*Updated to correct version! You can ignore my comment below.* *There were problems with the google docs download, so I also uploaded it to MediaFire. The dl link has changed to reflect the new upload.* *If you have issues running the game, and have not ever played an XNA game before, use this link to dl the framework: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=20914
WASD to move, left mouse to fire both turrets, z and x to fire them individually. GUI is pretty self explanatory. Black hole kills you, but get close to it for an energy recharge bonus. At 300 energy you are able to jump to lightspeed and win the game by escaping the black hole. Drones kill you. Moving and shooting use energy. Press m to mute the music while playing.
The idea of trying to conserve power, but doing anything uses it is a good idea, but I felt there was a lack of balance. Shooting and getting hit used waaaay too much energy compared to what I was getting from the black hole. After about 10 tries, I couldn't find a strategy that worked. The graphics left some ambiguity as to what the front of the ship was, and the enemies didn't really look like ships, more like boxes.
It's a really good idea, but the execution was lacking. I would definitely say keep working at it beyond the 48 hours though. Maybe add in some kind of upgrade system, and try to make the game progressively harder, as opposed to being as hard as it is upfront.
I'm glad you liked that, it was my main concept from the get go. And yes, I'm getting ready to write a post-mortem actually, with all the things I've done since the compo ended and the things that I plan to do. Also: I agree completely with your assessment of the difficulty. I ended up half-implementing a scaling difficulty system, but trashed later on. It is kind of telling that I have yet to manage to beat my own game...
As for the graphics, the ship was a definite brain-fart. The enemy ships were supposed to be akin to Borg, I called them Drones.
The download link leads me to a google docs zip, and I don't want to download every file individually. Is there a better way? Could you upload to mediafire maybe?
That's very unfortunate! :( I'm working on a port to Unity, so I'll let you know when that happens.
D
dogbomb28 Aug 2011, 14:05
Tough old game. Could definitely do with some polish and work on ramping up the difficulty in stages. A greater variety of enemies, powerups and a nice "sucking" black hole effect and I could see this being rather popular. Nifty.
Oh no, another game built with XNA's "HiDef" profile. If you switch it to "Range" and provide a build like that, I will be able to try your game! (would try doing it myself from your source, but so far it's been a real pain trying to get people's games to compile)
Played it, love the idea, but balance is an issue. Generally I agree with what @wbobeirne said. I don't mind graphics and audio isn't that bad either (although after some time it can be a little frustrating). It's a fine entry!
I'll post when it's corrected.