LudumData

Aye Aye, Can't See! by Avhatar

[raw]
made by Avhatar for Ludum Dare 59 (COMPO)

By the will of the supreme leader of the free democratic republic of Ruxia, you, my liege, have been dispatched to eliminate the threat posed by the ungrateful inhabitants of the Uruxia dictatorship. These ungrateful wretches are plotting to attack us. We are obliged to strike preemptively. You and your valiant cruiser, my captain, will be sent to the eastern sector of the Uruxia dictatorship. There you are free to pillage and slaughter… pardon me, to restore peace and justice. Your primary objective is to eliminate the leader of the military junta; his battleship is located here. Our loyal spies have hacked the transponder on his vessel, and now we know precisely where he is. You can see the bearing at the bottom of your control panel.

As it happens, during your flight through the depths of hell, half of your ship was blown to pieces. But no matter. You have every right to expropriate any local resources to restore your vessel, for your mission is sacred. Glory to free Ruxia!

Controls:

  • 1 — fire port broadside
  • 2 — fire the mighty plasma lance (the demons gnawed on it, needs repair)
  • 3 — fire starboard broadside
  • Space — sonar
  • Tab — engineering bay
  • Q — decrease speed
  • E — increase speed
  • Left mouse button — set course

Ice, rocks, and iron are our only allies in this system. Harvest them from everything you find — they are the resources for repairing your ship.

Bugfixes in last build: - Some ships were standing still and doing nothing. Forgot to assign them waypoints. - The course indicator arrow was missing in the Web build - All macrocannon upgrades were only upgrading one side of the ship - Large asteroids weren't giving any resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSBaCG3V-xY Screenshot<em>1.png Screenshot</em>2.png Screenshot_3.png

Git https://github.com/Avhatar/LD59.git
Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/aye-aye-cant-see

Ratings

Overall 41th 3.933⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Fun 60th 3.711⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 52th 3.818⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Theme 57th 4.17⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 36th 4.178⭐ 47🧑‍⚖️
Audio 41th 3.864⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Humor 136th 2.578⭐ 34🧑‍⚖️
Mood 29th 4⭐ 46🧑‍⚖️
Given 62🗳️ 67🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 428646
Apr 20th · 02:27 UTC
There's so many things going on here that I love, like the sonar, but it just feels really sluggish and unintuitive to control. Although that might be an intentional choice so that the upgrades are more impactful. The shaders going on here are really cool. I especially love how you can see where an enemy is by their sonar, that just feels incredible. Sorry that I couldn't finish it, I'm just really bad at this game.
BoltDaPikachu234
Apr 20th · 11:38 UTC
its an good game, its just the controls are just a little confusing but aside from that its good
Enver Arco
Apr 21st · 16:49 UTC
Theres a lot of mechanics for a game jam game. Amazed you fit them all in! Nice aesthetic, I did find it a little difficult to control.
mattlevonian
Apr 21st · 16:58 UTC
Damn, that's a fun game. The aesthetic and intentionally frictional controls reminds me of DUSKERS. I had a great time playing. I think my only gripe is that Q/E for speed was *too* frictional. It slowed me down, but it was also very frustrating. Having it tied to something unusual but more up/down like Y/H would have been better for the overall experience IMO.

Also, a different cover image that matches the game's aesthetic would serve you a lot better!
awalone
Apr 21st · 17:16 UTC
I feel like you've been watching me .
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 21st · 17:19 UTC
@mattlevonian I thought about mapping speed to the mouse wheel but realized it too late — it would've worked nicely as an alternative input, especially since you have to use the mouse anyway. As for the cover — I was hoping for something humorous with a blind captain, the kind of thing that would evoke Rogue Trader RPG vibes. I really love that system, the cover art there had a very distinctive look!

![9820563.jpg](///raw/6fc/d1/z/7210e.jpg)
nosoy
Apr 21st · 21:20 UTC
Love this game, spend on it around 20 min, but i think game need faster progression, and make control of ship more easier.
LDJam user 76491
Apr 22nd · 01:52 UTC
Visuals are amazing, and there is a lot of stuff going on, which is super impressive for compo. The controls were difficult to get used to, I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it then decided to watch the youtube video you made and wow, I was playing incredibly slow compared to you lol (but understandable, as you made the game and had to play so many times during dev)

An in-game tutorial introducing mechanics step by step would do wonders for this, but I'm well aware that making one in the small time frame of compo would be incredibly challenging.

