digital-bacon 2023-10-03 04:01
**NOTE:** Please, please, please: if you rate my game, please leave a comment so I can go and rate yours! :smiley:
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD54 → Space Trucks
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 836 | 3.25 | 64 | |
| Fun | 903 | 2.98 | 64 | |
| Innovation | 962 | 2.80 | 64 | |
| Theme | 377 | 3.91 | 64 | |
| Graphics | 652 | 3.46 | 64 | |
| Audio | 221 | 3.76 | 63 | |
| Humor | 778 | 2.44 | 60 | |
| Mood | 845 | 3.16 | 63 |
**NOTE:** Please, please, please: if you rate my game, please leave a comment so I can go and rate yours! :smiley:
What a fun concept! I was jamming along to the soundtrack!
A nice cohesive entry! Easy to understand the mechanics. I will say I did not notice any difficulty scaling, the packages always came after 8.5 seconds. I'm sure it would have been a lot more fun if the difficulty did scale as you intended! The art and music are also nice :)
A fun little game! I think the difficulty might be bugged, though, as the packages always seemed to spawn with the same timer, whether or not I sent out trucks full or empty.
With so much time between packages, it was basically impossible to lose, but it's an interesting game concept! I'd be a lot of fun if future versions featured truck beds of different shapes, and maybe packages whose shapes were more dynamic than just squares--L shapes orother tetronimos might make for some interesting packing puzzles
This one was really fun, I love the music and pixel art so much. If I had to change something, it would be the initial timer on boxes. I did find myself waiting around staring at the timer. Knowing if i sent some trucks away it would put me in negative $$. I'd like those first few boxes to come a little faster so I can fill more trucks!
The ability to have two or three trucks in the loading dock would be cool as well.
Loved this game though. 5/5
Thanks for all your comments!
@puppycat: Ironically enough, the soundtrack was the same that I used way back in my first jam, Ludum Dare 42 (with the theme *Running out of space*...).
@abdul-zakkar, @breadstick: I think the difficulty scales a bit too slowly. It starts out with a crate arriving every 10 seconds. After two trucks have been dispatched, it reduces the limit by 0.5 seconds. I usually start to struggle when the time between crates gets down to 2.5 seconds, but it does take a while to get there!
this was fun! only thing i can mention is really what's already been said, the time is definitely too high. the music is very well made and i'm always a sucker for small games with their own tunes.
audio design is something to mention also, the feedback for selling your cargo is great and the effect it has on motivation to keep going should not be understated!
I really enjoyed playing this game, it wasn't like all the other truck loading games it had its own unique twist with the way you put the boxes into the truck, the music went really well with the rest of the game and was really relaxing. The only thing I would change is the speed the boxes spawn at, no matter how many times I shipped the truck off it seemed like the box spawn time was still way too slow and was too easy to keep up with which added no real challenge to the game. Other than that I really enjoyed playing this game! Good job
Nice game! Have to agree with the initial package spawn rate, would have liked that much higher. Got to around $1100 before I stopped, and I did notice the timer going down but 4.5 seconds per package is still plenty to be way ahead of the timer. There was an interesting input bug: if you press up then right one almost right after the other, the cursor jumps. Threw me off a bit trying to have snappy inputs. Also would be neat if multiple packages spawn or there's multiple shaped packages besides the 2 (like all tetronimos, e.g.) - but I do know this is a game jam. Great sound/art. Good job
I feel like I could make a lot of money by following patterns, such as 2x smalls plus 2x bigs or 4x smalls plus 1x big.
Thanks for all the comments!
@doubley: yes, the timing of the crates needs fine tuning. I was thinking about multiple trucks, or being able to upgrade to a bigger truck and/or warehouse, but I was very careful about staying in scope and getting something finished.
@imontheweb: after a few games with no/minimal sound effects, and no music, I was determined to include it in this one.
@congeesetador: yes, the timing seems to be the main complaint with this game :rofl: it does get faster and more frantic the more trucks get dispatched, but the rate is waaaaay to slow (-0.5 seconds every two trucks).
@t-c: thanks for the bug report -- it's a side effect of how the input is coded, have to have a think about how to mitigate that. Different shaped packages were originally planned, but removed to reduce scope.
@bot-hopps: it's not clearly explained in the game, but you get $5 for each small crate, $25 for each large crate, and -$1 for each empty space on the truck when it dispatches. You get more money by using the larger crates, but they only reduce the used storage in the warehouse by one when you put them on the truck (as opposed to four small crates).
I'm glad we're not the only ones who looked at the prompt and went "limited space.... in the back of a truck? in space?" :smile:
Really well executed. A little slow for my liking, but it's a minor complaint. Otherwise, well done!
