Salvage! by frankiesmileshow
SALVAGE!
Game by Francis Coulombe, with music by cBoyardee.
twitter -@FrancisCoulombe
You wrecked your ship in a space junkyard around a black hole. Salvage parts and repair your ship before your power runs out, and watch out for space monsters!
While in spaceship: Arrow keys for movement C to begin Salvage operation
While in space suit: Arrow keys for movement X for thrusters C to shoot S and D cycle equipped items number keys 0 through 9 also select items
| Windows | https://frankiesmileshow.itch.io/salvage |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/salvage |
Ratings
| Overall | 49th | 4.087⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 71th | 3.913⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 193th | 3.478⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 261th | 3.739⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 80th | 4.375⭐ | 26🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 25th | 4.217⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 357th | 2.556⭐ | 20🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 154th | 3.727⭐ | 24🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 24🗳️ | 22🗨️ |
The only drawback for me, is the energy. I got 500 of this, sometimes I went down to 450, sometimes I was above. Why would I even care about its level, if I don't ever get close to depleting it.
Beside this, it's one of the best entries on LD39, great job!
One of my favorite game submissions I have seen. :)
Is the problem that I didn't make the controls clear enough, and you didnt know about the thrusters? Or is the problem that you felt you should *not* be using the thrusters at all because of their fuel consumption, and save it only for emergencies? Or are the thrusters themselves too slow?
The movement without thrusters is meant to help the player slightly correct their course or make minute movements, and also to give players a chance if they are running out of power and are near the exit. Its not really meant to be the main way you move around! I might need to figure out a way to hint this to the players somehow. Maybe in some kind of tutorial level.
(im realizing theres no way to "reply" to comments here, so im not sure how to get an answer! Im gonna hope someone else tries the game out, has that exact same issue and sees this response here before they make their own comment, so they can clarify haha :D )
I stopped playing when I died at the, I think, more infested level (with the jumping thingies), and I assumed that somewhere there was an even meaner monster, a final boss of shorts, but there were so many levels, and not a clear goal of "this completes the game", so I gave up at my fifth level. Since the first ravaging, I got the impression I could just go home already and that I didn't need to do anything more, and that impression only grew at the end of each level I played. If I needed to obtain 5 crucial items that fixed my spaceship, for example, there would be a clear objective that would encourage all players to play and explore every level. Or if there was the optional objective of wiping out the infestations completely, or if it was clear which spaceship had the final boss (big, palpitating, glowing infestation?) so you wanted to prepare and get as many ammunition as possible to face it!
The game has lots of potential, and what often is the most difficult part (making the controls and main mechanics feel great)... you achieved it already in my opinion! If you build the levels and experience around that, and improve the protagonist' sprite and the communication of the goal, then, that would be a game I would love to have in my collection. Ah, the creatures' designs were fun, by the way!
Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm still eagerly awaiting Barkley 2! Hope that project is going well.