LudumData

Islands in a sea of blood by Andrew

[raw]
made by Andrew for LD26 (COMPO)
There is no X in diplomacy: Everything costs its weight in blood! (a double subtitle)

Minimalism simply begs for 4X, those are pretty minimal games already right? Well.. no not really, and that's where the challenge lies. What's at the core of a 4X game? What's the minimum you can get away with? Let's find out!

There is an in-game tutorial, and you have to refresh to start a new game (sorry :( ). If you like 4X games and want to know more there's a detailed guide here: http://goo.gl/eEw56

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tl;dr/FAQ - for people in a hurry:
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- this is a 4X game(think: master of orion/galciv), the maps are procedural
- the goal is to destroy/conquer the enemy settlements, while making sure yours don't get destroyed/conquered
- keep your settlements down to a MINIMUM, and don't spend all your blood
- you can select enemy settlements to view information about them
- the technology button appears only if you have more than 5 blood on the selected settlement
- lost and/or confused? try the video guide

HTML5 Web http://software.o-o.ro/islands-in-a-sea-of-blood/index.html
Youtube gameplay/tutorial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XaUfoYJFLY
Detailed handbook for 4X veterans http://goo.gl/eEw56
Source http://software.o-o.ro/islands-in-a-sea-of-blood/ld26.pde
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=5432

Ratings

Coolness 47% 1316
Overall 2.81 940
Audio 2.25 816
Fun 2.35 1090
Graphics 3.00 569
Humor 2.53 372
Innovation 3.14 537
Mood 2.80 626
Theme 2.78 1156

Feedback

Morgawr
29. Apr 2013 路 09:44 UTC
I understood the game but I had no idea what I had to do. It was very confusing.
Brian Corr
29. Apr 2013 路 09:52 UTC
This is good! A little hard to figure out what's going on but I think I got the hang of it. I would LOVE keyboard shortcuts, I could see myself playing a lot more if there were (or if there are, tell me what they are).

Definitely an ambitious project!
馃帳 Andrew
29. Apr 2013 路 10:03 UTC
@Morgawr sorry I had falsely assumed that people are familiar with 4X games in general. I'll update the tl;dr section of this page ;)

@Brian Sadly no keyboard controls just yet. But I share your frustration regarding their lack. Will add them in the post compo version.
nicotuason
29. Apr 2013 路 11:04 UTC
Love the concept, but would be more fun if the game gave the player more feedback. I wasn't sure how many exterminators to send because it doesn't show how much blood enemy cities have
馃帳 Andrew
29. Apr 2013 路 11:16 UTC
@nicotuason it does if you select the enemy city
Yezu
29. Apr 2013 路 13:20 UTC
A 4X game in 48h (!), and interesting too :D
Great job :)
McFunkypants
29. Apr 2013 路 21:16 UTC
Very cool idea! Impressive terrain generator! Keep up the good work.
Dark Acre Jack
29. Apr 2013 路 23:02 UTC
This was a rather complicated experience. I think in my old age I find myself with less & less patience for this sort of thing but that's on me. I liked the map & the rabbit? character.
lathomas64
30. Apr 2013 路 00:33 UTC
Really impressed that you took on a 4x for Ludum Dare, nice work!
pansapiens
30. Apr 2013 路 06:38 UTC
eXcellent 48hour submission (I don't believe no one has made that pun yet :)). Having the tutorial was good - I never find time to implement an game tutorials for LD entries, so good on you for getting that in there - helps set the tone and doesn't leave the player completely perplexed. The technology menu appeared for me just once and then I never saw it again over several plays - not sure what was going on there. I'd also like a 'bleed dry & destroy' button to prevent accidentally destroying settlements, particularly to prevent it happening in the early game where you only have one ... otherwise it's an instant lose which can be jarring.
馃帳 Andrew
30. Apr 2013 路 10:09 UTC
@Dark Acre Jack that was the most diplomatic way of being told it's a horrible game ever! :D

@pansapiens there is a bleed dry button in the tech menu, but that only appears if you can actually afford the tech (need 5 blood on the settlement)
martijn
30. Apr 2013 路 22:01 UTC
Wall of text in the beginning is kinda annoying
jwolf
01. May 2013 路 00:11 UTC
Not bad, interesting take on a 4x, but the end game was extremely tedious. The last enemy city had quite a lead, so I basically ended up passing until I had a small margin (210 to 200) before launching a final attack.

I do like how it forces you to make very deliberate (and careful) use of the options available to you.
Taro Omiya
01. May 2013 路 02:23 UTC
The game definitely goes in the right direction. The gameflow didn't quite feel natural, however.
tcstyle
01. May 2013 路 20:20 UTC
Ha. I had a very similar idea at the start of this LD. Wasn't sure how minimal a 4x game can be made. Your's is pretty minimal. Good job.
I really like this idea and it was fun to play.
oskardevelopment
09. May 2013 路 13:59 UTC
Really fun - loved the graphics and the usage of distances! Would've loved if you allowed the player to use exterminate on his own cities and thereby "fill" them with blood - thereby be able to stack border cities with blood. :)
Brassawiking
13. May 2013 路 19:56 UTC
This is an impressive game you managed to do within 48 hours. It had a lot of different aspects to it.