Pilot's Last Stand by phi6

[raw]
made by phi6 for LD28 (COMPO)
I created this game for LD because I absolutely love the old Wing Commander series, and also I wanted to get more experience in low poly 3D modelling (I'm a programmer!)

In Pilot's Last Stand, you control a fighter on a mission to destroy a hostile mothership. You only get one cruise missile for the job, and the mothership cannot be damaged by lasers alone.

The twist is that you must traverse through a dense asteroid belt before you are able to reach your target. Crashing into an asteroid will cause your ship to spin out of control. By the time you get out of the cluster, you will be struggling to re-orient yourself in order to get a clear shot at the mothership.

Technically, the game uses full Newtonian physics, so you are able to rotate the ship independently of its movement. However in this case I've kept it casual, the ship's velocity is fixed so the focus is on aiming and timing that perfectly executed shot at the end.

To be honest I'm not 100% sold on the gameplay, but I did enjoy creating a game with as much production value as possible in the 48 hours.

Apart from the voice acting, everything I did solo, including the art and code.

Voice acting credits:
Kathryn MacColl - Flight Computer
John Dick - Command

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall 3.60 117
Audio 3.79 24
Fun 3.39 178
Graphics 3.82 122
Humor 2.58 356
Innovation 2.94 488
Mood 3.39 146
Theme 3.10 386

Feedback

Lyje
16. Dec 2013 · 11:40 UTC
Love the graphics, sound and concept. Controls are a little tough to get a handle on, but overall really nice.
ossah
16. Dec 2013 · 11:45 UTC
Great production value! Loved the quality audio.
Ship damage was really effective and made staying on course difficult.
Great graphics also.
reecpj
16. Dec 2013 · 11:56 UTC
So intense!! Love spinning out of control :)
archaeometrician
16. Dec 2013 · 15:35 UTC
Wow nice game ! I kinda failed the mission, I made it to the station but yeah, I was not in possession of that big missile anymore ;)

Really cool game, the graphics are excellent, good sounds, great playability. Awesome job !
Hypnohustla
16. Dec 2013 · 15:35 UTC
That felt so good! Trying to maintain control in a asteroid field while fighting others. A real suicide mission. And it had voice-acting! Sweet baby Jesus :)
alvarop
16. Dec 2013 · 15:39 UTC
Wow, I am amazed at the fact that you managed to do this in 48h. Really cool!
skarab
16. Dec 2013 · 16:14 UTC
Nice action game!
whiteknife
16. Dec 2013 · 17:22 UTC
Great sound and graphics, controls were a little difficult, but it was fun!
Snail_Man
16. Dec 2013 · 17:28 UTC
Wait- What's going on? I'm spinning- AAARGH!

Really nice game. The controls were a bit non-intuitive at first, but I became accustomed to them fairly quickly. It was very hard not to spin out a lot of the time :P.
Voice acting was spot on as well. Good job.
Chris Mondok
16. Dec 2013 · 17:28 UTC
The way you do engine damage is cool, it's very disorienting.
MrTedders
16. Dec 2013 · 17:35 UTC
Wow this was actually really fun! Satisfying amount of time was spent trying to learn how to control. Engine failures and trying to get it back undercontrol was fun.
Gazpachogames
16. Dec 2013 · 18:17 UTC
Awesome game. It's pretty hard control the ship but that make the game really fun!
Raphy
16. Dec 2013 · 18:30 UTC
Nice concept, I love space themed games ! Controls are kindda hard though. Nice voiceover too !

