LudumData

10 Second Defence by LDJam user 300422

[raw]
made by LDJam user 300422 for Ludum Dare 51 (JAM)

A "Tower" Defence game with a focus on time balancing. Funny thing is... there are no towers. Instead we have different types of troops that you can send around the map :grin: some of them may be as slow as towers tho...

Bild<em>2022-10-04</em>183159170.png

Controls:

  • WASD -> Move camera around the map
  • Space/Shift/Mousewheel -> move camera up and down
  • ESC -> Close detail window
  • Left Mouseclick:
  • click on units, then on terrain to move them
  • click on terrain and units for information
  • click to buy and place units from the store

How to play:

  • The blue time in the Top is your currency and the spawn in time for the next wave.
  • Using all energy will kill you!
  • Try staying as close to 10s as you can, you will do more damage. Attack Range and Speed are important.
  • You get more time for defeating all enemies in a wave.
  • Units can't move for a while, after attacking. This depends on their attackspeed.
  • Trust me, there are minibosses, a final boss and a way to victory. You just have to survive long enough...
  • The game might not be perfectly balanced yet... good luck :fourleafclover:

The Heroes and Bosses

(Story by Zero, Images Dall-E) Bild<em>2022-10-05</em>195431888.png

BugFix:

fixed a bug where... - the enemy would spawn in the base for a split second, so the player could camp and kill it. - the game crashes, because millions of enemies spawn, when the time falls to 0 (makes sense, but isn't really performant :smile:), now its "just" GameOver.

The Files:

  • Final is the file uploaded in time

  • Bugfix was uploaded one hour later, fixing the bugs above

  • Mac - idk if it works, or how...

Source Code and Assets https://github.com/LucaZnZ/10SecondDefence
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/10-second-defence

Ratings

Given 11🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

Kyle Spence
04. Oct 2022 · 05:56 UTC
Liked the map layout. The game crashes for me if I upgrade any units
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 15:34 UTC
Hey, thank you for playing. Which version did you play? the upgrading works as intended in the Bugfix version for me... The Final one does crash when going down on 0 seconds through upgrading or buying units, thats the bug i fixed.
Martta
04. Oct 2022 · 17:23 UTC
There are two different files to download. Which one is the "real" (submitted within time limit)?
tylerstraub
04. Oct 2022 · 17:29 UTC
I placed a lot of units down but they don't seem to attack anything. Feels like I'm doing something wrong but I have no clue really.
Motti
04. Oct 2022 · 17:30 UTC
I tried not putting units but it bugged and still in 1 sec, don't get what's wrong, but the game looks interesting and the pixel art looks nice!
Check out my game jam!
LuckyFeathers
04. Oct 2022 · 17:38 UTC
There's a lot of potential, but I must say it was quite an ambitious game for one developer to make in a single weekend! No worries, I've made the same mistake many times. If you participate in another game jam, I'm sure you'll remember to make a (much) smaller scoped game! :id: Also, remember that as a new player it's very difficult to understand what's going on. A somewhat goofy but quite useful rule of thumb is "make a very easy level, and call that hard mode". Remember that you have been practicing the game for 72 hours, but I only get 5 minutes.

