Evolwar by headchant

[raw]
made by headchant for LD24 (COMPO)
The idea was advance wars with dinosaurs. It's round based and the units are able to "evolve".

Controls:
Arrow Keys: move the selection
x: select unit/walk to
c: abort
v: next unit
return: end turn

Follow the signs on the screen.

Ratings

Coolness 85% 2
Overall 3.67 61
Audio 3.38 83
Fun 3.50 79
Graphics 3.63 129
Humor 2.37 271
Innovation 3.31 172
Mood 2.95 218
Theme 3.52 139

Feedback

Jeremy1080
27. Aug 2012 · 02:09 UTC
Loved the game! Very nice graphics, and defiantly along with the theme!
Cipher
27. Aug 2012 · 02:19 UTC
Really great idea and really great game! :D
williamwhitacre
27. Aug 2012 · 02:35 UTC
Brilliant!
link2x101
27. Aug 2012 · 03:19 UTC
A great entry!
Needs some graphical and sound work, but a wonderful progression of tactical RPG by adding a morphing element.
Rose
27. Aug 2012 · 03:37 UTC
Nicely done! But, I couldn't tell how much HP my dinosaurs had. Also, once I started to move them in one direction, I couldn't switch to a different initial direction
kirbytails7
27. Aug 2012 · 05:41 UTC
I like the idea, but evolving the dinosaurs didn't seem worthwhile since the only boost was movement (aren't they supposed to get more health?), which is from a shared pool anyway.
cappelnord
27. Aug 2012 · 07:26 UTC
Cool game, got me playing for a while! I like how it turns out to be very strategic. Cute dinos too :-). A health bar on the units would have been nice.
🎤 headchant
27. Aug 2012 · 09:29 UTC
@link2x101: what graphics and sound exactly do need work? I could improve them for the compo version!

@Rose @kirbtytails @cappelnord: Ok will add health bars and fix the arrow movement bug for the compo version :)

Thanks for the feedback! Keep 'em coming!
aschearer
27. Aug 2012 · 10:14 UTC
Great little game, really impressed you were able to put this together in 48 hours. I felt the gameplay devolved into trying to get the first attack against the enemy. Most of the time it seemed that whoever struck first would win. As someone else pointed out, evolving didn't raise or refill your health, so it was always wiser to attack the enemy instead of the egg given the choice. If you could improve the gameplay to force the player to make interesting trade offs I think this could be great. (But then I love turn based strategy games :-)
SirDrMcHurtz
27. Aug 2012 · 10:16 UTC
Really impressive game for the compo, a lot of fun and looks good too. Great work :)
faijdherbe
27. Aug 2012 · 10:28 UTC
great game! loved playing it!
Arkazon
27. Aug 2012 · 10:29 UTC
Nice game with a couple of small problems:
- On level 10 I had an enemy dinosaur spawned in the corner of the map with a mountain to one side and water to the other - I couldn't get to it to kill it.
- Can only change target between enemy dinosaurs and a single egg, if you're standing next to multiple eggs it won't let you pick which one to hit.

Overall good though, enjoyed it.
mariscal
27. Aug 2012 · 11:18 UTC
Congratulations! This game is brilliant, love the music, gameplay, and how it fits the theme! For me best game so far! :D
🎤 headchant
27. Aug 2012 · 12:02 UTC
Thanks for the comments, guys! They are much appreciated.

The post-compo/jam version fixes the 'once started moving in one direction'-bug, the 'change target selection'-bug and a bug with the enemies music. It also adds the requestet health bars.
Markavian
27. Aug 2012 · 12:02 UTC
Great game, love the graphics and game play. Worked my way up to Level 12 before stopping. Like the turn based and strategy of choosing what to attack based on movement and positioning.
Perry
27. Aug 2012 · 12:50 UTC
Loved it. That is all.
Dakota
27. Aug 2012 · 12:54 UTC
Dam those blue dinos are smart. Great game enjoyed playing it
juaxix
27. Aug 2012 · 13:55 UTC
The game has a bug (A* pathfinding?) the enemies cant find me if im between rocks and screen limit.
I enjoy it, good game :)
🎤 headchant
27. Aug 2012 · 14:59 UTC
@juaxix: infact astar couldn't find anything on the first line or first row -.-
Thanks for pointing this out! I fixed it in the post-compo version!
JaJ
27. Aug 2012 · 16:27 UTC
I love the style and it was good to see a tactical rpg for a change. I had the feeling that the randomly generated levels sometimes game me a huge disadvantage, and when I tried again that same level could be a lot easier.
Jeremias
27. Aug 2012 · 17:03 UTC
Nice little game with good quality in audio. Was fun to play. After 4 or 5 levels I got stucked because a blue dino was surrounded from water and rocks (so it was impossible to finish the level - like others said here). If you want to make a post-compo version, I would improve the controls - perhaps something based on mouse instead of keyboard?

