[Dev Log] That Mechanical Meat

[Dinosaursssssss]

This'll be an idle-ish game, building on an idea I experimented with during Extra Life last year when I did a 24 straight hour solo jam. Basically I want to make an idle game with an active gameplay component, where the resources obtained from idling and playing interact and are both necessary to progress, so you get the satisfaction of numbers going up alongside some minigames to mix things up and generate extra resources while waiting for your other currency to generate.

 

Anyway this probably means that most of my gifs will be super boring, since idle games are inherently not terribly sexy. Though the runner-y bits and the other planned minigame will probably be a little more interesting.

 

 

Roughly the idea is that you're operating a cybernetics manufacturing factory, and need to both upgrade your manufacturing capabilities and maintain a stable of racers (aka, runners, get it, cause netrunner) to generate revenue. 

 

 

So far what's done...the minigames aren't built, but clicking the buttons generates the appropriate resource. You can buy upgrades, and they appear on your runner. That's...basically it! Was a little busy the first weekend (mostly playing Overwatch), this weekend should be more productive.

 

My next task is fleshing out the upgrade system, and also figuring out a better way of controlling bloom from uGUI elements.

[Dinosaursssssss]

 

This is comin' along, though honestly I'm not amazed by how its going, It needs a lot of art to make it feel substantial, and the running running minigame still needs to be built. The upgrade system and more idle-y mechanics work alright, though the economy is still really boring and needs a lot of design work.

[zerofiftyone]

This is looking cool! I don't really play idle games, but that gif reminds me of Candy Box.

[Patrick R]

I enjoyed playing this for about ten minutes, until my clicking hand got sore.

[Spenny]

I really like the idea of a idle game that uses an infinite runner as one of it's components. This game has good style, I like the green and magenta cyber feel.

[Ben X]

Game page (because no one puts it in their damn threads!)

 

This was my first ever clicker (or whatever they're called) and the genre is as inexplicably boring as I expected - but that's not your problem, it's mine! The dynamic presentation is great - enough movement and neon to suggest overwhelming without actually doing it - and the artwork is really cute. The endless runner is also really solid and fun.

[dibs]

I also despise clickers, but the setup and the presentation is amazing.

 

I think you and zero should have an aesthetic baby.

[Dinosaursssssss]

Game page (because no one puts it in their damn threads!)

 

Sorry, I was kind of disappointed with how this came out so I didn't hype it too much!

 

Anyway don't take this as an example of the genre; the thing that actually makes clickers interesting is how their tech trees unfold and the economy scales, which in this game is just a mess. Upgrade costs are static, cash growth is linear, and there're only a handful of upgrades. It's a really boring setup that was really just to try out the idea of having some minigames (though the construction thing is barely a game, really) instead of straight clicking. But to me it ends up being dramatically less engaging than more standard clickers because of my lame economy and the lack of positive feedback around earning income. 

 

I was also disappointed with how the mobile version came out...I kinda rushed it and didn't test the camera effects on device, and as a result the bloom, distortion, and static effects that give it that cyberpunk grime don't come through. 

 

I do still think there's something to this idea of combining smaller games that are fun on their own into a clicker; sort of the inverse of how AAA games these days are building little idle games in. The process of discovering new games is what makes stuff like Candy Box and A Dark Room so much more interesting than the other stuff in the genre; because there's some mystery and unexpected content, the idle component feels purposeful and there's motivation to dig into it beyond seeing numbers go up. Interestingly I haven't seen a lot of games doing it recently...idle games now are generally just layering complexity onto the idle component with stuff like reincarnation systems, deep tech trees, unlockable cosmetics, etc. I assume this is because it's so much more time consuming to build (and balance) well integrated minigames than it is to build a little more UI, but it feels worth it to me. ADR and CandyBox probably get away with it because ascii games are relatively cheap to build(?) if I had to guess, but it's part of why something like Factory Idle works so well I think. Factory Idle doesn't have explicit minigames, but there's a constant semi-optional optimization tetris that requires learning slightly-new build patterns as you progress, giving the familiar puzzle subtle twists as you unlock new tech. 

 

Uh anyway getting off onto an idle game tangent that won't ever stop, but thanks for the comments all! 

[phill]

Hey! Don't be so hard on yourself! I really liked the concept of the mini-games + clicker economy combination, and I would definitely have kept playing it if you had expanded those concepts. As it stands it's exactly what a gamejam game should be, in my opinion. It tries something interesting to see how it works! And I think this really would work if you had a bit more time to balance, etc. Anyway, you can see me playing it here: 

Thanks for the game and congrats on finishing the jam!