EPIC THEATER by filgreen3

[raw]
made by filgreen3 for LD 42 (JAM)

It was our first Ludum dare... And it was awesome! Maybe we didn't manage to do everything the way we wanted but we are satisfied with the process and gain a lot of experience. I hope our future projects will be better. After some break we will finish this game so you can fully enjoy our ideas. So, without further ado, please try our game Epic Theater!

Our game is simple. You are theater-master. Your goal is to seat your visitors (elf, gnomes and orcs) right, so they would fit into their chairs and won't kill each other. You can improve your theater so that guests with the best reputation go to you. When you reach a 1000 respect point, you will win the game.

Hungry for more work Pixel artist - MaximBurlakov@mail.ru

Contest version in link for Windows ! And updated one on itch.io

cYk2nCMBW98.jpg2018-08-14_01-28-24.png

Ratings

Overall 834th 3.165⭐ 81🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1020th 2.766⭐ 81🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 403th 3.365⭐ 80🧑‍⚖️
Theme 442th 3.684⭐ 81🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 400th 3.712⭐ 80🧑‍⚖️
Humor 342th 3.071⭐ 79🧑‍⚖️
Mood 622th 3.089⭐ 75🧑‍⚖️
Given 73🗳️ 98🗨️

Feedback

Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 10:18 UTC
it's hard to understand gameplay. But i think that idea and art is very cool!
Paulo Augusto
14. Aug 2018 · 12:28 UTC
very nice man .
14. Aug 2018 · 12:30 UTC
Thank you @Paulo!)
Nicso
14. Aug 2018 · 12:39 UTC
The pace of the game seems a little bit slow. Mainly due to the fact that a lot of actions seems redundant. For example making the player clic on a size of seat before clicking a seat isn't needed since, being unable to seat someone in the wrong seat, this isn't a choice.

I don't know if the "i hate orcs" is a mechanic for placing people accordingly, it would be a nice add

Overall, a nice job with good graphics and a nice mood 👌
radow
14. Aug 2018 · 12:48 UTC
Awesome Graphics, cookie-clicker-like but still entertaining gameplay. There were a few bugs:
* I was able to seat 2 elfs on the same medium chair.
* Sometimes I wasn't able to select a chair type (when seating people) even thought there was one empty chair of that type left
* the number of small chairs left is not displayed similar to the medium and large chairs still free
* I think elfs dislike the gnome play but it doesn't say that in the play selection.

It also took me a while to realize who was who and that elfs want medium chairs, but after that thinks worked out well.
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 12:49 UTC
Thank you @Nicso! We wanted to do this as a mechanic, but we did not manage(

But we will add it in the next version!)

We will work on dynamics more, thank you for the advice!)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 12:56 UTC
Thank you @Radow!

We will improve it soon!)

I'm very glad that you liked the graphics
🎤 filgreen3
14. Aug 2018 · 13:00 UTC
the idea was that on the first day the player checks everything. so the first day is given a lot of time. Yes, there are bugs. I wonder if you would like to see the fix version.
Yllia
14. Aug 2018 · 13:52 UTC
Nice game and awesome art
Zicboy
14. Aug 2018 · 13:58 UTC
Loved this game! haha graphics and mood were spot on!
Plukers
14. Aug 2018 · 14:04 UTC
I love the graphics and the concept of the game.
It's very original in my opinion.

