LudumData

Cosmic Potato Trader Simulator by Delta Key

[raw]
made by Delta Key for LD 41 (COMPO)

Comic Potato Trader Simulator

A 48 Secret Jam/April and LD41 entry

Welcome, to the Cosmic Potato Trader Simulator!

Can you become rich trading potatoes, one of the rarest materials on the cosmos after the Great War of Whatever (one of the various planets that exist obviously), across the Universe?

You will have buy and sell potatoes with different prices aiming for profit, and survive meteorites or pirates, that you can dispatch with your Potato Cannon. Beware to not find yourself without potatoes to shoot and sell!

Controls:

  • WASD keys to move;

  • Left mouse button to shoot and select options;

  • Right mouse button to slow down the spaceship.

Software used:

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Commentary:

This is a strange game, sure. The themes I had were "Potato" and "Asteroid" by the 48 Secret Jam, and "Combine 2 Incompatible Genres" by the LD41 (I combinated a Shoot-Em-Up with a Commerce Simulator I guess).

Why I participated both jams? Well, I'm a undergratuate, and have lots of stuff to do. Joining jams is not one of them. But since I like fiddling with game development, I might as well make a single game for two jams, to save time, you know.

Hope you have at least some fun!

Windows https://delta-key.itch.io/cosmic-potato-trader-simulator
Linux https://delta-key.itch.io/cosmic-potato-trader-simulator
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/cosmic-potato-trader-simulator

Ratings

Overall 411th 3.289⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Fun 490th 3.026⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 536th 2.974⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Theme 544th 3.132⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 207th 3.579⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Audio 215th 3.211⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Mood 274th 3.167⭐ 20🧑‍⚖️
Given 25🗳️ 1🗨️

Feedback

blobo
24. Apr 2018 · 21:35 UTC
This game was a lot of fun. I enjoyed playing the economy of space potatoes.
🎤 Delta Key
26. Apr 2018 · 17:19 UTC
Thanks @blobo! Your feedback is very welcome :thumbsup:
SocialRobot
28. Apr 2018 · 21:39 UTC
What a cute game!

The polish on the menu's and graphics is incredible considering the time limit, well done sir!
🎤 Delta Key
29. Apr 2018 · 15:26 UTC
Thank you @SocialRobot :) well, most of the time I spent on polishing these stuff, so even if they turned out nice, I believe I could have made the gameplay more interesting instead. Welp, learning from the mistakes, right?
conk
29. Apr 2018 · 17:48 UTC
This is great! I did have a few issues though, but it certainly has some potential with a few changes. My first issue was my gun stopped working, but it quickly occurred to me how little I needed to use it, I think the arcade shooting sections don't offer enough challenge. The other issue was I ended up just flipping between planet that buys for 9 and planet that buys for 5, a bit repetitive after a while.

Aside from those, the audio, graphics and mood are all really solid and fit together very well and the overall polish on the game is fantastic! Good job :grin:
🎤 Delta Key
29. Apr 2018 · 18:48 UTC
Hey @conk , thanks a lot! I guess the gun not working might be because of one of the modifiers, like "Pirate activity detected" or "Spintronic circuits jammed", but it might be a bug as well. About the gameplay, I think it became it bit boring as well, since there is not a clear objective.

I'm considering adding some more stuff and polishing a bit more this game, since it's my first Ludum Dare and it is turning out a lot better than expected. Again, thanks for the feedback!
Mektidas
30. Apr 2018 · 14:44 UTC
It is very entertaining, although only three planets appear to travel. So I just went from the cheapest to the most expensive.

you should add random planets. but still, the game is very good.

Hope to see you in the next LD
🎤 Delta Key
30. Apr 2018 · 15:08 UTC
Thanks @Mektidas , glad you liked the game! I think I'll make the travelling more interesting, as well the trading mechanics. Also, I hope as well to be on the next LD haha
Aditya Shukla
02. May 2018 · 19:42 UTC
A really interesting game.. Its really nice that you came up with this idea.. It works very well with the theme of this jam. Loved the art. Overall its a good entry! Well done!

Do they my game too if you haven't, it's here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/memebumps
Cheers!
🎤 Delta Key
03. May 2018 · 01:37 UTC
Thanks @aditya-shukla , your feedback is very welcome! Horror games are not really my thing, but yours seem so interesting that I think I'll give it a try haha

Thanks again!
IgorsGames
05. May 2018 · 20:29 UTC
I like the idea of trading between shmup levels, but spending a potato each shot makes shooting kind of pointless :/
Lost Dutchman Software
05. May 2018 · 21:21 UTC
I really like the idea of mixing an economy game and a shmup. Also making the ammunition the thing you are trading makes for interesting choices, do I want to clear the enemy to make it easier to not take hits or try to just dodge to get more cash!
impiaaa
05. May 2018 · 23:51 UTC
It looks nice, but it's a little too easy to just dodge on the shmup stages, and if I understand correctly that the only way to gain money or potatoes is through buying and selling, the profit margins are really slim to get anywhere quickly.
🎤 Delta Key
05. May 2018 · 23:57 UTC
Thanks for the feedback @igorsgames and @lost-dutchman-software! It is very appreciated. Also, glad you guys liked it!

