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The Forestation's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fun | #15 | 2.800 | 2.800 |
| Sound/Audio | #16 | 2.600 | 2.600 |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | #16 | 2.400 | 2.400 |
| Visuals(Graphics) | #18 | 2.400 | 2.400 |
| Overall | #18 | 2.600 | 2.600 |
Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
DevLog Link
https://julshar.itch.io/the-forestation/devlog/570033/project-developement-history
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Comments
Not enough time to construct a single attacking tree. Probably the game is really fun.
It seems that people usually need to play once or a few times before getting a good grasp of game mechanics (Sorry for not making any tutorial). However the game is beatable on hardest settings - Axetreme difficulty and small map. I've just posted a video showing how it can be achieved. I also decided not to use the spot on the bottom right corner of the map to make it even harder - that is the only place with one exit/entry. Link to the video is on the game page.
This is a cool RTS, fun to play and requires some strategy to achieve the win condition! I noticed a few minor bugs but nothing particularly game breaking, the capital letters in the text prompts were not showing up when I was playing is the most noticeable thing I found. On a second playthrough I think the letters are showing up they are just not moving with my view but are maybe locked to a global point on the map. Also the green mottled texture that starts as the UI background would migrate onto the map and get stuck there for me, occasionally blocking my view of the map and making it difficult to play.
I was able to destroy the mill however by building on the right side of the map where the texture wasn't blocking any of the view and I had a lot of fun playing. I liked building up the oak walls and positioning the pine tree towers in protected places. I think this could really be expanded out into pretty intense experience with more challenging lumberjack buffs, possibly multiple saw mills around the larger map/maps, and a few more trees with different costs and effects.
I did run into some minor frustration with the pathfinding, but I was able to get around it by being very specific with the move command instructing the wisps where to go very deliberately, they seemed to have some trouble going long distances without getting stuck but the move command worked well as long as there was a direct route to where they were going. Maybe something to address down the road though.
I could see putting some hours in on this game once it is expanded out a little more though, the framework is definitely solid for a fun game. Oh and I love the story as well, I would much rather be a tree fighting the lumberjacks than play as the lumberjacks trying to kill all the trees. I really enjoyed playing from natures perspective.
The capital letters not showing or text not moving with view is definitely something I want to investigate and not let to happen in future versions, so thanks for pointing that out. If it comes to moving UI did you play on different resolution than 1920x1080? If so then that is the explanation for UI problems. I tested it once on lower resolution and UI background shifted one UI length to the right at some point, making it possible to see the grey world background beyond the left map edge. Also the bottom part of the UI was not visible then. This is happening due to me having little experience in UI making, so it is not scallable, tied to top left corner and thus only playable in 1080p. If I'll start working on full version of this game I'll definitely remaster it to make it scallable so it works properly in any resolution.
The pathfinding improvement is indeed on the list. Currently it is very cubersome to navigate units. I plan to implement A* algorithm but that would have to be done after implementing fog of war since that is on the list too and these two things are linked in a certain way.
The ideas of adding more maps, sawmills, trees and even lumber jack types are something that I would certainly implement in a full version but there are still basic things like minimap and fog of war that are priority for now.
I had a lot of fun developing almost every aspect of this prototype so I consider continuing it. Although I have to say that I did not realise how much does it take to implement everything that a proper RTS game needs before I started and my respect for creators of these kind of games only grew.
Glad it was fun to play and that you were able to come up with proper strategy without any tutorial and with bugged UI. Congrats!
Wow, a very nice concept! That could really qualify for an RTS correct?
I found it a little difficult even in chill, so one must invest some time to become better.
If you intend to do more for this, consider adding short-keys for actions, as Warcraft 2 had; it speeds up the player response actions and makes it easier. Being cornered at some point, I couldn't move the whisp nor plant, so I would have wanted to be able to plant a tree to where it was standing, as there was enough place, before the whisp died.
The only scenario for instant win in chill mode is to plant a pine tree directly. If one plants a normal tree and does not spawn a whisp before the tree is cut down, is instant defeat. Maybe for these trees, they could leave a whisp behind upon cut down? Though if surrounded, not much to do anyway :-)
The hotkeys for actions are numbers 1-6 but I guess letters are more intuitive so probably I'll change it sometime. Good point.
To be able to use blocked whisp I consider adding 1x1 structures or ability to transport whisps over trees. I want to make the most of the blocking mechanics so I'll definitely keep an eye for that.
I agree the game requires some skill to play at current state. The obscure pathfinding with single selectable unit makes moving units require many inputs. There are some efficient tactics, you can abuse the fact that lumberjacks focus whisp more than oak and plane and lure them to the other side of the map. You can even abuse their pathfinding algorithm in some ways. I've managed to win Axetreme on large map but I had a lot practise. A tutorial or even pause menu would be good to learn basics.
I didn't have time to implement everything. There are still things like fog of war and minimap that are mandatory for a proper RTS. In fact there are much more things on the list for this project including rewriting everything at some point. If I continue working on this I'll add some things to current version first because they are crucial to understand before spending time to plan everything from scratch.