As mentioned before, the gameplay feels a little bit slow due to the repetetive action.
But that doesn't mean that it isn't fun, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the great game!
Rs11s21n
14. Aug 2018 · 14:08 UTC
good one
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 14:23 UTC
Thank you @yllia !)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 14:24 UTC
Thank you @zicboy !) I did my best for 72 hours)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 14:25 UTC
Thank you @plukers! We will do our best to make it faster and much better in the next version!)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 14:26 UTC
Thank you @rs11s21n !)
Blueflowerinthewind
14. Aug 2018 · 14:26 UTC
It took me time to understand how to start the game but after that, that was fun ! Thank you ! The graphics are cool ! They are some bugs too, the similar ones said by radow ^^ if you do a v2, I will test it with pleasure ^^
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 14:33 UTC
Thank you @blueflowerinthewind ! I'll notice you when we will make new version!)
Laura Angel
14. Aug 2018 · 15:04 UTC
It's hard to know how to start playing at the beginning, a tutorial would be nice, but good job!
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 15:06 UTC
Thank you @laura-angel! Totally true, we will make one)
frontlinesaint
14. Aug 2018 · 15:27 UTC
Graphics are really nice bit hard to understand at first but i got the hang of it was enjoyable good job guys
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 15:32 UTC
Thank you @frontlinesaint !)
FlashViper
14. Aug 2018 · 15:37 UTC
The game is a little hard to understand, but I like the idea of managing a theater or whatever it is.
MateusBoga
14. Aug 2018 · 15:59 UTC
I liked the game a lot. It has some bugs, for example you can sometimes put multiple people in the same chair ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) but I enjoyed it and the jokes were funny :)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 16:02 UTC
Thank you @mateusboga !) I'm glad you liked it)
tg1397
14. Aug 2018 · 16:06 UTC
This was a really good first Jam game. There are definitely some bugs in the Jam version (like the wrong seats being highlighted as available) but I can see where you were going with this. I think it also needs some balancing work - it was very easy to just choose the one play that Orcs love but Gnomes hate, go 50/50 on Large and Medium seats and make tons of reputation. I didn't feel the need to upgrade the theater at all. Perhaps start with a very small theater? Or maybe by choosing a play a race hates, you get a hit to your reputation that you have to mitigate by trying to fill the seats. Additionally, turning people away felt not worth the hit to reputation when you could just wait out the rest of the day. Maybe instead, having a full theater boosts your score to make it feel more necessary?
🎤 filgreen3
14. Aug 2018 · 16:17 UTC
Honestly, at first we had a lot of ideas, we could not realize them completely for the time given by this event. But we plan to support this game. On the site, you can monitor progress. Thanks for the feedback @tg1397!
tg1397
14. Aug 2018 · 16:18 UTC
@filgreen3 I understand - I realized retrospectively my comment might have sounded a little negative. Honestly I came up with more ideas while playing because I was really enjoying it, but would have loved to see it just that much further - I might follow along!
Blinkenlights
14. Aug 2018 · 16:22 UTC
I do like the idea, certainly quite original. Music and visuals were nicely matched. A few bugs, though.
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 16:31 UTC
Thank you @blinkenlights !) We will fix it for sure)
Trenchcoat Phoenix
14. Aug 2018 · 16:37 UTC
I had a lot of trouble understanding what the game wanted from me at first, but it's a cool concept.
Blinkenlights
14. Aug 2018 · 16:37 UTC
Love the enthusiasm! ;)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 16:49 UTC
Thank you @trenchcoat-phoenix ! We will make tutorial in the next version)
Biebras
14. Aug 2018 · 17:12 UTC
For the first jam is really great. I really liked you pixel art it was hella awesome. Nice job.
🎤 filgreen3
14. Aug 2018 · 17:15 UTC
Thank you for feedback @biebras.
🎤 filgreen3
14. Aug 2018 · 17:15 UTC
Thank you for feedback @biebras.
dave_troyer
14. Aug 2018 · 17:27 UTC
I really wanted to try your game based off the concept and art, but I couldn't figure out how to actually go past the performance selection screen. I clicked everything on the screen. I hope you can develop the game further and would like to try it again later.
🎤 filgreen3
14. Aug 2018 · 17:44 UTC
@dave-troyer ![2018-08-14_20-42-23.png](///raw/4b6/91/z/19536.png)
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 17:47 UTC
Thank you @biebras! I'm glad you like graphics)
dave_troyer
14. Aug 2018 · 18:10 UTC
@flower I appreciate that you're trying to teach me how to play your game, but that doesn't change the fact that its really not intuitive and there is no instructions or notifications on whats wrong in the game itself.

