GravLoop

co-authored: @cammellocalypse
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.61
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.61
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.24
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.43
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.52
Audio★★★★★★★★★★3.58
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.54
Main (2).png
Builds hosted on https://wetransfer.com (I work there, so I promise it's safe!)

Bowie, the lost astronaut has crashed on an alien planet and finds himself trapped at the base of a pit.

Navigate towards the surface before getting trapped in a Gravity Loop. The Gravity on this planet is too much for Bowie to handle, so he uses his Gravity Disabler to weaken the planets pull.

Collect Fuel Upgrades to enhance your Jetpack which will allow you to fly to further heights. Also, collect Gravity Orbs to lengthen the time of your Gravity Disabler.

When your Gravity Disabler reaches zero, you will be pulled to the bottom of the pit, caught in a seemingly endless loop. Watch out for enemies, as they can scramble your jetpack's power source. Perhaps you can find a weapon to fend them off.

Keyboard Controls
+ A/D - Move Left/Right
+ Space - Shoot (when you acquire a weapon) / Select highlighted menu item.
+ W - Jump (Press a second time and hold to fly when you have fuel).
+ ESC - Pause Game

Gamepad Controls (Tested with PS4)
+ Left Joystick - Move Left/Right
+ R2 - Shoot (when you acquire a weapon)
+ X - Jump (Press a second time and hold to fly when you have fuel). / Select highlighted menu item.
+ Options - Pause Game

screenshot

Comments60

Valkija
Valkija5 Oct 2020, 23:08
Seems like fun! I love the jetpack flight, but it could use more fuel pickups or a quicker recharge, screwing up a jump can leave you sat still for a while awaiting a recharge!
AvatarGregglesauthor5 Oct 2020, 23:09
Thanks for your feedback Valkija!!
Charlotte Raymond6 Oct 2020, 02:46
Fun little game, the jetpack flight mechanics felt good. Agreed on wishing there were more recharge pickups though!
Bottini
Bottini6 Oct 2020, 03:33
It's a bit challenging, but I enjoyed the experienced, and as a musician I enjoyed the soundtrack too :)
Jvdwijk
Jvdwijk6 Oct 2020, 13:56
I liked it! It was a lot about trying to improve your own score. What I would like to see is a highscore counter, to see how far your best attempt was ^^
Duanra6 Oct 2020, 13:56
Nice game, looks good, cool soundtrack !
More recharge to pickup please, at least at the beggining :)
Adil6 Oct 2020, 15:42
Great job, I enjoy flying with jetpack and mechanics at all
Holtzzy2236 Oct 2020, 16:03
the jet pack was so fun! though a bit hard to get used to for me... overall fun stuff!
Kazatan
Kazatan6 Oct 2020, 16:04
Very nice game. I found the jetpack to be a tiny bit floaty - I would have liked a little bit more control at slow speeds because I hit a lot of platforms flying up. I almost made it to the top but kept running out of time by a few seconds so didn't quite finish it. I liked the fuel container mechanic and how that helped your progression. I think I would have preferred if the enemies meant you lost time instead of fuel though. It was very punishing - if I hit one enemy I knew I couldn't win and had to wait 20 seconds to start again.

Graphics, music and sound were good. A few more sound effects for the enemies would have been great.

Overall a nicely polished game, well done! :thumbsup:
superunknown6 Oct 2020, 16:05
Enjoyed it! Controls were nice...powerups provided good progression. Well done!
AvatarGregglesauthor6 Oct 2020, 16:22
Thanks so much for the detailed feedback @kazatan! We were definitley torn between damage to time or damage to gravity! So interesting to hear the feedback!

Also, everybody who commented so far, we really appreciate your feedback!
Finn_Tr6 Oct 2020, 16:44
Really cool and fun little game! The art and music is really good and gameplay was a bit challenging but fun. Very polished game. Well done!
Coding4rtist
Coding4rtist6 Oct 2020, 17:15
The game is vey funny, enjoyed it. Nice color palette and really cool musics!
Becher6 Oct 2020, 17:50
Game is fun, fuel mecanics realy change gameplay each loop! And the fact that you fall all at the end of the timer is realy interesting :) Maybe your mecanics are a bit rigid, for example, inertie in air is different when you fall and when you fly. then it's difficult to be precise. However, great game!
wujood
wujood6 Oct 2020, 18:19
Interessting idea! Good excecution and a fun game!
N8Dev
N8Dev6 Oct 2020, 18:19
This is nice! I enjoyed the music, and the graphics looked good. The game was fun, the next step would be to improve the camera movement, because when I jump, I can't see what's under me. Great job though!
netmute
netmute6 Oct 2020, 19:03
Loved the music, loved the space theme, but noooooo don't send me back to the bottom after 30s, so frustrating! :joy:

Nice game, would pummel to the ground again :thumbsup:
AvatarGregglesauthor6 Oct 2020, 19:07
@netmute Hahaha! Grab them orbs and you'll extend your time! With some gravity orbs and fuel, you can break the loop!! I beeeliiieeeeve in you! Hahah! Thanks so much for playing!!
Tom Stephenson
Tom Stephenson6 Oct 2020, 19:32
Frustratingly fun - The game feels solid! I like the music and the controls feel slick. I also really like the graphics! It's hard, but it certainly feels fair! This would make a great mobile game and I'd love to see a port on the play store if you decide to take it further post jam!

