As someone that misses base building RTS this is pretty sweet. Run well, the only thing I would say is that after the first big was in the second level I found it slowed down a little too much. Other then that I love it.
@Jod unfortunately my WebGL build is very slow for some reason... trying to fix that. Meanwhile there is a Win/Mac native, or you can try the WebPlayer in firefox.
I like the idea very much. Games like this are not common, 5/5 innovation! The weakest point would be the time it takes to get a room to move around another... if it hits something it loses all of it's force. Overall great game though.
Did the tutorial and couldn't figure out how this was going to be fun. But then played the first actual level with the timers, boy was that stressful and fun! Good job!
Great challenging game. Sadly I lost many because too many pods spawned at the same time. Would have been better to leave option to open/close airlocks out of the game, because it's not needed.
Definitely feels like it wants to grow / be developed further, but this is a great little prototype! FTL (or Space Colony) + Tetris is a fun concept, and the drag/snap controls work well.
Minor complaint: I wish the arrow keys doubled for WASD for moving the view around.
As other people have commented, this is a REALLY cool idea, and quite a bit of fun! It feel polished in graphics and interface (I especially liked the little indicator/gizmo for showing which chunk is going to which space). However, there are a few nitpicks:
-The pods had way too much momentum, and I found myself getting frustrated when a pod just wouldn't do what I wanted it to in time and died as a result.
-Similarly, I think basic pathing would do wonders for this game. Having to navigate pods manually around corners, in combination with their slow acceleration, was extremely annoying.
-Audio could have been better used to cue when pods were close to death. The "new pod" sound could have been more noticeable.
-Some more visual cues about when a pod is connected and how close a pod is to death would have been cool. Think something like the redness in FTL to indicate no oxygen.
These are fairly minor things, though (besides the momentum/acceleration issue), and overall this game is just fantastic. Great work creating something truly fun and interesting.
I loved this. I loved the inertia to the pods, I liked the little people jostling around, and the tension of the timer as it ticked down just a few metres from docking. Great work!
C
Cake_Catastrophe20 Dec 2015, 22:35
Nice game! Found it a bit too hard when loads of stuff spawned at the same time, but the concept is really neat. Music and visual system create a great atmosphere.
Everything was perfectly fit together, just like a nice working rescue. Premise, Controls, Visuals (I liked how the little people dots bounced around), difficulty. I only wish the second level would have ended with no more pods appearing and a proper ending instead of a dialog that forces me to quit the level. There was one with only 30 seconds of life support left!
Further awesomeness improvement ideas if you ever make this into a full game: * Undocking if all doors are closed, so I can rebuild in case I accidentally covered all ports in one direction and can't find a pod that provides them. * The stopping was weird. When I said "move there" while they still moved, they slowly changed direction. When they reached a destination, they just stopped even in mid space. This was very annoying when I needed to move a pod to the other side of the station quickly. I think the more unrealistic version of "stop when direction changes" would make the best game here. Alternatively increase acceleration and add proper breaking to normal stops.
Growing Theme nicely fit. Tetris as space station builder. How awesome is this!? 5 Stars, really wanted to play more of this. It felt very polished, only needed more levels.
Very interesting game play. I would prefer to be able to see a bit further. I had to scroll around so much it made me loose overview, also I got slight motion sickness.
This was very unique. Great Job! I do wish I could rotate the pods a bit. (Also one of the export options includes "no context menu" so when you right-click the menu doesn't show up. At least it used to have it.
Fantastic work! I really felt compelled to save these little squared from suffocation. It has potential for expansion, perhaps with pods that have various functional benefits. Thanks for the game!
Gorgeous! This has to be one of the most inventive games I've played this Dare, and slapping base sections together is just so much fun!
I see a few people commenting that they'd want the pods to move faster, but personally I really enjoyed the feeling of ordering them to build up momentum while I went to handle something else. I would like to see pods snap a bit easier when you push them together, but otherwise I really enjoyed it!
The only letdown for me was the music, which is a bit harsh around the edges, and a little short. Thankfully, you remembered to include a mute button, so I didn't have to let that bother me.
