The Kessler Problem

by catbutt
co-authored: @sauski
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.92
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.96
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.26
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.95
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.81
Earth's orbit is filling up! Some might say we're literally ...running out of space...

Your objective is to put as many satellites as possible into orbit whilst avoiding collisions.

Your performance is scored on how many satellites you can get orbiting at once. See how you compare to everyone else who has played on the online scoreboard!


Controls:

[A][D] for changing the direction to send your satellite into orbit.

[Left Click] and grab will move the camera around earth (arrow keys also function as camera movement).

[Mouse Scroll] T​o Zoom.

Hold [Space] to increase launch power (how large of an orbit your satellite will have).

Release [Space] to launch.

[F] Toggle display of Satellite Trajectories

Tips & Tricks:

Satellites orbiting at the same height will have the same speed, and orbital period.

Holding Space past maximum launch power will start to decrease launch power.

There is a 2 second cool-down on launching satellites

screenshot

Comments53

alexkarate
alexkarate13 Aug 2018, 13:41
There are no download links?
Mormert
Mormert13 Aug 2018, 13:48
Please upload game download links :)
Sauski13 Aug 2018, 13:57
Download links added!
Sthor726
Sthor72613 Aug 2018, 21:18
Great work! Loved the music and visual effects. really cool.
Amba14 Aug 2018, 01:00
Loved the reference to the Kessler Syndrome. Very atmospheric and good respect to the theme too!

