LudumData

Unwatered by bazld

[raw]
made by bazld for Ludum Dare 45 (COMPO)

If the webgl window is too massive, please try the Win download... sorry, there's always something to catch me out ...

An easy-to-play water physics puzzle game. Manipulate the platforms (and sometimes more...) to guide the water into the flower pot. You need at least half the water to complete a level.

Use mouse to control. Platforms can either be rotated, or moved either vertically or horizontally -- see the on-screen guides for which type they are.

mCapture2.PNG

mCapture3.PNG

mCapture1.PNG

Webgl and Windows standalone versions on the itch page. Rec 1600x900, I had some issues with narrower display :/ If the webgl version is too big, please try the Win standalone, which is resizeable.

Made using: Unity, Inkscape, GIMP, Sfxr. All graphics (apart from the title font) were hand-drawn. The water effect is done using a standard meta-balls technique. I'll post a little blog postmortem asap ;)

Note - I will attempt to read, respond + play as many games as possible, but it might not be for a day or 2 now.

Mini postmortem: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/unwatered/mini-postmortem-unwatered

Youtube https://bazit.itch.io/unwatered
Youtube https://bazit.itch.io/unwatered
Youtube https://bazit.itch.io/unwatered
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/unwatered

Ratings

Overall 71th 3.869⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Fun 39th 3.893⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 170th 3.512⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Theme 443th 2.695⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 72th 3.94⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Audio 250th 3.012⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 106th 3.192⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Mood 161th 3.423⭐ 41🧑‍⚖️
Given 49🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

diaonic
06. Oct 2019 · 21:44 UTC
I like this one a lot, I could see some nice pastel colors rounding out the art, but I love the concept. Great job!
🎤 bazld
06. Oct 2019 · 21:54 UTC
@diaonic thank you for playing and commenting! (at least the upload worked?!). Yeah, a bit of subtle shading can give that finishing touch. First version had white background, it looks way better with the grey. Anyway, as mentioned above, I WILL get round to playing & commenting myself, over the coming days.
diaonic
06. Oct 2019 · 22:02 UTC
I can't comment on the windows upload, I played with the webgl version.
bjeaurn
06. Oct 2019 · 22:16 UTC
Beautifully creative game, loved your art style. The game was fun but challenging enough, I had a hard time with level 4. Fantastic submission.
🎤 bazld
06. Oct 2019 · 22:24 UTC
@bjeaurn thats really nice feedback, thank you. Yeah, there's a trick for level 4. I was flailing around trying to design levels and was quite pleased with that one, lol.
PS you people should get some sleep ;)
🎤 bazld
06. Oct 2019 · 22:28 UTC
Mini postmortem in the blog.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/unwatered/mini-postmortem-unwatered
wolfscrygames
07. Oct 2019 · 04:27 UTC
awesome web game
ludumer
07. Oct 2019 · 20:23 UTC
Sweet game you build there! Played all the level and really enjoyed it. Sound really hurt my ears :( Anyway, putting it mute did the trick. A fun experience, thanks!
NachtWitch
07. Oct 2019 · 20:25 UTC
really cool game concept, art looks nice, and physics are, jesus christ the physics, how much time did you spend on the physics?
pedromgdo
07. Oct 2019 · 20:27 UTC
This was entertaining to say the least, good puzzles.
evgenimp
07. Oct 2019 · 20:27 UTC
Lovely concept! Wetn all the way to level 4 and then my brain refused to cooperate.
I can definitely imagine creating rudberg devices from water wheels, buckets and so on. Great job.
Ayxs
07. Oct 2019 · 20:29 UTC
I really like this game and you did an amazing job given the time period, the art style is really great and it feels very nice to play. The levels are very nice and not too easy, I actually got stuck on level 4 so I cannot say anything about the 5th level. (I noticed a small bug in level 4 where the sun was able to go in front of the slider thingy).

In my opinion the sounds do not really fit the art style since the sfx feel very 8-bit while the style does not. I think that fixing the audio could add a lot to the game.

