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A jam submission

Neon Arena - Jam EditionView game page

This is a turn-based arena battle with controlled placement of waves of enemies and obstacles.
Submitted by E1e5en — 1 day, 7 hours before the deadline
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Neon Arena - Jam Edition's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Fun#383.6183.618
Theme#832.8822.882
Visuals#833.2943.294

Ranked from 34 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Viewing comments 20 to 1 of 27 · Previous page · First page
Submitted(+1)

Wow. You must have a brilliant mind to have come up with this - and just for this jam too! A lot of thought have gone into this as it's like creating a chess game with your very own sprites and rules in such a short time! Full of respect and admiration, man! After reading some of the previous comments and your replies, here's my thoughts, that I think may be able to help you :) :

There is definitely a learning curve for this game which is inevitable, and I would say it does take time to learn so I can see your challenge trying to convey this to the player - I myself am not v familiar the the rules of chess tbh so you can take it that I have 0 background knowledge and making reference to the rules of chess may not be 100% effective.  As such, I'd think this game can be quite advanced and complex for the average casual gamer/public (assuming this is your target audience). 

Whilst I think the detailed text explanation is helpful and important... may I suggest that instead of removing it or shortening it *too* much, instead, add some animations/gifs to show the sequence of the turn-based, what action should be done per turn, and how they (both the player and enemy) move/attack just beside where you are explaining the in the text can help with conveying this? Like one section/para can have the corresponding animation/gif beside it . This will really help with visualization and understanding.

Also, perhaps start with an easy level with maybe just one (or two different types if you feel is important for the player to know) and with prompts on what to do next (like a model answer). And break it down explicitly by steps within each turn. In this way, the player can quickly get the hang of it and be able to continue the next levels themselves independently without losing interest before that stage. You can also add this to the "How to Play" as part of the tutorial / something the player can go back to refer if needed.

Hope the above helps and all the best for your game! I like it,  its looking good! :D

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing, for your feedback and advice! =)

I added your suggestions to my notes. I perfectly understand what you are talking about and there are already thoughts on this score.

Alternatively, you can start with a small field and small "data packets" (for example, 1x2, etc.), first learn to place, then change sizes, then learn to turn, gradually introduce new enemies, abilities (in addition to teleportation, you can also come up with). The concept and mechanics are such that the difficulty curve is easy to make, as well as the mechanics itself.

The current version is a working prototype of mechanics at a higher difficulty level. This is a pure mechanic that I managed to do to demonstrate the idea.

For example, I planned that the enemies might have more than 1 life, but the initial architecture of the game (code) simply did not allow me to do this (because the instance data was not saved between downloading the packages), later this was corrected when the rules of the error, but the balance has already been more or less done.

Thank you for your interest in the project and your opinion! Glad you liked it! =)

Submitted (5 edits) (+2)

My computer resolution is too high, so your text is super tiny and hard to read. I think the overall concept is really cool, once I figure out how it worked.

I don't think you need as much text if you make some simpler levels in the beginning, like do a level with just the heart and energy. Then have just one enemy.  Or you could make a video BETWEEN levels.

Music is and aesthetic is nice and simple and fits the computer vibe well. Did you make this whole concept with music and art in just these few weeks?! O-o

The puzzle system is quite complex, and I kind of suck at it, because I cannot predict the enemy pathing (plus they move multiple squares when I only move a few). 

I don't see any "bugs" so far as I can tell.  It feels pretty solid, other than maybe some balancing with health, energy, blocks, and enemies. :)

Oh what, I just discovered by the end of this post that you can rotate the packet before you send it! Haha! 

Oh what, the enemy can shoot away the blocks!

Developer (4 edits)

Thank you for playing and for your feedback!

  • To start in full screen mode, press F4 (this is indicated on the page with the game).
  • Training is the weakest part of this project, but unfortunately, I did not have time to prepare training levels or something else besides the slides.
  • The development of the project began on the 9th. The music was created by me earlier, but for this project I edited it. Everything else was created during the competition.
  • To demonstrate the gameplay, I recently made a video walkthrough in the "Task" mode. This video can be viewed on the game page and in the comments.
  •  To understand how opponents act, you can click on them with the left mouse button (like on any object) and in the lower right panel:
    •  the enemy "Fighter" (as I call him) - moves towards the player if he is in sight (it is determined by the ray from the enemy to the player, if there is a wall on the way, the enemy does not see you and does not move), speed - 3 , attack - 2, melee;
    • the enemy "Shooter" - moves towards you, if it is possible to build a route and shoots if it is on the same line (horizontal or vertical) with the player. Thus, he destroys the walls between you. Speed - 2, attack -1.
    • The route is calculated by the A * (Star) algorithm, which are in the engine in the (mp_grid) functions.
    • You can also destroy walls, their "health" is equal to 1.
  • Тhe balance needs to be adjusted, but in the current version I have no problems going through the "Task" mode (coping with 11-15 waves). But in the future, of course, considerable time will be devoted to this. =)