Also, high scores are nice.
jackw89914 Aug 2018, 01:17
Really enjoyed the game! Music and graphics were great and the gameplay although simple was very fun! I have no idea how anybody managed to get a score of 46 though! 4.5/5 overall for me!
Sauski14 Aug 2018, 02:44
@jackw899 Patience and careful launch power are the keys to success!
CraigDuth14 Aug 2018, 02:44
High scores were a nice surprise. Felt pretty lost until I saw that you could enabled the trajectories. Fun game overall!
Jan
Jan14 Aug 2018, 02:54
Very nicely done!
MrSerp
MrSerp14 Aug 2018, 02:56
Great work! As a physicist myself, I'm glad someone implemented something like this to fit the theme!
stellaryyan214 Aug 2018, 02:58
Really impressive. The game is with Zen state of mind.
You should open audio rating, because the music is great.
Game tips:first lauch satellites to the highest orbit.
Sauski14 Aug 2018, 03:18
@mrserp Thanks! Our initial plan was to have more elliptic orbits with varying eccentricity, but we struggled to calculate the correct periapsis and eccentricity from the launch parameters. We could do it confining the launch to a single plane but that seemed limiting, so circular orbits it is!
Gus the Shark
Gus the Shark14 Aug 2018, 04:36
Really cool graphics and atmosphere, pun not intended. The music gives it a nice mood. It gets a little disorienting when the catapult is on the other side of the planet. I know you can rotate with the mouse but I wish there was some option to make the camera follow the orbit. Also, the objectives are not very clear at the beginning, it seems more like a simulator than a game at first. Really nice work!
Lexyvil
Lexyvil14 Aug 2018, 05:20
Second place with a score of 47! Very original game, and it really fits the theme too. There's a lot of replayability when it comes to figuring out the best distance and angles to avoid collisions.
drnoir
drnoir14 Aug 2018, 05:36
I really loved this, couldn't get past 10 but didn't want to stop trying, streamed it on twitch will send link once its up on YouTube
Judy Kim14 Aug 2018, 05:41
I watched the promo vid (don't have Windows to download the game) and it feels super sophisticated and clean, an interesting contrast to the playful weird vibes that a lot of game jam entries seem to have! A unique and strong mood :)
Kayla14 Aug 2018, 05:42
Brilliant little game. Love that you're running out of space IN SPACE! Feels great, super responsive and smooth. I didn't place very high but oh well. I'll just have to keep trying. Loved the catapult by the way haha.
_Kassjak_
_Kassjak_14 Aug 2018, 07:56
This is so awesome! I love playing space games like Kerbal Space Program, Universe Sandbox and this. I'm definitely gonna play this in the future!
huskitch14 Aug 2018, 10:13
Really love the idea, fun to play
SamuelDeboni14 Aug 2018, 14:03
Realy nice game, I'm play a loot of games like kesbal space program, and any kind of realistic-ish space games are wellcome
KapiteinKoekwous14 Aug 2018, 19:39
Such a great concept! Really well executed, bravo! The Game Over sound/effect startled me a little bit though XD
Teelin14 Aug 2018, 20:47
Wow, really nice game. Its a nice simple game for playing to take up time would love to see it on mobile think it would be great. looks really nice and plays well. Well Done :smile:
HEXIEZ12315 Aug 2018, 02:30
Like the idea, but it could get tiring at times, this reminds me of Kerbal Space Program
Luis Giron
Luis Giron15 Aug 2018, 05:00
A relaxing and beautiful game, great entry! :smile:
erebus15 Aug 2018, 06:13
Great entry! Thanks for bringing it by the stream!
Jared York
Jared York15 Aug 2018, 06:27
Love the game! As a space/physics nerd, this is right up my alley. It really innovates on the idea of "running out of space". I doubt anyone thought of a game about satellites running out of space. Keep up the great work!
Pyjamaboy
Pyjamaboy15 Aug 2018, 08:06
Really fun game, i really like the trajectory view it really helped to play the game!
Sharky3188
Sharky318815 Aug 2018, 08:30
This is a cool entry, i had a similar idea through the jam, but ended with something else, so its cool to see someone else bring it to life.
Starts out simple and escalates quickly. I like how once you have a few satellites orbiting it actually becomes a game about dodging the others.
Atmosphere is nice, pretty relaxing and first, until it gets a bit crazy in space. Would be cool to see other types of satellites or asteroids etc.
Well done.
BustosMan
BustosMan15 Aug 2018, 08:50
A very good game, but probably add another mechanic or thing for the player to do. Nice graphics and maybe add more stars to the skybox.
nikasxirtla15 Aug 2018, 11:47
Very unique idea, greatly made with good graphics and music. Fits the theme very well!
MiracL
MiracL15 Aug 2018, 12:28
Very unique experience, the great and relaxing music, and the fact that there is a leaderboard makes me think that this is the best game of the jam that I've played so far. Excellent work
Crafty mine15 Aug 2018, 12:51
I really liked your style
And nice game concept
Good luck🍀
Dantho9515 Aug 2018, 13:22
Loved this game, this aesthetic, this graphics, this ambient music, this catapult, amazing. This is great game idea and execution is top notch.
KryStekku15 Aug 2018, 13:27
Unique. Great mechanics. Good work :)
matzetoni15 Aug 2018, 13:31
33 satellites :thumbsup: quite fun game. well done!
Devio
Devio15 Aug 2018, 14:12
Nice work, And you have even implemented a global leaderboard, Would have been nice to have different orbit line colours, as it can get difficult to tell different orbits apart. Simple audio, but what do you expect in space? Would have been nice to have some ambient ominous background noise.
LemADEC15 Aug 2018, 14:22
Simple and fun to play. Could use a different rendering for existing vs launching trajectories.
rEaX15 Aug 2018, 19:30
Actually a very fun game even though it is so simple to play. Perfect implementation of the theme. Good work. Very unique to see a working high score list! That made it much better.
By the way please delete my high score entry named "Imsorry". I was just having some "fun" with the game code.
Tannimun15 Aug 2018, 22:06
Highly addictive game! Played for maybe an hour?!
Nice graphics and great atmosphere. I liked how you could set speed and angle, as well as toggle trajectories.
I really got into planing and trying to figure out optimal strategies.
As of writing I'm second on the scoreboard, but I might get back tomorrow for another go, as I'm sure I can break into thr 3-digits.
Awezome job. Loved it!
Sauski15 Aug 2018, 23:16
@reax When you say fun with the code, I'm guessing you found our git repository :P Thanks for being honest, I've taken your score out.
designernap
designernap16 Aug 2018, 21:31
This is excellent. The best thing I have played so far! My first "top marks all round" too for this jam. Really impressed. Cool idea, well executed, feels great to play, scoreboard is a stroke of genius and just wow. Love this! Well done!
RyanJavanshir16 Aug 2018, 22:45
I really enjoyed this game. The mood was great and I love the trajectory trail.
ocekat317 Aug 2018, 21:04
great game, the music sounds like Universe Sandbox 2 music, and the explosion at the end scared me. i was only able to get 20 satellites, it's actually hard!
halomegames
halomegames18 Aug 2018, 09:14
Surprisingly polished and addictive!
God damn good job
Raktou18 Aug 2018, 19:53
Nice work with this game, the music, innovation and graphics are awesome!
Ryomayonnaise
Ryomayonnaise26 Aug 2018, 13:06
I had so much fun playing it ! 5 stars game !
Zicboy31 Aug 2018, 15:04
Awesome game! loved the energy and mood of this entry!
Shakedimus1 Sep 2018, 10:27
Very cool idea and it looks very good, with nice details like lighting on the dark parts of the earth, awesome job there! I really love these physics simulators but I think as a game it gets boring pretty fast and is very much luck based. I hope you use the physics and graphics you implemented to make something which has a bit more purpose.

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