Pluto's Tears by kestrelgames

[raw]
made by kestrelgames for LD35 (JAM)
Poor little Pluto's been absolutely miserable ever since being demoted to a mere planetoid. O humiliation! O shame!

The entire solar system (accursed Earthlings!) is laughing at you, or so you feel--nay, know, in your sad planetoidary mind.

What will become of you, Pluto? Where will you go?


WHAT TO DO:

Slingshot yourself out of orbit and out into deep space.

Absorb the energies of space junk such as space potatoes, astrocats, the Hubble Space Telescope and both Voyager missions!

Avoid energy-draining waste fired by a legion of strange toupee-headed robots that seem to be polluting the universe with negative energy.

The solar system mocks you.

Take it. It's yours.


CONTROLS:

Left-click+drag with mouse to operate the space slingshot
(Pull back the directional circle in the opposite direction that you want to go! Sounds about ten times more complicated than it is.)

Small movements will make Pluto feel more agile.

Works even better on a touchscreen! Just pull and release.


CREDITS:

TK
bluetriangle
danheff
goldsheep


Awesome music by danheff available on soundcloud: (https://soundcloud.com/danheff/plutos-tear-final-version-2016-04-17-820-pm)

NOTE: Since it was requested that we open the audio category for voting, and Mike seems to be okay with this, we have added it -- just vote on the music instead of the SFX, although half our SFX were composed and the use of Soundsnap SFX is really marginal anyway (the horn instrument, and cat's meow, maybe a thunk. So they probably count as 'instruments'.)

Thanks to everyone who's commented so far!

Font: Indie Queen
http://www.dafont.com/indie-queen.font


https://kestrel.itch.io/plutos-tears

There are a few things we'd like to tweak, obviously, but they'll have to wait till the post-jam version. :)

Android version also available, though there might be some quirks! <-- Double-tapping or tapping the tear to start will work, swiping doesn't start the game for now. Sorry about that!

If anyone is having trouble running the Android apk (Parsing Error), please enable 'Unknown Sources' in your security settings as otherwise Android won't really download the app.

Thanks for playing! :)

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 4.12 28
Fun(Jam) 3.94 51
Graphics(Jam) 4.36 69
Humor(Jam) 3.80 65
Innovation(Jam) 3.64 158
Mood(Jam) 4.08 44
Theme(Jam) 3.51 412

Feedback

bwalter
19. Apr 2016 路 00:58 UTC
I Love everything about this game! My favorite so far!
馃帳 kestrelgames
19. Apr 2016 路 01:42 UTC
whoa, @bwalter, thanks a tonne! :) we're all exhausted now :)
falloneus
19. Apr 2016 路 02:01 UTC
It so lived up to the hype I was giving it! haha Really great game, a pleasant casual experience with funny dialogue, really nice visuals, and a surprising amount of moodiness (the music really amped that end up!). Great work, Kestrel :)
馃帳 kestrelgames
19. Apr 2016 路 03:02 UTC
@falloneus so glad you liked it! thanks for the kind words! :)
A-Flat Miner Studios
19. Apr 2016 路 04:49 UTC
Nice. Very nice.
luquio
19. Apr 2016 路 05:02 UTC
have to say that this look really amazing! im impress of what u did in such a short time! cheers
andyman404
19. Apr 2016 路 05:18 UTC
I love this game. Beautiful and cute aesthetics, interesting gameplay, the yucky trumpbot 3000s, and planets with a smile on them. Well done!
jcmonkey
19. Apr 2016 路 05:20 UTC
This was a pretty well thought out game. and it was nicely developed.
RttStudio
19. Apr 2016 路 05:24 UTC
One of my favorite entry, amazing game. Like the sad feeling to it. Music is on point. Really good job guys.
SgtBursk
19. Apr 2016 路 05:26 UTC
Great music. Graphics were amazing, and I loved all the faces. Could've stuck with the theme more though.
okoto
19. Apr 2016 路 05:27 UTC
Amazing , I liked especially the mechanics and art. Tip: probably a minimap would be useful.
BrainSlugs83
19. Apr 2016 路 05:33 UTC
I liked this game, it wasn't bad. Some constructive criticisim: It would have been nicer if it ran in full screen, and if the game zoomed out as you got bigger. -- When you got so big that you took up half the screen, it became really hard to play.
BrainSlugs83
19. Apr 2016 路 05:34 UTC
By the way, the meme faces were great. :-)
huminaboz
19. Apr 2016 路 06:19 UTC
Love the story aspect, I was just chomping at the bit for the next piece. Art is great too.
GertJohnny
19. Apr 2016 路 07:09 UTC
Nice game, I like the art and music. I think the movement/controls could have used a bit more polish - some easing might have been nice.
brinkhousegames
19. Apr 2016 路 07:19 UTC
Great mood in this one, I thought the music was excellent. I did wish I could've played full screen, but the mac version wouldn't allow me to unfortunately. Also really wanted a way to be able to zoom out a bit to see my surroundings, but other than that enjoyed it quite a bit. Well done guys!

