Microbe Madness! by Matt Rix

[raw]
made by Matt Rix for LD24 (COMPO)
A game about battling microbes, a homage to the old StarCraft custom map called "evolves madness".

All my source code is on GitHub, I made sure to make tags pretty often, and there are 16 different tags, showing the scope of the progress I made over the weekend: https://github.com/MattRix/Madness/tags

Ratings

Coolness 57% 3
Overall 4.08 12
Audio 3.22 120
Fun 4.15 3
Graphics 4.24 26
Humor 3.03 117
Innovation 3.54 107
Mood 3.59 53
Theme 4.08 23

Feedback

Aaron San Filippo
27. Aug 2012 · 02:39 UTC
This game shows a lot of promise! I love that you can only control all of your guys at once, and that it's symmetrical 3-team as a rule. The animation and overall look is pretty charming too.

It took me a round to figure out the upgrade mechanic - there's no "hover" state on the upgrade buttons so I missed it at first. I beat it on the second round.

My strategy was to spam attack upgrades up to around level 5, then health. No need for speed or defense if you can obliterate everything in your path!

I think it'll be very interesting as a multiplayer game, especially if you can see some kind of visual representation of the enemy's upgrades.

Only other minor critique is that your guys get stuck on their home base sometimes. Or maybe this is part of the design?
matthias_zarzecki
27. Aug 2012 · 03:18 UTC
This is lovely!

Upgrading feels great, and the movement reminds me of Darwinia. I like the tactical twist that you can only move all at once, but unfortunately moving doesn't really do much. Imagine how it would feel if you could split your units and attack from behind for more damage!
Baburo
27. Aug 2012 · 06:43 UTC
Overall really great game. Reminds me a lot of the Starcraft's mod "Evolution", which I played a lot as a kid. Graphics are really tidy and fits the game nicely. There isn't really anything to complain. Maybe the info for example the health of the "base" could be located ie. over the base.
sP0CkEr2
27. Aug 2012 · 07:09 UTC
OMG!!! That was so much fun! Great idea and fits the theme very well.
FredericRP
27. Aug 2012 · 08:11 UTC
Great game ! As Aaron, I did not saw the upgrade mechanic at first glance, but it's complete and well done !
Vladp995
27. Aug 2012 · 14:09 UTC
Looking very good! Great job :)
@matthias_zarzecki with enough speed you just charge and catch them inside and do lots of damage when it's 4 on 1 :)
grid
27. Aug 2012 · 14:11 UTC
Very nice.
turnip
27. Aug 2012 · 15:48 UTC
Very nice, good fun if a little bit easy to win. Multiplayer would definitely be great fun.
Fadobo
27. Aug 2012 · 16:22 UTC
Awesome game! Best I've played so far. Lovely graphics, funny sounds and super fun and rewarding gameplay. I liked the simplistic strategy a lot.
pereubu
27. Aug 2012 · 20:08 UTC
amazing game ! Not a lot of strategy is required, but it's far enough to make a neat game.
Graphics and sound design contribute to a hilarious ambiance and i haven't encountered any bug.

Thanks for showing us this kind of game :D
Nidjo123
27. Aug 2012 · 21:33 UTC
Cute graphics, good balance and game just makes you keep playing. Great!
Norgg
27. Aug 2012 · 22:03 UTC
Haha, nice. I remember the map this was based on (and the tactics for it) well... Didn't even see what the first evolved critter looked like on the first playthrough.
Cake&Code
28. Aug 2012 · 01:15 UTC
Pretty sweet! It was fun trying to beat up the other teams and the upgrade system was well thought out, albeit not immediately recognized. It was a bit on the simpler side, but I'm not really complainig. :) The art was cute as well.
ButtercupSaiyan
28. Aug 2012 · 02:29 UTC
Hi there! I can't vote, but this game beat me twice, then I beat it and I felt quite satisfied!

Like a bowl of pudding, it's not very filling but it's great while it lasts!
thewiseguy99
28. Aug 2012 · 05:03 UTC
Rare to see polished strategy games like this one. I really enjoyed it. Thanks
matheod
28. Aug 2012 · 12:44 UTC
Basic idea but funny game ;)
echa
28. Aug 2012 · 22:40 UTC
Nice game! But quite easy.
xhunterko
29. Aug 2012 · 02:02 UTC
Really cute! Though I expected the little guys to change or something. Ah well. Can't have everything. But still, had fun, really cute. Nice.
eyehawk
29. Aug 2012 · 11:30 UTC
Amazing Game! Really original take on the RTS genre. I played this game probably for 20 mins straigh- 5 stars from me well done!
🎤 Matt Rix
29. Aug 2012 · 12:20 UTC
@xhunterko yeah the little guys do change, the problem is that I ran out of time so I didn't get a chance to balance the game properly, so most people either win or lose before the first "evolutionary leap" happens.

If you play the post-compo version, the pacing of the game is a lot better because I actually had time to play it! :) http://struct.ca/games/madness
monomanio
31. Aug 2012 · 21:22 UTC
This is a really interesting concept. I was immediately engaged. The realtime upgrades works well with the design!
DavidErosa
01. Sep 2012 · 00:07 UTC
I felt really well because I could win the first time I played :) Love the graphics. The only con is that I'd like to be able to direct different groups to different targets.
CataclysmicKnight
04. Sep 2012 · 02:51 UTC
That game was super-fun, easily one of my favorites, if not my favorite entirely (after 60+ reviews) :) I played it through twice so I could see all the upgrades!!! And now I'm playing it yet again in the "improved edition" :)
lekochen
04. Sep 2012 · 16:08 UTC
Awesome! One of the most polished entries I have seen so far.
gamblore
14. Sep 2012 · 02:56 UTC
This style of game is the game I wish I made with my LD48. I didn't know how to do the controls but you have the right idea with moving the whole colony to the location. I decided to go with more of a long game strategy (picking which evolution group to fight next) but I don't think it paid off as the my battles were pretty boring and long (I also ran out of time to balance the game). Congrats, I really enjoyed it.
Cyboot
16. Sep 2012 · 18:23 UTC
I played about 60+ Games so far, but I can honestly say this is my Favorite.

Great Idea, perfectly fitting to theme, nice graphics, easy and intuitive Gameplay and fun, really fun!

I am amazed you a managed to create a solid AI and most of all, the game is even good balanced. In 48 hours, a really great accomplishment.
If I had to search for a little little point, I could say that the soundeffect are a little enoying, but well its easy to mute :D
I really hope others see the game as good as i see it and you will get one of the first places in this LD :)
So glad i found this, even if its only the last day of judging

Maybe I say that to too many gamedesigners in LD but you did an amazing job.
Kickerua
17. Sep 2012 · 09:10 UTC
It's really cool.
cb31416
17. Sep 2012 · 16:29 UTC
Very nice game!!! I had to play until I beat the red and the blue, took me several tries until I figure I could click the buttons to upgrade my guys. Maybe some instructions will be helpful. I really enjoyed playing it.
robcozzens
18. Sep 2012 · 20:42 UTC
That was great!