Columbus Close the Door of Your Seas by DSalles

[raw]
made by DSalles for LD30 (COMPO)
Does an age of exploration have to result in the extinction of some cultures? Open or close doors between continents to allow for the migration of their inhabitants. Individuals grow in size as they interact. Some are larger at the start. Larger ones will replace smaller ones, eventually resulting in a global monoculture. Try to manage the migration to maintain a diversity of populations.

Ratings

Coolness 26% 1872
Overall 2.31 1171
Fun 1.93 1177
Graphics 2.13 1106
Innovation 3.80 133
Theme 4.00 55

Feedback

ethankennerly
25. Aug 2014 · 05:16 UTC
When I saw the embellished map of the world and the people interacting, I felt fascinated. If you continue to develop this, I'd be curious to see how you clarify the technology level of a nation.
Victory Garden
27. Aug 2014 · 05:46 UTC
This is a neat idea! I love that map graphic in the background, and the jostle is cute. There's a couple things that limited my interaction with it--first of all, that without being able to get a sense of the rules of immigration, or cultural conversion, etc., I didn't feel like my actions had much of an impact. I would open a door and often travel would happen in only one direction--and I wouldn't know why. And then, even with flags marked it was difficult to understand which doors controlled travel between which continents. It'd make more sense, I think, to have them lie on some kind of line between the islands, just for the sake of helping the player make quick decisions.

Thank you for the game!
Marcellus
27. Aug 2014 · 05:59 UTC
Nice web-troll link, it leads to a download... well anyway I played your game.

First of all the screen is too big, half of the game was outside my computer.

But I like the homemade graphics, I played until I discovered that the people grow in size slowly which makes it creepy, and I stopped when argentina conquered the world. I guess if I let all the doors closed, the diversity of population is kept.

If it was a philosophical metaphor, it was one I didn't like that much. I hope you had another idea behind this game.
Will Edwards
29. Aug 2014 · 10:55 UTC
The web link doesn't link to a web game, it seems to link to a bunch of windows exes? :(
strong99
29. Aug 2014 · 11:58 UTC
The idea is nice but it was hard to understand the rules for diversity. Why would I open any door at all if I should maintain diversity of population?
Hempuli
29. Aug 2014 · 13:52 UTC
Interesting concept and neat implementation! It seemed that after a certain point closing the doors no longer prevented people from migrating? I'd love to see this expanded upon!
LandoSystems
31. Aug 2014 · 21:54 UTC
Interesting idea, tough to know quite what's going on though. Good work!
yodamaster
31. Aug 2014 · 21:58 UTC
Not web.
JavadocMD
31. Aug 2014 · 22:00 UTC
Definitely a fascinating concept. Without something to gain by allowing interaction, the easiest way to maintain diversity is to keep everyone separate. This, of course, could be intentional, to make a point -- but in any case this makes this less a game and more an instructional simulation. Still, much praise for the attempt!
vividhelix
01. Sep 2014 · 06:48 UTC
Awesome take on the theme - after a while, I decided to open all the doors and could see the monoculture take over...creepy! good job!
moi93101
01. Sep 2014 · 15:25 UTC
It could be more interesting, but I think it's too "simple" actualy.
commodoreKid
01. Sep 2014 · 21:27 UTC
I can see this original mechanic being a game but glitchy look should be fixed and a proper interface should be added in my opinion. Also a reachable aim for the player would be nice.
ConflictiveLabs
07. Sep 2014 · 01:50 UTC
It's hard to really tell/predict what opening a door does/will do. Some "cultures" seem to be more likely to travel than others and thus I didn't really feel like I was having any real strategic impact on the outcome.

The idea IS however, quite interesting and it's a truly outstanding "experiment" for a 48h game. It actually leaves you thinking about globalization and cultural exchange.