly in from certain way points where you might set up a blockade using your media allies.
M
Martin Vilcans17 Dec 2012, 22:43
Great mood, art and audio!
Not much gameplay though, and it gets boring quickly. It's too easy once you realize the game is just about quickly clicking on the green things.
I just wanted to leave another comment about how much I really liked your game. It really is a wonderful piece of art. Abstract games are the best, they make you really think :)
Excellent game! I really like this! The concept, creativity and style are all very good. Well done! :D
R
refreshcreations18 Dec 2012, 00:04
I really loved playing this game, the background music really helped to make this game feel complete. I got to around level 17 then got sick of the echo chamber always winning so I took great amounts of joy in watching it's demise! Great concept and great fun to play through.
Liked the concept and execution and presentation/art. Gameplay seemed ok but wasn't too challenging? I found that as long as I clicked 11-12 each time I was ok. Next step is to see if you can make this more of a game vs a concept.
Agreed. I have plans to add a difficulty curve and more-refined strategy elements. Had 8 hours total to work with, so things got minimized super fast. Thanks for playing, I dug santa's use of the boomstick quite a bit as well.
Super trippy. Big points for a mechanic I've never seen before, though once I figured out an optimal strategy, I never had to deviate from it. Still: that was a tasty morsel of gamin' right there!
I feel like it could have communicated what was going on a little better; it took me a while to figure out what all those heavy lines were telling me. Might help if they fade out a little during the retribution phase.
Once I figured that out, of course, it all made glorious sense :)
That's a good point, the thickness represented the connection strength , originally it was going to pulse like a heart beat pumping words like blood back to the chamber, but yeah, 8 hour build time turned that into trippy laser lines ;) The more ya know!
Really good interpretation of what a Villain is! The game lookds really good given the focus to the Theme and Audio is amazing, I don't know why but in Retribution Time music moved me to Fez days :O I like the combination of having to click quick with the mouse but also trying to spread your ne of media, and how the spoiling they give to you is the counter attack for the critics. Simple but yet amazing game!
The concept is very abstract, so I find it kind of hard to understand what the game is about. Sure, some tips are given, but to someone who isn't in the mood to delve deep into what it all means, this game is plain boring. The graphics and effects are kind of cool though.
Interesting concept. Unfortunately it lagged on my computer during the assault phase down to around 1fps, so it was a bit boring waiting for that to be over, but I can see myself enjoying it a lot on a smoother PC.
it's a good idea and nice game. But if u just click on random middle guys you always win. It could be better if you have to create a well shaped chamber (is it clear?).
Thanks again folks! @AnnaGavaldaKedavra, yes that is clear. I agree with you. I will be making some pretty solid updates to this after the competition with emphasis on difficulty and strategy. Thanks for playing!
Cooool! How do I get more little green people in my life :) Really pretty, I especially like how the line between the people gets thicker the more you click on. Not much to do besides click, however.
Audio/Visuals: Top! Especially the audio is marvellous! I loved the ambient loops for retribution.
Is the game getting any harder over time? I stopped at 100k points because I didn't have the feeling it did. If there isn't one, congratulations for having me repeating the same thing over and over on the same difficulty level!
I think I understood the message in the game, but I don't understand how it fits the theme "You are the villain".
It took me *very* long to figure out that you can direct the counterattack. The reason is just that at first it seems like a click-as-much-as-possible-in-a-short-time, so I clicked all over the place and my counterattack seemed random. Only after relaxing and not wanting to win anymore, I tried out directing the connecting lines. I'm not sure if there is any strategic value in this though, as you should probably distribute it evenly, but I won even without doing so.
Okay, long story short: A very cool game for the 48h limit! Good job!
Tobias, thank you for taking the time to write that! Unfortunately or fortunately in the eyes of the game, there was no difficulty change or challenge increase. Only had 8 hours to build, spray was scrapped early. In my opinion, the villain element comes out during gameplay, it's definitely abstract which I like. I appreciate that you played it, thanks!
I hate to use this meme but first I was like Ehh, but then I was like aaah! Cool VVVVVV style visuals commenting on the modern day villains, the Blogerati. This must be how Scoble feels. Also, amusingly this game has the most comments on it I've seen so far, which is fitting in many ways :)
Great stuff, very moody. The sound is what impressed me the most - I got a "Kid A" vibe from it. I don't mind that there wasn't much difficulty to it, after a few minutes I decided to lose to see what happened.
Liked it very much :) It plays smoothly, although I had a hard time figuring out where to click in the first place, but once I did, it was madness! Soundtrack/sfx fit nicesly, got hooked for a few rounds but stopped when I didn't notice a progression.
Nice idea and implement, it reminds me about something happpened here in Taiwan.
P
PIXEL^319 Dec 2012, 09:24
I like the idea, collecting enough good reviews to counter critics, but I felt it could've been executed better. At first it can be kinda fun, rushing to click as many as you can. But what I quickly realized was that nothing changed. The difficulty stayed the same level of easy the entire time so I could virtually play forever. And half of that gameplay is watching text fly across the screen. I apologize if I sound too harsh, but I'm not the programmer of the group so I can't begin to imagine what might of had to go into this. But from an 'average joe' view this game is a bit boring. Adding some difficulty, like a gradually larger media requirement, or mixing critics in with the media would've at least helped remedy this a little. On the bright side it's one of the more original games I've played.
Very interesting concept, moody and well excecuted, though it would be nice if the gameplay evolved a little between rounds. It could become really cool given some additional work after the compo!
I might put up a post build, feel conflicted about it since the experience would be pretty different.
Pixel, not harsh at all! I appreciate that you took the time to play and write that. I agree that it is pretty limited and, if not before judging ends, I have plans for making this into a more complete experience. I didn't have much time to do more than I did unfortunately.
Interesting concept, but way too easy. Needs to be a little more challenging. Very off-beat but new way to interpret villain (although I personally found it more along the "delusional" lines than villain). The effects are good and the mood is very symbolic. Good work.
Very interesting concept. I like the audio and graphical style. However I think the game would have been stronger with a greater challenge and with an overarching goal in mind.
I was playing for a long time and didn't get damaged once.
I really like this game! The graphics are so simple yet they add to the theme this game presents. The subtlety and meaning hidden behind the player's actions is something I find Absolutely delicious! This is a very original idea and I think it should be continued further!
R
ReveLorenfield20 Dec 2012, 01:10
Original and interesting idea. Your game is simple, yet pretty catchy. Good job :) !
Just posted a post mortem! :) Thanks for playing this folks, it really means a lot to me. I plan on expanding it in meaningful ways, will update when that starts.
@donmilham Thanks for playing and commenting :) I know it's a weird one, but the fact that you checked it out is what is important :)
There's a lot right here, and I really like the fact that you took your discomfort with the theme and turned it into something abstract and wonderful.
Like other said, I wish there were some sort of difficulty curve in this game, as it feels like the only way to die is to become bored of your own blowhardiness.
J
Jiggawatt20 Dec 2012, 09:08
Abstract and different. It's strangely fun for a while even if it all comes down to frantic clicking, and seems to have no difficulty curve whatsoever.
The overall presentation is very nice, but the game's difficulty just doesn't increase rapidly enough (if it even does). I got bored to death after getting to something like 270k points, and not seeing decreased intervals of word collection...
Fair enough :) Right now there is no increase in difficulty, unfortunately. Will be adding more after the competition ends, thank you for playing and for commenting!
Dude, you are loaded with comments! What more can I say that they all haven't? Well, the story is a bit vague at first, but once I got it, it was pretty good. And there have already been discussions on the lack of difficulty curve. Other than that, fantastic work, really feels complete!
Very nice, experimental and moody. Lovely use of typography as graphics -- the battles of comments look so good. I found gameplay intuitive and always stressful: you're either desperate to get attention or anxious to see if the critics will get to you. Contrary to some comments, IMO it is a necessity that the difficulty or gameplay does not evolve over time. After all, you're fighting to avoid change, right?
Wow, this game really has it all. Great graphics, great gameplay, great sound and it even carries a message! But after playing your game i realize i have to give you something to improve on.
One thing i think you could've been done better is to get a more solid art style. I really love the bright colors and chaos that occurs during retribution, flashing words and colorful lines etc. But the praisers, the chamber and the GUI seems a bit out of place. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but i think you could've been done even better!
You still get a five star in overall and you immediately rise to my top three!
