Midgord Vikings by sandbaydev

[raw]
made by sandbaydev for LD30 (JAM)
AIM OF THE GAME
Brave vikings are building their settlement on Midgord woods. Build things and get as high score as possible. You'll be victorious.

CONTROLS:
E = select a new building/item/character to construct
Q = cancel selection
SPACE = Construct selected object (if you have resources)
A = move camera left
D = move camera right
LEFT MOUSE BUTTON click a character = select character
RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON click a tree/boulder/boar = command selected character to harvest

On the bottom you see available resources, score, and time. When building: each item has a cost, displayed on top/middle of the screen.

Ratings

Coolness 63% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.31 320
Audio(Jam) 1.63 645
Fun(Jam) 2.95 433
Graphics(Jam) 4.34 54
Humor(Jam) 2.69 266
Innovation(Jam) 3.04 379
Mood(Jam) 3.31 266
Theme(Jam) 1.89 735

Feedback

belowzerogames
26. Aug 2014 路 12:13 UTC
Great job on this game :)
mrexcessive
26. Aug 2014 路 13:46 UTC
Hi there. Nice idea. Maybe strange to put the active character sprite behind the trees ? cursor sometimes got lost, particularly on trees.
Kep
26. Aug 2014 路 15:30 UTC
The idea has potential, and you've made some great pixel art. I like slowly making progress and discovering new things to build. The time limit makes me rush and stop thinking about the long term future of my population. I think I would like it more if it was an unlimited 'simulation' with no timer or score.
Frump
26. Aug 2014 路 17:46 UTC
That was fun and required some thought. Cool to see another Viking game.

You didn't list spacebar as the button to confirm building something. It sounds dumb, but it took me a while to figure out. I thought I had to right click again to make the viking guy build it where I clicked.
馃帳 sandbaydev
27. Aug 2014 路 02:46 UTC
@belowzerogames: thx Andy!

@mrexcessive: Thanks for trying!
Regarding character sprite: I can assure you that's a last minute bug. I made a quick change about 4 minutes before building. (I think I fixed the cursor issue now, didnt touch character sprite yet)

@Kep: Thanks for playing & commenting. Unfortunately I ran out of time and couldn't add all the buildings, Valhalla monsters, animal AI and other things I wished... and had to resort to "challenge will be... time limit" option which took me about 1 minute to code. Also, the building mechanism. Let's say I had to cut some corners. :D

@Frump: Cheers! And thank you for the SPACE info -- I wrote the instructions when very tired. Added that info now.
slumber
27. Aug 2014 路 04:25 UTC
i enjoyed the concept, i'd change the "working" icon to something that i can visually see how long is left, the endless circle gives the impression of it being a latency rather than timed event. really enjoyed the pixel vikings, great job!
seantheartist
27. Aug 2014 路 05:03 UTC
cool art, nice game!
mcapraro
27. Aug 2014 路 05:06 UTC
lovely looking visuals, well done!
PixlWalkr
27. Aug 2014 路 06:23 UTC
Cool game and vikings C:
esayitch
27. Aug 2014 路 06:33 UTC
Art in this is just fantastic, I really liked it. I felt the isolation :P.

Too bad you didn't think of something related to the theme to go with it (I may have missed it). The concept of the game is pretty cool as well. Liked!
Cosrnos
27. Aug 2014 路 06:47 UTC
This was great. The look and feel were really good and the idea is interesting. I found the controls a little confusing, but once I figured that out it was a pretty sweet game. Excellent work.