The music was nice. I really feel unchallenged though, even sending out trucks with just one parcel there's a lot of waiting in the game. Maybe some funny shaped crates come later but I only saw squares which also makes it a bit simple to stack.
Nice concept! But it seems the game takes too long to accelerate and the initial gameplay requires you to wait too long for a new box to appear. Otherwise it was a pleasure to play.
Nice game! It started off pretty slow and I just enjoyed the music and background. At some point I realised that I could let it fill up all the small cargo and only ship off big ones to scale faster. I scaled so fast I instantly died right away :laughing:
Interested to see what kind of shapes of cargo and trucks you can design as it gets more complicated, rather than increasing reaction speed.
That song is great, I was grooving to it while waiting for more crates to appear :grin:
I would've like some kind of progression. What do we get S$ for? I'd like to buy bigger trucks (as you mention in a comment), more storage space, maybe even get different contracts so you end up transporting new types of cargo with different shapes (imagine having to keep "human cargo" waiting in storage until a cryogenic truck shows up hahah)
But anyways, I'm just asking for more because I like the execution of this game. Great job!
I played it long enough to get to the speed ramping up and it becoming difficult enough that I did lose. I do see why people are saying that the speed is too slow though because it does take what feels to the player like a loooong time to notice an increase. I LOVE that you can play the game with one hand! That is always a big plus in my book ;P I would like to see a future version of the game where you can do something with the money you earn. Good entry!
I feel like the difficulty increases way too slowly. What can we do with the earned $? Not sure if there is a shop or something. Also maybe more cargo types could help (different shapes, tetris like).
Thanks for your comments!
@pax-lefay: *limited space* in the warehouse, *limited space* in the truck, working for a *limited* liability company ... in *space*. I reckon I should get triple score for theme :rofl:
@hierarch, @prox, @zircon332, @shidygames: speeds definitely a problem. I kept it slow for testing purposes, but completely forgot to ratchet it up for the final build. (In my defence, I had been awake for nearly 24 hours by that point.) There's only square crates in the game at the moment; trying to get weird shapes would have been a lot of extra work, and scope-creep has caught me out before, so I stuck to the squares so I wouldn't have to worry about rotation.
@edearth: glad you like the music, definitely caught myself dancing to it in my chair while I was working on it. The $$$ at the moment are just for score, but there's definitely room for some kind of shop, and I like your idea about certain cargoes needing a particular truck.
@mrs-wheelsx: I hadn't thought about playing in one-handed, but I've just tried it and you're right. I figured using WASD and the arrow keys for movement, and using the central space bar to do everything else would make it easier for left- and right-handed people. (Then I had to spoil it by using the Tab key to send the truck off.) It also has Xbox controller controls, but I haven't tested those so who knows if they work...?
Hmmmmm... this little game got me into a *flow* state pretty fast... I really like how smooth the controls were. I liked it. It's relaxing! The music gets you going, the objective is clear. My feedback points: - however many times I was pressing Tab, I didn't feel it get any harder/more difficult - this made it feel repetitive after the first 20 or so fill-ups onto a truck (maybe I am just too impatient) - maybe I needed something more to happen in the game / more types of blocks / something to tickle my brain more / some dirty twist :D I don't know; - maybe the truck storage skeleton could have been different with every truck - or getting more twisted (think tetris) - maybe the positioning of the parts you take could surprise you after each truck, etc.
Pretty *flow-y* start : ))) I would say. I would LOVE this developed with twists, please do :P
Thanks for the comment, @aweskybear!
- Yes, this has been pointed out a couple of times before :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Working on a v1.1 which starts with a crate already on the shelf, and the delay between crates reduces by 1 second after every truck load, which helps get it frantic a lot quicker :smiling_imp: - More blocks with different shapes is the next thing I want to get done... - ... as well as different trucks with different size/shaped cargo areas.
The game is fun but maybe it's too easy and take's too much time to get harder, anyway nice game dude👌
I don't seem to get any difficulty increase after sending some trucks away. But either way, it's nice simple game and fits the theme well.
The concept is great, however 95% of playtime is just waiting for a crate to pop! Not to mention the very cryptic economy system (why does sending out a single crate give you negative money? is it because there is a transportation cost and the money of 1 crate is too low to compensate? very cryptic!)
