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I've adjusted the concept and overall roadmap for the project's further development. What do you think is the best order to implement these systems?

General Concept:

A peaceful world simulator with the "my home is my fortress" philosophy, where it's fun, safe, and worth living. Alternating settlement management and mission-driven travel. Events, good and bad, change the settlers' lives, but don't destroy everything, as the settlers stabilize the situation after a while. Winning is either building/researching a superstructure or running away to try again next time.

Direct control of your group of characters, and indirect control of everyone else. You can issue long-term orders to your characters (mining, processing, crafting, studying, healing, training, etc.) while others are engaged in more active activities.

General Development Roadmap:

* Advanced Needs (entertainment, communication, sleep, etc.)

* Actions to satisfy advanced needs

* Basic RPG stats: strength, agility, endurance, etc. Combining different foods improves various basic stats.

* Skill and Ability System

* Trait System

* Crafting based on recipes and item volume and quality, taking into account tools and skills

* Building Construction

* Automatic and manual crafting equipment

* Simple robots that can be used for mining, crafting, security, combat, etc.

* Item Wear (recycling broken trash)

* Object and Tile Pollution (cleaning, washing, scrubbing)

* Aging, rotting organic matter

* More Advanced AI for Characters

* Reputation and Relationship System between Characters, Communication, and Persuasion

* Soul Resurrection System: Characters don't die, but temporarily become spirits. Reborn child characters gain spirit talents.

* Factions/clans and their relationships

* Recruitment, luring people between factions

* Traveling the global map with events along the way

Fixed several bugs and prepared a test build of version 0.1.0.542 MicroHRTSim test version (password: test) You can play in the browser.

Help me understand where to go:

1. Which aspect seems most interesting?

- Exploration and mystery

- Tech development and crafting

- Social interactions between characters

- Something else?

2. What immediately catches your eye as a "weak point"?

3. Would any of you follow the development of such a project? Why yes/no?

Any post is valuable – even "I'm bored watching this." Thank you!

Does the game have a real focus or clear goal? Yes and no... You can simply wander around the game, find objects, interact with them, and delve deeper into the game's mechanics and world. I'm probably more focused on giving meaning to various objects and their interactions than on creating goals. Every object in the game should serve a purpose. For example, what is this plant? The player uncovers the plant's meaning, and what is the resulting result for? And so on. You can create your own goals, you can stumble upon objects that give meaning to the game, or you can simply find missions with a clear goal and accept them or ignore them. But at the same time, there are already simple tasks and complex missions whose completion formally ends the game. Generally speaking, the sandbox genre itself doesn't have a clear goal.

As for mixed genres, embodying all the features of the listed genres in a single project is undoubtedly not an easy task, so these will likely be partial elements of the genres, and only if they help deepen the world, imbuing it with new meaning and dimensions.

For example, I was developing a hierarchical skill system and character stats, but I had to stop that section and make a simplified version because the full-fledged crafting system hasn't been finalized yet, and it's unclear whether the game as a whole is engaging for players.

What do you like about them? What hooks you, and why do you play these games?

I'm developing an open-world sandbox game, and now I want to better understand what direction to take. Which areas of development should I focus on? There's still a lot to do, but player interest is important.

Would you like to play and explore such a game world (link to devlog)?

Test build version MicroHRTSim (restricted page password: test) You can play in the browser on PC.

Hi, I've been developing a game world in a hybrid genre for some time now, which seems to be commonly referred to as an indie game with an open world, a sandbox, and so on. Now, I hope, I've reached a stage where I can show something without all the fluff, and the concept can be refined with the help of the community and the expectations of potential future players. The current working title is MicroHRTSim, and I'm simply creating a post to share the game's development on this forum. I see it's customary to update posts with changelogs and updates, so let's give it a try and see what comes out. Feel free to comment, I welcome constructive suggestions or questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Also, please tell me what you like and why, or what you don't like and why.

MicroHRTSim - is a procedurally generated world and game, a hybrid mix of genres where you control characters in an open-world sandbox.

It incorporates elements of the following genres: simulated open world and life, craft, RTS, strategy, and RPG. It's being developed using pure JavaScript, HTML5, and canvas. The graphic style has currently been simplified to colored rectangles, allowing me to add and test new features much faster than before. And it really works! I have a lot of ideas for the game world, but I am alone and my resources are limited.

The concept of MicroHRTSim was inspired by various old games in the RTS, strategy, simulator, RPG, open world, and sandbox genres, and the desire to add what they lack (although I may be behind the times, as I rarely play, and perhaps everything has already been implemented, and I might be wasting my time :)).

The setting is potentially variable and can change depending on the world settings, object lists, vegetation, resources, and the available technological knowledge of where the player is dropped. Currently, it's a technologically undeveloped world, somewhere in the universe, pre-Neolithic.

The world space potentially supports multi-level nesting in the game code (e.g., galaxy-star-planet-region-settlement-location). However, it is currently limited to island-locations.

few screenshots:

link my blog for more screenhots: MicroHRTSim (Micro Hybride Real Time Simulator)

Test build version MicroHRTSim (restricted page password: test) You can play in the browser on PC.

