LudumData

Tablet Force by AdamV

[raw]
made by AdamV for Ludum Dare 46 (JAM)

TitleScreen.jpg

Background

You are a member of Tablet Force, an elite squadron trained to salvage spaceships lost in the war. You've been assigned to recover the Trantorius X, but it won't be easy. It's life support systems were critically damaged, but it's defense systems are still online. And it thinks you're a hostile.

Your mission is to reach the main control room, connect to the central computer, and repair the life support systems so that the ship can be reclaimed. Your only tool is an advanced Tablet that can conjure attacks, hack sentries and terminals, act as a flashlight, and sustain your portable life support. This tablet is the only thing keeping you alive, so you better keep it alive!

Gameplay

Each room has a locked exit door. Reaching that door is your objective, but you'll first have to hack a terminal to unlock it. Use WASD to move, arrow keys to shoot, E to interact (hold E for some interactions), and Q to toggle mode. Energy Blast is a regular attack and Hack Wave can be used to disable enemies. Once disabled, you can drain the enemy to restore enemy to your tablet. Careful, using attacks and terminals will consume energy! Your tablet energy will also be slowly drained over time to keep the area lit.

Screen Shot 2020-04-20 at 4.50.55 PM.png

Credits: - Adam V: Programming, game design - Josh D: Graphics, game design, level design

Thanks to PetterTheSturgeon for the free music (https://soundcloud.com/petterthesturgeon/lost-signal-main-theme-wip)

Youtube https://adamvictor.itch.io/ludum-dare-46
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/tablet-force

Ratings

Overall 612th 3.754⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Fun 545th 3.669⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 1163th 3.315⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1321th 3.615⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 1225th 3.631⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Humor 1629th 2.473⭐ 57🧑‍⚖️
Mood 394th 3.869⭐ 67🧑‍⚖️
Given 93🗳️ 104🗨️

Feedback

NathanLeiby
21. Apr 2020 · 00:55 UTC
Enjoyed it very much! The gameplay had a few different things to worry about: the players' energy and health, as well as finding the lights! which kept it engaging.

The music and lighting (or lack of it) give it a great lost-in-space, survival feeling.. just a tinge of horror but mostly on an uplifting, optimistic mission.

Reminded me a little bit of navigating through the rooms in Dungeon of the Endless.

Good job!

p.s. In my quick play through I never really figured out why to use one or the other of the attack modes. I shot a few bots, then changed to hack beam and stuck with that, when I realized i could scrap the bots for energy. I never tried shooting + scrapping them, if that works..

[UPDATE] I read the description :P

> Energy Blast is a regular attack and Hack Wave can be used to disable enemies. Once disabled, you can drain the enemy to restore enemy to your tablet.
captainlazer1
21. Apr 2020 · 04:06 UTC
I liked this game a lot. I like the 2 different sets of arrow kets as the controls.
🎤 AdamV
21. Apr 2020 · 04:15 UTC
@nathanleiby Thanks so much for playing! I wanted to incentive using both attack types, but I think the balance ended up off a bit and hack is probably the better type (assuming you reliably hit it, which isn't that hard)
WhatNameGames
21. Apr 2020 · 04:23 UTC
Artwork is cool, sounds are a good addition and it has a nice vatmosphere to it overall
Trace
21. Apr 2020 · 05:58 UTC
this has to be one of my favorites so far! Draining robots to get back energy is a really cool feature and reminds me of the "one mechanic solves multiple problems" thing. The controls were also sorta like Binding of Isaac which is always a plus in my book. Although i couldn't get past the giant maze-like stage (which i assume is probably the final), no flaws really stood out to me.
Pagetb
21. Apr 2020 · 11:49 UTC
Cool style!
meowdy
21. Apr 2020 · 19:35 UTC
Love the concept and gameplay! The graphics are cool but I wish the pixels are more unified(?) Some tiles seem more detailed than others and it looks a little odd in that sense. But animations for the main character are super welldone! Music and sfx are pretty good. I would appreciate a map though...I was very very lost :(
BitPokit
21. Apr 2020 · 19:41 UTC
Opening doors/interacting with objects is very satisfying! I also love the music and sound effects they are amazing!
Rodrigo Castro
21. Apr 2020 · 19:45 UTC
I loved your game. I would like to do graphics like you .. LOL ! The puzzles is very interesting and engaged on the game. Keep to the project making more enemies and puzzles.
okkolobr
21. Apr 2020 · 19:47 UTC
I really enjoyed the game, but couldn't play it too long because WASD commands is a pain for AZERTY user like me :(
Good choice of music, it really help setting the mood !
Zaphire
21. Apr 2020 · 19:53 UTC
Cute graphics and was really smooth to play which I enjoyed.
Vesper
21. Apr 2020 · 21:11 UTC
Really nice balanced gameplay. It comes across as remarkably polished, well done.
sablen
22. Apr 2020 · 00:27 UTC
Relatively simple and straightforward mechanics but really well designed and balanced so that the game feels fun from start to finish. The music, art and atmosphere really add to the mood of the game
Trexxak
22. Apr 2020 · 00:39 UTC
this game is so addictive, I have no idea why, but I couldn't just stop playing before beating it. I really love how the hack wave has actual utility, though seeing how it "disables" the turret with one shot while the blaster needs two, maybe it is a bit overpowered? Or there is a message hidden in these mechanics about not destroying but recycling :D

