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[muku]

I made the first version of this game for Ludum Dare 14 a while back. It placed 5th out of some 120 entries, which encouraged me to make an expanded post-compo version. It's taken me a while, but it's finally done and includes a tutorial, many new levels and a level editor. Besides it's quite a bit more polished.

It's a bit hard to describe, but I'd probably call it a realtime puzzle/strategy game







The tutorial will teach you the basics of what you need to know to play the game. I'd be very interested in feedback, especially what you think of the difficulty curve. Some of the later levels are quite hard, I think, but I'd like to know how it ramps up.

Download (Windows, 2.29 MB)
Gamejolt page (if you feel like rating it or something)

[pixelatron]

Love the atmosphere. The look, the feel, the sounds -- it all works really well together. Quite creepy.

That timer takes a loooong time to count down while the antimatter is attacking the grid, mind. I guess it's a tough balance -- if you make the march of the antimatter too aggressive, you're gonna be overwhelmed by the stuff in no time.

Anyway: good game!

[muku]

That timer takes a loooong time to count down while the antimatter is attacking the grid, mind.

I'm aware of that, but I couldn't think of any way to remedy that without taking away the entire real-time aspect of the game. If I make the counter too short, it's just too easy too stall the cloud for a couple of seconds.

Maybe it should not be in real-time, really, but I wanted to try something different, and I rather like the tense moments it sometimes creates (will it hold?).

[ChevyRay]

Awesome! I'm downloading it now, but I won't be able to give you any feedback yet because I have to transfer it over to my other computer to play.

Looks aptly designed; not that I'd expect any less from you

[muku]

One email commenter pointed out to me that the level Schisma may well be impossible in the version I linked above, so please redownload if you have trouble with that.

[HybridMind]

Nice new version!  Having played and loved the Ludum Dare version this is quite a treat.  The tutorial levels are a great refresher course and will likely help a lot of new people get into it.

I just started playing the main campaign and I thought of a feature that I would absolutely love implemented in some form or another as it would be really helpful I think:

Can you have an indicator (it could be a simple number while playing) of how many hexes the player currently has controlled?  I am horrible at estimating while playing for some reason and it is frustrating to play and hold off the antimatter only to discover you didn't capture enough hexes. 

EDIT: Two numbers actually... (current controlled hexes / goal of hexes to save)

As far as the new version goes..

1) I like the addition of the Red Hexes where you can't build pylons. 

2) I like the new pause mode too!

The game is still as compelling as ever.  I can't place my finger on what makes this so fun.  It is likely just this great combination of excellent subtle elements that make it feel so polished.  The particles are fun and relaxing to watch.  The antimatter cloud moves slowly and is animated in this vaguely ominous way. The soundtrack builds the perfect atmosphere.  The sun graphics rotate in a very pleasing manner.  The gameplay is really fun and challenging.

In response to another commenter who mentioned not liking the 20 second countdown.. I love that tension building mechanic in this game.  I sit there and practically hold my breath wondering if my electric walls will hold.. counting particles on the wall.. praying... and then that moment when the walls give sometimes I almost yell out loud...! 

Great game.. I'm so glad you kept on and made a new version.  Congrats!

[HybridMind]

It took me an hour or two but I have defeated all 21 levels!  Such a great game.  Some of my favorite levels were "Maze" and "Sacrifice".  "Maze" took me a long time and I just thought the real time stockpiling aspects of "Sacrifice" were really cool.

Some other real gems in there too but I can't remember specifics. 

I find this game and the puzzles extremely addicting.  Each time I couldn't beat a level I found my self compelled to try again and again until I managed to win.  Now I have to go eat some food because I'm starving. 

Congrats once again on a kick ass game!

[muku]

Thanks for the detailed comments! That thing with getting some feedback on how many hexes you're currently controlling is an idea I had at one point, but then didn't have the motivation to actually put in. I'll probably do that at some point.

And it's nice to hear that all the time I spent fine-tuning the levels is appreciated

[HybridMind]

Yeah-- if I had had an indicator of controlled territory while I played I believe it would've likely led to some different strategies and a bit more flow of the experience.  Without the indicator there were a number of levels where it felt more like brute force as I tried to isolate and win only to discover I hadn't capture enough. 

It certainly was still fun without it but I have a feeling if you put it in it would add one of the last (and few) components the game might be missing.  It isn't missing many!

If people start creating levels... will you host or post them on your site?  I'd love to play them if people start generating any.  I doubt I'll take a crack at making some but who knows. 

[muku]

If people start creating levels... will you host or post them on your site?  I'd love to play them if people start generating any.  I doubt I'll take a crack at making some but who knows. 