Thanks for playing. May the force, power, feedbacks, players be with us. :)

"players who look at/play larger jams. ..views from jams also helps you stay on "new and popular". my entries to the git hub game off jam .., and most of these views were not from devs."

this is very interesting and good if it is really accurate information, but how did you know this? and why do you think that most jams participants are not game developers?

"other things you can do to make more people play your game is invest in a really great thumbnail and game page"

this topic is covered in darkness, I have seen beautiful, magnificent covers for unpopular games, and terrible covers that shot to the top. It's more like luck and lottery :). IMHO the effort on the cover is not worth it. This can only happen if there is an A/B test.

My current CTR fluctuates between 0.5-2%, what is the average and maximum CTR that is considered normal on itch and steam?

"5-10 players a day is a massive amount, and honestly pretty unrealistic"

But you have 5000 views ~ 1000-2500 plays, jam 7-30 days, that means ~ 1000/30~33 2500/7~350 => 33-350 plays/day

"important to filter feedback"

I agree, we need a balance between the various conflicting wishes of the players and our own vision of the project

"you need to explain the nearby units/unit switching thing somewhere more clearly."

I'll add a note to todolist to make unit selection clearer

Thank you for playing and such a great detailed review,

I can't imagine where I can promote such a small game. Apart from channels like "reddit games" I couldn't find anything suitable. It is unlikely that such small games as ours can interest the respectable reddit gamers that plays large AAA games.

I thought that itch was just a platform for small, beginner indie games, but in fact, probably all the traffic goes to large, already popular games. This means my game is not interesting to the players.

Jams are again game developers, good for getting feedback, but not getting enough players.

The goal was to make a working prototype of the game in a short time, something suitable and working, and then regularly get at least 5-10 players a day. Improve the game according to the wishes of those who want to play such a game. But the game currently only has 20 "Browser Plays". Goal failed :).

"i think you can't move when other circles are moving?"

No, after death, control of the unit is lost, but if there is a white unit nearby, you can switch to it and control it.

"what are the other white circles for?"

You can switch between white circles (units) and manage them one by one.

"quoting yourself is a little pretentious haha"

it was such an exaggerated joke from an unknown indie developer :)), in proportion to the epic theme of jam (POWER)

I took part in the jam game "Improve My Game Jam 33" - a good small regular jam specializing specifically in feedback to improve the game. Maybe someone will find the link https://itch.io/jam/imgj33 useful.

So what did we find out? After adding visual indicators, some people understood how to play, others still don’t understand. The next stage of improvement, there may be one of the options: 1) game bot, 2) scripted bot, 3) animated gif picture 4) static picture

to show the rules, and there may be sound effects for danger, bonuses, water level changes, etc

"I don’t understand what you mean in #6. Which blue circle are you referring to?"

when you move the mouse over a character, an information window pops up: Name, type, and two numeric parameters.

Thanks for playing and feedback,

I added your notes to my todo list

Thanks for playing and feedback,

"The grammatical errors in the instructions"

Tell me more specifically (in which sentence), if you have time, where to correct grammatical errors?

yes, or maybe make a lobby menu and launch a game or a playing bot in the background for demonstration like in old slot machine games

Thanks for playing and feedback. Hmm, you probably didn’t wait until the streak of water reached the very top of the glass, then maybe it would have become more clear what the water was doing.

I’ve been thinking about the lessons for some time now, there are three options for implementation complexity: 1) game bot, 2) scripted bot, 3) animated gif picture 4) static picture

IMHO, my feelings from the game: the game positions itself as an arena battle, but I did not feel that I was fighting an equal opponent in the arena. In the arena, each fight with each opponent must be individualized, and require effort and ingenuity to win, when each new enemy is a challenge. Otherwise it turns into hunting animals.

But if it is still a hunt, then there should be a reward for the player for winning. Loot in the form of dropped items, gold or something else. The loot can be used immediately or later in the camp. Loot emotionally confirms mini victories during the hunt.

I've seen items and gems in screenshots, but I haven't gotten to this screen in the game. And loot should confirm emotions from the very beginning of the game, you know what I mean?

A good example of how to make an interesting game out of the simplest graphics.

In terms of improvements, the potential for adding features is limitless if you want to keep developing. In combination with simple graphics, it will be much easier: different types of weapons, shots for several cells, bombs of different types and power, moving and stationary enemies in the maze, walls of different strengths, collected items that give improvements, etc.

My gaming experience:

1. It was difficult to understand what was happening with gold. Gold increases and decreases. At first I thought that it was produced in houses and did not understand why it suddenly began to decrease. So far, after a few games, I was able to realize that it was decreasing from the purchase of units and cards. It would be necessary to accurately show the purchase of a unit and a card (quickly or instantly reduce gold).

2. During the battle, when choosing a map, it is better to highlight the available units. To make it clear that the card must be given to the character.

3. After the battle, at the campsite, if you click on the character, a fatal error occurs with the loss of game progress.

