LudumData

Rocket Rescue by automatonvx

[raw]
made by automatonvx for LD 39 (COMPO)

Explore the treacherous caves and rescue the imprisoned creatures. But don't take too long your power meter is decreasing..

TitleScreen.png

Download or play browser version on Itch

This has post jam versions and windows/osx/linux versions of original submission.

For Rating Ludum Dare through web version please go here Or Be sure to download versions marked as Ludum Dare submission on main itch page

Controls

WASD or Cursor keys to move. Up or W or engages thrust.

Left CTRL/Left Mouse Click fires your lazer, ALT/Right Mouse Click (left Shift in post jam version) drops a bomb (watch out these can hurt you too)

Hints: * For the current levels the bombs are not really needed there's only a couple of walls and you can lazer them also * The little guy is heavier than he looks so he takes quite a bit of thrust (hold down UP arrow) to get off the ground, but we all have our problems.

For post jam version at least this game is MUCH easier (and probably more fun) with a controller.

Credits

This game is 'heavily influenced' by the classic game H.E.R.O - Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation

Credits: Thanks to MortMort for his #SoftMilk32 colour palette.

Tools

  • Unity
  • Aseprite
  • Audio - Reaper and mainly Synth1 for sfx and music, NI Battery for Music Percussion sounds

Post Jam version

Updated Graphics, tweaked controls, added new levels and new mechanics. DO NOT USE THIS VERSION FOR RATING But comments would be very welcome :)

Post Submission Bug Fix Updates:

Any updates are only to fix game breaking bugs - no features added. Original version is still available as 1.0 version on Itch

v1.1

*Fixed bug where game was frozen on pause if tried to pause - exit - restart

*Fixed bug where lives and score were not reset after Game Over or Restart

screen2.png

Windows https://automatonvx.itch.io/rocket-rescue
macOS https://automatonvx.itch.io/rocket-rescue
Linux https://automatonvx.itch.io/rocket-rescue
HTML5 (web) https://automatonvx.itch.io/rocket-rescue-ld39-version
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/rocket-rescue

Ratings

Overall 409th 3.175⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Fun 401th 3⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 533th 2.603⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Theme 454th 3.27⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 389th 3.063⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Audio 144th 3.397⭐ 65🧑‍⚖️
Humor 261th 2.5⭐ 54🧑‍⚖️
Mood 321th 2.982⭐ 59🧑‍⚖️
Given 74🗳️ 75🗨️

Feedback

Falk Bruskeland
31. Jul 2017 · 12:40 UTC
Cool game! It gets pretty challenging after some levels!
AdroitConceptions
31. Jul 2017 · 13:46 UTC
Nice game. Simple, but effective. taking off from the ground seems to take a second or so. Not sure if that is intentional or a side effect of how the gravity physics is being processed.
Behenate
31. Jul 2017 · 16:04 UTC
Cool game. Graphics are really nice. You should use double click to activate jetpack instead of holding key for about 1.5 seconds. I liked music and sound effects. They fit your game really well.
jchaplin
31. Jul 2017 · 16:56 UTC
Nice job!
tuism
31. Jul 2017 · 18:49 UTC
What really caught my eye are the animations, the good ones are really great.

The game mechanics are okay, I thought the attacks would drain energy or something, but it looks like the only thing that drains is basically a timer?

The bombs were weird, perhaps they linger too long. After the explosion I walked towards it and died.

The jetpack hella unresponsive. It feels like it's on some kind of delay, and that makes controlling it really difficult, I think a more responsive jetpack could make it challenging still while not feeling like it's intentionally broken.
Starlight Glimmer is best poney
31. Jul 2017 · 21:06 UTC
The graphics are simple yet eye-catching, especially the death animation. As for the gameplay, it's hella hard with this jetpack delay. It's the thing that turns the difficulty from 1 to 11. I don't know, I start with so many lives, on the other hand I can't go past level 4. It's fun and annoying at the same time, and eclipses the actual enemies. Still, the delay is a tad bit too long and some spike moments are just about lucky timing.
Jonathan Whiting
01. Aug 2017 · 09:23 UTC
I found the controls kinda awkward, but it's a nicely put together thing for two days work :)
Windclay
01. Aug 2017 · 11:28 UTC
I really like the audio and the graphics, the gameplay was not too easy nor too hard, great submission
Windclay
01. Aug 2017 · 11:28 UTC
I really like the audio and the graphics, the gameplay was not too easy nor too hard, great submission
AkirAssasin
01. Aug 2017 · 13:01 UTC
Simple and fun to play! However, the thrusters are a bit hard to control - the character does not move up for a second or so, then accelerate upwards quite quickly. I liked the music a lot!
GoldRanger
02. Aug 2017 · 00:08 UTC
I love the gameplay! The difficulties is just right (if there is not a total life count haha)

