LudumData

The Carrier by Pixel Shade

[raw]
made by Pixel Shade for LD 40 (JAM)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3gBiY0LcEo

Goal of the game - Refill ore at the 'refill-station/platform'. Carry as much you can-, as fast as you can, to the 'deposit station/platform'. Gain the required score and proceed to the next level. You can either play it safe (and steadily progress) or put your life at risk for faster- and greater rewards.

:star: :computer: PLAY THE GAME :computer: :star:

:computer: PLAY 'EASIER' POST-COMPO VERSION :computer:

About the Game.

You are a 'worker'. A 2nd class citizen working on an off-planet mining facility, struggling with hardships of everyday life.

With inspiration from early 80's sci-fi movies and computers (Blade Runner, and the Commodore PET), we offer a fun and addictive game that can, at first glance, seem brutally hard. However, it is far from impossible to master. Put your skills to test (and your friends) and compete for the highest scores!

This is our first game jam, so please go easy on us. With that being said, we had an amazing time making this game, and we are really happy with the result. Happy enough that we want to refine the concept (the cargo and physics mainly) and release it eventually. :smile: Let us know what you think of it of it!

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Theme - 'The more cargo you have, the worse the handling gets '

Controls

### Use the ASWD-keys to control the Carrier

A - Rotate spacecraft left

D - Rotate spacecraft right

W - Activate rear thrusters

S - Activate front thrusters

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Instructions

LIVES - Crash and you'll lose. Don't worry, everyone is dispensable.

FUEL - Fuel is expensive, Avoid over-usage of thrusters. It will affect your Score

CARGO - The more cargo you have the heavier the load. Affects weight and requires more thrust (& fuel). Full cargo grants a generous 1.5x bonus.

TIME - Efficiency is key to SUCCESS, wanna be the best of the best? You'll get a bonus check.

SCORE - Master or apprentice? Let the score define who you are.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPOsLu5mvuE

HTML5 (web) http://pixelshade.se/LD40-the-carrier
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/the-carrier

Ratings

Overall 132th 3.909⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 239th 3.674⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 332th 3.457⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 151th 4⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 41th 4.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 22th 4.262⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 923th 2.029⭐ 19🧑‍⚖️
Mood 80th 4⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 20🗳️ 12🗨️

Feedback

JCMonkey
05. Dec 2017 · 23:25 UTC
so i filled the ship with what i think is water, then i lift up a little bit, and fall a hair and my ship blows up. the game takes a bit to get used to. the graphics are ok, and music and sound effects are good. overall this is a nice game
🎤 Pixel Shade
05. Dec 2017 · 23:55 UTC
@JCMonkey, thanks for the feedback. Hehe, It's minerals (not water) in near zero-gravity off-planet mine. :) You will find your briefing in the about-section, which tells you a bit more about the setting of the game.
Dudum Lare
06. Dec 2017 · 16:23 UTC
Wow!! I’m so impressed!

Concerning the graphics it looks so flipping good! I love the shader so much, the artstyle is original and I’m so glad that you went for something different.

Concerning the audio, the music is great and so are the sound effects. The music made me feel relaxed and that’s a must in these kind of games or else it will become kind of annoying.

Overall I like this game very much. I had an amazing time playing it. It’s kind of frustrating in a addictive way, that’s a positive thing. I will come back and play this game later for sure. Thank you so much for this experience and good luck in the future! Have an awesome day, and I hope to see you in the next jam!

// Isak from @liquidbrain
randomhuman
06. Dec 2017 · 20:47 UTC
Great aesthetic and music. Tough gameplay - maybe a little too tough to start out with - but it is compelling and quite addictive.
Besmundu
06. Dec 2017 · 21:16 UTC
Thanks everyone! This was our very first game jam ever, so we appreciate the kind words!

Regarding the difficulty we may need to change some parts. We want it to be a somewhat tricky game that you learn to master, but maybe starting out a bit easier would be preferrable, I agree. :)
Blizary
06. Dec 2017 · 21:26 UTC
Amazing aesthetic loved the idea of going with the old green screen it's very fitting to the game. The music also complements the game nicely.I found the game a bit too hard to play but that can be just me still had loads of fun with it
Jakers
06. Dec 2017 · 21:40 UTC
Great game, especially in terms of the graphics complimenting the sound design.

I was a little confused on what to do at first (where to put the cargo in particular, and that you had to gently land on the cargo pad to not die), but I eventually got the hang of it. Might want to show some sort of visual representation on how to do it for other players.

