FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD34 → Empyreal Roving

Empyreal Roving

By barkergames

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CategoryRankScoreCount
Coolness1100
Humor4782.71
Theme6003.59
Innovation6572.94
Mood6793.00
Graphics6863.12
Fun7582.86
Overall7833.02

Comments

david-cookie 2015-12-15 16:25

It seems really good but it's pretty hard! If you could just reduce the damage that we take, I'm sure it could be a lot of fun :)

boxedmeatrevolution 2015-12-16 05:56

This would be a really terrific entry if it was just a little easier. In particular saving in between levels would be nice. After many tries and finally beating the first level, it was frustrating to die on the second level and then realize that I would have to beat the first level all over again to get to where I was.

trexmix 2015-12-17 03:02

Agree with the above posters. However, it is a really neat entry!

galanm 2015-12-17 03:07

Clever use of the theme. Like the other players, I found it a bit too hard, but the idea is solid.

hyperscope 2015-12-17 03:12

Looked like the text could use a margin, I found the controls frustrating although simply may not be my cup of tea.

weeping-rupee 2015-12-17 03:18

Nice twist on the theme! I just wish I didn't have to land on the green pad to keep playing every time I ran out of lives. it really disrupted the flow.

allthebees 2015-12-17 03:21

A cool idea, but just not very fun right now as it's painfully difficult. I really like the use of the theme, but the gameplay just needs a tiny bit more balance.

geeitsomelaldy 2015-12-17 12:24

This is *actually* impossible right? Landing on the 'start game' pad is incredibly hard in it's own right.

barkergames 2015-12-17 15:12

GeeItSomeLaldy: I definitely see why you would think that. It is super hard. But no it IS possible.

My tip to anyone having a hard time beating it would be:
Spin your ship all the was around until it's pointing left, then you can move left, slow down, etc.

I hope to get a game play video of my brother Nathan playing it, proving that it is possible. He is super good at it, way better than me(Justin)
Just yesterday he beat it only using the Up Arrow button, freaking crazy!

argosenpaikun 2015-12-20 05:47

It will be fun when the game is well balanced.

crazi456 2015-12-20 08:33

Really cool stuff! It definitely isn't impossible, it was a welcoming challenge!

mr-a 2015-12-22 01:29

Hah, and I thought my entry was on the hard side. Playing this is like volunteering to get hit by an asteroid. Did chuckle about having to successfully land on a pad to restart, though.

diventurer 2015-12-22 01:40

This is really cool! The graphics look simple, but they form such a nice mood along with the audio. :)

aaranos 2015-12-22 01:52

The game is difficult enough without the after death part. I like it, and it would definitely be less interesting if you had a functional ship since there are plenty of those kinds of games.

justinmullin 2015-12-22 02:57

Clever restriction on two buttons! I love lander games (my entry's a lander too!) so I was bound to like this. Pulling off frequent 360 spins to correct course was pretty neat. I love the difficulty - It's obviously very hard, but I was able to progress with a little practice. I do think restricting to three lives was fairly overkill, though. Overall I definitely enjoyed this.

voider 2015-12-22 03:12

This is great fun for difficult game lovers like me. Good job and good take on the theme!

adsilcott 2015-12-22 03:43

Very clever use of the theme, and very nicely made game. Crazy difficult, but hey, so are a lot of good games! I really enjoyed trying to master it given its difficulty.

bumblepie 2015-12-22 08:30

I really think this game is fun, a very good take on the two button themes. As others have said, it is a bit too difficult, bordering on impossible due to having to restart from lv 1 every 3 deaths. However, I believe the issue lies not in the damage taken, but in the lack of inertia of the ship. This really made it a little too difficult to control, especially to turn around and go left. Overall quite a good effort for the jam.

rujomarco 2015-12-22 09:04

nice graphics, challenging gameplay

smirnov48 2015-12-24 00:51

Only one word... pain! Great idea. Good realization. But its so hard. And all the time I wanted use left key, but two buttons! Great job!

bwatanabe 2015-12-30 01:54

Great game, but I agree with the above, too difficult.

occamsrazor 2015-12-30 03:05

Very cool! Definitely a challenge, but doable once you get used to the controls(still died a bunch, mind you :P). Overall, very, very good.

bmacintosh 2015-12-30 05:19

Actually very clever. Got to level 3. It's hard to get used to the controls, I think it would be easier if the rotation was more responsive (less acceleration).

danblack 2015-12-30 06:54

You can get stuck upside down next to the start game pad, which is annoying. If your ship was a bit less damagey and a bit more bouncy, and turned quicker I think this would be a lot more fun to play. Good work.

powerspark 2015-12-31 20:57

Holy difficult. I like that you're challenging the player but the first task should be simply landing, just to give everyone accomplishment :)

decayconstant 2015-12-31 21:14

The graphics looked pretty decent! The game could've used an easy mode (or maybe a god-mode cheat so we could at least see all the levels).

stuntddude 2015-12-31 21:31

Many people have pointed out that the game is too difficult, but I don't think that's really the problem. I've played a few brutally difficult games this LD that were really fun because of the challenge. This game doesn't suffer from legitimate difficulty, it suffers from poor controls. In particular, the ship turns far too slowly and with far too much momentum to be of any use trying to turn around in a tight corridor; by the time you've turned all the way back around, it's too late to avoid slamming into the far wall or into the ground. Poor physics isn't doing you any favors, either - frequently, when you land on the pad to complete the level, you don't stick, you just keep sliding right off.

If you gave this game decent controls and a better level, I suppose it could be fun, but then, why would I ever play this over the hundreds of 3-button rocket control games that already exist?