wareya 2020-04-21 10:13
Core gameplay mechanics are entertaining. I'm not sure whether I'm just really bad or there's balance problems, but I find it basically impossible to not constantly die and lose tons of money.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD46 → Space Mercenary
By lorwon
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2022 | 3.11 | 42 | |
| Fun | 1954 | 2.94 | 41 | |
| Innovation | 2406 | 2.44 | 41 | |
| Theme | 2280 | 2.93 | 41 | |
| Graphics | 1955 | 2.97 | 42 | |
| Mood | 1946 | 2.92 | 40 |
Core gameplay mechanics are entertaining. I'm not sure whether I'm just really bad or there's balance problems, but I find it basically impossible to not constantly die and lose tons of money.
I liked it, albeit a bit complicated. My game ended when a meteorite appeared next to my ship and every time it killed me instantly.
The movement was a bit hard to control but that might just be me! I liked the fuel particle effects and audio in general. Sometimes an asteroid spawned at the same location as me, meaning I'd die instantly, which wasn't great. The beginning shop area didn't make much sense as I didn't have any gold, and after that I wasn't completely sure what each upgrade did. Gameplay is smooth though so good job!
Game looks well, but a little complicated. At first I just started to shoot at enemies and didn't get other mechanic :) Anyway, good job!
Thanks for playing ! The game can be hard sometimes. Thank you for giving me your opinions.
Little touch to figure out how the whole food/health system works, but fun once I did. Would be interesting to see some ship upgrade mechanics!
Not bad, was a little hard to get used to the controls but it's a nice little game! Good job!
The food and health mechanics can be weird I'll try to explain better how it works thanks for the feddback !
As asteroid player i did not find this game too hard, but after killing everybody i did not had enough money to save my son! :(
The game unfortunlately didnt load for me, it was just a black screen
@skvader-418 The game was made with processing, you need to have the latest java version (java 8) I guess. Thanks for the feedback!
I liked the frictionless movement! Really felt in space! And I love how the gameplay mix survival with top down shooter! :smile: Greato Jobu! :smile:
Neat game! The art was consistent and the music fit the isolating and distanced atmosphere quite well. The mechanics, albeit imbalanced, were relatively well-polished and enjoyable. Some more game feel elements might add a lot to the game, e.g. screenshake. Well done!
Made in Processing, that's cool, I haven't checked that out properly. Looks cool, good job :)
(EDIT: oops, accidentally posted the wrong commentary to the wrong game)
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get this running:
``` coda@localhost:~/Downloads/spacemercenary/application.linux64$ ./ludumdare_46 Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError Caused by: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 1 out of bounds for length 1 at processing.core.PApplet.
@coda-highland Can you run the game again ? do you have the lattest java update ?
@lorwon I didn't have Java installed in the first place, so I had to install `openjdk-14-jre` to even get that far. I get the error message consistently no matter how many times I run it.
@coda-highland Ok i'll try to fix that sry for the inconvenience and thanks for the feedback
game switches too fast between level - player needs more time to accept win, or lose and to understood situation
p.s. runs well on my linux
Like the buy menu mechanics; would like to see this fleshed out as a rogue-like (but it would have to be a little easier). Fun but punishing ♥
The combat seems interesting, but the sessions feel a little short (might be my skill level). Definitely an interestin concept.
I ran the mac build, and noted, attempting to change the resolution caused the game to freeze. The exit button on settings which is a bit atypical.
GJ Keep it up man!
@zliebowitz When you change the resolution you have to quit the game in order to apply changes, but i don't know why the game freeze il try to run it thanks for the feedback !
@elektroney Thanks :D
I have become a fan of your pixel art I really really wish I could draw like that.
Had the same bug two times, the asteroid got "stuck" at the spawn location of the ship causing me to die each new day. Otherwise fine idea.
It was pretty fun, movement was an interesting challenge, it's pretty rare to see space games actually use momentum. The health and hunger meter drained a bit fast. Hitting enemies seemed a little inconsistent, maybe more player feedback is needed for that.
