LudumData

_Evolve by Tyler

[raw]
made by Tyler for LD24 (COMPO)
To Play: The game currently consists of 10 levels. Each level has an objective. To complete the objective, you must create the proper ecosystem for the various critters inhabiting the world. Use the eggs on the left of your toolbar to place critters. The next two tools allow you to manipulate ground height. The next two allow you change the temperature. The next two let you manipulate water amount. Finally, the two buttons on the far right let you show the temperature or water heatmap.

You gain eggs as creatures are surviving and reproducing on the map. So, having mice breeding and living happily would create mice eggs.
The first tier of creatures (eggs on the left) feed on their favorite terrain. The next tiers eat the lower level. So, a wolf will eat an mouse, gecko, finch, etc.

Enjoy!

Windows http://db.tt/oVhLIRe3
OS/X http://db.tt/GVfxu9oA
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview&uid=1969

Ratings

Coolness 71% 3
Overall 2.75 493
Audio 1.31 583
Fun 2.38 559
Graphics 2.94 367
Humor 1.61 538
Innovation 3.21 208
Mood 2.34 521
Theme 3.47 156

Feedback

NostraDamon
28. Aug 2012 · 19:18 UTC
Cursor index error :( ?
DevWouter
29. Aug 2012 · 16:15 UTC
First entry which simulates life and that seemed to work with objectives.

But I had a hard time figuring out what to do and why. What mice? What does a mouse need? Why does the cheese drain the water, oh noes, it's a sponge, is that alright? Oh wait, I completed the level. Press enter? OK!

Overall is simply lacked a bit of polish. A bit more polish and it would have been nice game.
bvanschooten
29. Aug 2012 · 17:32 UTC
Looks interesting, but impossible to play until you fix some bugs first. I got that cursor index error, and also some other error. Also, I can't see the entire map on my screen, if I change the resolution I can't even see the icons anymore. The creatures are too small for me to see properly.
monsieur_nez
30. Aug 2012 · 00:18 UTC
Really interesting, good idea!
But the objective are not clear
Crushenator
30. Aug 2012 · 00:57 UTC
I really liked this entry. It reminded me a lot of Dwarf Fortress with the detail of temperature and terrain. I found myself wondering what kind of environment the animals would want in order to thrive.
Benjamin
30. Aug 2012 · 01:04 UTC
Very nice graphics, but The objectives are unclear. I know that I must breed one animal type, but i dont know what it need so I just dont know what to do. The icons and land have gorgeous grphics, I would like to play more and discover all the creatures type you have designed.
🎤 Tyler
30. Aug 2012 · 01:08 UTC
@Crushenator- I love you. Seriously. Dwarf Fortress is probably my favorite game.
S0larCode
30. Aug 2012 · 01:39 UTC
It's a very creative idea, i'll give you that, But the gameplay needs a little more action.
jplur
30. Aug 2012 · 02:42 UTC
Love the 2.5D map and the terrain editing. Gameplay was a little slow, would of liked a sandbox mode. Really nice entry!
zatyka
30. Aug 2012 · 02:43 UTC
Cool Concept. I wish there was more instruction though. I enjoyed it.
Jungorend
30. Aug 2012 · 02:55 UTC
I thought the concept was cool, controlling your ecosystem. But I could have used more feedback on if my actions were doing anything. Do the minnows like shallow water? How can I tell? Do they die in deep water? Some kind of feedback on how my animals are doing seemed key to me. In addition my screen resolution is 768 pixels high, and the window was too large to fit and sort of jammed itself under the taskbar.

I liked the worldbuilding aspects, it was really creative, and I thought the graphics were neat.
tigerj
30. Aug 2012 · 04:28 UTC
Had a lot of fun with this one. I scrolled in and really like the art.
Beanalby
30. Aug 2012 · 04:33 UTC
The map mechanics look interesting, but there's just so little feedback on the results of actions or what animals do or don't like.
jovoc
30. Aug 2012 · 04:41 UTC
Really interesting concept. The art style worked and fit the game. I really needed more feedback to tell what the creatures were doing, if they were thriving or struggling, and it was hard to tell what effect my actions had on the ecosystem. The zoom/pan was very hard to get used to. But the core game was solid.
michax
02. Sep 2012 · 19:21 UTC
Really hard to control. Interesting premise. I would add posibility to faster scrolling (maybe by mouse draging ?)
philosophistry
02. Sep 2012 · 23:18 UTC
Great concept, great graphics. I'm a little confused as to the lowering of water levels on a piece of terrain that's already high. So maybe if you're going to continue developing, simplify the controls. Also, tune the first level so you know what you do has what kind of impact. As it stood, I randomly placed eggs, and waited, and they reproduced. Same with the next two levels. So a little more challenge, with feedback would be great.
vilya
03. Sep 2012 · 00:29 UTC
Neat idea but a bit hard to play. Partly because the icons for the creatures were so small & hard to see, partly because I think you need to give more feedback to the player about whether their actions are working. That said, when I figured it out I did spend a bit of time clicking around trying to see if I could boil the minnows. Is that wrong? :-)

BTW I got a crash when I tried changing the resolution to 1920x1080. Also, the map zooming is good but I couldn't figure out if there's a way to pan the map?
mohammad
03. Sep 2012 · 00:34 UTC
this game was actually fun!
i had lots of fun creating stuff and watching them grow!
THEN I FLOODED THEM ALL! HAHAHAHAHA
anyway, REALLY fun and interactive game!
keep it up!
airdeck
03. Sep 2012 · 04:50 UTC
Good start, love to see where this could go post-competition. Reminds me a lot of the old Sim Earth game.
Skulls
06. Sep 2012 · 05:22 UTC
Pretty buggy, I liked that you had a way to change the resolution but I suspect that may have caused some of the bugs. A bit boring but had it's fun moments when I could play it.
RawBits
16. Sep 2012 · 08:39 UTC
It looks pretty nice on the video but I can't zoom in on to the terrain so I can't really do anything. However - from the video - I saw that you can raise and lower the water too? 8O how is that possible? :) Also the terrain is influencedby the heat but it doesn't look like it corresponds to the given heat map at start.
Zed
16. Sep 2012 · 11:22 UTC
Apparently, it's not compatible with the version of Windows that I'm running (7, 32-bit)