FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD33 → The Stars are Watching

The Stars are Watching

By xanderzoo

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness291
Fun3593.28
Overall4663.28
Mood5693.05
Graphics6403.13
Humor8412.15
Innovation8752.52
Theme8882.89

Comments

riverandrun 2015-08-25 00:48

It was quite hard to control but was fun shooting the droid things.

nikteddy92 2015-08-25 00:50

I really like the gameplay idea, the grapich style is clear, well realised and enjoyable.
I found a little hard to control the ship, it drifts a little too much but that's not a real problem!
Nice Game, Well done! :D

razavidn 2015-08-25 00:50

Th actual shooting component is great, but the max speed vs. playable space area is a little off the charts. It's easy to speed way beyond the enemies in a level, and I spent most of the game trying to find them rather than actually fighting.

slashee-the-cow 2015-08-25 00:51

One of the best ones I've played so far! I love the parallax scrolling effect on the starfield, I've never been able to get that right.

halleflux 2015-08-25 00:55

Fun to play, though the controls are annoying. Sure it's realistic that ships don't slow down in space without another force applied to them, but it's also realistic that they can't accelerate given that there isn't anything there =P
Basically, having a max velocity would be nice.
Overall, it's a cool game. Well done!

theruseman 2015-08-25 01:02

Controls were a bit too floaty, and the twist at the end was obvious a mile away, but I still enjoyed playing this game quite a lot.

kylefarwell 2015-08-25 01:11

I wasn't able to get past the boss fight, but I peeked in the source python file to spoil the end for myself. :)

Overall, a very fun game. It's a nice and pure 2D space shooter, not much innovative about it, but nothing wrong with it either. The sprites are good (though the player ship looks like a turd ;) ), and the music fits the game well.

xanderzoo 2015-08-25 01:47

I'm glad people like it. Because it seems a lot of people don't like the lack of friction, I'll try to release a post jam version that includes an option. I wonder, do you know that you can slow slow your ship to a stop using the 'c' button? I find it useful when maneuvering.

xanderzoo 2015-08-25 01:54

I released a post-jam version. The *only* thing it changes is it adds a friction effect. If you were annoyed by the controls before, this might help.

jimbly 2015-08-25 02:47

Fun! Took a moment to get used to strafing controls while facing the other direction, but it was great when I got used to it! Using 'C' to reset motion was definitely useful a lot (didn't see the post-game version). Died on final boss and didn't see the end of the story though :(

pnkthrepwood 2015-08-25 03:43

Gameplay is a bit hard, didn't feel much in control, which is sad because history is very engaging!

xanderzoo 2015-08-25 03:45

@pnkthrepwood

You complained about the control, so I am just wondering--have you tried the post jam version? All it does is add a little friction. Another thing that you may not be doing is slowing down by pressing 'C'.

nihilaleph 2015-08-25 03:54

I really liked the art and music of the game! (Although I did find the player ship a bit wierd). Couldn't reach the end though... the controls are way to difficult for me since it controls force and it's relative to where the ship is pointing too... So I will try to beat it again later and then I rate the Theme! (although i can see where this is going)

nihilaleph 2015-08-25 04:04

Oh when I downloaded the game there wasn't a post jam version.... but well, following @kfarwell I did peak into the source file xp

/******* SPOILER ALERT ********/
Even if the ending was different I'd still considered the main character a genocide monster xp

a_k_ 2015-08-25 05:17

I wish it had osx/web version.

boardtobits 2015-08-25 05:40

Fun little space shooter. I worked on one of these as a side project. Amazed at how much you did in 72 hours.

monkokio 2015-08-25 05:51

Feedback of shooting enemies was great.
Flying controls are tough to use.
Not really sure how this fits the theme.

xanderzoo 2015-08-25 06:41

@A_K
Well, this is written in Python, so web is out. If I had a mac I could make a mac build. Sadly I don't.


@Monkokio

If you don't finish the game you won't see how it fits the theme.

perecil 2015-08-25 16:00

OK, this game is Solar Winds cross The Outer Limits episode "The Light Brigade" ? Love it!

flaid 2015-08-25 18:12

Who doesn't like a spaceship shooter game?? It was fun, the explosions felt right, and the controls seemed about right to me.

I played the original (not post-jam) version because I wanted to play the actual entry. I can see why people complained about the lack of friction, but knowing that it was a problem allowed me to compensate for it while playing.

All in all, very impressive!

oskardevelopment 2015-08-25 18:24

Awesome game, nice story - when the captain started to discuss the shape of the aliens I felt something was bad! Nice controls, though took a minute to learn them - perhaps add some easier step at the start to learn the controls? Was real fun and was surprisingly different strategies needed for different opponent ships!

blurryroots 2015-08-25 18:33

Very cool slowmo effect. Nice use of the theme. Although the twist is certainly not necessary considering the xenophobe outright genocidal behavior of the player character ;)

kaype 2015-08-26 03:59

Really hard to control. Still fun though!
good audio too

bowlercaptain 2015-08-26 04:12

"Strafe" is the most fun direction. When I remembered the theme I had an appropriate "Oh god no" moment. When I succumbed to the defense force I did not persist, for the good of ea2th. Did enjoy flying around, love the starfield. Full points for a convenient-to-run Pygame project.

chaosmore 2015-08-30 11:18

Finished the game, the control is fine, in fact I would state that it's actually well-thought. About the story can be predicted right at the beginning, after I predicted lots of other jam games before playing this one. But the way how the theme is used surprised me a little. Recommend finish it to find out.

Biruts 2015-09-01 16:54

Very nice project guys, i really love it, please check our game too and if you liked it give us a vote. Look for Road to hell and enjoy.

xanderzoo 2015-09-01 17:03

@Biruts
Actually it's a one man team. :) I'll check out your game when I have a little time.

keon 2015-09-05 04:18

Very nice game. I like the floatyness, but strafing + lack of friction didn't work well. The theme was well done.

lukbebalduke 2015-09-06 14:10

Cool gameplay, but the graphics could be a little better, giving more information to the player about what is going on. The controls are a little bit weird, but it is a very solid entry, congrats =)

cosmologicon 2015-09-07 18:34

I tried the source version on Linux and it works great. Just chiming in to agree with everyone else. Overall quite good, fun shooting, I like the time slowing ability, too easy to lose control and go flying off, cool story but really obvious twist.

wuballiance 2015-09-14 04:26

Fun entry! The graphic quality is impressive, the background stars really caught me off guard. Like the other comments say, the viewable space vs the speed is a little out of scope and takes some time to get used to. Overall solid entry, one of my favorite so far! Keep it up!

jupiter_hadley 2015-10-20 14:25

Well made game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 33 Compilation video series, if you would like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/wEgI5I5KLKY