Solar Sailor by magico13

made by magico13 for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

The Solar Sailor, an interstellar vessel with low-g artificial gravity provided by a spinning ring. A catastrophic malfunction of the Hawking reactor threatens the safety of the ship and you, a mechanic on the outer edge of the ring need to get to the emergency shutoff in the central ring before the reactor blows.

The malfunction triggered a lockdown and the security turrets are active, but they're no match for some percussive maintenance. So it's a good thing you happen to have a near-infinite supply of wrenches on you.

Note: This is my first game and was done for ludum dare 47 so it is far from polished.

Source code: https://github.com/magico13/SolarSailor

Music:

Screen Saver by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5715-screen-saver License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Youtube	https://magico13.itch.io/solar-sailor
Youtube	https://github.com/magico13/SolarSailor
Original URL	https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/solar-sailor

Ratings

Given

5🗳️

2🗨️

Feedback

JArtis

06. Oct 2020 · 13:37 UTC

Awesome multiple application of the theme, and just difficult enough to be the fun kind of frustrating. Good on ya!

PhindieGames

06. Oct 2020 · 21:25 UTC

Great first game! Nothing wrong with some programmer art :) Overall I found the movement a bit clunky, so even when I wanted to go horizontally where there was a floor, I would just jump up and just the backfire from throwing wrenches to propel me forward. That said, just flying around by throwing wrenches was funny (even if it is hard to control).
The game is a bit unforgiving, and just walking can easily get you killed from an off-screen turret. In combination with the fact that you have to explore the space ship to figure out where the switches even are makes for some frustration at times.

🎤 magico13

08. Oct 2020 · 00:35 UTC

Thanks for the reviews so far! I think next time I am gonna try to get a bit more external playtesting from friends/family during the process. It's hard to judge just how hard it is when you're the one who knows all the secrets ;) If I decide to take this any further post-jam a more forgiving option is probably going to be one of the first things I look into. The intent was that you'd get knocked out and there'd be a time loop so you could explore a bit more each loop and use what you learned last time to skip areas/go faster but I can see how that could be frustrating, especially because I didn't have time to add more to make that intent clear.

Sean Holloway

08. Oct 2020 · 01:06 UTC

It was a little hard to know what was going on at first, but once I figured out that throwing wrenches gives you momentum, I was having fun. Good work.

RainyDay2800

08. Oct 2020 · 01:10 UTC

I like the concept. I had fun wrench throwing my way around the ship.
Suggestions :
- nerf the turrets a bit, only have them shoot when player can see them too. I had a hard time getting in their room cuase of how fast and accurate they are.
- Some kind of way to tell where you have been, maybe a mini map

printablealice

08. Oct 2020 · 02:25 UTC

Cool concept! Throwing wrenches to propel yourself was really fun. I liked the interaction noises, but it would have been nice to have some sort of background music/noise. I agree with others that the turrets were hard to take out without being able to see them. Maybe only have them start shooting when they're on-screen.

piscythe

08. Oct 2020 · 03:27 UTC

For what it's worth, the whole "learning on each loop" part of the design worked for me. I really felt like I had to learn the mechanics to make it to the end. The false paths felt bad when I ran down them, but at least I learned to avoid them. Usually, flying around with wrench recoil is much easier than attempting to operate the normal movement controls, but sometimes staying on the ground or wallsliding can make an area easier and faster. It feels awkward to me to have ASD controls and then jump on spacebar when W isn't being used for anything. The idea of "realistic" movement in a platformer felt brain-bending. I'm so used to being able to change direction midair. Having a time limit on a game like this is kinda harsh, but it keeps things moving and creates great moments of panic.

Chukwuebuka_racer

09. Oct 2020 · 01:42 UTC

Cool, art looks nice