Starbeard: The Curse of the Space Whales follows a crew of space pirates in their journey across the stars. Seasick Dan, the powder monkey, forgot all the armaments except for a single harpoon. Now, trapped in a nebula and surrounded by vicious space whales, Starbeard and his crew will need to fight their way free with all they've got: just one harpoon.
Instructions:
WASD or Arrow Keys to move
Mouse to Aim / Left mouse to fire - your harpoon will bounce!
Mouse to aim projectile shield (when you have no harpoon)
Nice! Good sounds and music, and the gameplay mechanic was very smooth and interesting. Really like the gold turtles (which I think should give more points when they die) Got to 910.
I really liked the mechanic. I think the bouncing was especially good, and the sounds were just great! I think the game would be a little better with different art, but I also recognize that you were going for a certain art style. Overall, very good!
We had very similar ideas! You guys executed it extremely well. Pretty much everything is awesome. The jagged edges of the map to make the bounces more unpredictable is brilliant.
It's funny how we came up with similar game elements but took a very different approach to them. I really like some of the touches like using diagonal walls so the harpoon has a little more complex trajectory to it.
Amazingly well-designed concept, I love that once you've shot the harpoon you get shields to defend yourself. The movement is drifty but I'll forgive that since it is supposed to be space.
This definitely needs some polish and post-LD work! It would be a lot of fun as a fully realized game.
I guess I'm lucky getting this as my first "you only get one shot" game here. If all others are like this, then maybe the theme was OK after all. A small comment. For us with laptop + left handed right hand on WASD and left on mouse is a bit uncomfortable.
Very neat design. The game is very fresh and this universe ( space whale, pirate talks & stuff ) is fun. The harpoon mechanic could have became boring with time but you guys had this genius idea of non-flat border. I like the fact it's shaped like a treasure map.
The game still have rythm problem : You should autospawn monsters everytime the screen is empty. Clearing waves very fast is more secure but you also get those boring waiting time when nothing is on screen.
The difficulty curve itself is weird sometime there's huge jeelyfish spawn and sometime you have to wait 10 seconds on a blank screen to see a lonely whale pop.
I really like the interpretation of the theme. It's a fun twist on the shooter-in-a-box gameplay.
I'm rubbish at the game, but that's all my fault. Well, except for the bit where it's easy for whales to sometimes spawn right on top of you, but at least there's a little bit of warning there.
Game mechanics are really cool and fun. You can get really skilled at bouncing the harpoon and that is a big plus! Got to a score of 850 and died by a whale spawning very close. Easier to keep control of the harpoon by bouncing it horizontal as the sides are pretty much flat.
I LOVE the mechanic with how you have to pickup your bullet to shoot it again! Very nice! Graphics are clean and simple :) and music is a tad quiet, but it's good enough :) Sweet game!
Man, this is deceptively fun. At first I was like, "Well... ok this is a bit slow." THEN TURTLES SHOWED UP! HOLY CRAP THE STRATEGY WHEN YOU GET 3 OR 4 TURTLES ON THE SCREEN AND WAVES OF WHALES AND OCTOPUSESSSSESES!
The game is really fun, has a great difficulty curve and pacing, and the audio fits well. You have this crazy concept of a snowglobed space pirate boat shooting a huge harpoon that's bouncing around a scroll boundary hitting flying space whales and turtles with rotating shields. It's crazy as hell and I love it!
The only bad thing is the graphics don't really do match up with the rest of the experience. With some better art and some more polish this would be AMAZING. It's still awesome fun right now, though. GREAT ENTRY!
Like the mechanic of one bullet and the way the bullet bounces around the screen. This led to a lot of depth. Felt a bit sluggish and unresponsive at times but the core of the game is very interesting!
Comments68
Sounds, gameplay and graphics are absolutely beautiful
Overall, very good!
Great game! No comments, you are great guys!
It's funny how we came up with similar game elements but took a very different approach to them. I really like some of the touches like using diagonal walls so the harpoon has a little more complex trajectory to it.
This definitely needs some polish and post-LD work! It would be a lot of fun as a fully realized game.
I just love when it bounces in some weird way and gets triple kill.
The game still have rythm problem : You should autospawn monsters everytime the screen is empty. Clearing waves very fast is more secure but you also get those boring waiting time when nothing is on screen.
The difficulty curve itself is weird sometime there's huge jeelyfish spawn and sometime you have to wait 10 seconds on a blank screen to see a lonely whale pop.
I really like the interpretation of the theme. It's a fun twist on the shooter-in-a-box gameplay.
I'm rubbish at the game, but that's all my fault. Well, except for the bit where it's easy for whales to sometimes spawn right on top of you, but at least there's a little bit of warning there.
Thanks for playing my game, I've added controls tutorial at the top of the entry as to make it easier for other players in the future.
Good luck!
Graphics are clean and simple :) and music is a tad quiet, but it's good enough :)
Sweet game!
Great music and sound effects! I would love to see some powerups and alternative weapons.
The game is pretty fun and it's a really good one shot mechanic.
Side Note: Since you used Unity I suggest making a Linux build. The Web player does not work on Linux Machines.
The game's fun too play, though I'd like it if the ship was a bit faster or had less drag. As it is it feels a bit heavy.
The game is really fun, has a great difficulty curve and pacing, and the audio fits well. You have this crazy concept of a snowglobed space pirate boat shooting a huge harpoon that's bouncing around a scroll boundary hitting flying space whales and turtles with rotating shields. It's crazy as hell and I love it!
The only bad thing is the graphics don't really do match up with the rest of the experience. With some better art and some more polish this would be AMAZING. It's still awesome fun right now, though. GREAT ENTRY!
Well done.