Shooting Atoms For Peace by Denis Chakarov

[raw]
made by Denis Chakarov for LD28 (JAM)
Puzzle game where you should break all atoms to start nuclear reaction.
You can click on the cannon and the atoms to rotate them.
You got only one neutron to shoot - of course!

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Post Jam version link's Changelog

Version 0.1 - updated 20.Dec.2013:
- resetting of rotations after "Replay" has been dropped (thanks to player's feedback)
- levels are sorted by difficulty
- two more levels to become total of 13,in honor of LD's starting date :)
- some levels which were too easy are changed a bit
- mute sound and music is stored and persists across playing sessions
- double music bug after the game is beaten - fixed
- after the game is beaten - you can reset it and start from Level 1
- collisions bug fixed - atoms sometimes exploded without a center hit from neutron

=====================================================================

Team:
Denis Chakarov http://www.crystalplay.com/ - programming
Maria Lambova - level design
George Strezov http://www.strezov.net - music

Javascript Engine: Phaser http://phaser.io
Sounds: Sfxr

Free art used from:
- chabull http://opengameart.org/users/chabull
- Buch http://opengameart.org/users/buch

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 3.31 169
Audio(Jam) 3.22 164
Fun(Jam) 3.47 81
Graphics(Jam) 3.11 299
Humor(Jam) 1.91 387
Innovation(Jam) 3.05 200
Mood(Jam) 2.59 380
Theme(Jam) 3.02 194

Feedback

SkyWolf
17. Dec 2013 · 08:39 UTC
I rather liked it, only one thing i didn't like, the difficulty was not consistent:
1) medium
2) easy
3) very easy
4) easy
5) hard
...
what's up with that? :P
Xeke_Death
17. Dec 2013 · 09:08 UTC
That is a sweet game..! Nice work..!

I was waiting for the colours to start having an effect...
Also, when I reached the end and tried to start again, a second instance of the music started playing, and it said I was in level 12, and had a permanent Failed screen...
harsanalif
17. Dec 2013 · 10:13 UTC
Nice chain reaction games! Having double music running on my laptop. More level and item type will be great!
🎤 Denis Chakarov
17. Dec 2013 · 16:15 UTC
@SkyWolf, thanks! Yes we, didn't get to sort the levels by difficulty.

@Xeke_Death, thanks! That is an interesting idea about the colors. The level 12 and the music are bugs, I'll fix them in a post-jam version :)

@harsanalif - the same about the music bug. Hopefully we'll add more levels if we continue it.
Cbeed
17. Dec 2013 · 16:40 UTC
I can agree on what SkyWOlf said:
1) medium
2) easy
3) very easy
4) easy
5) too hard

I would have tried more times if not every time the level would reset.
I found it hard to see where the neutrons were going even there was a grid. Maybe some sort of mouse-hover effect would help.
I won't rate the art because I don't know which of the sprites are your work. I can just say that they are good chosen. ;-)
Nevertheless of my critique I liked it. Pretty solid work.
koller-digital
17. Dec 2013 · 16:49 UTC
Good puzzle game. Would be nice if the atoms and cannon keep their position after a retry.
Diptoman
17. Dec 2013 · 18:21 UTC
Level 5 after level 4 was uhh... D:
Is that even crossable? Tried many variations, but couldn't get past, and I really wanted to play the whole thing. :(

The concept is really cool, the graphics are fitting and I'm digging the track otherwise!
🎤 Denis Chakarov
17. Dec 2013 · 19:54 UTC
@Cbeed - thanks for the feedback!
After reading what koller-digital wrote, I think you maybe right about the resetting of the level. It probably creates more useless burden for the player than "joy of beating the hard difficulty".

@Diptoman - yes that's beatable! But really takes some thinking...
Thanks for the kind words!
antila
18. Dec 2013 · 17:42 UTC
Fun little game! If I could change one thing it would probably be to keep the position of all things between tries. But other than that it was great!
jdpalmer
18. Dec 2013 · 17:51 UTC
Very enjoyable little game.
Nazariglez
18. Dec 2013 · 18:13 UTC
This game is a jewel, but i think the first level is quite hard than others, however good job, i love it!
Almax27
18. Dec 2013 · 18:22 UTC
Nice concept, but poorly executed. I agree with the remarks on difficulty progression as well as the rotations of nodes reseting when you press 'retry' was confusing and frustrating, I could see this being quite addictive if done right though :D
Aaants
18. Dec 2013 · 22:42 UTC
Cool game. It'd be good if the cannon (and maybe the atoms - but that could make it too easy) kept the rotation after each shot. I spent ages plotting out a level only to have the cannon fire off in its default direction, screwing it all up :(
_zulli
18. Dec 2013 · 22:43 UTC
Great idea! But really confused way to design levels. More organized ones and increasing difficulty would be better! :)
Nice work!
Claw
18. Dec 2013 · 22:43 UTC
Nice concept, agree the difficulty was a bit erratic and some levels you didn't even need to move anything, just press shoot. Level 10 was really good and challenging, then the final level was very easy in comparison. And also agree it would be better to not revert all your moves back when you retry a level.

Anyway overall an enjoyable game, nice job!

