UPDATE 1 - 11/12/2020

  • UI
    • Added in Menu Screen and Level Select screen
      • Press ESC at any time to go to the main menu
    • Overhauled UI to take up less space and look much better
      • Added in health display
      • Added run timer for players interested in speedrunning
      • Made ammo display smaller
      • Relocated UI to the top left of the screen
    • Replaced the font, which should make the text more readable
    • Added in new art for the victory screen
  • Gameplay
    • Removed house requirement - you now beat levels by planting all trees
    • Overhauled Forest Ambush level due to UI overhaul
    • Added aiming reticle so players can see where their shots will go
    • Runs can now be timed if players wish to speedrun the game
      • Time does not count when the level is paused, but it will count if you restart a level
    • The level starts off paused, giving players a chance to digest the level before it starts
    • You can now go to the main menu at any time by pressing ESC
    • Added in new lake tiles for decoration (with collision)



The theme for this Game Jam was both One Mechanic and "Recycle". The single mechanic is gathering recycled material and spending it to either plant a tree or fight off enemies. This recycled material comes from the houses of the Humans who have started to invade your forest. Guide your little treant through 5 levels and bring the forest Back to Nature!

All the art assets were entirely created from the provided art kit, but primarily the micro-roguelike pack by Kenney. All the SFX and music from the game were taken from the kit as well. Most of the sound effects didn't tickle my fancy, but I was able to make due.

Development log

Comments

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Hi! I'll be playing Back to Nature tomorrow on stream along with several others games from the jam at 3:30pm EST. I'll be talking about any interesting design decisions as I play, and suggesting improvements if any come to mind. Please feel free to join me live, it'll be extra fun to chat together about your game while playing it :)

Shoot, I wish I would have seen this earlier! I caught the tail end of the stream, but I went back and watched your review of my game. You had a lot of good feedback! The lack of indication about where you're shooting is annoying, I agree.  I'll look in to alternative ways to have the player aim besides just following player movement. I'm actually working on some updates for the game to polish it up a little. Thanks for playing me game and providing feedback!

No worries, for future reference here's the segment where I played your game!Thank you for making a fun game for me to play, I'm glad to hear that you found the feedback helpful. I'll keep an eye out for those updates :)

Very fun! I thought it was pretty fun to slide around, however, it made it a bit difficult to flee the enemy as well as lining up the shot. Overall though this is a nice little entry! Pretty easy learning curve too! Good work! :D

Really cool concept I like the idea of a tree recycling houses. I found a few bugs where you shoot a bullet, restart and the bullet is still there, so you get a free shot (that's how i finished the last level). Also I don't know if that's a thing but you can go off screen in some levels i got lost. Overall really nice game i enjoyed it. :)

Huh, I never considered what happened to bullets when restarting a level, it's funny what people discover when playing your game. You're right, I didn't have any code to prevent the player from walking off. Thanks for playing, glad you enjoyed!

Nice game!