Saving Planet by Bambutcher

[raw]
made by Bambutcher for Ludum Dare 59 (JAM)

🌎 Saving Planet

Saving Planet is an arcade sci-fi game about rescuing a planet by decoding a distress signal.
A growing stream of binary ciphers is closing in on the planet, and your mission is to decode the signal and send the SOS before it is too late.

Screenshot<em>1.jpg Screenshot</em>2.jpg

:video_game: How to play

  • Control the decoder and hold back the flow of data blocks.
  • Destroy encrypted blocks to earn points.
  • Spend points on upgrades:
    • fire speed
    • cipher length
    • antennas
  • Decode the full signal, send the SOS, and save the planet.

:triangularflagon_post: Goal

  • Victory: fully complete the code matrix and send the SOS before time runs out.
  • Defeat: if time runs out first, the signal is sent too late and the planet is lost.

:warning: Main rules

  • You have a limited amount of time to save the planet.
  • Data blocks that reach the red zone at the bottom of the screen are destroyed and reduce your score.
  • The number and complexity of ciphers increase over time.
  • Each new antenna boosts signal processing, but also increases the incoming flow of encrypted blocks.
  • Upgrades cost points, so you need to choose carefully between:
    • improving the decoder
    • buying signal decryption
    • controlling the flow of blocks

:joystick: Controls

  • Mouse - aim the decoder
  • Q - decrease decoder length
  • E - increase decoder length
  • D - buy signal decryption
  • UI buttons - upgrades, pause, send SOS

Ratings

Overall 557th 3.391⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Fun 452th 3.328⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 716th 2.833⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Theme 562th 3.443⭐ 37🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 522th 3.545⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Audio 445th 3.21⭐ 33🧑‍⚖️
Humor 499th 2.571⭐ 30🧑‍⚖️
Mood 702th 3.069⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 30🗳️ 48🗨️

Feedback

bigfatgua
Apr 20th · 06:47 UTC
Saved the planet! Just a heads up to others: antennas = more signals (and more enemies!). Don't rush into it unless you're ready for a fight. I learned that after a very confusing first defeat. Really fun!
![saveearth.png](///raw/787/76/z/707f2.png)
LDJam user 240476
Apr 20th · 13:43 UTC
Based on the screenshots, the game looks great, but unfortunately it’s only available on Windows. In the future, consider making a web version or supporting other platforms like Mac. Good luck!
Jordan The Human
Apr 20th · 13:46 UTC
Great job on submitting a game! The visuals look really nice, especially considering how little time you had!
xotraz
Apr 20th · 14:04 UTC
I had a bug, the full screen was larger than my screen, and I could not see all from the menu on the right.
My planet got destroyed, but it was fun.
🎤 Bambutcher
Apr 20th · 16:47 UTC
Guys, first of all, thanks for your feedback!

@akihirof
I’m coding in C# using Godot 4.6, and unfortunately, web builds for this configuration haven't been fixed yet. We’re just waiting and hoping for a miracle...

I’ve added builds for MacOS and Unix and uploaded them to itch, though I haven't had the chance to test them myself. I don't own a Mac and my only Unix setup is an WSL Ubuntu shell)

@xotraz
So sorry about that bug! Could you let me know your screen resolution?
xotraz
Apr 20th · 16:51 UTC
My screen resolution is very weird it is 1680x1050, it is a very old screen. :grin:
🎤 Bambutcher
Apr 20th · 16:55 UTC
@xotraz
My bad)
I set 1920x1080 as the minimum resolution, and I'm afraid that if I start scaling everything down now, I'll run into a bunch of visual or even technical bugs.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind for my future games. Thanks again for the feedback!
ugly_robot
Apr 20th · 18:30 UTC
Woah! This was awesome! And jaw-droppingly gorgeous:
* I can't gush enough about the parallax starry background!! The subtle rainbow of colors, the pulsating glint - oh my god, soo pretty
* The planet was so cute! Loved to watch it spin up there
* The gun and binary bullets looked sick, so satisfying watching them belch out and bounce around
* The little antennae icon remind me of the [deep space network](https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/dsn-now/dsn.html) icons - which is, of course, a perfcetly on-theme!
* The black hole? Oh my god, I want a poster of that visual!

