FootBulls by goffmog

[raw]
made by goffmog for LD 41 (JAM)

It's X-com, but with football, and with cows.

And for the first time ever, there's music!

footbulls1.png

footbulls2.png


Post-mortem and design notes

Would have liked to get animation in, or at least proper trajectories for the ball. And way more feedback. Two game mechanics that didn't make the cut in the end were passing into space, and the use of the dribbling skill.

Dribbling was supposed to be used to move past opponents, which was meant to be risky if they were good at blocking. But it made the game too difficult and less fun to go attacking.

Also I couldn't get anywhere near making an actual AI for the singleplayer mode, which was a pity. But I did music instead so you can't have everything.


Techie notes

I used Unity for the engine and wrote all the gameplay code from scratch in C#.

The music was created in something called Soundbox (http://sb.bitsnbites.eu/) which I found to have just the right level of streamlining vs flexibility for my needs and experience level with trackers.

For the graphics, everything is just Unity's built in standard shaders, rendering prefabs made up of default Unity primitives.

The font is the first font I found in a Google search for "bubbly font"

I can't believe I missed the opportunity to label the move button "Moove"


As some have noted, and as I've been noticing on other people's games - a recent Chrome update has broken sound in Unity HTML5 builds. I'm keeping the web build up for convenience but please consider playing the Windows version for the full experience. I have also put the music up on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/thebuffles

Ratings

Overall 659th 3.386⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Fun 590th 3.294⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 653th 3.271⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Theme 370th 3.871⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 844th 3.043⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Audio 659th 2.722⭐ 29🧑‍⚖️
Humor 489th 3.054⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 847th 2.964⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Given 44🗳️ 31🗨️

Feedback

MonstermanMFR
25. Apr 2018 · 05:08 UTC
This game is sweet! Love the cows and the gameplay. I think you should continue with it beyond LD. Seems like with more modes and polish it could be a great hit!
Darkwing00Duck
27. Apr 2018 · 13:30 UTC
I had liked the concept, work over graphics and the interface and will be great
Beebo Studios
28. Apr 2018 · 14:01 UTC
Wow, I really like the execution here! Sadly I have no second player around right now, but playing against myself I can totally see the potential! Animations would be nice, but I already like the clean style and the cute buffletaur aesthetic! (Yes, I actually remember that game from last jam for its philosophical money quotes ;) ) I really like your UI, it's very organised, the font sets the right mood and it's just generally pleasing to look at. The music fits really well, too!

Good job on this one, have a fish <3 🐟
🎤 goffmog
29. Apr 2018 · 18:17 UTC
Thanks for all the positive comments everyone, I really enjoyed this LD and despite not getting in all the features I wanted, everything seemed to fall into place for once without too much stress and quite crucially, the game loop is complete without any major bugs.

I feel I should say something about the music though. It's an original recording but the melody isn't original. I ripped it off* of an obscure demo version of an obscure track called The Machine by an obscure EDM group called Vision Talk. I came across it one day in the dark recesses of Spotify and thought it sounded a lot like it belonged in the soundtrack of a mid-90s football game and bookmarked it for future reference.

* It's also ripped off badly because I have no ear.
Erkberg
30. Apr 2018 · 21:01 UTC
Really nice idea and execution! I also didn't have another player around and played against myself, but that already shows that this game could be a lot of fun. Nice music and visuals also, just needs some lootboxes with better players inside :) Good job overall!
AnaGF
08. May 2018 · 09:15 UTC
I tried it with my brother. We had a funny time, it is a good combination of themes.
If you are planning a post-jam version, the AI mode you told in the description will work really fine.
LittleStone Games
08. May 2018 · 11:16 UTC
Hey!Good work!The mechanics are very original!At firt I finded a little bit dificult too understand how the player move.The music is pretty good too.Anyways good work! :)

Here is our game if you want to try it!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/me-da-miedito-la-oscuridad-i-get-goosebumps-in-the-dark
Joror
11. May 2018 · 11:14 UTC
Cool combo genre, and good on keeping the basic moves simple. Music for some reason did not play for me (web player).
Ideas for improvement:
- Give each player one 'not standard' move, like 'Get pumped - next turn + 2 movement', 'Aggro - Get +3 tackle for each adjecent opponent for 2 turns'
- Tackle/shoot/cheer sound effects
- Some weirdness - lootboxes, powerups, fans on the field, lightning strikes :P
🎤 goffmog
11. May 2018 · 11:31 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @Joror Adding buffs and so on, is a great idea. Definitely something I would consider in a proper version of this game, which would probably also feature a larger pitch and more players on each side.
🎤 goffmog
11. May 2018 · 12:48 UTC
Please consider giving ratings for humor and mood. Even if you didn't think much of the puns, or thought I failed to create any significant mood at all, low ratings are better than no ratings. I would like to get all categories up to at least 20 so I can actually have a score this time. Thanks for playing!
Jin9310
11. May 2018 · 13:06 UTC
I think that you have scored with those 2 incompatible genres :) Your idea is very promising and I hope that you will be able to do some AI ;) Some polishing would be also good, but overall this is a solid entry. Good job!
acoto87
11. May 2018 · 14:36 UTC
This is a good game, that tactics and the fooball mix very well, and is interesting and fun to play. Good job!
SecretPocketCat
11. May 2018 · 15:10 UTC
Moognificent use of the theme :laughing: The bulls are super cute and the gameplay loop is pretty enjoyable.

Suggestions/nitpicks:
* a grid on the field would be nice
* shouldn't the range of the ball be limited in addition to chance of shooting in the given direction?
* different players could be different animals (given starting set of stats) and then making the team would play a big role (plus with more animals there's the opportunity to horn in more baa(d) puns)
🎤 goffmog
11. May 2018 · 15:24 UTC
All great feedback, thanks @SecretPocketCat ! I had originally intended there to be ranges for passing and shooting, linked to the skills, and if I make a full version of this game it will likely have those.
Floc
11. May 2018 · 18:07 UTC
Pretty good game! The music fits well. Now I have to test it with a second person to really be in a competitive mood. If you could add some sound design it will be better ;) Great entry then!
Rodrigo Denúbila
12. May 2018 · 13:44 UTC
Really great! The humour is on the point. The gameplay is fun. Some improvements in graphics and UI would be nice. Good job!
Sibi
13. May 2018 · 15:58 UTC
Brilliant idea and execution! It's a shame you couldn't get a form of AI working. Would have loved to play this against the computer. Also the music didn't work for me in the web-player.
Woett
15. May 2018 · 16:38 UTC
Absolutely love this game! Gameplay was fun, the interface is clear and intuitive, and it fits the theme beautifully! Would love to see an even more complete version of this game with more options, animations etc.