{"id":2095,"edition":11,"categories":1,"features":0,"size":9203,"name":"Trado Polo explores","authors":[{"name":"Gabor Héja","url":"https://gabor.heja.hu/","login":"gheja","gh":1894642}],"description":"

The game is loosely based on Marco Polo, the explorer and merchant from the 13th century Italy.

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Your job is to explore Asia, find the bigger cities and ports along the way and trade for new goods.

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In the mini game you have to press the button for the corresponding column when the big dot turns green. Missing it or pressing when a cross is there will count as a fail. You have 5 rounds, but if you fail 3 of them your course will be diverted.

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In this version only the keyboard controls work (they are also shown on screen):

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This version misses some features and mechanics, I’ll upload an updated and extended after-the-jam version to Itch.

\n","source":"gheja/js13k2023","stars":0,"comments":[{"at":347439373,"author":"Isaac Benitez","login":"isacben","gh":37629156,"url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/isacben/","text":"

Congrats for the game!\nI really liked the graphics and the vibe of the game. Also liked the story!\nThe navigation system is also cool.\nI quite didn’t understand the HJKL controls. I didn’t know how they work nor what the effect was.\nBut pretty cool!

\n","games":["Wanted"]},{"at":348565698,"re":347439373,"author":"Gabor Héja","login":"gheja","gh":1894642,"url":"https://gabor.heja.hu/","text":"

Thanks so much, I am glad you liked the game! The minigame is rough and a bit buggy in this version, it should divert you from your course so you’d take a longer route and be a bit late - this was added to increase the difficulty somewhat, but it would needs more work. Thanks for playing!

\n"},{"at":347484670,"author":"Christoph Schansky","login":"DerBenniBanni","gh":5499976,"text":"

I really like the cartography-style and the feeling of exploration, when navigating through the montain-ranges.

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It would be cool, to also be in charge of the movement-speed, not only the facing direction. And maybe make ist faster? the long distances made it a little challenge to play the game to the end (and not quit inbetween)

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After navigating to the first city, like an old sea-bear keeping clear of any cliff, i was quite unsure where to go, or how to reach my next target. To my surprise, the ship can sail over land! :-)\nMaybe on land the player-sprite should change, to a horse/camel…?

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In the end, when the colden coat is delivered, there ist some storytelling missing. the game just stops. Ah, and regarding story-telling: it would be cool t be able to skip the intro-story, or to be able to make it faster. Ifthe player knows the content already, its really hard to wait for the real game to start.

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However, i think thats a really good idea for a game, it just needs more stuff to do, and maybe some eyecandy (some effects, other movement on the map, etc…)

\n","games":["WitchCup1276"]},{"at":348566545,"re":347484670,"author":"Gabor Héja","login":"gheja","gh":1894642,"url":"https://gabor.heja.hu/","text":"

I am happy you liked the game and wow, thank you for delivering the golden coat and completing it, old sea-bear! :) Yes, you’re unfortunately right, the final dialog is missing here… I will update the itch.io version with that.

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I planned to add a caravan or camel sprite for the land, maybe limit switching to land/water transport in cities with ports, boost for completing the minigame successfully, artifacts and a few other features but ran out of time.

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Thanks for the ideas, I’m taking notes (really) :)

\n"},{"at":347644904,"author":"Alexander Petrov","login":"baturinsky","gh":632779,"twitter":"baturinsky","text":"

Long unskippable intro is a no no for jam games. Unless it’s some super cool intro, but not the case here.

\n","games":["Weird Cannon"]},{"at":348565759,"re":347644904,"author":"Gabor Héja","login":"gheja","gh":1894642,"url":"https://gabor.heja.hu/","text":"

I agree, I should have added a skip intro button. Thanks for the feedback!

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G’day!

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I liked the navigation system (compass), as well as the minimalism of the map (reminiscent of the past), as well as the mechanics of opening a new territory (the closer you are, the more the “fog” dissipates). Simple and quite attractive vector graphics and an interesting map design (noticed the coincidence with the real map :) ).

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I like the description text at the start of the game that sets the context, but I miss the button to skip the starting text (you could implement it through local storage), it’s fun to read the first time, but when you want to play again, it makes you wait for the end of the text.

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Unfortunately due to errors I couldn’t finish the game (crashes when I return to Venice with the golden cloak).

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I suppose that the buttons [H, J, K, L] are intended to maintain interest during the journey, but unfortunately I did not really understand their exact purpose, there is not enough information about it. Instead of this [H, J, K, L] button mechanic, I would have preferred pirates for example, where you can shoot, ram, etc… while traveling (during long and slow swims), I would have a lot more fun! :) (but time and size limitations… :D)

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It was fun and interesting to play, thank you!

