Centre of Lift

Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.93
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.29
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.36
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.00
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.43
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.50
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.50
Upgrade your platform with money and research points to achieve higher altitudes and escape the storm.

2021-10-06: I was in a rush to submit this on October 3. Here are images and a proper description.

*Flashing light warning: the game has issues rendering the ground at high altitudes.*

Controls:
- WASD / arrow keys to move
- Space bar to jump
- Hold down right mouse button to rotate camera

You are a red cube on a wobbling platform and your goal is to escape the storm that is approaching. Unfortunately, party balloons won't get you very far. Collect money and research points that fall from the sky to extend your platform and get different balloons and engines. Pay attention to your platform and surroundings; you wouldn't want a large amount of points to roll off or have the storm catch up. Will you ascend into the sky or be lost in the storm?

It takes about 10 - 15 minutes to beat the game. Compared to the typical Ludum Dare game, the difficulty is quite low (you return to the platform if you fall off and the storm's ascent slows down the closer it is to you).

This isn't my first game jam but it is my first time participating in Ludum Dare, using Unity, and programming in C#. The models are primitive shapes, there's all sorts of physics and collision bugs causing you to bounce and flip over that I don't understand, and I couldn't figure out an intuitive jumping system (your jump refreshes whenever you touch a platform, even the side or bottom). Regardless, I hope you enjoy this little unstable journey into the air.

*Technically, the force counteracting gravity is buoyancy (for balloons) and thrust (for engines), not lift.*
Tools: Unity

Comments4

Kwiper
Kwiper4 Oct 2021, 21:21
Really fun game, it gets hard to control really quickly and adds to the whole chaotic energy of the game. Would've been really nice to have graphics that weren't just cubes. It definitely would've made the game look and feel responsive a lot better. Having a clearer goal for the game also would have given me more incentive to play. Are we trying to build the ship/craft as much as we can? You start back on the platform when you fall off so it does feel like there are no stakes, which means there isn't much of an incentive to try to stay balanced as much as possible. Other than that, the gameplay matched the theme very well.
jk5000
jk50007 Oct 2021, 07:36
Not much to do, but the idea simple and okay. Overall is this a okay first LD game.
TTU_HASAN7 Oct 2021, 07:40
really nice .overall i enjoyed it suits the theme of the jam.
SnowPriestess
SnowPriestess7 Oct 2021, 07:44
I like your concept, your idea matches well with the theme! I feel like you have a good base to polish to make a really fun game. I second what Kwiper said, but well done for your first Ludum Dare!
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