Nice job! I've reading some feedback and thinking, maybe the pace of the game could be more dynamic if there is no waiting time when you place a crate in the truck and before another crate appears. Also maybe you could display the next crate in the UI before it appears, that way you can anticipate your move. Music, sounds and sprites are great :grin:
Space trucks! That's a great idea if I ever saw one :grin:
The execution could use some improvement. The game really gets fun when it gets faster and more hectic. It's nice that it's slow at the start, as the player has time to read instructions and get familiar with the flow of things. But afterward, the difficulty just grows waaay too slowly. When there is around 7.5 seconds between crates, it feels like there is no change between trucks (even though there is, just too little) and you have to wait for quite a long time to get to the good stuff. So, I think that difficulty progression should be faster at the start, and then slow down a bit. So you can play a while, being kept on your toes by crates coming in fast, but not too fast yet to become impossible. A sweet spot, so to speak :smile:
I like the cute red truck and the sfx are solid.
Screenshot_5.jpg
interesting game, it's a pity that there is no joke about the type of boxes. nice music :)
Thanks for all your comments!
@crami, @bloodbane: :blush:
@fabula-rasa: I like your thoughts on the difficulty curve. It makes sense for the delay to be slow at first to let the player get used to the game, but then ramp up the difficulty quickly to make it more enjoyable/challenging. I'll have a play around with the timings, see if I can find the "sweet spot" you mentioned.
@gamedevtraum: I hadn't thought about having a preview of the next crate. It could be a help for the player on deciding how they're going to play, though since the crates turn up at random locations in the warehouse, it won't be a complete giveaway.
@wrong-timeline: yes, I didn't explain the costings very well. The small crates earn $5, the large crates $25, and an empty space loses you $1. So a completely empty truck will lose you -$10; with 1 crate, -$4 ($5 - $9); two small crates is the minimum load to make a profit ($10 - $8 = $2). I did think about putting in a "current value of load" UI item, but didn't get round to it.
Thanks for the comment @skel3ton! I did want to put in some kind of character to give the player instructions, with the possibility of adding some humour that way, but again: I was keeping a tight control on scope in order to finish something with a complete game loop.
fun idea, nice music and simple visuals. overall I found the difficulty ramp to be waaaaay to slow to keep my attention. I imagine this gets much more fun with the timing is a bit tighter, but I couldn't hang around long enough to get there. I was looking for signs that things were speeding up after each truck, but didn't see much.
Thanks @walaber! Yes, that seems to be the general consensus about the difficulty :rofl:
Was keen to play, but had some issues with the web window loading weirdly sized and not being able to see the game window properly no matter what I did. Didn't rate - but thought I'd let you know.
I really like the concept! I think a variety of tetris-shaped packages and different truck bed shapes would be a fun addition along with the increased difficulty ramp-up that others have mentioned. You nailed the sound effects and I'm definitely partial to the chill vibes :)
Hi @lachlan-james, if you play on itch.io, you should be able to scroll the embedded game window at the bottom-right and see the blue full-screen icon.
Nice fun and chill game! Love the music too!!
Thanks for the comments, @jkyd and @annabl-grant!
Thanks for including controls, many people (including me :P) forget this!
Fun game! The music is very groovy! It felt like the difficulty took a while to ramp up and it would be good if the box placing highlight remembered your position so you didn't have to move the cursor loads when placing boxes. Good stuff!
Way too slow and easy at the beginning. I skipped a bunch of trucks, because I didn't want to wait so much. Personally I think that around 3s between boxes was about right. I would have liked more interesting shapes as well (a tetris thing if you will). I found it a nice touch how the truck bumps with the beat.
Thanks for your comments!
@bongo227: it's a small thing, but it helps me when I'm playing other people's games, so I always try to put the controls in somewhere.
@acarc: I did try having it "remember" where the cursor last was, but ran into issues when the crate size changed,so I had it reset to the first position everytime. Might look into changing it to what you suggest.
@voidsay: yes, I think someone else pointed out the timing issue :grin: Glad you like the animation!
This was fun! I have to agree with the others that the difficulty curve is a bit off and in the beginning it feels like there's no change at all, but I did play long enough for it to kick in and failed miserably in getting my warehouse empty. :-D
I think everything fits very nicely together; the pixel art, the sounds and the music. Really great atmosphere and feel!
Great job!
(From the credits screen I understood that the music and the sound FX were not original work, so I didn't give a score for the audio here, but if I misunderstood, I'll happily add a rating for that as well. :-) )
I like the idea and the game works well! I think it could be better by giving several items at a time instead of one by one, so you have to quickly decide in what way you want to make them fit. Right now, you are just waiting for the next items and put them one by one, there aren't really any decision and it's only when there is too many crate at the same times that it get's harder, but then it's quickly too hard to follow, and still at that point you don't have to think, just getting faster at placing the boxes. Also having more complex shapes, like tetris shapes, and different shapes of trucks would be great, maybe also letting you remove from the truck if you did a mistake. It would be cool to have to like keep some small boxes around for a while so you can fit the larger ones right as they arrive, and then when you have too much you do a full truck of little ones. Anyway, it's a good entry and the basis is already there for a cool game! Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the comments!
