LudumData

The Villein by Rex Peppers

[raw]
made by Rex Peppers for LD25 (COMPO)
The Lord of the manor has offered a unique prize:

One piece of gold per day is hereby offered for any servant who demonstrates total focus and dedication to the task at hand. Your work deep in the mine, cutting lumber in the forest, carrying water, tending to the herd, working the farm, and repairing the castle will all be scrutinized. Perform these tasks in the order specified and perhaps someday you can buy your freedom.

Can you follow instructions better than your peers? Lets find out!

A note on the theme:

After the unpleasantness of the last week I didn't want to spend all weekend on a game glorifying being a bad guy. Didn't seem like fun to me. Then it struck me, "You are the Villain"... the word Villain doesn't have to designate a scoundrel or criminal, it can refer to a Villein. A villein is an unfree peasant with the same standing as a slave or serf to a feudal lord (but free in legal relations with respect to others).

*Update* Added a post-competition version using feedback from some of the reviewers. Really appreciate the suggestions and feedback!

Also, before I forget, I used http://www.earslap.com/projectslab/otomata to generate the background music. My 3-year old daughter Autumn helped me with the sound effects.

Web (Competition Entry) https://dl-web.dropbox.com/s/kpfsfxj20h5jecy/The%20Villein-LD25-nokong.swf
Web (Post Competition Version) http://goo.gl/q21nR
Source https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hk6scazthw9foq5/EdTl825RS9
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=4914

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 2.41 661
Audio 2.61 298
Fun 2.09 667
Graphics 1.71 731
Humor 2.30 434
Innovation 2.09 693
Mood 2.11 670
Theme 2.46 643

Feedback

KhaoTom
17. Dec 2012 · 04:48 UTC
Nice play on theme, I wonder if daily play would improve my short term memory performance?
mamoniem
17. Dec 2012 · 04:49 UTC
nice game, my sone ejoying it :)
Crowbeak
17. Dec 2012 · 04:50 UTC
I like how you thought about the theme and did something different with it. My only real problem with the game, one which made me stop playing it earlier than I would have otherwise, is the volume difference on "water". The balance is way off on volume.
Rose
17. Dec 2012 · 04:52 UTC
Not a bad idea! I like the theme of your game. But I found the voices to be a bit hard to understand (especially "water" and "herd"). Perhaps you could also display the instructions on screen? (One at a time, of course.)
rustybroomhandle
17. Dec 2012 · 15:54 UTC
Nice interpretation. Bit of an unfortunate theme, this one. You spun it into a fun thing. :)
kivifreak
17. Dec 2012 · 16:25 UTC
The sound is funny though the YOU DID NOT GOOD sound is kind of annoying but funny :P
AdventureIslands
17. Dec 2012 · 19:26 UTC
Not bad, my memory is pretty bad so I am not very good at these games, but nice job, the game works pretty well. The voices could have been a bit more clearer.
Felix20
17. Dec 2012 · 22:30 UTC
The voices were epic
refreshcreations
17. Dec 2012 · 22:34 UTC
Couldn't understand the voices very well at all which was frustrating for me, although the row sound effect is really awesome, nice melody in the background adds to the mood of the game also which is nice but after being asked to click on water, then clicking on water I seem to be dying which is a little strange. Unless I'm missing something?
🎤 Rex Peppers
18. Dec 2012 · 02:22 UTC
I appreciate the good feedback so far. After the competition rating is finished I'll look at evening out the audio levels and adding some visual indication of what order to click...
ENDESGA
18. Dec 2012 · 02:58 UTC
Thanks for rating my game!
this is pretty cool!
KunoNoOni
18. Dec 2012 · 04:31 UTC
Very well done! I got 14g before I stopped, because if I didn't I would have played all night!
Quantumvm
18. Dec 2012 · 04:41 UTC
AWWW the kid voice overs were adorable.. not going to lie. reminds me of that game Simon. Not sure how this makes you the villain though...
Dark Acre Jack
18. Dec 2012 · 07:52 UTC
Now this is how you get a game done, by employing child labor.