Aside from that, I did try it with 0 free seats and still nothing.
Historymaker118
14. Aug 2018 · 18:26 UTC
Took a while to figure this game out but eventually got there, an interesting concept, though it could have done with a better tutorial. The music was really repetitive and rather annoying after a few minutes so I had to mute it, but the graphics were great. Not a bad game.
Flower
14. Aug 2018 · 18:40 UTC
Thank you @historymaker118 !) We will make tutorial. So, it will be more understandable)

I'm really glad that you like graphics)


We will make more music for the next version)
Bomb-X
14. Aug 2018 · 20:09 UTC
I very like your idea and graphics are nice :) !! I don't understand the gameplay... Maybe you could concentrate the gameplay on the races mechanic ?
Deprecat
14. Aug 2018 · 21:30 UTC
The concept is really cute and the sprite work is a lot of fun. I think what took me the longest to understand was the UI, a lot of times I ended up clicking things I wasn't supposed to because it was initially confusing. I didn't realize at first I was clicking the small/medium/or large seating when a customer came up. I think just being able to drag a character to any of the seating would probably feel better, and reduces the amount of clicking the players would have to do. The seats are visually distinct enough that I can tell where I'm dragging them without having to have the available seating of that size highlighted.

Overall, great work!
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 01:27 UTC
Thank you @bomb-x ! We will make this as main mechanic in the next version for sure)
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 01:28 UTC
Thank you @deprecat !) We will certainly improve game's dynamics)
Scott Steffes
15. Aug 2018 · 01:29 UTC
Even after clicking confirm and having no free seats, the game wouldn't start. I must be missing something.
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 01:34 UTC
@scott-steffes , you can have only 24 seats. Make sure you have exactly this amount of seats)
joh
15. Aug 2018 · 02:00 UTC
Interesting but I have to agree with the pacing being slow. On one hand I kept failing at placing everyone due to time limit (was I supposed to?) but on the other, the way everything moved slowly, and the extra clicks needed went against the whole "rush" I felt I was supposed to have, made it like it wasnt my fault I couldnt place everyone in time.
And yet, still did fine & won. I didn't even need to play particularly efficiently. Good placements offseted too many bad ones, so perhaps balance issues.

Still, Plenty of potential. I'm sure groups, position preference and even "vision" concerns could be nice features to add.
AwiX
15. Aug 2018 · 07:44 UTC
A good game idea, the music should be improved. The graphics are good.
Try our game too, maybe you'll like it)
Pyjamaboy
15. Aug 2018 · 08:22 UTC
Interesting game, really like the art though it was a bit repetitive.
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 14:37 UTC
Thank you @Joh ! “vision” concerns is a very good idea!)
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 14:37 UTC
Thank you @awix ! I will try it for sure)
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 14:37 UTC
Thank you @pyjamaboy !)
Vulture_42
15. Aug 2018 · 16:41 UTC
I enjoy the concept of this game and I think you've pulled it off well — it definitely fits with the theme.

I think as far as constructive feedback goes, it could do with a little streamlining. Considering there's a time limit to deal with as well as a space limit, people seem to take a little too long to move along in the queue. Some hotkeys could have helped with this (L/M/S), or the ability to drag people onto their seats. The UI on the main screen could do with a bit more clarity, as well. Since you choose seat types when arranging seats, I don't think needing to choose the number of each first was necessary (I sometimes forgot to update the numbers).

