FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD54 → Outta Space

Outta Space

By XpMonster and empyreans

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall9333.1233
Fun9462.9133
Innovation7053.1931
Theme6363.5333
Graphics4703.7733
Audio5373.1832
Humor3843.2630
Mood7133.3631

Comments

0xrainbow 2023-10-03 03:55

there are no links to play the game

thenerdster 2023-10-03 04:24

Where the game at bro?

empyreans 2023-10-03 08:17

@0xrainbow @thenerdster Apologies, for some reason LDJam seems to fail to upload any files from me. I added a link to the game now :)

*Uploaded Windows version. It doesn't like my VPN apparently

cloverfall 2023-10-03 09:28

Really cool game with really nice graphics. Found it funny that the computer had the health bar. Well done!

kinami 2023-10-03 10:08

Cool game! 😄

I liked how you can restart by physically pressing the power button on the screen!

It was a bit unclear to me what I should keep though. Sometimes I lost health for keeping things, sometimes for deleting things.

empyreans 2023-10-03 10:23

@kinami Thanks ^_^ When it will work correctly - you should always be able to delete Corrupted files. Sticky Notes are sorta quests. If you Delete what user likes - he'll hit the PC, or if you Keep what he doesn't want anymore. However it doesn't work due to a bug which I promise to fix later and make game actually fun to play.

bastienre4 2023-10-03 17:09

Nice entry, I love what you did with the graphics. Very nice take on the theme! :)

hermetix 2023-10-03 20:36

Funny game with cool retro computer aesthetics, Although I was not sure what to do as deleting files would stop at one point.

pixeltaku 2023-10-03 20:44

Neat idea, just unfortunate that you didn't have the time to polish. There didn't seem to be much indication on what the user wanted. The sticky notes didn't explain much imo. Graphics (aside from the AI art) are pretty neat and on theme. The user banging the computer is hilarious, too bad it's what you don't want to happen.

empyreans 2023-10-03 23:09

@hermetix @pixeltaku Thanks a lot :) Yes, these problems are known and I'll be working on a fix. There will be an overhaul gameplay and UX wise, cause I pretty much rushed the last hours trying to make the original idea work, but there just wasn't enough time so it fell flat.

I am incredibly glad that time invested into aesthetics paid off :rofl:

Sticky Notes are just filler-jokes and quests. I'll be sure to make the split between the two more apparent.

P.S. AI Art was a sad necessity, I spent last two hours assembling it all together along with SFX. PC banging noise is actually me hitting the table and I have more fun stuff coming in that department :smirk:

zach-rouhana 2023-10-04 03:29

Nice aesthetic, but not really fun. Really could have emphasized sticky notes more, but was still on theme

nullcode 2023-10-04 05:52

Reallly really good aesthetic (like some of the best graphics I've seen so far), good take on the on theme, sad that you weren't able to get it functional.

empyreans 2023-10-04 11:13

@zach-rouhana @nullcode Thanks much for playing! Just yesterday I made a plan for update focused entirely on making it work and make improvements all around (mainly UX). Hopefully I'll have time to get it done by the end of the week. I'll be sure to notify everyone who played when update is out :)

steffo 2023-10-04 16:47

Cool visuals, but I struggled to understand which files the user wanted to keep and which ones they wanted to delete...

diego-escalante 2023-10-05 03:59

Admittedly, I was pretty clueless about whether to delete or keep a lot of files. I like the aesthetic though! Having the game inside this fake computer that restarts and blue screen's makes it really immersive. Really cool and creative. Nice work!

utopia 2023-10-05 04:10

Really interesting. I didn't figure out what should delete or keep, it seems delete corrupted pictures will also lose health. But this is really a good game, with nice visual effect and story behind :P

donvermo 2023-10-05 04:32

Really like the game concept although it was kind of confusing how the pictures related to the post its? At some point I wasn't getting new files anymore, was that a game over? Liked the random smacking of the monitor.

he-li 2023-10-05 07:33

Great graphics and idea. Still it's little bit confusing about the controls, since sometimes it got stuck however key I press. Besides visual effects are just great!!

empyreans 2023-10-05 09:45

@diego-escalante @utopia @donvermo @he-li Thanks for feedback. About stuck keys and no image thing - I reckon that was due to the same bug that breaks the game. Workin' on it :sunglasses:

tetrergeru 2023-10-05 18:30

Nice idea and well done for a single person project! Hope you'll polish and release it later

empyreans 2023-10-06 13:49

https://twitter.com/EmpyreansX/status/1710282288112488944

Changelog for our major v2 update. Hopefully this Sunday :muscle: :coffee:

denzel 2023-10-10 19:27

Nice idea, simple and straightforward, the graphics are cool and the photos are lovely, would really love to read all those lifehack.doc !!

empyreans 2023-10-12 16:58

Update V2 is here!