In second level, I try to kill the bat in Mario way and I found it didn't work :joy:

Really cool mechanics and give me a fun time!
KRP
02. Aug 2017 · 00:10 UTC
I love the style of this game! I like how hard it is to move around in the air! My only criticism: there isn't enough! More levels!
KRP
02. Aug 2017 · 00:10 UTC
I love the style of this game! I like how hard it is to move around in the air! My only criticism: there isn't enough! More levels!
KRP
02. Aug 2017 · 00:10 UTC
I love the style of this game! I like how hard it is to move around in the air! My only criticism: there isn't enough! More levels!
schizoid2k
02. Aug 2017 · 00:57 UTC
Nice job! You captured an early 90s feel that I remember when playing Commander Keen and other games like that.
kevinworkman
02. Aug 2017 · 01:31 UTC
This worked pretty well. I would definitely suggest making the movement more responsive- it goes a long way if just moving around in the game world is fun!
pvtroswold
02. Aug 2017 · 01:52 UTC
This game has its own feel to it, and I like it. The music and graphics/animations were sneakily well done, and charming, though the game got real hard at the spike-wall section. Overall I liked it, good work.
Ranner198
02. Aug 2017 · 01:57 UTC
I loved the game, but I felt like the controls were set up right in a sense. This game was way to hard for me tho to you the jet pack with the delay on the push up and the fall physics
DarkXolotl
02. Aug 2017 · 02:01 UTC
The game is nice and challenging. I was caught off guard the first time I fell, the gravity is pretty low. I like the music. I found the little death animation funny.
CurseTats
03. Aug 2017 · 00:37 UTC
The game is very cool and challenging!, Loved it. The animations were pretty well finished and the music is also nice.
The controls were according to my favorites so it was good!
Keep it up!
Turncoda
03. Aug 2017 · 08:02 UTC
The jetpack is really hard to control. The level design was good, it made sure I had to truly master the mechanics before I could beat the level. Given the high difficulty spike and the janky jetpack movement, I eventually just got frustrated and gave up. The music is cute though, has personality.
FelixMcFelix
03. Aug 2017 · 14:18 UTC
Difficult, but fun. I liked the music! I think it'd work better without a lives count though---that way you aren't punishing players too harshly while they're still learning the intricacies of the movement system. Good work though!
NOFUEL
03. Aug 2017 · 18:20 UTC
I liked the music! It fits very good to the theme.
I only find it a bit too difficult to control the jetpack. It takes a bit too long to take off.
It's also a bit frustrating to start from the whole beginning after losing all lives.
All in all: Great Music, nice mood and it had some good animations!
🎤 automatonvx
03. Aug 2017 · 23:02 UTC
Thanks to everyone that played for the feedback. @jason-kennedy @tuism @starlight-glimmer-is-best-poney @jonathan-whiting @akirassasin @kevinworkman @Turncoda @nofuel Thanks for hammering home the point on the movement and controls, I had meant to come back to it later on and adjust it but by then I had played it so much I had got used of it, tweaking the paramaters now I can see it could definitely be a lot better, so that will be top of the list when it comes to a post jam version. @felixmcfelix you are absolutely right about it being better without a lives count, not sure what I was thinking there, my brain is stuck in the arcade days I suppose.
Thanks for playing
drtizzle
04. Aug 2017 · 08:44 UTC
Very nice! Love the sprites, music and sound effects! Nice detail that the laser doesn't shoot, but is more of a beam so you'll have to come close to the enemies. The controls are a bit finicky, especially the jetpack reacts very slow. If the jetpack would act more directly this would be a perfect submission!