Id love your thoughts on my entry 'Titos Revenge'-
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-35/?action=preview&uid=65699
Draft
19. Apr 2016 路 07:40 UTC
Really great game. Nice job.
simon
19. Apr 2016 路 07:54 UTC
good idea - fun to play - good game!
hugheth
19. Apr 2016 路 08:13 UTC
This is really pretty and an incredibly smooth mechanic. Well don!
coborax
19. Apr 2016 路 08:45 UTC
Very good game i really like it
jollyserpent
19. Apr 2016 路 12:44 UTC
Superb for a jam game. The gameplay is simple, but very addicting, the visuals are adorable, it was such a pleasure to play. Thanks a lot!
sndr
19. Apr 2016 路 16:24 UTC
I loved the graphics, the gameplay, the characters... amazing entry! :) Thanks for the play!
zenmumbler
19. Apr 2016 路 17:01 UTC
Hi, thanks for rating and commenting on Squirm, since responding on the same page is as useful as shouting at a lake: I've now enabled the innovation category.
Rafos Games
19. Apr 2016 路 17:13 UTC
Now you need to make a game with my tears ;-;
I loved this game, it's one of my favorites on this moment =D
Le_Sarus
19. Apr 2016 路 20:52 UTC
Cute game with a nice theme, nice job!
medidog
19. Apr 2016 路 20:52 UTC
It was so fun, I could not stop playing until the end. Well done! And it made me sad about Pluto, again..
tentacode
19. Apr 2016 路 20:54 UTC
Build android did not work (cannot wipe the tear at the start then Runtime error in game.lua:290) looks really cute though
blinry
19. Apr 2016 路 20:55 UTC
Wow, I had a lot of fun playing through this. Awesome concept and nice writing :) Sooo much atomic waste :(
ratking
19. Apr 2016 路 21:00 UTC
Pretty much the best entry I played so far. Thanks for making this!
AceyT
19. Apr 2016 路 21:00 UTC
Excellent game, I love it, and I'll probably show it to some friends as a exemple of what can be done during LDJam with humor and fun :D