One quick tip: Zooming should move the camera forwards (relative to self, not world) instead of upwards. Use _this.transform.forward_ to get the Vector3 pointing forwards relative to the camera. Ideally you want to move towards the mouse cursor using raycast with ground as layermask to determine where mouse is aiming, but moving forwards is a simpler solution which works quite well.
parsonB
04. Oct 2022 · 17:57 UTC
I couldn't find a place to see how much "money" I had, so I spammed a bunch of the least expensive units. However, it didn't look as if my units could attack? Not sure if I was doing something incorrectly, or if I was missing something. The controls were simple and well-executed!
NeneChico
04. Oct 2022 · 18:01 UTC
I didn't catch where is my tower lifebar and the credits I have to create infantry or archer. Btw its look like all the game mechanic is ready: Nice production
wrac4242
04. Oct 2022 · 18:05 UTC
text never left the screen for me, after the start button and the "click to continue" bar showed up, rest of the stuff did appear except for the map
Cheesecube
04. Oct 2022 · 18:06 UTC
As someone who made a kind of similar game, I can appreciate the amount of effort you must have put in when designing the layout and all the different types of troops/enemies. Honestly, the main critique I would have is there should be some feedback when your troops deal damage, because it is hard to tell if they are doing anything sometimes. But, considering this was was made in 3 days I'm still very impressed by the amount of content the game has--with a little more polishing I could see it being quite fun and addicting.
borgi
04. Oct 2022 · 18:08 UTC
I really like this arts syle: pixelart with some 3d depth. Also hexa basedefens, looks cool! But it feels like I encountered a bug. Everytime when I spend all my energy to buy new units, I got defeated immidiately. Maybe its not a bug, but I really don't get how it works. Also I think the castle is too big/high, I had hard time to move a unit behind the castle. Anyways I see that this concept could be developed further, well done anyways! :D
TheButterApple24
04. Oct 2022 · 18:11 UTC
Love the artstyle and music. I couldn't figure out how to play though, it kept saying defeat after I placed my units down. Still a very cool concept!
LDJam user 0
04. Oct 2022 · 18:28 UTC
I think this game have potenial but at this moment feels really disbalance)
eyezzzick
04. Oct 2022 · 18:33 UTC
I like how the map looked. I do wonder if it was a bug to be defeated if you used all the energy.
LDJam user 0
04. Oct 2022 · 18:36 UTC
I want to echo the desire for a little feedback. Even if it were just a little particle, I think it'd be nice. I got to a point where an assassin was coming and it didn't seem any of my units could kill it, but I didn't know if they were really attacking.
LDJam user 300279
04. Oct 2022 · 18:46 UTC
This was pretty fun but i need to see if my units are working.
Pete Thorne
04. Oct 2022 · 19:16 UTC
Do you have the ability to release a Mac or web build? I’d love to play!
JohnCoffee
04. Oct 2022 · 19:19 UTC
it started out kind of nice, but the timer for wave spawn got stuck at 1s and only went from there, so no chance against wave 16 after only 16 seconds game :/
LePoulet
04. Oct 2022 · 19:20 UTC
Good job doing this in three days. Cool mechanics.
Tarnop
04. Oct 2022 · 19:24 UTC
Incredibly ambitious for a jam game and, as other commenters have said, probably too ambitious. Takes a lot to figure out as a new player and it's hard to see if my units are doing anything. You still got a huge amount done in the time though, well done!
Budark
04. Oct 2022 · 20:10 UTC
Too much ambitious but not bad, I love strategyy games and I would like to make something like that.
Spiritw
04. Oct 2022 · 20:15 UTC
It's an interesting proposal, but as people mentioned, it needs a bit of an improvement on the feedback from actions. Anyway, good job! :smiley:
Sohei
04. Oct 2022 · 20:25 UTC
The balance is broken. I couldn't find a to progress in the game.
Lepletier
04. Oct 2022 · 20:47 UTC
Nice job, think need more time, love music!
