StarLink Xpress by morrilet

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

Captain! We're running on fumes, here! We're out of fuel and we haven't even reached the pickup point yet. If the backup power for the tractor beam holds, we may be able to complete our deliveries, but we'd be endangering the lives of everyone on this vessel...

Is whatever's in those boxes really worth all that?

Screenshot<em>0.png Screenshot</em>1.png Screenshot_2.png

StarLink Xpress is a time-trial physics game about a space-faring delivery company made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 45. Use your tractor beam to zip and glide past asteroids and make all of your deliveries on time!

Objective

Pick up packages at stations and deliver them to homes. Don't let the time run out, and don't take too many hits.

Controls

  • Left Mouse - Fire tractor beam
  • R - Restart the current level
  • Esc - Exit to main menu

HowToPlay.png

UPDATE The HTML5 version is available right here!

Ratings

Overall 355th 3.632⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Fun 274th 3.636⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 118th 3.897⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Theme 928th 2.773⭐ 35🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 714th 3.25⭐ 36🧑‍⚖️
Audio 364th 3.359⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Humor 529th 2.788⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Mood 625th 3.266⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Given 26🗳️ 40🗨️

Feedback

Elinks
08. Oct 2019 · 19:36 UTC
I liked the gameplay but o my gosh it's so frustrating when you end up flying alone in space without rocks ro help you :smile:.

Its rare to see a jam game with a real menu and a tuto but I mistook the station and the package :D

One small improvment would have been to work a bit more on the progress curve of the levels (I did the level 4 in 2 attemps aginst maybe 10 attemps for level 3)

Chears !
🎤 morrilet
08. Oct 2019 · 23:23 UTC
@elinks Hah, yes, I think there will be a lot of people using the 'r' key. Thanks for the note on the difficulty curve! I always find it tough to pace out games like these, so I'll have to leave myself a bit more time for it next time around. (PS. I left a comment on your game just now. Nice work!)
NachtWitch
09. Oct 2019 · 00:38 UTC
Wow, really fun game, the difficulty curve was really well made, absolutely loved the experience 5 stars in all catagories
ghost-in-the-toast
09. Oct 2019 · 00:45 UTC
Cool game! It was frustrating getting my ship to move where I wanted it to go, mainly because I couldn't see some of the meteors. Solid entry!
mrabnox
09. Oct 2019 · 00:46 UTC
I enjoyed the game, nbut my ability to time the shift in between the rocks lead me to be one with the stars many times. would 100 percent play this again.
SirRed
09. Oct 2019 · 00:46 UTC
Wish there was a way to get back from the void. It is a tough game to control yourself.
Joe Williamson
09. Oct 2019 · 00:47 UTC
A minimap to see the meteors would be great. Kinda scary to wind up floating into the void of space. It's a neat idea. :)
Falu
09. Oct 2019 · 00:48 UTC
Quite difficult! I think the vfx for the tractor beams could be better represented to display it's function! I thought it would shoot something, but actually was a moving thing. I enjoyed the concept of delivering packages. Fun and neat~
GuitarBro
09. Oct 2019 · 00:54 UTC
The physics were pretty fun (though a bit hard to control). Would be nice if there was some "out of bounds" detection that automatically reset you when you're basically out of range of everything. Not a bad game though!
🎤 morrilet
09. Oct 2019 · 02:25 UTC
@nachtwitch I'm glad to hear the curve came through for you! Glad you enjoyed it.

@ghost-in-the-toast Yeah, I would like to have scaled the viewport a bit so that you could see more of the map at once, but there were some complications with that and, well, time limits and all. You know how it is.

@mrabnox Hey! Thanks for playing this on stream. It was a blast to watch. I'm off to play yours in a minute here.

@sirred Yep, the movement can be tricky like that. Gotta learn to love the void ;)

@joe-williamson Thanks! And a minimap would've been interesting. Good call.

@falu Ah, good note. Maybe some particle effects would've sold it. Thanks!

