LudumData

Mixed Signals (using DOD) by GideonGriebenow

[raw]
made by GideonGriebenow for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

Sceenshot2.png

Controls

Q, E, LMB and RMB to rotate or apply abilities, 1 and 2 to activate / deactivate abilities.

Scripts attached if you want to have a look at a DOD example in practice.

Note: I used Data-Oriented-Design and the data is ready for using Burst-Compiled jobs (as an example). I will test this out after I get some sleep!

Story

We have recently discovered that distant Alien civilizations are sending various signals, as yet undeciphered but clearly structured, through the vast expanse of space.

We need to gather enough of this information to allow us to break their codes and reveal the mysteries their messages contain. We can only hope we manage to complete this in good time. Who knows what awaits us...

But we are not without hope. Recent breakthroughs have yielded compilers that seem to be increasingly successful in capturing the structure of different kinds of signals to increasing resolutions. If we can capture enough of these compiled signals with the corresponding receivers, our progress will be expediated. But be careful, capturing too many unintelligible signals through the incorrect receivers will corrupt our entire knowledge base.

Assets

Default Unity shader, TMPro and Unity Button - no external assets. The meshes were procedurally generated (my own code) and saved in Unity as assets as part of the Jam (in the 48 hours).

Itch https://re-cog-mission.itch.io/mixed-signals
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/mixed-signals-using-dod

Ratings

Overall 262th 2.868⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 268th 2.545⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 172th 3.25⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Theme 236th 3.015⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 245th 2.897⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Mood 273th 2.355⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Given 29🗳️ 45🗨️

Feedback

🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 20th · 01:00 UTC
Please follow the link to itch.io!
Thanks for your time :)
mdotedot
Apr 20th · 08:13 UTC
Rotating clicking rotating ; boy level 2 is hard immediately. Graphics look cool!
Floonace
Apr 20th · 08:20 UTC
I'd play it if it was an actual game. It's actually fun.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 20th · 08:40 UTC
@mdotedot
I actually get a bit disoriented with the rotations - I regularly think it will rotate the other way. There's something about my brain expecting the same button to sometimes rotate clockwise and sometimes counter-clockwise. I think I create some kind of "reference point" and expect it to go "left or right" rather than considering the rotation / turning direction.