But otherwise, good work!
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 19:28 UTC
Thank you @vulture-42 ! I think we will make an opportunity to drag people onto their seats)
lootgrounds
15. Aug 2018 · 20:30 UTC
I find the idea quite interesting. Placing the visitors, trying to find balance - it is fun. There're definitely issues with controls and understanding what to do and how. But please, get rid of that timer. There's no reason to have it. Most of the times as I was getting to the most interesting part of the game I had one and a half minute or less left forcing me to breeze through their placement.
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 21:11 UTC
Thank you @lootgrounds ! It's truly unnecessary part of the game.
Cercle
15. Aug 2018 · 21:33 UTC
Great premise! Lots of work went in to the story details, fun to discover!
Mechanic worked well for this type of puzzle. In all, excellent work.
Flower
15. Aug 2018 · 21:37 UTC
Thank you @cercle ! We will improve it in the next version for sure!)
Echo Team
15. Aug 2018 · 22:06 UTC
Excellent art, a bit buggy here and there. All in all a good entry.
PixelFormedStudios
16. Aug 2018 · 00:01 UTC
Really cool concept and the art + audio was great. Only thing I would say is making the UI a little bit more polished and obvious. E.g. when no more chairs are left to be placed and the chair is still on the mouse, it should go a darker colour or become less opaque to indicate that there are none left. That really all the feedback I can give because this is a really great game and I had a blast playing it. Great job!
Jesús González
16. Aug 2018 · 00:05 UTC
Great entry! I really enjoyed playing it, maybe the moving rate of the line is a little slow, but it wasn't too annoying either. The gameplay, graphics and sound were solid and created a pretty good mood.
hi.irie
16. Aug 2018 · 02:14 UTC
Awesome and great entry!
The artwork looks great but I found it really hard to figure out the mechanics and fill out the seats. This could be one of those games that also
could benefit from a subtle first time experience tutorial. Although I know there was just a limited amount of time.
shinysteel
16. Aug 2018 · 06:59 UTC
Very interesting art style, I like it. The music track is very enjoyable, great work on that! Gameplay is a little hard to understand at first but I eventually got it. It isn't too fun though, as it is just monotonous clicking. If you select a movie that orcs like, than get a lot of big chairs, few little chairs, and that is as far as strategy goes. The theme is sort of met with the limited amount of chair space but your not really running out of space, but rather only have a limited space if that makes sense? Great entry nonetheless, found it very interesting.
SkyreX
16. Aug 2018 · 10:38 UTC
Unique idea for game is the best way to make a good game and I see that you understand it really good. Your game have nice vibe, which is made by good mix of nice mehchanics, design and audio. Nice job man, keep doing it so well and good luck for future!
EmBro0404
16. Aug 2018 · 11:33 UTC
I like the idea. Keep it up!
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 11:52 UTC
Thank you @echo-team !)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 11:52 UTC
Thank you @pixelformedstudios ! We will improve interface for sure!)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 11:53 UTC
Thank you @jesus-gonzalez !)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 11:54 UTC
Thank you @hi-irie !) I'm really happy that you like my artwork)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 11:57 UTC
Thank you @shinysteel !)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 12:00 UTC
Thank you @skyrex!) I hope you will like next game's version more)
Flower
16. Aug 2018 · 12:01 UTC
Thank you @embro0404 !)
vivek.sharma20
16. Aug 2018 · 14:17 UTC
hi.. the game looks amazing retro look n feel spot on. The animation can be improved... also gameplay is very confusing. The controls can use some help.
MerpADer
16. Aug 2018 · 14:29 UTC
Fun game. has its bugs though. Graphics are good and has a few funny pieces of dialogue.
🎤 filgreen3
16. Aug 2018 · 14:52 UTC
@vivek-sharma20 Thank you for feedback!
🎤 filgreen3
16. Aug 2018 · 15:09 UTC
@merpader Thank you for feedback!
Xarras
16. Aug 2018 · 16:37 UTC
Great, this game is different, not just for the retro style but for being about managing a theater crowd in a fantasy world lol, also the bits of humour were a good extra :)
the only thing I would improve that doesn't require more work is the line, and how fast it goes. But I guess it's part of the time mechanic...