4. It’s unclear why the cleric doesn’t heal; when I bought them, I expected them to be useful to the party.

5. It is not clear how to cast magic as a wizard, the same as a cleric

6. It is not clear what the “blue circle” indicator under the “red attack circle” means

7. I expected red enemies to be stronger, but they are just as weak as green ones

8. the bosses are really strong, there is a lot to think about in order to defeat them, this is a good meta (think about the game after the game)

9. I didn't like the graphics :), but that's good because most casual players will be fine!

I tried several times on a PC and a smartphone, and I couldn’t play due to severe freezes and low fps of the game. an ordinary user with a budget device will not be able to play, perhaps optimization is needed, measuring FPS and disabling unnecessary things. Only half of the screen is visible on a smartphone.

But the idea has powerful potential for further development, people even love to just watch the show, if it’s fun, then one wins, then the other

You correctly recognized the rules of the game, which makes me happy because adding indicators to the game was useful.

What may have happened is that sometimes a light block, when clearing blocks, can come off and float up sharply, colliding with a dropped block. And this can cause the game to be lost.

I need to think about sounds.

interesting strategy, similar to board games, easy to play without instructions, but difficult to win :). I didn't win 0/4 games.

The colors are nice, but I would add danger and bonus icons on top of the cards. Colored pictograms will give you the opportunity to quickly think through and create an adventure route.

The finish card was not immediately clear. The start and finish can be made in the same color and with explicit Start Finish inscriptions or icons.

"games that are centered around a concept from mathematics":

imho, mostly players who are inside the game cannot appreciate complex concepts because they are inside. Before him is the task of completing the game or at least not losing.

When I got stuck in a game and couldn't go any further, I started to get bored because I was wandering around the worlds and nothing was happening (pressing "I`m Stuck" nothing happens). And then I wanted to close the game. We need some kind of holding elements of the game so that the player would want to stay in case of getting stuck. There may be tips or leveling up of experience, achievements, accumulation of strength to pass directly by force!

Thanks for playing and great detailed review!

oh yes, it would be good to insert auto play before the game. But this will be difficult to implement. To do this, I need to write a gaming bot that can analyze the playing field and make the right moves. But showing the game for an unusual type of game may be the only right way.

Yes, it would be cool to learn how to explain our own games just as Minesweeper did :)

I'm just starting to understand this difficulty. In addition, people are always in a hurry, they have no time to understand, even read the rules, and in games and entertainment, if something is not clear to them, they prefer to quit this and do others. In addition, games has already created many hundreds of thousands, and the attention of millions of people receive more simple and understandable games.

I uploaded the update of the game. Added 5 mini graphic indicators, which, as I hope, can improve understanding of the gameplay.

It would be interesting to listen to the opinion, those who have already tried to play, and those who have not yet seen the initial version

Thanks for playing and meaningful feedback. It is very valuable to have an outside perspective. "stack 3 boxes but when I stack 2 nothing happens" - I will take note of this problem.

What confuses me is that 4 out of 4 players could not understand how to play, because when we learned to play simple games like Minesweeper or something, we did not read any instructions and there were no special tips, we just tried to play and that’s it it worked. Maybe other players, those who managed to figure it out, simply didn’t write anything. Or maybe, having encountered a problem, they immediately left the game. What will happen if you make a slightly more complex game or even a very complex one such as a strategy, RPG, game universe, or new game mechanics...

In any case, I have already started working on and adding simple visual indicators to this game

thanks for playing,

So at the moment the following problems have become clear:

1 critical hazard before LOSE

2 how to get the points

3 what the water actually does

I'm thinking about it, and I already have several hypotheses about what can be added to the game for a better understanding of the game...

thanks for playing, 0 score - this makes me think deeply

hmm, interesting, so you can’t even get points before “LOSE”? 0 score? Or score>0, but it’s not clear how to win?

I fixed a few bugs in the game, if you have time, can you see if it's any better?

I fixed a few bugs in the game, if you have time, can you see if it's any better?

I first configured the access "Restricted - Only owners & authorized people can view the page" so as not to publish ahead of time, I thought "Restricted" was enough for the community

OK, now I have configured "Public" access

Hello indie gaming comrades, thanks for taking the time to view this topic.

I develop a very simple micro game experimental logic and retro old scools in my opinion. If there is no description or tutorial for this game, is it intuitive how to play it? What can be done to make the game more understandable?

Please, let me know if it's understand how to play this game and give me feedback on what can be improved in the game.

https://microsvard.itch.io/drop-down-block-to-water-puzzle

The main thing for me is to understand whether players can play this without description?

very well made and high quality game, nice cartoon graphics, dynamic addictive gameplay, great job

Thank you. What does "A little rough around the edges" mean? need an example

It seems like a simple game, there’s a little green man walking around, what’s wrong with that. But I see under the hood, a lot of work has been done: loading maps, animation, transitions between locations through doors, mini-game battle, quest system, many UI windows (settings, inventory, etc.)... Good job. I liked the solution to transitions between scenes - animation of black circles

Thank you, :) undoubtedly, all games are GREAT, each great game has more than a million players! :)