Managing an ant colony using vector-field brush paths is such a brilliant, clever mechanic for an RTS—it brings back serious Pikmin nostalgia while carving out its own identity! For a solo dev project, the core technical loop, cute pixel ants, and addicting progression are super impressive.
A few tweaks to consider when you optimize post-jam:
- Tutorial & UI: Break down the opening tutorial pictures into step-by-step interactive pop-ups so players aren't overwhelmed with text all at once.
- Combat Clarity & Feedback: Add clear damage numbers, health bars, or hit-reaction animations when ants switch to attack mode so it's obvious the human boss is taking damage.
- Performance & Pathing: Cap maximum ant spawns (or pool objects) to prevent lag/FPS drops, and smooth out the separation forces so ants don't get stuck in tight corners.
Massive potential here for an expanded version! If you have a minute, we'd love to hear your thoughts on our jam project as well: /jam/brackeys-16/rate/4953523