PS. I actually created and saved the meshes procedurally with a ScriptableObject using a "rotate an animation curve around the center, like "pottery".
Carrerino
Apr 20th · 13:03 UTC
A very unique game, one of a kind. I enjoyed the various difficulty levels.
glem-fumeno
Apr 20th · 16:41 UTC
Very cool and unique idea. The game is cool but I'd speed up the signals so that you don't have to wait so long for the progress and who knows? maybe even add sounds and make it a rhythm game?
NikiProT
Apr 20th · 16:42 UTC
i like the coordination you need to do to get the correct color to the correct receiver but having to click on the different receivers was uncomfortable but i enjoyed the concept, this was very fun
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 20th · 18:38 UTC
@glem-fumeno I agree about the speed, but I didn't want it to start too fast. Also, I didn't have a lot of time to playtest and tweak parameters, so I thought I'd rather error on the side of caution. At least it automatically tends to go faster over time.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 20th · 18:39 UTC
@nikiprot Yes, having more placs to focus on gets very difficult rather quickly! I also tried with 3 a bit, but thought I wouldn't include that option in the build!
mofox
Apr 21st · 01:17 UTC
It has attractive appearance as puzzle game. However, it lacks some depth. It needs too much operations so that it lose the balance between operating and playing. I feel exhuasted after playing. I think it is better to add some crisp sounds and click reflections. If it needs less clicks, I'd rather to try. Have a good day!
thomas-olsson
Apr 21st · 07:49 UTC
This is super interesting conceptually, and practically, it explores the limits of cognition. It becomes pretty hellish once you need to manage more entities. Felt a little like juggling or something.
Nice job
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 10:14 UTC
@thomas-olsson It's weird how quickly you start completely "reacting too late" when there's too much going on. I find in many cases I rotate too late to catch the previous one, which then also messed up the one after it, where I would have been better to just take the loss and get the next one.
thomas-olsson
Apr 21st · 10:18 UTC
@gideongriebenow Right, I think that lots of game solve this by some form of reset or a little help in favor of the player, just to help them bounce back in rythm.
An example that comes to mind is in One finger death punch. When you mess up, time slows down for a while.
Or in the old zeldas you're invincible for a while after getting hit. (your sprite blinks)
Mekuire
Apr 21st · 11:49 UTC
It's a good idea to show off your skills. But as a game, it's pretty boring and often unfair.
FireFish
Apr 21st · 12:39 UTC
能看的出来技术非常棒！很酷的物理的效果。但是游玩体验有些不太好，前面几关等待时间很长，后面几关又感觉有点太难了。但作为一款原型来说很有创意！做的好！
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 12:41 UTC
@firefish Thanks. Yeah, I didn't have a lot of time to playtest and balance. It's crazy how much time went into getting the systems set up, and how fast I could implement the mechanics thereafter, but still, it's only two days, so not much time to go around doing everything that's required.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 12:49 UTC
@mekuire I get you in terms of the boring. I had plans originally to add different angles, and also have the compilers change direction to shoot at different receivers over time, but time was too little.
N.O.X
Apr 21st · 17:53 UTC
Simple and effective. Everything works, the theme, the execution, and so on.
Unlike some other comments, I didn’t find it boring, for a Game Jam game it’s fine, especially when you do all the work alone.
Well done :)
Vilumpulump
Apr 21st · 17:58 UTC
This is an interesting visualization that fits the theme well.
I see a lot of potential here for automation or for creating an algorithm to handle rotations and data transmission.
This would probably be a good direction to explore, where, as the game progresses through later levels, some actions could be configured automatically rather than switched manually.
LDJam user 234567
Apr 21st · 18:48 UTC
That's truly an innovative concept. Congratulations on the gameplay idea.
breadstick
Apr 21st · 18:51 UTC
I agree 100% with @vilumpulump... that's the direction I thought this was going, and it'd be really cool to try to automate certain routines on the machines! Especially if the order that the balls were summoned had some element of predictability (or if you had the ability to 'scan' an incoming ball and branch through instructions). Very neat foundation!
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 21st · 18:59 UTC
Thanks all!

@n-o-x @vilumpulump @breadstick @fifut
I definitely had more planned, but I think I scoped it well "in steps" to know when I should say "OK, take the last 4 hours and finish this off" rather than adding another "big step". And I finished with about 45 minutes left to figure out the build-and-upload process (since I'd not build for WebGL or uploaded a game jam entry before. I'm happy with how it went and that I could do this in 2 days.
Thanks again for your time!
gdman
Apr 22nd · 18:09 UTC
Interesting concept, with clean graphics. I would say it has potential not in arcade direction, but in some kind of automation game, where you could set some rotation rules or patterns. Good luck.
Big Nose
Apr 22nd · 18:20 UTC
too hard to read the wall of text, going fullscreen didnt change much either
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 22nd · 18:23 UTC
@big-nose You only really need the last bit telling you the controls. It look fine on my side - sorry if it was somehow distorted on your side.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 22nd · 18:25 UTC
Thanks @gdman. Yes, I had many other ideas that couldn't fit the 2 days. Luckily, it's already DOD, so I can really expand on it and it will still be fast.
NBumgardner
Apr 22nd · 20:00 UTC
I like the smoothness of the rotation animation. It makes me imagine a rhythm game, especially if SFX were added for shooting and receiving balls.

To improve the browser build, I recommend disabling the outer expand button in the bottom right corner. The blue button worked for me while the clear button does not. Additionally, you probably want the game's Quit button to just back out to a start menu for browser builds.

For the gameplay, it would be nice to be able to control both receivers in the level 3 missions. Maybe with an extra keybinds like Z and C for the second receiver.

