Ludum Dare 52: Harvest
Theme: Harvest
Friday January 6th to Monday January 9th, 2023
It’s always exciting when LDJam time comes around! This time we wanted to try out Godot engine for the first time and I actually ended up loving the workflow.
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Godot Engine
Blender
Photoshop CC
Day 1
The most productive first day we’ve had I think! Second bug game in a row… hmm… This was our second attempt at making an RTS for the LDJam — Collect dew from the aphids to fuel your ant army and defend against the oncoming invasion.
Game Overview:
Our initial idea was to create a real-time strategy game where the player commands an army of ants to defend their colony against an oncoming invasion of opposing army ants. The game is set on a branch, where the player must navigate their army of ants through various obstacles, and collect dew drops from aphids to fuel their army and take down the red ant queen.
Gameplay Mechanics:
The player is in charge of defending their queen ant by commanding an army of worker ants. The objective of the game is to defend the ant colony from waves of incoming army ants. The player must gather dew drops from the aphids and use them to fuel their army. The dew drops are collected by sending out worker ants to the aphids, which then return to the colony to deposit the dew. The player must manage their resources effectively to ensure their army has enough fuel to fight off the incoming invasion.
As the game progresses, the player can upgrade their army by unlocking new ant types, this process happens naturally because ant types are only gated by their cost. For example, soldier ants are excellent at combat, while scout ants can navigate through obstacles quickly. The player must choose which ants to deploy based on the situation, and the type of aphids they are facing.
The game also features a variety of obstacles, such as spider webs and water pools, which the player must navigate around. Some ant types, such as digger ants, can create tunnels to avoid obstacles and reach hard-to-reach areas.
Win Condition:
The game is won when the player successfully defeats the red ant queen. The player must also collect enough dew drops to keep their army fueled and ready for combat.
Lose Condition:
The game is lost if the army ants manage to breach the ant colony and defeat the players’ ant queen. The player must avoid running out of dew drops, as this will cause their army to become weakened and vulnerable to attack.
This was a fun chance to play around with more 3D animation in Blender - which I’m not totally comfortable with yet. I have some experience rigging and animating quadrupeds, but the extra couple of legs for the ants definitely threw me a bit.
Ant Walk Cycle
Ant Spawning
Ant Dying
Initial mock-up done in Photoshop