Equanimity by HD408

[raw]
made by HD408 for LD23 (COMPO)
Equanimity
by HD408
for LD48#23
in 2012

Release info:

Made in 40 hours approx. (with 8-10hr sleep)
Engine: Game Maker 8.0 Lite
Graphics: Paint.NET
Music: ModPlugTracker
Sound: SFXR


Controls:

Arrow Keys and WASD - Movement
Left Mouse Button - Shooting (consumes energy) and system expansion (see HOW TO in the game)
Right Mouse Button - Teleport to the cursor (needs full energy)


Story:

You are a hyperstellar being in control of some 10^9000 WTFmeters of matter, energy and whatever else, encapsulated in a spherical unit, floating in the middle of unknown aka the real world. Your "tiny" world is populated with a huge diversity of intelligent races (none of which are even important on this scale), who restore its power and integrity, as enigmatic alien structures of even greater sizes roam around and perpetually attack. Unit integrity and energy depend on the inner systems that collapse over time, weakening the inhabitants, and the whole defensive logic. Only you can expand the systems to fix this, but your fight with the universal enthropy will never end.

Your goal is to protect the unit for as long as possible, making your way through humanly unimaginable times and spaces. Your single step is thousands of years.

Equanimity.

P. S. Well, this game actually looks so much more like micro-world than macro-world. But wait, how can you tell?!

Ratings

Coolness 48% 651
Overall 2.92 452
Audio 3.17 157
Fun 2.88 398
Graphics 2.64 563
Humor 1.45 772
Innovation 2.84 472
Mood 2.46 577
Theme 2.44 715

Feedback

nuprahtor
23. Apr 2012 · 17:52 UTC
Очень интересная находка для такого жанра - телепортация за определенное количество энергии.
Очень весело играть, враги практически не убивают персонажа.
Но сам персонаж очень легко теряется в суматохе - как вариант, хочется предложить создание специального маячка, который бы привлекал внимание игрока. Можно даже делать этот маячок за энергию, для пущей глубины геймплея.
Andrew
25. Apr 2012 · 17:40 UTC
Unexpected error when running the game :(
omaha
26. Apr 2012 · 03:48 UTC
couldn't run this on my mac or linux machines :(
🎤 HD408
26. Apr 2012 · 10:32 UTC
omaha,
Not intended for either of those. Sorry, only Windows. Probably works in Wine, but no proofs.

Andrew,
Just at the start of the game? Probably it's a compatibility problem, like your Windows being 64-bit or such. Couldn't help it, the only confirmed OS for this game is WinXP and the problem seems to be at the Game Maker engine side.
laubori
26. Apr 2012 · 11:12 UTC
this is crazy D: nice animations, it's cool and extreamly difficult!
Topaz
26. Apr 2012 · 12:01 UTC
Nice!
CaanonFodda
26. Apr 2012 · 13:19 UTC
I'm running windows 64-bit and can run the game fine, so it might not be that.
TenTonToon
26. Apr 2012 · 13:26 UTC
I never had the feeling of being in control. It's so hectic and action-packed that I'm surprised I lasted as much as I did.
Or maybe not. Maybe that's what was supposed to be.
Intense, for sure!
Valeour
27. Apr 2012 · 15:46 UTC
Wasn't really sure what was going on or if I was doing any good. It did seem fun for what was going on though. The sound was nice and it was nicely presented.
🎤 HD408
27. Apr 2012 · 20:29 UTC
CaanonFodda, thanks for the 64-bit confirmation. Would be even better if you said whether it's Windows XP, 7, or 8, maybe.

Everyone else, thanks for the comments. I'm going to make a sequel of Equanimity in this year. However, I'd rather call it just a finished game instead of a sequel.
RHY3756547
28. Apr 2012 · 20:51 UTC
I was sufficiently confused by this game. Really nice graphics, but I don't think I killed anything. :<
🎤 HD408
29. Apr 2012 · 11:21 UTC
"Killed anything"? There's no way to win in this game, if you mean that.
PaulSB
29. Apr 2012 · 13:42 UTC
Yeah that was quite fun. I lost track of where I was a bunch of times and after the initial ramp-up of enemies it just sorta carried on until things slowed down a lot then I died. Also wasn't entirely sure what was going on with shooting recharge. But yeah, had fun!
caranha
29. Apr 2012 · 13:57 UTC
The game looks really funky, and the sound is nice too, but I was a bit lost about whether what I was doing had any sense or not. I just circled the ship around the edge of the screen, while shooting towards the middle, and that seemed enough to get me going until I got tired of the game.

Maybe you should ramp up the difficulty a bit over time, but also at the same time increase the responsiveness of the player, by reducing the inertia?

Cool looking game, anyway.
🎤 HD408
29. Apr 2012 · 17:11 UTC
PaulSB, sorry about the slowdown, this is already fixed in the post-compo development. Gameplay will be modified as well.

caranha, thanks for your comment and suggestions, I'll think about that.
schnerble
29. Apr 2012 · 17:33 UTC
Interesting ideas there. I found it very confusing, though - it was easy to lose the targeting cursor among the enemies, and with the slow acceleration of movement, dodging shots seemed more luck than skill a lot of the time. I liked the style and the music, though.
Mach60KAS
01. May 2012 · 22:56 UTC
Wow, this game both looks and plays awesomely. You should be proud! I had quite a lot of fun when I figured out what to do.
🎤 HD408
01. May 2012 · 23:50 UTC
Thanks, but I'm not really satisfied with it. Post-compo version is under development.
ericdpitts
02. May 2012 · 00:36 UTC
A pretty interesting game, the player character was a bit too easy to lose track of, and it would have been nice for the movement to be a bit more responsive. But, certainly an interesting one. Good job!
Catman
04. May 2012 · 12:17 UTC
Good sounds and music! And I liked how the enemies moves. The swirling thingies made it really difficulty to see where my ship was, tho!
Hume
06. May 2012 · 16:22 UTC
Sorry, can't play Windows games this time; maybe next time.
asfdfdfd
09. May 2012 · 21:19 UTC
Its hard!
danlthemanl
14. May 2012 · 00:57 UTC
sweet
🎤 HD408
14. May 2012 · 10:46 UTC
Thanks to everyone, post-compo version is still planned.