Overall a really good game, great job!
HumphreysMedia
07. Oct 2019 · 20:29 UTC
Adorable cute game! I'm a sucker for good at work and love you way you've made the water droplets flow, interested to know how you accomplished that!
TheMuffinMan314
07. Oct 2019 · 20:30 UTC
I enjoyed the art and audio styles here, and the UI was nice and intuitive. The later levels were fun, especially the fifth one, but I felt like the earlier levels were a bit too easy. Perhaps you would benefit from zooming out a bit and making the levels themselves bigger?
mutuware
07. Oct 2019 · 20:36 UTC
Nice art style! That extra frame just gives it a bit of movement and polish.
🎤 bazld
07. Oct 2019 · 20:44 UTC
Oh, a sudden barrage of players :)

@ayxs You are right... SORRY for the sound fx!! I should've recorded my tap running or something, to make some more fitting sounds. As noted in my blog, I always *suck* at sound. Just needed those few extra hours... (/days).

@humphreysmedia water is very easy. They are just Physics2d spheres, as you'd expect. 80 of them per level. But, rendered to a 2nd camera (using a layer to cull it from main camera). This camera has a blur applied, then used as a rendertexture back in the main game, with a cutout shader. I surprised myself with getting this working in about 10 minutes.

As for difficulty, I know LD games are played for a very short time, so I wanted it fun with a gentle learning curve, with players hopefully reaching the end.
@themuffinman314 Yes, the screen size did limit my levels. Zooming + scrolling is def required to make anything better than I managed.
Ayxs
07. Oct 2019 · 20:52 UTC
@bazld Hey, no need to appologize, I am just trying to build some feedback for you :sweat_smile:. I also suck at sound and this game was the first time I tried recording my own, but that takes a lot of time (also I did the Jam so I even had more time).

Once again, your game is very good and you should be really proud of what you where able to put down in the time period!
Jupiter_Hadley
07. Oct 2019 · 22:39 UTC
Cute graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 45 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/PWHzHVXDNtQ
Gonzo13
07. Oct 2019 · 22:48 UTC
Ha! I need a guide for Level 4 :sweat_smile:
LeReveur
08. Oct 2019 · 15:04 UTC
Cute and poetic! I enjoyed all the short time I spent playing this game! Good job!
JediNeeson
08. Oct 2019 · 16:32 UTC
Really nice graphics, well polished game, GG!
🎤 bazld
08. Oct 2019 · 17:38 UTC
Thank you all for playing and giving such nice feedback.
Big thanks to @jupiter-hadley for her relentless indie coverage.

I've played/voted on just a few games, I like to give them a proper try. + teaching job wipes out my week :/

So, for @gonzo13 and anyone else:

**SPOILERS for levels 4 & 5**

Level 4: The bucket. Quickly flip it down onto the window ledge. It will help block the right-hand side.
Level 5: Make a nice container for all the water (using the 3 main platforms) then slowly release it all, with a little help from the bottom platform.
velvetlobster
09. Oct 2019 · 02:25 UTC
Very interesting usage of fluid mechanics, this turned out to be very neat
Apace
09. Oct 2019 · 12:13 UTC
Nice, made it through all the levels by myself, only afterwards saw the spoilers here! I thought level 4 was much more difficult than level 5 though, but maybe that's just me (though seeing as many others struggle with level 4, it might be a thing).

Entertaining and unique art style for sure, even though I feel like a game about flowers could use a little bit more color. :P
Frank Gevaerts
09. Oct 2019 · 19:48 UTC
I enjoyed this a lot. I needed the spoiler for level 4, although maybe I would have figured it out in the end. That's the cost of a jam game, you just don't have time for fifteen levels with a nice progression :)
🎤 bazld
09. Oct 2019 · 20:45 UTC
@frank-gevaerts yup... as mentioned in postmortem blog, I didn't design any levels until Sunday afternoon.
Glad you enjoyed it. Reminder to myself: no physics game next time.

@velvetlobster Playing some more games right now, incl yours. Really beautiful experience, my fave so far.
Trusty
09. Oct 2019 · 22:59 UTC
Really like the water physics, and the sunglasses made me laugh. Could use a bit more color but otherwise great job!
scalliondelight
10. Oct 2019 · 05:43 UTC
fun mechanics but the difficulty ramp between 4 and the rest of the levels is pretty high. am i supposed to use the bucket?
mrerdalural
10. Oct 2019 · 10:48 UTC
I wish there were more levels. I loved how you merged the water bodies together. I had fun playing this game. Thank you for making it
🎤 bazld
10. Oct 2019 · 17:00 UTC
@mrerdalural , @trusty & @scalliondelight thank you for the feedback, can't disagree with any of it.

@scalliondelight yes, the bucket... sort of -- see spoiler above.

The water is just a 'camera trick'! They are simple physics2d circles (physics radius smaller than the sprite), then rendered to another camera, blur applied, then put on a texture with a cut-out shader. It works so well, minimal effort.