\n","games":["Crusaders and their Journeys"]},{"at":348213639,"author":"Mefistofel","login":"mefist0fel","gh":1374506,"twitter":"Polar0cean","text":"

Well, really interesting an unusual concept.\nAlso I liked this abstract trade with adding new items in you cargo\nBut main mechanic - this “piano” is really frustrated.\nFirst of all, there is no instruction and I spend lot time trying to undestans something. Still not sure am I right.\nSecond, buttons not corresponding with line, so it’s hard what key from hjkl you need to press to hit.\nThird, you also need to control your ship and look forward.\nIt would be better to show this symbols somethere close to the ship, for example add it to some “wind” element close to the ship.

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But in general interesting game.\nGreat Job!

\n","games":["Castle wars"]},{"typ":2,"at":348217016,"author":"Matt Hackett","login":"richtaur","gh":24601,"url":"https://valadria.com","twitter":"richtaur","text":"

Definitely wish the introduction was skippable. The text renders underneath the UI, making it a bit hard to read. The next section with the map and boats is much more exciting to me.

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I’m not understanding the HJKL gameplay, but it looks nice, runs smooth, and fits the theme nicely. Good job!

\n"},{"at":348442152,"author":"João Lopes","login":"lopis","gh":2715751,"url":"www.jlopes.dev","text":"

The lore of the game is captivating and I was ready to explore outside the country of Europe (lol). What I wasn’t expecting was that I was sailing a ship that can cross the desert, but for some reason can’t climb mountains. Seems a little picky for a magical ship.

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The art, even if a little crude, was really nice, and “old-map-like”. Good job on the fog of war effect.

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I didn’t understand the minigame very well. I mashed all keys and it seemed to work.

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I only played for a handful of cities because it seemed to be always the same. The next city always trades with whatever items I collected earlier, so there was little challenge. Maybe this changes later but after playing so long I failed to be captivated by the game’s mechanics.

\n","games":["Market Street Tycoon"]},{"at":348536089,"re":348442152,"author":"Gabor Héja","login":"gheja","gh":1894642,"url":"https://gabor.heja.hu/","text":"

Thanks for playing it!

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I also found the game rather straightforward, that’s why I added the minigame to shake it a bit up, but unfortunately it was still very rough when I submitted it. I was planning to add some time constraint and additional items to encourage the player to play well in the minigame, but ran out of time.

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I am glad you liked the style, that idea was what got me started working on the game :)

\n"},{"at":348543948,"author":"Lakshman","login":"LakshmanKishore","gh":61258323,"url":"lakshman.vercel.app","twitter":"Lakshman007bff","text":"

There should have been a fast forward button which could have skipped in the intro for the second time players. It would have been good if the control of the boat speed would have been given to user.

\n","games":["Alquerque"]},{"at":348544087,"author":"Stiggstogg","login":"Stiggstogg","gh":53380538,"twitter":"Stiggstogg","text":"

Very good looking game! I really liked the ship driving and the style of the map including the mechanic that you explore the areas (revealed areas when you go there). The mini-game was a bit difficult for me as the point were not really good aligned. It was not so obvious which key you had to press. One detail: If you have a game which is mainly controlled by the keyboard, I would avoid that you need to click with the mouse in between (to continue), which is a bit cumbersome.\nCongratulations to you game and have fun adding more features and mechanics!

\n","games":["Cathedral Master Builder"]},{"at":348681354,"author":"Grav","login":"merlinvsalfonso","gh":144820721,"text":"

Thank you for this game. My experience similar to others, really liked the cartography style visuals, the compass really cool. But I also could not understand the hjkl minigame but did understand when I lost the bearings got mixed up which was good. It is a shame because whatever that minigame is - from your description sounds like a rythm game - it would have broken up the gameplay really nicely. Would like to see your updated extended version. Well done, it is a good game.

\n","games":["Merlin vs Alfonso"]}],"results":{"theme":{"rank":8,"min":1.08,"score":4.1,"max":4.38},"innovation":{"rank":62,"min":1.12,"score":2.9,"max":4.43},"gameplay":{"rank":120,"min":1.24,"score":2.25,"max":4.34},"graphics":{"rank":56,"min":1.21,"score":3.45,"max":4.73},"audio":{"rank":99,"min":1,"score":1.3,"max":4.32},"controls":{"rank":112,"min":1.29,"score":2.45,"max":4.23},"primary":{"rank":82,"min":7.57,"score":16.45,"max":24.7},"label":"Overall"}}