Unfortunately, I can't figure out if you liked the game or not. But thanks for your interest in the project. =)

Submitted (5 edits) (+1)

Hmm, I thought maybe the smileys would show it, but yeah, I really liked it, other than the immediately high difficulty curve! ;) But, the fact that you can do all actions by clicking something VISIBLE on the screen pretty much negates that. EVENTUALLY, if a person just experiments, they can figure it out. That's an awesome attention to detail. :)

Sorry if the part about the text and levels sounded like a negative thing. I should have mentioned that you might have thought of them already, because I completely agree that they should be the first thing to cut when on a time constraint. ;)

YOUR CORE MECHANIC WORKS GREAT! So your polish there is definitely seen and appreciated!

Near the end, I was just remarking at how I kept learning more and more as I fumbled around = I tried to play it more and more because I started to survive for longer even though I kind of suck. I feel like that really is saying a lot. It is DEFINITELY not an easy feat to get a person that sucks at something to want to keep playing it to get better. And it's like MULTIPLE TIMES more difficult than that to have them  feel accomplished WHEN they get good at it. In some games it isn't a WHEN, but an IF.  Making a turn-based strategy game definitely helps with that WHEN; and I think because the grid is small, it makes it  both manageable  and challenging for new players. I can see the grid getting bigger for high level players.

I'd probably keep playing this if I didn't have more games to rate!

Developer (1 edit)

Thank you very much for such kind words, I am very glad about it! =)

Submitted
Deleted 3 years ago
Developer

It looks like you have duplicated your comment =)

Submitted(+1)

Yeah, sorry about that. I've been trying to be careful about that, but I think it happens when the browser warns about leaving the page without saving my rating, but I attempt to post the comment. Thanks for pointing it out so I could remove it. :)

(+1)

My gosh, what have you done !  A simulation or  tactic game, which are my favorite genre.  Here no visuals are important, as with pen and paper games! Hope everyone will know this fact!  The ambience, the planning, decisions, that's its spike!  Will thoroughly test it later... Congrats.

Developer

Thank you for playing and for your feedback!

(1 edit) (+1)

What a masterpiece! I liked a lot! In the beginning, I struggled, trying to understand well the mechanics. But once the understanding comes , then strategy begins and it becomes very fun to play and analyze! Nice choice for music as well. I'm feeling smarter now!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for playing and for your feedback! Glad I could interest you!

It's great to hear such good words! =)

Submitted(+1)

Clean graphics mate! It was pretty hard for me to get in to the gameplay at first , i tried 4-5 times to get a good round but died kind of often. I do however love tactics games. And after awhile i actually got pretty good at this, which did make this game feel fun :) I think that the explanations just needs some polishing to get new players into it faster :) 


Good job bro!

Developer

Thank you for playing and for your feedback! I'm glad I liked it =)

Submitted(+1)

Okay, so obviously a wall of text will not necessarily attract players. Thankfully, your game was intuitive enough for me to figure it out on my own, and I'm glad I did, 'cause it was fun and innovative. The visuals need an upgrade: not only the sprites, but also any visual effects, transitions, animations, etc. and frankly I didn't see how neon fit into all this (apart from the title). But it was fun and it was a cool experience, well done.

Developer (2 edits)

Thanks for playing! Thank you for your feedback! Glad you liked it!

I will definitely work on the visual design of the game. I am a programmer, not an artist. But I will try to grow in all directions (or find a partner - an artist). Neon decoration (glow) of elements, the style of virtual reality presentation in films of the 90s (for example, the film Hackers in 1995) - this is my Jam theme.

Developer (2 edits)

Due to the complexity of the rules and my poor explanation, I think it will not be superfluous to record a video of the gameplay (passing in the task mode). Maybe this will help =)


Submitted(+1)

I really like the design of this game. I'm finding the enemy attacks a bit punishing, and it's preventing me from getting too many levels in, but I really like how you can strategize how you want the next round of pieces positioned around you. Very innovative, and I'm definitely going to keep playing this one. Nice job!

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks for the game! And thanks for the nice words! I'm glad I was able to interest you =)

If you left-click on an enemy, then on the information panel (right-bottom) there will be a short description of its behavior algorithm. This should help to understand who you can hide from, for example.

Submitted(+1)

Interesting idea, I died too many times trying to understand whats going on, I was too lazy to see the tutorial, rules are a little confusing but after sometime I understand it a bit, really nice idea and cool concept! 

