Solstand by bloomingbuds

[raw]
made by bloomingbuds for LD34 (JAM)
“Please, gather around. The story of the faraway Solstand is about to start. A story of a small fishing village whose biggest concern was to face a cruel solstice every year. Tales are told about the Moon being on their side, trying to help with its influence on tides. There used to be boats, there used to be nets, there used to be homes, wind and inexplicableness. Now take a seat, and pay attention to detail, let’s dive into the fate of Solstand…”

Solstand is a moon phase and tides management game. The player must choose which moon phase needs every night in order to modify the tides. The game’s goal is to resist the solstice, taking into account how to manage all the available means (nets and boats) in order to get the resources that the town needs to stay alive. It won’t be easy, many obstacles may appear on the way.

Good luck, may the Moon be with you.
====================================
The game could be seen as an experience. But if you want some help, here is a quick guide:
- Moon (choose one [right arrow key] and confirm [return]):
Full moon increases a lot the sea level, Gibbous moon increases it a bit.
New moon decreases a lot the sea level, Crescent moon decreases it a bit.
- Village:
Check the houses lights. People may leave the town for different reasons (hungry, scared...).
Check the fish basket. It represents the amount of food available.
- Boat:
The boat set sail on high sea levels, and starts fishing on medium levels.
Pay attention to the rocks, the boat could crash there and take some time to repair.
- Net:
The net can be collected on lower sea levels.
The amount of collected fish increases on a daily basis, but can get rotten if not collected for a long period of time.
- Other stuff:
You should discover it by yourself ;)
=====================================

Credits, in order of fishing:
Jose Manuel Moreno as Monkfish
Miguel Martín as Seabream
Aleix Garrido as Anchovy
Denis Asensio as Trout
AC Ojeda as Solefish

Ratings

Coolness 50% 3
Overall(Jam) 3.40 435
Audio(Jam) 3.82 113
Fun(Jam) 2.41 994
Graphics(Jam) 4.60 34
Humor(Jam) 2.30 697
Innovation(Jam) 3.59 199
Mood(Jam) 4.18 38
Theme(Jam) 3.21 848

Feedback

Ludipe
15. Dec 2015 · 09:25 UTC
Hey guys!

Thought the game was pretty cool, specially loved the art style and how well those few sounds work with the mood.

Gameplay felt a bit empty, perhaps it was because the number of actions you can do is quite limited and resource management games usually allow more input, but there's little else you can do in 72 hours.
jsmars
15. Dec 2015 · 10:14 UTC
Wow! Very nice artstyle and mood you've got going here! Was a bit hard to understand gameplay without reading comments tho.
Oneiric Worlds
15. Dec 2015 · 10:21 UTC
The mood is awesome! Love the graphics and music/sounds. However, it took me quite some time to understand the game mechanics, but I guess this is part of the game. Great job here.
Drauthius
15. Dec 2015 · 10:23 UTC
Wow. Very beautiful game with a great mood. Was quite hard but very interesting. Some problems I ran into was that I managed to get an empty sign and that the fishing boat didn't want to go back out onto the perilous sea.
manabreak
15. Dec 2015 · 10:23 UTC
Well done! Reminds me of the intro scene of Battleblock Theater. Really cool graphics style. :)
🎤 bloomingbuds
15. Dec 2015 · 12:01 UTC
Hey everyone, thx for your comments! :)
Yeah we are aware of a couple of bugs, so we are uploading a new version right now with those fixed.
You can always replay it if you want :D
Leaghorn
15. Dec 2015 · 12:44 UTC
Very nice graphics
NuSan
15. Dec 2015 · 13:03 UTC
Great atmosphere. I love the art. Without explanation I would not even understand what choosing a moon do. Keep up the good work
guoboism
15. Dec 2015 · 13:07 UTC
Space bar will blow the cloud!

