LudumData

Mycelium by nSun

[raw]
made by nSun for LD29 (JAM)
[Game rule]
Drop mushrooms on mycelium, and help generations to reach every space. Try to find efficient or profitable patterns.
Rules: A mushroom need 2 other mushrooms around him to stay alive. A mushroom will grow at next generation if 3 mushrooms stay around an empty cell.

[Controls]
Mouse Left: Drop/remove mushrooms
Escape: Pause / Menu
Key G: next Generation
Key F: Fast generation
Key R: Restart level
Key H: Highlight empty cells

[Credit]
Inspired by Conway's Game of Life

[Story] (Beneath the surface)
Mycelium can be viewed as mushroom's roots. In fact, the mushroom is the fruit of a mycelium, the visible portion. Mycelium spreads for miles beneath the floor. It breaks down dead organic matter, and enriched the soil.
In a way, mycelium kitchen for any vegetation.
Help mycelium to feed mother nature.

[Developement]
I was very sick with the theme "Beneath the surface", and I could'nt start something saturday. I found idea of mycelium, but I was not very confident, and I tryed to find something else. I lacked of motivation. Finaly (Saturday night), I found that Mycelium were a great idea, so then I lacked of energy, and then lacked of time...
I post this game as Jam Entry, but I did it alone.
Web (flash) http://nsun.patatoide.com/projet/LD29
How to play http://nsun.patatoide.com/mycelium/index.html
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=4681

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 2.90 548
Audio(Jam) 1.67 649
Fun(Jam) 2.78 486
Graphics(Jam) 2.80 584
Humor(Jam) 2.16 531
Innovation(Jam) 3.39 193
Mood(Jam) 2.59 610
Theme(Jam) 3.10 401

Feedback

bitserum
02. May 2014 · 09:29 UTC
This was cool, anyone who appreciates the game of life will like this. Good job.
jomomomo
02. May 2014 · 13:30 UTC
Good graphics, interesting that you included both story and creative mode...
Nizar89
02. May 2014 · 13:32 UTC
The idea seems cool, but I have to admit, I didn't not completly understood how the generation works. I think there is a lack of feedbacks.

Stiil, great job!
Nichii
02. May 2014 · 13:33 UTC
I love seeing the mushrooms grow, its so calming in a way.
ArcturusDeluxe
03. May 2014 · 20:01 UTC
Interesting idea, cool way of making Conway's Game of Life into more of a game. Good presentation.
hanoth
03. May 2014 · 20:15 UTC
Pretty neat. You must be a fun guy in real life.
Zerkruemler
04. May 2014 · 09:54 UTC
Nice implementation of the game of life. But since the playfield does not wrap around at the borders it is hard to get the borders finished.
Benjamin
04. May 2014 · 09:58 UTC
Most of the time, adaptation of the game of life makes bad or unplayable/aimless games. But this one was pretty fun, the conquest mechanic + mushroom limitation add a lot of strategy. You could make it even more strateigc by limiting move... Let's say 5 move per turn ( cumulative ). Some sfx on add/remove mushrooms + expansion would add a lot.
🎤 nSun
04. May 2014 · 10:03 UTC
@Zerkruemler : Actually, warping edges is a feature in creative mode (free play). I just thought that this effect might make the game too easy, and make it almost useless ship's patterns.
BlazingFanfish
04. May 2014 · 10:19 UTC
The mechanic is interesting enough. With some polished resources, this sure will be a great game!
SevenKingdomsSurvivors
04. May 2014 · 15:36 UTC
It's interesting game but had a hard time figuring out 'generation'
Muciojad
04. May 2014 · 15:37 UTC
Very original idea, I see game about mushrooms first time in this LD ;) Art is matching to gameplay, very solid entry. ;]
Katamori
05. May 2014 · 11:03 UTC
Game of life! Hahaaaa, I see what you did there!

Solid game BTW.
jujule
07. May 2014 · 10:29 UTC
Very interesting take on the theme. I'm dumb so I don't really get how the mushrooms grow but I enjoyed trying different patterns and watching them grow. Maybe try to add music and sound fx. Good work for such a short time.
strong99
07. May 2014 · 11:43 UTC
As addicting as a Game of life could be, joy.
Ryan up in here
07. May 2014 · 16:55 UTC
Thanks for making me feel dumb. I'll go back and figure it out eventually though.

And I see what you did there, hanoth.
JokerDen
08. May 2014 · 10:23 UTC
I like the concept of this game. Gameplay is addictional and not boring. And you know, all things about mushrooms are always interesting.
HybridMind
10. May 2014 · 14:28 UTC
Well, I am not good at Conway's game of life apparently. Wasn't able to get past the first level. I didn't feel like looking up the rules of Life, so I just tried to mess around. Had some mushrooms growing Ok for a little while, but eventually they died out.
mark.goetz
10. May 2014 · 14:31 UTC
This is a really innovative concept - I'm not sure I've seen anything like it before! It is a bit tricky to predict the course of your actions, which is more of a difficulty with Conway's game of life than with your game. I think if you added some tutorials at the start, it could go a long way.
gre
11. May 2014 · 15:59 UTC
Very cool concept! The game mecanism is interesting.
my entry also have mushrooms :D
littleball
11. May 2014 · 16:15 UTC
Still trying to work it out, but it looks good. Well done.
607
11. May 2014 · 17:42 UTC
Wow, very good! I've known the concept of game of life, but am not too good at it, so I had to figure everything out myself. Unfortunately I only had time to solve the first level, but it was great. I think that when you want to make a real game out of game of life, this is the perfect way to do it.
BadPaul34
17. May 2014 · 20:48 UTC
Kind of tricky to play but very fun! Great concept game of life. Mechanic is interesting and neat. Miss the music!!
rincewind_cz
18. May 2014 · 15:28 UTC
Interesting take on game of life.. but I think that custom/tweaked set of rules for cells would be even funnier -- now I can get rid of most levels by just gliders and it's not so enjoyable when the player know what he gets... ;)
copain
19. May 2014 · 16:04 UTC
Nice idea. I like Game of life.
But once you find some pattern (like cross) to get more mushroom and expand, this is a little repetitive. Maybe some obstacle that forced only one solution, will be nice.
(and a didacticiel for people who don't know game of life and to discover some patterns...)
wschorn
19. May 2014 · 22:25 UTC
I love Conway's Game of Life so I was nerding out about making gliders with this :P
PixelFeet
19. May 2014 · 22:28 UTC
Really interesting game. It took me a while to figure it out, but I got there eventually.