Sublunar Vessel by Hempuli

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

Explore the depths of a ruined moon base. There are robots there, but they need energy.

Collect energy sources to replenish electricity

Collect nuclear sources & ore to replenish fuel

Find stuff

Bring light to the depths

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Controls:

Left & Right arrow keys - move

Up arrow - Enter/leave vessel

Down arrow - Pick up/drop items

S - Jump/use jetpack/fly

D - Dig/use items

A/Number keys - Switch between items while in the vessel (holds 4 at max)

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NOTE: Some items can only be used while in the vessel. I wish I had had time to clarify that.

lander2.gif lander.gif

ALSO NOTE: I used a special lua-MMF2 function implemented by Looki that isn't available in the basic Xlua plug-in. The only thing this does is that it makes the game not crash upon restart. I'll update the source with the updated plug-in later. Sorry!

Ratings

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Feedback

ghust1995
01. Aug 2017 · 03:05 UTC
Interesting concept, hard to know what to do. Nicely polished =)
SeanW
01. Aug 2017 · 03:08 UTC
I liked the game! But I think I might have had a little trouble understanding how to play. What exactly should I be trying to dig?
🎤 Hempuli
01. Aug 2017 · 12:08 UTC
The idea is just to get deeper; I didn't have time to properly clarify a lot of things (this is a common theme in my entries). Thank you :)
daanvanyperen
01. Aug 2017 · 14:07 UTC
Got a bit overloaded by the control scheme. Nice aesthetic! Feels like there's loads to do.
Aurel300
03. Aug 2017 · 11:49 UTC
Very nice entry (as always :) ). It took me a second to understand the control scheme properly, but I suppose it was part of the fun. One little thing I wish you'd fix was the text in the top right – when I'm in the vessel and I switch between items, the text in the top right stays the same, so I can't really tell which item is selected when they are all stacked on top of each other.

Other than that, it was a lot of fun exploring the various items and enemies. I was wondering what might lie in the depths below (then I got there and I couldn't really do anything with the huge towers, maybe there is something I can do if I use an item?). The game reminded me of Spelunky (as well as Spelunker) in some ways, not the least of which was the difficulty.

The low-rez art with the extremely minimalistic palette went well with the feeling of the darkness enveloping the vessel steadily. The sounds were fine, but I really wish you would invest some time into a soundtrack. A little ambience in this one would add a lot to the experience, I think.

I enjoyed this :)
BORB
03. Aug 2017 · 22:45 UTC
Win16 palette? Space exploration? Well count me in.

And this indeed was a quality entry, as was expected. The game felt like a mystery - one you'd want to figure out. Some things were easy to find out, like that some items would increase the bars with corresponding colours. I didn't yet get the gist of everything, for example the four-by-four grid in the UI, or the purpose of the white rockets or satellite antennas, or is it possible to kill the bats,
THE friggin' BATS!

But, I'm still keen to find it out.

Minor nags:
- I'd reeeeeally like to be able to fit in a one-tile sized hole. It would make the extra-vehicular activity a bit more tolerable.
- The controls can be somewhat confusing - sometimes I just end up pressing all A,S and D to get something done.
StrangerYann
05. Aug 2017 · 17:39 UTC
I have a hard time believing you did this game all on your own in only 72 hours - it's super solid mate! There could be improvements made in the realms of soundtracks and balancing but that's minor, it's the most developped and interesting game I've seen in this jam so far, I tip my hat to you sir! Really enjoyed it!