@guitarbro Yes, I had initially intended to fade in a reset prompt when you got far enough away with no change in trajectory, but alas, time she is a cruel mistress. The white helper text up by the timer was the best I could do in the minutes I had left.
Yomissmar
09. Oct 2019 · 18:30 UTC
At the start I found it a bit hard to control, but maybe it's just because it's not the kind of game I'm used to play :)
Overall it's very complete and fun. Good job!
Roque
10. Oct 2019 · 04:15 UTC
Innovative, well structed, well made music and sounds, menus works very smooth, everything very well put. Played one time to understand and another to see how far I could go. Really nice entry! :)
mrerdalural
10. Oct 2019 · 05:42 UTC
Very nice game! I would love to see you add more to this. The game could benefit a lot from look ahead camera. Unity cinemachine already has one implemented you could use that.

Thank you making this game. I had fun playing it!
Franciszek Pyrć
10. Oct 2019 · 06:11 UTC
Nice game play. If there were only no default unity buttons and that unity preferences window.
MoebiusMeow
10. Oct 2019 · 07:49 UTC
Really innovative physics game! The movement of the ship could cause the rocks to move, which made the game more tricky and strategic. This mechanic has a lot of potential. I like it ♥
🎤 morrilet
11. Oct 2019 · 02:30 UTC
@yomissmar Yes, from what I gather many folks have experienced a bit of a learning curve with the controls. Glad you still had fun!

@roque Thanks! I'll have to pass the word along to my audio buddy ;)

@mrerdalural Yes, I did attempt to whip up a quick look-ahead camera, but it certainly wasn't perfect. Good to know there's something ready-made through Cinemachine. I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

@franciszek-pyrc Totally agree on the default Unity buttons. They get the job done but they're an eye-sore. As for the preference window, I figured it's nice to let folks select the settings that work best for them, and I certainly didn't have time to make a custom solution this time around. Thanks for the note, though!

@moebiusmeow Thanks! I was pleasantly surprised when I ran it for the first time and realized the full implications of the tractor beam. I started playing around with asteroids of varying mass at that point. Glad you liked it :)
Hermitao
11. Oct 2019 · 05:30 UTC
Wow!! Impressive! I loved the gameplay mechanics and concept. Great game! There's a learning curve and skill involved, similar to grappling hooks in games.
Asimov
11. Oct 2019 · 08:26 UTC
Damn that were 5 great minutes! actually thats the game i had the most fun with this LD yet.
the Momentum feels amazing and i love the idea that you are moving with a tractor beam.
Fitting music and a good difficulty (although level 3 was harder than 4)
Thank you for the experience
Fammy
11. Oct 2019 · 08:54 UTC
Your game is really innovant ! I like the graphics. The level of difficulty is perfect not too easy, not too hard. So congrats and good job !
lovetocode999
12. Oct 2019 · 20:00 UTC
Great game, really fun to play. I really liked the movement mechanism, although it took a bit of getting used to. I loved the music and the effects, they really added to the game. Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable entry to play!
🎤 morrilet
14. Oct 2019 · 21:48 UTC
@hermitao Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I can totally see the grappling hook comparison.

@asimov I'm happy to hear that! Thank you so much. The level progression was tricky to set up; I'm just glad it made some sort of sense.

@fammy Thank you!

@lovetocode999 Thanks! The learning curve has certainly caught some people off-guard. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
lokhmaty
15. Oct 2019 · 23:53 UTC
Great idea, good job. The game is very addictive.
🎤 morrilet
17. Oct 2019 · 01:03 UTC
@lokhmaty Thanks! I'm glad to hear it.
Amerigo Gazaway
17. Oct 2019 · 07:29 UTC
Cool physics/ mechanics, love the music too.
asfdfdfd
17. Oct 2019 · 20:26 UTC
Whe you fly in empty space ship looks like disco ball!
Zachary Shah
18. Oct 2019 · 21:12 UTC
Really innovative! I loved the music, the game play, and everything felt polished. I would like to see some post-processing and some particle systems to improve the looks, but other that everything was great!
Jupiter_Hadley
23. Oct 2019 · 16:45 UTC
Challenging, well made game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 45 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/ZxefAL2rBy8