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 20:52 UTC
Wow, thank you lots for all the feedback :joy: It's indeed just my second jam (other was gmtk this year), but i am a software developer so i thought to risk a "bigger" game, it was a lot, but i got everything implemented :slight_smile:

I've updated the description to add some more understanding to how to actually play the game :joy: i get that it can be quite confusing and it is very challenging even to me lol.
defilerzero
04. Oct 2022 · 20:52 UTC
Great concept, and very ambitious. May have enjoyed it more if there was a little tutorialization to help figure out the mechanics.
CooLguNxDD
04. Oct 2022 · 21:14 UTC
The game concept is great, but we need a tutorial for it lol. Take some time to figure out how to play it. Very unqiue idea for the 10s!
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:30 UTC
@martta Updated the description. "Final" is the real one and "BugFix" is 1h later.
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:30 UTC
@luckyfeathers thank you for your feedback, i thought about moving the camera forwards but this just felt good enough to me... but you have a good point there. Yes it was ambitious and a little bit smaller scoped could have been beneficial, but i got everything except for vfx into the game, and the logic is working as planned, so im happy :) i should definitely added some tutorialization tho...
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:30 UTC
@tylerstraub @parsonb @nenechico @borgi @thebutterapple24 @eyezzzick @johncoffee @tarnop @sohei @defilerzero
Thanks for all your feedback, i can see how it can be a confusing mechanic to figure out.
I Updated the description "How to play":
the blue time in the top is the "money" and the wave spawning time
spending it all kills you right away, as it overruns you with enemies.
You can click on the castle/tower and units to see their current health
You can click and move units, they attack automatically when enemies are in range.
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:31 UTC
@wrac4242 that is weird, never happened to me in either version, but thank you for the feedback.
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:31 UTC
@cheesecube thank you for your honest words, i will try out your game tomorrow :) I do agree with you on the feedback, there is audio for sfx that play when units attack, but i ran out of time for visual indications... but trust me, it was worse without the sfx :joy:
🎤 LDJam user 300422
04. Oct 2022 · 21:31 UTC
@pete-thorne Due to some shader version issues (not my shaders) i couldn't make a web build yet, but i try to add one for Mac :)
Grandblood
04. Oct 2022 · 21:33 UTC
Cool defense game. Tough to figure out how to play, but fun when you do.
Rayne
04. Oct 2022 · 21:44 UTC
The idea that the waves come faster the more you equip for them is marvelous!
LeJoCarry
04. Oct 2022 · 21:44 UTC
Game crashes :sob:
wrac4242
04. Oct 2022 · 21:50 UTC
@zluca seemed to be an issue on my side, sorry
Brovovar
04. Oct 2022 · 22:12 UTC
Good visuals and audio, but difficulty is very high
cybek
04. Oct 2022 · 22:19 UTC
Quite nice game, it reminds me of the "turret defense" maps for starcraft! This game lacks the animation of fighting, without them the game is a little chaotic and you can't see which units are fighting and which need to be moved, but I like the idea of this game!
MerlinPerlin
04. Oct 2022 · 22:23 UTC
Nice game! I love the mechanic, really cool implementation, some bugs here and there and its a bit tough to get in at first but it makes a lot of fun. Well done, great game :)
lord_blackheart
04. Oct 2022 · 22:32 UTC
Very nice! loved the defense game!
Secretmapper
04. Oct 2022 · 22:35 UTC
Prety cool concept1
Austin
04. Oct 2022 · 22:52 UTC
Love the art of the game. Had a few problems just trying to maneuver my troops due to some input issues, but it was entertaining. The mechanic for time being the currency is cool, but I was not seeing it increase much.
Izzo
04. Oct 2022 · 22:53 UTC
Really fun idea, also very hard game :D
I can't get past wave 30.