I love the graphics! It's so nice!
But game is too complicated... I would even wish for a liner viking against sea monster story with this graphics style...
Haokarlos
16. Dec 2015 · 01:19 UTC
I really love the graphics style and the atmosphere of the game. I still didn't understand but I will keep playing for it! ;)

Good job!
GoodwolfStudio
16. Dec 2015 · 13:58 UTC
Nice Atmospheric game with a unique gameplay idea. However, as others said already, it's very difficult to understand what is going on...
SecondDimension
16. Dec 2015 · 14:30 UTC
The art style and mood are amazing but I didn't really understand the game play.
recursor
16. Dec 2015 · 21:08 UTC
Oooh! That water is just so cool. I really love the paper cutout graphical style you pulled off on this.
The sounds are equally as impressive. They both mesh together nicely and are top-notch! Maybe I missed something, but I didn't feel like the game play was nearly as fun and cool as the Grafics/SFX are. It felt a bit too slow for my tasted, but that is just my opinion.
ajopart
16. Dec 2015 · 21:19 UTC
5/5 in mood, graphic, audio and innovation !
banana4life
16. Dec 2015 · 21:24 UTC
Awesome art
tribrain
16. Dec 2015 · 21:50 UTC
Nice art but it is a bit dull and the color palette is very dark i know that is the style of game but it gets repetitive and boring
paulfysh
16. Dec 2015 · 21:54 UTC
The graphics are wonderful, and the sound fits the game perfectly.
utgarda
16. Dec 2015 · 21:56 UTC
Mood and graphics are super good! Sound fits perfectly. I'm not ashamed to admit, I didn't understand how to fill the fish basket after 5 games AND reading the explanation. Will play some more to discover more secrets.
NidzaKornjaca
16. Dec 2015 · 22:02 UTC
The graphics and mood are good, the gameplay feels empty though.
Geckoo1337
16. Dec 2015 · 22:48 UTC
Great atmosphere. I love the art which reminds me the old clip "tonight, tonight" from Smashing Pumpkins. Without explanation I would not even understand what choosing a moon do. Well done ++
alpha_rat
16. Dec 2015 · 23:03 UTC
Nice art style! I liked the fact that you decided to go with an idea revolving around the moon to answer to the theme. However, I didn't really got the point of the game in itself so it ended up being frustrating to play
crucknuk
16. Dec 2015 · 23:16 UTC
Art style and mood are awesome! But to be honest, I don't really understand what do I have to do and how villagers to die :s
Krafty
16. Dec 2015 · 23:43 UTC
Interesting game and I really liked the mood, but it was a little bit confusing. Good job :)
Robber
17. Dec 2015 · 01:15 UTC
i've tried a couple of times but it's not very clear to me how the different moons work, it doesn't seem consistant..the graphics and mood are gorgeous though
Maxi and The Gang
17. Dec 2015 · 03:04 UTC
Love the art style
NuggetTeam
17. Dec 2015 · 15:17 UTC
Game mechanics are a bit hard to understand, but it is very polished. Graphics, theme, atmosphere and mood are beautiful :)
Lullaby
17. Dec 2015 · 15:38 UTC
Loved the mood and artistic direction of this entry! It's pretty unique.
Gameplay is a bit repetitive, but original for sure!

Well played :)
felixreeve
17. Dec 2015 · 15:56 UTC
Not totally sure how it works, but it was neat! Enjoyed trying to figure things out, although I think that the two-button control scheme probably didn't help so much as hinder your game. Nice graphical style and innovative idea!
Rocketship
17. Dec 2015 · 15:58 UTC
It looks and sounds very beautiful and that's definitely it's strong point. I felt the gameplay was shallow, but as an experience it's still very atmospheric.
scriptorum
17. Dec 2015 · 17:10 UTC
Confusing gameplay, there's not enough feedback to indicate the results of your actions. There's more fish in the fish bowl, was that because of the boat or the nets and how did the tide affect it? Unclear.

