LudumData

ECHO-7 by Crowelian

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

ECHO-7

Ludum Dare 59 — Theme: Signal Game by Crowelian

Game Description

You are ECHO-7, a synthetic reconnaissance unit that crash-landed on a barren alien world. Something deep underground pulses a strange signal every 14 seconds — an alien broadcast that was here long before you arrived. Your equipment picks it up, but so do the creatures.

Mine silicon and iron from the planet's surface. Build walls, turrets, and relay towers to extend your signal reception zone. Each night, waves of alien creatures emerge from the darkness — drawn to the electromagnetic noise of your structures, and determined to destroy them.

Your power cell has 12 nights of charge. Expand your signal network, find a way off this rock before the power dies and the darkness closes in.

How far can your signal reach?

Survive for 14 days!

WASD / Arrows | Move (grid-based) |

E | Use tool / interact |

TAB | Cycle tool (Pickaxe / Sword) |

B | Toggle build mode |

Q / E (in menus) | Cycle selection |

SPACE (in menus) | Confirm / place |

Tools used

  • Nordscrap Engine
  • Garageband
  • Custom html/js spritesheet painter

echo-7-ld-59.zip - 37768668 bytes IS the source. echo7_mac.zip - 18590229 bytes IS the build for MACOS.

Built with NordScrap Engine (custom C++/QuickJS engine, not yet public).

All game code, sprites, and music were created during the 48-hour jam window.

If web embed not working, try: https://softa.site/ludumdare/echo7/

Original URL https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/59/echo-7

Ratings

Overall 210th 3.212⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Fun 223th 2.904⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 244th 2.885⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Theme 234th 3.038⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 179th 3.327⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Audio 85th 3.577⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Humor 167th 2.239⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 131th 3.5⭐ 28🧑‍⚖️
Given 36🗳️ 27🗨️

Feedback

Rémy Lopez
Apr 21st · 14:14 UTC
Verry interesting game !
Definitly need controller support to be perfect !
And multi could be great :D
Divarium
Apr 21st · 14:22 UTC
And old school look for a modern game. The learning curve is quite steep. When you knows how to play i'm sure it's easy but i strugled quite a bit. Very nice overall.
🎤 Crowelian
Apr 21st · 14:26 UTC
@remy-lopez Controller support would have been great, did not have time to do it.
🎤 Crowelian
Apr 21st · 14:27 UTC
@divarium apologies for not including any tutorial whatsoever! Would have been helpful.
Chomby
Apr 21st · 14:55 UTC
I had fun playing. The screen distortion improving as signal improves is a cool effect. At first I thought the effect was too strong but seeing it improve when you placed Relay down, I understood why it was like.

I made it to night 8. I had to be careful to watch my health bar when fighting enemies. I got taken out by the rectangular enemy.

I think the day and night cycle is balanced well, I had just enough time to mine, build turrets, fend off in the night. Impressive for 48 hours!
🎤 Crowelian
Apr 21st · 16:24 UTC
@chomby Thank you! And glad you liked the screen distortion! Yeah I decided not to keep it for too long because it might be annoying...

Thank you for your review!
tweekus
Apr 21st · 17:11 UTC
Nice idea, but I don’t really like the distortion on the screen with small UI elements. It was hard to read text. But still like it, good job
PurpledArtFrog
Apr 21st · 18:58 UTC
Wauw... what a neat look to the game... nice ambient theme .. good sound effects. Impressive job for a compo entry :thumbsup_tone1:

Left you a rating :smile:
japes
Apr 21st · 19:05 UTC
solid entry, all the mechanics are pretty clear and i felt empowered to make my little base and try to survive.
I found the CRT effect annoying at first until I discovered that signal strength improves it.
How does one get "composite"?
🎤 Crowelian
Apr 22nd · 05:31 UTC
@japes
Sorry, I forgot to remove the caves from the description. Did not have time to finish them...
noneegy
Apr 24th · 08:42 UTC
It is an interesting idea. I had fun playing it. It took me a while to find my hp and figure out some things but it is a nice game. Good job!
Egrassah
Apr 24th · 13:17 UTC
Nice audio and visuals, but it is a bit hard to understand how the game works, beside this good job !
bzz_nsk
Apr 24th · 14:19 UTC
Visually stylish and playable game, thank you for the experience! So oldschool, really nice!
Avhatar
Apr 24th · 17:32 UTC
I enjoyed the hell out of it and I want more, but with improved UI/UX. Some cubes ended up killing me and I didn’t even understand how they did it — I just died. Was pretty frustrating =( At some point I also managed to run out of iron completely. I also didn’t really understand what I’m doing and why. I was just placing guns and walls and relays as needed. Basically I really want to actually beat this game, but honestly I don’t quite get the goal yet. Otherwise it’s really cool, and the genre is totally my thing, I love stuff like this. Special respect for the CRT screen effect, I use something similar in my own stuff.
![Screenshot_26.png](///raw/6fc/d1/z/7298a.png)
Ilari
Apr 28th · 17:13 UTC
Fun game! I'd like to see it finished. The mine/build/defend loop is working. I'm not sure what good the signal relays actually did, except bait for enemies. Also, didn't figure out how to mine the composite. Overall impressive work for compo! Well done!
oller125
Apr 29th · 20:32 UTC
Fun game. Love the CRT style graphics and the sound effects and ambiance.
fnelix
May 03rd · 09:54 UTC
Nice game! I like the old school concept and enjoyed the soundtrack. The CRT effect is way too much for me, and I struggled some to understand the controls / UI. Still cool concept and impressive for a compo entry!
LDJam user 428640
May 08th · 14:38 UTC
The visual style blends really well with the game's atmosphere, and the sound effects are also quite fitting. Overall, well done!