SpaceEx: Interstellar
Deliver various cargo to different space stations across the galaxy in this amazing stylish game!
We decided to try something new this time. Simultaneously revisiting our previous games. Behold our remake/sequel for our LD34 entry: SpaceEx: Interstellar!
More buttons! (LD34' theme was "two buttons")
More quests! (You can choose between quests this time)
NEW Platform! Yes, gone are the days of boring old Windows and Mac PCs, dull aluminum grey machines with rare splotches of brighter colors. Welcome the glorious...
Plastic...
Yellow...
...with a crank...
PlayDate!
Yes, we made a game for the PlayDate, that tiny cute portable console by Panic.
We bet no one can play it on the device. Oh well... There are simluators for boring Mac and PC, right?
Also, another fantastic detail. The source is... Open! Yes, completely free for you to look at and marvel at our genius!
Should be in the links session somewhere.
Follow the steps in official documentation
Step 1. Download SDK here and install it.
Step 2. Download archive with the compiled .pdx for your OS/architecture (look in the links section)
Step 3. Unarchive. You will get a .pdx file
Step 4 (Windows/Linux). Open the Playdate simulator, Select File -> Open, find the .pdx file and start the game.
Step 4 (macOS). Double-click the .pdx file (or Right/Command-click and Choose "Open with Playdate Simulator")
You will get an error.
Open System Preferences -> Privacy and Security.
Click "Allow Anyway"
Click "Open" to start the game.
We decided to try something new this time. Simultaneously revisiting our previous games. Behold our remake/sequel for our LD34 entry: SpaceEx: Interstellar!
More buttons! (LD34' theme was "two buttons")
More quests! (You can choose between quests this time)
NEW Platform! Yes, gone are the days of boring old Windows and Mac PCs, dull aluminum grey machines with rare splotches of brighter colors. Welcome the glorious...
Plastic...
Yellow...
...with a crank...
PlayDate!
Yes, we made a game for the PlayDate, that tiny cute portable console by Panic.
We bet no one can play it on the device. Oh well... There are simluators for boring Mac and PC, right?
Also, another fantastic detail. The source is... Open! Yes, completely free for you to look at and marvel at our genius!
Should be in the links session somewhere.
Installation on Playdate
Follow the steps in official documentation
Playing via Playdate Simulator
Step 1. Download SDK here and install it.
Step 2. Download archive with the compiled .pdx for your OS/architecture (look in the links section)
Step 3. Unarchive. You will get a .pdx file
Step 4 (Windows/Linux). Open the Playdate simulator, Select File -> Open, find the .pdx file and start the game.
Step 4 (macOS). Double-click the .pdx file (or Right/Command-click and Choose "Open with Playdate Simulator")
You will get an error.
Open System Preferences -> Privacy and Security.
Click "Allow Anyway"
Click "Open" to start the game.
Comments14
Space_Games3 May 2023, 12:18
You pulled off the old game art style and feel amazingly! Nice job!
Obe Dot3 May 2023, 12:25
The controls take some getting used to, but the artwork is well executed.
Joao Mazzarolo3 May 2023, 12:34
God job! The art is really well done.
Kristallllllik3 May 2023, 13:05
Nice art style!
Kilthorne5 May 2023, 06:16
Eeeeey, fellow playdate game makers! Good fun, looking forward to what other challenges you can throw into those levels. Maybe an option to fire missiles at the cost of money since it's easy to get surrounded by asteroids.
spudboy6 May 2023, 19:08
Played on actual hardware!
In terms of polish this game is great. Everything feels *done* and has some nice art and sounds to go with it.
The controls... need work imo. Turning has way too much acceleration. I always either don't turn far enough or swing wildly past where I wanted to turn to. Would have been cool to get analog turning with the crank. (Using the crank for warp jump was neat though)
The front boosters are so weak as to be basically useless. I started succeeding a little more when I just pretended they didn't exist and always slowed down by
Either the asteroids are too densely packed or the camera needs to be zoomed out a lot. Also there were some gaps that I thought maybe I could squeeze through but were apparently slightly too thin, and immediately knocked my package down to 0% when I touched them (presumably from being knocked back and forth between two asteroids a bunch?)