It's now a proper game of attention and memory!

MENU + There is now MENU before the actual game. There you can browse user-favourite files - OuttaSpace (Start Game), Instructions (How to's), Credits (We who made the thing), Wallpapers (Switch Background Image), Loginswtch (Randomize username), Music (Toggle Music On/Off), X, Discord & Telegram (our links)

FILES + Filename now doesn't stand out from the rest of the text, because gameplay-wise it only really serves as additional visual cue. + SYSTEM files (you shouldn't delete any files that belong to it) + User Name and File Type texts have merged. It goes like "Image (Username)" now for better UX. + Files now show their date of creation (e.g. 05 June 1981). Year is quest related (see Sticky Notes). + Corrupted files have their image and contents distorted. That's the only way of knowing a file is corrupt. + Improved name randomizer

DRIVE + Drive max capacity upped to 40000 KB (think of all the doggo.pngs it can store?!!) + Drive can never be empty, because SYSTEM files also weight something and if you try to delete them - you'll crash the PC. So it should be impossible to get it under 4800 KB (exactly 12% of the total space) + Files are now actually saved on the drive. Files user downloads get in the queue and can be reviewed later. + When you lose, game doesn't just start over. You keep some downloaded files. About 37.5% of files you downloaded would be lost, about 12.5% of files you downloaded would become Corrupted. + If User can't download a file, would try searching for a file that would fit into the remaining space which saves from unnecessary loss of Health.

DIFFICULTY + Before gameplay begins it has a little loading time now + User will download files faster over time, so you have less and less time to make a decision, but it has a fair max limit. + Corrupted files appear often at first, but become more of a rarity over time. + Chance of Quest Note being replaced with Filler-Notes drops + With time more Quest Notes unlocked. Green & Blue Note Quests get more complicated. + Notes fall down faster and get replaced quicker + PC receives more damage from hits + If you don't play for a while - PC enters Sleep Mode (so basically Game Over)

CONTROLS + Game supports Mouse & Touch controls + You can now also use ENTER (to keep) and DEL (to delete) if you want to be more authentic. + Use Arrows for navigation in the MENU. + Use Enter to confirm your choice in the MENU. + Backspace to leave in Menu. + Mouse: Minimize button - "closes windows", but in OuttaSpace.exe applies a minor glitch FX unless your PC is already glitching. + Mouse: Restore Down button - applies a minor glitch FX unless your PC is already glitching. + Mouse: Close button - it closes any other window, but using it in OuttaSpace.exe would crash the PC.

STICKY NOTES (Quests) + Sticky Notes. Are put randomly only with filler-notes at first, but as time goes Quest Notes begin to appear. 1) Yellow Note - preserve files of specific type (Text / Image / Video / Music / Archive / Program). 2) Green Note - preserve files of specific format (e.g. "jpeg","txt" and so so on). Over time it would add even more formats (up to 3) 3) Blue Note - preserve files that begin with a specific letter (A-Z). Over time it would add even more letters to preserve (up to 3) 4) Red Note - preserve files of specific year (1975-1984) + User now actually puts new sticky notes instead of simply unrealistically rewriting them + Sticky Notes fall off after a random period of time.

ART & AUDIO ! AI Generated Images have been completely removed from the game ! + Game now uses pixel art icons for files. It makes PC look more aethentic and even improves performance - mainly game's loading time. + User panel now shows current Day & Month, but year stays fixed at 85. + Reworked UI for the Game which should make playing the game easier + Improvements to GlitchFX - now it's even more epic. + Darkness on edges of background image so it feels more immersive in Fullscreen + Added Music & more SFX

empyreans 2023-10-12 17:01

@0xrainbow @thenerdster @kinami @bastienre4 @hermetix @pixeltaku @zach-rouhana @nullcode @steffo @diego-escalante @utopia @donvermo @he-li @tetrergeru @denzel

Letting you all know that I have finally updated the game ^_^

It's a big step from what it was. Please check it out :heart:

empyreans 2023-10-12 22:27

Hotfix V2.1

I know I just released V2, but I noticed a few things I could quickly improve.

CHANGELOG + Downloading now also depends on file size (starts with only 0.01% and gets up to 0.1%). There is also fixed downloading rate (8 KB - 96 KB). So it gets quite fast in the late game. + Green & Blue Quests in their final difficulty get up to 4 files now instead of 3 before. + Tweaked Difficulty Scaling - Quests get more difficult slower + When first opening the game user would boot PC automatically after 8 seconds. Just to avoid confusion some players might have facing a black empty screen. + Fullscreen support for Desktop + Fixed a bug where user would/wouldn't hit file when meeting requirements of a Sticky Note Quest + Fixed random BSOD bug from deleting default files (at least I think I did, couldn't reproduce it any more)

*UPD. BSOD still might happen, I don't know why exactly. Will look into it again once rested. And seems like user still might not hit PC even when deleting Quest-related file.

empyreans 2023-10-17 14:00

Update v2.2

This is our last update for Ludum Dare 54, but we might update the game one last time in the future to add online highscores.

