Stuck in Orbit by thedarkmagi

[raw]
made by thedarkmagi for Ludum Dare 47 (COMPO)

ld47_11.gif This is my first attempt at compo, I've used pico8 to create a 2d side scrolling shoot where the game will get faster each batch of enemies you defeat until your ship is fast enough to escape from orbit

I am a programmer first, who sometimes does art. This is the first time I've made music for a game so hopefully its not terrible.

Controls can be found in greater detail by clicking the small gamepad next to the pico8 webplayer

up & down arrow keys to move

X to shoot

Z to restart if you win or lose

I've done my best to comment on my code, as I wasn't sure what source code explained meant in the rules. hope thats correct. If I should do more let me know and I'll do what I can to write it up

Ratings

Overall 521th 2.979⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Fun 479th 2.875⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 617th 2.125⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Theme 566th 2.688⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 504th 2.833⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Audio 264th 3.217⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Humor 400th 2.143⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 447th 2.854⭐ 26🧑‍⚖️
Given 28🗳️ 21🗨️

Feedback

daitli
05. Oct 2020 · 12:50 UTC
Cute little space shooter, I had a bit of trouble seeing the enemies at first as well as getting used to the controls but overall I had fun with it :D
aligator
05. Oct 2020 · 12:57 UTC
It's a bit hard to spot the enemies with all this stuff flying around, but the game works great and the music fits perfectly.
Nate Wert
05. Oct 2020 · 12:57 UTC
Pretty nice little space shooter. Overall its a nice little game the only critique I would give is making the enemies with slightly more contrast.
Hadryel
05. Oct 2020 · 15:30 UTC
Cool entry! Tooke me a bit to figure what to dodge. I guess it's a little bit cheesy to be at the bottom of the screen holding down X so many of the enemies gets destroyed before shooting you, but I got many points from that xD
noahw
05. Oct 2020 · 19:48 UTC
Nice work! Cute aesthetics, although it's a little hard to make out enemy projectiles. Love how the particles communicate your ship's speed slowly increasing, although it took me a while to pick up on that. The little musical loop is pretty creative and really fits the mood.
axeltherabbit
05. Oct 2020 · 20:29 UTC
good job but was a bit too easy and slow (I image it's due to the engine tho). I've just spammed shoot and moved up and down the whole time without been hit. probably increase the enemies and reduce the shot rate would help
blobo
05. Oct 2020 · 22:02 UTC
I'm always impressed with PICO-8 games! Great work all around.
Nick Rafalski
05. Oct 2020 · 22:47 UTC
This was fun. It's super cute and sounds good too. I think the bullets move a little slow: it's hard to hit the boss that moves back and forth. Still, a very nice game!
Nick Rafalski
05. Oct 2020 · 22:47 UTC
This was fun. It's super cute and sounds good too. I think the bullets move a little slow: it's hard to hit the boss that moves back and forth. Still, a very nice game!
ansoneh
05. Oct 2020 · 23:35 UTC
Impressive what you were able to do all by yourself. I wish I could even start to make music. Bullets could be a bit faster, but overall pretty fun.
minibobbo
06. Oct 2020 · 04:18 UTC
Nice effort and good work on the programmer music. There is definitely room for improvement there, but you have to start somewhere! I also really struggle with music and sfx, so I appreciate the effort.

For feedback, the background got way too busy. I'm not sure how close I was to finishing (I defeated 2 or 3 large ships. I think 3) but the little green ships were impossible to spot in all the debris flying around. The bullets were equally hard to see. Maybe make the background elements smaller, or more muted so the guys jump out a little more? Also, the enemy ships could be a lot bigger and that might help.

The art was simple but it does its job well. Nice work!

Edit- Actually, lining up your shots so the bosses repeatedly ran into the stream of them was really satisfying. I forgot to mention that :)
🎤 thedarkmagi
06. Oct 2020 · 15:21 UTC
Thanks everyone for all your feedback :heart:
I totally messed up on the colour I selected for my little enemies, they should have had higher contrast with the background

@minibobbo I'm glad you found the lining up of shots really satisfying that was one of my fav things about the game, its one of the reasons I didn't make the shots any faster.

I really wanted to convey the player was getting faster while orbiting the planet and ended up with the background getting busy to ensure I conveyed that.
kamen Kitanov
06. Oct 2020 · 17:03 UTC
We came up with the same name for our games!:D
Yeah not much to add, except the art is very stylistic and works well, but needs more contrast and/or outlines.
I definitely appreciate the sound & music as I personally always struggle to find time and skill to make them in my jam games!
extar
07. Oct 2020 · 14:53 UTC
Nice to see some other Pico-8 games on here. I loved the gnarly music loop, it adds so much personality to the game. It was interesting playing a shooter with such comparatively slow projectiles, really forced you to learn how to lead your shots. Cool game :D
dunderroffe
07. Oct 2020 · 20:27 UTC
As you mentioned the contrast could have been better. I liked the movement and the boss ship though, would not change that part. Maybe even lower the amount of HP?
Cool game. I had fun :)
Jimbly
13. Oct 2020 · 02:54 UTC
Nicely done! I always enjoy Pico-8 games =). I managed to get a measly score of 30. The boss ship took a while to beat, and felt harmless the first time, but the second one destroyed me ^_^. I think the game spent too long as slow speeds, maybe it could ramp up a little sooner (but not as fast? it felt like it got way faster around a score 25...).
gwinnell
16. Oct 2020 · 16:32 UTC
Despite being simple, this was a lot of fun! PICO-8 aesthetic is just so charming too. It is what it is and nothing more. My only negative comment is that enemies were a bit hard to spot. Well done!

(P.S. Your bullets are the same as my bullet particles. :smiley: )
figueroass27
19. Oct 2020 · 14:56 UTC
I general like the retro aesthetic, but i think the background was a little too busy and made it hard to see the small enemies as well as the bullet particles. The music and general sounds are pretty good especially with the little experience you have. In general i think it a fun! game held back by the busy-ness of the background (but im sure you know that already lol). GOOD LUCK ON FUTURE MUSIC STUFF
natpat
22. Oct 2020 · 16:41 UTC
Nice little shooter! The concept was neat, especially the take on the theme. Some polish could go a long way here though - making the enemies/bullets bigger and easier to spot, making your bullets faster, some more feedback when you hit things/get hit.