Lama Himself

Hey everyone. So usually I do game jams solo to make it simpler but it might be fun to do this one as a team, so I'm looking for people interested in the concept. If you think you can contribute in any ways, you're absolutely welcome. Pitch: My concept I would like to try is a narrative card game. You start the game with few characters represented as cards. In a turn you simply take a random story card and you have to choose on which character you want to put it (and so which character will be affected). I have no theme or episode picked so far so everything is pretty open. What I need: Artworks (the design of the cards, characters, etc), Writing, Music, or anything else if you want to join. What I'm doing: Design and programming (I use Löve2d) Contact Info: On twitter @NicMagnier or mail nmagnier@gmail.com Time Zone: Germany (UTC +2) Portfolio: https://nicmagnier.itch.io/

Is it on Switch already?

I didn't plan to participate to the WJ6 because I was not sure about being able to dedicate tons of time to make a project on my own and to figure which topic I should use. But maybe it could be cool to actually join a team this time. What I'm Doing: Programmer (I use mainly löve2d for jams and I have a tiny bit of experience in Unity. Used to use a lot of C back in the days) and also design Contact Info: twitter @NicMagnier or e-mail nmagnier@gmail.com Time Zone: UTC +1 (Germany/France) Portfolio: https://nicmagnier.itch.io/ I use a mac. In general I could be solo programmer on a 2d game or be an additional programmer on a Unity project. order Order was my Wizard Jam 5 game: https://nicmagnier.itch.io/order-order

Danielle wrote an article about the game https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/3knxnw/this-game-has-it-all-ghosts-swimming-pools-ghosts-in-swimming-pools

Game is done: https://nicmagnier.itch.io/order-order ____________________ My theme is based on the Three Moves Ahead https://www.idlethumbs.net/3ma/episodes/order-order The concept I want to develop is a minimalist RTS where you command small groups. Basically you draw lines to direct your little groups on a play field. The idea will be that you can also sort them by size and if they hit an enemy and their size is in the correct order (gradual) it creates combos and bigger attacks. In short you give orders and order your little soldiers. I usually work on game jams alone and since I'm not an artist and tend to make the game visually abstract or simplistic. However if some musician wants to pitch in, that would be very welcome. Good luck everyone!

I just watched the stream of @phill (which had some really kind words, Thank you!) https://youtu.be/dpuGFMGrhbc?t=3944 Seeing people play is always enlightening. I think the update I made the game more convenient but also screw up some understanding of the game. At least I think some concepts would need to be clearer.

Actually that make a lot of sense. That would have made the bigger=slower mechanic much more consistent.

At first I was not really convinced by having invisible enemies but after few run this combined with the whistling mechanic works quite well. You have to stop whistle see if this safe and proceed. If an invisible enemy is around I simply walk more carefully or take a detour. I think it's difficult to attack enemy since you are never sure when they will move toward you. So approaching an enemy and knowing who will attack or be desirable is a bit difficult to predict. I got a feel for it after a bit but I couldn't explain precisely how it works (turn based? random movement?) Nicely done!

Thank you so much for the feedback. That's true that you can end up dumping a lot of unit by mistake which is frustrating. And a restart button would be convenient. Good call. What's interesting is that there is actually no slow units. The idea is that the bigger (longer) a group is slower overall. A single unit is simply faster that a whole group. I am not explicit about this game mechanic on purpose since I want the player to find that out themselves. But it's true that the player can have the same conclusion than you, that some units are simply slower and slow down the group.

My brain hurts after playing the game. The game is really great. Amazing presentation, great feel when destroying enemies. The music is also top notch. I could continue with more praises: leaderboard, good tutorial, love the text projected on the playfield etc. But I have some small (constructive) criticism: - I played with the keyboard and it's really really hard. I would think it's easier with a controller. - It is frustrating to lose. Often I have the feeling the game was unfair. Could be because of the collisions or the momentum on the paddles but it can be really frustrating. On the other hand the game seems to be generous also in many case; I killed a enemy even though I thought I would die. The frustration might simply come from the discrepancy between what I think will happen, and what actually happens. But overall that is an amazing submission for a game jam.

I've updated the game with the feedback of @Ben X Now you can fast forward the time (with the F key) and you can check how many ordered units are required to kill an enemy (with a mouse hover) Now that it's out of the way there is other stuff that bother me. For example it's difficult to see when a combo is broken. The sound helps but it goes too fast to really realise. But let's put that on the side for the moment.

Thanks Ben. You actually exactly pinpointed the issues I noticed yesterday when I started to play it for balancing. It's not great to have an enemy a screen away and wonder if two or three guys will be enough. I agree that a fast mode (with the whole world would speeding up) could be nice to encourage to try again but I like the game being slow (ok it's probably way too slow). Having better tools (i.e. feedback) to plan a run (knowing enemy health points, units damage etc.) would alleviate some issue with the slowness. There is no cheat code, no. But to appease you (or enrage you) this was basically the last level.

ok I'm done for today. https://nicmagnier.itch.io/order-order

That's a really nice use of voice recognition. I really hope it gets released on the App Store, I would love to give it a try.

Instead of adding more game elements I thought it would be safer just to start building the real game, i.e. having levels, tutorials etc. So now, I just create levels and add new stuff is needed. I do not have a level editor which make it a bit more complicated but I have also much more freedom since I can add custom code to fit the need of each level and not to have to build generic systems

I would be upset if nobody puts Sam Neil on the chest of Nick

Hope everything will get in order soon Sean! If time allows, diving in a project can be really helpful during stressful times (as long as it doesn't add to the stress overall) I am looking for playing you game when you finally finish it.

That's been a while since the last update. Between E3 and unexpected family matters I was not able to work much on the project. I mainly implemented some basic system, enemies and try to spend some time here and there to make it visually better. If everything goes as expected I should be able to finish most game element by tomorrow and can actually start building proper levels, try to find sounds and music. That is way tighter than I was planning but we will do.

Yesterday when I was laying in my bed I suddenly thought that I could use the scroll wheel to control the units along their path. Right now they just follow the path you draw. Could be interesting to quick backtrack to avoid an attack or rush toward an enemy. I will probably try it out to see how it feels.

I didn't work so much on the feel of the controls today. As usual it's a bit the chicken and egg problem. I'm not sure yet what I will build because I don't know how the control should feel and I don't know how the control should feel because I don't know what I will build. But I've added the first visual elements. It will be always simplistic because I am not an artist but I just want the game to be readable. I also added obstacles, a camera system, sorting properly the object for rendering etc. Next step will be to start to add new enemies with new behaviours so that I could start after making some basic levels.

You have some nice equipment to prototype your game (blank cardsin sleeves, blank token, board with a bunch of erasable pens) Did you source everything yourself or is it a prototype kit? Neat idea BTW. I really live that players add negative token over time.

Thanks. The path finding was relatively easy since the units just follow a path draw by the player. So the "finding" part is very straightforward

Progress is slow but at least I'm checking boxes in the To Do List Basic enemy is there and I can attack it using the units There is a combo system based on the size of the units (if you order them properly) Next time I will focus on basic system to feel nicer (controls, speed, camera, adding some effect etc.) When these foundation ar in place I will start to make a game out of it

The lighting model is super impressive. I thought it was a photo at first. Which engine do you use?