Galactic Growth Commander by DesignerNap

made by DesignerNap for LD34 (COMPO)

Quick! The human race is growing. Thanks to breakthroughs in technology we now have the Collins Device, which is "Life from Lifelessness". We also have the "Industromax Torpedo" that instantly sets up buildings and facilities on planets. OF course, you MUST make sure you use these wisely.You may deploy the torpedos as you wish, but make sure you leave balance in the system. Don't worry, your craft has a simple Two Button interface. The human race will Succeed. Also, Don't shoot the sun. Bad Idea. Don't crash either!

GOOD LUCK COMMANDER!

Controls
WASD flight controls
Game Pad - Left Stick
Left Arrow/Left Trigger - Industromax Torpedo
Right Arrow/Right Trigger - Collins Device

Enjoy and please comment!

Follow me @xopsx

Thanks for playing!

--- UPDATE 02:50am BST ---
Bug found in main menu, will not progress to Credits OR instructions, fixing now...

--- UPDATE 3:10a, BST ---
All done... fixed and uploaded! hopefully this one is the one! Enjoy and thanks for your patience.

--- Update 10am BST ---
Uploaded correct Source file. Sorry!

Uploaded Correct Source File

---UPDATE 10:45am BST ---

Had some people reporting errors so have uploaded an alternate exe with some tweaked settings. Try that if the first two fail. Trying to track the issue now.

--- UPDATE 8:30am ---
V3 uploaded with a couple of minor fixes. Game now ends properly when you achieve "Balance" and penalty is correctly triggered when you shoot the cruiser

@xopsx

Windows 64Bit	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1slfyHxOtX3cUw4aW1fV21Wd0k/view?usp=sharing
Windows 32Bit	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1slfyHxOtX3cVpCWExTTWxFSmc/view?usp=sharing
UE4 Alternate Full	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1slfyHxOtX3SmZnQlNYb0t3MVE/view?usp=sharing
UE4 Alternate 32Bit	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1slfyHxOtX3aUg5NlB6cnFObHc/view?usp=sharing
Source (unreal project)	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1slfyHxOtX3SUhKdWN4ZHEyM1k/view?usp=sharing
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=21374

Ratings

Coolness	77%	2
Overall	3.10	602

Audio	3.03	305
Fun	2.92	653
Graphics	3.48	282
Humor	2.51	410
Innovation	3.08	537
Mood	3.14	359
Theme	3.18	832

Feedback

TLansdale

14. Dec 2015 · 10:36 UTC

TOO MUCH PLANTS

Good game! I found a bonus secret object too ;)

🎤 DesignerNap

14. Dec 2015 · 10:40 UTC

ALRIGHT! :D my first comment :D Thanks TLansdale!

Teekeks

14. Dec 2015 · 14:11 UTC

Loved the Artstyle. Nice game!

Saymon

14. Dec 2015 · 14:14 UTC

Great game !

AranHase

14. Dec 2015 · 14:29 UTC

I liked your art style :) my only critique is how it is hard to get a sense of distance, so predicting where your missile will hit is hard. Also, the tutorial is painfully slow (short, but slow), but overall a nice entry.

🎤 DesignerNap

14. Dec 2015 · 14:31 UTC

Hi Aran, Thanks for the feedback! It is very hard to balance the tutorial speed as it seems to link the movement to frame rate. The tutorial screen was the last bit I did and needed more work, but no time! :D Glad you enjoyed it.

Pete_H

14. Dec 2015 · 16:46 UTC

Of course the first thing I did was shoot the sun. I have no regrets about this! I like plants a lot as well apparently :D Really love the sense of scale!!

timtipgames

14. Dec 2015 · 18:19 UTC

Hello fellow commander! :)
My biggest problem was that the pitch axis was horribly slow (may be intended?)
I also had a hard time to hit anything at all, but I enjoyed missing things a lot :)

ProjectX593

14. Dec 2015 · 18:27 UTC

Harder than it looks, wasn't sure what to do after I balanced the system so I killed the sun for lols.

🎤 DesignerNap

14. Dec 2015 · 18:31 UTC

That TimtipGames! :D and ProjectX593, I think you have found a bug... investigating now!

daandruff

14. Dec 2015 · 18:31 UTC

The sound and music was really moody. It would be awsome if the up/down steering was "stronger"

Jeasonfire

14. Dec 2015 · 19:57 UTC

The art looks very good, though my depth perception failed me with this game for some reason. Things that look near are actually pretty far.
Otherwise, the game feels pretty good and I like it.

tayl1r

14. Dec 2015 · 20:30 UTC

Nice job! Struggling with the depth perception a bit. Space is big, it turns out.