Well done!
Emery
04. Aug 2017 · 23:38 UTC
This was a really fun game, I did find the controls a bit challenging at first, but after you get used to it, it's fine. I had a lot of fun playing this.
You did a good Job!! :)
jahndis
05. Aug 2017 · 05:12 UTC
Lol that guy has a little trouble getting off the ground ;) A solid entry. I always like jetpack style games.
karreg
05. Aug 2017 · 11:39 UTC
Cool game :) but the jetpack is very hard to use !
Badly Drawn Rod
05. Aug 2017 · 13:49 UTC
I enjoyed the death animation, which is perhaps just as well as I saw it rather often! I thought that the jet-pack was a bit on the slow side to react. The music was nice - I liked it.
christina-antoinette-neofotistou
05. Aug 2017 · 15:06 UTC
I actually liked the controls, very floaty and space like. I love old-school challenges in games. I died a lot, especially whenever I had to fly above spikes, but equally, I felt very accomplished whenever I beat them :D Congrats on your game!!
davideperozzi
05. Aug 2017 · 21:50 UTC
I liked the controls of this game they are difficult to master but once you got it things got easier. The little animations looks amazing. Really enjoyed this game. Well done! :)
sinclairstrange
05. Aug 2017 · 23:59 UTC
Took a little getting used to the physics and control method, sadly I wasn't able to use my bomb on the web version of the game as Left-Alt would always pause/unpause the game. Overall the graphics and music were nice and suited well with the game. Simple yet fun gameplay, well done! :D
minibobbo
06. Aug 2017 · 04:55 UTC
I loved the mood and the simple graphics with the music. I thought the whole experience was very functional and I also wanted to echo the comments about the animations. They are very nice!

Suggestions:
-As others (and you yourself) have said the jetpack controls were difficult. You had to hit the thrust so far in advance it made for a frustrating experience at times. Maybe I just needed more practice, but my initial feeling was that they were off.
- Change the bomb key from Alt. On the web version Alt brings up the web browser's menu and the game loses focus. On mine it would drop a bomb, and then I would have to frantically click back on the game window and escape before the bomb blew up and killed me. :smile:

Bugs:
- None found. Nicely done!
🎤 automatonvx
06. Aug 2017 · 20:00 UTC
@sinclairstrange, @minibobbo Thanks for the feedback on the Left-Alt problem in browser version, had just gone with default Unity keybindings, I'll have to amend that for a post jam version. Actually mouse buttons work too, I should have mentioned it in the description. Will amend that too.
OboShape
07. Aug 2017 · 19:19 UTC
nice work, enjoyed playing it, music and audio fits well :)
jotson
08. Aug 2017 · 02:43 UTC
Jetpacks are fun (despite problems already pointed out). Nice entry.
pcmaster
08. Aug 2017 · 06:42 UTC
Simply nice! I loved the little animations, the sound, the controls, the presentation in general. Good!
pkenney
09. Aug 2017 · 13:43 UTC
Love the consistent-feeling classic look. It goes well with the music, sound effects, and even the old-school gameplay/challenge.

The movement was frustratingly sluggish at first, but I got used to it after a bit. I wanted the controls to be more responsive, but then I saw how that's part of the challenge.

So then I was getting into the zone on this. And suddenly it was like NOPE you have to start over from the beginning now. I was stunned. I know that's how it was done back in the day, but for LD it's rough to ask me to replay the entire game up to where I got.

But I did it, I replayed the first few levels again and got back to the same spot.

It's a place where you have to drop down at the start of the level. There's a wall of spikes to the right and at the bottom. So you have to fall, and then cut left. And the one time I managed to get past THAT, I still had some upward momentum and hit the final ceiling spikes at the end. I just could not get past this, and I would have kept trying the fifty tries it was going to take so that I could see the rest of the game, but because I would have to replay the game over and over just to get there, it was too daunting and I gave up instead.

A shame, because this is a nice game with some endearing old-school charm and I would have loved to spent a bit more time with it.