"Slingshot yourself out of orbit and out into deep space. " -> That's a perfect description, and as fun to picture it as your game
馃帳 kestrelgames
19. Apr 2016 路 21:02 UTC
thanks for the kind comments all! Really appreciate it. Agreed on a lot of suggestions, we'll release another build post-jam :)
@tentacode: Sorry about that. Maybe try tapping the tear instead? What kind of device did you use? It runs on a few devices as I've been told so far, I promise. :)
Ryusui
19. Apr 2016 路 21:28 UTC
Cute Katamari-like. It took me a while to realize time paused while I'm aiming - maybe you should add some kind of visual indicator of which direction objects are moving?
psychonull
19. Apr 2016 路 22:27 UTC
nice entry, liked the specially the audio and dialogues. the ending was awesome. great job!
fin_nolimit
19. Apr 2016 路 22:34 UTC
Super innovative!!! I love that I could play the game on my phone. The game looks very professional! Nice work
nextreality
20. Apr 2016 路 04:05 UTC
I really liked this game. The satisfaction from eating everything (including the jab at Trump, very nice ;) plus the pretty graphic aesthetic and pleasant music combined to make a very entertaining game! Plus the controls were nice ( i was using a mouse) just had to flick pluto around for a bit! Good job!
Ghust1995
20. Apr 2016 路 05:44 UTC
Great mood, almost made me cry
Monklet80
20. Apr 2016 路 08:26 UTC
Very solid work, guys. I had a little trouble running the android version, but I made it to the end. Funny, enjoyable, and cute. Hope to see more from you guys.
Danoli3
20. Apr 2016 路 09:14 UTC
I absolutely loved every part of this game! Well done 5 stars all categories for me
EdoCreate
20. Apr 2016 路 10:25 UTC
Wonderful game! Poor Pluto )
tentacode
20. Apr 2016 路 11:23 UTC
I tried again on android and it works all good ! Fantastic game, cool gameplay, long enough. Only criticism I got is that it's hard to find planets as I don't know my solar system, perhaps order them by position in solar system rather than sizes ?
apalade
20. Apr 2016 路 13:48 UTC
Amazing! Really innovative idea and I loved the story. Graphics and sound are great too. I just loved everything about this one.
Horsed
20. Apr 2016 路 14:01 UTC
Funny idea and well done. I ate a lot of trump.
2Bit
20. Apr 2016 路 14:16 UTC
So politically charged. :p Really liked the atmosphere and the dialogue. Nice work.
馃帳 kestrelgames
20. Apr 2016 路 17:25 UTC
thanks all! :) we had to choose between size of planets and order of planets for the HUD because of time constraints (ie, panic) and went with size so that people could see which planet they should aim to eat next. kinda figured people would be less likely to know sizes than positions -- not sure :) minimap was going to go in, but ... ran out of time :) POST-JAM VERSION! :D
banana.hammers
20. Apr 2016 路 18:34 UTC
I had fun playing it and those planets are so cute!
Shatter Point Studios
20. Apr 2016 路 19:23 UTC
This is amazing. The art is beautiful, as is the sound. And the writing just kept making me laugh so much. The Trump robot... Everything about this game is incredible, thank you for making it.
WojtaW
20. Apr 2016 路 21:41 UTC
Lovely :)
Dyn
20. Apr 2016 路 22:18 UTC
Sooo cure graphics. I love it!
David Cookie
20. Apr 2016 路 23:33 UTC
One of the few entries with some storytelling from I've played. Love how you make Pluto get revenge, even though the tone is quite sad :(
The gameplay is not that exciting, but it's like Flow and Katamari. We play mostly for their graphics and atmosphere, and that works for you entry! I really wanted to see how it will end :) Well done!
Llucile
20. Apr 2016 路 23:48 UTC
Really good gameplay idea ! I liked the music and the graphics too :)
PeachTreeOath
21. Apr 2016 路 01:40 UTC
I am the god of war now! Too good!
Weeping Rupee
21. Apr 2016 路 04:16 UTC
When I first tried this game I hated the controls. Then I really got the hang of it and it became quite addictive.

The idea here is great-- what with pluto not being a planet anymore (actually I heard they might change thier mind on that again) but this really would have fit best with the 'grow' theme in LD34 than the shape-shift theme.

