Untitled Space Game

by tsuk13
Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.51
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.02
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.12
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.29
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.04
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.54
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.77
Explore the deep space. Awaken on a malfunctioning space station far from civilization and explore to find the fuel and part you need from your sister station somewhere out there.

Small space exploration game that I could see being fun if it was spun out with more mechanics than I had time for.

Made in PICO-8.

Controls:

Ship:

* Left/Right: turn
* UP: thrust
* Down: brake
* X: interact/switch to in ship
* Z: dialogue next

Character:

- Arrow keys: move
- Z: interact

Use the helm to go back to ship view Use the nav computer to cycle jump targets

Twitter: tsukTV
Genres: adventure
Tools: PICO-8

Comments29

appix
appix27 Apr 2021, 15:31
I like your pixel art

It's a little hard to stop when exploring some of the smaller planets

Well done!
silkworm_sweatshop
silkworm_sweatshop27 Apr 2021, 15:38
Nice! Had fun exploring the galaxy for a bit. Would be really cool to expand it to being able to walk around on the planets. Really like the warp effect. I would say I'd like some sound but there is no sound in space and the silence kinda added to the mood of solitude.
chiyeon
chiyeon27 Apr 2021, 15:45
This game's graphics were lovely! I also enjoyed the implementation of 'space exploration', even as the brunt of the exploring was text, it was still interesting to travel between planets trying to find what I needed.

I kind of understood going 'deeper and deeper' into space, but it didn't really fit the overall theme.

Nonetheless, the game had a decent amount of polish; stellar graphics (I especially liked the stars), a complete story, and mechanics: the ability to move around in the ship and interact with objects.

Well done!
AfutureV
AfutureV27 Apr 2021, 15:46
Great and simple dialogue. I was able to finish it in no time and master the controls pretty quickly. The sprite work was great too.
Arttu Halonen27 Apr 2021, 15:50
Initially it was a bit difficult to figure out what I needed to do to progress, but the warp drive animation was really cool looking! Keep it up!
AbigailCorfman
AbigailCorfman27 Apr 2021, 16:05
This was very sweet and beautiful. I really enjoyed the dialog. Two Hearts was poetic. And I enjoyed how cheeky the dialog got at Dying Light. Needing to fix your ship there was a nice surprise as well.

I second the above note that the tiny planets were hard to maneuver over. That could be easily fixed by widening the range of sensitivity--letting the ship land when next to as opposed to over them.

The art was so simple and beautiful. I just flew around over the stars for a considerable amount of time at the start. The stars were my favorite.
gimmers27 Apr 2021, 18:50
I think you've got a very cool little game on your hands, and I would love to see you flesh it out for a longer and more full experience. I love exploring the planets and learning about them, and your writing was great. Also, transitioning in and out of the ship really adds a whole extra dimension to the game, great idea. Kudos!
m11
m1128 Apr 2021, 16:30
Lovely pixel art!
Chase of Bass
Chase of Bass28 Apr 2021, 22:01
This was a really cool entry with a lot to explore -polished and played well too! -awesome work!! :D
MadHumster29 Apr 2021, 15:31
Very nice art. Loved how background was static but there are some stars that move around your ship. And the dialog was lovely.
Adil29 Apr 2021, 17:57
Things i liked:
- Graphics looks really cool, feels retro vibes
- Great possibility for improvement

Things i think should be improved:
- Game feels unfinished, but it's jam and i hope you'll work on it
- Hard to maneuver sometimes
Overall, great job!
T C
T C29 Apr 2021, 18:04
Cozy game. I enjoyed seeing all the areas you made.
tsuk13
tsuk13author29 Apr 2021, 18:12
Thanks to everybody who has played so far. It really means a lot to me, I've made some stuff off and on but all the positive comments makes me feel good and excited to make and share more so really a heartfelt thank you to everyone
extar
extar29 Apr 2021, 18:12
I loved exploring all the areas, the descriptions of the planets were really intriguing, I wanted to explore each one. You really must flesh this out into a post-jam version, I'd love to see all the ideas you were going to put into the game! It's great seeing some Pico-8 entries in LD! Cool game!
tigerj
tigerj30 Apr 2021, 21:57
Great game I love seeing some pico entries! the background was lit.
woahitsjeff30 Apr 2021, 22:06
Really enjoyed the art, the way the stars are layered added so much to my immersion. Thank you for sharing!
tsuk13
tsuk13author1 May 2021, 12:01
@adil : Thanks for playing and the feedback.

