Cosmic Cursor Capture

by nondev
Overall★★★★★★★★★★4.05
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.79
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.41
Theme★★★★★★★★★★4.41
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★4.28
Audio★★★★★★★★★★4.12
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.98
Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.69
Cosmic Cursor Capture is my entry for Ludum Dare 54 with the theme of "Limited Space" and my first time taking part. Just try and survive with your captured cursor for as long as possible! It's very simple but was fun to put together in such a short time. Programming, art and sound effects are by me. Music is by my pal Anon.

Sorry there's only Windows build, I've made the source available to build locally for MacOS and Linux here.

Controls are just mouse/trackpad and left mouse button.

- Written in Nim on top of SDL2.
- Asesprite for artwork.
- ChipTone for sound effects.
- Using AuxulArt's palette.

If you're curious check out my Itch.io, where I release free hobby games.

Comments29

Nazorus
Nazorus3 Oct 2023, 10:02
Nice pixel art and super smooth gameplay. I like how you handled the theme to turn a simple concept into a challenge. Music is pleasant and relaxing. Good job!
Baturinsky
Baturinsky3 Oct 2023, 10:07
Great graphics, but gameplay could use some more meat. You have a very good chain simulation, why not have use it in the gameplay somehow? Such as using chain to attack enemies, or the opposite, avoiding enemies touching it.
PickyDogFish
PickyDogFish3 Oct 2023, 10:24
Shallow gameplay, but otherwise a really nice little game. Here's my highscore:
Tyrannas
Tyrannas3 Oct 2023, 12:38
I really like this kind of simple scoring games. Well polished and just the perfect balance that makes you try to chase high scores haha, and props to the sound design and music which are particularly well done !
schadocalex3 Oct 2023, 13:50
Simple and effective, we understand well the game and the ennemies patterns
NonDev
NonDevauthor3 Oct 2023, 14:20
Thank you for the comments! There's a little surprise if you reach a certain score.

@baturinsky: That's an interesting idea! Tripping up enemies or something could be funny.

@pickydogfish: Definitely shallow, I was probably a little overly cautious in scope. Some people have had interesting suggestions to add some more depth like graze mechanic, more pickups and so on. I think next time I'll try and aim at something a bit more mechanically complex for sure.
PickyDogFish
PickyDogFish3 Oct 2023, 14:46
It's a smart idea to limit your scope, especially if its your first taking part in a jam. But where's the fun in that, you have to start by dreaming big so that those dreams can then crumble during the jam haha.
Anyway, you made a really nice little game, and it feels quite polished for what it is. Great job :)
minjutin
minjutin4 Oct 2023, 11:56
I appreciate how you actually chained my cursor :D Nice casual game with good ambience
Ramon Camata4 Oct 2023, 13:01
LOVELY GAME! CLEAN DESIGN, FUN TO PLAY AND WELL EXECUTED. THAT CHAIN BROH, OH THAT CHAIN S2!
Fiordarancio
Fiordarancio4 Oct 2023, 21:41
This game perfectly reflects my idea of "good jam game": a single and relatively simple design idea developed in a solid, smooth and polished game. It is fun to play, it has lovely graphics and audio, nice transitions and attention to detail.

Great job :v:
NonDev
NonDevauthor5 Oct 2023, 09:31
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Joao Pedro Salim6 Oct 2023, 16:27
What a game! It's so polyshed and fun. Great job by making squares predictable and adding bonus that make it just better. 5 stars of course!
Matthew Bond
Matthew Bond7 Oct 2023, 00:12
Really simple concept executed really well! Chasing my high score was really satisfying. Great submission!
JakubBala7 Oct 2023, 01:17
simple concent but very fun, polished, and impressive that it was made in SDL2. also very good use of the theme. Also the graphics were very pog
picross
picross7 Oct 2023, 04:51
Really lovely little arcade game! The graphics and music were super cute. And written in SDL2 on top of that! Very polished and well executed. Great work!
NonDev
NonDevauthor7 Oct 2023, 10:44
@joao-pedro-salim @matthew-bond @jakubbala @picross Thank you very much! I've been using SDL2 quite some time but recently made some effort into writing reusable convenience around it for things like animations, caching sounds, LOVE-like canvases, etc, etc. I find it really helps my momentum being able to very quickly start on an idea!
Joror
Joror7 Oct 2023, 14:38
Nice polished lil game! The music really stands out as excellent.
I am only so-so at these kind of games, but reasonably well. :smile:
LDJam user 206001
LDJam user 2060018 Oct 2023, 02:58
I like the total simplicity and very clean graphics. Cool look, sound matches. But if I didn't miss something, it's just a matter of diverting and nothing more to do. When I saw the trailer I thought I could shoot or destroy something, just dodging I don't see much point, although the whole concept is pretty cool, that's missing. If I didn't miss anything...
NonDev
NonDevauthor8 Oct 2023, 11:23
@joror Thank you!

@lincolnsalles You didn't miss anything, it's just about seeing how long you can dodge or how high you can score. There's a little bonus for reaching a certain score. Admittedly very simple!
Haotian Chen
Haotian Chen8 Oct 2023, 13:04
very polished game, art looks nice, control feels good, gameplay was simple(maybe a little too simple). overall really good!
Sentmoraap11 Oct 2023, 17:48
The gameplay is simplistic, but the game is very polished. You did not have a “limited space” problem when making that atlas ;-)
Nim looks like an awesome language.

PB: 2:00 9395
Arthurds11 Oct 2023, 21:24
First try please make hard mode thank you
Ategon
Ategon12 Oct 2023, 18:37
@nondev Hey, letting you know that your game got picked for the ludum dare score chasers tournament! Wanted to know if I could use the music of your game to play while the competitors are competing in it
torcado
torcado14 Oct 2023, 21:43
gorgeous art, very nice music and sounds. lovely little game! high score was 10680
Keely-Brown16 Oct 2023, 01:16
Great art, UX and juice. Just felt really nice to play. The enemy cubes being triggered by lining up with the player felt very smart and engaging. Felt bad for not being good enough to progress through to see all of the content, but everything I did play felt really well done. Great music too.

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