Overall though, the difficulty was fun. Maybe it'd benefit better with a health system rather than the ship instantly dying as soon as it tickles a wall, but it was still excellent and actually fun to play. Great work!
🎤 Pixel Shade
06. Dec 2017 · 22:03 UTC
@jakers @blizary @randomhuman @dudum-lare thank you guys so much for all the kind words. :) makes me super happy! And I definitely agree with all of you, the initial difficulty threshold is a bit hard to overcome. Especially if you haven't played any lander-games in the past. Being born in the 80's I have played games similar to this one and find this very forgiving in comparison hahaha (in terms of angle/speed at the landing points). Things that we definitely will improve in the future is the implementation of a visual tutorial in which you as a player can get used to the ship, and the physics (with different levels of cargo) without any obstacles. And later on, adding the platform mechanics in order to introduce the concept. The lack of tutorial is unfortunate, But we ran out of time :(

When it comes to the health-meter vs life. This was also a time-saving measure that we needed to take. I would definitely like something like a health bar and being able to scrape or bounce off walls depending on speed/angle. Things that I definitely would like to improve!

We really appreciate the great feedback on your experience with the game. :)
TurbulentWinds
06. Dec 2017 · 23:59 UTC
I would love an "exploration mode" where you have unlimited life and respawn at the last pad. A much smaller difficulty curve would be nice (my high score is 1896 after maybe 20 tries). I don't really understand the map, as the first time I played I was able to access a huge number of areas but now I am confined to the starting two pads? The art style is great and this is mostly just me being making excuses for sucking :D I do love the movement script as it is much much better than most games like this, adjustable sensitivity would bring it into another level though. Sorry about me seeming negative, I just like to point out the stuff that I would like to see changed, but the game overall is amazing! Great game!
videojames
07. Dec 2017 · 00:05 UTC
I really liked the screen effect and the look of the game, I also really liked the music. The physics of the different weights was neat, although a little tricky. I also felt like when I filled it all the way up, my ship felt heavy rather than the cargo I was carrying. Overall neat concept and great visuals and menus!
🎤 Pixel Shade
08. Dec 2017 · 09:38 UTC
thanks for the nice compliments and feedback @TurbulentWinds, I definitely agree with you. If you are not used to lander-games (they have basically gone extinct since the 80's) it takes about 50 tries before you become proficient with the controls. :) I will improve this game in the future, and that will include a how-to-play-tutorial tack starts out without any obstacles, in order to make you a proficient pilot first, and as a final test navigate through a mine shaft with and without weight.

Once you get a hang of it the gameplay is actually pretty fair and rewarding. Especially when you manage to do amazing turns and stuff later on in the cave. (I bet nobody has reached Level 4 yet) ;)

I know, that happened to me one time after emptying the chache of the browser, it was like the gate variables didn't exist. I should look into that for the separate "improved version" You can still go to those areas, but you need the required score to reach them xD
🎤 Pixel Shade
08. Dec 2017 · 09:42 UTC
thanks @videojames. and that's true! I didn't have time to do real physics for the game, so basically, the weight is only distributed in the ship and not the cargo. The cargo uses physics, but it's only 'visual treat' so far and unfortunately lacks real weight. I will fix this when I have time to do 'the improved version' :)
TurbulentWinds
08. Dec 2017 · 14:06 UTC
@pixel-shade Keep me updated on when the improved version is going to come out. I would love to play!
Omiya Games
09. Dec 2017 · 03:42 UTC
I really want to like this game: the graphics are fantastic, and there's a lot of exploration potential. The touchy thrusters (yes, including the reverse thrusters) and gravity, however, was infuriating. I would have appreciated limiting the rotation of the ship so that I don't accidentally overshoot right or left. Also, just me, but I would have appreciated making all the pretty visuals obvious dead-ends, rather than me finding out they don't lead anywhere.
Repusv
09. Dec 2017 · 14:16 UTC
Really nice game ! Very good graphics, VFX and sound design ! Thanks for putting the video because I wouldn't have understood what to do otherwise (I thought the cargo was already full at first).
killerkun
09. Dec 2017 · 22:40 UTC
This is an incredible entry, I saw it being played on twitch and definitely had to try it out for myself, the controls are what you expect from a lander game, but the added weight dynamic does make it really interesting.