The art is absolutely great, and the music you chose really fits the atmosphere. Thank you for letting me play your game!
fianchetto
22. Apr 2020 · 01:25 UTC
Very good game, the gameplay is very fluid and the music pleasant. It would be nice if the energy bar goes down a little faster and when it is running out of battery, the music accelerates to generate more adrenaline. For the rest I loved it!!
Rein
22. Apr 2020 · 01:38 UTC
I love the visual style, and the gameplay was really good. It was a little hard to dodge the enemy shots sometimes but I'm not really sure what I would do differently there. There was no reason not to use the hack beam even though it had a greater cost to it. Maybe if you had to charge each shot and it took two hits to disable them, where the regular attack was just one?
Sinamon
22. Apr 2020 · 08:06 UTC
Great game. And that music, amazing!

My suggestion would be use the mouse for controls (only the mouse).
A minimap would also be nice.
Khud0
22. Apr 2020 · 13:02 UTC
Wow, modern magic wand! Haha, I wish I had such a tablet!
Niels
22. Apr 2020 · 23:49 UTC
Pretty fun, music was indeed really nice! maybe some more mechanics like upgrades and more modes would be awesome.
Amazura
23. Apr 2020 · 03:15 UTC
:thumbsup: Wonderful little game. good concept and well polished. the music fills the game with mood. good job..
Gamer Fates
23. Apr 2020 · 04:03 UTC
dope graphics. Great concept and game. Would love to see a full release with more.
matthewi
23. Apr 2020 · 04:09 UTC
Love that you have to manage keeping yourself alive, as well as the tablet. Also love the choices of what you can do with your energy, between disabling the sentries or shooting them. I usually say that I found a game too difficult, but I think the sentries did too little damage!
rsninjadev
23. Apr 2020 · 05:50 UTC
really enjoyed playing this. Using power as a way to fight, interact, and stay alive creates a interesting decisions. When you die, it is frustrating to lose so much progress, I like the suggestion of a minimap, maybe one that is slowly uncovered as the player explores
kfischer-okarin
23. Apr 2020 · 12:59 UTC
I really liked this one.... The enemy shots were quite hard to dodge since they predict where you are walking. The background music and general atmosphere was also very good.
James Beninger
24. Apr 2020 · 09:12 UTC
I liked the hack mechanic, and the hidden resource-management game where you have to decide whether you spend a lot of energy to farm the sentries or a small amount of energy to simply destroy them.
SynysterCola
25. Apr 2020 · 02:29 UTC
I had fun with this! The atmosphere I really like and the graphics are pretty solid! It did take me a bit to not use the arrow keys to not move around xD, but that's on me. Love to see how this looks with more time!
pomelouncia
25. Apr 2020 · 07:21 UTC
the two army system is really nice and could be innovative you can damage you enemy or make them paralysis to used them as your battery. music is nice and related to the theme really well, sci-fi music:moreover the setting of battery brings more challenge to your game because as long as you run out of energy, you die.mini map would be a great thing to add in to make improvement.
itsdanidre
26. Apr 2020 · 00:22 UTC
Nice! I restored life support and completed the mission. Solid game!



