Void Reader - A desktop multiplayer game. by DaivyIsHere




——— Description ———
This is an online multiplayer game that runs on your desktop.
You will find other players around the void. Or maybe you can explore the void with your friends together.
In this game your goal is to harvest data from the dataplants you planted.
You can get the seeds of dataplants from the void. Some very special dataplants can be found deeper in the void.
There are all sorts of items you can buy to give you benefits when traveling around the void.
——— Control ———
⦿A/D - move
⦿SPACE - jump
⦿S - Use portal, gather plants.
⦿W - Use jetpack.
⦿Esc - Quit game.
⦿Click on the "?" button for more details.
——— WARNING ———
Since this game is based on the desktop, there'll be some issues with screen size / task bar location / multiple monitors. I haven't tested all sort of screen environments, so please let me know if you have any issue.
This game is using a server-client connection. If you can't connect to the server, there might be a server issue. Please inform me about any connection issue by commenting below, or on the itch.io page. You can download the singleplayer version instead
——— LINKS ———
https://daivy.itch.io/void-reader
| Link | https://daivy.itch.io/void-reader |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/void-reader-a-desktop-multiplayer-game |
Ratings
| Overall | 174th | 3.848⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 257th | 3.609⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 7th | 4.435⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 275th | 3.913⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 433th | 3.565⭐ | 25🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 483th | 2.69⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 166th | 3.857⭐ | 23🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 23🗳️ | 26🗨️ |
My resolution is 1600x900 if that helps
Also ignore my background

Ya'll should @ me if u make new versions like you mentioned before, I'm curious where you'll go with this.
The only thing missing is an exit button
I have no idea how you managed to make this in 3 days. But major props!

One small thing that would be a nice addition would be some sort of object permanence in the void. I think the ability to place semi-permanent lights/markers down could add more of a lived-in feeling.
Following both of your accounts :)

It was really fun to play with a group and share/compete for progress. The progression was fun and there was a variety of upgrades and resources to spend, with the cosmetics at the very end as an additional goal.
One small downside is that with a lot of players playing at the same time, the limited resource spawning was a bit of a bottleneck. It would have been nice if multiple players could pick the same plant, or there was a larger map with different sections that grew the higher-level crops.
Great work getting networked multiplayer to work on game jam timelines! Everything worked really smoothly and there wasn't any lag or issues that I could notice.
First off, I love the way it just lays very simply over my desktop. In fact, I'm typing this right now with the little dude hanging out. Hey dude. Sit tight!
At first, I was a little disgruntled by the slow void refresh timer. "You mean, I collect 3 seeds, then wait 4 minutes before I can collect more? And shop items cost how much? I think I'm going to recommend to speed that up ..."
But then I realized the genius of your design: it's idle, and I can see my desktop. I can do _other things while I wait_.

Ooops, brb. Void refresh. Okay I'm back. Anywaay, this feels like the kind of thing I would just keep up in the background so I can keep farming and getting better gear. My only regret is that it doesn't save my progress on quit :( I'll have to consider giving the online version a try -- if you have any gameplay footage, I'd love to see it.
Like I said, daring! You risk people "not getting it" and complaining about the speed.
Also @foggydude no, I will not ignore your background XD
You really should expand on this. My only gripe was that the refresh timer seemed a bit long in the beginning when you couldn't really get that far into the void.
I don't know where to start…
Harvesting data from your PC is an awesome interpretation of the theme. Also, using the desktop is clever and incredible unexploited. Switching between "spheres" is brilliant.
I usually don't like idle games much. But you put so many good thoughts into this game. I think it also has potential to be extended in many directions. I mean… having a small cat-thing living on your desktop is just cute! (well, things like that did exist in the past, but somewhat are forgotten).

Too bad I didn't have time to test this with my friends but the idea to make massive multiplayer desktop clicker was so wild I just had to try it before the rating time ends!
The game itself made my windows run slowly. Even just scrolling the windows on desktop was laggy when this was on, so maybe there could be some optimization on performance.
I liked the cute graphics. The UI was first hard to use as you had to click directly on the question mark for something to happen and I wondered if the game worked at all.
Anyways, clever and cute game!