I'd certainly do that, and having a map pack with player-created levels would be awesome. Unfortunately, seeing as the game seems to have more of a niche appeal, I don't know if it's going to happen; I haven't received any maps people have made so far anyway.

[HybridMind]

Have you thought of making a Flash port of this?  I bet if you get it in front of more people with a supported level editor / submitter... you'd likely stand a better chance of getting levels and most likely a lot more players.

[muku]

True, I've thought about that. I'm not sure if Flash would hold up performance-wise with all the particle stuff I'm doing, so maybe I'd have to simplify it. And then there's the question whether I can motivate myself to recode all of this once more in Flash. I have another game project on the back burner which I'm more interested in spending my spare time on, and this game idea now feels more or less satisfyingly explored to me... I guess it comes down to priorities. Damn you, (lack of) time 

[HybridMind]

True, I've thought about that. I'm not sure if Flash would hold up performance-wise with all the particle stuff I'm doing, so maybe I'd have to simplify it. And then there's the question whether I can motivate myself to recode all of this once more in Flash. I have another game project on the back burner which I'm more interested in spending my spare time on, and this game idea now feels more or less satisfyingly explored to me... I guess it comes down to priorities. Damn you, (lack of) time 

Haha.. yeah, I hear that!  Come on.. think "engineering challenge" instead of "simplify it"   Anyway, I do know what you mean about having to pick your projects and time well.  If you've got out of it what you wanted (or enough anyway) then that is really awesome!  I was probably just hoping selfishly that if you ported it to Flash then maybe there would be a lot more levels made by players....   

[Kegluneq]

Doesn't work for me, the moment it opens it closes itself. Probably because I'm using Windows 7 RC?

[muku]

Doesn't work for me, the moment it opens it closes itself. Probably because I'm using Windows 7 RC?

Quite possibly, yeah. I don't have access to that for testing, unfortunately. You could try running it from a console and see if it spits anything out, though.

[Nandrew]

I've been playing this for a while, finally clocked it and generally agree with most of the feedback given here, though I may still have just one or two useful little tidbits to send your way:


I thought that the difficulty curve and overall polish of the game were great, but the levels that I particularly admired were "Circa" and "Schisma" because they both embodied the "real-time" paradigm that you mentioned going for. Unless I was just doing things rather noobishly, I think I'm correct in understanding that those levels can only be won by applying a pylon or two AFTER the antimatter has begun its progress. Which is freakin' great: that means that there's the potential to design levels which are layered and require player input in real-time, rather than just placing all your pylons during the initial pause screen and passively waiting for the scenario to play out. Circa and Schisma offered a more dynamic experience which, if at all possible, I'd like to see recreated in more levels.

Overall, kudos for making such an involved and interesting puzzle system with so few puzzle elements!

[HybridMind]

I've been playing this for a while, finally clocked it and generally agree with most of the feedback given here, though I may still have just one or two useful little tidbits to send your way:


I thought that the difficulty curve and overall polish of the game were great, but the levels that I particularly admired were "Circa" and "Schisma" because they both embodied the "real-time" paradigm that you mentioned going for. Unless I was just doing things rather noobishly, I think I'm correct in understanding that those levels can only be won by applying a pylon or two AFTER the antimatter has begun its progress. Which is freakin' great: that means that there's the potential to design levels which are layered and require player input in real-time, rather than just placing all your pylons during the initial pause screen and passively waiting for the scenario to play out. Circa and Schisma offered a more dynamic experience which, if at all possible, I'd like to see recreated in more levels.

Overall, kudos for making such an involved and interesting puzzle system with so few puzzle elements!

That is a great point about seeing the realtime potential and action-after-the-start style in those two levels.  I couldn't remember the names of those until you mentioned them but I also found it enticing to solve those using a delayed placement approach.  It is a likely under explored side potential of this game.

[muku]

There is another way to solve Schisma (the one I actually intended) that does not require delayed placement, and that I personally think is even more elegant

You're right though about Circa, that's exactly what I was going for in that level. I agree that the mechanic is probably underused overall, but I found it pretty hard to design levels with that which don't seem too obvious.

(BTW I'll be gone for a couple of days, so I might not be able to reply, but don't let that keep you from posting feedback...)

[muku]

Just a quick heads up to those who wanted more levels: one fan has made a few new and quite challenging maps, so get them here if you want.

[HybridMind]

Just a quick heads up to those who wanted more levels: one fan has made a few new and quite challenging maps, so get them here if you want.

Oh that is so awesome!  Can't wait to try these out.  Thanks for the update Muku.  I'm glad someone was inspired enough to try making some levels for your game.