Small bug: After you finish the game the music starts playing twice
torcado194
18. Dec 2013 · 22:45 UTC
interesting concept! i liked it. maybe adding a reset to default function along witht he saving rotations after failing would be good
baton4ik
18. Dec 2013 · 22:45 UTC
Very neat game. I have only two complaints:
1. The game is too easy, too the point where you don't even have to do anything on some level (even on the later ones, level 7, for example)
2. The level state resets when you "lose" and you have to rotate everything again.
MrTedders
18. Dec 2013 · 23:30 UTC
Nice puzzle game but the difficulty curve was very inconsistent.
chiguireitor
18. Dec 2013 · 23:57 UTC
As others have said: difficulty was weird. Also, it would be über-cool if the atoms rotations didn't reset on restart. I don't know if part of the mechanic is remembering how did you spin those atoms, but it was a process mostly of trial and error. You could, for example, allow shooting more times, but give an special award for making the level with the least shoots, or the fastest time to reaction.
mortus
20. Dec 2013 · 16:06 UTC
Very nice and polished game. The difficulty curve was strange indeed but otherwise it's a hit.
🎤 Denis Chakarov
20. Dec 2013 · 16:23 UTC
Thank you guys for the feedback!
I've uploaded a post-jam version where most of the issues are addressed - check the details on top.

@torcado194 - yes i thought of adding "reset" after I made it to keep the positions (as everyone seems to wanted it). but it's still missing. for now you can do it by refreshing the webpage, it will keep your progress but reset your level.

@chiguireitor - Allowing more shoots would negate the theme, you only got one neutron to start the reaction :) Otherwise, outside of the theme it's an option. The fastest time for reaction and counting less rotations is also a thing I thought about. Definitely would go in if I continue the game.
chiguireitor
20. Dec 2013 · 21:17 UTC
Indeed multiple shots would break the theme. I think this is the kind of puzzle that would probably thrive on mobile, does your codebase support that?
sadiquo
20. Dec 2013 · 22:46 UTC
Great game!
Jgpicatoste
21. Dec 2013 · 11:43 UTC
I liked the style and the SFX, I liked the mechanics and the level design, but I didn't like at all the difficulty curve. Fix that and you'll have a great game.
netmute
21. Dec 2013 · 13:47 UTC
Nice art.
I had a strange bug where the same settings didn't always produce the same result. (i.e. something flying in one direction sometimes hit things on its path, and sometimes it didn't)
2HitAdam
23. Dec 2013 · 10:09 UTC
Really tight game, and stupidly addictive. Well done :)
Tanser
23. Dec 2013 · 18:11 UTC
Nice game, i like it! :)
gnargle
23. Dec 2013 · 18:14 UTC
Pretty great puzzle game. Really enjoyed it. Would help if it was more obvious when molecules weren't aligned with each other, though, so you can plan better
TheWhiteLlama
23. Dec 2013 · 19:38 UTC
Wow, very nice game indeed! Very enjoyable puzzle which is easy to understand :) The chain-reactions are also pretty cool to watch. The music is awesome by the way! One of the most harmonious games so far
ViliX
24. Dec 2013 · 11:17 UTC
Interesting idea :)
Myyyvothrr
24. Dec 2013 · 12:38 UTC
Fun game, really liked the music!
henrykun
25. Dec 2013 · 23:36 UTC
Awesome game, nice mechanics, addictive, nice graphics and sounds / soundtrack. Planning to release it on mobile devices? it could be a good idea.
Husky
26. Dec 2013 · 15:56 UTC
Cool puzzle game!
Really enjoyable, good job. :D
steamgirl
28. Dec 2013 · 12:33 UTC
Fun and addictive puzzle! The audio didn't work for me for some reason (so I haven't rated it) but that didn't impact my enjoyment at all. A solid LD entry, fun to play and original! Well done!
🎤 Denis Chakarov
30. Dec 2013 · 07:31 UTC
Thank you everyone for the comments and the feedback!

@chiguireitor - yes, being javascript game it will run on mobile. Phaser has some resolution detection methods too, but I'll probably rewrite it in another tech for mobile.

@netmute - yes, this bug is happening in the original version. In the post jam one it's fixed.

@henrykun - yes, I am thinking about mobile version.

@steamgirl - thanks for the kind words! In what browser did you play it? I forgot to write it's best played in Chrome or latest FireFox. There you should have audio too.
Binary Gambit
02. Jan 2014 · 11:52 UTC
Solid little puzzle game, only complaint is that the background pattern made discerning the projectile path a little difficult.
GarethIW
02. Jan 2014 · 12:38 UTC
Nice solid game, I played the post-Jam version as I couldn't figure out the first level of the Jam version. But it's a lovely made puzzle game, which you don't see too often in LD.
StMatn
02. Jan 2014 · 15:52 UTC
Great game!
I believe, that you yould sort the levels a bit differently, because I had the feeling, that the dificulty was swinging up and down a little.
Besides that, the graphics look great and the music is nice too.
Nice work, keep it on :)
Cawrtz
03. Jan 2014 · 12:35 UTC
This is fun, but I don't like how the configuration of the atoms resets when it fails :/
van noctar
03. Jan 2014 · 23:16 UTC
Great gameplay! Level 11 is very very hard!!
van noctar
03. Jan 2014 · 23:23 UTC
A little bug! When the game is finish and replay! There is an increment level (level 12) and the game is empty.
rezoner
05. Jan 2014 · 11:56 UTC
Yay. So many games with Phaser this LD. Shot guide lines would be useful - and persistent rotation state.
GaTechGrad
06. Jan 2014 · 03:00 UTC
Neat game. I really liked the chain-reaction concept.
burlapjack
06. Jan 2014 · 07:24 UTC
It was a fun game, although it started to get extremely difficult and a little bit brain-melting when I had to try to keep track of all the rotation combos that I hadn't tried yet. The music was amazing, and the sound effects were perfect.
Christina Antoinette Neofotistou
06. Jan 2014 · 23:33 UTC
Very very fun! Special kudos for game design <3