I understand your point @igorsgames: since shooting consumes potatoes, the player could simply choose to not shoot at all. My idea was as @lost-dutchman-software said: the player should make a choice between attacking enemies or making more money. However, since the game is not very balanced (making money is kinda easy if you keep buying low and selling high), it ends up being not so interesting sometimes.

I looking foward to updating this game in the future, taking all these feedback in account. Maybe adding more ships with different attributes for the player to choose, like more cargo space or higher damage. Also more randomized paths and planets, and possibly bigger pirate spaceships battle, possibility of siding with a sindicate or a faction, et cetera. Hopefully the modifications will make the game more interesting!
🎤 Delta Key
06. May 2018 · 00:00 UTC
Thanks for commenting @impiaaa!

Yes, I agree with you, and you did understand my intent. If I recall correctly, the game gets harder the longer with keep trading, but the difficulty increase isn't really noticeable I guess. Anyway, in a possible future update I believe I'll add more features to make the trading and shmup more interesting.

Again, thanks for the feedback!
ecmjohnson
06. May 2018 · 01:53 UTC
The asteroid collision was a really nice touch along with a fitting sound track. Sadly my hopes and dreams [ducked](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/motherducker)-off once my space ship decided it did not need me as its captain anymore and drifted off screen. Resizing the screen would bring it back on screen but immobile and as soon as it was resized it drifted away. The final potato count did not reflect my endevours as the best space potato pirate the galaxy has seen.
fashionbatman
07. May 2018 · 16:29 UTC
Great job! Good use of the theme. Especially, good job on the ui, everything was clear and made sense.
🎤 Delta Key
08. May 2018 · 18:39 UTC
Damn, that's a big bug @ecmjohnson haha thanks for reporting, I'll surely look into it so that future endeavors will not be forgotten. Also, thanks for the feedback!
🎤 Delta Key
08. May 2018 · 18:40 UTC
Thanks @fashionbatman , for the comment! The ui took a lot of the time, so it's great to know it was good.
Kwisarts
09. May 2018 · 22:44 UTC
A bit confused by the game. At first, I didn't get that you shot potatoes; then however, once i got how it works, i keep losing tenacoins when i shoot space ships. Why? They attack me, so it makes sense that I attack back, right?

I must probably do something wrong though, since I saw no one in the comments make a remark about it.

The game itself isn't bad! I like that you have to shoot your potato carefully. Too bad you kinda need to alternate cheapest/most expensive to sell/buy, it doesn't seem to offer much variety.
loudrasiel
10. May 2018 · 16:33 UTC
this is very good !! greak work !
🎤 Delta Key
10. May 2018 · 19:15 UTC
Thanks for the comments @loudrasiel and @kwisarts, really appreciated!


@kwisarts , my idea was that the player should only shoot in emergency situations in order to not get damaged, but I also thought that a shooter without a focus on shooting would get strange, like you said... I think that destroying enemy pirates rewarded money, but not sure now :laughing: anyway, thanks for the feedback, it means a lot for me.
Invixel
10. May 2018 · 22:11 UTC
The game was fun when it worked, but it was sadly quite buggy which kind of ruined a part of the experience. First time i started the game i couldn't move my ship, i restarted it but then the same 3 planets appeared every time (and the prices were 8, 9, 9).

I really liked the graphics and the sound was good too. I like the idea and i think it fits with the theme but it got repetetive quickly, though 99% of all Ludum Dare games do that. Overall, i liked the game and if there is one piece of advice i could give you it is that fun is the most important aspect so don't get carried away making the other stuff super amazing instead :smile:
Aerosavior
10. May 2018 · 22:29 UTC
I love the style of the game, but despite launching multiple times, I can't get my ship to move. I was still able to hop between a few planets and get my potato on though!
🎤 Delta Key
12. May 2018 · 17:24 UTC
Thanks for the feedbacks, @invixel and @aerosavior. Glad you liked! I'll definetly look into these bugs later, really a shame they are so game breaking.

Also, thanks for the tip @invixel, I welcome every piece of advice so that my games can get better faster :thumbsup: I'm sure I'll be more attentious towards the fun factor... it's kind of common sense, when you stop to think about it haha