As others have said, I think this would be better without a time limit.
sephyka
27. Aug 2014 路 07:34 UTC
Very cool pixel graphics, immersive viking world. It might be great with music and sounds. :)

I don't know why but I wasn't able to construct anything despite I was full of resources. Where can I build the main house ?
43iscoding
27. Aug 2014 路 07:37 UTC
Very interesting game, and art is simply astonishing!
Phaix
27. Aug 2014 路 08:47 UTC
Really nice game! I like that pixel art. I just had a small problem that the game freeze to death when the time was running out.
jjhaggar
27. Aug 2014 路 09:40 UTC
Great pixel art! Good job! :D
Larzan
27. Aug 2014 路 11:34 UTC
Great gfx, interesting concept, but i didn't get the game really, i built some stuff + ppl hunted teh few boars there were and nothing really had much consequences...
vctr_seleucos
27. Aug 2014 路 13:02 UTC
Love the pixel art! Amazing! Liked the concept but i think the time limit is ou of place. Will love to see a post-LD version! And some music! ;)
rnlf
27. Aug 2014 路 13:46 UTC
Looks nice and solid gameplay. Good job! Would have loved sound though.
Aske
27. Aug 2014 路 14:15 UTC
Wow! Really great graphics :)
rogueNoodle
27. Aug 2014 路 18:23 UTC
Impressive entry! Space bar isn't listed on the game page instructions so it took me a bit to figure it out (saw it later in the instructions above), but started moving along pretty good once I did. The viking character designs are awesome :)
bluemaroo3
27. Aug 2014 路 18:30 UTC
Fun game. Love the pixel art. Did a bit better once I came back here and found out I needed to use the space bar to build :D
Cheshyr
27. Aug 2014 路 19:01 UTC
This is a rather complete entry for such a short timeline. The little details really stand out when you look for them (background trees really made a difference). Showcases your pixel art well, and was fun enough I played through a few times.
馃帳 sandbaydev
27. Aug 2014 路 19:06 UTC
@slumber: I initially wanted some sort of wood chopping / whatnot animation but run out of time. Then I just made some stupid thing that rotates. You are so correct.

@seantheartist & @mcapraro: thanks for playing!

@PixlWalkr: who wouldnt like these fine bearded gentlemen.

@esayitch: I wrote about the process here:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2014/08/26/mind-blank-i-will-draw-some-pixel-vikings/
...basically I just started working on "Isolation" theme and only later started thinking of "Valhalla" (and other Viking worlds). Didn't have time to add those, so only 1 world there would be.

@Cosrnos: Yeh, the controls suck. Badly. I thought them about 14 seconds in total. Time-limit point: thanks for mentioning. This was important feedback for me.

@sephyka: Agreed. If only I would have had the time... ;)
You can build the main house anywhere by pressing SPACE. (sorry about the control!)

@jjhaggar & @43iscoding: thanks!

@Phaix: Thanks and Auch... that wasn't intentional. :D

@Larzan: You can build structures that give you different amount of points. Torches give some points. Rune stones will multiply your score. Viking long house sections bring plenty of points. Buying another viking to help with gathering resources aids, but then you must get some food (if you have less than 1 food, the timer will run out faster: also, more ppl require more food, I think :D)

@vctr_seleucos: thanks for the feedback! time limit must begone. Some music must appear.

@rfnl: thx! me too... but you know: time limits... :)

@Aske: thanks! they are all handmade by yours truly.

@roguenoodle: yeh, I wrote instructions... very tired :D Now they've been added here. I add the SPACE to other site as well. Thanks for playing.