However, on the plus side, the audiovisuals are freakin' awesome.
SHLFStudios
17. Dec 2015 · 18:04 UTC
The graphics and the idea are pretty perfect! I was a little confused about how to get the ship to fish and/or go back to collect the net. I feel like this is one I want to go back and play again though...gotta figure it out. Also I could hit the space bar for hours! that alone was fun! haha
applejam
17. Dec 2015 · 18:43 UTC
Amazing graphic! Amazing music! Cool Atmosphere!
Gamepopper
17. Dec 2015 · 19:40 UTC
Really like the cutout design of this one, some great animations!
KaiseanGames
17. Dec 2015 · 20:15 UTC
Pretty little game. :) I just found the animation between two choices takes toooooo much time. It would be good if I could have skipped it by pressing something. But other than that, it's very nice. Challenging too.
Mat
17. Dec 2015 · 20:39 UTC
Awesome graphics, nice audio, great atmosphere, but it's difficult to see what are the effect of the tide. Maybe you should add explanation. Still a great work !
DrFallos
18. Dec 2015 · 07:28 UTC
Liked game very much! Graphics on high level! Good gameplay mechanics!
tobia88
18. Dec 2015 · 08:15 UTC
The bg art is awesome and great job here man.
DrZanuff
18. Dec 2015 · 11:59 UTC
Wow! The art and the mood is perfect. I read the guide and i tried to replay it a lot of times. But really man, it needs some feedback for the player. I didn't understand, the sea tide needs to rise for the fish net on the beach catch the fishes, and then it needs to low the tides for fishers collect the fishes. I was trying to do that but the food was just shrinking. I reached until day 15. If you could post a full guide for people who still want to play your game but couldn't grasp the mechanics it would be much appreciated.
Cherishing.Team
18. Dec 2015 · 12:16 UTC
Hi everyone,

I liked the mood a lot, and how well artwork (music and graphics) supported it.

I'm probably missing some closure after the game is lost or win. Something to fit the narrative of the solstice and the fisher town. I hope you have some time to add it after the jam.

I've played just a couple of times but I'm still wondering what would happen if the boat reaches the horizon.

And regarding technical issues: first time I played I though the basket was my yield of food for that moon but it seems to be the stock. Probably a static asset would represent a stock much better.

Cheers!!! A job very well done.
adamk33n3r
18. Dec 2015 · 15:37 UTC
Great job! Had a great atmosphere to it.
Akhera
18. Dec 2015 · 20:19 UTC
I love the art style and mood, but the gameplay is just way too cryptic for me.
Dejvo
19. Dec 2015 · 09:09 UTC
very nice graphics. not sure about the gameplay
spotco
19. Dec 2015 · 10:51 UTC
pretty, but wish the mechanics were better explained
ssodelta
19. Dec 2015 · 13:44 UTC
Amasingly put together!
SaintHeiser
19. Dec 2015 · 14:42 UTC
Interesting game idea. Gameplay reminds tetris =) Can't fugure out what I should actually do, but game is very fun! Good work!
SaintHeiser
19. Dec 2015 · 14:43 UTC
Sorry, not this game...
SaintHeiser
19. Dec 2015 · 14:47 UTC
Can't understand what I should to do =(
But visually game is buatiful!
inbetweengames
19. Dec 2015 · 15:21 UTC
Great art style, audio and amazing amount of polish. Very atmospheric.
I am not sure if I understood gameplay mechanics.. Is there a good ending? Can you save people/ village?
Polith Games
19. Dec 2015 · 18:05 UTC
I loved this game on so many levels that it's hard to describe. The atmosphere is fantastic, the audio is wonderful, art is indescribable and the gameplay is totally unique. Congratulations, I am amazed by this masterpiece. There is no fairer note than 5!
EwChap
22. Dec 2015 · 01:45 UTC
Lovely artwork. enjoyed the idea of seeing what happened as you play around with the different states.
sergicollado
22. Dec 2015 · 09:38 UTC
I love graphics and mood :) well done!
WizzardMaker
24. Dec 2015 · 14:57 UTC
Great looking game! The gameplay was not very involving, but I had fun playing
the-arrival
26. Dec 2015 · 10:25 UTC
AMAZING asthetics
dx0ne
28. Dec 2015 · 15:59 UTC
That's some gem aesthetically speaking. Love the atmosphere.
randomhuman
02. Jan 2016 · 17:38 UTC
Very beautiful and atmospheric game. It's a bit hard to figure out. I still don't understand everything that was happening, but I was eventually able to get to 20+ days. I think it needs a combination of more direct gameplay instructions and visual feedback on what is happening (e.g. if I lower the tide to collect my lobster pots and it doesn't add to my food, is it because I didn't wait long enough, or not lower the tide enough, or did they rot, or what?).

I enjoyed it though, it's pretty cool.
Jupiter_Hadley
30. Mar 2016 · 16:44 UTC
I love the graphics. I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/S5oK4fsls3Q