@emkani I've just made a bug free version ! :D
@drkr Added something in the bug free version :)
hmm, the bug free version doesn't work for me, the mouse has the working icon for a bit, then nothing happens. Witholding my rating for now.
Interesting concept but the game seems a big buggy. I had 7 coins but couldn't buy Food 1 at one point, and eventually I ended up with negative money? it's not quite clear when you fail and what the punishment is either. Good idea, needs a bit of work.
@michael-gosling yes there is some bugs in the game. As I said, i coded everything with processing it's a lot of work to code everything from scratch, i'm aware of that bug i putted > i had to put a >= instead, I have to fix that. For the negative money I tried to explain how it works on the game presentation.
@galactic-chimp Sorry for that, you need to have the latest java version if you doesn't have it.
Nice, I always appreciate top-down space games. The theme felt kinda tacked on, but that's fine. I had some issues with the controls. They didn't really feel very intuitive somehow, I can't really explain it well. For example if you're fighting one-on-one against another ship that shoots at you: To not get hit at the same time, you had to fly perpendicular to the enemy ship and then aim at it, which means that you cannot change course anymore because giving thrust would again change your flight direction towards the enemy. Maybe I'm spoiled by twin-stick-shooter controls, but I missed that here :) The old "Astroid" way of making space games doesn't resonate much with me anymore. Side thrusts could make this easier. Basically a way to dodge enemy shots head on while still being able to have your own fire on them. It's playable the way you implemented it, it just feels like more work to me. The music was very soothing and nice. Great tune.
All in all, a nice little space shooter with a "save-your-son" instead of a upgrade-system.
I liked it, but on my screen it was hard to read
@ripp you can change the resolution in the settings menu
Cut.png
Análise...
1 - Mecânicas, Aprendizado e Fluxo: A mecânica de mirar para onde se deseja navegar, avançar ou afastar dessa direção, atirar, comprar suprimentos e combater outras espaçonaves é bastante interessante. A implementação deixou alguns pontos a desejar, a HUD não apareceu para o meu computador (vide imagem anteriormente colocada); isso me deixou muito às cegas na hora de jogar. Aprender a jogar em termos de atirar/sobreviver foi sendo ensinado aos poucos (creio que a parte de andar para trás tenha sido a parte que requer mais ensino). Para mim, o jogo começa de fora da tela (então eu creio que o ideal seria o personagem começar sempre no centro da tela, porque vai que o jogo corta parte da imagem (como aconteceu comigo)). Sobre usar clique para começar cada rodada de combates: creio que poderia ter um desenho do botão W ou algo assim, para ser uma forma alternativa de começar cada rodada. Não consegui aprender a usar o meu dinheiro (eu não tinha acesso a tal informação na minha tela, então ficou difícil). Eu consegui comprar o primeiro item da loja, e creio que meu dinheiro era muito usado para novas naves (quando eu não tinha naves inimigas para usar). Um pouco de retorno visual sobre "o que já comprou, o que consigo comprar agora, o que não tenho como comprar agora" seria bom; talvez circundando os itens da loja em contornos: preto, verde e vermelho (respectivamente) ou algo assim... Sobre o fluxo de jogo: como começava sempre fora da tela, sempre fiquei ansioso. Mas se começasse em outro posicionamento, provavelmente eu consideraria o fluxo de jogo desafiador (bem mais confortável do que está agora). Os inimigos possuem inteligências diversas, fiquei curioso para saber qual seria o terceiro tipo. Infelizmente o jogo não fecha com ALT+F4 (só com ESC), senti falta disso como comando básico. No menu, infelizmente também, não tem como retornar (apertar EXIT significava fechar o jogo por completo). Sobre o compactado do projeto vir com todas as versões: não sei se eu baixei o arquivo errado (seria bom se tivesse um link de download para cada).