Very polished and very solid overall, I see there's plenty of depth in it (though I feel like I just scratched the surface). Good job!
Pavel Goncharov
Apr 22nd · 03:10 UTC
![2026-04-22_08-04-29.png](///raw/e3f/76/z/7234e.png) Strange, but at first I had this black screen with a music in background. Waited for 10 minutes and loading was completed. The game is very complex, especially for a compo. Good job.
alisher_fazilov
Apr 22nd · 07:31 UTC
Man, this is awesome! At first I didn't get it at all and was fiddling with the hint screen, but then I found the cross) Once I figured it out, I got a real rush and the gameplay was actually pretty interesting! If they improve the graphics, they could even try releasing it on Steam
VenomousMouse
Apr 22nd · 07:32 UTC
Great game! As a former seafearer i enjoyed it very much!
Shanyu Jin
Apr 22nd · 07:34 UTC
The visuals here totally look like those fleet command screens straight out of a movie! Such a creative idea, it's so cool!
500
Apr 22nd · 09:22 UTC
The art is so minimalist, haha, but the gameplay is actually quite interesting
AdelinaArtist17
Apr 22nd · 09:23 UTC
The visuals are cool, retro is always in high esteem, but honestly I didn't really understand the goal of the game, where we were sailing, and what we were supposed to do.
Anatei
Apr 22nd · 09:32 UTC
Interesting game. I wish I had some time to catch my breath. A great basis for some kind of space sim.
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 22nd · 09:54 UTC
@adelinaartist17 I'd recommend checking out the video I attached above. The gist is pretty simple: there's a battleship at the top of the map with an arrow pointing to it. The battleship is strong and mean — if you fly straight at it, it'll kick your ass. So you have to fly around first, farm asteroids and other ships, level up with the resources they drop, and then go take the boss down.
alexey_bobrovskiy
Apr 22nd · 09:59 UTC
A well-made space combat simulator, I really liked it, it's a shame we have so little time here to really enjoy the game.
spooooodermon
Apr 22nd · 16:07 UTC
I love the signal use in this game! I really like the style you used and i had fun playing this!
StormSword
Apr 22nd · 16:22 UTC
A little hard to control everything at the same time but it's really impressive to see what you've done in 2 days x) I also love the art, good job :D
FrowsyFrog
Apr 22nd · 16:31 UTC
The game looks really interesting with so many features! I had a bit of trouble controlling the ship, but I was still able to progress. Good game!
pres2300
Apr 22nd · 20:29 UTC
I really enjoyed playing this! The subtle SFX and visuals were really well done. I was not very good at the controls and switching between port and starboard, but that's one of those things that just takes time to get used to with a unique control scheme. I really enjoyed playing this and could spend a lot of time playing more of it. Nice work!
SteveOfStevesGames
Apr 22nd · 21:36 UTC
That is awesome, Im terrible but will definately be trying to get to the end at some point.
So hard to control, so many enemies.
If there was a shop or something i kept forgetting to try and open it, i only collected a few little squares anyway.
sinemual
Apr 23rd · 03:29 UTC
This is just wow! To pull this off in 48 hours! It’s a full-fledged game—just post it on Reddit to get some upvotes and upload it to Steam. =) The sound, graphics, and gameplay are all top-notch. This could be developed into something on par with *Space Rangers* or *Ex Machina*, complete with quests, various ships, and a living, breathing world. I’ll definitely be back to play this!
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 23rd · 04:48 UTC
@steveofstevesgames "shop" is on Tab.

@sinemual maybe 20 straight years in gamedev are finally starting to pay off =) And I'm also too modest to do self-promotion. I'm a decent engineer, but as a PR person — not so much. So Reddit and the like feel like something out of a fantasy for me. Maybe my coworkers will back me up on that front.

@frowsyfrog @pres2300 the conflict between immersion and convenience — my eternal problem in my games. I want the ship to feel like a clunky tub, and responsive controls basically contradict that kind of design, but I agree that the controls should have been spread out a bit. For instance, I could've put speed on the mouse wheel.
GideonGriebenow
Apr 23rd · 06:24 UTC
It takes some getting used to, but, wow, it's a solid entry for 2 days! I'd change the cover image to be more representative. The often-repeating sounds are subtle enough, and there are so many great little "technical impressivities" around. You've clearly been doing this for a while ;)
nathmate
Apr 23rd · 06:53 UTC
![2026-04-23-165103_1920x1080_scrot.png](///raw/102/b5/z/726af.png)

I liked the difficulty in steering the ship and seeing where you were going, I just think you get thrown into too many enemies too quickly so it's a bit overwhelming at first. It's quite hard to pick up the large amount of resources you need, especially as destroyed asteroids\enemies drop their loot out radially and your turning circle is so large. Controls wise I also often found myself needing to change course while lining up a shot, maybe having left mouse button always be steering and right always be firing would be smoother. A more visual reload indicator (the icon filling up, perhaps) would be useful too as I usually didn't want to take my eyes off the middle of the screen.

