AAAAASTEROIDS! by teacapn

made by teacapn for LD 39 (JAM)

AAAAASTEROIDS! is a simple 2D space game where you pilot a UFO through an asteroid belt, while collecting batteries to keep your shields powered up. If your shields run out and you are hit by an asteroid, it's game over! How long can you last?

Controls: WASD or left analog stick for movement, R to restart, ESC to main menu.

(Note: The game will default to analog stick if it detects a controller is plugged in, otherwise it'll be WASD. If for whatever reason the controls don't work I've uploaded a keyboard only version with the controller support removed.)

This is my first time participating in a game jam, and I've never really finished or released a game before. I'm rusty and out of practice but when I saw the jam was about to start on Friday I figured I'd throw myself into it. I'm glad I did, because I've had a lot of fun and learned a lot, and even have a couple other prototypes to keep playing with after the jam. :)

AAAAASTEROIDS! was made in GameMaker Studio 1.4. I used GameMaker's sprite editor for the basic art/animations, and the music was hastily thrown together in Garageband on my iPad. Sound effects were made with BFXR (http://www.bfxr.net/).

Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/EQAhDqRf5Is

Windows	https://teacapn.itch.io/aaaaasteroids
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/aaaaasteroids

Ratings

Given

5🗳️

7🗨️

Feedback

IKStreamIvo

31. Jul 2017 · 09:45 UTC

Fun game, I liked your approach on the theme.

Spice135

02. Aug 2017 · 07:52 UTC

Nice game! Was very interesting, put has potential to be much better :)

KiiroHanabi

05. Aug 2017 · 04:17 UTC

Reminds me of snake game, but the difficulty is the number of asteroids increasing. The pressure rise as well so it works well. Happy for you that you released your first game! :D

Chris Coe

05. Aug 2017 · 21:16 UTC

I couldn't control the ship. It kept flying to the left. Title screen effect was amusing. Nice job with GarageBand and BFXR effects.

🎤 teacapn

13. Aug 2017 · 09:18 UTC

@chris-coe - Sorry about that. The ship moving on its own is intended as it's always being pushed around slightly by the exhaust "bubbles". It just wasn't picking up your inputs. The game will default to analog stick controls if it detects a controller is plugged in, otherwise it'll be WASD. Not sure if there's a bug with controller support so I've uploaded a keyboard only version with the controller support removed.

Great bit of feedback about usability that I hadn't considered though, thanks! :)

pkenney

13. Aug 2017 · 15:56 UTC

Good job, congrats on your first LD! You hit all the factors, having a complete game with nice clear art, good sound effects, and even a nice pumping bit of background music, well done!

I liked the tactile feel of this game, with the character being pushed around by the asteroids and bubbles, giving a little extra feedback to the feel... rushing toward a battery and "bumping" around the asteroids on the way was interesting a different. I love when a game has a unique feeling to the controls.

Challenge was maybe a little light. I initially had some panic around weaving and dodging through the asteroids. But once I found that I merely bounced around them (and didn't notice them draining my power) I stopped caring entirely and then played on autopilot almost without regard for the asteroids. So maybe they need to crash into the player a little more or somehow be worth wanting to dodge, I don't know.

Your #1 sin is something you shouldn't repeat next LD: you released your game as an INSTALLER!! Many people do not accept installers, and just cancel out and don't play/rate that person's game. I make an exception for first-timers, but you will definitely get a lower response rate. Just imagine what it would be like if I had to go and uninstall 30ish games after every LD!

So nice work with a cool little arcade game that's well rounded and has nice polish especially for a first time! And welcome to LD, but plz no installer releases.