Hey everyone,

I put out two games related to the LD46 Jam -- a warmup game and an actual entry. The entry is very unfinished but it's neat, and I really pushed myself this time, and learned a lot. -- The warm up game (#2) is way more finished, and way more fun to play. 😉

#1: Space Zoo

This game is UNFINISHED, but it's a neat prototype, this is my main entry (that you should rate me on).

⚠ Warning ⚠, this needs a decent PC. -- I didn't realize it until now though. -- It's probably like the 20 layers of bloom and color grading. If it doesn't run smoothly for you, just skip it. Sorry.

I was kind of going for a "Cosmic Ark" like experience (Atari 2600 game where you abduct life on alien planets). Right now you can fly around and abduct cows and stuff, but there's not much in the way of actual game play. Skip to #2 below if you want something better.

Anyway, I had a lot of stuff planned out for this game, like police car chases (it's not obvious, but your "space ship" is a pirate ship, you can see the shadow of it when you fly by a planet sometimes) and like drop offs at the zoo and levels and stuff.

``` 👉🏻 CONTROLS:

 - Mouse 🖱 + WASD (Q/E to roll) ⌨
 - When you "orbit" a planet, W and S change to up and down; just break away from a planet
    to let go of it.

 - Mouse click turns on your beam -- if you capture something you'll hear it.

👉🏻 In Full Screen, <ESC> will exit and bring you back to the browser; hitting <ESC> again
    will release the mouse.

...

```

#2: Gem Grabber

This was my warm-up game -- The goal is to collect as many gems as you can in a place where bombs and crates and stuff are falling from the ceiling. It even has a menu and instructions and stuff! 😆

``` 👉🏻 CONTROLS:

 - For the main menu: use the mouse! 
 - Movement: use gamepad 🎮, or WASD/arrows ⌨

👉🏻 In Full Screen, <ESC> will exit and bring you back to the browser

 - Watch for shadows theyre there to telegraph where boxes will land -- theyre also visible
    on the mini-map!

...

```

What's a warm-up game you ask? -- well, I started on this earlier in the week to learn how to do all the things I don't know how to do (like make menus in Unity and add sound and music and stuff) -- it fits really close to the theme, but that's a coincidence. At any rate, it ended up more fleshed out and more fun to play over all than my actual entry. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Years and years ago when learning to program in BASIC on the TRS-80 Model 4, this was the first game I ever made -- though it used ASCII graphics and was a top-down thing... Since it's so simple, it's usually the first game I make in any new engine that I try for the first time. -- This is the first time it's been made in 3D though with animations, and sounds and stuff -- so when the Jam started, I had I hard time ending my "warm-up" session... -- I ended up wasting the first night of the Jam on it. -- Lesson learned, don't do that again. -- Anyway, since "Ludum Dare" means "to give a game", I thought I'd share it with y'all, just remember to rate me based on my main entry and not this one. 😎

. . .