But I think the contest is no more? I just wanted to challenge myself to make something slightly different than the games I’ve made so far, and I had a lot of fun and learned new tricks making it, so it was worth the time.
The original game was too confusing for most people to figure out (it’s supposed to be a puzzle!) so I added a help menu to give the player hints.
All feedback welcome and appreciated. Though I already expect the following responses:
The graphics are crap
The controls are wonky
Game objective is still unclear even after checking the help screen
It was just a project I made for fun, it was never meant to be a fully immersive AAA title.
The random “unidentified flying object” flying around the screen is responsible for messing up your original mission, and is now jamming the satellite that was sent to find you.
Classified briefing #2… “protected by force field”… “directed electromagnetic pulse”…
The UFO has a force field around it. You must disable it first using EMP. Then you can destroy it with rockets and repair the satellite.
Suit owner’s manual - Controls: “propulsion thrust can be operated with both left and right hand controls” (WASD and arrow keys) “Ergonomical Toggle and Rotation functions are available on the keypad, as well as a Quickstop function that will activate all thrusters simultaneously”
Multitools: rockets, EMP pulse, and automated repair tool
Audio & communications: “Your suit is capable of picking up multiple audio frequencies via different channels by either selecting a numerical input or Entering a direct source communication”
Sensors & functions: “Pre-installed colors include Yellow, Ultra-violet, Infra-red, Orange and Purple.”
For anyone who wants to just skip to the end, here is the full spoiler on how to beat it:
You can “repair” the satellite by connecting to it with the repair function (/ key). However, you won’t be able to establish communication with it while the UFO is floating around, because the UFO is jamming your signals. You also won’t be able to destroy the UFO with rockets until you take down its force field. After that, you can “repair” the satellite again and establish communications.
Quickest and easiest path to victory
Hit the UFO with the EMP (shift key). You will need to be right next to it for this to work, and you may need to rotate (using E and T keys) for the EMP to emit in the right direction (it emits to the right of your character’s upright position). When the UFO’s yellow light turns blue, you will know its force field has been deactivated. You can now destroy it with rockets (spacebar, launched to the right).
DO NOT HIT THE SATELLITE WITH EITHER ROCKETS OR EMP! This will cause the mission to fail.
Once the UFO is destroyed, get close to the satellite and use the repair tool on it (/ key). When its lights have turned from red/yellow to green, the satellite should be working properly, and you can establish communications with earth using the Enter key. Houston will ask you to ping your coordinates; this is done with the , key. That will deploy a rescue capsule from the upper right hand part of the screen. Then all you have to do is fly up to it and “collide” with the capsule before it leaves the screen.
DO NOT HIT THE CAPSULE WITH ROCKETS OR EMP! This will also cause you to fail.
Once you catch the capsule, you will be taken safely home (you can click on earth or the capsule for additional Easter eggs while flying home).
Yeah, I thought people would play around with it and see that the rockets weren’t harming the UFO, and figure out that they had an EMP pulse weapon also… but I should have made that more clear. The game itself isn’t really dangerous, if the UFO hits you it just “buzzes” you with a temporary electric shock of its own. The point was for players to mess around with different suit functions to see what they all did (most of them are useless for achieving your objective). The player is supposed to feel lost and confused for a while, until they figure out which suit functions might actually be helpful.
as the resident art person, I’ll say that your graphics aren’t as bad as you think they are! As Grazer said, they have a nice charm to them. solid and simple. Sure there’s room for improvement, but they’re by no means crap. Even though the astronaut has a “pixel art version of a stickman” pose, it works well in this case, believe it or not.
I’ll say good job on it. not excellent graphics, but solid and they accomplish what they need to (:
Thank you! I’m a little bit better drawing stuff on paper, vs. pixel art with a mouse, but even on paper my artwork is no where near as good as a lot of peoples. Visual art was never my strong suit… I can draw a basic building, a basic looking tree, blocky looking people, etc., but I don’t have the skill to do shading and other fine details. I can imagine in my head exactly what I want something to look like, I just can’t recreate it with my hands.
If I ever get lucky enough to become a professional game developer, I would probably want to hire someone better to do the artwork (and music, and probably also refine the coding) for me. I’m more of a “concept and storyline” person.
well. for what it is, it looks good.
also, pro tip: don’t compare yourself to others who are better than you unless you’re using it to fuel your drive to get better. Last thing you want is the ol impostor syndrome
Oh, I’m not doing it to get down on myself, I’m just being honest and objective. I realize that I have strengths and weaknesses, like everyone else. Art is not my strongest suit, so if I’m in a team environment and someone needs to be in charge of artwork, that person shouldn’t be me. There are other tasks I’m better suited for.
