Ocean Tribes (ProcJam 2015)
ProcJam 2016 is just a little over a month away, so I’ve started taking another look at the projects from last year. Ocean Tribes is a little 4X by Oleg Dolya that takes place on a procedurally generated ocean map.
The shape, position, and special features of the islands are generated, and I like the feel of your gradually expanding exploration.
The late game is grindy due to the balance tipping strongly towards the defense, but it’s a jam project, so that’s not too surprising. What I really like here is the reminder that you can experiment with generative stuff even if you aren’t working with the latest whizzy game genres.
You don’t have to make a 3D open-world seamless survival galaxy. There’s a lot of examples from the ‘80s and ‘90s of genres to take inspiration from: go experiment with making something inspired by Utopia, The Ancient Art of War, Seven Cities of Gold, Anacreon, Merchant Prince, Dragon Lord, Lords of Midnight, or something even more obscure. Atari-era games are especially good inspirations for game jams because the hardware constraints kept the scope tightly focused but they often had ideas that they were bursting at the seams to express.