Powered By Coal by LiquidBrain

[raw]
made by LiquidBrain for LD 39 (JAM)

screen1.png

Explanation

You play as the grandson of a train-engineer trying to manage the city to get some coal for you. When you have enough coal you can travel the long mysterious railroad. Make sure to not run out of coal!

The team: - Rasmus - Programmer - Isak - Artist + Designer

Tools: - Paint.net - Unity

The SFX are from this pack. Therefore we will opt out of the Audio category.

Ratings

Overall 196th 3.71⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 106th 3.774⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 223th 3.419⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 257th 3.742⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 497th 3.323⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 31🗳️ 48🗨️

Feedback

Vehem
31. Jul 2017 · 19:20 UTC
Tricky balancing acting with a nice aesthetic, well presented. Nice work!
Quemagalletas
31. Jul 2017 · 19:22 UTC
I like the idea of the game and with the tutorial it easier to get the controls.

The sounds make it cool and also the strategy involved in the game, one thing that I miss from the game are some smoke particles in the train, and also the possibility of clicking on a far away place instead of stop by stop.

But in general the game is polished and good! Congratulations!!!
krishnasism
31. Jul 2017 · 19:23 UTC
Good game. Requries some brainpower! Was balanced and smooth to play.

The sound effects blend well with the game and the art work really makes the game stand out.

Good going! :) Congratulations and good luck! :D
Skiastra
31. Jul 2017 · 19:23 UTC
I loved this game, the management aspect was fun to play with and although it took me a little I was able to grasp it even through the info dump at the beginning of the game. What would be nice as a clarity improvement would be a way to see which resource a building produces, and which resources it takes. The main menu was unique and stylized which I loved, and the credits button got a genuine laugh out of me. Great job!
pixelgriffin
31. Jul 2017 · 19:29 UTC
This was actually really good. I have to admit I wasn't too interested immediately since the tutorial was extremely wordy, but once I got going I had a great time. I managed to beat the game and had a really good time.

I think if you were to improve anything you could maybe juice it up a bit more? Give a bit more response when something happens. The tutorial was very dry too, I learned most of the controls by feeling it out and your tips later in the game. I also felt like the buttons didn't exactly look like buttons and looked more like icons. This is pretty clearly a problem too when you have to mention that they are actually buttons not icons in the tutorial.

Otherwise the core gameplay I thought was excellent! I love management games, and I feel like if you changed your goals to something more lofty in the game (maybe building a new town instead of just collecting coal, multiple trains?) it could be stretched into a feature title well.

Great work! Had a lot of fun :)
davideperozzi
31. Jul 2017 · 19:33 UTC
My favorite so far! Needed a bit to get in but in the end it is a very addictive and relaxing game. Like it :)
Liked the sounds reminded me of an old game is used to play years ago.
It would be nice if there was some sort of a label so i can recognize the resources faster at the beginning.
Well done! :D
Rakowu
31. Jul 2017 · 22:11 UTC
Really funny game. I needed to finish the game and couldn't go to bed until i'll finish the game :D Great and adictiv. Too bad that there's only one level, but obviously for that short time.

P.d. Sorry for my english
Rombus
31. Jul 2017 · 23:05 UTC
Awesome game! looks really polished. I didn't understand shit during the tutorial hahha :D but when I started playing it hooked me for a long time.

I didn't get the objective of the game though, do I ever win?

Congrats on the game!
MCjammydodger
01. Aug 2017 · 08:42 UTC
Brilliant game! I had a lot of fun trying to balance my resources. I thought the tutorial was well done and the user interface was easy to understand. I managed to win on my first try! I must be a natural at this game :laughing:.

The visuals were great and the writing was funny. This game would be good with more complex levels, but I know that would have been impossible in the short amount of time you had to make it in.

Overall it was a fun game with good visuals, sound and humour. Well done!

Also, I may have broken the credits... sorry.
uzyfeo
01. Aug 2017 · 13:35 UTC
What to say... Time passed by really quick with this game!

I got scared from all the tutorial text at first but when I started playing it, it was easier than I though it is.

Game was really fun, although not much challenge was included, but alas the fun factor is what matters most for me and I enjoyed it a lot!

As many people here said, you should definitely do some more levels and make it a game, its really fun to play :)

Visuals really fit together nicely, UI doesn't feel slugish as with most of these Jam games (ain't nobody got time for that :D but you did and it shows :) ), sounds are from some pack as you stated so no comments on that... (although they fit nicely too I would say, good choice :) )

GL with your future endeavors!
blobo
01. Aug 2017 · 15:01 UTC
This was a really enjoyable game! The art was pleasing and the mechanic was easy to pick up on.
Starlight Glimmer is best poney
01. Aug 2017 · 15:03 UTC
I could see it in front of me. My 19th century self being a local businessman, capturing children from the capital's main train station and sending them to coal mines and tool factories. Coal was the currency. It was my life. I was swimming in it; people looked with grief at my black skin, but it only made me stronger. For these fifteen minutes I managed to forget about the real outer world, thinking only about producing more and more coal. My banks were filled with this strange O resource which I knew very little about, but it helped me reach my final goal. I fulfilled my 19th century grandpa's dream of leaving this old country. My long-cherished hate for coal, born from Upper Silesian Industrial Region's air and 2011 Minecraft horrors, was finally cured.