Congrats on a great entry!
wizard sino
wizard sino6 Oct 2020, 20:10
Fun game! I must complement the designs of the aliens. they really do look like something that would evolve on a high-gravity world... But your making their gravity weaker... no wonder their hostile! you're slowly killing them! You MONSTER! (Still, great game :) )
Orpartlu
Orpartlu6 Oct 2020, 20:12
I really like it! I played it now for 25 minutes. And I managed to get to the goal. (Okay I had also a personal goal - to get all time-bubbles). Nice idea and implementation!
AvatarGregglesauthor6 Oct 2020, 21:09
@wizard-sino what can we say, we had to let Bowie escape somehow! Hehe!

@orpartlu amazing!!!!! Love that you completed it! I saw your comment on the other post, ill make sure I share the source code with you! Do you want to see it tottallu raw or should I clean up? :p
MateusBoga
MateusBoga6 Oct 2020, 21:21
Damn this game is hard. I could not get to the end because of those flying enemies. They do not leave you alone no matter what.
Also apparently if you don't use the jetpack you can't "lose"?
The losing/falling mechanic was a bit strange, I didn't quite understand it.
Also that warning sound is really loud.
Other than that, nice game!
AvatarGregglesauthor6 Oct 2020, 21:24
@mateusboga thanks so much for the feedback! You pick up the gun you can shoot those enemies to get rid of em! 😁 and you can always lose! The countdown is a timer! The jetpack fuel is unrelated and just enables or disables flying! Really appreciate the feedback! We can work on making it more clear if we continue with it 🥰
Jenny Bourke
Jenny Bourke6 Oct 2020, 23:33
I really liked this game! It was a little challenging for me, and I wish the tips had bigger font sizes, because they were hard to read. Overall I had a ton of fun playing this and it was super compelling to try to beat!
Nikolai Shkurkin7 Oct 2020, 04:03
Wow I totally fell through the floor and am now at the bottom of some black abyss with little red balls occasionally raining down upon me :laughing: I had gotten the second fuel thing and then hit by an enemy mid-air. However, I love the little alien creatures and the sounds! :alien:
PatrickRMC
PatrickRMC7 Oct 2020, 13:41
Very cool game, I like the rotation the sprite has when using the jetpack, it adds that slight bit of polish that I really think looks good. Biggest issue for me is probably the controls, W to jump and space to shoot is a bit weird for me, especially for me that prefers to use arrow keys + Z X. But apart from that as pretty solid submission!
MikDionio7 Oct 2020, 13:42
I really liked this game, especially the progression and level design. One (very tiny) nitpick I have is I wish there were checkpoints earlier on in the game. I wasn't able to progress very far because it got pretty hard to get higher to the next fuel, but this might just be me being not very good at games :P
Nazorus
Nazorus7 Oct 2020, 13:45
I tried to play with an Xbox One controller and the mapping was: Left Stick to move, B to shoot, Right Stick "Click" to open the menu, and Start to shoot :grin: I ended up playing with the keyboard instead.

Pretty cool game, love me some jetpack action, and I like the kind of game where you unlock new abilities to be able to explore more area, the only issue I have is that it might be a bit too punishing when you run out of time. Also the scaling of the UI seemed strange, at least on the HTML5 version, the HUD was very large while the signs were so tiny they were hard to read.

In any case, the gameplay is pretty solid and satisfying, and it's a cool entry overall, good job :v:
Doot
Doot7 Oct 2020, 16:13
I really liked this one!

The core mechanic is great, the sense of progression you get at each loop comes in many forms: more fuel, level knowledge, less enemies, skill mastery... This is great, and the game is just short enough that it never becomes boring.
I really liked the music, it sets an ambiance just right. The sounds of green orbs was a bit too loud and annoying.
The art is nice, I did not like the colors but I think it is a matter of personal tastes. The soft gradient of the background is a very very nice touch.
The movement feeling was nice.

I did not understand what the enemies on the ground are supposed to do.
It felt weird that some orbs were placed under platforms, I understand this is a trade off between going fast or getting more time but it felt a bit wrong.