I've done a few LD jams now but I'm still in awe of how people create such *big* games in 48 hours. I reached a point where I was *relieved* to create 5 levels and call it done :/ Another few would've been nice.
lunarDust
12. Oct 2019 · 15:16 UTC
love the mechanics, it's really fun! the level design is awesome. i spent lots of time on level 4. nice entry!
icxon
14. Oct 2019 · 17:50 UTC
I think I did it! Love the art and goo-ish water. :smile:

https://youtu.be/UXEcly7-QWw
Weine
14. Oct 2019 · 17:51 UTC
Cool idea and cute graphics. I would have loved to see how much you could have expanded on the basic game mechanics if you had the time. Very impressive for a compo game!
🎤 bazld
14. Oct 2019 · 18:06 UTC
@icxon you did! yeah, yeah, the difficulty curve isn't ideal. And the bucket doesn't fill with water... But I was pleased with that sneaky level 4 :) And thank you for making a full playthrough, thats so cool.

@weine as someone mentioned, it would need bigger, scrolling levels, and new items, but with some thinking I reckon it could be expanded.
Essence
15. Oct 2019 · 09:57 UTC
super fun game, you get to like pour water on flowers and you know what, i like that, yeah pouring water on flowers is good, yeah a flower getting shades is cool, yeah i cant complete the bucket level because its hard. very cool, would be cool to have some more consistency with the water physics
samh
15. Oct 2019 · 21:09 UTC
I was browsing games and clicked randomly and this one did not disappoint! Lemmings meets The Incredible Machine or something like that 😄 Some puzzles are challenging enough that you don’t get them on the first try but still succeed eventually. Made me wish for more! I like the art style; for some bizarre reason it reminded me of the Bob the Angry Flower comics…
sillyman987
16. Oct 2019 · 14:48 UTC
Great idea!
candlesan
18. Oct 2019 · 05:14 UTC
This game was great. Really nice job on the water/droplet rendering and physics, that was very effective and looked good. The puzzles were interesting. I got stuck on level 4 but I watched the Youtube by @icxon afterwards and was like "oh wow, crazy solution". Nice game!
blaster391
21. Oct 2019 · 17:52 UTC
I really like the water physics, the puzzles are fairly straightforward (except for level 4 which made me feel like a genius when I figured it out)

The graphics are really good, but it would be nice with more colour.

The only bug I had was water droplets sometimes getting stuck on top of the plant pot, but it never was bad enough to stop me completing the level.
🎤 bazld
22. Oct 2019 · 14:24 UTC
@blaster391 thanks for the feedback (not played your game yet, on it...).
Yeah, I saw that annoying bug, thought it was a one-off, then I keep seeing it :/ All it does it detect first collision with the pot, how can that go wrong? Classic bug.
Yorsh
22. Oct 2019 · 16:21 UTC
That was fun, polished and the water looks great !
I really like it, solid stuff :)
goudagames
22. Oct 2019 · 20:26 UTC
That was a fun little puzzle game! Looks great, sounds got a bit annoying after a while though.
Game-mon
23. Oct 2019 · 17:26 UTC
Nice game! Water physics are a good idea, it's fun to play. I must stay, I couldn't find how to complete level 4. The art is cute. Congrats! :D
Mikado
23. Oct 2019 · 18:08 UTC
Doesn't quite fit the theme, but it was fun to play, nice mechanics and nice graphics. I love the flower with the sunglasses,lol
BrokenMirrorMedia
23. Oct 2019 · 18:18 UTC
This is a relaxing game, I also had an idea for a plant-growing game but I couldn't think of a fun mechanic to work with it, glad to see someone else is more creative than I am lol. I had some issues (especially on level 3) with the hitbox for water to enter the flowerpot being a bit strange, with water going right over it and spilling out, or a water drop (the last one I needed to complete the level) getting stuck right on the edge, which was a little annoying. I am assuming the rate that water goes into the pot is limited on purpose, but the hitbox could maybe be a bit more forgiving. Good work!
kristinamay
23. Oct 2019 · 18:18 UTC
Super fun!! Also, BLAM I beat level 4 and felt so smart for it. 5th level was a bit disappointing after how much fun the 4th was. In any case, this was super fun and I'd gladly play more levels of this.
Madbeagle
27. Oct 2019 · 14:56 UTC
Nice game - would be good if it could track how well you do beyond 40 for replayability, perhaps a small delay before the water drops to give you a fighting chance to catch the first drop.