8/10, good job, but you should put a tl;dr of the tutorial on this page.
designernap
01. Aug 2017 · 21:00 UTC
I pushed through the tutorial as the presentation was SlickAF and very glad I did. I LOVE the centre is Ludum Capital! Great work. Really enjoyed this and the little touches really made it. "toot toot!" wonderful
DarkXolotl
02. Aug 2017 · 02:13 UTC
I love the game and played it for a while. The game is fun and entertaining.
Zeknir
02. Aug 2017 · 08:38 UTC
Very interesting concept! Reminded me a bit of TTD except that instead of managing the train, you are controlling it. If you want to improve it, you could try to add some kind of dynamic gameplay or a random map generator, but I really enjoyed (and completed) it anyway!
eXr
02. Aug 2017 · 13:31 UTC
Good job! Interesting game mechanics, after that long text :) I played longer than expected! Polished and well balanced. Congrats!
Reuh
02. Aug 2017 · 16:51 UTC
The tutorial was way too wordy... well, I skipped it halfway.

I still have no idea what "T" means, but I was hooked! The user interface is really easy to use, game mechanics were simple but addictive. The level is really simple but short enough to be entertaining until the end.

It also feels way more polished when playing than what the screenshot showed.

It would benefit from a few visuals effects here and there, and most importantly a shorter tutorial. To avoid the "text dump" effect, you could display tooltips or add something to the UI which says what means what, what is produced and needed, etc. during the game instead of before. The mechanics are pretty intuitive (at least for me), so explanations shouldn't be forced on the player.

"Toot toot"!
oparisy
02. Aug 2017 · 17:59 UTC
Great game, had a blast playing it! Loved your map structure, the overall balancing, and the credits obviously.

It's nice you were able to complete this game, including a home screen, balancing and a proper tutorial.

A small feedback: I thinks the game could play faster by accelerating resources production. Considering that the rest of the game is turn-based, it feel strange to wait for resources. Though of course this feels more realistic and, to be honest, moving the train constantly avoid being bored :)
ada
02. Aug 2017 · 22:45 UTC
Great strategy, tutorial is fine. Maybe you can add some score depending on how fast you made it - something what motivates you to think more waht to do.
superpokeunicorn
02. Aug 2017 · 23:51 UTC
This is a pretty well polished little management game. I like the art style quite a bit. it really fits that old west theme, and the little train going around is adorable. The game started out pretty fun, going around and giving everyone the resources they need to start up. However, after a certain point it gets a bit repetitive as you just sort of go around in circles and unload every so often at grandpa's house. The core gameplay loop is fine, but the game really needs some difficult scenarios to throw at the players so they don't just wind up doing the same thing the whole time. That being said, the game doesn't overstay its welcome and I had a good time playing it overall.
Poffle
03. Aug 2017 · 15:58 UTC
Nice work! I had to read the tutorial a few times but once I got the idea I found the whole thing pretty addictive and a lot of fun to play. Could see myself playing it on my phone for ages. The graphics for the gameplay was simple and serviceable but the UI elements were really nice. The only thing I can say negatively is there were quite a few typos but that's easily fixed. Great work guys. I really enjoyed this one.
krunoslav
03. Aug 2017 · 22:08 UTC
Very nice game! Well balanced, even the moment when it ends, because it does not become repetitive. I imagine if the game would last more time it would need different levels, like go with the grandpa to another city etc...

I appreacate the tutorial. Great work, liquid brain ;)
geck0
04. Aug 2017 · 00:14 UTC
interesting game, good work
TheFlyingKeyboard
04. Aug 2017 · 20:38 UTC
Really nice idea and graphics. UI works perfectly and looks amazing. Graphics has unique and fun style. Seems to be very polished. After some time mechanics gets repetitive, but is still enjoyable. Great Job!
klianc09
05. Aug 2017 · 11:10 UTC
I played it to the end, and I enjoyed it.

It could use some UI improvements, though. The font at the tutorial was very hard to read. The icons for the resources could look more diverse, so it's easier to see at a glance, what is what. For the beginning it would also be helpful to see on the map, what takes and produces what resources.

And once everything is running, there isn't really any challenge anymore, and then the threat of running out of power is gone ;)