One thing though, on the last level you can walk through the walls in the long hall lol. Glad I didn't get stuck and had to start all over though. I finished the level in all fairness.​
Matootsy
27. Apr 2020 · 13:09 UTC
Very nice music. The ambiance is well done, with just few elements. Like the mechanics and interactions. I don't feel well the theme. The LD is perhaps a little bit too big for a Jam, to understand the whole game. Anyway, good job.
bkmld
27. Apr 2020 · 19:20 UTC
Nice game. Cool concept. Maybe have puzzles to open doors rather than just interacting.
jdalida
28. Apr 2020 · 04:02 UTC
I finished the game. Really Nice. I like the concept of a dark place and you can turn on the lights. I think you should add a little bit of puzzle to make it more interesting. Good game I have fun playing this. Good luck to your entry! :)
davidwesst
28. Apr 2020 · 05:48 UTC
I was soooo close to finishing it (I think). Caught myself holding my breathe a few times over. Really dug the aesthetics, and appreciated that the first few levels let me learn how to handle myself before stepping it up a notch or two.

Really impressed! Would love to see some more puzzles or interaction with consoles too, but what you have here is pretty fun as it is. Well done!
royur
28. Apr 2020 · 05:51 UTC
Pretty Cool! I like the atmosphere.
reheated
28. Apr 2020 · 06:20 UTC
Overall: Fun and satisfying action/exploration game.

Fun: Yeah! The combat is nice and has a tactical element since the enemies lead you. I liked the aspect of having to make decisions about whether/how to use my energy. I also liked searching the building for terminals that would do different things, like turn on all the lights, or disable the sentries.

Innovation: Yes

Theme: Yes

Graphics: Everything is nicely drawn, especially the main character! If I'm being pedantic, different things are drawn with different perspectives, which makes them go together kind of awkwardly.

Humor: I like the idea of a tablet as a main weapon :)

Mood: Good, I think especially thanks to the lighting.
disperse
28. Apr 2020 · 18:51 UTC
I love the hand-drawn art and the music is great and contributes greatly to the mood. I switched over to the hack wave and never looked back, being able to 1-hit ko the enemies and then use them to fill up energy was very powerful. Restoring lights and disabling sentries was an interesting mechanic but it didn't feel like the level design took full advantage of it. Thanks for the game!
Ismael Rodriguez
28. Apr 2020 · 23:57 UTC
Good entry. Visuals and the mood are good. I liked the WASD to move and arrows to shoot.

The game design is simple, which is cool. Its good to start locked in a room with nothing to do but figure out what the hell the buttons do and how to get out of the room. Good job there.

The design of the bigger maps with the darkness makes it easy to get lost, which isn't fun for me. I did manage to find a terminal to turn the lights on, which drained my battery and got me killed, which was a bummer. If you keep the full darkness mechanic, I would prefer smaller areas. Congrats on your game!
Sibi
29. Apr 2020 · 07:05 UTC
Really great mood that you're setting with the lights and music! The level design could use some work as I found myself lost sometimes. Or is that intentional? I've never had any real issues keeping the battery or my character alive, so maybe think about increasing the difficulty. I really liked running around and hacking every sentry to drain them :D
Asue
29. Apr 2020 · 07:20 UTC
Nice little game! I was surprised at first, I thought I could interact with the chests x) It would be nice to add small bonuses when you search them, for example a speed or attack bonus. Graphics are good, the music is well chosen. During the fights, the robot aimed very well, as if it was guessing my next moves! Very interesting. I liked this little game very much anyway, well done both of you!
joekinglake
29. Apr 2020 · 08:00 UTC
Really nice game with a strong mood & tone. At first i missed the ability to shoot in 8 directions but actually once i got playing, the combination of the limited shoot directions, versatile enemy shooting directions, limited vision & exploration worked brilliantly. Nice job :) I love the characters graphics too!
cdunham
30. Apr 2020 · 08:50 UTC
Pretty fun game! I liked the mood and environment it set up. Having to keep track of how much energy you were using added to the tension, but I think it would've been better if the recharge stations had limited uses.
Danilo Freire
30. Apr 2020 · 19:11 UTC
Hey, congrats for the game! Had a little trouble with the further rooms layout, got lost multiple times xD
NoamRaz
03. May 2020 · 00:47 UTC
Wow! that game is impressive! Everything was good and works fine.
Armani03k
05. May 2020 · 05:27 UTC
Great game! quite polished and love the mood
fabula_rasa
09. May 2020 · 08:01 UTC
That was really pretty cool. I liked the atmosphere that the lighting and music created. I was kept on my toes, constantly looking for charge. And I was getting lost like crazy further in the game :). But it was fun overall, felt polished and well-made.

Great work!