Spam Space To Exist by Wheffle

[raw]
made by Wheffle for Ludum Dare 45 (JAM)

Title.png

Introduction

You are nothing. Well, for now. If you spam the spacebar in Spam Space To Exist you can exist, then you can get bigger by absorbing stuff! If you absorb enough stuff, you might be able to absorb the biggest stuff, like, say... a planet! The people living here are no fun and they don't much like that idea, so you'll have to absorb them too with all their silly technology.


Game Objective

Your objective in Spam Space To Exist is to exist as much as possible, which means getting really big. By touching floating debris you absorb it and it sticks to you, becoming you. When you get big enough, your final goal is to absorb the local planet. However, it is heavily defended.

When useful technology sticks to you, it starts working for you. Weapons are especially useful for fending off enemies, but these puny beings are also very susceptible to a good clobbering by your mighty girth. The bigger you are, the more damage you inflict when you bash enemies. Destroyed enemy ships will drop their useful bits, good for absorbing.


Controls

(Available in-game) - Spacebar - Spam this to become something from nothing at the start (or if you get blown up) - WSAD or Arrow Keys - Move around - QE or Page Up/Down - Rotate


Screenshots

screenshot2_cropped.png

screenshot3_cropped.png


The Team

  • Ketura - Design, Programming
  • Wheffle - Programming, AI, Music, Sound Effects
  • FieryVictoryStar - Programming

We formed an ad-hoc team the day of the start of the jam. Spread across multiple time zones and none of us having been able to take much time off on Monday to wrap up, we managed to bust out something that passes for a game. Success!

Tools

  • Unity - Game Engine
  • Bosca Ceoil - Music
  • BFXR + Audacity - Sound Effects

Ratings

Overall 665th 3.357⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Fun 409th 3.452⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 313th 3.536⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Theme 172th 3.881⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 911th 2.821⭐ 44🧑‍⚖️
Audio 611th 2.744⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Humor 695th 2.421⭐ 40🧑‍⚖️
Mood 807th 3.024⭐ 43🧑‍⚖️
Given 38🗳️ 48🗨️

Feedback

PeachTreeOath
08. Oct 2019 · 07:31 UTC
At first I was a bit worried about the game because my dinky laser wasn't all that impressive, but then I realized ramming people was pretty darn efficient so then I started to get swept into the game. It's really neat because it's kinda like Katamari or agar.io but you have to at least rotate your ship to pack protection into any holes in your shape. And of course once you get enough ships you have 20 some lasers firing at people and the game changes from an absorption game to space fighting which is awesome, kinda like an early game -> mid game -> late game shift which is a great trait to have. Tbh though I played like 5 different runs and could not get past those last ships. They are beastly, but maybe I just need to be more patient with them. I tend to duke it out more or less, or get caught in a lot of crossfire too soon.

This is a REALLY great iteration on the absorption mechanic. The lasers and shields alone show the potential of this concept but I think there's even more to explore with new ship parts. Very exciting idea and loved playing it!
geoff.nagy
09. Oct 2019 · 03:23 UTC
Took me a minute to get the hang of it, but it was fun once I realized how effective it was to ram the other ships and then absorb their abilities. I think more people should be playing this game!
SirRed
09. Oct 2019 · 03:27 UTC
Very interesting game I wasnt expecting the bullet hell part at all. It did lag a bit when I went to the planet from all the lasers, but it was a fun game overall. good job.
Nikolaj
09. Oct 2019 · 04:40 UTC
Good job, kind of fun to float around until i got blasted by the lasers! kind of made me wish i had some lasers too
dob
09. Oct 2019 · 04:40 UTC
Really cool! I loved how you could absorb the abilities of the ship parts you picked up. Very neat. Good sounds. I liked how the lighting indicated where the planet was, but I wish there had been a little more of an indication of where you were. Fun game!
Jake Bekker
09. Oct 2019 · 04:41 UTC
Good game! Really interesting mechanic, and incredibly original take on the theme. 10 Points!
slagathor
09. Oct 2019 · 04:51 UTC
Addicting! Made me really want to play long enough to absorb a planet. I think it would be cool if there were more weapon options and maybe more control on what you choose to shoot. Overall, a fun experience!
FireSlash
09. Oct 2019 · 04:58 UTC
The laser turrets feel more like decorations than anything. As others have stated, ramming is orders of magnitude more useful and you just end up smashing into everything.