2 - Gráficos, Áudio e Narrativa: Gostei muito dos gráficos utilizados, muito bonitos, simples e ajustados. Só não coincidiram totalmente os gráficos da loja (creio que seria um bom ponto de partida, em caso de continuidade do projeto), redesenhar. Os efeitos sonoros foram bem aplicados, ao meu ver. Seria uma boa (para o caso de trabalhar pós Ludum Dare) construir algo autoral com a mesma qualidade ou superior, incluindo trilhas sonoras e áudio dinâmico implementados. A narrativa não foi entregue dentro do jogo, então fica meio "solto" quando chega ao menu (creio que poderia ter uma introdução com letras subindo (tipo filmes de ficção científica etc), só para introduzir ao contexto narrativo, algo que pudesse ser acessado do menu principal e que pudesse ser pulado).
3 - Cultura: Ao meu ver, o jogo bebe de duas fontes culturais: cuidado pai-e-filho e ficção científica espacial (ou futurismo espacial). Nesse sentido, o jogo (se polido) pode se tornar uma boa peça de cruzamento entre esses dois (e possibilitar encontrar nicho em redes sociais).
4 - Monetização: Ao meu ver, com as devidas alterações, quem sabe com uma narrativa que mostre onde na galáxia ou sistema solar a base estaria... O jogo poderia vender inclusive no Steam. Seria questão de polimento, expansão e encontrar o nicho. ^^
Analisis...
1 - Mechanics, Learning and Flow: The mechanics of aiming where you want to navigate, move forward or away from that direction, shoot, buy supplies and fight other spaceships is quite interesting. The implementation left some points to be desired, the HUD did not appear for my computer (see image previously placed); it made me very blind when it came to playing. Learning to play in terms of shooting / surviving was being taught little by little (I think the backward part was the part that requires more teaching). For me, the game starts off the screen (so I think the ideal would be for the character to always start in the center of the screen, because the game will cut part of the image (as it happened to me)). About using click to start each round of combat: I think there could be a drawing of the W button or something, to be an alternative way to start each round. I couldn't learn to use my money (I didn't have access to that information on my screen, so it was difficult). I managed to buy the first item from the store, and I think my money was used a lot for new ships (when I had no enemy ships to use). A little visual feedback on "what I already bought, what I can buy now, what I can't buy now" would be good; perhaps surrounding the items in the store in outlines: black, green and red (respectively) or something ... About the game flow: as it always started off the screen, I was always anxious. But if I started in another position, I would probably find the game flow challenging (much more comfortable than it is now). The enemies have different intelligences, I was curious to know what the third type would be. Unfortunately the game does not close with ALT + F4 (only with ESC), I missed it as a basic command. Unfortunately, in the menu, there is no way to return (pressing EXIT meant closing the game completely). About the project's compressed version come with all versions: I don't know if I downloaded the wrong file (it would be good if I had a download link for each one).
2 - Graphics, Audio and Narrative: I really liked the graphics used, very beautiful, simple and adjusted. Only the store's graphics did not totally coincide (I think it would be a good starting point, in case of project continuity), redesign. The sound effects were well applied, in my view. It would be a good thing (in the case of working after Ludum Dare) to build something authorial with the same or better quality, including soundtracks and dynamic audio implemented. The narrative was not delivered within the game, so it gets a little "loose" when it comes to the menu (I think there could be an introduction with letters going up (like science fiction films, etc.), just to introduce the narrative context, something that could be accessed from the main menu and could be skipped).
3 - Culture: In my view, the game draws from two cultural sources: parent-child care and space science fiction (or space futurism). In this sense, the game (if polished) can become a good cross between these two (and make it possible to find a niche on social networks).
4 - Monetization: In my view, with the necessary changes, perhaps with a narrative that shows where in the galaxy or solar system the base would be ... The game could sell even on Steam. It would be a matter of polishing, expanding and finding the niche. ^^
This was a lot of fun! It was a hard game for sure, and I managed to get the shield, but that's all I could do. It definitely seems like the money you earn should increase over time, since buying surgery feels almost impossible with the slow income that's in the game right now, but otherwise I had a good time. Great work!