FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD38 → Tiny Man's Skies

Tiny Man's Skies

By wrexialmt

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall3823.0423
Fun3652.9023
Innovation3592.9023
Theme3223.2522
Graphics3842.9023
Humor3072.3718
Mood4392.6022

Comments

2017-04-24 17:32

Really neat idea! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation [video series](https://youtu.be/kvZnj9d9GIA), if you’d like to take a look :)

generictoast 2017-05-04 09:06

A really nice exploration type of game. I would have liked if the controls were A and D instead of W and S, as the way i had to place my fingers was a bit awkward. Also i could not propel off some planets and got stuck there, so i had to restart the game several times. With a bit of polish and audio, this could be a really good game!

wrexialmt 2017-05-04 17:16

haha @generictoast that was such a stupid mistake from my part. Originally (and i think the code is still there) the whole game was 3D so i had both AD and WS hooked in. When I *hastily* flipped the switch to go to 2D i didn't notice that WS really doesn't make any sense at all.

Regarding the stuck there on some planets, that is part of the game which I might have not explained too well. Basically the rules are as follows (good point, ill put this in the description) : - Any star (all color coded with yellow) are close to impossible to escape. - Any lava planet (red's) are hard to escape but doable. - Any planet (blue/green's) are normal difficulty. - Any gas giant (grey/transparent) are there to ruin trajectories.

For the future (hopefully) I need to get player feedback before submitting.

vladik-plays 2017-05-05 19:14

Awesome game! I liked the approach to the theme here. I like how you can get caught in other planets gravitational field. Great job :) Here is my game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/fixville

rudra-nil-basu 2017-05-15 19:20

Really liked the idea and the use of the theme, I would agree with the comment on the controls though, but anyways, Good work! Here's my game, if you would like to have a look: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/evolve

thegdr 2017-05-16 00:06

good idea

chris-delta 2017-05-16 04:54

The getting from place to place is close to fun, but the upwards-only thrust makes it inevitable that you get trapped in orbit around the planet you were trying to touch. The exploration itself isn't intrinsically satisfying, so the progress bar ends up feeling cold and low-effort. Tweaks to the controls and a strong focus on the mood of the exploration would improve this game significantly.

nikkilak 2017-05-16 11:47

Good job! I really liked it!

moonleaf 2017-05-16 18:04

I enjoyed it a lot. If you know No Man's Sky you can enjoy the meta humor ;)

connor-mcgrory 2017-05-16 18:53

love the feel of the gravity! although some planets were impossible to escape from

feips 2017-05-16 19:26

Good Job!

wrexialmt 2017-05-16 22:19

Hey all, thanks for all the comments :D I love how @chris-delta is on point, but its "kinda" the point (in addition to being me, so im not too creative with stuff). But as @moonleaf said, it's exactly the point why the game feels "empty". When I showed this game to fellow developers IRL, I tend to explain it as a parody NMS. Just because that is how i felt the original game felt to me. Thanks for all the comments though, really appreciate :D

morrilet 2017-05-16 23:26

This was really relaxing, actually. The gameplay was simple and the gravity simulation was really fun to play around with. The jetpack felt good and the particles really helped with the atmosphere as well. I found myself stuck in orbit a lot at the start, but I *think* that holding Up/Down changed the scale of my orbit(?) That maybe could've been explained better, if that were the case. Either way, this was a solid entry. Very calming gameplay. Nice work.

If you're interested in trying another planet-jumper, check out my entry, [rovR](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/rovr)!

tddawson 2017-05-17 00:13

I liked the inclusion of different physics with the different planet/star types. I didn't catch that at first, but it's a cool mechanic. I agree with what Chris said about not feeling "motivated" to keep exploring other planets at this point. Even something like a time limit to create a little more urgency could go a long way. Of course, that would also make it less relaxing, so I guess it just depends on the mood you want to hit.

Good work though, congrats!

occultone 2017-05-17 23:33

I managed to accidentally achieve a figure 8 orbit around two planets, being passed back and forth between them infinitely. It was amazing! Really neat stuff with the gravity fields, I got stuck on one with way too dense a gravity field and was lost. I think the game could use a look at how the planets are being procedurally generated... I saw a few that had a bunch clumped together and if you got close you were basically boned.

Solid stuff.