I would have recorded a few more samples for each hotspot, but I know how temperamental kids can be.
Colapsydo
18. Dec 2012 · 09:31 UTC
A little visual/audio signal to confirm that the element has been clicked could greatly enhanced the game.
boena
18. Dec 2012 · 09:51 UTC
Love the audio :D Nice memory game
shaneshanekavanagh
18. Dec 2012 · 13:08 UTC
Ha ha ha! Took me a second to figure this one out. Goodtimes!
BiceMaster
18. Dec 2012 · 17:58 UTC
Innovative twist of the theme.Unique idea. Gameplay gets boring quite fast though. Great commanding voice. Graphics needs work.
TheCze
18. Dec 2012 · 19:05 UTC
The sounds are great :D
You commented at my game that you can't run Win/Linux, I added an OS/X option now so go and give it a try :)
h.attila
18. Dec 2012 · 20:49 UTC
So I started the game without the sound turned on, and I just sat here for a while clicking on things randomly, completely baffled as I had no idea what I was supposed to do. :)
I think you could've used some visual indicators, too, like flashing the targets in the correct sequence or something.
Other than that, I liked your interpretation of the theme, your graphics and the music are well done.
HeXoT
18. Dec 2012 · 21:35 UTC
It a shame (for me) that I can't understand the lord :(
Mase
18. Dec 2012 · 23:43 UTC
-The volume could use some balancing. "herd. WATER! herd. WATER!"
-Nice smartypants interpretation of the theme. I agree that "You are the villain" seemed pretty badly timed.
Tyren
19. Dec 2012 · 02:42 UTC
I had a really hard time enjoying this game. I'm hard of hearing, and the audio was really tough to make out.
🎤 Rex Peppers
19. Dec 2012 · 15:46 UTC
Hey Tyren, I've posted a post-competition version of the game to give you a better chance to play. Next time I work on a game concept I'll be sure to use more than one sensory output!
cwilloughby
20. Dec 2012 · 08:41 UTC
Cool. Reskin of simon. Liked the audio. :)
dray
20. Dec 2012 · 15:38 UTC
I played both versions, in some way, i liked the version without indication of the last sentence, but because i got a score of 15 on this one. having your daughter making sound is very cute and give the cool feeling of the game. Sadly your interesting theme vision is totally forgotten by this.
Cool little game :)
zenmumbler
21. Dec 2012 · 00:12 UTC
Cute game with a positive note, which is appreciated.

As other noted, the "WATER" sample is bit jarring, 3 year olds are lovely but can rupture eardrums like no other. Clearly, she is the Villain of these grounds, as per the OED: "the person or thing responsible for specified problems, harm, or damage" Some harm and/or damage was done to membranes certainly :)
Faust
21. Dec 2012 · 07:57 UTC
Nice tweak on the theme, simple but interesting game, especially the voice instruction. :)
Jeremias
21. Dec 2012 · 20:05 UTC
You should add a visual feedback respective clicking one of the areas.
nilstastic
21. Dec 2012 · 20:06 UTC
Good: Casle!
Improve: Mine!
:)
lotusgame
27. Dec 2012 · 10:34 UTC
I enjoyed understanding the goal of the game. But i had to lower the volume of my computer, cause the voice is pretty aggressive. By the way, i liked the idea that the villain can be a kid :p They are, aren't they ? huhu
Drabiter
28. Dec 2012 · 11:47 UTC
16g my best. The sounds actually make it easier :D Maybe lower the pitch a bit, I was kinda surprised on "water".
impulse9
01. Jan 2013 · 14:03 UTC
Cute concept. Funny voices. Silly graphics. All I ever wanted. :)
recursive frog
02. Jan 2013 · 03:22 UTC
Even though the game itself is nothing new, you get lots of innovation points for your creative reading of the word "villain" and running with this theme. I also somehow felt the child voice for the orders barking at you was oddly appropriate as well, as though it were a spoiled noble child ordering you around.

Really inspired entry!
tripleVisionGames
06. Jan 2013 · 13:13 UTC
I don't know if you've had this as feedback already but perhaps making the cursor change when you roll over the clickable area and having some feedback so the player knows the click has been registered would help the game a little
RawBits
08. Jan 2013 · 21:07 UTC
It would have been easyer if you state somewhere here that this is a simon says game but I managed to found out finally. So my score is 17 :) and this is an awesome score for me!

Sfx are funny gfx is clean and gameplay is smooth. Nicely done! :D The only real negative thing is the ignored theme. It would be better if you put goats in at least. ;)