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A jam submission

Chaos TrainView game page

Entry for GMTK Jam 2021 - Build a train while it's following a track and survive
Submitted by KaDokta (@KaDokta) — 24 minutes, 29 seconds before the deadline
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Chaos Train's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Originality#5253.8153.815
Fun#6803.4813.481
Overall#9753.4573.457
Presentation#18553.0743.074

Ranked from 27 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?
Build and join together a train by attaching parts found along the track

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?

No

We used pre-existing audio

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

I love this idea! I think it would need a lot of balancing to be truly a good experience, but the idea at its core is very clever

Developer(+1)

Thanks for your feedback, glad you like the idea! :)

Submitted(+1)

I really enjoyed this as a prototype --- there's a wonderful kernel of risk/reward of picking up more parts and cars and balancing speed with defensive capability. 

Most of what I read in the feedback I'd echo, with one exception: I actually liked that the it was difficult to pick up cars when you're moving too fast, because that means that even speed has negative tradeoff to consider. I wasn't expecting that from the outset and was pleasantly surprised by it. (The placement issues on the other hand were definitely genuine).

It could be the RNG that I got, but not many offensive turrets dropped for me. I would have loved if the demo had really gone a little overboard by the end (even at the expense of balance) to highlight a train decked out with turrets and a screen full of projectiles ---- Or, sell it in presentation with particle effects, screen shakes and other "juice" to make the scene of a 'chaos train' truly feel like power to be reckoned with.

Thanks for sharing and good luck in the jam!

Developer

Thank you for your feedback!

Yeah, the pickup mechanic was definitely intended to induce some kind of chaotic/frantic game play, where the player has to decide quickly which one to pick up and where to place. I could still improve the pickup system though.

At the beginning of the jam I planned to make the experience more controlled, but it takes a lot of effort and repeated testing to get it right at the cost of other features. The intention definitely was to make it go overboard at some point, with different turrets, more effects etc., but it's difficult to do so much in 48 hours :D

(+1)

Overall, really great idea with tons of potential! I wish it was a little easier to grab things from the ground, but I guess that is the appeal of the game. You gotta find the balance between going fast enough and your skill level of clicking things accurately. So, maybe I just stink at mouse accuracy. Cool idea though, would like to see a full version of it!

Developer

Thanks for your feedback!

Yeah, the controls are definitely a little finicky. Who knows, if enough people are interested, I might make another version.

Submitted(+1)

Neat game! Would definitely play a post jam update, there's a lot of fun mechanics to be explored here. As others have pointed out, an attachment grid would've been swell; not just for the train cars but for the turrets and chimneys as well. It was hard to tell at a glance how many attachments I could actually fit per car, and whether it was a fixed amount or if I was able to squeeze more on with clever placement. Also, the ability to detach cars would've been cool, that way you could shed excess weight if you lost too many engines - at the expense of any turrets you have attached.

I would also say, make sure the shading on your assets is facing the same direction. You probably put a random rotation on the trees for variation, but it doesn't really work with the trees that are only shaded on one side.

Developer(+1)

Yes, thank you for the feedback!

A grid would have been nice, but alas, I didn't have the time to further improve the attachment system. It was already a pain to make the attachments work with the collisions, moving wagons and all that (in fact, it's probably still buggy).

Also true regarding the shading. The trees are also one of the few assets I didn't make myself, just to break up the green monotone background a little bit. Definitely something to improve.

Submitted(+1)

Cool idea and overall pretty decent game. Has potential for further improvements, like different attachements and train parts or even some kind of ability the player can use.

Some things like the attaching of the train are a bit finicky, which is a bit annoying when you want to be fast and pick up more parts, but that's understandable due to the time constraints of a jam.

Developer

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, the attachment system could definitely be improved. In fact, it was a mistake adding it in this jam exactly because of the time constraint. :D

I should have just kept it on the wagon level, and instead added more variety there. Oh well, something to learn.

Submitted(+1)

I thought everything about this was really cool & original, really great implementation and awesome & original idea of having a sort of tower defense but on a moving train.

I think if you were to go forward with this idea, the map should be an actual circuit that maybe you could modify or is just what the "level" is, and when you kill enemies, they have a chance of dropping pieces or you can just outright buy it at a station that the train gets to.

Anyways, great job!  

Would appreciate your thoughts on ours as well!

Developer

Thanks for your feedback!

I definitely would have added some kind of element to reduce the randomness of it if I have had more time, e.g. in the form of a station with upgrades.

Submitted(+1)

I really love the concept but attaching the wagons to the train feels really finicky! I wish there was an easier way of attaching them (like a snap or alignment space or something).

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! It's definitely something I would have improved with more time.

Submitted(+1)

Cool idea! I like that it's kind of a reverse tower defense. The controls can be a bit confusing, at first i wanted to attach the wagons by aligning them instead of hovering over the blue spot with my mouse.

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback! I agree, I definitely wanted to make the attachment system clearer, but sadly I didn't have the time.