Star Skipper
This game is from ldjam.com, which is currently unavailable.
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__Skillfully dodge dangerous stars,
as the nothingness of space is forcing you to keep moving__ _(side-scrolling)_.
Evaded stars will not leave you alone though, they will silently stick themselves
to the left side of the screen, patiently waiting for the player to make a mistake;
ever so slightly, they will fill up your playing area, __reducing your space__.
This was our third LudumDare game jam experience.
---
Of course, you can also just use your mouse to select menu options.
The jam version, which you can download below, has ...
- unfinished and missing artwork
_(all menus use the same title texture, including the main menu)_,
- a short and simple audio track,
- and generally the settings have not been tweaked enough
_(movement, velocities, gravity, ...)_.
The one level you have in the game, was still being designed and made __about half an hour past the deadline.__
So we are definitely planning on adding more, better designed levels in the post-jam version.
I had a lot of performance issues during development _(Ruby might not be the best pick for game dev :) )_,
so I'm hoping to improve that and decrease the cost of certain operations _(I'm looking at you, quadtrees!)_,
for the post-jam version.
The [Gosu][gosu] graphics library that I'm using with [my framework][framework], has built-in gamepad support, our jam game does not.
I already have a build of the game with working gamepad controls, and it's kinda nice to have for a platformer.
So you will definitely be able to use a controller with the post-jam version.
_(I use an xbox 360 controller, not sure how it will work with others)_
The [level-editor][level-editor], that we used for the game, is also a very hackily modified version
of a level-editor from a previous project.
I would like to improve it for the post-jam version.
In the future, I would love to start working on a proper, generic, 2D level-editor,
with enough customizability for the user, so they can export the level data JSON in whatever structure they want.
If you want to see any other planned post-jam version features and changes in more detail,
be sure to check out our [trello board][trello].
If you have any other ideas / suggestions, leave them in the comments and I'll make sure to consider them!
@[NoahRosenzweig][twitter]
I'm trying to be more socially active, events such as this one help a lot with that!
While I'm talking about social stuff, I want to thank all of you awesome game developers,
that make up this amazing LudumDare community. Everybody is so genuine and honest, and
almost always nice and polite. Giving and receiving feedback is such a pleasant experience!
Thanks to all of you for being awesome! I hope you had a blast making and releasing your games!
Have fun playing games!
[framework]: https://github.com/Noah2610/AdventureRL
[ocra]: https://github.com/larsch/ocra
[github]: https://github.com/Noah2610/LD42
[gosu]: https://www.libgosu.org/ruby.html
[level-editor]: https://github.com/Noah2610/LD42/tree/ld42-v2/level-editor
[trello]: https://trello.com/b/ZriwhQoj
[twitter]: https://twitter.com/NoahRosenzweig
as the nothingness of space is forcing you to keep moving__ _(side-scrolling)_.
Evaded stars will not leave you alone though, they will silently stick themselves
to the left side of the screen, patiently waiting for the player to make a mistake;
ever so slightly, they will fill up your playing area, __reducing your space__.
This was our third LudumDare game jam experience.
---
Controls
_(__Bold__ keys are recommended)_| Valid Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| __In-game:__ | |
| __A__, Left-Arrow, H | Move __left__ |
| __D__, Right-Arrow, L | Move __right__ |
| __K__, Space, W, Up-Arrow | __Jump__ |
| P, Escape | Pause game |
| M | Toggle music |
| __In-menu(s):__ | |
| Enter, Space | Select the first menu option _(any menu)_ |
| Escape, Q | Back to main menu or quit game _(any menu)_ |
| P, Enter, Space | Continue _(pause menu)_ |
Of course, you can also just use your mouse to select menu options.
Post-Jam Version
We are planning on releasing a post-jam version of the game in the upcoming weeks.The jam version, which you can download below, has ...
- unfinished and missing artwork
_(all menus use the same title texture, including the main menu)_,
- a short and simple audio track,
- and generally the settings have not been tweaked enough
_(movement, velocities, gravity, ...)_.
The one level you have in the game, was still being designed and made __about half an hour past the deadline.__
So we are definitely planning on adding more, better designed levels in the post-jam version.
I had a lot of performance issues during development _(Ruby might not be the best pick for game dev :) )_,
so I'm hoping to improve that and decrease the cost of certain operations _(I'm looking at you, quadtrees!)_,
for the post-jam version.
The [Gosu][gosu] graphics library that I'm using with [my framework][framework], has built-in gamepad support, our jam game does not.
I already have a build of the game with working gamepad controls, and it's kinda nice to have for a platformer.
So you will definitely be able to use a controller with the post-jam version.
_(I use an xbox 360 controller, not sure how it will work with others)_
The [level-editor][level-editor], that we used for the game, is also a very hackily modified version
of a level-editor from a previous project.
I would like to improve it for the post-jam version.
In the future, I would love to start working on a proper, generic, 2D level-editor,
with enough customizability for the user, so they can export the level data JSON in whatever structure they want.
If you want to see any other planned post-jam version features and changes in more detail,
be sure to check out our [trello board][trello].
If you have any other ideas / suggestions, leave them in the comments and I'll make sure to consider them!
Tools Used
| Type | Tool |
|---|---|
| Language | Ruby 2.5.1 |
| Framework | [My framework][framework], made using [Gosu][gosu] |
| Level Editor | [Modified version of a JS Level Editor from a previous project][level-editor] |
| Executable Build Tool | [Ocra][ocra] gem |
| Editor | Vim |
| Version Control | Git _on_ [Github][github] |
| Graphics | Gimp |
| Audio | LMMS |
| Task Management | [Trello][trello] |
Credits
| Person | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| @hoichael | Artwork, music, gameplay concept |
| @noahro | Coding |
Social
In case you're interested, here's my Twitter.@[NoahRosenzweig][twitter]
I'm trying to be more socially active, events such as this one help a lot with that!
While I'm talking about social stuff, I want to thank all of you awesome game developers,
that make up this amazing LudumDare community. Everybody is so genuine and honest, and
almost always nice and polite. Giving and receiving feedback is such a pleasant experience!
Thanks to all of you for being awesome! I hope you had a blast making and releasing your games!
Have fun playing games!
[framework]: https://github.com/Noah2610/AdventureRL
[ocra]: https://github.com/larsch/ocra
[github]: https://github.com/Noah2610/LD42
[gosu]: https://www.libgosu.org/ruby.html
[level-editor]: https://github.com/Noah2610/LD42/tree/ld42-v2/level-editor
[trello]: https://trello.com/b/ZriwhQoj
[twitter]: https://twitter.com/NoahRosenzweig