I really liked it and played it multiple times trying to figure the best strategy, it really is tricky.

There are many good things I can say about it but here's some constructive criticism as well :)
* There are a few things that couple be communicated better to players, the range of the units could be displayed on the hexes as a highlight when you try to spawn a new unit, and maybe also outlines for enemy unit ranges.
* The end game screen hides your score so you don't see your final wave number
* I think the game shouldn't allow you to suicide by spawning a units that would cause you to go down to 0s (it took me a while to realize I was doing that)
* It's impossible to spawn units behind the castle (north) when you click the game selects the castle but if you hover your mouse it highlights the hexes which makes you believe you can spawn units (it's confusing)
* Edge scrolling or mouse drag would be cool
* Sometimes I get defeated and I don't quite know why (maybe a message to tell what cause the defeat would help)

Great entry, keep going :)
Vozme
04. Oct 2022 · 23:05 UTC
I like the overall idea. I ended up spending my 10 energy in upgrading my castle and suddenly I was surrounded by the whole army xd.
Dominic Graziano
04. Oct 2022 · 23:06 UTC
I gave it a try but when I upgrade my units the number of mobs that spawn causes the game to chug super hard. neat idea but I think the theme integration was a little strangely done.
someone
04. Oct 2022 · 23:29 UTC
Tried a few times and I'm still confused.
Colouring the tiles the castle occupies would have been useful. I often ended up selecting the castle when trying to place a unit.
Knowing I can move units made a huge difference.
zhelding
04. Oct 2022 · 23:42 UTC
Nice concept for a "tower defense" type game - but given the lack of a set path that enemies follow, it feels like there should be some sort of indicator of where the next wave of enemies will appear, so the player can plan a bit more strategically.
LDJam user 298953
04. Oct 2022 · 23:42 UTC
This game is so beautiful I love this style so much!!
LDJam user 293046
04. Oct 2022 · 23:53 UTC
Nice concept!
FedeGelo
05. Oct 2022 · 00:02 UTC
I love the idea, it needs more visual feedback for when your units are attacking. Also it's kind of weird when you have 1s left so there is a lot of waves going by.
Alexzoin
05. Oct 2022 · 01:06 UTC
Cool game. The Dall-e generated art it interesting!
AntonioTheReis
05. Oct 2022 · 01:33 UTC
Good presentation and nice music. It is a bit hard to understand without any guidance but after a few waves it becomes somewhat understandable. The lack of mobility of your characters compared to the enemies can be frustrating especially since they are presented as equals, and having to click on the castle to check its health, which is something you should always have your eyes on, is annoying. Despite all that this is amazing for something done in just a weekend.
Nobongo
05. Oct 2022 · 04:50 UTC
This was a pretty fun little defense game. I liked the art and there was an impressive amount of content for only 3 days, nice work!
🎤 LDJam user 300422
05. Oct 2022 · 06:12 UTC
@izzo thank you for playing, i am glad you liked it.
- yes, i could totally optimize the vizual indications, like you said, only highlighting tiles when you select them, show unit range on the grid, show attacks. So a general better visual communication
- oh my... i didn't even realize that the wave counter is basically your highscore, i'm sry xD
- the suicide part is hard... even if you go down to 1s you essentially suicide yourself, as all your units only deal 10% damage and enemy waves spawn every second.... balancing your time is the point of the game
- yeah, a message to indicate who/what killed you could be good
Martta
05. Oct 2022 · 06:35 UTC
Btw. I just noticed that you are allowed to make bug fixes after the time has ended, sorry for reviewing the buggy version! Maybe you should remove the buggy version from downloads and just leave patch notes in the description (the rules allow it).
🎤 LDJam user 300422
05. Oct 2022 · 07:30 UTC
@martta i considered that, but i thought there might be some people who want to play the original uploaded version. So even if the rules allow it, i left the original, but buggy version there, to have a "fair" comparison with competitors who don't want to do bugfixes.
Martta
05. Oct 2022 · 08:30 UTC
Respect :)
nullval
05. Oct 2022 · 19:14 UTC
It was very difficult to wrap my head around the mechanics of the game and I died alot XD very inventive take on the theme :)
Timbaleek
05. Oct 2022 · 20:41 UTC
Nice art and gameidea! I liked the flavour the text of the speaking fighters added. The information on the right was nice but it should have disapeared when i no longer hovered because i couldn't place on the right side of the screen and had to move. Also i "upgraded" the castle and instantly jumped to level 300 XD
Nice game!
🎤 LDJam user 300422
05. Oct 2022 · 20:48 UTC
@timbaleek glad you liked it :joy: yeah upgrading the castle at the start isn't the best idea. I haven't thought of moving the details out of the way when placing units.... :thinking: i see how it could be helpful, but it might also be weird not knowing what unit you currently place, UI would need other changes. I'll consider it for the post-jam version. And i am really happy you noticed and liked the flavor text of the speaking fighters :heart: they say different lines for spawning, killing and dying, i thought about voicing the lines, but there is only so much time in a day.
httpsterio
05. Oct 2022 · 22:34 UTC
Lots of good in the game and some bad. Obviously, the time to make the game was very limited so considering that, it's very impressive what you put out. The game feels like the start of an actual proper indie TD game rather than "just" a jam game. In its current state I think the scope should've been narrowed down and the main gameplay loop should've been kept simpler.

I do appreciate that you made a moveable and zoomable play area, there's something akin to the Civ series in your entry. All in all, I think you guys made good effort.
real_flamingicecubegames
06. Oct 2022 · 17:16 UTC
This was an alright game. I liked the visuals and placing units. The writing was also humorous. However, I feel like there needs to be visual indicators of what is attacking and who is getting hurt. The sound design also needs some work. Some sounds are quiet while others are way too loud. All in all, there is stuff that needs work but a good foundation is here.
crwohlers
07. Oct 2022 · 02:20 UTC
Very impressive in so little time! Overall, it seems like you might have taken on a little to much, and as a result a number of features could use slight improvements to make a big difference in the overall fun of the game. Still, distinctly impressive, especially the hex grid with movement and all.
Hekateras
07. Oct 2022 · 09:17 UTC
Fun little take on a "less is more" tower defense game! I really love all the little unit designs and the gameplay loop is pretty interesting, even if I don't seem to last very long.
Also, it's wild that you did this all by yourself. Mad respect.
sirdorius
07. Oct 2022 · 18:39 UTC
Not sure which units are attacking which. Would be nice to have some visual indication of that, preferably some animation. I think some invisible unit was attacking my castle and I lost. Maybe a bug?
🎤 LDJam user 300422
08. Oct 2022 · 04:50 UTC
@sirdorius yeah visual indication of attacks really is necessary :sweat_smile: and there is an almost invisible unit in the game, but its not the one killing you. It is a bug, i just haven't figured out why exactly it happens and therefore how i can fix it. Its probably too big of a fix for in-jam anyways. But thank you for playing and reporting that bug :thumbsup:
🎤 LDJam user 300422
22. Oct 2022 · 21:52 UTC
omg, im so stupid... apparently, on one of the page updates, i accidentally opted out of all ratings. :see_no_evil: Being my fist jam on here i just assumed i couldn't see how many ratings i received (thought it made it more neutral/mysterious) thats why i didn't wonder. In 2022 some assumptions are just too risky, it seems.
Thank you all a lot for playing, critique and nice conversations, was lots of fun. Next time i try to actually take part in the rankings :sweat_smile: