UPDATE - Added Mac/Linux builds. Game is currently a bit awkward on a Mac if you don't have 3 mouse buttons though, sorry about that. I'll fix it at some point.
The game places you in command of a lone starship hiding in a nebula with 5 enemy ships. You have to find them using probes, which can scan over a short range. If the probe picks up emissions from an enemy ship it will mark the direction the emissions came from (it should only take 3-4 of these to triangulate the ship's position). If an enemy ship falls within the probes inner-radius it's exact position will be marked on the grid. Once you think you know where a ship is lurking you can destroy it with torpedoes.
I didn't get as far as I'd like with it. Enemy ships don't have AI and are essentially sitting ducks. The scanner is probably a little too precise, I think some sort of analogue waveform readout with more ambiguity would work better, just didn't get a chance to try it. Torpedoes can be customised by allocating power between speed and yield, though admittedly this doesn't affect the game as much as I'd planned.
Controls Left Mouse Button : Fire probe/torpedo Right Mouse Button : Rotate the camera Middle Mouse Button : Pan the camera
Excellent work. This is placing in my top 10 entries so far! :) great job. Add a splash screen with that art from twitter and you have yourself a hit! Top marks for mood and audio from me. It would be great to have an option to turn off the grid too.
Love the graphics—surprised you’re not asking to be judged on those, it’d be an immediate five-star. Gameplay is fun if a little slow. Good audio as well, very spacey.
Mahalis - Thanks! I disqualified myself from the graphics category because I borrowed some assets from another game I'm working on, it's my understanding that you're only supposed to use assets created during the jam if you want them to be judged.
Okay... you're doing a game with fantastic gfx... and you won't get the benefits of it :D Okay... I understand your point... Gameplay is cool... a little to slow for my taste... Well the mood is the next best category and you'll get the bonus point on it that would have been at the gfx ;) Nice work!
Beautiful game! Sometimes the probes missed their destination and kept flying forever (you're probably doing a distance check? I was getting a fairly low framerate). It was also sometimes hard to make out things in the back reaches of the screen at my resolution.
Would have been 5 * 5 (all except theme) if there were any "real" enemies. The game shows lots of potential, but in the end its pointless at the moment. Still a great prototype :) Like others said, the graphics are great and I liked the sound, too. I haven't seen the Gameplay ever before, so thats the 5 stars for innovation. (although it reminds me of Battleships somehow)
The art is nice and sits well with me and the audio isn't too bad. It would become really cool game if everyone could move and have some kind of failure state (which would it make more of game). Also I would love to have some kind of explanation about the controls (why do I need 3-mouse buttons? It worked fine with my touchpad)
PS: Next time make downloading a bit more a simple process since this already counts as a first impression. And asking for money when we just want to try to play the game... well... it didn't sit well with me. But enough rambling.
The game mechanics are well implemented. It's not the most intuitive but it works fine. It's currently a bit difficult to evaluate the game without any kind of opponents but it does look good and could be promising => staring at a map, scanning around, planning torpedo, etc. I do felt like a bad ass commander for a minute. Good luck if you plan to work more on the project.
Very stylish. Quality of art is one of the best that I ever seen on this LD. I like clear and understandable gameplay, but little bit boring without challange.
Neat entry. I was only able to find one enemy, and the game had a bit of trouble staying at a consistent framerate for me. Loved the visuals, audio was solid although the probe could be a bit more dynamic!
That's pretty. The sound is cool and the work is nicely done. I do not know if I have understood well the game itself, I have just won two games and I've never been under attack.
(Just read the description and saw that I was normal)
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ViliX6411 Dec 2014, 15:17
One of the best visuals I've seen in this LD :)
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voxel11 Dec 2014, 15:23
This is exceptionally well presented. It looks, sounds and even tastes great. A pity you didn't get to finish it as it has the mood and makings of happy fun space times
Cool concept! Wish everything moved a bit faster, or maybe making multitasking (like sending out probes while torpedoes were in flight) a bit more meaningful/useful could be cool too. Nice work.
Neat concept! I Included it in part 15 of my Ludum Dare 31 compilation video series, if you would like to check it out :) http://youtu.be/feGcEIoOFjA
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SK16 Games28 Dec 2014, 01:18
You really get that atmosphere, with the impressive graphics and music :) There could be more "things to do" though and it could be a little faster, but great entry!
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Very clever design and art is sweeeeeeet
The mood is awesome, and game is great. I'll take some time to play it more these days !
Nice job :)
Like others said, the graphics are great and I liked the sound, too. I haven't seen the Gameplay ever before, so thats the 5 stars for innovation. (although it reminds me of Battleships somehow)
Very pretty game!
PS: Next time make downloading a bit more a simple process since this already counts as a first impression. And asking for money when we just want to try to play the game... well... it didn't sit well with me. But enough rambling.
Only caveat: LD Theme was not met entirely.
Too bad the enemies don't search for you and shoot back.
Would have really enjoyed a great pace though and maybe a little time pressure?
It's a little too slow the peace of the game but quite an interesting experience!
Well done!