Reeeeally tough before I figured out how antannae worked, haha, but after I read you message, it was a blast (good note @bigfatgua!)

And so fun! Matching the 'bullet length vs speed' and the 'has to match the binary' mechanic is perfect for the theme, but also totally novel! Very interesting dynamic.

Great entry! Loved it - thank you for creating it!
khaotom
Apr 21st · 05:05 UTC
Bouncing shots off the edge was surprisingly fun. Only issue I had was the audio volume was very low. with the sliders maxed I had to really pump the amplifier to hear anything. Pretty weird. I really like the dense UI, it reminds me of games from olden times. :heart:
FakeTrap
Apr 21st · 10:54 UTC
The game has nice visuals and sound effects (though they're quiet). However, the gameplay is very basic and gets boring pretty quickly. Overall, though, I enjoyed the game.
🎤 Bambutcher
Apr 21st · 11:21 UTC
Guys, thanks for your feedback!

Turns out my headphones were the problem. I played it back through the monitor and realized it was way quieter than I thought....

Just pushed a fix for the audio to the itch builds
Eden_Zorro
Apr 21st · 12:49 UTC
This game brought back old memories.
Excellent, but I found it a little difficult. The decryption points drop very quickly, and after a few mistakes, I can't regain control. However, it's a great game!
Eugenik
Apr 21st · 17:22 UTC
The theme of rescuing a planet via a distress signal gives the whole game a wonderful sense of urgency. I loved how the constant, flowing stream of binary data blocks made the core gameplay feel tense and engaging. This was a super creative take on the sci-fi arcade genre!
500
Apr 22nd · 09:36 UTC
I love this game so much hahaha. I want to invite my friends to play it together
Itero Proto
Apr 22nd · 16:56 UTC
I'm sorry, I don't like games where there are a lot of numbers)
Pavlo04
Apr 22nd · 17:04 UTC
Great game. You can tell the developer loves math. The atmosphere reminds me of some old spaceship games I used to play.
Theg
Apr 22nd · 17:13 UTC
love the planet shader! i found the game to be easiest when prioritising firerate in upgrades. rushed into getting antennas early and got doomed by not being able to decode enough signals. maybe signals reaching the bottom shouldn't punish?
🎤 Bambutcher
Apr 22nd · 17:22 UTC
@theg I agree, the balance is a bit off. Lowering the penalty would be ideal so players have a chance to fight back after missing some blocks. Currently, it feels like if you slip up once, you're just spiraling toward an inevitable game over :(
Custodi
Apr 22nd · 19:52 UTC
Need to die first to understand that antennas generates more enemies. Pretty matrix vibes.
MemoLoop
Apr 22nd · 20:18 UTC
I enjoyed this game. Cool mechanics but there are some problems: some blocks can't be broken and the antenna spawns too many blocks, but for the rest it is a cool game.
alexey_bobrovskiy
Apr 23rd · 08:39 UTC
Saved the Planet and I loved it. It's a good game, and it was fun to find a winning strategy. You have to upgrade your cannon first, then buy antennas. 5 stars.
TechnicalityCreations
Apr 23rd · 17:32 UTC
Tbh, I found this game quite confusing and it definitely needs more juice. On the other hand, the way that the bullets destroy the enemies is quite unique and creative.
LDJam user 82995
Apr 23rd · 19:17 UTC
Had a lot of fun with this one!! And the audio + visuals are top notch. Hats off to you!
VenomousMouse
Apr 26th · 12:17 UTC
Nice visuals and audio, also good mechanics. Cool game.
🎤 Bambutcher
Apr 26th · 13:59 UTC
I've tweaked the balance in the itch.io builds:
- Reduced the penalty for missing binary blocks from 5000 to 2000
- If you miss 20 binary blocks, the antenna count now resets to 1. This should allow for a comeback to game if you miscalculated your firepower and added an antenna too early
GARYglhf
Apr 28th · 08:59 UTC
Здорово, очень красиво. Механика простая и понятная.