@t-c : Thank you, it was cozy to make.

@extar : I'm glad you enjoyed exploring my little game. I would love to expand on it post-jam. And yea the pico-8 is my go-to for a comfy development environment.

@tigerj : Thanks I had fun with making it.

@woahitsjeff : Thank you for playing. I had fun doing all the little pixel arts and effects. I wish I had had time to do some music as well.
Sestren1 May 2021, 15:12
The warp effect is really nice to look at and the different layered star fields add nice depth. It's hard to tell if I beat the game, but since I can't warp anywhere else once dropping off the fuel, I assume I did. Thank you for making this, I really enjoyed it.
tsuk13
tsuk13author1 May 2021, 15:24
@sestren Thanks for playing and the praise. I'm happy about how the warp effect turned out. There is an end screen, in addition to the planet with fuel, the other place you have to visit is the sister station, then it automatically targets warping back to the first station for the ending. I might should upload my crude map of the systems for anyone that gets stuck. Thanks again hope you enjoyed your time with it!
Dobrila
Dobrila3 May 2021, 18:57
I liked the art and the style but the gameplay was a bit lacking for me. Overall, nice game!
jkyd
jkyd3 May 2021, 19:14
Fun to explore! The descriptions & destinations were intriguing and I really liked the space-exploration concept paired with this chill-retro vibe :) Like others have said, the warp effect and parallax stars are awesome. It'd be cool to see a goal checklist/task list progress as a UI element and maybe gentle prompts to return to x location once you've got the fuel or when you're ready to "return home"/end the game. Solid submission overall!
sorlok
sorlok4 May 2021, 23:54
Reall cool pico 8 game; loved the "warp speed" animation (and in all 8 directions). The planets were cool to explore, and I managed to beat the game. I think some atmospheric music would have made this game even better!
tsuk13
tsuk13author6 May 2021, 17:48
@dobrila : Thank you! The night before the last day, I had to make a call on adding more mechanics to flesh out the gameplay, or just making a little story with what I had going and I decided the little story might make the game feel more complete. I'd love to flesh out more mechanics. I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless!

@jkyd : Thanks for the complements. I went pretty light on the HUD elements and actually alot of the existing prompts are just rendering in the default text location to save time. If I spin out a full version I'll be sure to remember your suggestion for clearer objectives. Maybe tracked somewhere inside the ship.

@sorlok : Thanks so much! I was actually really excited to make music as part of the Jam but just didnt quite get there. I started making sound effects before I decided I didn't have the time and I felt just opting out of sound entirely was better than half-completed. Hope to add some at somepoint down the line.
tsuk13
tsuk13author6 May 2021, 17:50
@justcamh : Thanks so much for streaming my game. Glad RNG was on my side of you checking it out. I had to take a breath and prepare myself because I'm easily mortified but, it was really cool to watch someone experience it and I gleamed a lot of feedback and insight no one would type out by watching you play. I'm glad you enjoyed my modest little game and congrats on reaching affiliate!
Super Hadoken7 May 2021, 10:33
Nice graphics and pleasant experience. It's a shame you didn't get time to add some sound, it would've gone a long way. You can use jsfxr to export sounds at https://sfxr.me , it doesn't take much time. Short and sweet game, well done.
tsuk13
tsuk13author7 May 2021, 13:28
@super-hadoken : Thanks for playing. I wish I had had time for sound as well. This is a neat little tool you linked. I'm not sure I could port these into the PICO-8 environment but I would probably port the game out to love2d if I made a bigger version and I will definitely remember this tool then. Thank you!
Euler Moises
Euler Moises14 May 2021, 15:51
I really liked the idea. I had fun looking for the little planets. It was a little easy to find them, but that didn't take away from the fun. What I liked the most? The fact of having two environments (outside and inside the ship) and, of course, travels at the speed of light (very well done and animated). What didn't I like? Lack of sound. I know that there is no sound in space, but that is no excuse for not putting even a little ship sound. It really reminded me of a game we played for Ludum 46. I had a similar idea. You might like to play:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/space-exodus

Congratulations for the game.
JengaMang18 May 2021, 18:49
Really lovely! You were able to capture the loneliness of deep space exploration with very simple but well done art. It's nice to see a small story executed well!

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