Star Warrior by spolsh

[raw]
made by spolsh for LD34 (JAM)
UPDATE:
Embedded post-jam WebGL version!


If you ever wondered what would it be like to ride winged space fighter across retro-synth dunes this game is for you! We've experimented with style and tried to capture best of top notch 80's cheesiest graphics.

As commander of rebel squad you're on the mission of defeating enemy worm on volcanic planet using only 2 buttons.

Settle back and enjoy the ride! May the force be with you!


Credits:
Michał Kłoś - fx code, graphics
Adam Małek - code
Damian Czajka - music
...and also:
Piotr Pawłowski - Sound Algorithm

Ratings

Coolness 26% 2073
Overall(Jam) 3.57 279
Audio(Jam) 3.61 182
Fun(Jam) 3.22 455
Graphics(Jam) 4.46 61
Humor(Jam) 2.78 432
Innovation(Jam) 3.35 354
Mood(Jam) 3.68 177
Theme(Jam) 3.78 418

Feedback

zamotany
15. Dec 2015 · 09:52 UTC
Really good job!
greeboCherry
15. Dec 2015 · 13:33 UTC
I'm such a good commander, my wingmen doesn't do anything. Nice game, cool graphics, as Frank Herbet's Dune I liked the idea of killing a worm.
NecroMac
15. Dec 2015 · 13:47 UTC
Incredible aesthetics!
80ties cheese is strong with this one!
Ogniok
15. Dec 2015 · 13:55 UTC
Very cool idea, though i had huuge performance problems on a laptop which runs The Witcher 3 on ultra, i wish it worked better so i could experience more of this game.
Eingya
16. Dec 2015 · 16:26 UTC
Well done! Love the aesthetics!
SovietBear
17. Dec 2015 · 00:20 UTC
The song was kind of bland only having percussion, but the graphics are gorgeous, and the game is kinda fun to play too!
Manu & Wan
18. Dec 2015 · 10:34 UTC
Really impressive work on the graphics, it felt like playing the first Tron movie on an old VHS :) Everything is nice about the art: the worm and its animation, the ships, the scenery... The Dune inspiration is awesome, but on the downside the reuse of Star Wars assets feels too obvious.

Gameplay-wise it almost works.

I'm impressed by the clever challenge of gathering all conditions to land a hit: a successful shot requires to be in the right direction, to have the time to load the shot, to release it while the worm is out, AND while I'm high enough on a dune, AND from a long enough range to steer away from the worm in time... This I can get behind, but when I realize I'm unable to put any kind of decent distance between myself and the worm, this becomes very frustrating!

I ragequit after about 15 attempts - I think I managed to hit him 3 times once, but I'm not sure how much life it has or even if it can die.

Overall congrats on this entry: it was well done and well polished, all it lacked I think was some playtesting to help you balance difficulty a bit and add some better feedback regarding the worm. I'd love to play a post-compo version :)
🎤 spolsh
18. Dec 2015 · 12:23 UTC
Thank you guys for feedback. Hang on! Post-compo version is almost done.
Blobo
19. Dec 2015 · 23:29 UTC
Very challenging! the graphics are amazing too!
adsilcott
21. Dec 2015 · 04:29 UTC
Amazing graphics! My only complaint is that firing by boosting first is difficult, otherwise it's awesome!
Solifuge
21. Dec 2015 · 04:55 UTC
Pretty clever control scheme, there! Definitely made for some hectic dogfighting feels. Aesthetically, this felt like some kind of impossible mashup of Tron, Star Wars, and Dune, dunked in a fondue pot worth of 80's Cheese. Really dug the presentation.

I'll second that it was hard to aim over terrain without being close, and hard to hit the worm when close without colliding. Maybe the ability to keep the shot charged so long as A or D was still held might allow players to aim around terrain or swerve away better, but that may complicate the controls? Hard to say.