Congratulations on finishing your first Ludum Dare game, I look forward to seeing what you make in the future!
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 22nd · 21:07 UTC
@nbumgardner Hi. I watched the part of your stream where you played my game :) Thanks for the feedback and featuring it!
23edsa
Apr 22nd · 21:27 UTC
Feels soo smooth! Pretty impressive for 48 hours but very overwhelming and hard for me!
sinemual
Apr 23rd · 04:31 UTC
A nice little game! The technical description of the development process is impressive!
Avhatar
Apr 23rd · 06:04 UTC
There's something here — I think you've stumbled onto some genuinely interesting gameplay. It's basically a puzzle and a reaction game at the same time. A couple of nuances — it took me a while to figure out how to use the abilities, I thought they applied to my object and didn't immediately get that I needed to click on the "signal" sources. But overall it's pretty addictive. You need some kind of motivating sound when you catch a signal correctly, something that gives you an endorphin boost. But overall, honestly solid game design. Even without fancy art or sound, this is a solid A-tier in my tier list.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 23rd · 06:11 UTC
@avhatar Thanks for the feedback and kind words. Sound always adds a great deal, but I just didn't have time :)
ugly_robot
Apr 23rd · 16:19 UTC
Cool entry! The idea of procedurally generating meshes using curve-over-time like pottery is awesome!
Fun to watch the 'ball machine do it's work'. As others have said, can be unfair that the emitters can produce impossible-to-catch patters. Nevertheless, it was fun to tinker with and satisfying to look at. Thanks for sharing!
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 23rd · 20:46 UTC
@ugly-robot Thanks! Catching some incorrect ones are fine - you should just try and minimise those. It adds to the chaos that you have to sometimes decide which bad move is the lesser of a bunch of evils.
darkshadow
Apr 26th · 12:58 UTC
Fiddly little game, could be more enjoyable with a bit of "juice" and feedback when the ball is correct or wrong. The lack of audio is a shame even a couple of minutes in https://www.bfxr.net/ or something could really add to the game. The animation is nice and smooth.
henk
Apr 28th · 16:16 UTC
"using DOD" is an odd thing to have in the title of a game :P. I'm also not sure how relevant it is to the gameplay: even in your "stress test" you only have, like, a hundred or so entities on screen at once, which doesn't require any special performance work to achieve.

The idea seems like it has potential but as-is I was switching between very bored in the early levels and overwhelmed in the later ones.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 28th · 20:10 UTC
@henk Part of the jam is also to release code so others can learn from it. That was one of my main reasons for using DOD. Also, I wanted some more practice in a stressed environment to make sure I understand it properly and can get it to work. Finally, I wanted to try it out in a WebGL build.
blinry
Apr 29th · 19:27 UTC
Neat concept! We had quite some fun playing this as a team, shouting at each other to turn the receiver! :D The gameplay seems very extendible by new mechanics, like "deflectors"! I was delighted by the later introduction of multiple receivers.

Sound/music would've made this look more polished, I think. And maybe an automatic level progression would be cool.
🎤 GideonGriebenow
Apr 29th · 20:24 UTC
@blinry Thanks for the feedback. Yes, with more time there are a bunch of neat ideas that can be added. I’m glad you had some fun!
ZungryWare
May 02nd · 22:20 UTC
I recorded my playthrough of your game with comments. Timestamps are in the description.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wABtUhFtFEM
vidarn
May 03rd · 06:47 UTC
A cool and novel idea! I liked the progression in difficulty by adding more colors and more compilers. The game had a nice feel to it and let you get into a sort of "flow state" of rotating pieces and decoding signals. I liked the smooth and subtle animations, like the compilers rotating with a nice easing and the signals speeding up when being captured.

The stress test level looked insane, haha XD It was fun just to stare at that one.
Richard Baltrusch
May 04th · 12:18 UTC
It's a neat idea, and pretty fun. As others have mentioned, not every signal can be received (unless maybe the slow button is used, which I ignored completely). Multiple receivers are interesting, but it quickly gets very confusing - but that may be part of the exercise :-)
🎤 GideonGriebenow
May 04th · 12:45 UTC
@zungryware I checked out your video and left a comment :)
@vidarn @richard-baltrusch Thanks for checking out my first jan entry!