I'm from Karlsruhe, too :D (saw you on the Ludum Dare world map... several trials to contact you here on Ludum Dare)
dalbinblue
27. Aug 2012 · 18:47 UTC
Cool game; the evolution side was a little weak in that it just didn't make sense to do it. When playing it was far better to just hang up on an enemy dinosaur while it went for the eggs.
BMacIntosh
27. Aug 2012 · 19:36 UTC
Solid game, pretty cool. It was pretty easy for me. The blues weren't too smart about preventing me from snatching eggs out from under them - I would just let them get an attack off and then steal it on the next turn.
🎤 headchant
27. Aug 2012 · 20:37 UTC
@jeremias: thank, yes the random level generator can create unsolvable levels...just restart the level it if does that. You are from Karlsruhe? Great! We should organize a local indie stammtisch sometime.

@BMacintosh
That might be true for level 1-3. After that group attacking should be the way to go. And yes, the AI is pretty stupid. It still is challenging in later levels, I think.
Jeremias
27. Aug 2012 · 21:01 UTC
Wenn du willst, kannst du mir einfach mal ne' Mail schreiben (info@stevencolling.de)
LuizHGMonclar
27. Aug 2012 · 21:26 UTC
Oh, my! Really loved it! Love these "tactical" games so much :) Awesome job, man! Congratulations! I Really liked the art style too!
GFM
27. Aug 2012 · 22:35 UTC
Nice game!

My only complain is that evolving doesn't makes you stronger... So, for example, in the first stage, the one that hits the other first will win (and not necessarily the most evolved)

Other than that, I really liked this game. =D
vilya
27. Aug 2012 · 23:13 UTC
Good effort for 48 hrs! It needs a tutorial or something though - I was a bit lost with the controls.
SiENcE
28. Aug 2012 · 10:33 UTC
Please make an LÖVE-Webplayer Version.
🎤 headchant
28. Aug 2012 · 11:47 UTC
@Science: I tried, but there were too many problems to fix ...sorry... maybe if this game ranks high enough
Ragzouken
28. Aug 2012 · 13:35 UTC
Love advance wars style games :) Seemed like the best strategy was to attack first, ignoring the eggs unless the opponent already weakened them - which made the evolution seem a bit secondary.
Gaeel
29. Aug 2012 · 07:54 UTC
I like the puzzle/strategy tradeoff, fun little idea.
Would be nice to be able to cancel a move though...
Chezzo
29. Aug 2012 · 19:58 UTC
This game ROCKS, but I'm a sucker for turn based strategy. The only complaint I have is that you can't evolve past three eggs, and it doesn't say "turn based strategy" anywhere in the description for turn based strategy lovers like me to find.
AdventureIslands
29. Aug 2012 · 20:10 UTC
This was very well done strategy game, cute graphics and great gameplay! Follows the theme very well too.
Chezzo
29. Aug 2012 · 21:08 UTC
Oh, one more thing. If the characters had, say some dots over their heads when they still have action points, it would make flipping through them in the later levels a little easier. I am still freaking playing this game. It rules.
Lafolie
30. Aug 2012 · 17:52 UTC
Hope this wins.
Misfit
16. Sep 2012 · 15:12 UTC
Very polished game. Great graphics, audio and gameplay. Nice job!
tompudding
17. Sep 2012 · 20:33 UTC
I had an embarrassing amount of difficulty getting past the first level (took me a while to work out how to attack), but then it was a lot of fun. Great job