Escape Velocity

borb 2017-08-01 13:15

Damn this looks promising! Reminded me of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.

I liked that the game didn't try to explain itself - I just fiddled with things and after my first death, quickly figured out how the engines work. Shame there wasn't more to it! The game feels right - there was a real sense of struggling to control a ship about to crash.

About controls: I think jump lasts way too long, it made navigating a bit harder than it should be. Also, the mouse-controlled crosshair was at this point kinda useless because you could only interact with the items next to you anyway. (But I feel it's there for future features, so that.)

futil 2017-08-01 14:35

Congratulations on your first Ludum Dare game! I really like this one, it's a unique idea that I haven't really seen before. I loved the art and sounds, and it was tricky learning how to most effectively juggle the batteries. The only problem I had was that the character would sometimes flicker back and forth, making some platforming hard, but other then that it was great. Hope to see you again for the next Ludum Dare, and I'll keep an eye on this game to see if you release any more versions!

shinmera 2017-08-01 16:14

Nice little game, though the movement mechanics were not enjoyable enough on their own. Made it feel more like a chore than a challenge after a bit. With some more tuning, this could have turned into a fun little time waster, though.

reax 2017-08-01 19:37

I would love to try this game, but I don't feel like installing and compiling stuff. Could you put up a compiled version? Preferebly WebGL version if possible.

glimaleite 2017-08-01 19:46

Please put a playable build so we don't have to go through much hassle? I'm looking forward to trying this one out!

klowner 2017-08-01 20:43

Windows and Mac binaries are up! :)

simon-rahnasto 2017-08-02 17:50

This is an amazing entry. I love how innovative it is, all I could think of while playing this was "WOW, Imagine if someone took this concept and made it into a game like Faster than Light. How cool would it be to run around on your spaceship and repair it, power certain things, take control of different parts (like cannons) etc.

Fits the theme like a glove, one of the best interpretations of it in fact.

Here is a video of me playing the game for about 10minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUHqutlTyVg (as of writing it is still processing, since I recorded 1080p with 60fps it might take a while)

The fact that it made me actually laugh is just another indicator to how great and fun it is. (It was so hilarious when the ship had lost the floor and I didn't notice and just plunged down to my death.)

The destruction is very cool as well, made me want to go again just to wreck the ship after completing the game.

Really... Really!, REALLY! Well done mate! :)

kapricorn-media 2017-08-02 21:29

THAT WAS FUN!! Loved the background and the ship. I imagine this being a prototype for a possible bigger game! Also, great moment when the ship starts crashing!

verysoftwares 2017-08-03 12:33

I can see what you were going for here. It's an unique resource management game featuring a strong setting, with major consequences from micromanagement decisions.

However, imprecise movement and collision bugs hindered the experience. I found myself flying through walls often, or simply feeling like my character isn't responding because of excess momentum.

I believe you should develop this further, it's pretty ambitious.

mortus 2017-08-03 19:35

I'm not sure I get it how to play this game, but looking at your video it seems like I didn't miss any important mechanics. Isn't the fastest way to charge thrusters just staying down below and always recharging 2 batteries and moving/using one? Do you have to fire up the second thruster? Anyway, it looks really nice, crash-landing is great and with few more features and some balance it could be a great game. Nice job!

2017-08-07 21:07

It has a unique feel to it, I like when mechanics mimic a way of using stuff in real life. Platform mechanics need polishing though, and ship layout would be less frustrating if it relied upon jetpack and wasn't cluttered with those platforms.

I like that you can feel the speed and ship changes direction, visuals overall are simple, but well executed. I am not sure if I understand the mechanics though, after few containers on both engines I stuck downstairs and used only the lower one. I made it till the end but I am curious how this was supposed to work.

nuthen 2017-08-10 17:54

This game is funny due to the physics! An odd bug I had was that I clicked off the window for a few seconds, or moved the game window a little, and I was suddenly outside the ship. I couldn't juggle the canisters fast enough to get the ship going very quickly.

josehzz 2017-08-14 21:57

I love the graphics, physics feels a bit off but overall nice entry

vikinggames 2017-08-14 23:48

The player character is floatier than I'd like him to be, but it's still playable. The gameplay itself is fun and interesting, and I love the way the ship moves, both when it crashes and when it's powered. Visually the game is fantastic, although it would've been a little bit better with more animation on the character, and some more graphics in the sky (clouds, stars, etc). Great game!

valphera 2017-08-15 11:08

It's a fun game and it has a pretty decend lifetime for a jam entry :) The gameplay and the mecanics were cool the character felt real and I really had the impression that my actions had some kind of impact. The sprites are well done and overall it's a pretty complete project! Congratulations!

mrnannings 2017-08-18 14:00

Graphics are pretty. Concept is nice too.

gurvan 2017-08-18 16:23

Graphics : Really nice, i really liked it, except the fact that the character have no animations. Sound : I didn't liked it at all. The only sounds were really loud. Fun : The game is fun for a few minutes, but become repetitive really fast. Theme : The theme is respected Innovation : The gameplay is original, but maybe need a bit more features and polish.

drprettypatty 2017-08-19 22:03

Nice work! It looks like we had a similar concept, trying to keep a powerless ship afloat. I managed to beat it on my first try (without the jetpack, because I skimmed the instructions a little too quickly), and felt like I was getting better at rotating through the batteries (2 on bottom, one up top) as I progressed. The graphics were beautiful. The controls felt pretty clunky, although I'm sure it's hard to make collisions feel right when the environment is rotating.

Congrats on finishing a full game on your first LD! That alone is an accomplishment, and you topped that.

themonsterfromthedeep 2017-08-20 06:39

I certainly like how the game looks and I think it is very promising. However, I don't really understand what challenge or strategy there is to it.

All I did was charge batteries on the bottom row and put them in the bottom engine, and after doing that for a while and wondering if I would get to do anything else the game said I won. It's not particularly exciting, as there's not a whole lot of strategy to simply moving three objects around.

I have one particular gripe with the controls: oftentimes when a battery was done charging / uncharging, I would be anticipating it, and so I would click to grab it - but then it would automatically equip because I was near it, and so I would throw it instead. This is kind of frustrating, although I don't know quite how to fix that.

zirrrus 2017-08-20 09:35

Neat little game, I also really enjoyed the art style.

For the most part I stayed in the bottom part of the ship, charging the three batteries and using them on the lower engine, until one of the batteries clipped into a wall... I think there should be something to force you to actually use the different engines/chargers. Maybe the engines overheat when you use them over and over or the charger on the ceiling charges the batteries more/faster. Stuff like that.

Being able to throw the batteries around would also be a neat addition, I think. With the reticle it felt that was something you'd be able to do but the batteries were always dropped at my feet.

Overall very well done for a first LD entry though! :)

flaterectomy 2017-08-20 10:31

I'm a little confused as to what I am really doing. I am clearly powering the engines, but I am doing so without any real strategy. Then suddenly the game told me I'm a winner. (Yay!) I Suppose the concept is that I have to rise high enough, but it felt like anything I did worked without a possibility of failure, so long as I was active.

The graphics are very cute, I quite enjoy the style. The gradient on the engines didn't really suit the rest of the tileset, but that's about all I found lacking.

The audio is clear, but a little sparse. It felt like ther were sounds missing (ambient, footsteps, jetpack?).

I assume that was a jetpacking I had to right-click move around with in any case. The controls seemed a little awkward with WASD working as well as right-clicking to a target. The auto-pickup of empty batteries but having to click to drop them again also kept me making little mistakes.

All in all, a little confusing but the art is quite redeeming. Nice entry!