🎤 DesignerNap

14. Dec 2015 · 20:34 UTC

Hey! thanks everyone for the comments. I kinda like the depth perception as it adds a certain amount of trepidation to flying around. Also, the solar system procedurally generates on start-up so occasionally there are small planets on the outer rings :)

DivineOmega

14. Dec 2015 · 21:27 UTC

Nice game. Good graphics, audio and clever use of themes.

I has some trouble trying to adjust my pitch though. It seemed very slow - perhaps I missed something!

AzureAspect

14. Dec 2015 · 21:30 UTC

Come on craft, turn down more! Doh!
Something different for a change :) I once even popped myself shooting missile to planet when being right next to it (And the growing planet consumed me)

Vertigon

14. Dec 2015 · 21:35 UTC

Pretty elaborate! Felt like a fleshed-out title with intro, menu, intructions, etc. Very nice art style and good music and sound. Gameplay-wise it was pretty fun to track down the planets and shoot them, although I had trouble making use of up/down movement (seemed deliberate but if the game was intended to take place on a plane, you shoulda just went with it and kept movement L/R). Didn't quite feel like a two-button game, but I did like the simplicity. Nice on the sun kill! Great style.

🎤 DesignerNap

14. Dec 2015 · 21:46 UTC

Thanks everyone! Vertigon, I did play with just L And R movement but as the planets move up and down you would end up waiting too long for them to be JUST in range. Also flattening the planets so they didnt move as much made it look less interesting. When I added the up and down ability but kept it slower, I liked the feeling of trying to catch up with the planets as a struggle.. just..a bit... faster! etc. Restricting it kept it semi-2d plane :) maybe a bad call as a few have commented on it ;)

Pixelaborate

15. Dec 2015 · 00:11 UTC

If there is one thing I really enjoyed it was just being able to go around and shoot planets into oblivion with the torpedos, but unfortunately the depth perception and slow pitch speed made it pretty hard to do that some times. But why they do hit, man it's something beautiful. Color me impressed at your ability to make such an atmospheric game in the time that you did.

Jupiter_Hadley

15. Dec 2015 · 20:48 UTC

Well made game, great graphics! I included it in my Ludum Dare 34 compilation video series, if you’d like to check it out :) https://youtu.be/HyS0oGo3sGY

Roffe

15. Dec 2015 · 22:11 UTC

Really good game! Nice to see so many space shooters :) Very nice looking models. I agree with some other that the up/down felt a bit to slow. I laughed when I found the little 'side-mission' :D

ShaunJS

16. Dec 2015 · 16:28 UTC

WHOA THIS ISN'T GAMEMAKER? I THOUGHT WE WE'RE FRIENDS NAPPER.

Jk jk

Had fun, flying up and down felt hard and it took me a while to realize that's what up and down did and weren't affecting speed. I got the TOO MUCH PLANTS ending.

Instructions music is top tier.

Hot Box Games

17. Dec 2015 · 22:36 UTC

Quite fun! A bit slow when trying to go up/down, but I guess that's the nature of the game.
The planet transformations were fun to look at, and the gameover messages were pretty amusing, good entry!

Zeriver

17. Dec 2015 · 23:08 UTC

Fun game, way harder than i thought. Interesting concept and good execution. Pretty neat audio.

yuigoto

24. Dec 2015 · 07:06 UTC

Great work! I love low-poly graphics, the general aesthetic of the game and the use of theme!

I've had some problems, as some people had, measuring the distance and aiming, but I loved it! Shot the Sun lots of times, put too much plants and finally finished it! :)

The smallest planets closer to the sun proved to be a nice challenge! :P

Nice work on the audio, it totally fits the theme, and for the planet spawning too!

Catmoo

03. Jan 2016 · 14:18 UTC

Finally got round to playing your game and it's well hard!

The pitch made it hard for taking my target as it wouldn't point up or down enough so I'd have to do a circle to try and catch it up.

Enjoyed turning everything into plants though :)

And getting 100 bonus points for taking out a certain cup!

Also am I right in thinking I sped up if I was closer to the sun?