This was fantastic. I like how the first level was giving you the basics and teaching you what to do and that second level realllyyy amped things up. Very good job. I wish there were more levels!
I like the concept a lot and could definitely see this on a mobile device but the slow space physics kind of makes some of the levels impossible to pass.
Thanks for leaving a rating and commenting on my game! I included your game in an episode of my Let's Play Ludum Dare 34 series to show my gratitude! :D
Was very confused at first, but after frantically clicking everything I finally saw what I had to do. Thank you for putting in that mute music button, that was highly appreciated. I like the gameplay about connecting the pods to grow a space-ship, but moving them around was very tiresome. It was annoying that the pods move so slow and I can't set waypoints to navigate them around the ship or around each other, and I always tried to move the camera with the arrow keys.
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blubberquark4 Jan 2016, 17:12
Linux version is broken, and Wine .exe does not show text i think. Don't know but feel there should be text there. -bob
Comments41
+ Very interesting concept
+ Very innovative
+ Cool graphics and sound
Con:
- Pods moved a bit slow
Obs:
o I didn't understand what the summon pod and close and open airlock really do
Awesome job!
The pod movement was a bit slow, and the lack of real pathing on them made things a bit frustrating.
I enjoyed this game a lot - if the movement & pacing were tightened up a bit, there's the makings of a really innovate RTS here.
But then played the first actual level with the timers, boy was that stressful and fun! Good job!
It only needs a little tutorial but the player figures out pretty quick how to play ;)
Minor complaint: I wish the arrow keys doubled for WASD for moving the view around.
All in all, nice work!
-The pods had way too much momentum, and I found myself getting frustrated when a pod just wouldn't do what I wanted it to in time and died as a result.
-Similarly, I think basic pathing would do wonders for this game. Having to navigate pods manually around corners, in combination with their slow acceleration, was extremely annoying.
-Audio could have been better used to cue when pods were close to death. The "new pod" sound could have been more noticeable.
-Some more visual cues about when a pod is connected and how close a pod is to death would have been cool. Think something like the redness in FTL to indicate no oxygen.
These are fairly minor things, though (besides the momentum/acceleration issue), and overall this game is just fantastic. Great work creating something truly fun and interesting.
Everything was perfectly fit together, just like a nice working rescue. Premise, Controls, Visuals (I liked how the little people dots bounced around), difficulty. I only wish the second level would have ended with no more pods appearing and a proper ending instead of a dialog that forces me to quit the level. There was one with only 30 seconds of life support left!
Further awesomeness improvement ideas if you ever make this into a full game:
* Undocking if all doors are closed, so I can rebuild in case I accidentally covered all ports in one direction and can't find a pod that provides them.
* The stopping was weird. When I said "move there" while they still moved, they slowly changed direction. When they reached a destination, they just stopped even in mid space. This was very annoying when I needed to move a pod to the other side of the station quickly. I think the more unrealistic version of "stop when direction changes" would make the best game here. Alternatively increase acceleration and add proper breaking to normal stops.
It has potential for expansion, perhaps with pods that have various functional benefits.
Thanks for the game!
I see a few people commenting that they'd want the pods to move faster, but personally I really enjoyed the feeling of ordering them to build up momentum while I went to handle something else. I would like to see pods snap a bit easier when you push them together, but otherwise I really enjoyed it!
The only letdown for me was the music, which is a bit harsh around the edges, and a little short. Thankfully, you remembered to include a mute button, so I didn't have to let that bother me.
Below is a link to the post with details, and you can find out my opinion of your game in the video as I play!
http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/01/02/lets-play-ludum-dare-34-episode-5/
Thank you for putting in that mute music button, that was highly appreciated.
I like the gameplay about connecting the pods to grow a space-ship, but moving them around was very tiresome.
It was annoying that the pods move so slow and I can't set waypoints to navigate them around the ship or around each other, and I always tried to move the camera with the arrow keys.
The pods move too slowly, though (too much momentum), and there could be more variety.