TLDR: This is an RTS where you only can 'see' and control every 10 secs.
Hotkeys: M to move. K to attack (kill). P to patrol. H to halt. Click or press 1-4 to use the actions on the bottom. (Press Z to cheat and have full vision.)
Goal: Take over all the blue planets.
Attack planets to control them. Upgrade planets for more building spots.
At any construction location, you can build either a mine (Extractor), a military installation (Starport), or a research facility (Spire). Extractor: Gain ORE and make/improve Scouts (laser ships). Starport: Make/improve Battlecruisers (missile ships). Spire: Gain SCIENCE points and make/improve Overlords (bomb ships).
STORY: (Totally ran out of time on putting this in the game)
After endless research, humankind has just discovered Subspace Envelope Communication (SEC), finally obtaining FTL communication. Colonization and wealth reached new heights, but with great profits come great conflicts. Eventually tensions boiled over, resulting in what became known as the "10 SEC War".
The SEC technology uses subspace currents to transmit communication at FTL speeds. However, these currents are only periodic, allowing communication only briefly every 10 seconds. Normally, this is unimportant, but in war, every second matters.
If the start and stop gets annoying, you can play it on 'cheat' mode by pressing Z. This will let you see and control all units in real time like normal RTS's. The income will still be every 10 seconds.
Its uncommon to see an RTS in a Ludum Dare. The game is fine, but a bit difficult, maybe because I dont play RTS games usually. I detach the controls, are very well done. Good work, and have fun!
Interesting game, very hard, but I like it. I featured it in my Ludum Dare 27 video compilation, if you'd like to check it out :), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GZNeIKxvyg
I really liked the concept, but it was really hard/fast. I think the countdown bar should have been bigger, and selecting the individual buildings was pretty hard. I got owned by the AI pretty bad.
I am terrible at RTS games, and got wrecked by the AI. I'm sure bad players like me would have appreciate either an introduction to the mechanics, or a more gentle difficulty curve. There does appear to be quite a bit, mechanically, going on in this game, and I'm really impressed. The sprites are all also really nice.
I like the idea, but in practise it proves to be confusing and makes the game feel broken. Removing the ten second mechanic and polishing this outside of the contest would make for an interesting little RTS though.
Comments18
Good work, and have fun!
Well done overall.