Underworld Evolution by StudioWolfox
The epic RTSE (Real Time Strategic Evolution) game! You will take control over the evolution of 20 little minions, or: Evo's. When you start the game, the first generation of Evo's will be "stupid" and prefer to take it easy. It is now up to you to select the right parent for the next 20 Evo's in order to reach your goal.
During each generation, your minions can collect coins, which you can use to speed up the evolution. The goal: send in total 25 of your Evo's to heaven.
------ NOTE -------
Note that I purposefully did not explain all values in the game as I want to provide the player a certain experience: exploration and experimentation. I am aware that this is not entirely quick-play-friendly, which is kinda required with Ludum Dare. However, the overall experience of the game is more important here in my opinion.
Also, a few people suggested fast forward buttons in the game. It is something I considered during the development, and I decided not to implement it, because I wanted to provide relaxing experience. I want to let the skill of the user determine the speed of the game. This way it feels super satisfying when you see your own Evo's rushing through the level. In my eyes, the speedup button would probably spoil the fun of that.
Finally, the music. I had no idea that I also had to create the music myself. I searched for royalty-free music and after 1.5 hours of searching and trying out different things (like the WolframAlpha music generator), I stumled upon these beauties, by Kevin MacLeod. The licenses are included in the game, just zoom out at the briefing UI and go to the left.
Just leave my music rating on "n/a" or something :)
During each generation, your minions can collect coins, which you can use to speed up the evolution. The goal: send in total 25 of your Evo's to heaven.
------ NOTE -------
Note that I purposefully did not explain all values in the game as I want to provide the player a certain experience: exploration and experimentation. I am aware that this is not entirely quick-play-friendly, which is kinda required with Ludum Dare. However, the overall experience of the game is more important here in my opinion.
Also, a few people suggested fast forward buttons in the game. It is something I considered during the development, and I decided not to implement it, because I wanted to provide relaxing experience. I want to let the skill of the user determine the speed of the game. This way it feels super satisfying when you see your own Evo's rushing through the level. In my eyes, the speedup button would probably spoil the fun of that.
Finally, the music. I had no idea that I also had to create the music myself. I searched for royalty-free music and after 1.5 hours of searching and trying out different things (like the WolframAlpha music generator), I stumled upon these beauties, by Kevin MacLeod. The licenses are included in the game, just zoom out at the briefing UI and go to the left.
Just leave my music rating on "n/a" or something :)
Ratings
| Coolness | 47% | 1409 |
| Overall | 4.28 | 11 |
| Audio | 3.48 | 157 |
| Fun | 3.90 | 48 |
| Graphics | 3.68 | 250 |
| Humor | 2.81 | 326 |
| Innovation | 4.48 | 7 |
| Mood | 3.94 | 53 |
| Theme | 3.90 | 83 |
could use clearer explanation
It's a shame that i don't know what some of the attributes do.
I had a good time overall though :)
Also, a huge reason why the pathfinding values don't feel that intuitive is because of a tiny bug in the goal finding algorithm: instead of choosing the one the Evo LIKED most, he choose the one he HATED most.... oops!! Uploading the fix right now :)
I'm super glad you all like it! I will soon start rating yours!
Also, make sure that the game runs when its not the active screen.
These types of games are ideal to have running in the background, just to see how far you can get while doing your other stuff.
I originally played it before the bug-fix. It took me about an hour to finish it. I had several iterations where my evo's cleared the entire map of resources.
Did it in 7! My strats: At first, optimize for low dig interval (!) and high preference for digging, collecting coins, and traveling. Around generation 3-6 or so you get a windfall- evos are collecting many more coins than before, but you've spent so little that modifying the gene pool is still cheap. During this period, keep dig interval at 0 and digging/collecting preferences high, and optimize for lifetime, followed by speed and dig strength. Evos should now be clearing the majority of the map now, so spend all your points on preference for entering heaven. At this point, it usually only takes a couple more generations.
Like all stages, the first stage is a bit random. If no one's digging anything, your first couple generations are going to be painfully slow, and you might just want to refresh the page and get a better first batch.
The game explained itself rather well, which is surprising, considering its inherit complexity. Apart from a few roadbumps (mainly "Welp, they like each other, but they don't like digging too much." and "Oh right, I don't want the interval to be HIGHER, guess it's time for a restart..."), this was a really smooth experience.
And what an experience it was! It was fun watching the little critters dig, the music is perfectly fitting and relaxing, the sound effects sound pleasent as are the minimalistic graphics. The symbols are a nice (and useful) touch. And haha, I like the mail in the beginning - it totally breaks with the style of the game, but since I wasn't immersed yet anyway, it was fun to read.
Things on my wish list:
- I want to whitelist/blacklist Evos while they are digging so I have an easier time sorting them later.
- I want to be able to few the evos in a table, remove some, switch them around, sort them etc.
This is really, really well done, *especially* for the short compo timeframe!
PS: I found a bug. When I tried the game a second time after winning, anybody who enters heaven will vanish, but not get counted.
PPS: I just checked the source and found out that you used music by Kevin MacLeod. That's only allowed in the jam, not in the compo, so I can't give you a high audio score. The music was really well chosen though!
PPPS: Heat Resistant? Ice Resistant? Poison? Seems like you planned a lot more fun stuff that never made it inside!
I've been saying things like "this should be expanded into a full game" on particularly good LD games but this is *finished*, it's the complete package!
Don't really have much else to say. Release it on something where you get the ad revenue and exposure, at the very least :D
Would be good on mobile also due to the asynchronous play
Would be great if we could select more than one for breeding to combine several good traits.
I fell in love with this game. I admit I am an AI geek but man this game is cool. I totally agree with your fast forward button, though I urge for a suicide button.
I really hope you do more with this idea post compo! It's so great. I would have loved to see score page with a family tree and random names for the little guys. Just so many things that could be built on this amazing base of game. Hazards, different scenarios, hostile mobs, multiplayer or competitive NPCs.
Really really hope you do something with this post compo if not please say because this is a game I would gladly build a full version of (only if its abandoned of course)
Bravo!
I am very passionate about the mechanics and I am very very happy with this game. I would LOVE to continue this idea. I have already made some plans for the "full" version of the game which I would probably release on mobile devices as its main platform.
@Kimau So, ye! I will be doing something with it! Thanks for your great comment and the idea of the suicide button and the family tree. Will most probably implement the suicide button in the final product.