LudumData

The Harvest by machinescreen

[raw]
made by machinescreen for LD 44 (JAM)

theharvestcover.png

All life in this universe is merely currency to you. As an unfeeling master species, seed solar systems with life, wait for biomass to accumulate and then harvest it to accrue funds. Attack those systems impertinent enough to try and defend themselves. What level of funds can you accrue? Play in browser now.

Reference

Systems

  • A system's Habitat rating affects the speed of Biomass production.
  • A system's Defence increases by 1 for every 5% of Biomass production from 55% onwards to a maximum of 10.

Seed Ship - Cost 5

  • Begins Biomass production in a system.

Harvest Ship - Cost 10

  • Harvests all Biomass in a system for Funds.
  • Destroyed by a Defence of 3 or more.
  • Systems need to be reseeded after harvesting.

Attack Ships - Cost 20

  • Reduces Defence by up to 5 and Biomass by 25%.
  • Destroyed if there is Defence remaining after this reduction.
  • Prevents further Biomass production if not destroyed.

All ships replace each other in a system.

HTML5 (web) https://machinescreen.itch.io/the-harvest
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/the-harvest

Ratings

Given 24🗳️ 17🗨️

Feedback

Holden
30. Apr 2019 · 01:36 UTC
Really cool idea, sounds, and textures. There's a lot of cool number tweaking and whatnot going on, but things happen rather slowly, and it takes a little while for things to ramp up.
Torculus
30. Apr 2019 · 01:46 UTC
Really cool idea! I love the graphics and sounds (except for getting currency in the start, that kinda hurt my ears lol). The aesthetic is really cool, I love the retro feel, matches the gameplay very well. My only problem is it's unbearably slow, other than that it's really dope, just needs more speed!
entirelyBees
30. Apr 2019 · 01:47 UTC
The simple pixel style really works for this, and the sounds are really satisfying. I was confused at first, but it's fun once it gets going.
WesleyRonald
30. Apr 2019 · 01:57 UTC
I really liked Eufloria so this game has potential, please add more stuff
Jacob Valore
30. Apr 2019 · 02:00 UTC
I really like the style and some of the mechanics, but I wish there was a threat, like it would load me into a map against an AI and I would have to take over their land while defending mine.
nanocube75
30. Apr 2019 · 02:24 UTC
it was a bit confusing but well made :)
velvetlobster
30. Apr 2019 · 02:48 UTC
had some trouble with the scrolling ... apart from that, I like the idea, I feel a bit of the FTL vibe in it
🎤 machinescreen
30. Apr 2019 · 12:39 UTC
@torculus @holden Thanks for your comments! You both raise a valid point regarding the slowness. I think this version of the game ended up being a bit trapped in no mans land between too conflicting ideas. Originally I'd actually envisioned it as more of an idle clicker that you could drop in an out of, hence it was quite slow and chill. However it ended up that, particularly as time goes on, you really have to pay attention to it and nothing's automated which is obviously more like an RTS. Ultimately this kind of game needs a lot more testing and balancing than I was able to give it during the jam.
🎤 machinescreen
30. Apr 2019 · 12:41 UTC
Thanks @wesleyronald, I quite like this idea so I may well develop it further. I've heard of but haven't actually played Eufloria so I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks for the tip!
🎤 machinescreen
30. Apr 2019 · 13:18 UTC
@jacob-valore Yeah, I originally wanted to implement a very basic threat mechanism for the jam whereby high defence systems would send out their own ships to take over nearby systems. Alas it was one of the features scrapped due to lack of time. If I develop the game further there probably should be AI that can do everything you can. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
🎤 machinescreen
30. Apr 2019 · 13:19 UTC
Thanks @velvetlobster. Yeah, the scrolling is a bit janky, sorry about that. If you weren't already, my pro tip is to play the game fullscreen as it seems be slightly better that way.
JKazuk
30. Apr 2019 · 19:35 UTC
Love the incredibly dark theme coupled with simple graphics. Really enjoyed the gameplay, although having systems attack back as you said would have made it even better. That's the nature of the jam though. Hope you take this further!
JulienLussiez
30. Apr 2019 · 23:26 UTC
It fits pretty well the theme, I like the idea that every life is currency !
Megan Kozun
01. May 2019 · 01:29 UTC
Super fun game that was very entertaining. The game seemed very simple when you load it up but it turned out to be a pretty complex! Loved the way it fit the theme too! :)
Ivan Garcia Filho
01. May 2019 · 02:08 UTC
Nicely done, i just missed a bit of UX / UI improvement, like arrows on the corners to show that there's a map to explore, some music or ambience, improve the selection vfx (just oscilating the fadein and fadeout loop isn't enough) and maybe a drag and drop from the bottom menu over the solar systems would be faster and more precise and even faster by reducing the amount of clicks
AL19890604
02. May 2019 · 12:38 UTC
I like the concept of the game as I'm quite a fan of such RTS style game but I think the difficulty of the game could be a bit higher which may help with the pace of the game! And ya just like others say above the scrolling of the screen have room for improving, may be binding the wasd key like AOC or other game with such features? I think it may be a easier way to tackle this problem.
Anyway nice pixel art and audio!
Raska
02. May 2019 · 12:50 UTC
Fun idea, really liked the audio and graphics, it was matched really good! It was easy to understand and entertaining to play, good job!