ASTEROIDS! (the side-scroller) by Custard Games

[raw]
made by Custard Games for LD26 (COMPO)
You play as a rather unfortunate test pilot aboard a "minimalistic" rocket ship (no unnecessary features such as slowing down or landing), who has to attempt to navigate his way through a field of asteroids without getting smashed to a billion pieces!

My first Ludum Dare entry, and the second game I've ever made! I've decided to go for a game with very simple mechanics, but is difficult as hell to win. While most people chose to go for a minimalistic art style, I've decided to keep the controls (only up/w and down/s) and actual gameplay minimalistic instead. It seems extremely impossible initially, but after awhile you get the hang of it.

I programmed the game from scratch in Java, using ecplipse for code, and paint.net for all the textures. I will be posting a post-mortem either on LD or on my website. (www.custardgames.com)

If anyone actually manages to beat the game, post a screenshot with a timestamp next to the winning page!

Ratings

Coolness 62% 3
Overall 3.30 416
Audio 2.74 537
Fun 3.26 310
Graphics 3.19 443
Humor 3.40 100
Innovation 2.17 1169
Mood 3.00 455
Theme 3.30 790

Feedback

DdlyHeadshot
29. Apr 2013 · 13:04 UTC
Really quite a fun game, not that I've managed to get very far...
psychopsam
30. Apr 2013 · 05:07 UTC
Great game, and I only got to 52 seconds. Nice and simple and easier to learn. Hard to master. Nice thing about the 'tader too. Well done!
karlin
30. Apr 2013 · 13:59 UTC
I really enjoyed this and the art was great. Best I managed was 28s.
Andrei Barsan
30. Apr 2013 · 14:28 UTC
It's quite fun, but a tad difficult, even after getting used to it. It would be more fun to progress through (shorter) levels, with each being a tad harder than the next.
Galvesmash
30. Apr 2013 · 14:42 UTC
Great Game man! Too difficult D: My best time was 43s (btw the first asteroid was the best! XD)
hardycore
30. Apr 2013 · 15:42 UTC
Great little game! I think you got teh difficulty just right! Its amazing how much that background sound does for teh mood of the game! Good art too!
ericlass
30. Apr 2013 · 15:43 UTC
Cool game, but I'm not fast enough.
ComicSans
30. Apr 2013 · 15:44 UTC
Rocket # should go up every time you restart. ;)
smealum
30. Apr 2013 · 15:49 UTC
neat little game ! nice art, funny intro (also loved the easter egg when you get "mashed" into the potato :P) and minimalistic gameplay that fits the theme pretty well. good job !
orange08
30. Apr 2013 · 16:42 UTC
Rather difficult. I would have liked to be able to shoot at incoming asteroids to clear my path. Pretty nice, anyway.
Gravity Games
30. Apr 2013 · 18:40 UTC
Wow, I really liked this one, but I wasn't able to beat it. Funny alternate message when you hit the potato BTW...
Purplescape
30. Apr 2013 · 22:55 UTC
Fast paced and fits the theme well. It's also really difficult. Nice space potato
dalbinblue
01. May 2013 · 04:20 UTC
Fun! Reminds me a lot of the iOS Hypership out of Control.
ilovepixel
01. May 2013 · 05:54 UTC
The movement was really fast, I think the best I did was 42s. It's still a nice game and kept playing for a few rounds.
powstrike
02. May 2013 · 06:20 UTC
Lawl this game is too easy, have completed it 4 times already on my 3rd hour of trying. P.S I'm asian.

Proof! http://imgur.com/NKKHxdh
patrickward
02. May 2013 · 15:02 UTC
Holy space potatoes, that's fast! It's quick, but fun. Kudos to whoever beats it. Nice job on the graphics, humor, and sounds.
Ernyz
02. May 2013 · 15:13 UTC
Woah, that was pretty difficult O.o still, the game fits the theme perfectly :)
TheBenjaneer
03. May 2013 · 20:54 UTC
Lol, I wonder who else found that easter egg?
( for the record, i thought there might be one there, and wondered what would happen, I'm not actually that bad at the game xD )

Nice game. Pretty Challenging
sudorossy
04. May 2013 · 00:00 UTC
Fun game. Love the 3D effect the asteroids give.
S0larCode
04. May 2013 · 18:10 UTC
So difficult, but in a good way!
messiano
04. May 2013 · 18:12 UTC
Loved the humour and gameplay! Quite addictive.
lightsoda
04. May 2013 · 18:29 UTC
Hard, 60 seconds seem way longer. The prize is totally worth it though!
loxo
04. May 2013 · 18:29 UTC
Fun to play, but quite hard. The story is really good too. Though, I don't like that the asteroid field is different every time.
Jellycakes
04. May 2013 · 18:29 UTC
Really fun game. Definitely minimalist and kept me interested even though I kept dying. The end prize was definitely worth the pain though. Nice job!
GranaDa
05. May 2013 · 12:08 UTC
Good game. Really hard to master. Loved the graphics and colors. Good job!
Skoggy
06. May 2013 · 13:56 UTC
Very simple yet fun and challenging. Kind of like a bullet hell shooter with no bullets.
Dietrich Epp
12. May 2013 · 08:27 UTC
Cmon, give me some shields. Controls are solid and it's fun, but too hard.
Exclamation Mark
18. May 2013 · 23:20 UTC
Bah! Ignore anyone who says the game is too hard! It's a video game challenge at it's finest! Hard, but fair and rewarding! Nothing ground breaking, but very well executed.
GeorgeBroussard
20. May 2013 · 19:39 UTC
I really dig the art style. I never got very far but I think you could polish this up to be quite fun.
shawn42
21. May 2013 · 00:44 UTC
Very fun.. and HARD. Got mashed right away! 43 seconds was about my best. Fun game and I love your style of art.