Initial Conditions by reheated
Humanity is extinct, but the possibility exists to grow it again. We have to get the initial conditions right, by building the first towns along the rivers. Help set up the simulations in this logic puzzle game.
Tools:
- Coding: Notepad++
- Testing: Firefox, Chrome, Edge
- Graphics: Gimp
- Audio: FL Studio, Miroslav Philharmonik, Glitchmachines Fracture
- Code base: the reusable parts of my LD33 entry
Update: "ported" to IE11 also.
Update: Due to the great voting results (THANKS!), the game has got more attention than I was ready for and my cheap VPS has been struggling. Bart Bonte (http://www.bontegames.com/, http://bartbonte.com/) has kindly mirrored the game and I added a link below. Note: if you leave the game and come back, then because of the way browser localStorage works, you'll only get the option to continue your game if you keep playing on the same link you started on.
Tools:
- Coding: Notepad++
- Testing: Firefox, Chrome, Edge
- Graphics: Gimp
- Audio: FL Studio, Miroslav Philharmonik, Glitchmachines Fracture
- Code base: the reusable parts of my LD33 entry
Update: "ported" to IE11 also.
Update: Due to the great voting results (THANKS!), the game has got more attention than I was ready for and my cheap VPS has been struggling. Bart Bonte (http://www.bontegames.com/, http://bartbonte.com/) has kindly mirrored the game and I added a link below. Note: if you leave the game and come back, then because of the way browser localStorage works, you'll only get the option to continue your game if you keep playing on the same link you started on.
| Play (Web) | https://reheated.org/games/initial |
| Play (Mirror courtesy Bart Bonte) | http://bartbonte.com/portal/initial/ |
| Source | https://reheated.org/games/initial.7z |
| Postmortem | http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/01/01/initial-conditions-postmortem/ |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=15514 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 51% | 3 |
| Overall | 4.46 | 2 |
| Audio | 4.27 | 10 |
| Fun | 4.38 | 2 |
| Graphics | 3.62 | 225 |
| Innovation | 4.33 | 9 |
| Mood | 4.46 | 5 |
| Theme | 3.92 | 317 |
Good job.
The only con I found is that the right click doesn't work well, maybe it applies only to the web player.
Unfortunately, I feel a lot less enthused about the story. Early on, the narrator states that the simulation simulates an entire civilization down to independent lives. This is an interesting idea to play with, but it seems farcical when matched with the mechanics. By providing a puzzle with preset solutions, you're asking players to work through a logical process, something even the simple computers are much better at than humans. The idea does have merit, but I feel it would be better served by a game where players have more choices to make, rather than just solving puzzles.
Also, I can't help but feel the message of the game comes across as very prescriptive. That humanity would almost inevitably lead to the creation of a megalomaniacal individual who would manage to destroy all of humanity in the quest for love... well, that's something of a big leap, and I don't feel the game does enough to back that up.
Of course, I understand that 48 hours is a short time to design a game to tell a narrative, but I feel in this case, the game is actually lessened by the narrative. An abstract puzzler would have engaged me a lot more, or the mechanics could easily be transferred to a hacking game (sets of wires, attach modules to each wire, ect.). I can understand trying to make the game fit the theme, but in the long run, I think it's better to take a hit in the theme scoring to make a more complete experience.
@RockhopperGames: I think you're right about the plot point. I wanted to make the game not go anywhere while still having some kind of snappy ending, but I see how it's a bit unbelievable and that could get in the way of the suspension of disbelief. Hopefully it got you thinking though! Regarding the connection between the puzzles and the story: I consider my puzzle games to be a gamified abstraction of the process they represent, e.g., in the world of this game, setting the initial conditions would be a more fiddly, un-game-like task (that isn't so easy to do with an algorithm) that is just represented abstractly by these puzzles. That might sound like a cop-out but all games make this kind of cop-out to some degree, e.g. think about all the triple-A games with hacking/lockpicking/safecracking minigames that are nothing like the process they represent.
@kmakai: I was wondering what word to use to describe the visual style... "clinical" is right - thanks!
@KanedaXIII: Darn! If anyone experiences right-click troubles can you let me know what OS and browser you are using?
@ethankennnerly: You're right, of course - I just wanted a very short argument justifying a limit on how long we can survive.
I love this game very much!
Consider adding possibility to skip the narrative to just play the levels!
Sorry, this was not one of the games I played during rating-time or I would've given you a great score. Two thumbs up!
Your games are great !