Whoa, that art was really cool! Felt really juicy and everything being animated looked so cool. Well done!
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Overwhelmed's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Presentation | #328 | 4.071 | 4.071 |
| Originality | #459 | 3.857 | 3.857 |
| Overall | #734 | 3.571 | 3.571 |
| Fun | #2148 | 2.786 | 2.786 |
Ranked from 28 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game fit the theme?
Everything is joined together. By the way, please read the game page before you play, (link in comments!)
Did your team create the vast majority of the art during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the art during the game jam
Did your team create the vast majority of the music during the 48 hours?
Yes
We created the vast majority of the music during the game jam
Comments
Hey thanks for playing, I'm glad you enjoyed the polish.
Yes I agree entirely that O is a seemingly strange choice. Funnily enough it was never meant to be O, there was going to be a UI to choose which type of node to build before you place it but I completely ran out of time. The reason for O is because there were lots of controls mapped all over the keyboard for testing and O just happened to be free when I needed a key quickly to test placement of new node types. Most of the other keys were removed as they were debug features and because I ran out of time I just had to leave O in.. I added the prompt for "press O to switch nodes" in the last 2 minutes of the submission window.
I agree the entire gameplay component is missing, it got overlooked because of time constraints, most of the effort went into visuals. But I definitely would be fleshing that out more under less pressurised development.
I really like the idea that shots landing should be made clearer to the player somehow. Currently if you point enough firepower at an enemies node it will actually disintegrate with cracks and then despawn, but all the animations for that never got made so it looks a little empty.
Indeed "hell" is a good way to describe it, there was a huge crushing sense of failiure in the last 2 hours when I realised how much left there was still to do and how little time I had left. There was a moment in the last hour where I nearly stepped away from the computer and abandoned the whole thing, and I wasted about 10 minutes convincing myself to even continue. Eventually I sucked it up and just posted what I had but it was by a very fine margin that anything even got uploaded at all. I'm glad I did, the community response has been wonderful and some absolutely fantastic ideas have been suggested.
Speaking of which, do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for playing! Unfortunately it's a bit of an eternal cycle because it looks so polished because it's unfinished! I have a habit of polishing stuff before I move onto the next bit which ultimately lead me to running out of time.
I'm glad to hear you liked the animations! I'm surprised you liked the controls, I personally found them a little janky. Which controls did you like?
I agree with that order in theory, but my lack of discipline prevents me from following it in practice! I'm glad to hear you will follow it. Would you be interested in beta testing? There's also a gamejolt page, and Twitter!
Also, do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for playing, and thanks for taking the time to record a video! I find it very useful to see how the game is played by other people.
Funnily enough, the red and green nodes are not supposed to be able to connect, that's a bug. I added the red team in the last hour so that's presumably also why the game crashed when you tried to do that!
But now that you mention it, it would be an absolutely fascinating mechanic if you could connect to the enemy's base, perhaps to siphon off their power or even short circuit their grid? At the risk the enemy does the same to you? Thank you, I'll definitely be adding that!
I agree an invading force would be the end goal, but I ran out of time.
Do you have any other suggestions?
Hey thanks for playing! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed placing the nodes, a huge amount of time was invested into making that mechanic work as it was supposed to so I'm happy it resonated.
I agree it would be great to see more, I am excited to see where the road leads with this project. Do you have any suggestions?
The direction seems pretty open at the moment, so no strong suggestions on my part. That being said, it might be cool if the enemy base sends waves to attack you or there was more resource balancing that you have to do. I'm not sure what the core game loop is going to look like yet though, so I wouldn't expect them to be in the game unless it makes sense for what you want to make.
2 years ago(+1)
I see! You mean moving enemy ships that come and attack you? I agree you'd then have to be at the controls constantly!
Well thinking about it, I don't know if it stays in the scope of the game but I can imagine that your machinery is actually digging into "ground/stone/whatever" to get access to special places or just for your expension. Why not have some jet-engine structure to move your structure into the void. Or the ability to split into small pieces to start new big structures somewhere else grindind some resources and so on. Some ennemies can try to steal some scraps of your vessel if you don't defend it/them. Put gold into small tanks/vault could be interesting in a way you have to defend it.
The idea that your base could have blasters on it and move is incredible, I love that so much. Thank you for such a great suggestion.
You actually already can split into smaller pieces in the current demo, that's where most of the development time went into.
I also enjoy the pillaging nature you've suggested, gold tanks just like the battery tanks are a great idea too. A little like clash of clans! Do you have any other ideas?
Maybe make it multi somehow :D
Totally in brainstorm here... you could export some constructions into you own library and fight some other players structures. A bit like robot fights where you put the robot into an arena vs another team... and you spectate the result... I am sure some meta could emerge with differents tactics. No need to do it realtime tho. And you keep some scoretable of the bests :)
But I think the most enjoyable part is the construction and some story mode where you have to "make your way" and control de integrity of your structure(s).
