Connect and Conquer: Emperors by Moosefly
Connect and Conquer: Emperors is a real time strategy game focused on expansion and resource management. What this really means is that you get to take part in an epic battle for the control of a whole galaxy custom made to fit your tastes! You may also take the role of a spectator, allowing the AIs to duke it out on their own while you enjoy the show.
The game has four different factions each of which plays a bit differently. There is no balance to speak of and the AI is dumb as a shoe, but you can't have everything in a Ludum Dare game.
The round ends when the player is annihilated or when someone has conquered the whole galaxy.
Controls can also be found within the game, but here they are once again:
[menu]
Control the menu with your mouse
[game]
ESC: pause
left mouse button: select planets* / select menu item
* click on a planet to select, release on other planet to perform action depending on the planet (build bridge or send ships)
[pause]
ESC: quit to menu
left mouse button: resume
Remember to leave a comment while rating so that we can also play your game!
Please report any bugs or problems you encounter. Thanks in advance and have fun!
Gallery with screenshots taken during the development can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/Gb5I9
Edit: If Chrome flags the windows download as malware, try the mirror link. I think it might be due to the location it is being downloaded from. Alternatively download the love2d binary from https://love2d.org/, and then use the .love file.
Edit the 2nd: Non-windows users may also download the love2d binary from http://love2d.org/, and then use the .love file!
Edit: 3rd time's the charm edition: Even though you can change the window size, you probably shouldn't because it breaks the game. Yeah. Good programming and testing!
The game has four different factions each of which plays a bit differently. There is no balance to speak of and the AI is dumb as a shoe, but you can't have everything in a Ludum Dare game.
The round ends when the player is annihilated or when someone has conquered the whole galaxy.
Controls can also be found within the game, but here they are once again:
[menu]
Control the menu with your mouse
[game]
ESC: pause
left mouse button: select planets* / select menu item
* click on a planet to select, release on other planet to perform action depending on the planet (build bridge or send ships)
[pause]
ESC: quit to menu
left mouse button: resume
Remember to leave a comment while rating so that we can also play your game!
Please report any bugs or problems you encounter. Thanks in advance and have fun!
Gallery with screenshots taken during the development can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/Gb5I9
Edit: If Chrome flags the windows download as malware, try the mirror link. I think it might be due to the location it is being downloaded from. Alternatively download the love2d binary from https://love2d.org/, and then use the .love file.
Edit the 2nd: Non-windows users may also download the love2d binary from http://love2d.org/, and then use the .love file!
Edit: 3rd time's the charm edition: Even though you can change the window size, you probably shouldn't because it breaks the game. Yeah. Good programming and testing!
Ratings
| Coolness | 100% | 1 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.90 | 54 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.69 | 110 |
| Fun(Jam) | 4.02 | 23 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.10 | 492 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.14 | 484 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 2.93 | 448 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.33 | 248 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.93 | 53 |
It kept sending ships at full velocity and i have to keep pace with mouse !
+music
+settings
-port
-sending ships
@Slikker
@anyone else having problems with the AI being too fast
Set the "AI update timer" value in the menu higher, it decreases the reaction speed of the AI :).
@puppetmaster: What do you mean by "port"?. We tried a few different ways of sending the ships, and deemed the current method least crappy :P.
Thanks for playing and commenting!
Anssi@MooseflyGames
Thanks for clarifying!
@madk (also kinda related to @puppetmaster)
Pathfinding sure would've been nice to lessen the amount of micro-management needed. Too bad we ran out of time as is and didn't even finish our original to-do list (which, for some reason, didn't include pathfinding :D).
We knew straight from the start that it probably wouldn't be all that unique, considering the theme and it seems we were right :P. Bye bye points in innovation!
Anssi@MooseflyGames
Nice and simple visuals, and good music.
I liked the bridge building part a lot, but it did seem like whoever built the bridge connecting two networks would be at a loss after spending all the resources building it (while the other one built ships), unless they had turtled up with more planets/higher income in advance.
All in all - thumbs up!
Damn, looks like you figured us out :P! At the moment building a bridge can indeed be a disadvantage. Just goes to show how little time we had for balancing the game.
Thanks for playing and commenting everyone! We really apreciate it.
Anssi@MooseflyGames
Also, great work on the very appealing menus, the minimal yet informative UI, the fitting soundtrack, and *especially* the breadth of gameplay customization options. They really give this game a ton of depth & replayability.
Bonus points for including different factions, with their logos and such. I wouldn't mind seeing a campaign mode out of it, but then I'd prefer there would be difficulty levels, so that people whose eyes aren't all over place could have a chance to win, too. ^^"
you forgot following line in FILE src/game.lua, FUNCTION game:released
x, y = RES.gamePosition(x, y)
;)
Good catch and good job spotting the fault in that mess of a code! I guess I'll add a disclaimer that even though you can change the window size, the game won't work after that ;).
Once again, lots of good constructive comments and even a few very flattering ones, thanks! We'll have to see what we can do with this project in the future.
Anssi@MooseflyGames
The red faction seems to be best early in the game, especially if there are few planets. The blue faction is better when there are a lot of planets because they simply outproduce everything. Green and yellow factions seemed to have rather neglectable benefits.
One of the most important aspects of RTS games is, to have your troops always on the front, where the battle is. Multiselection and ordering them to go a path over multiple planets would spare one a lot of clicking.
Overall I really liked, especially the music. Having to build bridges beforehand was a nice change for this type of games.
(And a test run having all 4 factions be controlled by AI confirms my theory. Red and blue quickly controlled most of the map with blue eventually winning over red.)
Love the constructive feedback we have been getting, keep it coming you all! It'll really come in handy if/when we decide to take this idea further!
Anssi@MooseflyGames
Good game, good job!
The simple approach to strategy (boiled down to 1 "resource", only 3 well-thought options for deploying units (that totally makes sense), and only 1 available action for exploration and terrain conquest) is easy to understand and simple enough to allow REAL decision making, which more complex games lack due to the large number of available actions and variables involved in any situation that calls for quick action. The fact that time slows down when you are performing any of the strategic actions helps a lot with this too.
Graphics are good, audio fits perfectly and also helps create a mood. It is a very solid, smart and simple game. LOVED IT! :)
I don't know if you will see this, but I replied to your comment on my game's page.
I also find it funny that we are tied with the fun score.
Great job with your game. (And I hope there will be more from you in the future.)