AstroDeck by Ben Pearson

[raw]
made by Ben Pearson for LD 41 (COMPO)

A game of asteroid destruction to fuel and expand your spacecraft. Survive as long as you can, and collect some cash!

LudumDare_41.PNG

Capture.PNG

Tools Used: * Unity 2017.2 * Audacity * SFX Generator * https://pernyblom.github.io/abundant-music/index.html * TextMeshPro (Because Unity had a recognized bug for the bad text rendering) * GIMP

For information about my other products, and likely including a more built version of this game, see http://www.whereisroadster.com and http://www.oldhammedia.com/

Ratings

Overall 638th 2.774⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Fun 634th 2.597⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 641th 2.613⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Theme 621th 2.887⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 666th 2.242⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Audio 444th 2.516⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Humor 545th 1.833⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Mood 600th 2.423⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 33🗳️ 33🗨️

Feedback

igorimagine
23. Apr 2018 · 02:55 UTC
Fun game, I just don't understand what does the "deck" on the bottom right do.
🎤 Ben Pearson
23. Apr 2018 · 09:50 UTC
The Deck doesn't do anything at the moment. I originally was going to do something with it, but I opted in the end to not really do anything. A future version will probably show information about the cards or something, but...
AdroitConceptions
23. Apr 2018 · 11:39 UTC
Interesting use of the space shooter/card collecting/trader mechanic.
only issue I had was figuring out that the expanding clouds of debris were things you wanted to touch, not avoid.
Teo SK
23. Apr 2018 · 12:56 UTC
Very nice game! The ship dies maybe too easily, I'd start with more "lives" from the beginning. I like it!
🎤 Ben Pearson
23. Apr 2018 · 13:27 UTC
@TeoSK: I've seen that a game that goes quick usually works best for Ludum Dare, hence the insta-death. But if I do a longer running version of it, I'll certainly keep that in mind!
Noxbuds
23. Apr 2018 · 13:29 UTC
Interesting idea. I like the sound effects and music, they fit the space theme well. As always I enjoy it a little bit more because it's sci-fi and set in space ;)
jtn191
23. Apr 2018 · 15:06 UTC
hey, I'm from reddit--I tried out your game on stream (at about 5:00 in) https://www.twitch.tv/videos/253589659
morphine
24. Apr 2018 · 00:03 UTC
Hey there! Wow that was a hard game. I'm not sure if there is an upgrade for this but the turning speed of the ship was painful at times. But what a deep experience given you only had 48 hours, great job!
BelowParallel_Ian
24. Apr 2018 · 00:07 UTC
Is the ship supposed to be invisible except for the flames out the back? Also, I never saw an asteroids, but the ship was randomly destroyed. I was playing the web version btw.
pinkemma
24. Apr 2018 · 00:10 UTC
The ship and asteroids wouldn't load for me :(
🎤 Ben Pearson
24. Apr 2018 · 00:17 UTC
@pinkemma @belowparallel-ian The ship shouldn't be invisible, nor should the asteroids... Strange, I will look in to it and let you know. You could also try it on the Itch.IO page, it might be a bit smoother there... Or just download the Windows EXE, which should work 100%.

@morphine: There are upgrades for the turning speed. I need to play with the frequency somewhat, but, well, balance is hard... I'll also probably make it more obvious for a future build, but that will be easier with artwork that I don't have to design on my own, or use unicode.
gdort
24. Apr 2018 · 00:18 UTC
Felt good collecting space dust!
Good job :smile:
Smooth
24. Apr 2018 · 01:41 UTC
Cool
Vinterskog
24. Apr 2018 · 14:47 UTC
I agree you shouldnt die immediately on contact with an asteroid. Also the sounds are uncomfortably loud. Then you added this thing where the shooting sound is hard panned either to the left or right speaker depending on the rotation of your ship which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But a nice attempt at combining a space shooter with deck building.
Nick Rafalski
24. Apr 2018 · 15:56 UTC
I really like the concept of this game. The cards are a cool addition to the asteroids genre and make for a lot of strategy as far as what to buy and sell.

Unfortunately, I found the ship control really tedious and difficult (maybe I just suck). Also, (might just be me), but I think there are TOO many things to manage at once. Fuel, life support, metal (ammo); and they all contribute to mass? Add when to buy/sell cards to actually get points. Oh and by the way, you die with 1 touch of an asteroid. It's overwhelming.

Still, I liked the premise and overall design of the game a lot. I would play a refined/balanced version for sure.
Nash
24. Apr 2018 · 15:56 UTC
I can see the concept you were trying to go towards. Unfortunately the card mechanic does feel a bit forced - more like a "gimmicky" inventory mechanic. I would have hoped that cards would have some other effects, maybe bonuses for the ship when you play them.

Other than that, controlling the ship feels great and destroying asteroids is fun. The sound effects were annoying at first but I think I got used to them. Overall, pretty good game for a marathon which could use some more work on the two themes.
Aterlamia
24. Apr 2018 · 16:51 UTC
Was fun to collect spacedust and it had a real asteroids feeling to it. i do feel the cards/deck part was a bit under developed and more like an afterthought. But for a game in 48 hours its pretty good. i would at least make the ship have a bit more symmetry its a small thing but kind of bothered me.
🎤 Ben Pearson
24. Apr 2018 · 17:23 UTC
@aterlamia: That is certainly the plan should I continue. The first order of business is better graphics for the ship and likely asteroid. The cards were the last part I developed, it could certainly be fun to continue with it some.
mikedirl
25. Apr 2018 · 00:11 UTC
Good game, I always enjoyed playing asteroids and this was a good extension of the idea, the graphics were nice and fit the game style well. BTW I was playing the web version and everything was visible for me.
jfraser314
25. Apr 2018 · 17:04 UTC
Fun game, the conservation of motion for the dust clouds drove me crazy! I really liked the background, though I am not sure it went with the "programmer art" used for the ship.

![AstroDeck.gif](///raw/d93/c/z/13f75.gif)
🎤 Ben Pearson
25. Apr 2018 · 17:06 UTC
@jfraser314: It's pretty high on my list of things to do to improve the motion of the dust clouds... I guess there's a very simple thing I could do and should have done, but... Sigh. Time and lack of rest...
coldmoose
26. Apr 2018 · 16:54 UTC
Fun asteroid mash up! It feels like you spent a lot of time starting each mechanic and not enough time fixing and fleshing out the existing ones. Congrats on managing to get this much done and good luck in future game jams!
morrilet
27. Apr 2018 · 02:51 UTC
I like this. It's pretty slow paced and relaxed, and I never had any trouble keeping the ship alive, but it was fun for a little bit. I wish there was a little more to do, but I understand that there's a deadline and this was a compo entry. The sound effects were also a little sharp for my liking, but I think this was a good entry nonetheless. Nice work!
nilstastic
27. Apr 2018 · 18:39 UTC
Fun game! I liked it, I guess if the cards did something it would have added some complexity to it. but it was quite relaxing as it was. Good job!
🎤 Ben Pearson
28. Apr 2018 · 03:19 UTC
@nilstastic: The cards do something, either store for money or use them for upgrades. But I agree that isn't particularly clear... Hmmm...
csanyk
03. May 2018 · 02:58 UTC
I found the flight controls a bit crude. The recoil when firing made getting around really awkward. I think combining with the card game made it an interesting game.