Thanks for the game it was very strongly executed 💕
BinarySpark
BinarySpark7 Oct 2020, 18:42
Cool core mechanic, achieving height is of course a reliable way to give the player a good sense of progression. Movement felt good in general, and the music was nice. Really nice work, I like it, keep going! :smile:

Consider giving the volume a bit of balancing (particularly the alarm sound was really loud), and I got stuck a few times because the flying enemies appear to take away both fuel and momentum, which may be a bit excessive punishment (because it can take away the player's chance to recover).
FallingFlatStudios
FallingFlatStudios7 Oct 2020, 18:43
Solid controls with a very fun mechanic the jetpack was my favorite part. Exellent Job keep up the good work.
Cedric867 Oct 2020, 18:51
This one is really fun. Music is also very good. Good job!
AvatarGregglesauthor7 Oct 2020, 19:15
Thank you all for such constructive feedback!
Gonzalol
Gonzalol8 Oct 2020, 08:58
Nice art. I like the jetpack flight.
zanzavar
zanzavar8 Oct 2020, 09:55
Beautiful art and jetpacks! (always satisfying) Cool level design and the core mechanic of time/fuel management works well. I would have preferred a little bit faster movement and smoother gravity. Great job!
kirroyal8 Oct 2020, 10:48
Nice little game! Very good work on the minimalistic mechanics. I didn't quite like the color palette but that's just my taste. Good take on the topic!
Artyom Volkov
Artyom Volkov8 Oct 2020, 16:04
Well polished arcade game, which can become an excellent mobile game if you add level generation and polish visuals further.
Somogy
Somogy8 Oct 2020, 18:59
Great game! Good job dudes!
Fatsheep
Fatsheep8 Oct 2020, 20:33
Played it live on https://www.twitch.tv/fatsheep__ Really enjoyed the concept of having to do multiple runs to get all the power ups, i wonder what the minimum amount of loops are, or if it's possible in one try!
AvatarGregglesauthor8 Oct 2020, 20:36
Thanks so much @fatsheep ! I managed to do it in 3 loops before! Thats as far as I have got 😅 thanks for playing!!
JavaSaurus
JavaSaurus8 Oct 2020, 22:30
Heya! Thanks for submitting your game to my stream twitch.tv/drjavasaurus. I had a great time playing it. Very nice concept and original take on the theme ! The game is challenging but fair. Maybe an additional audio queue would be nice, or have an extra element to draw attention to the pickup orbs. Well done, a solid entry !
Eugenik
Eugenik9 Oct 2020, 00:53
This was easily an ALL IN 5 STARS
Roolow
Roolow10 Oct 2020, 00:44
Nice design. A metroidvania in a straight line! The progression you make even though you restart prevents it from being frustrating. Well designed!
omnes ludos
omnes ludos10 Oct 2020, 01:38
It was funny, I like this game
Peace Of Cake Games
Peace Of Cake Games10 Oct 2020, 02:49
NOTE: Xbox controllers are frequently used with PCs, so I'll provide a control translation.

Left Stick: same

X: B button on Xbox controllers

R2: Right Trigger (RT)

Options: Press Right Stick
Peace Of Cake Games
Peace Of Cake Games15 Oct 2020, 20:16
Great job! It is a bit of a pain how the shooting enemies will be tens of thousands of pixels above the player and will still shoot and go towards you, so once you find the third jetpack fuel it's impossible to advance because of all of the projectiles. Maybe change it so offscreen enemies can't do anything?
AvatarGregglesauthor16 Oct 2020, 08:46
Agreed @peace-of-cake-games this was a bug! I was too nervous to fix any bugs after the deadline because I was afraid Id get carried away and get disqualified haha
Peace Of Cake Games
Peace Of Cake Games16 Oct 2020, 12:58
Well, when the shooting starts getting crazy, I like getting the flying enemies underneath me and making them bounce me up! Ha ha, what a weird jetpack replacement!
Ulisses23 Oct 2020, 13:38
It is a very well executed project, congratulations! The sound, visual and controls are very well done! The atmosphere of the game is well developed. I found the texts a little small, they could be bigger! Congratulations for the game.
JRevel23 Oct 2020, 15:27
Very fun game ! The idea is pretty cool, the timer mechanic gives an increasing difficulty that makes it challenging, but not hard enough to discourage the player. The physics are a bit strange at times, the jetpack is sometimes harder to control than necessary and can be a bit frustrating, but it did not prevent me from enjoying the experience. Really good job, the game is not perfect, many things could be improved but I have not seen a lot of games in this jam that are that well balanced :)
chesschaser
chesschaser23 Oct 2020, 16:12
Fun and creative game! Just I might be better if you didn't have to go back to the start every time the counter filled. Great job though!
Shakedimus23 Oct 2020, 16:40
This was a cool game. It was challenging but not impossible. The little texts to explain things were also very good and sometimes necessary, first I thought the green orbs were fuel. I really liked the gravity mechanic and the controls handled well. Some of the enemies seemed not to die though. The music was really good and kept me going until I beat it. Good job!
666Savior
666Savior24 Oct 2020, 22:42
Fun little game to play. Definitely enjoyed it
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