btw everyone knows elves love romantic shows
🎤 filgreen3
16. Aug 2018 · 22:03 UTC
We are glad that you liked the game @xarras !
Bibilega
17. Aug 2018 · 00:03 UTC
So fun ^^ I like this game. I like when we can play in fantasy world like a daily life. Thank you!
Alex Lutay
17. Aug 2018 · 04:46 UTC
Dudes, this is super good game for the first entry! You've managed to make something beautiful, playable and meaningful. Of course there's bug, but overall you did great!
Ashment
17. Aug 2018 · 05:24 UTC
Rather hard to understand the mechanics, but the idea is unique. Good effort!
Dyzzyd
17. Aug 2018 · 11:10 UTC
It’s a little bit hard to understand and I meet a few bugs like two people who can sit on the same chair. But the idea is very cool!
LeoDESIGAUX
17. Aug 2018 · 12:08 UTC
I like the art and ideas and yea nice jokes :p (Maybe the buttons for placing are a bit tiny) but good game overall !
namnam
17. Aug 2018 · 15:21 UTC
I liked the aesthetic and the sound, i think the gameplay could have been simpler, like i was not sure how to place the seat so i did it randomly. Maybe more feedback about how we doing and an ending feedback would have been great.
honey
17. Aug 2018 · 16:20 UTC
Pretty deep and interesting concept. However, I can't see why there's a time limit still running when I'm waiting for the queue to move on and for the seating interface to show? That's not me who is wasting my time, it's those lazy visitors (and menus). That got pretty irritating, but maybe I overlooked something? Still a fun game, graphics was very neat and the little snippets of character of visitors, very nice touch :) Thanks for the experience!
🎤 filgreen3
17. Aug 2018 · 23:12 UTC
(@bibilega), Thanks for your feedback.

(@alex-lutay), We really wanted to work hard on the first jam. There are bugs, but we'll try to fix it soon!

(@ashment), Thanks for your feedback.

(@dyzzyd), Thanks for your feedback.

(@leodesigaux),In the last hour, when I added them, they seemed to me ideal. Of course now I understand that they are too incomprehensible. We will redevelop the entire interface in a short time, of course, out of the competition


(@namnam), Thanks for your feedback.



(@honey), The queue especially goes slowly, it's done to simulate the behavior of the real queue. Create a "snail" effect in the queue.
honey
18. Aug 2018 · 07:00 UTC
@filgreen3 I totally get it and it actually is kind of funny. But it would feel much better if you stop the timer during the time player is absolutely without control of what is going on. In the end, the time limit doesn't need to change at all, just let the player feel he's in control even though the queue is so slow. If you make the timer one third of the current time and make it go only when player is actually assigning chairs, then you changed basically nothing gameplaywise, but remove one irritatingly frustrating point of "why they are so slow when my time is running?" I mean - don't let the player watch his time running out when he can do absolutely nothing about it. No fun there :(
RyanJavanshir
18. Aug 2018 · 17:42 UTC
Nice concept and I really like the art. Sometimes the confirm button would not work though. A bit difficult to know what to do too, so a tutorial would be nice! Good entry.
Flower
21. Aug 2018 · 12:26 UTC
Thank you @honey for the advice!
Flower
21. Aug 2018 · 12:28 UTC
Thank you @ryanjavanshir !)
skigfx
22. Aug 2018 · 10:43 UTC
Приятно видеть в проектах игры-менеджеры. Интересный геймплей, хорошее оформление. Музыка, возможно, слегка скучновата и я бы добавил побольше интересных анимаций. Эти выглядят несколько механическими. В целом отличный проект, в плане реиграбельности однозначно один из лучших, на которые я натыкался на этом джеме.
ursagames
22. Aug 2018 · 12:56 UTC
Very unique game idea! I really enjoyed the gameplay concept. I ran into a couple bugs, but I had a good time. I think this has a lot of potential for a puzzle type of game with more mechanics added in. Thanks for sharing your game with my stream! Here's a link to the vod: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/297479036?t=02h15m34s
Flower
26. Aug 2018 · 13:27 UTC
@skigfx Спасибо большое)
Приятно услышать такой отзыв от создателей крутейшей PAB)
Flower
26. Aug 2018 · 13:28 UTC
Thank you @ursagames !)
HellSquirrel
04. Sep 2018 · 13:53 UTC
cool!