Cosmic Conga by Almax27

[raw]
made by Almax27 for LD30 (JAM)
COSMIC CONGA

A game of dexterity and cunning, incredulously manipulated into existence in a mere 72 hours by 3 poor souls in Sunny Scotland.

Controls
Drag between your planets to reinforce
Drag to enemy planets to attack
Left click a planet to toggle connection rate
Right click a planet to cancel a connection

Be careful, connections cost...

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Edit: we've now added a more 'balanced' build

Ratings

Coolness 94% 2
Overall(Jam) 3.31 320
Audio(Jam) 3.47 184
Fun(Jam) 3.10 344
Graphics(Jam) 3.66 263
Humor(Jam) 2.21 465
Innovation(Jam) 2.94 441
Mood(Jam) 2.93 473
Theme(Jam) 3.72 119

Feedback

sikosis
26. Aug 2014 · 05:24 UTC
Not bad. Damn that AI is good, just can't beat it.
rustybroomhandle
26. Aug 2014 · 09:46 UTC
Haha, yeah I can't beat the AI either. Fun game, love the music!
Simon@LD
26. Aug 2014 · 09:51 UTC
A fun game. The music is great (and keeps me retrying over and over again). The game is very hard though, i didn't manage to win.
MrSylar59
26. Aug 2014 · 09:55 UTC
The IA is very hard to beat ! The music is exellent and the graph too.
Elejdor
26. Aug 2014 · 09:58 UTC
The UI irritates me. When something good for the player happens the numbers should be green when bad they should be red. When you are trying to think really fast it is very confusing. Anyway the game is a good variation on a well-known system. 4/5
sephyka
26. Aug 2014 · 09:59 UTC
The first time I played I didn't understand nothing and I lose my planet. But the second time it was just great, I really like the gameplay... simple and efficient. Very fun but it still need strategy! Goooood.
Great!!
elkiwydev
26. Aug 2014 · 10:04 UTC
Nice idea, I love this kind of game but the game isn't balanced.. The enemy cleary takes the first world faster than you.. When you took the first planet the enemy is already taking the third..
🎤 Almax27
26. Aug 2014 · 12:18 UTC
Hey, thanks for all the great feedback! I've done a new build with some balancing changes, it's still a challenge but I've removed a lot of the randomness, the AI now attempts to make a new connection once every 2 seconds on a single random planet rather than a random chance to make a connection on each.

Never made a game like this before and having played it to death it's hard to be a judge of what's actually 'difficult' anymore :D

Magic numbers all the way!
Windmill Games
26. Aug 2014 · 14:35 UTC
Decent music, good looking graphics and a concept that is most likely the closest to the theme that I have seen so far. The game was quite fun to play, even though the AI kicked my ass fairly quickly.
everystone
26. Aug 2014 · 14:36 UTC
Great game! Nice concept, nice graphics, a bit too hard :)
Kayelgee
26. Aug 2014 · 14:37 UTC
The AI is just to strong. Am I missing something?
Would be a nice mobile game you should think about porting it to Android or iOS.
LPeter1997
26. Aug 2014 · 14:37 UTC
The AI is really good. Good game!
Axebane
26. Aug 2014 · 14:38 UTC
Pretty good game! However, it seemed really hard get a foothold. I probably wasn't using the "fast connection rate" as effectively as I should though.
arzi
26. Aug 2014 · 14:40 UTC
Very nice idea, I could see this developed further. The AI is killer though.

Also, right click opens the context menu in addition to cancelling a connection, I think that can be disabled somewhere in Unity.
Razoric
26. Aug 2014 · 14:40 UTC
Addicting! That AI is rough!
villhest
26. Aug 2014 · 14:43 UTC
Nice job! I like the art style.
SelfishGenome
26. Aug 2014 · 14:47 UTC
Good concept, cant get much more "Connected worlds" than that. But as others have said, AI is far too good.
Nuclear Napalm
26. Aug 2014 · 14:53 UTC
Love the graphics and audio but there are several games with similar gameplay...
jackyjjc
26. Aug 2014 · 14:56 UTC
The music is just awesome, it fitted the game really well. It reminded me of the background music for Tropico. The game is really hard even in challenge mode but it was really fun. The graphics is awesome and yes, nice work indeed :)
TideS
26. Aug 2014 · 15:02 UTC
Finally game with nice gameplay. Congrats guys, keep working and release it on mobile platforms.
🎤 Almax27
26. Aug 2014 · 15:32 UTC
I've updated the 'balanced' version again to not terminate connections when a planet runs out of resource, instead nothing will be passed until enough has regenerated. I've also set the default connection tier to 'fast', so clicking on a planet slows the connection rate after establishing a new connection (useful for moving resources between flanks while not compromising your defence).

Thanks everyone! Keep the feedback coming! :D
Colapsydo
27. Aug 2014 · 14:45 UTC
To be fair I just tested the first version for now.
The idea of selecting between colonization or self regeneration is interesting. But the IA is really fast on that one.
Great choice of music.
Now I'will enjoy the balanced version.
foolmoron
28. Aug 2014 · 18:19 UTC
Love the music
Suvidriel
29. Aug 2014 · 20:52 UTC
Really difficult but great idea :)
jpcote
29. Aug 2014 · 22:07 UTC
Wow audio is loud :) Good game, AI is tough !
udo
29. Aug 2014 · 22:13 UTC
Damn that was fun :) Well done, Scotsmen!
barryrowe
29. Aug 2014 · 22:53 UTC
Good concept, but AI is too tough. Great atmosphere (graphics and audio).
stephenhaney
29. Aug 2014 · 22:54 UTC
Very strong - love the production value, the concept, and the gameplay.

As mentioned, the AI is insanely fast. Perhaps I'm missing something, but even in the balanced version I can't stay alive for more than a few seconds.

Very fun design, regardless. Great work!
Xanjos
30. Aug 2014 · 01:06 UTC
Pretty hard (even when playing on the balanced build) but the actual gameplay itself fits the theme very well and I absolutely loved the music.
EndingChaos
30. Aug 2014 · 13:57 UTC
Fun game! very challenging
MunkeeBacon
01. Sep 2014 · 14:33 UTC
Great job! A little hard to get used to but that's alright! I love the look and feel of it.
klianc09
03. Sep 2014 · 19:17 UTC
Great music and visuals. Gameplay is simple but just incredible hard.
Playing against the original AI felt really frustrating.
NicePenguins
05. Sep 2014 · 12:37 UTC
Nice gameplay !
HuvaaKoodia
15. Sep 2014 · 20:56 UTC
A great, simple, real time tactics puzzle game, that's the genre I'm going with.

The balanced version was a bit too easy for me so I gave the original a shot. Oh boy what a challenge. It took a good few dozen tries but when I finally cracked it the elation was tangible. The trick is play just like the AI except a bit faster!

What it lacks is difficulty options, preferably multiple tweakable values, for instance;
- AI decision delay (to mimic humans)
- AI decision type (random, tactical, strategic [Define those as you want])
- Game speed (how fast the resources are replenished)

Other possible avenues of development include, but are not limited to, multiple map types, scenarios or even procedural level generation (the buzzword of the day).

Good job overall. Hopefully you'll take this one a bit further. I will personally back your Kickstarter.