(Oh and btw you commented on my game, WarpRunner, that the walls don't kill you, you should try the next levels, cause there are ennemies that do kill you, and it's pretty hard to beat at the end !)
Dynad
16. Dec 2013 · 19:38 UTC
Really cool concept, controls are somehow not very easy to avoid those asteroids. The general guy speaking is very well done. Overall great work!
TobiasNL
16. Dec 2013 · 19:43 UTC
Bwhaha loved that voice acting man, so funny. And not that bad either!
The game itself was pretty good. Couldn't wait to pull that trigger - so I did - and once again the voice acting got me giggling. 5 on humor. Good entry man!
ThatGuy
16. Dec 2013 · 19:45 UTC
Took me a couple tries to beat it, but that was rather intense. Losing parts of your controls on collisions as well as the voice acting were both nice touches. Adding some yaw controls would be very much appreciated. Great job!
postmodestie
16. Dec 2013 · 19:47 UTC
Wing Commander rulez! Great execution and the voice action really topped the mood to 100%! The great thing with WC though is, that it does not have 'roll' controls ;)
X-0r
16. Dec 2013 · 20:06 UTC
Awesome game, reminds me a bit of the Descent-series.
Nice idea to include voice instructions, fitting perfectly.
Too bad that there's no audio for hitting the mothership, I almost was sad not to hear Command's voice after completing the mission ^_^
David Colson
16. Dec 2013 · 21:26 UTC
Great game, you played my game which is suprisingly similar. Most of the fun of your game is mastering the controls, got sucked into it quite quickly! Nice job, and also great voice acting!
ZXeno
16. Dec 2013 · 22:54 UTC
Absolutely fantastic! Really enjoyed this a lot. Was only sad that it isn't longer! Only so much you can do in 48hrs though. Excellent job!
rezoner
16. Dec 2013 · 23:31 UTC
The voice acting - so nice! The controls - so bad. The visuals - brilliant. If that had Frontier or Privateer mechanics - I would love it.
acronaut
17. Dec 2013 · 07:05 UTC
Very effective with the voice acting (HUD); good call on bringing back the wing commander / Descent vibes. Like the graphics style and its 'minimal' explosions. Now all we need is oculus rift support and it's slammin!
cwkx
17. Dec 2013 · 09:30 UTC
Fantastic voice overs, and the gameplay was great too -Excellent work!
LatFoued
17. Dec 2013 · 10:08 UTC
It was pretty challenging to hit the mothership, very fun game.
Alismuffin
17. Dec 2013 · 12:25 UTC
This is amazing!
"Who authorized that!?"
Made me feel like I was really in there and being a noob.
Ras Lyon
17. Dec 2013 · 13:02 UTC
I don't know why they ever gave me the missle! I fly like I'm coming out of a comma. There is so much right going on in this game, so the down sides are that much more stark. I wish I could see more of the environment and not just the inside of the ship. I also found the control frustrating. I guess I'm a inverted guy. Still, really impressive!
lotusgame
17. Dec 2013 · 13:28 UTC
Controls are rather difficult but the game is well finished et very moody. A very good 48h entry :)
wdebowicz
17. Dec 2013 · 14:55 UTC
I really like it! Great audio. I lost control so much that to the last second I didn't thought I will manage to shoot the target!
🎤 phi6
17. Dec 2013 · 15:06 UTC
There appears to be 50% of people who hate my controls, and 50% who love spinning out of control. I guess without this it would just be another shooting game, I really wanted to make it really hard to target the mothership/station at the end. Based on the feedback though, I'm not sure if I totally succeeded there!
TinyMoonStudios
17. Dec 2013 · 15:45 UTC
Very nicely done an interesting take on the one shot concept. Well polished and well done!
Manou
17. Dec 2013 · 16:00 UTC
Man, this is wonderful, 5 stars.
Shigor
17. Dec 2013 · 16:17 UTC
I see you're still playing with the lowpoly :D (noticed some of the stuff you posted on the facebook IndeGameDev).
As a lover of good old space sims I approve.
alcorrius
17. Dec 2013 · 16:45 UTC
Hard and fast! I lose but I like it!)
Nice graphics style.
Yaguar
17. Dec 2013 · 17:41 UTC
Awesome, loved the voices adding that extra level of polish.
Low poly was nice and all the little extra's going on added some nice depth.
Coblynau
17. Dec 2013 · 18:03 UTC
Reminded me of Starfox, well done. :)
howieV (binarygirl)
17. Dec 2013 · 19:38 UTC
really well done for 48hours :)
doctorscientist
17. Dec 2013 · 19:45 UTC
I really like the simple color pallette and the low poly graphics. I truly felt ashamed when I shot the missile too early.
JaJ
17. Dec 2013 · 20:27 UTC
Awesome voice acting. I'm really bad at this game. But somehow I still managed to hit the mothership on my second try.
omaha
17. Dec 2013 · 21:26 UTC
Great voice acting! The controls were frustrating, I quickly felt fairly claustrophobic in the ship - but then again that got across a certain aesthetic very effectively.. The missle launching/unauthorized launch concept was a little unclear...
unusualcadence
17. Dec 2013 · 21:50 UTC
Low poly space game? Going straight for the <3 with this one! I think the cockpit took up a little bit too much of the screen but I had fun! First run I just let the missile off and got berated for it, which made me laugh! The voiceacting is an appreciated touch :D
ob6160
17. Dec 2013 · 23:28 UTC
I really like it, the controls are a little off but you definitely start to panic when you get hit by an astroid :3