Also: yay jetpacks, and I was never able to drop bombs, even though I tried Alt and right click. I played the web version.
🎤 automatonvx
09. Aug 2017 · 15:20 UTC
@pkenney thanks for playing and sorry about forcing players to restart from the beginning, I completely agree its a bad design choice, honestly I didn't really think about it and my default approach is stuck in the past. Hopefully I'll remember for next LD. That was the last level I had time to make anyway so you pretty much saw it all.
DavidByers
09. Aug 2017 · 23:05 UTC
Nice game! I feel like the jetpack should lift you up a bit quicker though
EdwinGameDev
10. Aug 2017 · 03:31 UTC
That reminds me the classic prince of persia game, good stuff. Good job!
CodeChomper
11. Aug 2017 · 18:35 UTC
I Recently played your game during a live stream at your request.

[here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEKsM8vugRs) .

I liked this game a lot. My only complaint was it was hard to control the jet pack. I know that is a hard balance between being too responsive and feeling too heavy. Great entry, thanks for making it and letting me play!

if you haven't already please give my game a try [Zombie Power Station](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/zombie-power-station) HTML5 Thanks
🎤 automatonvx
11. Aug 2017 · 19:12 UTC
@codechomper thanks a lot for playing and streaming, always funny to see someone else play your games, you did pretty well. Thanks for the comments, I agree he's heavier than he should be, I have already adjusted for a post jam version to be released soon. I already played and commented on your game a little while ago.
mindfungus
14. Aug 2017 · 15:16 UTC
hey nice job, there's some good stuff going on here! I think it's been mentioned but I wish the jetpack was more responsive. Also when I first got to the caged animal (at each level's end) I thought it was draining my energy, I tried to fight it the next time before realizing it was on my side.
tomdeal
15. Aug 2017 · 16:32 UTC
Nice game, liked the jetpack mechanics. The first levels were quite easy, which isnt a bad thing :-) The controls could be a bit more direct, as the guy felt a bit too floaty.
xaedes
16. Aug 2017 · 20:25 UTC
Really nice music!
Spetsdod
17. Aug 2017 · 00:55 UTC
Music was a great touch. (I ran out of time and didn't get music into my game.) I only played the LD version, since that is the one I wanted to rate. I'll play the Post Jam version in a while. In the meantime, this was a good entry. I like the use of power, sticking to the theme. The jet pack felt just a little slow to kick in, but I'm sure I'd get used to it over time. Overall, a pretty good entry. Thank you for the submission.
Drachmor
17. Aug 2017 · 04:14 UTC
I loved the environment and the audio/visuals in general, but I found the controls to feel a little unresponsive; to clarify, the character DOES accelerate up when I press the up arrow immediately, but the takeoff itself is so slow that it feels unresponsive. Despite this, I did actually have a pretty good time navigating these levels, and overall you did an excellent job!
HuvaaKoodia
20. Aug 2017 · 13:26 UTC
Yeah, the lives need to go. The 4th level is tricky enough on its own.

Other than that this is pretty ok. Certainly evokes some retro feels and controlling a *fat jetpack man* is certainly a first for me.
g-o
22. Aug 2017 · 08:58 UTC
I liked the music and the mood =]
The graphics were cool too!

The gameplay was ok but it got a little frustrating because of the *crazy* delay the jetpack has.
You really did say the guy was fat but man! Makes it really difficult to manuver and control the position.
Perhpas it's kind of an extra spice to the game? idk but I guess I'm less of a fan in terms of these things..

Still a pretty good entry =]
M-1
22. Aug 2017 · 09:26 UTC
Nice and challenging game. The player character could be lighter to increase the playability. I didn't note my score because the Game Over screen was too fast, but I think I died at the end of 4th level.

I thought the end-level-box-with-something-yellow-in-it was an enemy and tried to destroy it. Even after I touched it, I thought it was killing me (I was losing energy and I couldn't move, which I thought was a glitch) and was surprised I appeared in a different level afterwards. After a while I noticed the score was increasing and I finally understood... A level counter or a more "positive" SFX when touching it would help.

The enemy sprites are cute. I appreciate that level-restarts do not re-spawn enemies. The laser power consumption could be higher to reduce its unnecessary usage. Also the bombs could be per-game, not per-level, but the game is already challenging. :wink:

Nice entry, especially for a Compo!