Still this was alot of fun and very outside the box thinking.
Reallysketchy
21. Apr 2016 路 04:32 UTC
Really fun and addictive with great music and graphics! Awesome job!
squidblinkgames
21. Apr 2016 路 05:09 UTC
Great entry! I found myself hooked pretty quickly as I hungered after more space junk. The moment I could eat other planets, I squeed. Nice take on the theme!
DuckTieTeam
21. Apr 2016 路 10:19 UTC
Wow, amazing game, and it made me sad a little) I felt bad for pluto, as it seemed that all his actions were motivated by mockery from other planets, so he turned crazy and started eating them all =) Nothing to improve here, it's perfect)
gogo199432
21. Apr 2016 路 11:20 UTC
Very fun little game, loved the graphics and the comments :D I had sometimes some kind of bug where my planet teleported to my cursor however.
Nodari Kobakhidze
21. Apr 2016 路 15:28 UTC
This game is simply fantastic. Assessing idea!!!! And i loved soundtrack!!!
randomhuman
21. Apr 2016 路 17:25 UTC
Cute and really fun, good job!
SantiHisteria
21. Apr 2016 路 18:27 UTC
Wow, really good work! I love a lot of parts of your game: the music, the controls, the mechanic... Very nice!
taviandir
21. Apr 2016 路 18:31 UTC
Nice game, I liked the design and humor.

The text could've stayed longer (didn't have time to read it most of the time). Also some kind of zoom out would have been nice to find other planets.

some more gameplay mechanic would be good.

Nice game.
josemorval
21. Apr 2016 路 18:42 UTC
Love the graphics, love the story, love the mood...very good job guy! :)
Togimaro
21. Apr 2016 路 19:02 UTC
Fantastics assets and cool gameplay! The end is sad :(
Great work! One of my favorite
MementoGames
21. Apr 2016 路 19:11 UTC
Everything is great about this entry. Really! Loved it!
Maybe zoom out a little bit while Pluto gets bigger.
siryakko
21. Apr 2016 路 19:56 UTC
Where is the "Cuteness" category?
CaptainPilot
21. Apr 2016 路 22:46 UTC
Fun but the game feels way too zoomed in!
celia14
21. Apr 2016 路 23:39 UTC
Wow, this is awesome! The gameplay's really fun (even when I was wandering around trying to remember where different planets are, it was super engaging :D) and the aesthetics are great. I liked the bittersweet ending for poor lonely Pluto!
avinashd
22. Apr 2016 路 04:09 UTC
OH. MY. GOD. SO MUCH PERSONALITY. I LOVE THIS GAME.
Fabraz
22. Apr 2016 路 14:42 UTC
Absolutely phenomenal! Beautiful visuals, adorable designs, great take on the theme, humorous and fun gameplay to boot. Great job!
Arvydas
22. Apr 2016 路 16:19 UTC
Very fun and cute game! Loved the mechanics, music, sounds, implementation, and characters. This would be a great game to have young ones play to teach about the planets and space debris. Good work on this one!
mahalis
23. Apr 2016 路 02:04 UTC
This is really nicely put together. Love the art - the gameplay is a little repetitive, but it doesn't wear out its welcome. Great attention to detail too; I liked Charon and the other particles circling around Pluto.
dcolgan
23. Apr 2016 路 02:21 UTC
This was pretty cool. Really good idea,it gets a bit chopply sometimes when you slingshot. Kind of an evolution of Angry Birds, but so much more fulfilling. I am become Might Pluto Ruler of Worlds.
SteveSalmond
23. Apr 2016 路 06:46 UTC
Wow, didn't expect such an emotional rollercoaster haha! Great job :) The dialogue snippets were great btw.
Garazbolg
23. Apr 2016 路 12:51 UTC
Love it !!! Just so you i did have a runtime error on android. Restart the game fixed it, I got the error when i touched the screen during the speech at the beginning.
Other then that : Your game is definitely on of my favorite !
Naca
23. Apr 2016 路 15:30 UTC
Awesome work, fun to play and love the Solar System theme :) Your song is fantastic, it's a pity you can't enter the audio category. Indeed, I've seen a couple of entries with 3rd party music entering that category... so not everybody is taking the rules correctly... You're very honest by making that sacrifice.
Sabina Lis
23. Apr 2016 路 22:39 UTC
That was beautiful, and really comfortable to play
ekkiiiii
24. Apr 2016 路 10:23 UTC
Insanely polished for a three day jam. :) Very nice artwork, the music fits perfectly and the gameplay is unique and fun.
I tried to install it on my Nexus 5 but I got a "Parsing Error" (no more info) when trying to open the .apk. I have a touchscreen laptop so I could still play the game as it was clearly meant to be. :)
APantaloni
24. Apr 2016 路 12:34 UTC
Very enjoyable experience. It also has educational value in teaching the planets of the solar system and that eating radioactive waste is bad for your health. Nice graphics, the controls work well, relaxing to play. Nicely done!
DieBackStudios
24. Apr 2016 路 14:53 UTC
Ah! i love everything about it :) good job sir
Julxzs
25. Apr 2016 路 18:43 UTC
A truly beautiful game! It reminds me very much of Solar 2
derr
26. Apr 2016 路 10:38 UTC
Hahaha. Awesome entry. I love the contrast between the mildly melancholic soundtrack and the humor of the game.
ZYXer
26. Apr 2016 路 21:57 UTC
My favorite game so far! I especially love Charon! :D