That all said, thanks for putting this together! Great work.
NaoisTheGuardian
21. Dec 2015 · 05:28 UTC
I love the way it looks and feels, the graphics are great!
Geckoo1337
21. Dec 2015 · 05:33 UTC
The aesthetic is really special, but I like this wire style with gaudy colors. However it seems to me that you could decrease the difficulty. Overall it's a good project ++
Jwatt
21. Dec 2015 · 05:44 UTC
There's plenty of things that have got to be just right to even land one shot in a terrain like this. This premise could be interesting if dealt right, but the biggest frustration comes from the game not doing a very good job communicating where the worm is.

It's not easy to put my finger on what exactly it is that bugs me about that, but I think it's a mixture of
1) the camera angle,
2) the reticle pointing at an inexact direction,
3) misleading depth perception due to lack of luminosity differences with the distances you're dealing with, and
4) the worm's aggro respawning almost instantly after it's gone underground.
BROWNY_09
21. Dec 2015 · 05:48 UTC
Fantastic! Great music, lot's of fun!
Modoc73
21. Dec 2015 · 08:51 UTC
Awesome work! Loved the graphics and audio in this game.
Tuism
21. Dec 2015 · 10:55 UTC
Wow, superbly stunning, I was really excited at first, but then the game mechanics themselves don't live up to the hype of the visuals :(

The hold to charge and release to shoot thing means you have very little accuracy control. And since you have to fly straight at the worm to shoot it, coupled with the hills, meant that it was VERY VERY VERY hard to land a hit. At all.

Then the worm almost alway spawns right under me and kills me instantly. Unavoidable deaths aren't fun.

I would want to see more nuance in the controls, right now it feels quite dead, and not like a real spaceship (X-Wing if you wanna go there).

Otherwise the presentation is mad good. The sound effects got very repetitive, so not perfect.

Well done :)
Weeping Rupee
21. Dec 2015 · 17:01 UTC
Daaaamn this looks nice. The tron meets star wars look you got goin here is very cool. Best looking 3d game I've seen yet and I think its because you made some really smart choices.

It plays alright, its a little difficult to have to get space between you and the worm in order to hit him since your boost and shooting are tied but I guess you were working under some pretty tight restraints.

I also LOVED that you made fellow X-wing AI and that you could accidentally blast your friends. That was really the kicker for me. Nice work.
metalchouchen
21. Dec 2015 · 17:32 UTC
Really nice jobs, I love the moving effect on the ground. The x-wing has a good control. But the game really hurt my eyes :(
nosfer
21. Dec 2015 · 18:13 UTC
super grafika i feeling lat 80tych, pozdrowienia z Polska i zapraszam do zagrania w moją gierkę :)
jsmars
27. Dec 2015 · 15:06 UTC
Beautiful style and great game!
Zyow
02. Jan 2016 · 13:47 UTC
Graphics and audio are really cool! Good job!
randomhuman
03. Jan 2016 · 00:04 UTC
Very stylish, but the gameplay is frustrating. The controls are overloaded unfortunately. It might work if you were consistently flying above the dunes, or if there were more controls (I know, theme...) Maybe even press AD to fire, hold to boost might work?
jackrugile
03. Jan 2016 · 21:25 UTC
I agree with the most the other comments regarding this game. The graphics and music are amazing, but the controls and objective of the game miss for me. I think what you did with the controls, since they are limited for the theme, are nice. However, the difficulty of aiming to hit the enemy paired with the difficult controls don't feel like a good mix.

I think if you can take this style, adjust how the enemy behaves and make it easier to hit, along with an indication of how much life it has left, it could be really fun.

I'm still absolutely blown away by the visuals though, so nice work!
Creative Sectors
03. Jan 2016 · 21:26 UTC
[ETC from Creative Sectors]
It was a really stunning experience. I really liked the vectorized, neonesque graphic style. I usually fond with this art style and I really like your implmenetation of the two-button control. It takes a couple of minutes to get the rythm of this game to kill the huge square worm of the surface.
Martin Vilcans
03. Jan 2016 · 23:03 UTC
Great graphics design that made me think of that scene from Kung Fury, but the gameplay is so-so. It's too difficult.