I love the narration as well :)
ENDESGA
18. Dec 2013 · 00:06 UTC
Controls a tad fiddly, but cool nonetheless! Very nice game! I like the graphics choice!
Kyle Mac
18. Dec 2013 · 01:03 UTC
It was a bit hard to get my head around the controls, but once I got used to it I liked this game very much.
Diptoman
18. Dec 2013 · 11:01 UTC
Voice acting! :3
The ship was kinda hard to control though, but overall, fun game!
aviktorov
18. Dec 2013 · 12:50 UTC
Wow! Very moody game, I like its vibe. Speech is very cool too. And the spinning. :)
Gungnir
18. Dec 2013 · 16:15 UTC
Very nice presentation. Real VO - and good lines/drama. I'm sure I could have more success with the controls over time, but it really felt as if I was fighting them. Definitely takes me back to WC, Tie Fighter, etc.
primaerfunktion
18. Dec 2013 · 17:28 UTC
The cockpit takes a lot of room from the screen sadly and the controls don't really work that well. But: SPACEGAMEZ!!!
Daniel Debert
18. Dec 2013 · 17:47 UTC
Controls were a bit difficult but the game was good.
funselektor
19. Dec 2013 · 08:19 UTC
Nice, it was a blast to the past, reminded me of Descent.

The damage of the ship was implemented well, it would have been great if we could destroy asteroids, or at least push them away by shooting.
DanielSnd
19. Dec 2013 · 19:59 UTC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh7DCpeWczU
My first impressions on the game :)
supremefist
19. Dec 2013 · 21:27 UTC
Amazing! That was quite an experience :)
evilseanbot
20. Dec 2013 · 06:55 UTC
Great job! Reminded me of the rogue squadron games. I will never hit that space station!
Venks
20. Dec 2013 · 08:16 UTC
Really solid stuff. I'm a huge fan of shooters.
Kohijin
20. Dec 2013 · 09:45 UTC
Yay, made it on my 2nd try ;) (compo version)

Great setting, but the controls were a bit infuriating... reminded me on playing all those space combat sims with the arrowkeyes when you were really supposed to use a joystick
windwalkerranger
20. Dec 2013 · 10:15 UTC
Wow I'm so proud I did it in my first try, even after hitting asteroids twice and loosing a good portion of my control! But I felt the power and took the shot!

It definately carries the theme. My only complaint is the size of the screen, I wish it was larger. It was difficult to distinct the asteroids from eachother. I could reduce my desktop resolution I guess :)

Good little game, and don't worry, gameplay is good. It just needs a couple more levels and difficulty settings I think :)
rojo
20. Dec 2013 · 11:46 UTC
Pretty well done! Good job getting some decent voice work in there.
FrederickK
20. Dec 2013 · 21:12 UTC
Loved some of the audio, but I was expecting something more menacing for the shots.
The voice are very well made and really was a nice touch.
The controls, I miss being with mouse, but maybe you wanted to be with keyboard, so may be just my taste.
Great job!
Freel4tte
20. Dec 2013 · 23:49 UTC
Loveley! Absolutely loveley! Controls are easy to use and gameplay is really fun. I really like how you sway when you hit stuff. Sound is perfect. This nostalgia!
Lacutis
21. Dec 2013 · 21:06 UTC
Cool game, was really hard to control once you started to spin though. Nice game for 48 hours!
javifugitivo
21. Dec 2013 · 21:46 UTC
Great simulator! I like the voices!
van noctar
21. Dec 2013 · 23:00 UTC
Woo very difficult! I like this game :D