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[Redien]

I've been working on this small puzzle game on and off for a couple of months now and thought I'd start a devlog to keep myself motivated. So here it is.

This was originally intended to be the resource collecting part of an RTS game, but it made more sense to just create a game around the idea instead. The basic idea is that you have to connect all the mineral resources around the map to the main structure (the square looking thing at the top of the first screenshot) for a portal to appear that leads you to the next level.  You do this by placing "orbs" on the map that connect with resources, the main structure and other orbs by lines. The lines cannot cross different elements in the environment so you have to find paths around them to reach all the resources.

You can try out the first version here. (Flash)

The basic game is all there, but it currently lacks audio. It'd be cool to hear what people think about it.

This game is in desperate need of art direction, I really want to move away from the RTS feel of the game and do something more colorful and fun, maybe with a bit of a story behind it. I also intend to come up with additional gameplay mechanics to add some variation to the game.

Also, the game's written in Actionscript using the Flashpunk library.  

[flavio]

The game is very nice!

[paste]

It's pretty cool.  One thing that feels kind of weird to me about it is that when you do things right, they turn red, and my initial reaction to that is to think I made a mistake.

[Danc]

I like this a lot.  Very nice mechanic. 
-Danc.

[Draknek]

I started to find my enjoyment waning after you introduced the larger levels. Don't think it opens up more puzzle possibilities and the current scroll UI feels very awkward.

I completed level 11 with one spare orb (don't know if you care about that or not).

I don't think there's a problem with the current art direction, but that's up to you really.

Definitely think you should do something with this idea. How many levels do you have at present?

[lasttea999]

An interesting mechanic! Maybe you could go for more vibrant sprites.

[Redien]

@yajo & Danc: I'm glad you liked it.

@paste: I did feel that way as well at first.. but then I forgot about it and I guess I got used to the red. I should definately use another color though.

@Draknek: I think you are definately right about the level size, I hadn't thought of it but yes, it's probably better to just stick to smaller levels. I don't really see a reason for keeping the larger levels either if they don't add anything. And yeah, the scrolling is very akward.

I currently have 19 levels, half of them are smaller ones and the other half are quite a bit bigger. But I generate the levels procedually so I only have to try them out to see if they're fun or not and then sort them by difficulty. So it really takes no time at all to create more.

Spare orbs is not something I care about at the moment. I had an idea where you could replay older levels to complete them with a more optimal solution, and then use the extra orbs to get special orbs or unlock bonus levels or something along those lines. Though I don't know if that would add anything to the game.

Great feedback, thanks!

@lasttea999: Yeah I should. I haven't spent much time at all on the graphics. I'm still not sure where I want to go with it.