Really nice graphics and vibe.
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 23rd · 06:59 UTC
@gideongriebenow the cover was a "15 minutes left until submission, gotta slap something in there" kind of decision =) That said, yeah — 20 years of professional development plus 6 years of amateur stuff before that. Plenty of experience to draw from when it comes to typical solutions for typical problems.
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 23rd · 07:00 UTC
@nathmate holy crap, you actually did it. Honestly didn't believe anyone would beat it. About the resource pickup — I wanted to add a pickup range upgrade but didn't have time. As for the input, I agree on all fronts, I just didn't have time for polish. I barely submitted in the last few minutes as it is. I don't like breaking the rules, I wanted to do everything by the clock, like it says.
bonedaddy
Apr 23rd · 13:44 UTC
Very well done! Great mood with the artstyle and audio, and the gameplay is quite impressive
DzejPi
Apr 23rd · 15:23 UTC
Nice premise, I see what you did there! The movement felt kinda slow and kinda feels like I would prefer using W and S instead of Q and E, but it's not that hard to get used it. Otherwise really really good visual style! Graphics are simple, but incredible effective. Pretty obvious that you have a lot of experience, because it feels super polished. Shooting sounds and impacts are SUPERB. :ok_hand:
Crowelian
Apr 23rd · 16:12 UTC
Incredible work! The aesthetic and shaders create such a cool, cinematic vibe. I really loved how the sonar works—seeing enemies. While the controls (especially Q/E for speed) take some getting used to, it really adds to the feeling of piloting a heavy, clunky ship. Super impressive!
Domenixius
Apr 23rd · 17:58 UTC
Wow what a super deep game you have created! I really love the whole atmosphere you have put together! The controls feel a little bit to finicky and even with a turn upgrade I did feel like I could never really get to my hard fought for loot quick enough. It also felt like the enemy ships hat a tad too good of an accuracy to feel fair? But maybe I'm just not very good at it :sweat_smile: For a game jam you could have probably been better of with just one resource to speed up the feeling of progression. Oh and maybe that was just a me issue but when I did *somehow* die (Cough not by being a bad and greedy captain of course). There was no way to restart the game?
All in all I can really see the vision and with some more polish this game could easily be something I could sink many hours in!
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 23rd · 18:08 UTC
@domenixius, yeah, I forgot to add a restart button — seems obvious in retrospect, but it just slipped my mind. For now it's only F5 in the web build, and the Windows build you'll have to relaunch. I wonder if adding it after submission would count as breaking the rules? Probably yeah — it's not really a bugfix.
About the accuracy, you're actually right. I wanted the enemies to aim the way you do — by following sonar pings — but they were so wildly off that I realized it'd take me a week to tune them. So they just shoot at your transform, which is a bit unfair, but they do search for you honestly via sonar — meaning they don't come after you if they haven't actually detected you with sonar. So their navigation is as fair as yours, but their shooting is cheating. That said, I deliberately didn't give them target leading, so once you get the hang of moving around, they barely hit you.
BarnabeWild
Apr 23rd · 19:16 UTC
Wow pretty complete for a compo entry great job!
anku
Apr 23rd · 19:29 UTC
Отличная игра. Но к управлению нужно привыкнуть.
Alex Mulkerrin
Apr 23rd · 19:48 UTC
Your experience really shines through in this as all the elements are top notch. The flickering on the screen is a cool effect and the ponderous nature of the ships really makes it standout. It was good to put in a video as it shows just how much content you put into the game. With more weapons and levels this really could be a fully fledged game. Always nice to see a setting inspired by 40K lore too :)
13pilgrims
Apr 24th · 05:56 UTC
At first I felt clumsy and always bump into things, but once I got the hang of it, the atmosphere became tense and thrilling! Also really love the retro art style. However, it seems there isn't a “Restart” button after dying. If possible, please add one. Overall, it was a thrilling and fun gaming experience.
Rafa Fiedo
Apr 24th · 08:15 UTC
not sure why but on Firefox it doesn't' work, but on Edge it's working. (HTML build)
Very polished! A lot of mechanics.
I really like the signal graphics that really detect other objects!
Had little problems with the controls, it strange that after click '1' or '3' to shoot I can't change direction of the ship.
I also liked that bump with the meteoroids also destroy them! :D
LDJam user 4312
Apr 25th · 07:42 UTC
Love the visual presentation, looks really clean and it's easy to lose yourself in the atmosphere of the game world. Had a rocky start and always bumped into things but after I got the hang of it it played really nicely. The only thing I wished I had was more precise speed controls instead of just "accellerate to the next 5k step".
🎤 Avhatar
Apr 25th · 09:09 UTC
@wisch I thought about making speed switching smooth, but first, it didn't really fit the "ironclad" control scheme where the lever has fixed positions, and second, in this kind of combat there's usually no time to fine-tune the speed bit by bit. But as an alternative way to control speed, or even cooler — as a ship upgrade — it would probably be the right call.
Pimeko
Apr 25th · 22:18 UTC
The music and visuals are really cool! A bit tedious for the gameplay, maybe a tutorial could have helped. Nice entry though :)
Custodi
Apr 27th · 23:25 UTC
I liked the minimalist style designed to resemble a CRT television.
The controls were a bit hard to figure out at first, but I think I managed)
Maybe I would make enemy markers a bit larger.
Great entry!