The World Hates You by mcc
This game uses an evolutionary algorithm to generate platformer levels. The goal is to create the hardest platformer levels possible (which are still winnable). A central online server is used to breed together the most difficult levels and propagate them to other, future players.
There is no win condition. The purpose of this game is not to be won. The purpose of this game is to get progressively better at killing you.
NOTE: Because the levels of this game are born in the cloud, this game will necessarily continue to change after the 48 hour Ludum Dare period completes. I fully intend to continue tinkering with and improving the breeding pool on the server after the 48 hour period.
NOTE 2: I did not test this at ALL before submitting.
UPDATE: This game was edited after the 48-hour period to fix a game-breaking bug (a big, critical chunk of data that was being collected was not being sent to the server) and to add a missing license disclosure. Nothing else was changed. The Windows and Linux versions were added after the 48-hour deadline and also incorporate these changes. You can find the originally uploaded mac version here http://vote.grumpybumpers.com/j/ld/24/1/
There is no win condition. The purpose of this game is not to be won. The purpose of this game is to get progressively better at killing you.
NOTE: Because the levels of this game are born in the cloud, this game will necessarily continue to change after the 48 hour Ludum Dare period completes. I fully intend to continue tinkering with and improving the breeding pool on the server after the 48 hour period.
NOTE 2: I did not test this at ALL before submitting.
UPDATE: This game was edited after the 48-hour period to fix a game-breaking bug (a big, critical chunk of data that was being collected was not being sent to the server) and to add a missing license disclosure. Nothing else was changed. The Windows and Linux versions were added after the 48-hour deadline and also incorporate these changes. You can find the originally uploaded mac version here http://vote.grumpybumpers.com/j/ld/24/1/
Ratings
| Coolness | 14% | 1080 |
| Overall | 4.13 | 7 |
| Audio | 3.00 | 170 |
| Fun | 3.63 | 51 |
| Graphics | 2.93 | 372 |
| Innovation | 4.38 | 2 |
| Theme | 4.43 | 3 |
This game is brutal and wicked clever.
A tip of my hat to you sir and or madam.
I would welcome a button for 'This level is evidently possible, but not for me'. Also: The World Hates YOU for naming your file LD24.zip – can you imagine how many of those I have flying around right now?
- Reset all levels (accidentally...)
- Server will no longer generate levels where you spawn outside the level
- Specimen numbers are no longer reused
- The server now ensures every round of breeding will include at least one beatable level. This is accomplished via INCEST. If an entire generation passes with no beatable levels, breeding will be performed against the last playable ancestor. (This should avoid the "everything is unbeatable!" problem that developed by the end of last week-- before, if an entire generation became unbeatable, evolution would basically stop.)
- There should be more variety now for people who try to play for a really long time. There's a handful of tanks now that are only accessible once you've already played several levels.
Also, it seemed like obstacles would hit me even if it seemed like they were completely "covered" by neutral squares. Like, they would touch me diagonally, somehow. Like this:
O
XOOOOO
If I came from the right, the X would kill me.
One last thing I wonder about is the security. I didn't dig too deeply into the messages, but they look like XML sent over more-or-less HTTP...and they don't include anything about *how* the player won, only that they *did* win. I have this nagging worry that someone will approve all the unbeatable levels so the entire population becomes unbeatable. >_>
I hope I can remember to check out the levels in a few days!
The version that I played felt a bit repetitive, I don't know if I was missing something. I played what felt like the same level about 3 times in a row.
But hey, I AM CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Love it.
Love the broken clinical feel. Love the terminology. Love the ambiguity of who is being tested and why. Also probably one of the more proficient games from a technical standpoint (central database, genetic algorithm, etc.). I saw some Twitter discussions from the sidelines and it seems like quite a feat.
Kind of opens the mind too, yeah? Like this stark kind of interface and what might lie behind it, if only the right commands or combinations of input could be found.
A ranking system could make this game so addictive! Also, I suggest to show to the players the rating of the level and if the level have been completed once or never.
One of my favorites! Great job!
Now the server is offline...