NEW

+ BIOS. You can now enter hidden settings when OS loads by clicking [B] button. There you can Toggle On/Off Music, SFX (only sounds PC makes) and Fullscreen. + Gamepad Support + Secret File!?? Has a very low one time chance of being downloaded. These cannot get deleted or corrupted. They will give a buff and change what OS writes when you lose. You have to collect 8 of those to "Win" the game, but you can continue playing as long as you like.

FIXES / TWEAKS + Improved support for Touch controls + Script Files now properly spawn + Little tweaks of difficulty scaling + Fixed. User now always properly responds to deleted quest-related files and Random BSOD on deletion of default files doesn't happen anymore.

tao-yuanyue 2023-10-17 17:35

I hope your game has a cover on this page, it would attract more players. I was playing the web version and got stuck in the settings, I restarted about three times, and I think it is a bug. The game control is easy to understand. I need to die a few more times to find out which files can't be deleted. I'm still not quite sure what users actually like. The concept of restarting with a computer reboot is really great!

empyreans 2023-10-17 18:06

@tao-yuanyue Thanks for feedback! I don't think it's a bug, you probably kept entering BIOS, because you pressed something. Maybe I should have limited it to a specific button :)

There are instructions you can read in the menu, that should clear out some confusion.

scarytreegames 2023-10-17 18:36

The concept of the game is cool, but it was difficult for me to understand which files can be deleted. It seems to that if you make the game more intuitive, it will become more popular!

tetracold 2023-10-17 19:37

I REALLY like the presentation of the game!! the graphics are amazing and it's really polished for the amount of time it was made in! all the attention to detail is so good! I love all the little options you can explore, very cool stuff!

On top of that I really like the integration of the theme! the gameplay loop is simple but it's pretty addictive, especially with all the requirements! I can see myself playing this for a while!

I felt like everything was intuitive and nothing was confusing or too overwhelming.

I really like what I played! Good job!!

evermoon 2023-10-17 19:46

Cool design maan!

empyreans 2023-10-17 19:50

@tetracold Thank you. This makes my day :heart:

dan-str 2023-10-17 19:54

the game is very interesting, I liked it, the idea is good, continue at the same pace and you will become more professional

patbgames 2023-10-17 21:04

Very nice graphics and atmosphere. I like everything, and particularly the post-its on the side of the screen. You should **add a link on the itch.io page to come back here**, I've lost my way and took some time to retrieve this page for rating. Moreover, if you add the tag "ludum dare 54" by editing your itch.io page, you will be categorized with other LD54 entries and a link to come here will be displayed at top right of your game page.

empyreans 2023-10-17 21:42

@patbgames Thank you for feedback! I didn't notice this option before somehow, but fixed it now! Thanks :)

lincolnsalles 2023-10-18 01:11

Aesthetics were really prioritized, which is very good. Very cool to restart the machine, very well done. I didn't figure out what to do, but I liked the look. I always fail to submit something in the jams because I start with the visuals and don't have time to implement all the code. But this time I sacrificed the look unfortunately, so I got it. I imagine playing games here on your computer, it would be really incredible. I love the idea of a game within a game. You could explore this, if you haven't and I didn't find it...

empyreans 2023-10-18 01:48

@lincolnsalles Glad you liked it! I seem to have the same problem which is kinda funny, because I'm a full time game designer and supposed to put game-design first :rofl: But when I am making my own games I just go with the creative flow and it's actually better this way 'cause otherwise I wouldn't probably even consider making something like this. Actually the whole idea of this game was born out of Glitch FX template I made a few years ago, I just felt the need to use it somehow and making PC game seemed like one of the good ways of going about it.

I may have plans to expand this game for the market in the future. So making some downloaded files functional would be one of the things on to-do list which could include mini-games within the computer as long as it makes some sense with the gameloop. We'll see!

abcdef65g 2023-10-18 08:06

The graphics look great, they definitely sell the PC experience! Even changing the options and restarting the PC were well integrated by the game aesthetics. I found the game loop interesting but confusing, it never seems to be clear which files should be kept or not! The sticky notes weren't much help either, haha. I like how the 'health' system keeps you on your toes to keep deleting stuff, even though the user's download rate is rather absurd!

The basic loop reminds me a bit of the game "Papers, Please", which made me think you could expand on this in the future by adding more information that the player needs to check on certain files, such as permissions, date created/modified, etc.

empyreans 2023-10-18 10:03

@abcdef65g Thanks for feedback! Actually Sticky Notes tell which files should be kept similar to what you described like - File Type, File Format, First Letter in a Name and Creation Year.