I remember now for the split, but the thing is that it doesn't mean anything at the moment.
BTW, you could unlock some new pieces type each new level. That can be a thing to find when scavaging whatever you can :) So you'll got the progression flow and a goal at middle term. The piece could be hold by some boss tho'. The next level you'll need it to clear it or just defend yourself...
Multi as in multiplayer? Absolutely will be top of the Todo list.
I like the library idea, but it also makes me wonder what kind of automation could be added? For example a system of nodes that can build itself? Then make it fight against the enemy in an arena like you said!
A story mode? Perhaps some travellers lost in space? Any suggestions on that?
I like the idea of scavenging too, that could be very interesting. For example there could be abandoned bases on the outskirts of the map that you have to build your way over to, take out the defenses that are still running on the backup power supply, and then steal then reroute all their resources into your base. This could include blue prints / materials for structures that cannot be built by default.
Another player made a fantastic suggestion that you could connect your nodes to enemy bases directly and pull resources from them. This mechanic would play perfectly into your suggestion here!
What do you mean about bosses? Keep the ideas coming, this is very exciting!
Absolutely for the multiplayer.
The game evokes memories of some games: Dungeon Keeper (the underground digging part I suppose),
I don't know if you've ever seen that program/algorythm called "game of life". It's maybe a bit to far but have mecanics of self replicating structures could be interesting. For different purpose as explore, fight, replicate and so on.
You got it for the abandonned bases! Sounds funny and rewarding :)
For the bosses, depending on the story/universe you could have some big creatures (or other structures) trying to grab your precious ressources. Imagine those creatures attracted by light or electricity. They'll go away with a few hit first but they'll come more confident. Then they could if defeated give you the reward with those same blueprints.
One interesting thing with your ressource management is that if you have some limited core energy, you'll be forced to make choices (could be tough ones) to dismount some old constructions to build somewhere else. It could lead with some weak points in the structure where you should pay attention. Or try to grow like the enveloppe of a cell :)
2 years ago (+1)
I have seen the game of life! It's insane what some people have made in that simulation, including a giant simulator of the game of life itself!
I love the idea of giant creatures attracted to light/electricity, perhaps it even bothers them hence why they're trying to destroy you (the electric field gives it a headache?). It would give players an incentive not to get too big. I also like the idea that they get scared at first but get more confident and start to get more aggressive once they've checked you out from a distance.
I love the idea of having to destroy structures and recycle because you're low on resource, and that it could create weak points because of limited resource. Perhaps there's a second resource (metal) that has to be conserved.
I also love the metaphor of a cell, that's really interesting.
Do you have any other thoughts? Also your ideas are amazing, I would love your input throughout development.
Thanks for playing, I'm glad to know you approve of the theme use! I completely agree that multiplayer would be really fun. Honestly making it multiplayer is likely easier than trying to write a competent A.I. to play against.
Do you have any suggestions, and would you be interested in beta testing?
2 years ago(+1)
Haha thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked it. I don't know if I can qualify for "achieving it" as it's not complete, but I enjoy the sentiment! Do you have any suggestions?
Yeah! I think the main two elements that I would love to have a version of in your game is the "main objective" to reach certain "special resource" and have to extract it completely in order to progress or win.. which is going to take you time and resources. And while you are doing so, prepare defenses in a way you can survive multiple waves of enemy attacks. These should be harder every time, in order to make you optimize and recover the "special resource" as fast as you can.
So basically a main objective and time pressure!
2 years ago(+1)
Very true, I see what you mean! Thanks for the suggestion, it will definitely be useful when the time comes that I must write the AI
Thanks for playing, I'm so glad to hear you liked the graphics and concept! I will for sure be developing this further once I complete my current project, which was an entry for a different Jam.
You can keep in touch on Twitter. I've set up a Gamejolt page for Overwhelmed here!
Do you have any suggestions for how I could develop it further? And would you be interested in beta testing?
Hey thanks for playing! I'm glad you can see the vision I was trying to depict. The art style ended up pretty quirky because normally I focus on making crisp clean art but this time I just let my imagination run wild in the paint editor and this was the end result. Tech and bio is a great way of describing it, kind of matrixy!
Do you have any suggestions or ideas?
The concept is not complex enough for me to judge so I think you can just expand the game with more towers, more enemies (both stationary and mobile), some new kind of resources, environments, upgrade systems and so much more. Awesome to hear that you are going to publish this promising piece to Steam, I will check back some time later so be sure to update your progress!
For sure there will definitely need to be more towers, as they will keep the game more interesting. I'd like there to be some kind of rock paper scissors balance of abilities for these towers. Mobile units is an interesting concept too, you mean such as factories that produce units that can fly away from your base?
I'm glad to hear your enthusiasm, I will for sure be developing this further. I assume you'd be interested in beta testing?
I will be posting updates about it on Discord and Twitter, and I've gone ahead and set up a Gamejolt page for it here! But first I must complete my current project, which was an entry for a different Jam.
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