A Space Hitchhiking Game by mikethewayne

made by mikethewayne for LD 40 (COMPO)

You hitchhiking home for Christmas? Me neither, but here's a game about it.

For my 11th Ludum Dare, I decided to go along the theme of making a trip through space, picking up hitchhikers along the way in order to afford to be able to make the journey. But the more you'd pick up, the more cramped it gets in your ship, so therefore the worse it becomes.

Thank you for playing!

Features: - Large, randomly generated galaxy - Customisable ship - Fun, Velocity-based controls - Hitchhikers! - Non-references

Lacking: - Audio - Combat, piracy (this would've been fun, too) - Walls -- seriously, who has the time? - The number 42

Controls: [W][A][S][D] - Controls most things; character, map, ship [W] - Accelerate (in ship) [A][D] - Turn left/right (in ship) [S] - Brake (in ship) [E] - Interact with shops [H] - Show/hide help

Notes: - If [E] doesn't close the shop interface, use WASD to move away from the shop, then press [E]

Tools: - Java Eclipse - Paint.NET

Windows	https://www.dropbox.com/s/xnt9neivkuurt2g/A%20Space%20Hitchhiking%20Game.rar?dl=0
macOS	https://www.dropbox.com/s/xnt9neivkuurt2g/A%20Space%20Hitchhiking%20Game.rar?dl=0
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/a-space-hitchhiking-game

Ratings

Overall	435^th	3.2⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Fun	460^th	3⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation	152^th	3.575⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Theme	451^th	3.175⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics	515^th	2.825⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Humor	262^th	2.947⭐	21🧑‍⚖️
Mood	251^th	3.25⭐	22🧑‍⚖️
Given		23🗳️	7🗨️

Feedback

R2D48

04. Dec 2017 · 18:41 UTC

I can't see the black dot in a black background so I was unable to enjoy the game

Faloon

05. Dec 2017 · 06:25 UTC

I really like the idea and the different views provided (in ship, in closer space, in wider space) and the idea is fun. It still appears a bit unfinished and there are lots of opportunities for further enhancing the game and game play. The navigation and the necessary swapping between steering and the map is a bit tedious. The hitchhikers do not seem to do much yet or I did not understand it because the colorful bars on the side do not yet have a text describing what they mean. But this is definitely a good start and it is worth developing this further.

🎤 mikethewayne

05. Dec 2017 · 16:45 UTC

Hi there! I fixed a few things under the pretext that it is a change to help people play the game, without changing the game itself, which is allowed post-LD. The black dot is now visible in space (although it isn't meant to be able to move into space, that's just an unfinished part of the game), and the help has been updated to explain what the needs are. Thanks for your feedback!

multiplexor

10. Dec 2017 · 20:01 UTC

I like the vibes of the game, Some sort of Firefly/FTL feeling. Still, the distances to travel are extremelly long and sometimes the planets were not there, but if the game is polished with more mechanics and stuff to do during the trip, it could be superawesome!

Keep up the great work! Looking forward to see a concept like this one expanded upon and turned into a fully fledged game :D

kleinzach

10. Dec 2017 · 20:01 UTC

I think the game suffers from throwing too many things at the player all at once. I see that it is very ambitious, and theres a lot of layers in the game, but its just so opaque that I couldn't really enjoy it.

vfabien21

10. Dec 2017 · 20:20 UTC

This is so cool ! Well, of course, there is a lot of room for improvement (space dust for example, and the pace which is terribly slooooooowwwww). But the different views are great ! I also love those old fashion graphics.
The help overlay is really nice too !
I had thought a few times of making hitchhicking too, but with you in the role of the hitch hicker. So your games touches a soft spot in me...

Draklaw

10. Dec 2017 · 20:59 UTC

The concept looks great, but the game is really to slow. I think I made a mistake when stuffing my ship but didn't had the courage to start again. However we really feel the way space travel should feel... It might be really interesting with some balance and maybe a less overwhelming tutorial.

sorlok

11. Dec 2017 · 22:41 UTC

Great concept, and very big scale for a Compo game. Lots of useful help screens! I had a hard time figuring out when I was doing something wrong (i.e., I stopped at a planet and picked up 3 passengers, and then the game wouldn't let me move any more), but the general promise of what was offered was very good. I feel like with a bit more polish, and some streamlining of controls, this could be a solid short-timespan (mobile) game (take it as a compliment, regardless of your opinion on mobile). Great job!

ACamara

12. Dec 2017 · 13:25 UTC

Oh no... I couldn't play on Mac. I was so into it from the introduction. I could buy some furniture and I accepted from hikers into the ship. For some reason, after exiting the furniture menu I couldn't move my blob anymore.

wwwhizz

12. Dec 2017 · 19:25 UTC

Needs a bit of work, but I can see where you're going. Gameplay-wise it is quite nice, but the graphics and mechanics are a bit unpolished. Maybe a bit too big for a compo?

jlauper

14. Dec 2017 · 01:27 UTC

I really like the idea, but it's taking me so long to reach even my first planet, that doesn't encourage me to play again. And when I finally reached a planet it wasn't even inhabited...
It takes more than an hour (I missed the end because a wasn't at the computer and overshot the end and it crashed...) to traverse the universe, also the yellow blob didn't kill me, and I flew right through.
There appears to be a bug with the fuel too, it remained at 95% in two of my plays, though it looks like I could have made through even without picking up hitchhikers.
And some indication that the ship is moving would help to, maybe generate a few background stars that show the ship moves, instead of just black.
The epic scope is quite interesting, though an infinite improbability drive would have been nice to have :)

Skyward

14. Dec 2017 · 03:53 UTC

I really love the idea of this game but it was taking too long to figure out how to play, reading all the help stuff and I still barely understood what was going on. I will try to play again later when I have a free hour or two.

Pecolyte

14. Dec 2017 · 16:32 UTC

That a lot of content of the game! I can figure out what the game is suppose to be like, but I spent quite some time to read the instruction, map is confusing when at beginning. Maybe you can consider introducing the elements sequencely along with the game progress rather than throwing them all out at once?

Eli Delventhal

15. Dec 2017 · 23:39 UTC

This is totally a game I would buy if it was complete. I don't think it's the best game jam game, though. It's just so complicated! And the pace is extremely slow (I'm just leaving it running right now as I try to get to the nearest planet over several minutes). But man the concept is great, and there's a really impressive amount of systems in here.