Wave Rider
Control the amplitude and the frequency of the sinusoidal wave signal to guide the U.F.O. through a never-ending asteroid field, collecting upgrades in the meantime! These upgrades will help you further manipulate the waves.
- W/S or Up/Down arrow keys: Change Amplitude (narrowing the signal will drain energy proportional to the amplitude difference)
- Shift: activate Phase Shift, an ability that allows you to dash
- Spacebar: activate Phase Inversion, an ability that flips the sine wave, and teleports you to the corresponding location (not available from the start, needs to be chosen as an upgrade)
- Esc/Tab: pause
- In the browser version of the game, the option to change resolution is not present, as it caused some issues. You can still change resolution in the downloadable version though.
- In the embedded Ludum Dare browser version of the game, the game may freeze when changing quality in Settings. If possible, use itch.io for a smoother experience, or the downloadable version for the smoothest experience!
- I've also had different issues depending on the browser (Firefox worked the worst for me, Brave on itch.io the best).
Controls
- A/D or Left/Right arrow keys: Change Frequency (lower frequency/higher travel speed makes systems reboot quicker)- W/S or Up/Down arrow keys: Change Amplitude (narrowing the signal will drain energy proportional to the amplitude difference)
- Shift: activate Phase Shift, an ability that allows you to dash
- Spacebar: activate Phase Inversion, an ability that flips the sine wave, and teleports you to the corresponding location (not available from the start, needs to be chosen as an upgrade)
- Esc/Tab: pause
Systems
Shield
Your most basic and easiest to use system. It's passive, and prevents the U.F.O. from blowing up when hitting an asteroid. After blocking a hit, the shield will take a while to reboot. The slowest to reboot system on the U.F.O. You will know when it finishes rebooting.Phase Shift
An active system that gives the U.F.O. a sudden speed boost, shifting the wave signal. This system is the fastest to reboot. When the system is available, the outer circle of the U.F.O.'s body is glowing blue.Phase Inversion
Another active system, one that flips the wave signal upside-down, and has some interesting side effects too. The U.F.O. emits blue rings from the bottom to let you know when this system is online.Upgrades
After every wave of asteroids, a choice of 3 upgrades is offered. These range from upgrades to energy capacity and system reboot durations, to some bigger upgrades, such as Phase Inversion destroying every asteroid on the screen, Phase Shift giving the U.F.O. brief immunity, and some more!Technical limitations
If you're using the downloadable package and use 16:9 aspect ratio, you can disregard these.
- While the game should be playable on all resolutions, the game works best on monitors with 16:9 aspect ratio or something close to it.- In the browser version of the game, the option to change resolution is not present, as it caused some issues. You can still change resolution in the downloadable version though.
- In the embedded Ludum Dare browser version of the game, the game may freeze when changing quality in Settings. If possible, use itch.io for a smoother experience, or the downloadable version for the smoothest experience!
- I've also had different issues depending on the browser (Firefox worked the worst for me, Brave on itch.io the best).
Patch notes
Added a fix for the bug that caused the screen to break when opening the Settings menu in the browser.Thank you for playing!
Tools: Unity
Comments32
About the hitbox, yeah, the shape of a U.F.O makes it a bit tricky to fit through gaps, the shift/dash mechanic was made to compensate for that issue. On a 2nd thought, a spherical player would've probably felt more forgiving.
I'm biased because we used a similar concept but in 3D so obviously I value the choices you've made, the game is simple but feels good and I love the wonky music, the dash is a good adition to the mix ! the only thing i'd say is i'd like to see the music adapt to the wave if a V2 gets out one day ! good job team !
I was also thinking of making the music adapt to the wave, but I feared it would get too annoying. Maybe I really should've explored that idea a bit more rather than just dismissing it. Thank you for the feedback!!
The music is weirdly disorienting, which kind of adds to the games difficulty.
the Upgrade system is great, but I often died before ever getting to Wave 1 T_T
I think the energy bar is unnecessary, since the game is already quite challenging.
I also love the graphics. Nice cosmic vibes :thumbsup:
Thank you for the constructive feedback! I also realized the game was a bit slow, but unfortunately last day was quite hectic and didn't have the time to fine tune the pace as much as I would've liked.
Definitely not an excuse though, it probably would've already made a difference to allow the player to speed up the game with the press of a button.
A missed opportunity for sure, I 100% agree with that criticism.
Simple and short but suitable for a jam game.
Good job !