Inner Workings by T C

Journey on a quest to restore the Summon Spirit of The Machines. Gather lost summons, defeat haywire machines, and reach the heart of the Summon Spirit to restore its life.

Click to move. Right click to summon. Number keys to change summon selection. Those enemies are fast and kind of mean, so watch out!
For the end "puzzle", in case it's confusing, Spoiler all you have to do is have the chicken summon selected, and right click the top/bottom gears, then do the same to the left/right gears when you have the clock summon selected. end spoiler
| Link | https://theworldsquid.itch.io/ld55 |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/inner-workings |
Ratings
| Overall | 785th | 3.4⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 1079th | 2.85⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 991th | 2.9⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 526th | 3.742⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 666th | 3.613⭐ | 33🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 708th | 2.817⭐ | 32🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 607th | 2.981⭐ | 29🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 889th | 3.241⭐ | 31🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 40🗳️ | 38🗨️ |
@comigor Yeah.... I was super pressed for time. I was tempted to make enemies aggro from much further, but be slower than you, but I didn't want people to run past them all straight to the goal. But I feel like if I had more time I could have struck a better balance. Thanks for playing!
@brucezoom Thanks for playing! Chickens I think are the most logical mechanical summon. :laughing:
@poboy Indeed. We were a bit concerned that maybe the average LD player wouldn't have a sophisticated enough palette to appreciate the chicken sprite. I'm glad to be proven wrong!
@nathmate Glad you liked the spritework! The getting stuck should be fixed, had a weird error on my part. The summoning health/mana I agree is kind of busywork. Especially when you're out of combat, and can just spam health summons. It was meant to be more of a combat-only thing, but ran out of time to really get those mechanics in a non-busywork place. It lets you get through the level though no matter how it has gone, so I kept it in so people could progress. Definitely too slow there, though! Thanks for playing!
@popertots this should be fixed if you wanted to give it another try. Thanks for the feedback!
@baluj Yeahhh, definitely the health/mana systems could have used a bit of work. Thanks for playing!
@letssnack :chicken: Thanks for the kind words!
@troggzor56 Yeah, I wanted for people to be able to beat the game, and getting stuck with no health/mana but having a bunch of enemies still left could easily happen without. So I added that mechanic. Ideally it would be a faster process, so it doesn't take so much time, but I was working until the very end just trying to get the game out. Definitely a spot that needs improvement! Thanks for the feedback.
@goddoesplaydice Thanks! We've had issues with tutorials being really lackluster (or not existent) for our submissions in the past, so getting a tutorial in game was one of the first things I did once the systems were in place, before building real levels. I'm glad someone appreciated it! :sweat_smile: Thanks for playing!
@sodagummy Yeah, many people have issues with summoning mana. I think it needs an adjustment for sure! I like the idea of having to stand still to cast, much like Diablo games... although I think it would have ended up being more fun if you were faster than the enemies you encounter, not slower. Thanks for playing!
Actually I complete all levels just rushing them, and I'd like to see the cooldown progress bar, but it's minor things.
Good job! Thank you for your game!
@linus-lindberg Yeah, the pathing and level building took quite awhile, so couldn't make the gameplay too complex, unfortunately. I don't know the reason for enemies ignoring you. I'm guessing they incorrectly think there's always a wall in the way. The whole reason for making this game (programming wise) was because I wanted to make my own "intelligent" pathing system. So click to move was something I really wanted to do. Just like Diablo games! It would have been sooooooo much easier if I did WASD to move :sweat_smile: Thanks for the kind words on the art, that's all @jackofcups! Also after many Ludum Dares in a row, tutorials and endings are high priority! Now if only I could make enough time to add sounds effects to that list :laughing: Thanks for the feedback!
Gameplay wise, I was into it; there was a good balance of spamming abilities and being more strategic, but I do sort of wish the mana capacity was higher so that you didn't need to weave in so many mana orbs mid fight; I'd prefer to drop a few after a battle and then be ready to unload several spells in a row. I noted that the orbs can spawn out of bounds, but since their spammable it's not a huge deal.
To be honest, there where quite a few little details (like your ground tiles) that reminded me of my breakout game KITE (on steam) the top down perspective is a favorite :hearts:
[kite_play_UI_3.png](///raw/8b5/f5/z/64de1.png)
Pretty UI, and very practical too, easy to understand. Maybe BGs are bit too gray to *my* taste but they offset colourful character and her summons well. I liked her animations, especially when she sighs! :D Very cute. And chicken is funny ^^ So, really good summon design :)
**Music**:
I liked the tune at first, but it gets repetitive soon, so I turned it down >_<
**Mechanic**:
That was pretty fun! Wasn't super easy/convenient to use, but I need to think why... I think, if we moved with WASD, while summoning still with mouse click, that would feel better. I constantly had my fingers ready at WASD xD Then, maybe sometimes it felt a bit slow, and sometimes - overwhelming. Like, I would summon a few summons, and then create a bunch of mana/health for myself while summons do their job... I guess that's just the nature of being a summoner, but maybe something can be done about that - maybe, make it so summoning health/mana gives more at a time so I don't stand around summoning them 4 times in a row? There is something to think about here, with battle pacing, so to say.
**Final thoughts**:
It was cool to have a little puzzle in the end! That, I think, elevated the experience ^-^ Length of the game is perfect too, but ofc it has potential to grow as well! You could polish the mechanic and maybe work a bit on palette, add more detail to BGs, make different areas with diff BGs (like if you continue developing the game and add new areas!), etc ^v^