LudumData

Swarmonian Explorer by Teekeks

[raw]
made by Teekeks for LD34 (COMPO)
Swarmonian Explorer is a mixture of puzzle- and exploration-game.

You are controlling a swarm with your cursor that has to collect new parts to grow and to master the challenges set by the 12 unique maps included in this game.

You have just two controls:
Left Mouseclick: separating the attacking part of your swarm from the rest
Right Mouseclick: ordering the swarm to search around and explore

All mechanics of the game are described in the tutorial so pay attention when you play it.

If you want to take a screenshot: F12 is your friend

If your game crashes on startup, try the post-compo version.

Changelog:
Version 1.2:
- Zooming in and out by scrolling
- Even more fixed Collision Detection

Version 1.1:
- Collision Detection fixed
- crash on non-16:9 screens fixed
- improved performance a bit
- fixed level 12
- fixed bug where level was paused when started again
Windows / Linux OS/X http://data.teawork.de/LD34/Swarmonian_Explorer_v1.0.jar
Timelapse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHeaL4yQA9Q
compo-windowed (contains resize-bug) http://data.teawork.de/LD34/Swarmonian_Explorer_v1.0_windowed.jar
Post-Compo Version http://data.teawork.de/LD34/Swarmonian_Explorer_v1.2.jar
Source http://data.teawork.de/LD34/Swarmonian_Explorer_v1.0_src.zip
Original URL https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=55223

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.80 110
Audio 2.54 528
Fun 3.80 88
Graphics 2.85 624
Humor 2.09 598
Innovation 4.23 18
Mood 3.20 325
Theme 3.72 490

Feedback

Tensoplast01
14. Dec 2015 · 07:17 UTC
Very nice! Your levels are just a little bit to large, or the player doesn't have enough signs.
But very nice concept!
ambi
14. Dec 2015 · 07:21 UTC
Really great idea and the implementation is snappy. I would like to see this game made into a full product and put on Steam.
Bogden
14. Dec 2015 · 07:27 UTC
Awesome game! A couple bugs here and there (hehe) but really cool game.
Tasteslikefuture
14. Dec 2015 · 08:06 UTC
Absolutely mesmerizing game. Great work!
TheGrandhill
14. Dec 2015 · 08:21 UTC
I love it! Well except the music, you could spend more time on that next time.
I can really see this game go somwhere.
Best part is to have many swarmlings and then right click!
manabreak
14. Dec 2015 · 08:27 UTC
Really cool idea! The camera movement was a bit wonky at times, but other than that, this is awesome. Really original concept. :)
vegapomme27
14. Dec 2015 · 08:34 UTC
A very interesting concept. I liked the general experimental feeling of the thing, even if it is not very clear at first.
Next time you should maybe try to sound design it !
esayitch
14. Dec 2015 · 08:42 UTC
Wow, you nailed the Growing theme with this, really slick and fun.

Music can be improved, and graphics as well, but the mechanics are insanely solid.

With some work this could be a full game that you can sell!