Despite my complaints, I want to reiterate how nice and polished this game is. Very cool to see and hear, I just found it pretty frustrating to actually play.
In terms of polish this game is great. Everything feels *done* and has some nice art and sounds to go with it.
The controls... need work imo. Turning has way too much acceleration. I always either don't turn far enough or swing wildly past where I wanted to turn to. Would have been cool to get analog turning with the crank. (Using the crank for warp jump was neat though)
The front boosters are so weak as to be basically useless. I started succeeding a little more when I just pretended they didn't exist and always slowed down by
Either the asteroids are too densely packed or the camera needs to be zoomed out a lot. Also there were some gaps that I thought maybe I could squeeze through but were apparently slightly too thin, and immediately knocked my package down to 0% when I touched them (presumably from being knocked back and forth between two asteroids a bunch?)
Despite my complaints, I want to reiterate how nice and polished this game is. Very cool to see and hear, I just found it pretty frustrating to actually play.
jacobingalls7 May 2023, 06:45
Loaded it up my Playdate and it felt right at home!
I do wish that I had a way to punch through the asteroid maze that killed my perfume delivery before I even left. Maybe I would have been better for you to "lose" when you hit zero, so you don't have to deliver a broken package for $0. I wasn't sure what to do with money, so maybe it doesn't matter...
Art was great! The animations into the station were great. And I really liked the UI, especially the little pips when picking the contract and how it on the border.
I do wish that I had a way to punch through the asteroid maze that killed my perfume delivery before I even left. Maybe I would have been better for you to "lose" when you hit zero, so you don't have to deliver a broken package for $0. I wasn't sure what to do with money, so maybe it doesn't matter...
Art was great! The animations into the station were great. And I really liked the UI, especially the little pips when picking the contract and how it on the border.
digital bacon18 May 2023, 13:18
Very pretty! Love the retro graphics. Good work!
aligator19 May 2023, 09:35
This game feels very polished! It would deserve having the 20 ratings!
alpacalypse19 May 2023, 21:25
I admire any team with the vision and steel nerve to make an LD game for an obscure platform. The game is very delicate, but I love the pixel art and the docking animation.
yopox19 May 2023, 23:09
Congratulations, you tricked me into installing the Playdate SDK and now it will be really tempting to try developing something :laughing:
I liked your game, the audio is great! I loved the cutscenes and it was clever to trigger a cutscene after using the crank. Thank you for making this game :space_invader:
I liked your game, the audio is great! I loved the cutscenes and it was clever to trigger a cutscene after using the crank. Thank you for making this game :space_invader:
alpacalypse21 May 2023, 10:16
Just stopping by to say I'm stoked you guys made it over the line.
tangiblegames21 May 2023, 17:47
To everyone who left comments and/or rated our game: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
@alpacalypse Thank you for you kind words, and you rating, it is all really appreciated! We are so happy to get a rating this time :)
@yopox Once you make something for PlayDate, please, share with us too!
@aligator You are awesome!
@digital-bacon Thank you so much!
@alpacalypse Thank you for you kind words, and you rating, it is all really appreciated! We are so happy to get a rating this time :)
@yopox Once you make something for PlayDate, please, share with us too!
@aligator You are awesome!
@digital-bacon Thank you so much!
So I download the pdx.zip.
Unzip the pdx folder, than in the simulator open "pdGameLD53.pdx".
Then the console says:
````
gameWillTerminate
save data write to disk
11:31:03: Loading: Failed
Load failed, error: (null)
````
I check with another playdate game find on itch.io and it worked, so there is a problem on your export.
Too bad, the game looked good.