I ran into a bug several times where Pluto would jump back to the position I last clicked, kind of weird.
Naca
28. Apr 2016 路 00:32 UTC
Glad to hear you've finally entered the audio category! Scoring it 5/5 right now! :D

Also, I'd like to thank you for your comments. "Unconventional" and "original" are the best words anyone can say about my tiny game :) I will take into account all your constructive suggestions. It's for people like you that this first LD is being extremely enriching for me.
BulletsArePeopleToo
29. Apr 2016 路 20:57 UTC
Awesome!

Actually, we made a similar game (eat-everything-to-get-bigger-until-you-eat-the-Sun) for LD33 last August. It's called Have a Cow. You should check it out.

One feature I would really like here is for the camera to zoom out whenever you level up. It might help movement be easier at bigger sizes, and add to the satisfaction of growth.

The writing and mood make this one of best entries I've played yet. Great game!
Rock Eaters
01. May 2016 路 20:40 UTC
very well polished game, everything is so cute, its a pleasure to play
loveapplegames
05. May 2016 路 17:38 UTC
I ran the game on Android and completed it. Good, polished and finished looking entry! Gameplay itself is not very challenging though. As Pluto got bigger, it was no longer possible to see the crosshairs, which was a bit disorienting.
CliffracerX
05. May 2016 路 20:35 UTC
Beautiful but dark. I don't think I can say anything else about it.
lightsoda
06. May 2016 路 11:13 UTC
Well that was sad, but very well made.
Jupiter_Hadley
06. May 2016 路 22:26 UTC
Lovely graphics, well made game. I included it in my video compilation series of Ludum Dare games, if you鈥檇 like to check them out :) https://youtu.be/bGsPoPIYpCs
Skruffye
08. May 2016 路 19:19 UTC
Really cool little game! Poor Pluto, he's still at the end of my list of planets--couldn't forget him if I wanted to! XD
Everything was really good (though Donald Trump invading almost every form of media at the moment is getting a little bit annoying) and my only criticism is that, after you get bigger than the guiding circle around Pluto (the one that shows up when you click and the game pauses), it can throw you off that the game pauses and the circle is hidden. Perhaps make it grow along with Pluto?

Overall, great job! :)
Aaranos
10. May 2016 路 00:08 UTC
Feel like there's a message in it and it is open to interpretation. Or maybe I'm reading into it more than I should. Well made.
Marius
10. May 2016 路 10:59 UTC
Hi, nice game and congratulations ! We're realizing a video with several winners of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description
Molpe
10. May 2016 路 12:20 UTC
Cool little game x) Great idea, nice concept, nice!

I've made a let's play video, if you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz5ntMJYoMU
馃帳 kestrelgames
10. May 2016 路 17:04 UTC
whoa, thanks very much for all the support! Really appreciated :) We'll add it on indiexpo :) Also, thanks for the let's play!
馃帳 kestrelgames
10. May 2016 路 17:34 UTC
http://www.indiexpo.net/en/games/pluto-s-tears-ldjam-35