LudumData

Switchboard Connection by Scott Baker

[raw]
made by Scott Baker for LD30 (COMPO)
Connecting peoples worlds, the old-fashioned way. Play as a telephone switchboard operator, connecting calls as they come in. Listen to the calls and connect them to their desired number. But don't forget to disconnect them when they turn red, or you will run out of available connectors.

Incoming calls will flash yellow. When they do, pick up a red connector peg and plug it into the yellow flashing call. Then pick up the second red connector peg and plug it into their desired call location.

The first level is easy, but it gets a little crazy after that. I also added a little humor to the calls, try to find them all. Enjoy!
Web http://www.stbaker.net/games/switchboard/
Windows http://www.stbaker.net/games/switchboard/Switchboard_Win86.zip
OS/X http://www.stbaker.net/games/switchboard/Switchboard_MacOS86.zip
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-30/?action=preview&uid=11823

Ratings

Coolness 99% 2
Overall 3.25 514
Audio 2.41 706
Fun 2.96 633
Graphics 2.79 757
Humor 3.27 122
Innovation 4.00 60
Mood 3.02 530
Theme 3.75 189

Feedback

Elforama
25. Aug 2014 路 02:49 UTC
A little tricky but fun. Nice job.
breadstix
25. Aug 2014 路 03:01 UTC
I love the idea. Very challenging and I enjoyed playing. Great job!
馃帳 Scott Baker
25. Aug 2014 路 14:22 UTC
I noticed that the Windows download doesn't include the asset files. Whoopsies! The web and OSX versions work just fine. Can anyone comment if I update the file, does that void the compo rules?
hoyt hoy
25. Aug 2014 路 14:23 UTC
Very creative!
It's difficult and boring, but I guess that this work is difficult and boring so Great Mood!
I really impressive with the use of theme
dhargan
25. Aug 2014 路 16:33 UTC
very good idea! controls are kind of confusing tho, you can see which slots you need to put but you can mess up which cord was going to match.
馃帳 Scott Baker
25. Aug 2014 路 17:39 UTC
@hoyt hoy, Never before have I had a compliment of one of my games that included "difficult and boring". That's hilarious. Thanks for the comments guys.
donut345
25. Aug 2014 路 18:12 UTC
good concept, i think it would be pretty addicting on mobile...though seems the controls are a bit unresponsive and sometimes pegs disappear.. also i had to play the game then read the rules to understand. an interactive tutorial would be useful here and i normally hate those
tbamberg
25. Aug 2014 路 22:12 UTC
Cool idea, it gets a little hectic without getting a ton more fun after the first few levels. Maybe giving the wires different colors would help?
cstudios
25. Aug 2014 路 22:14 UTC
This is a good idea, but the controls ruined it. Make it run on tablets, improve graphics, make some basic story (like papers please) and you got a sure hit.
馃帳 Scott Baker
25. Aug 2014 路 22:28 UTC
@cstudios, that's funny, Papers Please was an inspiration here. Definitely more could be added, but not inside 48 hours.
Ellian
25. Aug 2014 路 22:31 UTC
Well that was a nice and original idea. Kudos!
danidre14
26. Aug 2014 路 03:44 UTC
Kinda tricky, but fun, and of course, I is winner! :3
mclewis
26. Aug 2014 路 05:07 UTC
Seems like a great idea, but it was pretty confusing figuring out what to do.
TeamQuadratic
26. Aug 2014 路 05:10 UTC
Fun and very hectic! Nice work!
Raphy
26. Aug 2014 路 12:07 UTC
Nice concept, and funny. Kindda too hard for me though
elkiwydev
26. Aug 2014 路 12:28 UTC
Can't play it..I click on start and nothing happen..I litterally also tried every single button on my keyboard to make the game start but nothing
ShivaFang
26. Aug 2014 路 13:46 UTC
Scott Baker - at the bottom of the screen there's a "PORTS" heading. Since the Windows version was not the first version uploaded I think it's considered a port of the original. I'm pretty sure it'd be allowed for you to re-upload it with the missing files.
馃帳 Scott Baker
26. Aug 2014 路 16:30 UTC
@ShivaFang, thanks, I will check that out.
馃帳 Scott Baker
26. Aug 2014 路 16:33 UTC
@elkiwydev, I verified that the game is still working on all of my test browsers. Can you let me know what browser and what operating system you are using?
vulpineblazeyt
26. Aug 2014 路 17:10 UTC
A nice simple mechanic, well done! Surprisingly more challenging than I expected.
MechanicMoon
26. Aug 2014 路 19:19 UTC
Incredible.. it's the game more.. strange...that I ever played.. but it works!! good job!
jackyjjc
27. Aug 2014 路 01:08 UTC
I actually find it quite fun and I played it for a little while. It reminded me of papers please because the stories of people behind it. It gets really hard in the third level though. The clicking slightly not responsive, would be nice to fix that up. Otherwise, nice job!
moomoo112
27. Aug 2014 路 01:41 UTC
Great idea, would have been interesting to have random events like broken pegs or the like.
GreaseMonkey
27. Aug 2014 路 02:03 UTC
@Scott Baker: From what I gather it's completely fine to upload the Windows build.

