The Slime's Journey by VDZ
(Updated on August 27th, 2015. For judging, use the original version (first link). For just playing for fun, the post-LD version is recommended instead.)
In this game, you play the role of a young slime on a quest to
avenge its parents, who have been killed by a cruel adventurer.
How to play:
The entire game is fully text-based; the controls consist entirely
of pressing the keys indicated as available actions.
A simple explanation of commands:
Wander - The most important command in the game. Once you choose
to wander, two random events from your location are picked and
you can choose one of them. The results can be anything from
sudden combat engagements to experience gain to receiving
damage. (You cannot back out of wandering after the events
to choose from have been picked!)
Rest - You will inevitably receive damage throughout your journey.
Resting up allows you to recover your health. However, there is
a chance you may be attacked in your sleep. Rest success/danger
depends on the location you decide to rest in.
Grow - Spend your experience points to raise your stats or gain new
mutations. Mutations are special characteristics that modify the
game rules or help you out in other ways. Events may play out
differently depending on your mutations.
NOTE: The specific mutations available will vary per location.
Item - Although by default, you cannot carry or use items, mutations
allow you to do so. Some items can be equipped, others are
single-use, and yet others do nothing.
Drop - Allows you to drop items you don't need.
Status - Displays your health, strength, defense, experience and
mutations.
Quit - Quit the game.
You win the game if you manage to enter the city and kill the
adventurer that killed your parents. You lose the game when your
health hits 0.
This game is public domain. Feel free to do whatever you want with it.
In this game, you play the role of a young slime on a quest to
avenge its parents, who have been killed by a cruel adventurer.
How to play:
The entire game is fully text-based; the controls consist entirely
of pressing the keys indicated as available actions.
A simple explanation of commands:
Wander - The most important command in the game. Once you choose
to wander, two random events from your location are picked and
you can choose one of them. The results can be anything from
sudden combat engagements to experience gain to receiving
damage. (You cannot back out of wandering after the events
to choose from have been picked!)
Rest - You will inevitably receive damage throughout your journey.
Resting up allows you to recover your health. However, there is
a chance you may be attacked in your sleep. Rest success/danger
depends on the location you decide to rest in.
Grow - Spend your experience points to raise your stats or gain new
mutations. Mutations are special characteristics that modify the
game rules or help you out in other ways. Events may play out
differently depending on your mutations.
NOTE: The specific mutations available will vary per location.
Item - Although by default, you cannot carry or use items, mutations
allow you to do so. Some items can be equipped, others are
single-use, and yet others do nothing.
Drop - Allows you to drop items you don't need.
Status - Displays your health, strength, defense, experience and
mutations.
Quit - Quit the game.
You win the game if you manage to enter the city and kill the
adventurer that killed your parents. You lose the game when your
health hits 0.
This game is public domain. Feel free to do whatever you want with it.
| Download (Windows, or Linux/Mac via Mono) - Use this one for judging | http://www.stack.nl/~vdz/misc/TheSlimesJourney.zip |
| Download post-LD version (v2) - Recommended version unless you're judging | http://www.stack.nl/~vdz/misc/TheSlimesJourneyLatest.zip |
| Source (SVN; Visual Studio 2010, C#) | http://www.vdzserver.org/ld33/ |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-33/?action=preview&uid=7284 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 41% | 1578 |
| Overall | 3.95 | 39 |
| Fun | 4.05 | 25 |
| Humor | 3.53 | 126 |
| Innovation | 3.05 | 435 |
| Mood | 3.57 | 145 |
| Theme | 3.86 | 171 |
Yes, the 'lag' is entirely intentional. I messed around with several aspects of displaying the text (including timing of the messages, color usage and so on) to make it play better, and I found it makes a world of difference.
I ended up spending 111 turns before I faced the fateful adventurer. I almost felt kinda bad, dealing 90 damage a turn...
I played for maybe half an hour, but didn't manage to win. It's frustrating having to build all the way up again after dying. Otherwise, very fun and I could see this becoming a full-length game.
I really like the game, even with the minor flaws in terms of usability it has. It has really a lot of content and text, the writing was awesome ("The adventurer sighs, grabs his sword, and attacks you!").
I thought it must be a really awesome sight, having a three-sworded slime dodging his enemy's strikes and draining his life from him :-)
Good job!
Btw, I needed four tries to finish it, the last one taking 135 turns (but i think I was maybe a bit overly cautious, the final boss was a bit easy to beat with my final powers).
Great job!
By the way, it works great in Mono on Mac OS X. It might be advisable to promote this a little bit more, as I thought this was a Windows-only entry by your description.
The mutations mechanic was really nice, though, and actually involved the theme in a way other than flavor. So good job overall.
Cave going nowhere interesting, not being able to enter the sea with some mutation, child event not having more possible results, sky having only some weak bird instead of a occasional dragon or access to a new area and town not having a castle are my main "complaints" about it.