Thank you thank you thank you for all the comments everyone. You're really making this first LD a great experience :D
@rinaka: I agree a bit with you that this experience might not need a difficulty curve. My goal for the update is to stick with this theme but explore some other facets of it in a way that shows someone's journey and not just an outcome like this experience.
@Birchmoutain: That's a good point about art style. I'll keep it in mind in the next build. Thanks so much for the feedback:)
I love the wonderfully surreal ambiance. The game looks, sounds, and feels beautiful. I also like how you chose a villain that is not only quite abstract, but something negative (ignorance) in the guise of something positive (praise).
The instructions weren't quite clear- particularly how the player is supposed to "use your words" against the waves of retribution. I got it after playing the first time around, but it still wasn't entirely clear at first how the position of the media guys you click effects the way the praise shoots out of the chamber's mouth. Once I figured out that it was just weighting the angles, I was able to receive no damage just by clicking a bunch of guys that were vertically centered-ish, with a bit of angular spread (my first playthrough I survived 1 wave; the second, I quit after 252,100 points and 31 waves). I was able to (intentionally) lose immediately by just clicking people at the bottom-right of the screen, so placement clearly has an effect on victory, but there's a clear dominant strategy, so the game become monotonous and non-challenging. I would recommend incorporating some element that changes randomly every round (like the location from which the retribution approaches), so the player has to change their tactics accordingly, and has a larger chance of failure. The important thing is to make sure there's not just one thing the player can reliably do every round to ensure victory.
Also, since it seems from the comments like you weren't sure: you can use one of your entry links to link to a post-compo version, as long as you make it clear which version is the 48-hour version (it should be clear if you explicitly label your improved version "Post-Compo Version"). Participants are only allowed to vote on the 48-hour version. Be warned: you're not allowed to edit your entry page after judging ends, so if you want people to be able to easily find the post-compo version, you may want to post that link before then.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! You have a good point about strategy and how one-sided the game gets, I agree with that. Regarding the post-compo version, I thought about throwing together my planned-for difficulty and strategy fixes, but while I was working through those, I had an idea for a better overall experience with a thoughtful gameplay arc and something that feels more organic rather than a one-shot playthrough. I'm planning on building onto it over the course of 2013. It should be cool, I'm excited for it :)
Thanks again for playing folks! Hoping there will be some interest in the final product.
Do I have to understand, what is happening here? It's colorfull and I a not wrong. So, no, obviously it isn't of any relevance :-) Nice one! (Although I'm not sure, what the green things do and how I can control anything)
One of the strangest games I've ever played, and totally unique. I loved the graphical and auditory style. It gets repetitive and the challenge doesn't seem to ramp up very much (I played 16 rounds before I lost). And I'm not clear how it relates to the villain theme, but it is a very cool entry nonetheless. Words words words, now spew them back at me:P
Very interesting concept, great to see some different thinking in an entry. Strategy was difficult to decipher. In fact I'm still not sure. But it looks and sounds great in its neon world of words.
Comments206
Difficulty didn't ramp up, as mentioned.
Thanks for the compliments folks :)
Very original game, although I'm still not really sure how you have to play it. Seems like spreading the media out is a good tactic, but still...
The game doesn't have a difficulty arc yet, will come after the compo.
There could be more in the game for sure, right now it's a small experience, but I can see it grow into more, which is exciting :)
Hard to play on a mousepad, but that's not your fault now is it? :P
I blew up after thinking too much about the angle praise. That's deep. :P
it's really easy though, does anything happen, I got to 9 retributions before I just didn't click anything to see what would happen.
The gameplay is ingenious, but later became a bit repetitive.
Anyway, one of the best games I've played so far :D
Not much gameplay though, and it gets boring quickly. It's too easy once you realize the game is just about quickly clicking on the green things.
Great work and polish anyway.
I feel like it could have communicated what was going on a little better; it took me a while to figure out what all those heavy lines were telling me. Might help if they fade out a little during the retribution phase.
Once I figured that out, of course, it all made glorious sense :)
Impressive game play!
>> Had 8 hours total to work with
Well shit, that's super impressive then :)
>> Big points for a mechanic I've never seen before
Gotta echo the above too. Interesting to set up things beforehand then just sit back and watch it all play out in a very visual way.
The graphics and effects are kind of cool though.