Definitely addictive and super polished. My highest score was 3122, which obviously I could have done better if I had more time to play it. Really good job on this, I'm impressed!
🎤 Pixel Shade
09. Dec 2017 · 22:55 UTC
I definitely will @turbulentWinds ! Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of an investment round for "Pixel Shade" (the games company) which steals a lot of my time. But I'm thinking of giving this game an hour or two every day in December. :) and see where we end up.

@omiya-games. Thanks for the feedback, I definitely need to address some aspects of the game. And I definitely think that an interactive tutorial is a must. Being able to learn to fly in a safe environment without crashing and introducing the concept will probably make the difficulty threshold much easier. However, reducing the speed of the controls or limit them actually makes the controls much harder. I'm certain that if you gave it bit more time you would crack the mechanics. :)

I know! we really are in desperate need of a tutorial! @repusv. It's not like people are used to these kind of games, and since we put a lot of extra dimensions to it it definitely needs to be introduced better. Thanks for the compliments! I will work more with the game and hopefully it will turn out awesome. ^^

thank you so much @killerkun , I guess you're a bit more used to the astroid/lander kind of games. :) Because not a lot of people are (they really have gone extinct over the years). 3122 points is great for a first short session. I hope you would like to play it once we release it for mobile. I'll let you know. :)
killerkun
09. Dec 2017 · 22:57 UTC
@pixel-shade please let me know when it's out!
Potti
09. Dec 2017 · 23:53 UTC
This looks really good. The audio is nice. Having played KSP a lot, it was quite easy to get into the controls.

There are a few problems i have with the mechanics:
* I do not think there should be no way to touch the normal walls, maybe allow if the player has a very low terminal velocity and only is shortly in contact.
* While it is a nice touch to restart from scratch, i would have liked to see anything past level three before i retried 20 times, it's ok if the game tells me i'm bad.
* There seems to be a problem on some launches, where while i go full throttle while landed i fall through the landing pad and die.

But the control scheme is nice and the physics add up, so overall, it is fun, good job. Also looking forward to the mobile version.
shinyogre
11. Dec 2017 · 01:47 UTC
More direction needs to be given, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I figured it out after a bit, and then struggled with controlling the ship. Once I got the hang of the ship controls, this game became fantastic. I loved the slow pace, the music, the graphics, the CRT filter.

Make the filling of the tanks more apparent. The particles for the water were just going right on top of the container. Why even have a spout with particles? Just fill the tank up with an animation of a hose attaching to the bottom of the tank, and show the level of water not only with a number, but also visually.

Other than the awkward loading, and the sometimes glass-delicate armor of the ship, this game is very, very good.

You want more ratings (which you absolutely deserve), then you ought to rate and review more games.
Besmundu
11. Dec 2017 · 14:37 UTC
@potti Thanks for the feedback! I agree about the walls, we were maybe thinking about having a damage-system, so that you're able to hit a wall a few times before dying. Will try to look into the landning pad issue a well.

Thanks @shinyogre! Yes, we agree that instruction are pretty poor at the moment, but we didn't have time. If we release the game further down the road we'll be sure to ramp up the difficulty and explai nthe game much better.

We'll try to rate other games, I've just hadn't had the time. But thank you for the encouraging words!
IDEA_Games
11. Dec 2017 · 17:06 UTC
I'm impressed with the quality of the game. I may be not very skilled because my best score was 288 :/ Also not having indications about what is the inmediate objective makes the game harder.

I need to say that the controls of the ship are sooo smooth and the physics are greatly accomplished and the feeling of driving the ship is spectacular! I like it a lot ^^
rohieb
17. Dec 2017 · 17:43 UTC
My first games looked like the first attemps of the Falcon 9 booster trying to land, and I had some bad rapid unscheduled disassemblies, but I got better after the ~20th game over :D I really like the old-school graphics. It took me a while to find out what I had to do, and you really have to play it a few times to notice texts like "Min-Score" when you're trying to navigate your ship… so I got a bit surprised by the barrier going down ^^ But overall, I really like it, it gets easier the more you play it :)
blinry
17. Dec 2017 · 19:59 UTC
Amazing visuals and audio, well done! Interesting interpretation of the theme. I really liked the old-school feeling of this game. And you're right, this game is really hard to master, and seems very hard at first. It is, however, satisfying to notice how quickly you become better at it! At first, I didn't really know what the goal of the game was, maybe the instructions should be more clear here.