Aphelion by vulpineblazeyt

[raw]
made by vulpineblazeyt for LD 39 (JAM)

2017-07-31 (2).png

:videogame: Controls :videogame:

Move | Fire --------|------- WASD | Space

Pay attention to your power bar at the top of the screen!

You use power steadily over time as your ship consumes it.

You will lose more power if you are hit by a projectile, collide with an enemy ship, or hit an asteroid.

Gain power by hitting asteroids and enemy ships with your absorption beam - be clever, because it is costly!

:arrow_forward: Play!

Welcome to the last days of the universe.

It is a fundamental law of nature that all things which have a beginning, must eventually come to some sort of end. Although a centillion years is quite a good run for a universe, there is yet another law of nature that states, “Life always seeks a way keep on living.” This is evident in the evolution of a species over time. Animals adapt to rapid, dramatic environmental changes; Plants always eventually find their way through cracks in the concrete, despite all odds.

Even so, by now, most of the sentient life has died out. Their stars over time have burned up all of their helium, and collapsed into grand displays of supernovae. All that remains are densely-packed neutron stars and foreboding black holes dotting the otherwise vacant landscape.

The younger and less intelligent races were the first to go, not having yet discovered the technology to reach out to neighboring star systems. Those who had failed to master the art of sustained nuclear fusion soon followed. Eventually, the most advanced races became desperate for power, forsaking peace agreements with more vulnerable populations to absorb their resources in a desperate attempt at self-preservation.

War now ravages the universe, as the most technologically advanced species’ gamble their final energy supplies in an attempt to strip each other of what few resources remain.

Life is tenacious.

The Sakari of the Aneurin system, especially so. A highly technologically advanced and predominantly peaceful race, they had long-since predicted this outcome. Instead of waging war, they opted to close their borders and direct their energy into bolstering their defenses in an attempt to protect that which is most precious to them - The Trans-Universal Warp Drive, a device that will allow them to explore the multiverse.

Development has almost concluded, but unfortunately not quickly enough. The Sakari have used up the majority of their reserves trying to safely sustain their population, leaving nothing to spare to power the device, the last hope of the universe. With no other options left, they installed the drive onto their most capable ship, The Starseeker, and sent it off into the unknown.

The fate of Sakari, of the universe itself, rests in the collective hands of the crew of The Starseeker. They must acquire enough resources to power the warp drive, or else perish, and with them, the remaining life in the universe.

You, the Captain of The Starseeker, are in charge of this vital mission.

:star: Best of luck! :star:

Music: Scorched Circuits - Back To Root

Ratings

Overall 734th 2.87⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 719th 2.652⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 809th 2.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 682th 3.043⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 729th 2.565⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 523th 2.476⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Humor 643th 1.556⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Mood 759th 2.381⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 22🗨️

Feedback

silkworm_sweatshop
05. Aug 2017 · 20:57 UTC
I like the addition of the little story. You usually don't see that sort of things in a space shooter and it gave me something to do in between the enemy waves. Music track was pretty cool but the fire sound overtook it a bit and was kinda grating. Also the music didn't loop for me so half the game was silent.
MMM
05. Aug 2017 · 21:49 UTC
Pretty good idea, you nailed the theme. Maybe some animation will be nice too, some explosions, different guns
Almax
05. Aug 2017 · 21:50 UTC
Gameplay was fun and straight forward, story was cool to follow but would have prefered mechanics such as pickups and different enemies. Also found music to be a little repetitive. But otherwise good entry!
loveapplegames
05. Aug 2017 · 23:24 UTC
Pretty basic shooter, fun to play but gets boring fast. It may help if it gets more difficult. I found myself reading the text, wondering what would come next, which kept me going until the end of the game.
pilly
05. Aug 2017 · 23:43 UTC
Fun game. I like the concept of the absorption beam. It did feel a bit drawn out at the end - I missed the music and was hoping it would continue ramping up in difficulty. Like others said, I enjoyed the story mixed in with this type of game. Nice work!
Carsen D.
06. Aug 2017 · 00:31 UTC
I enjoyed the music a lot, it was really good and energetic! The sound effect for hitting things started to annoy me quite a bit though, because it got deafening and quite repetitive if you hit multiple things at once. The main mechanic was interesting with being limited on just holding down the button as well as being rewarded by hitting things and being accurate and deliberate. Interesting story as well.
benbennett
06. Aug 2017 · 01:05 UTC
Fun game! I thought the absorption beam refiled a little too quickly. I felt like I could be at almost empty and refill completely just attacking one ship. The music was good, but it should have looped, a majority of the game was silent. Overall great job!
simonhutchinson
06. Aug 2017 · 01:08 UTC
pewpewpewpewpewpew!

Nice game! The hit detection seems a bit mixed at times, but it's good fun to traverse the universe sucking energy from everyone else.
Russell Ng
06. Aug 2017 · 01:51 UTC
Cool that its a shoot em up where you have to actually be careful of what and when you fire. Would like to see more content though. Good job.
Sondrian
06. Aug 2017 · 02:48 UTC
Funky beats is where its at.

I liked this game a lot. It was really chill at first and offers an interesting play style that sort of evolves as things come at you faster and faster. Enemies and obstacles becoming sources for power as well as drainages on your power was really clever. The challenge of the game comes in trying to watch everything all at once and use the absorption beam as little as possible and keeping power levels in the green. Well done!
Antiwrapper
06. Aug 2017 · 11:59 UTC
I liked the story that was told while you were playing, that was a nice touch. Also the idea of not being able to fire all the time is a really good one because it makes you think a bit before you shoot which often is not the case with space shooters. Though it was pretty easy and not much variety, would like to see some more enemies and maybe a powerup or two. Overall though I liked it. And the music was funky!
Rafael Souza
14. Aug 2017 · 03:06 UTC
Sound is really funny, but is a very commum game, I was playing looking for inovations.
the idea of storytelling is good, but the player will not read all the text,
even more in the middle of the game, trust me.
Maybe if the game achieve some middle goal, stop and tell some story, ( not a full text story)
would be cooler :)

I really hope to see, new games comming from you,
And do not take it bad, the fact that it is not such a complimenting comment,

i really want to give u a tip, and see the improviment comming from u :)

Thanks vulpineblazeyt and Prosparody
🎤 vulpineblazeyt
15. Aug 2017 · 02:47 UTC
We are doing post-LD updates here:

http://jonathangiacomelli.spacetechnology.net/aphelion