@bluemaroo3: Cheers. yeh, SPACE BAR has a pretty important role :D
馃帳 sandbaydev
27. Aug 2014 路 19:06 UTC
@Cheshyr thanks dave!
ehtd
28. Aug 2014 路 01:32 UTC
Cool vikings, a bit difficult to use the controls. The first time I got stuck behind a tree.
Dietrich Epp
28. Aug 2014 路 05:00 UTC
Lovely, but I would love a more solid piece of help. I had a hard time figuring it out. Of course, the art is fantastic.
tmpxyz
28. Aug 2014 路 10:56 UTC
nice artwork!
GeorgeBroussard
28. Aug 2014 路 14:21 UTC
I loved the art and setting. Controls were hard to wrap my head around but got better after a second game. Scored 32. Wish there wasn't a game timer and some other way to end the game, as I wanted to play and do more. I would work on this more. THere's a ton of cool potential here.
the
30. Aug 2014 路 13:38 UTC
Scored 80. Waited monsters from another world or something like this at the end of time.
leafarz
31. Aug 2014 路 10:54 UTC
nice visuals here! the controls was a bit hard for me but soon managed. i also liked the game right now but i feel there's something missing still i just don't know what lol.
but still great game! would love to see this game updated in the future!
good job! :D
PapyGaragos
31. Aug 2014 路 11:18 UTC
The game is a bit slow to play (mostly due to the controls and the camera speed imo), so the time limit didn't fit so well into the game.

Also i found the lack of sound really disturbing since the graphics are so good. Even a basic "bump" made with bfxr would have done the trick
馃帳 sandbaydev
31. Aug 2014 路 15:36 UTC
@ehtd: that behind trees was one of the "last minute bugs" that was left there. Not intentional. You are so kind about controls... let's both agree they suck :D -- I did think of them maybe total of 4 seconds.

@Dietrich Epp: Yeh, I run out of time to add those. In fact, I even forgot to add "SPACE to buy" in the instruction texts on this website... some ppl reported found that out, others were left puzzled :D Thanks for playing.

@tmpxyz: thank you! nice nick!

@GeorgeBroussard: Originally I had great plans for end game where you would need to survive winter (or worse)... but run out of time :D So in the last minutes I slapped together a score box, and that was it. Thanks

@the: 80! That's very well done! I had planned monsters (or angry gods... or worse) to appear in the end of times.

@leafarz: thx for playing & feedback!

@PapyGaragos: I do agree that the scrolling is way too slow -- or that "getting to another place is way to slow & controlling several vikings is way too slow". I'll prototype & test something different. I'm going to test how "set priorities" instead of "micro manage individual vikings" would work. Also going to set zoom level to farer away so that there's wider area to check out.

[sounds]
I was actually multitasking and trying to find some background music, but didnt find anything on time so skipped that. I was making sounds and speaking out loud while driving a car, planning to record some sounds... but eventually there was no time for that either. I focussed on art side of things, since doing it was really fun.

Thx everybody for playing & commenting.
Split82
02. Sep 2014 路 18:03 UTC
Great visuals and awesome atmosphere. I would love to see better hints on how things work. It feels like Don't Starve to me, where you have no idea how to do certain things.
commodoreKid
02. Sep 2014 路 22:30 UTC
Would be really nice to have a tutorial or information in the game about Shaman and Blacksmith. I didn't know what they are for. Also the barrel and the torch. Graphics are really nice and I would like to see this becoming a full game with lots and lots of building types, viking roles and so on.
smizmeal
04. Sep 2014 路 23:52 UTC
Amazing art style. It's a pretty fun resource management. Best way to improve it would probably be to add an ending 'event' besides time running out. How about: Ragnarok!! That would be appropriate :)
KevRevDev
12. Sep 2014 路 03:21 UTC
Really loved the pixel art, very nicely done. I liked the collecting and building gameplay. Some sound definitely would have made doing actions feel better.
egor-idiot
15. Sep 2014 路 18:54 UTC
Nice concept and graphics.
馃帳 sandbaydev
15. Sep 2014 路 19:18 UTC
@split82: agree with everything you say, thanks for playing.

@commodoreKid: Shaman grants you to build "runestone" that gives multiplier for score. Barrel helps keep food fresh (there's a bug on that, I'm pretty certain nobody than me understands how it works :D). Torch looks nice + gives you extra points. Thx for the feedback

@smizmeal: that Raknar枚k... yeh, it's on my todo list. Unfortunately I run out of time ;)

@KevRevDev & egor-idiot: thx for trying & commenting. I was about to add music, but run out of time... :)