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the feedback and for the game! I am glad that you still liked it, despite the terrible explanation. I will work on it =)

Submitted(+1)

Man, I really tried to understand this game but I think I'm too dumb to understand what is going on. haha. I tried reading the 'how to play' like 4 times and it just wasn't clicking. I think having a 'step-by-step' interaction tutorial would do this quite well! I'm a kinesthetic learner (like most) so reading a bunch of information does me no good. haha. That said, I did try and play it for a while. I just couldn't figure out the correlation between the data packet to send and the arena. 

On another note, the graphics and overall polish are quite nice! It has a great neon feel to it! Everything was very well done, and from what I can tell it fits well within the tactical RTS genre amazingly!

Just as a note, I've never been able to wrap my head around tactical RTS-type games so don't take my experience with too much weight. haha. Good job though! Very smooth execution! :D

Developer(+1)

Thanks for your feedback and trying! =)

I will try to explain it anyway: imagine a chess field with pieces on it. And now you need to place more figures on this field according to the picture. If there is a figure in the place where you want to install, you remove it and put a new one. And you have the right to decide for yourself how to rotate this picture, how to place a 4x4 field on a 6x6 field (frame and rotation).

I just didn't have time to do the training, I'm sorry.

Submitted(+1)

It's okay! I will try it again in a little while! :D Thanks for the explanation! 

Developer(+1)

I am trying to explain in order to understand how difficult I am explaining. Of course, I will try to show this visually, but you also need to be able to explain with text =)

Submitted(+1)

Really cool tactical game, I really like the overall concept! I'm not really good at these sorts of games, but I had fun trying to figure out the strategy. I died a lot, but had fun! Well done!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for the game! Thank you for your feedback!

I'm glad I liked it =)

Submitted(+1)

Interesting premise! It would be cool to see a "tutorial" level to start with if you decide to work on a more polished version in the future.

Developer

Thanks for playing! Thank you for your feedback!

I will definitely do it. =)

Submitted(+1)

Hey, very cool game, it took me some time to grasp the gameplay loop but after 3 turns I was on it. I understand it is a prototype but it has a very solid base for a full release. And if you do it, I think rewarding more skilled players would be great. IDK, maybe creating bonuses, such as 3 diamonds per "level" or something. Cheers!

Developer

Thank you for your feedback! I am glad that we figured it out and you liked the game! =)

I'll write myself about the reward. Cheers!

Submitted(+1)

Neat game play. 11-15 data packets before you can get to an entry point felt like kind of a lot right off the bat. I would have liked to have seen there be multiple levels with the difficulty ramping up as you went. Maybe defeating enemies could build up points towards generating extra data packet to reward clever strategy with faster level clears or something.

Developer (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks for playing and reviewing!

I worked on the project for about 10-11 days and this is my first project on this engine(I bought a Mobile license, but I didn’t have time to try it). I didn’t have time to make several levels (so I made 2 game modes), didn’t have time to do normal training, and didn’t have time to add another type of opponents.

The complexity increases with the increase in processed data packets, more precisely, the likelihood of more opponents at a time, etc.

In general, there is a lot of work, but at the moment the result is this. Thanks again for playing! =)

Submitted(+1)

This is refreshingly innovative! The premise is simple but has depth and it's elegant in it's design. I would encourage you to keep working on this after the jam!

Developer

Thank you for playing and for your feedback! =)

I plan to develop a project, I have a lot of ideas for development.

(+1)

Gave the Android version a go!

Wow! - This is an interesting idea, and a thought-provoking strategy game, obviously a lot of hard work gone into it too....

Well done!

Developer(+1)

Thanks for playing! Thank you for your feedback! =)

I'm glad you liked it and found it interesting.

Submitted(+2)

Super cool strategy system. It would have been neat to see strange setups and more enemy types and whatnot, but it was super cool regardless.

Developer(+2)

Thanks for playing! Thank you for your feedback! =)

You can really add a lot of different things to the game, and I plan (at least hopefully) to develop the project.

Submitted(+2)

Very fun, the tutorial was very taunting with too much text, ideally, it would be nice if the mechanics were taught with some small levels.

I did manage to learn through trial and error, great job on the idea.

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your feedback! Thanks for playing! =)

I will work on training until it turned out like this.

Submitted(+2)

I think game is difficult in first time play. Fewer text will make the game better. Background look cool, can change between 2 types. Anyways, it's fun, clap clap.

Developer(+1)

Thank you very much for your feedback! =)

The text, unfortunately, is needed, I don't have time to do simple training. The game itself is simple in meaning (as it seems to me), if you understand what is happening.

Submitted(+1)

like me, an asian. it take me alot of time to understand what it's say. it's too long

Developer

Can you then clarify: as a result, you figured out the game or did it remain a mystery?

Submitted(+1)

yup, i figured out the game

Viewing comments 20 to 1 of 27 · Previous page · First page