Please, fix the Windows build. Us Wine users rely on a standalone .exe that actually works, as the Web Player is the biggest pain in the arse to actually get working.
GreaseMonkey
27. Aug 2014 路 02:03 UTC
Gah, I mean update, not upload.
馃帳 Scott Baker
27. Aug 2014 路 02:19 UTC
@GreaseMonkey, OK I will update. But the OSX version works fine if you want to use something other than Wine.
Moosefly
27. Aug 2014 路 16:52 UTC
Needs more consistent controls and also what moomoo112 said and it would be great. I'm not sure if I beat it or not but it seemed to go back to the first level after level 3(?). Funny idea and decent execution, too bad I didn't have time to read all they had to say, I just picked the numbers and ignored the rest. A "busy office" sort of background "music" would've added a lot!

Anssi@MooseflyGames
smizmeal
28. Aug 2014 路 02:09 UTC
Good use of the theme. It would be fun if you could connect the wrong people or eavesdrop on their conversations :)
DragonInstall
28. Aug 2014 路 02:53 UTC
Good way to use the theme. Nice and simple game. Kinda hard at first. GG!
micahcowan
28. Aug 2014 路 05:42 UTC
Fun and challenging! And I love your interpretation of the theme, very original.

At some point it would let me pick up pegs, but not connect them anymore. Not sure what happened. I lost obviously.
esayitch
28. Aug 2014 路 06:23 UTC
Pretty cool concept, I liked it even though I messed up my first try badly. I would suggest to maybe make the incoming calls flash clearer, I am in a high-lighting area now and it was very difficult to see the yellow flashes.

Aside from that, good entry :D
veryfinestlions
28. Aug 2014 路 10:20 UTC
Clever choice, I don't think I've seen this done before.
udo
28. Aug 2014 路 11:45 UTC
I quite liked the concept and the graphics. If you were to improve it, I'd suggest showing the user more feedback about the UI actions that are possible. Sometimes the controls were in a weird state and I couldn't figure out how to get back on track. Great work, especially for a Compo entry!
Oli
28. Aug 2014 路 22:33 UTC
Very original!
It would be a great game on mobile if you make better controls (why not a drag'n'drop to connect wires?)

Good use of the theme.
Chris
29. Aug 2014 路 12:35 UTC
Kinda blown away that there are a few other switchboard games on here! Great job injecting humour through the actual calls, also helps to solidify the theme. I think a dragging mechanic rather than clicking fits the theme better, although it's certainly easier to play as it is. Not that it would be possible for LD48 anyway, but I'd love to see this with some good voice acting- some of the calls they get on the old AT&T archives (check youtube) are priceless.
Boberro
30. Aug 2014 路 04:08 UTC
I had to try few times, sometimes I couldn't connect free cord to the caller.
HeyChinaski
30. Aug 2014 路 09:20 UTC
Nice idea. Very stressful but fun! I liked all the funny dialogue.
commodoreKid
30. Aug 2014 路 17:21 UTC
It was an interesting experiment to be the person behind the calls. I think graphics and sound could be better to support the good mechanic. You may consider adding a drag and drop rather than click and click again. Also I couldn't get that pegs were in couples at the beginning. They could be in different colors.
馃帳 Scott Baker
30. Aug 2014 路 18:11 UTC
Hi guys, thanks for all the feedback. Definitely I wanted the game to support both click once and drag and drop. Best for mobile devices and it it intuitive. But 48 hours is not a lot of time. As for the colors, I think an attractive element of the game is the stress and confusion, and all the same colors adds to that.
SketchyGalore
31. Aug 2014 路 05:01 UTC
I really liked this! It's a clever, simple idea, well-presented, great sound effects, and the dialogue adds a bit more personality to everything!
I had some trouble clicking reliably (seems to be a problem I'm having with all Unity games in Chrome on multiple systems; not sure what that's about), but I downloaded the windows version and everything seemed fine!
mrexcessive
31. Aug 2014 路 13:29 UTC
Hi there. More fun that it looks at first sight, but tricky to keep concentration up. Good job!
bluesky
31. Aug 2014 路 20:39 UTC
This is actually very entertaining, well done.
SnoringFrog
03. Sep 2014 路 22:46 UTC
Interesting game. I have no idea how I didn't fail the first level since I obviously had no clue what I was doing lol. After a bit I got the hang of it though.
tiff
05. Sep 2014 路 23:59 UTC
I really liked this, what a clever idea for the theme, well done!
Agecaf
06. Sep 2014 路 09:14 UTC
A very unique idea, really fit for the theme! It's also executed well enough; with dialogues giving enough variety.