@mikropiru: No, as shown in the credits, I got the music from opengameart.org, and the sound FX from freesound.org. I've always taken the attitude that audio isn't just about the quality of the individual sound FX and music, but also on how the audio is used (does the music fit? do the sounds happen at the right times?). YMMV.
@nusan: Thinking about it, having more than one crate show up at a time could make things ... interesting. I would like to have had time to implement different shapes, but :shrug: Different trucks (sizes and/or shapes of the cargo area) also had to be left on the altar of avoiding scope creep. I did think about being able to take things off the truck, but I thought it would be better to just send the truck off if you made a mistake.
The game is nice, but bery slow. waiting ten seconds between crates spawning makes the game boring fast. i would recommend making the initial time between crates like 5 seconds, and gradually lower down to like 2 or so. Art and music are great though!
Thanks for the comment, @redsti!
I came back! Thanks for the tip with maximising the window. I love the presentation of this thing - music and art are great - and the concept is solid too.
Unfortunately there's really not enough hype for it to be a huge amount of fun yet - the timer is incredibly long between boxes and it wasn't really clear what the challenge was, even after playing for some time. It would be good to have a clear objective around what my 'space bucks' were for as well.
Nice game! Difficulty scaling is too slow though, I played for more than ten minutes and then kind of got bored because loading was still very slow.
Thanks for the comments!
@lachlan-james: thanks for coming back and trying it again! Ideally, you could use the money to upgrade your truck and warehouse, but I've been caught out multiple times before in game jams trying to cram too much in, so I scaled back those plans.
@frank-gevaerts: Yes, at the rate the delay between crates decreases, the game doesn't start get challenging until the 20th truck! I've had multiple suggestions on how to improve that (speed up the rate of change, starting with a shorter delay, having multiple crates arrive at once).
nice gameplay with pixel art style, love it:)
Thanks, @dsk!
The game is interesting, it was quite nice to play it, keep working on it and everything will be cool
Thanks, @egormnc!
I wish the difficulty went up as you played, because I enjoyed the core mechanic! It just never seemed to speed up.
Thanks, @jelch! (It does speed up, but the rate of change is far too slow.)
With some more shapes and faster difficulty ramp - I could see this being pretty solid. The pixel art was really good and I liked the space theming.
Thanks, @keely-brown!
I don't have much to add from the other feedback and comments I've read above, but generally - good work! I actually liked that it didn't feel hectic at first, I'd enjoy having more variety though. Also, if you haven't seen it, there's a ridiculous and wonderful movie from the 90s called Space Truckers which is why I clicked into this game to play!
Thanks, @kristinamay! I haven't seen the movie, but after reading the plot summary on Wikipedia, I think I may have to hunt down a copy.
Same with the scaling comments. But overall really neat concept, I feel the mechanics and theme has good potential for being developed into a proper project.
Great game but it's too slow in the beginning, To fix this, you can add a mechanic where u can press a button to immediatlely recive the next crate if you want to speed things up.
Music is great too good job on that!
Thanks for the comments @sgtweirdo and @herman6006 (and I'll have a play around with that suggestion)!
I enjoyed this game. The music was nice and calming. If I could change something, I'd make the boxes appear a bit faster. Even after playing several times, it still seemed too slow, and the game wasn't very challenging. But, all in all, I had a great time playing. Good job!
Thanks, @tris-w!
The music is really cool and fun, it really livened up. I really liked it but after a while it gets repetitive, but I know that adding more things would take more time. I thought it was cool that the game started and the tutorial stayed there on the screen without needing to pause. I think it's cool to have games that start and teach you as the action progresses.
Thanks for the feedback, @lincolnsalles!
Really liked the music and the futuristic setting! Gameplaywise I have to say it was a bit too basic for me. Maybe at least having some other shapes than squares could make it a bit more interesting, but yeah there is just not much time in a jam :smile: But still liked the mood of the game!
Thanks, @oadt!
Despite the tight deadline, you still managed to make a great game. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, @dan-str!
Really nice game mechanics, awesome audio and lovely easy to read graphics, which is key for a game like this. Only real issue is that it takes a little while for the difficulty to kick in, but other than that, a really solid game! Fantastic work! ^-^
Solid entry. The space trucks was an interesting switch. The music was a bit repetitive though, and the difficulty was still too slow, not feeling challenging at all. Keep working on it, maybe adding a progression that is achievement based and not relying on time, and you'll have a banger there!
Thanks for the comments, @sinclairstrange and @saramartins!