Good luck, awesome entry ^^
BlackBulletIV
14. Dec 2015 · 08:44 UTC
A very interesting concept! Props for innovation. With a some more work this could really be something nice.
muit
14. Dec 2015 · 09:15 UTC
Cool game, really ejoyed it :P
muit
14. Dec 2015 · 09:15 UTC
Cool game, really enjoyed it :P
cimbaman
14. Dec 2015 · 11:16 UTC
A very good game I like it very much.
Slashee the Cow
14. Dec 2015 · 12:09 UTC
Really good! Bit annoying when some of my bits get stuck on walls but a nice concept and great level design.
MintArcade
14. Dec 2015 · 14:36 UTC
Very big game considering time limitation. Original take on theme, thanks for making.
TheSteveIAm
14. Dec 2015 · 15:48 UTC
Very cool concept! The swarm feels a bit sticky going along walls but otherwise I really enjoyed it!
matthewd673
15. Dec 2015 · 00:42 UTC
Very cool idea having different parts of a swarm represent different things! It was a really cool game!
Baecun
15. Dec 2015 · 00:51 UTC
Very good game, enjoyed it a lot! The concept is brilliant.
qwetro
15. Dec 2015 · 01:03 UTC
Awesome mechanic, a lot of fun. Is the music come from Super Mario Bro ?
chrissou
15. Dec 2015 · 20:58 UTC
The game won't launch on Linux :
Exception in thread "LWJGL Application" com.badlogic.gdx.utils.GdxRuntimeException: Couldn't set display mode 1280x720, fullscreen: true
at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl.LwjglGraphics.setupDisplay(LwjglGraphics.java:153)
at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl.LwjglApplication.mainLoop(LwjglApplication.java:138)
at com.badlogic.gdx.backends.lwjgl.LwjglApplication$1.run(LwjglApplication.java:120)

Could you provide a version without the fullscreen?
puddelipip
15. Dec 2015 · 21:00 UTC
I really like this! Saving this for playing more later, would love controller support, shoulder buttons to launch/focus.

THe particles glom to the wall a bit to easily but a little more pull towards the cursor would help with that.

Awesome job!
🎤 Teekeks
15. Dec 2015 · 21:04 UTC
chrissou look in the description, there is a link for this case. Just posting it once again: http://data.teawork.de/LD34/Swarmonian_Explorer_v1.0_windowed.jar hf testing the game!
BobM
15. Dec 2015 · 21:17 UTC
Very nice game and level design, keep going on guyz !
ChaosCult
15. Dec 2015 · 21:34 UTC
What's a great idea! Excellent work! Manage swarm is very fun thing!
Rob_Haines
15. Dec 2015 · 21:37 UTC
Really enjoyed; love the fluidity of movement & the gorgeous right-click illumination effect. With a little additional time & polish this could be something really cool!
MrJoshuaMcLean
16. Dec 2015 · 02:46 UTC
Nifty idea for controlling a whole bunch of things at once. Kind of hard to distinguish the specific parts, could maybe be a little larger or zoomed in more, but otherwise fun!
Jeasonfire
16. Dec 2015 · 14:45 UTC
Controlling the particles is a bit clunky at times because of the sticking-to-the-walls-mechanic, but otherwise the game is quite good. I like the idea of controlling a swarm of small things, so this is definitely cool.
handCraftedRadio
17. Dec 2015 · 14:52 UTC
Great game! Very interesting concept and nice levels to go along with it! I love the look of the swarm when they are bouncing all around in explore mode. Good work!
Polith Games
17. Dec 2015 · 15:08 UTC
Good idea, funny game
alvarop
17. Dec 2015 · 22:05 UTC
I loved this game. Besides the presentation, which could be improved, the core game idea is really solid, as well as the level design.

I really hope you push this further and come up with something interesting. But most of all, I hope you send me a free key if it ever goes commercial :P
Imagos Softworks
18. Dec 2015 · 00:19 UTC
Very interesting mechanic. Really feels like I'm controlling a swarm of little workers and warriors. Major kudos to the raw number of levels included as well as the puzzle variety!
VersatileBox
18. Dec 2015 · 22:03 UTC
Excelent!
YinYin
18. Dec 2015 · 23:10 UTC
This was splendid and has a lot of potential.

As I've already said it desperately needs some interactive audio.

I also think the switch tiles might read a lot better if they had a yellow hue similar to the related dots. Maybe make the exit tiles a shiny/brighter variant of it as well, to make the connection even more evident. This would also free green for a different use possibly related to your health dots (recharge/multiply up to an upgradable limit when greens are on warm sparkly green tiles? decimate on bright bubbly acid green tiles? definitely beats having every type always just wait around for the active swarm).

Would love to see many more pikmin like features for each colour and perhaps even more colours.