That said, it's quite fun despite that. However, it seems once you absorb a few ships you're effectively unstoppable, and the game grows tiring as you end up spending all your time hunting for things to absorb.

Super fun concept, absolutely worth fiddling around with post-compo.
Porocyonak
09. Oct 2019 · 05:02 UTC
actually very fun! reminds me of captain forever. I got it to bug out super hard by hitting the planet when I was too small though
AdamCYounis
09. Oct 2019 · 05:58 UTC
This game was way more fun than it felt like it had any right to be, based on the simple graphics and floaty controls. But I really did get a sense that I was in the middle of a giant space battle when things kicked into gear, which was so impressive. There is clearly depth to the design system you created, and I'd like to see more of it in a more refined state. Thanks for the game.
ShellDragon
10. Oct 2019 · 05:08 UTC
pretty easy to get the hang of, all in all quite fun.
Marmeladki
10. Oct 2019 · 08:38 UTC
Love it! But I think at the beginning for realising that you are moving somewhere addictional moving grphics will help. I had fun, thank you!
Bongard22
10. Oct 2019 · 22:54 UTC
Cool concept, I think it'd be really cool if you could control the turrets a bit more so it isn't just about finding smaller stuff to absorb. Also good to see you around again @wheffle
Rhoka
10. Oct 2019 · 23:04 UTC
Fun little experience! I always love these grow and absorb enemy type of games. The only thing i really found myself wanting was knowledge of where I was. I think even a really simple little rectangle with a dot to show where you are in the playable space would be enough. I just found myself wandering around without encountering anything for long stretches. Otherwise I had a good time with this one! Great job!
CiaranW
11. Oct 2019 · 23:31 UTC
Was fun! I would love to see what a bit of polish could do, sometimes it was a bit confusing to keep track of what was going on, but I liked the concept and enjoyed absorbing the universe!
Space Wumpus
12. Oct 2019 · 00:09 UTC
Didn't manage to get past the last defences with the evil green lasers, but this was really good fun.
One issue - you can't zoom out very far and the zoom centre is low down, not the centre of the screen. This means that once you've reached a certain size you have no chance to see what is coming before you hit it when you move down. An indicator pointing towards the planet might be helpful too, as sometimes you don't really know where you are and have to just head in a random direction. Anyway, great job!
PurpoAppo
12. Oct 2019 · 00:28 UTC
Fun game, building up was pretty cool. The background sometimes got me confused but still great!
Stefanie Leitch
12. Oct 2019 · 00:47 UTC
Good game! Once you get too big it's really hard to figure out where to go or what to do next (maybe there wasn't anything left...), but a minimap or something would have helped!
MRUniverse
12. Oct 2019 · 00:47 UTC
Neat idea, I couldn't find more than 1 turret at a time which made killing anything a laborious process. I think it could have been more fun if you controlled the turret firing.
ketura
12. Oct 2019 · 01:11 UTC
@mruniverse try ramming :P But that's on us for not making it more clear.
2 Odd Diodes
12. Oct 2019 · 03:26 UTC
This reminds me of Katamari Damaci a lot, it started out weird, but eventually I got sucked in, and it was a ton of fun ramming into things and seeing my cube grow into a grotesque monstrosity.
Lychee
12. Oct 2019 · 04:21 UTC
Really fun game, it's satisfying to see your ship grow, and I like the funny quotes when you die! I found it kind of hard to get started again after dying though, I tried a few times but found it easier to just restart from the beginning usually. I think with some balancing it could be really great!
Coisne Nathan
12. Oct 2019 · 10:58 UTC
fun game ! it's so fun to absorb everything good job !
fabula_rasa
13. Oct 2019 · 16:31 UTC
That was so fun! It reminded me of how Orcs build their Gargants (or anything else, for that matter ;)) in WH40k - let's just hammer any random stuff we find onto it, see what sticks, and the more guns the better! And then, when we get really biiiiiiiiiig, it's time to go stomping :).

Thank you for this fun experience!
🎤 Wheffle
14. Oct 2019 · 00:00 UTC
Thanks everyone for the feedback! Very much appreciated!

@bongard22 Good seeing you around too, one of my favorite things about LD is getting to start recognizing some regulars :)