Is the game getting any harder over time? I stopped at 100k points because I didn't have the feeling it did. If there isn't one, congratulations for having me repeating the same thing over and over on the same difficulty level!
I think I understood the message in the game, but I don't understand how it fits the theme "You are the villain".
It took me *very* long to figure out that you can direct the counterattack. The reason is just that at first it seems like a click-as-much-as-possible-in-a-short-time, so I clicked all over the place and my counterattack seemed random. Only after relaxing and not wanting to win anymore, I tried out directing the connecting lines. I'm not sure if there is any strategic value in this though, as you should probably distribute it evenly, but I won even without doing so.
Okay, long story short: A very cool game for the 48h limit! Good job!
*If it doesn't, congratulations for [...]
*[...] it seems like a click-as-much-as-possible-in-a-short-time, kind of game, so I clicked [...]
Good one!
~AlucardX60
Pixel, not harsh at all! I appreciate that you took the time to play and write that. I agree that it is pretty limited and, if not before judging ends, I have plans for making this into a more complete experience. I didn't have much time to do more than I did unfortunately.
RETRIBUTION IMMINENT
I was playing for a long time and didn't get damaged once.
Your game is simple, yet pretty catchy. Good job :) !
@donmilham Thanks for playing and commenting :) I know it's a weird one, but the fact that you checked it out is what is important :)
Like other said, I wish there were some sort of difficulty curve in this game, as it feels like the only way to die is to become bored of your own blowhardiness.
Nice graphics and sound.
Interest visualizations though.
Improve: goats were missing. =)
Seemed that just click=spamming was always enough to win mind, rather than thinking much.
One thing i think you could've been done better is to get a more solid art style. I really love the bright colors and chaos that occurs during retribution, flashing words and colorful lines etc. But the praisers, the chamber and the GUI seems a bit out of place. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but i think you could've been done even better!
You still get a five star in overall and you immediately rise to my top three!
Simple idea, nice execution! Pretty hard to play on a touchpad, the simplistic graphics were nice, but varied in style a bit, good job though! :D
@rinaka: I agree a bit with you that this experience might not need a difficulty curve. My goal for the update is to stick with this theme but explore some other facets of it in a way that shows someone's journey and not just an outcome like this experience.
@Birchmoutain: That's a good point about art style. I'll keep it in mind in the next build. Thanks so much for the feedback:)
Well done :)
I love the wonderfully surreal ambiance. The game looks, sounds, and feels beautiful. I also like how you chose a villain that is not only quite abstract, but something negative (ignorance) in the guise of something positive (praise).
The instructions weren't quite clear- particularly how the player is supposed to "use your words" against the waves of retribution. I got it after playing the first time around, but it still wasn't entirely clear at first how the position of the media guys you click effects the way the praise shoots out of the chamber's mouth. Once I figured out that it was just weighting the angles, I was able to receive no damage just by clicking a bunch of guys that were vertically centered-ish, with a bit of angular spread (my first playthrough I survived 1 wave; the second, I quit after 252,100 points and 31 waves). I was able to (intentionally) lose immediately by just clicking people at the bottom-right of the screen, so placement clearly has an effect on victory, but there's a clear dominant strategy, so the game become monotonous and non-challenging. I would recommend incorporating some element that changes randomly every round (like the location from which the retribution approaches), so the player has to change their tactics accordingly, and has a larger chance of failure. The important thing is to make sure there's not just one thing the player can reliably do every round to ensure victory.
Also, since it seems from the comments like you weren't sure: you can use one of your entry links to link to a post-compo version, as long as you make it clear which version is the 48-hour version (it should be clear if you explicitly label your improved version "Post-Compo Version"). Participants are only allowed to vote on the 48-hour version. Be warned: you're not allowed to edit your entry page after judging ends, so if you want people to be able to easily find the post-compo version, you may want to post that link before then.
125800 points
14 assaults. hurray!
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! You have a good point about strategy and how one-sided the game gets, I agree with that. Regarding the post-compo version, I thought about throwing together my planned-for difficulty and strategy fixes, but while I was working through those, I had an idea for a better overall experience with a thoughtful gameplay arc and something that feels more organic rather than a one-shot playthrough. I'm planning on building onto it over the course of 2013. It should be cool, I'm excited for it :)
Thanks again for playing folks! Hoping there will be some interest in the final product.